Chapter 2

Tsuna poked a slice of carrot with a fork, knowing how impolite he was being. He felt his father's gaze on him from time to time, trying to catch his eye. He didn't look up, ignoring him knowingly. He knew how he was supposed to eat properly. They were in the huge manor after all with important people around them. Usually Tsuna was good-mannered but who could have concentrated on manners if there was a constant churning feeling inside of them. Like something wanted to get out but couldn't because it was imprisoned inside the body.

A sixteen-year-old boy felt sick, he couldn't eat. Everything he wanted to do was throw up, have a long shower and then go to sleep and stay under the covers until it was a late afternoon. Inside his mind the boy sighed. He couldn't do that here, right?

Tsuna speared the carrot into the fork, putting it into his mouth. It tasted like an ash no matter how expensive those carrots must've been. Forcefully he shewed the vegetable and swallowed it. This time it didn't get stuck to his throat. He could continue eating.

"Do you like the food, Tsunayoshi-kun?"

Tsuna rose his head towards the voice to see the old man with white hair and kind brown eyes smiling at him. He was a nice grandpa, Tsuna's dad's boss like Iemitsu had earlier declared, so Tsuna didn't want to disappoint him. After all he was the one who'd given a permission for Tsuna to come and live in the enormous mansion with his father. Not that Tsuna had agreed with the move whole heartedly but he had had no choice.

The situation had called it so there had been nothing to say against his father. Right?

"It's good, thank you," he said politely, smiling a little. But the smile felt strained even for him. Like anyone in the room would believe him.

Still, Timoteo smiled back looking pleased. Tsuna was relieved the old man hadn't pushed the issue any further and his dad hadn't either. They hadn't talked about it with Iemitsu yet, only few words here and there because of the funeral. Those words couldn't have been avoided no matter how much Tsuna'd have liked to stay distant to his "dad". The man hadn't been present in his life for past five years, anyway. Only now he had come back, after a too long silence with no other communication but ridiculous postcards of penguins and camels. And even those had been bullshit. Now they were in Italy, in a mansion of his dad's boss which meant his dad worked mostly there, not in Arabic or South Pole or what so ever.

That one thought made Tsuna want to rage at his sorry excuse of a father but every time he'd tried to collect his anger, put it together, he'd started to feel so tired. So close to breaking down that he'd simply decided to let it go and say what he had to say some other time.

That other time was yet to come.

Maybe he'd be able to recover now that he was in the Vongola mansion, the name his dad had told him before they'd took a flight from Namimori airport to Sicily. Tsuna had no idea what Vongola actually was, if he believed his father's words of it being a big, worldwide company, but they sure were rich. Every ounce of the old manor was covered with gold, silver and marble. Even his new room he'd seen before dinner was huge, enough for three people to live at the same time. And it was all his. Tsuna could see how his mom would have been excited of all of this. How everything was so beautiful, exotic and new. Tsuna tried his best to feel the same, for Nana, but every time he tried to think the place as his new home, he remembered his old, smaller and plainer one which held more good memories than any other place did.

Actually, he was a little bit afraid he'd start to think the manor as his home and forget the one in Japan where he'd lived with his mom. Just the two of them, happily enough. He'd been bullied through his life so he didn't have any friends to whom to talk so Nana had been the only light in his life. The only one that had been able to rise him up from the dark place called the world. Reality. Whenever he'd come home after a good beating, his mom had been worried sick, treating his wounds and then smiled, taking all sadness away. That had been the only reason he'd been able to wake up every morning and go back to the hell they called school, the place to start your future. It hadn't meant that to Tsuna with his low grades and uncooperative teachers who refused to teach someone as stupid as him.

Yet his mom had still believed in him even after all the disappointment he'd brought to her. She'd praised him when he'd gotten a little better grade than before after putting some effort into the test. No one else noticed it so he'd given up trying but that one time had absolutely been worth it. The proud smile on her lips was something he held as the most precious memory of his mother.

So when Iemitsu had told him, after the guests had left, that he'd take Tsuna with him, he'd had mixed feelings. That it was his duty as a parent to look after him. Tsuna was still underage and couldn't live alone, take care of himself. He knew he was supposed to be thankful or something but he seriously couldn't. Why would he be thankful for being thought as a duty? A responsibility but not as a loved son. Did his father really want him or was it just an act? Something to tend the regret he felt after leaving his only son without father for such a long time.

Once again one more reason to get angry about but Tsuna couldn't. He sighed, this time out loud. He just wanted to sleep all the fatigue away and forget any of this had happened. Maybe he'd wake up in his own room in Japan to the smell of his mom's delicious breakfast. Everything would be normal. Like the hell at school but normal and happy at home.

He really missed her.

Why did it have to be her?

Why not him? Why not his father? He didn't care about him. His mom had done nothing wrong to deserve such a fate.

Tsuna lowered his utensils, not being able to eat anymore. Not only the food still tasted like ash but his hands felt sweaty and he thought he saw something red on his palms. Quickly he hid his hands under the white tablecloth, not caring if his hands really were red and would spoil the pure, untouched white.

"...th, Tsuna?" Tsuna snapped out of his thoughts, realizing he'd been dozing off. His eyes focused once again to see a blond man with a goofy grin looking at him, not really seeing his son. Tsuna shook his head, trying to get rid of negative thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" His dad's face fell comically.

"Eeeh? Tsuna, didn't you listen to daddy?" Tsuna rolled his eyes at his idiotic father who was wiping away false tears. He was trying too much to pretend everything was normal. That they still were at Japan, that Nana was still alive and everything was like after his come back from his stupid job. Tsuna still didn't know what the man actually did for living but he would bet his life he actually wasn't working traffic at construction sites. Not when his boss was such a rich fart.

"Just get on with it," Tsuna said, not wanting to spare any more time to his dad. Iemitsu once again looked like a kicked puppy but got serious when he got a look from Timoteo. It didn't go unnoticed from Tsuna.

"As I was saying, I'm gonna enrol you to the local school tomorrow and I think you can start next week. Isn't that great?" He had a wide grin on. Tsuna, on the other hand, had his mouth open in shock.

"What? A school?" he asked with a small voice. He didn't want to go to school. It'd be hell. He'd still be Dame-Tsuna. And he didn't even know any Italian. He couldn't learn new language in such a short time. Oh, he would be so dead.

Then Tsuna relaxed. Well, that was at least something he was used to. Being bullied, being the zero. The language barrier didn't mean anything, he'd fail all his tests anyway and maybe it was better not to understand all taunts he'd get from his future classmates. He resisted the urge to smirk grimly.

His dad really didn't know anything about him, huh?

"Yep." Iemitsu still hadn't noticed Tsuna's serious, unwilling face. "You yourself gave your permission on the way here, remember?"

Tsuna simply stared at the man, not understanding. Had given his permission? When exactly was that? Then he remembered hearing his dad saying something to him while he'd looked out of the window of the fine, black car they'd been in. He'd heard his voice but not words. He didn't remember much about the trip anyway, he'd been so into his thoughts back then. He'd even skipped half of the scenery they'd passed and he remembered he hadn't wanted to listen to his father at the moment so he had simply nodded, happy that the talking had ceased.

It had been his own mistake then. Maybe he should start to listen people more.

"Yeah, okay," he simply said and turned away, looking at the meal which had still half of it left.

"You should eat that," his dad said continuing with his own portion. Tsuna nodded but didn't touch the plate. He just waited, listening to the foreign language his dad and Timoteo'd started to use. He didn't understand a word so he let soft notes of Italian go in from one ear and out of the other. It was lulling, even though the pace of conversation was heated.

Chairs scratched the floor when other people by the table started to stand up. Tsuna followed the example. "Thank you for the food, Nono," his father said with a polite smile. The old man nodded with a smile of his own. "Where're the others?"

"Ah, Xanxus didn't want to eat in the presence of 'trash' like he nicely expressed, Federico's in a meeting with an allied family and I think Massimo went somewhere with his friends. Hopefully not gambling." The old man looked stern and Iemitsu laughed once again. Tsuna followed the conversation not knowing who they were talking about so instead he let his gaze travel around the big hall they'd just arrived.

He already knew big stairs in the middle of the hall led to upstairs where his room was situated as well as his father's room. He didn't know about the other rooms but there'd been many indeed. The whole manor looked like a place Tsuna could easily get lost. It was better not to roam around.

He followed two men upstairs to the second floor where Timoteo left them with a happy good-bye. Then suddenly Tsuna realized he was on the third floor, alone. His dad had already gone to his own room without Tsuna noticing. Not that he minded. The brunet went to his own room, hardly remembering which of the countless doors lead to it.

Finally he found the right one and went in. Suddenly he had a feeling he had to stop to the doorway for a while and just take everything in. It was his room. His. And it was so huge. The walls were brown, as well as floor and roof, though they were lighter shade. The huge king size bed was big enough to have at least three grown men sleep in it without problem. Its head board was also fancy: dark oak and carvings. The bedcovers were white, golden and brown as well as the curtains which hung in front of windows that were from the floor up to the ceiling. It was too big, too spacious. Tsuna didn't feel like home.

In Namimori he had had a normal sized room with bluish wallpapers. Not that the color of them was seen under many anime posters he had hanged on the walls. His room had been suitable for a teenage boy, this hardly was. It didn't look like Tsuna. He wasn't this great, as neat as the room wanted him to be. He wanted to rip old pieces of art off the walls, break the full-length mirror near his bed and throw his stuff around the floor.

The state the room was now in felt suffocating. Too proper and pretentious. It was beautiful yeah, but it wasn't Tsuna's. It was someone else's room. Tsuna just borrowed it for a while.

Slowly Tsuna went to sit on his bed, not liking how soft the mattress felt under him. He grabbed the cover into his fists, squeezing it until he felt nails on his palms. He closed his eyes and tried to tell himself he liked the place. He'd get used to it. His mom'd want so.

"I'm fine," he whispered out loud. Sometimes talking to himself helped him tolerate some situations he didn't like. For example, when someone called him with names, he told himself they weren't true or soon he'd get home. Now he was fine. Definitely okay. He was happy in his new home and his mother would be proud of him.

Tsuna took a deep breath, stood up and was about to go to the shower when his gaze met brown, tired eyes. It was a full-length mirror.

Tsuna swallowed with difficulty, looking the small teenager from head to toe with judging gaze. The clothes the boy wore were anything but appropriate to the environment he was staying in now. His black t-shirt was two sizes two big when he'd have bet it'd been quite fit only few months ago. His blue jeans had a small hole around the knee and his red sneakers had definitely seen better days.

Most saddening part of the boy was his eyes which looked like they hadn't rested for years. There were dark bags under both hazel eyes. He also looked quite pale under overgrown messy bangs. And he was so thin. When had he become so thin? When had he looked into the mirror last time?

He couldn't look at that person any longer. It sickened him. No wonder no one liked him at school if he looked like that. He was just about to turn away when he noticed the reflection becoming hazy, blacker around where his face had been just a moment ago. He stared when he realized he was looking at someone's chest, covered with a black suit, white dress shirt and a tie. He opened his mouth, then closed again.

It was a man. A blond man with piercing blue eyes that felt like tearing Tsuna's soul out in the open, not leaving anything into shadows. They were blue like the Sky outside, like the sky that felt too heavy on his shoulders sometimes. So did the gaze.

But his eyes widened only when he realized the man looked a lot like him or at least how he used to look like before. Only a lot older and healthier. But as tired. So tired.

The man in the mirror looked straight back at Tsuna and the boy couldn't take his eyes off. It was like he was mesmerized. Unconsciously he felt his breath shudder every time he exhaled. The spell broke only when the man turned fully at him, placing a hand on a surface of the mirror, the tiredness in his eyes turning into something else. Something more positive.

Tsuna snapped out of his thoughts, realizing the absurdness of the situation. There was a man inside the freaking mirror. No, it was impossible. There was no way someone could do that. It was ridiculous. The reality wasn't some fantasy book. If it was, then dead people could also come back from death. That hadn't happened yet no matter how much Tsuna'd prayed, no matter what he had promised to give away for his mother's life.

So there couldn't be a person behind the surface of the mirror either.

He resisted the urge look behind him. He didn't want to take his eyes off of the stranger. Hallucination. His eyes were performing tricks, playing with his mind. It wasn't funny, it was only scary.

He was starting to see things that didn't exist.

But he wasn't crazy. No, he wasn't. Tsuna shook his head mentally, willing the thought go away from his head. The man was not there. He did not exist. Tsuna was just tired.

Yes, he was really tired and he wanted to sleep. Then the blond man would go away.

It had to go away.

It was all his imagination.

It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real.

He hadn't realized how his hands had started to shake. Was he nervous? He was afraid. His head was spinning, everything felt unreal.

He had to be dreaming.

He took few steps towards the mirror, seeing surprised look in those dangerous, blue eyes. No, his hallucination's eyes. "You're not really here," he whispered, not admitting talking to the weird reflection was the first sign of becoming mental. He just thought that saying things aloud would make them more real. So would they also make him a little out of his mind? No, no way. "And I'm not crazy!"

He left the room, running. He didn't know why he was running. Suddenly he had had this urge to get as far away from the guy as he could. He opened the first door he saw, fumbling with the lock when he was inside. When he heard a relieving click, he sled down to the white tiles and breathed.

Inhale, exhale, in, out. One, two, three, four... Everything was okay. He isn't real. He isn't.

The world started to whirl around. His breathing didn't want to stay regular. He put his head into his knees, closing his eyes. Nausea was still present from the food he'd forced himself to eat. Also the situation from before had been so absurd and when he added also the fatigue to all that it was no wonder he started to see white spots around his closed eyelids. Breathe in, breathe out. Everything was okay.

"I'm just imagining things." He almost didn't hear his own voice but he was quite sure he'd said it aloud. "When I go back in, it's not there."

Tsuna didn't know how much time had passed when he was finally able to stand up without his knees giving in and he tumbled under a hot shower. He stood there, leaning to the elegant tiled wall staring to the distance with unseeing eyes. The image of a blond man was burned into his retina, refusing to live him alone. And those blue eyes, they haunted him more than anyone else's eyes he'd ever seen.

He squeezed his fists tightly shut, feeling his nails digging deeper to the skin. It hurt, it really did but it also helped him think. Get pictures out of his head. Blue eyes, red, brown eyes. Tsuna clapped a hand to his mouth, eyes wide. Disgusting taste of vomit burned his throat and before he could stop himself he had his dinner on the floor, flushing to the sewer with soapy water.

He was shaking from head to toe feeling weak and tired. He felt his energy being drawn out of him when he struggled to get his clothes on, not bothering to dry his hair before dressing. When he opened the door for the first time after his quick escape he didn't even bother to check if there still stood a man, looming over his own smaller figure. He simply fell to the bed, imagining piercing eyes on his back since he wasn't facing the cursed mirror.

He'd look tomorrow if there was anyone anymore.

Obviously there wouldn't be since everything was caused by his fatigue. He hadn't slept well for a long time. Even now he knew he wouldn't get enough sleep since he always kept waking up from the nightmares. Vivid ones at that.

Those dreams were always covered with red.

The brunet closed his eyes, falling into the darkness in a second.

A/N: A lot of insanity here. But now I think you all understand Tsuna's reaction better. This, indeed, is AU and Tsuna's not the boss which means he also doesn't know about the Mafia. Yet, Vongola's still there. He's staying at the Vongola manor. He's just not part of it and I seriously don't know how Iemitsu thought he'd keep that fact from Tsuna that he's living with the Italian Mafia. Well, he's an idiot, anyway.

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