So here comes chapter II - something I never thought I would be able to write. But with the amount of people interested I thought - "Hey, why not?"
Thus, much thanks to those who subscribed, and especially to those who reviewed - your thoughts helped me plow through this chapter like there was no tomorrow.
Enjoy.
Pairings: As said before, probably non-existent, with the occasional crush here and there that I might use just for amusement's sake.
Disclaimer: KHR does not belong in any way or form to me, nor will it ever be. I don't think I would ever be able to create something that massive and amazing.
Chapter II: As a Dame…
And for the rest of the day, Tsuna focuses on avoiding his family and having a major heart attack at the same time.
He is able to meet the former and barely manage the latter: the former because the Sawada matriarch is too busy handling the fussy Takahiko, and the latter because though he has seen a lot of crazy things happen, it doesn't mean he can take to switching genders so smoothly.
He decides that his mentor would agree with his oncoming nervous breakdown; the baby had been a man before, and any man would agree that his world would end if he woke up and found himself without a –
He stops his line of thinking right there. He will not think about it, he will not think about it, he will not think about it, he will not-
And it is with that silent mantra in his head that Tsuna quietly places his dishes in the sink and walks silently to his room, ignoring the calls of his jeering younger brother.
He has better things to do right now.
-o-o-o-o-o-
When he enters the room (or his room, he amends), the first thing Tsuna does is look for clothes that doesn't have pink on it.
Sadly enough, the young Tsunayoshi of here is a girl, and though she doesn't seem very girly in that aspect, pink is still her favorite color. So it is with much moaning and silent weeping when Tsuna pulls out a red t-shirt with pink edges and a pair of jeans that holds pink butterflies – and finds that these are the closest he can find to anti-pink clothes.
And as he closes his eyes to strip and put on the garments, Tsuna briefly thinks about the departure of his pride as a man and wonders if he'll ever be able to call it his 'manly' pride anymore.
When he opens his eyes and sees pink glaring back at him, he resignedly thinks, no, not anymore.
Sighing he climbs onto his pink bed and sits cross-legged on the mattress. Closing his eyes he thinks about how he will live from now on.
(Though he hasn't seen him in a long time, Tsuna still keeps his mentor's lessons to heart and remembers almost all of them).
Lesson number thirty-four: Remember, Dame Tsuna, don't think about what you can't do or how you ended up there; instead, think about what you can do and where you're going from there.
-o-o-o-o-o-
That night when Tsuna goes to bed, it is with slight wariness and the greatest urge to pee.
But of course, that urge is ignored with the will that Tsuna was so famous for before dying. Just because he has accepted that he no longer male now doesn't mean he is willing to divulge further into the mystery-that-is-female; he's had enough reminders to last him for at least a month. (To be honest, part of him is still hoping that everything that has just happened is just part of a crazy dream that comes with death, but his intuition tells him otherwise).
So it is with that wariness and great urge that Tsuna closes his eyes, fervently hoping that perhaps tomorrow will give him better answers than today and that perhaps whoever is up there would take pity and give the young Tsunayoshi her body back.
…
He is not surprised when both hopes are crushed; the former, at least, is fulfilled by a parallel Giotto in his dreams that night. The latter by said ancestor's apology on the malfunction of soul collection that just happened to take place the moment Tsuna had exhaled his last breath.
-o-o-o-o-o-
"So, you're saying that there was a malfunction in the system that caused my floating soul to sink into my parallel self's body and switch places with her soul, instead of heading off to wherever the dead really should go?" There is an obvious hint of disbelief coloring his voice, but Tsuna's parallel ancestor only gives a small, sheepish smile and answers,
"Well, yes, that is the gist of it," And before Tsuna can add in his own, more probable thoughts for the true reason he is stuck in a girl's body, Giotto unwittingly cuts in. "And no, Tsunayoshi-kun, it was not Reborn's fault that got you into this mess."
Tsuna refrains from showing his once again overwhelming disbelief; though he supposes he isn't trying hard enough, judging by faint amusement glowing in his ancestor's face. But he decides that issues involving Reborn's meddling can wait – he has more pressing details to deal with right now.
"And when will the female Tsuna come back to take her body again?" For a few minutes there is only complete silence in the dark world they are in. Tsuna watches with slight fascination as the ever-strong model figure he has always looked up to fiddles and harps in embarrassment, complete with wringing hands and nervous eyes.
"Well, you see, Tsunayoshi-kun," Suddenly, he feels that cold pit in his stomach that his intuition always brought when things are not good. "There is a slight problem with the system-"
And then Tsuna knows his life (or death) is now over because if there is one thing that is constant throughout his whole life, it is that there is no such thing as a slight problem. (As he knows his Sun would put it: they were always extreme in some way or another).
"- because your souls' have switched, your own is now tied to her body - because they're parallel souls – while hers has moved on to the afterlife – "
With a blank face, Tsuna listens on to Giotto's intellectual rant and thinks, extreme indeed.
" – this world is the closest to your own, Tsunayoshi-kun, so it will be very tough to pull you out without collapsing the child's body, or even worse, the world itself. So, uh, you're kind of stuck,"
Here Giotto ends a bit lamely, but Tsuna is not focusing on the less-than-elegant way his parallel ancestor has completed his speech. For a moment, his mind goes blank as he tries to wrap around the obvious fact that no, he cannot pass on to the afterlife (unless he wants to, y'know, destroy seven billion people, which he doesn't) and that the closest parallel worlds to his own has a Tsunayoshi as a female.
He mentions the latter to his ancestor, but Giotto only waves his hand in an elegant way to wave it away.
"A minor setback," He soothes, ignoring Tsuna's indignant squawks of how switching genders is not a minor setback thankyouverymuch, in favor of continuing on. "But if you must know, there is a way you can leave this world without endangering it. However…"
Tsuna hears the hesitation, and though he wonders why the suggestion hasn't been given to him immediately, he waits patiently for the parallel Vongola Primo to finish.
"Your body here would have to stop functioning so that the system can take your soul safely out."
The warning is very clear. You can only leave when there is no body for your soul to live in.
And although he knows he is a maybe soft-hearted, and perhaps too emotional for a mafia boss, Tsuna had not just departed his world to go to the after world as a coward. In his past world, suicide was considered the 'last-resort' option at best and a cowardly way to leave the world at worst. He has long since left his 'Dame' life behind, thrown the cowardliness and fear for courage and strength; he will not give up those values so easily.
When Tsuna looks up from his thinking to look at his ancestor from another world, he is not surprised to see Giotto smiling – the man has already seen his resolve, his will, and it is met with approval.
"Whichever Tsunayoshi-kun you are – from my world or another – I knew you would always make the best choice,"
He wakes up in the morning – still weak, still with that urge, and still female, but for the first time since coming to this strange, strange world - with a true smile on his face.
-o-o-o-o-o-
For the next two weeks Tsuna does the best he can to assimilate into the new Sawada household, as well as trying to adjust to the sudden … body issues that comes with being female.
Even now he is still trying to erase the images and feelings that he came from going to the bathroom for the first time. He had rushed to the bathroom just moments after waking from his meeting with Giotto, the urge being too great for even his famous will to handle - and it was an absolutely horrifying experience.
(Five minutes passed till he realized he had to sit and just release and after doing that take some toilet paper and - )
He will not think about it. He will not. He will not think about it. No. Just, no.
Thus, for two weeks Tsuna takes his time getting used to his 'new' family - with a whole new brother who he tries to get to know better and a mother who he tries to understand more – and getting used to his own female body.
(He finds that his body here is utterly weak and defenseless – something he has been trying to fix, but that takes time and really, all his body can actually handle right now is an hour run around Namimori and even then he is still panting and wheezing from the exercise).
But two weeks is just fourteen days, and before he knows it, the school term begins – too soon and too fast. Sighing, Tsuna tugs at his newly cut hair (cut messily by himself when his mother had not remembered her promise to do so, but it is once again fluffy to his relief), buttons up the plain red t-shirt he stole from Takahiro's closet (the kid hadn't even noticed), and pulls on his orange-colored shoes. It is to his relief that now, when he looks at his reflection, he is only able to see a Tsunayoshi of the past, back when he was young and innocent and male. The familiar look becomes a comfort to him that he has not changed – his is still Tsuna.
But still, today is the day he has dreaded and looked forward to for his whole two weeks here.
And he's not sure if he can hold back his emotions if he sees any of his family – parallel or not - again so soon.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Thankfully enough, Tsuna does not meet any of his guardians throughout the school day. Takeshi is now placed in the classroom next door; Ryohei is in the floor above; Hayato is probably still in Italy; and his ever so favorite prefect is probably scouring the town for any misbehaving residents.
(Although he is saddened by the fact that he does see any of his family, the feeling is taken over by the relief that he will not have to deal with them yet. It's too soon for him to see the faces of the ones he has left and the ones that had left him first).
"Class, today we will have a review quiz – it is to see how much you have remembered over the summer. I don't expect you to remember all of it, but take out a pencil anyway." And while the class groans collectively, Tsuna just shrugs mentally at the announcement. He glances at his twin, who is sitting across two seats to his right, but Takahiro simply has a bored look on his face, twirling his pencil impatiently between his fingers.
Throughout his whole two weeks with him, Tsuna has come to find that Takahiro is actually a rather good student. He knows that the Tsunayoshi here, with her average 40's and such, is barely scraping by while her brother smoothly sails academically and, judging by the frequent games he's had with his friends, athletically as well. After all, maintaining an above 90 average in most of your classes is an impressive feat, even at an elementary level, considering it all.
But Tsunayoshi is twenty-six and not worried about the simple test. If he fails at even an elementary level test, he doesn't know what will be worse: the humiliation that would come with it or the amount of pain Reborn will give him if the hit man ever finds out about it when Tsuna returns to the afterlife.
(Though he highly doubts that the hit man wouldn't; Reborn had always that uncanny sense of just knowing).
For safety measures though, he decides to not answer all the questions correctly – it wouldn't do for a student failing academically to suddenly be getting perfect scores all the time. Gradual improvement would be best, and if he thinks about it, Cheater Tsuna does sound less appealing when compared to Dame Tsuna.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Despite the abundance of it in the past few weeks, Tsuna's luck runs out after another week or so of peaceful days. The moment Tsuna wakes up to feel that familiar cold pit in his stomach one Friday morning, he knows that his days of relative peace are over.
It starts off normally enough. He wakes up, changes into a comfortable pair of khaki pants and a white button-up (it is only now that his is able to look at himself completely without cringing at his different body), washes up in the bathroom (he will not think about it), and silently walks down to the kitchen. Giving a small smile at the sight of his mother cooking, he gives a quiet, but firm 'good morning' to his twin brother – who only scoffs and turns the other way.
Tsuna decides that this is improvement; the first time he had approached Takahiro in this way did not end well, with the boy insulting Tsuna's failures and his mother just nodding along. But while Tsuna is not loud by nature, he needs his brother to understand that he is not the timid Tsunayoshi that would shrink away at every insult - even if he does not speak a word.
He refrains from patting Takahiro's not-as-fluffy head (he knows that the almost-blond will explode if he does so) and instead heads off to help his mother set up the table. Nana in return gives a bright smile and hands him a few plates.
And so breakfast passes by without much of a hassle, with the chatter between the louder twin and his mother filling the air and only a few sharp jeers flung at the quiet Tsuna. Thirty minutes later finds Tsuna slipping on his sneakers and waving a hurried goodbye to his mother as he keeps in step with his grumbling brother; they had taken too long with eating, and if they don't hurry, they will be late to school.
(For both brothers, it is the result that comes with being late and not actually being so that has them both running to Namimori Elementary School in fervent worry. After all, no one likes to be bitten to death).
But despite knowing shortcuts that would get them both to school in seven minutes instead of fifteen, Tsuna does not mention any of it to his clueless brother. Perhaps it is because he does not want to give the information to the still-vicious Takahiro (despite the growing fondness he has for the brash boy), or perhaps it is because he knows that his body will not be able to handle the long jumps and sharp corners that comes with following those passages. But as they pass another alley that would have cut their travelling distance by half, Tsuna silently thinks in his head that perhaps it is because it would be good to see a family member once again, despite the parallel differences.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Luckily enough for the brothers, they both arrive at the school entrance just two minutes shy of homeroom. They do not stop running though (it is common knowledge to run; you are not safe from the resident prefect until you enter the classroom), and despite the feeling of disappointment that tugs at his heart, Tsuna is relieved. Maybe the gods have finally took pity on him and have decided to let him have one more day without any chaos –
"You are late, herbivores."
-Or maybe not.
Simultaneously, both Takahiro and Tsuna stop and turn to face the impassive one of Hibari Kyouya. (Once again, it is common knowledge. If you do not stop for Hibari Kyouya, he will stop you; if you turn your back on him – well, just pray that there will still be a body intact for you use when he is through with you).
Hastily, but in one smooth motion, Tsuna straightens his back and bows, clasping his hand on Takahiro's to do the same - the boy himself is too afraid to do much but stay still. And for all his arrogance, Tsuna's twin still has some of the ingrained intuition that comes with being a descendant of Giotto; the boy knows that he is in the presence of someone dangerous and that doing something obnoxious will probably be the end of him.
"I apologize, Hibari-senpai," Tsuna says in a quiet tone. His voice does not shake even once and his back does not waver. "It will not happen again,"
And he stays in that position, bowing for another minute before pulling himself up and dragging his stock-still brother away. The prefect has not said anything, but Tsuna knows Kyouya well enough that if a tonfa is not thrown at you twenty seconds after staying still, you are free to go.
With a grunt he gently shakes the wide-eyed Takahiro – but gets no response. Sighing at his luck, Tsuna grabs his brother by the collar and proceeds to drag the boy with some difficulty through the entrance, all the while trying to ignore the heated stare boring into his back from a certain prefect. Carefully, so that it is done without notice, Tsuna draws his aura closer within himself – tightening it into a tiny ball so that his presence is not as prominent. It will not do to catch the parallel Cloud's attention so quickly; the prefect back in his world had always transfixed himself to whatever interested him – and Tsuna has no plans on being that interest.
So he continues to struggle with the heavier weight of his brother and move forward, back towards the prefect now that permission has been granted. Step by step he moves on, all the while crushing down the tears that threaten to leap from his heart to his eyes and breathing evenly to clear his clogged, burning throat.
After all, his Cloud had been the first to leave his side, in the most painful and violent manner. Aged at twenty-one, Kyouya, in all his blood lust and pride, had been brought down by squads of mafia men that had come as reinforcements after the tonfa-user had eliminated over dozens of men single-handedly.
The former-prefect's body had been found one desperate week of searching later, in a ditch fifty miles away from the bloody battlefield.
Tsuna quickly shakes his head to rid all of his memories of his previous life and takes in a deep breath.
Though he does not want to approach the prefect (after all, this isn't his Hibari, the one he grew up and fought along with), Tsuna has long decided no one deserves a death like Kyouya's; the least he can do is watch over Hibari – and the rest of his family's parallels – from afar so that none of them will end up dead, like the way some of his loved ones have.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Three weeks later, Tsuna is starting believe that perhaps the gods actually have selective hearing. He has decided on watching his parallel family from afar, not up close and personal, but apparently that isn't how things work anymore.
After a whole month of staying in this new world, Tsuna is starting to get slightly used to it. He is slowly becoming more comfortable with his current body, and though it's painfully clear how not-male his body is when taking a shower and changing, he still looks like his former self, and that is a comfort enough for him.
"Sawada," Blinking away his straying thoughts, Tsuna rises from his seat and walks to the front to grab his test. The teacher, who goes by the name of Suzume-sensei, hands the paper over to him and comments in slight surprise, "Much better than before, Sawada. Keep up the good work."
Whispers break out into classroom as Tsuna gives a sincere, warm smile in thanks and heads back to his seat. Glancing at the red '70' blaring back at him, he smiles once more. His steady improvement in grades brings hardly any suspicion within the class - ever since his arrival he has taken to writing notes diligently and reviewing extra ones during breaks. His classmates are only slightly annoyed, and most of his teachers are more delighted than suspicious at another student improving under their tutelage.
(Nobody needs to know that the extra notes are actually complex ones on English that Tsuna has taken to reviewing. Though his Japanese and Italian are still perfect, he has decided that going over the languages he is still rusty at will probably help him in the long run).
Tucking the test neatly into his folder, Tsuna watches as his brother is called to the front as well. After looking expectantly at his paper, Takahiro gives a loud whoop at his 95 and grins wildly at the praises his classmates shower him with. It is at that moment that the two brothers meet each other's eyes and Tsuna gives a nod and a proud smile to his brother. Literature has always been a weak spot for Takahiro; the 95 is an achievement that probably has the boy proud beyond words. But despite the encouraging actions Tsuna has given, Takahiro in return simply scowls and looks sharply away, shoving his test none-too-gently into his bag.
(Tsuna considers it lucky that he is seated behind his twin; that way, the boy cannot see the bright grin Tsuna gives at the sight of his brother's redredred ears).
Four periods later finds Tsuna on the school's rooftop, eating his self-made bento and looking over his notes on sentence structures for the Chinese language. He has taken to eating on the rooftop during lunch because though the animosity from his classmates has somewhat dulled to neutrality, Tsuna sees no reason to stay in a stuffy room filled with chattering children when the roof has a brilliant view of the sky. Here, there is nothing but him and the open sky; and when he closes his eyes, Tsuna can just imagine himself back in his own world, where he was surrounded by his family, the people that he knew.
Hastily shaking his head to clear his head, Tsuna takes a bite of his slightly burned egg omelet and grimaces. He is going to have to do something about the quality of his lunches if it continues on like this. Though his mother usually packs a lunch, there has already been a few times where she has forgotten to do it in this month alone.
(Silently he hopes for himself and the Tsunayoshi of before that this Sawada Nana is just preoccupied with the oncoming soccer tournament that Takahiro will be partaking in, and that her forgetfulness is only temporary).
Sighing, Tsuna closes the lid of his bento and puts it to the side. He shifts to the right to find a more comfortable position and puts his notes away; perhaps a small nap will relieve his wayward thoughts. Raising his gaze to the blue sky, Tsuna briefly notices that a lot of fluffy clouds are filling it today. Speaking of clouds –
He feels a familiar warmth flaring into his stomach and –
With another sigh, Tsuna tilts slightly to the right, letting the flying tonfa embed itself into the concrete wall, barely missing his left ear by an inch.
And just for appearance sakes, he forces his body to scramble to its feet and widens his eyes just enough to let the prefect know he has been successfully startled. Turning, Tsuna blinks, unsurprised to see the impending figure that stands on the roof's ledge, perfectly balanced and staring at him with narrowed, dark eyes.
"Students of the Namimori Elementary School are not allowed to loiter on the roof without permission," Kyouya states coolly. "For breaking the school regulations, I will bite you to death."
Tsuna stares. Is it really against the rules to eat on the rooftop during lunch?
(Inwardly, Tsuna muses that the eyes that had watched him every day for the past three weeks during lunch had probably been HIbari's, and wonders why the prefect is calling him out on it now).
"I'm sorry, Hibari-senpai, I did not know. I will make sure to not to do it again." Smoothly picking up his forgotten notes and bento, Tsuna begins to walk slowly to the door that leads back to the school, still facing the prefect. (He again pushes back the familiar feeling of overwhelming nostalgia at seeing a face that he had long accepted to be dead -).
"Herbivore," He winces silently at the burning look in Hibari's eyes. He should know better than to assume Hibari would let him go unharmed for a second time. Reflexively, Tsuna double checks his flames and presence (both have been suppressed to match a normal child's), and shakes his head. It doesn't matter how far he suppresses himself. Hibari – no matter the world – has always had a sixth sense for powerful people.
(And though his body here is pathetically week, he still cannot seem to hide his inner strength that was cultivated and used ever since he became a mafia boss; it is probably that presence that has caught the prefect's notice).
Once again, Tsuna tilts his head to the left, still musing over his Cloud in his thoughts; the whoosh of Hibari's other tonfa flies by him not a second later.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi -" Tsuna widens his eyes in surprise. The Kyouya of his world had not called him by his own name until much, much later into their lives. "- is a pathetic herbivore, age ten, with below average grades and an equally pathetic herbivore for a brother,"
Tsuna stays absolutely silent as the prefect narrows his eyes.
"But you are not her." Twitching slightly at being called a 'her,' Tsuna nevertheless gives a small smile that is completely sincere. He is not really that surprised at Hibari's suspicion; even before the prefect had moved on to the middle school (which he remembers brought much celebration to the elementary one), Kyouya had taken to watching over the school and its students very carefully. It will only be a few years before Hibari extends his boundaries to the whole town as well.
"No, Hibari-senpai," And it is only through knowing him for years that Tsuna sees the slight twitch of Hibari's hands – there is no doubt that the prefect is itching to kill him. "I have just grown up. I am still Sawada Tsunayoshi."
Which isn't a lie; he is still Sawada Tsunayoshi, just not of this world. And when the prefect narrows his eyes even further, Tsuna knows that the prefect can sense nothing but honesty from his words.
And then the prefect is gone, suddenly appearing right next to Tsuna with his tonfas returned to his hands and swinging his right hand down. Tsuna only has a mere second to dodge the blow, but he is not completely successful, as the tonfa's blade grazes against his arm and leaves a tear in his uniform.
Sighing once more at his luck, Tsuna dodges another blow with a sharp turn of his body to the left. They continue like this for a while, with Hibari gradually increasing the speed of his blows and Tsuna just barely avoiding the hits.
(Tsuna doesn't even bothering trying to protest against the prefect's sudden aggression. He knows he'll get no answers and walking away from the fight would probably anger the prefect and not appease).
But Hibari is anything but patient. With each dodge, Tsuna can feel the strain in his body and knows that the growing aggression in each of Hibari's blows won't stop until something stops Hibari.
And despite the lack of grace and efficiency the future Hibari will have, this Hibari is still ridiculously deadly with – and without - his tonfas. Against Tsuna's much weaker and slower body, Tsuna knows he has no chance of stopping the prefect. So he spares a glance at the clock on the school's tower (and sacrifices a piece of his uniform to do so) and finds with relief that lunch will be over in just a minute.
In a single desperate move, Tsuna ducks under another quick swipe for his head and sweeps his feet under the prefect. Hibari jumps up, but Tsuna is already expecting that, and in one swift motion, flips and kicks up, barely catching the prefect's moving feet and causing him to stumble. Hibari in turn lands smoothly on one hand and jumps to move on his feet.
But Tsuna takes that slight distraction to dash for the door (picking up his strewn things in his running) and calls out to the glaring prefect,
"Sorry, Hibari-senpai, but class is starting right now and I don't want to be late so I'llseeyoulaterokaybye!"
And then in the midst of his rush, Tsuna trips and falls down the stairs leading to the floor below, but he doesn't mind. He's had worse, and the pain is nothing compared to the amount he would've gotten if he had stayed and the prefect hadn't let him go.
(He knows he is not fast enough to run away from Hibari, so it is only obvious that the prefect had let him – mercifully – go this time).
When Tsuna enters the classroom just a few minutes late, he is glad that he doesn't gather much attention despite his tattered uniform and the various bruises and cuts littering his body. The English teacher only raises his eyebrow while, surprisingly enough, Takahiro turns and stares at with a strange expression on his face. Tsuna gives a reassuring smile to his twin, who in return scoffs and looks away.
But throughout the rest of the day, when Tsuna sees Takahiro glancing back more than once in his direction, he can't help but smile brightly.
Perhaps his twin is finally starting to warm up to him.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Or perhaps not, Tsuna thinks, when he is shoved to the side by his sneering brother at the end of day. But it doesn't matter; because if there is one thing he wants to do most in this world – besides watching over his Family – it is to know his twin better.
Tsuna has seen Takahiro's eyes and they are filled with arrogance and innocence. But behind all that confidence is a pool of bitterness and perhaps loneliness as well, so it makes Tsuna wonder who Takahiro truly is.
(The least Tsuna can do is be a brother that his twin can rely on, right?)
-o-o-o-o-o-
With an exhausted sigh, Tsuna opens his front door and enters the Sawada household. Trudging up the stairs and heading straight to the bathroom for a shower, he stops briefly in surprise to see Takahiro already up and getting ready for school.
It has been two months since his first 'fight' with Hibari, and ever since then, Tsuna has received 'permission' to go to the rooftop every day during lunch.
And so every single day during lunch, Tsuna plays a game of 'Whack the Tsunayoshi' with Hibari for a good twenty minutes before the prefect is satisfied and leaves without a word.
(Tsuna considers it lucky and strangely very nice of Hibari to give him the rest of the period to eat his – still badly cooked – bento and study his notes).
But after month and a half of senseless beatings and tattered uniforms, Tsuna decides that just an hour and a half run around Namimori is not enough; he is sick of having to sew his uniform every day after his mother had forgotten to do it for him.
(To his utter horror, Tsuna finds that after sewing his clothes up every day, he has become rather proficient at sewing. As in doing it well).
So it is with much moaning and self pep-talks that Tsuna begins to redo Reborn's first training regimen with him in his previous life. Along with a two hour run around the town in the afternoon, Tsuna now has begun to run for an hour in the morning as well, and go over different kata forms after. Tsuna usually returns at around 7:30, giving him time to shower (something his female body absolutely adored to do) and get ready.
Which is why Tsuna is so surprised; Takahiro rarely gets up on time, and waking up an hour before school was always perceived as impossible for his twin to do.
But, no, Takahiro is still there, changing into his school clothes that and, after a few minutes of staring, turns and jumps at the sight of his brother. Takahiro gives a yelp and hastily pulls his head into the shirt.
"What are you doing here?" Takahiro asks scathingly after regaining his bearings and putting on his shirt properly.
"Good morning, Taka-kun." Tsuna replies quietly in return and gives a small smile. But there is, as always, firmness in his voice that seems to make Takahiro straighten his back unconsciously.
"Good morning," His twin grumbles and when he sees Tsuna blink in surprise, snaps. "And don't call me Taka-kun! I'm not a baby!"
"Of course, Taka-kun," Tsuna agrees contently, knowing that his brother truly does not mind what Tsuna calls him. "What are you doing up so early?"
"It's none of your business!" Takahiro snaps back, and glares at Tsuna, folding his arms against his chest. "What are you doing up so early?"
"Running," He answers truthfully, and heads for the bathroom. "I felt myself getting fat."
Smiling at Takahiro's snort and annoyed mutter of 'Girls,' Tsuna enters the bathroom and begins to take off his clothes.
Closing his eyes, he enters the shower and sighs in bliss. He is beginning to understand why girls always take so long in the shower – it is a brilliant experience.
(And in the back of his mind, Tsuna thinks briefly that perhaps it isn't so bad: living in a new world, and in a greater sense, being a female).
~0~0~0~
I thought it would be best to explain the reasoning for the switch of souls earlier on, so that our dear Tsunayoshi doesn't worry about the original Tsuna of this world.
The two have switched because of a certain malfunction when Tsuna was supposed to be led to the afterlife, but instead his soul was tugged in the opposite direction to the closest parallel world. (Of course, there may have been a darker reason behind the switch but... my fingers are sealed).
And of course, since this world is the closest to his own, there will be almost no changes in the two worlds, besides the fact that Tsuna's now well, a girl. But as the story progresses, the more AU the world will (hopefully) become. So - eventual AU, most likely.
I actually had some trouble writing this chapter, and it seems a bit choppy, so any suggestions or grammar point outs would be lovely.
Present tense was a killer for this one.
There probably will be a time skip sometime during the next chapter, or the one after that. (If I ever do get that far - crosses fingers - ).
Thoughts?
Regards,
Searching. For. Enadi.