WARNINGS: None this chapter.
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Chapter One - Beginning
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The intricately carved oak door flew open and smashed into the cream yellow wall with a resounding crash, bringing the attention of the office's occupant up from his mounds of paperwork. A scruffy teenager stumbled in, trying to make the rips in his short white sleeves as inconspicuous as possible.
"I thought I said not to disturb my work, idiot! Can't you listen to simple orders?!" the equally young figure at the mahogany desk hissed, jabbing at one of the documents viciously with his expensive fountain pen. It resulted in a blotch of black-indigo ink on the dotted line under the elegant cursive signature.
He hated this desk job he was stuck with, but he was well aware of his standings in the clan. All he could do was grin and bear it while the enquiries were dealt with.
Exasperated, he ran a hand bearing several skull rings through his near silver-gray hair that hung about his seemingly perpetually angry face.
"Yeah, I heard what you said, but Gokudera, there's-"
"Don't address me so casually!" Hayato Gokudera ordered through gritted teeth, slamming his hands onto his desk. The stacks of paper wavered from the tremor. His forehead was pulsing with irritation. "Since I'm your supervisor I'm technically your superior so I will not humour this kind of behaviour!"
His day has just gone from fine to bad then worse.
First he was assigned a whole stack of papers that must be sent back to Italy by the end of the day (it wasn't even his department). Very well, he could handle that. Then he had the delight to find out that some fresh half-vampire was assigned to him for reasons unexplained ("I don't know why. I'm just doing what the heads tell me," said the bulky grunt that lugged the new burden to his door early that morning). Worst of all, the half was some sort of brain-dead idiot who didn't believe he was turned and thought all this was some sort of game.
A game!
The nerve of this Takeshi Yamamoto!
The sigh that left him was more befitting to an aged grandfather. With one hand, he kneaded his forehead to force himself into a semi-calm state of mind.
He should have never left Italy.
"Calm down, Gokudera. There's no need to get so uptight. I just thought you should know-"
"Uptight?!" The scruffy teen continued to approach the desk and the enraged person behind it without a care.
"Yeah, you kind of are right now, but what I'm trying to tell you-"
"I am not uptight! What are you trying to start, bastard?!" A fist beat down on the poor innocent desk again. The stacks of paper shook perilously.
"I'm not trying to start anything, honest. Can you chill and listen for a sec?"
"You-!"
Gokudera paused and gave a tentative sniff, picking up the heavy metallic scent that hung around the idiot in front of him like an over-application of cologne.
If possible, his expression became even more enraged.
"You went out and fed?! You're still a half and a fresh one on top of that! Did it pass through your mind how dangerous it could be if something went wrong?! You don't even know how to seal wounds yet! I tell you to stay in the area and you had to go and attack some random human on the street?!"
In the span of Gokudera's furious scolding, the stack of paper decided it could no longer stand the injustice of the poor desk's treatment and fell over sideways in not-completely-silent protest.
Sputtering with fury, rage and who knows what else, Gokudera stood up from his seat and swept up most of the papers, dumping them unceremoniously in the box labelled 'In'. The rest had taken refuge in the tiny gap between the bottom of the desk and the marble flooring.
"Look," Gokudera hissed, jabbing Yamamoto hard in the shoulder, "I don't have the time to deal with you right now, tell me what the hell is your problem in ten words or less and then get the hell out of here, I'll deal with it later."
Yamamoto almost opened up his mouth to argue but decided to be mildly rational and told him in as few words as possible what had happened in the alleyway. He scratched his head sheepishly afterwards, looking at his 'supervisor's' expression in hopes he understood.
The twitch in Gokudera's eyebrow was not a happy sign.
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"Voooooooi! Why the hell are we doing this again?!" the displeased vampire known as Squallo hollered through the sound of the wind rushing past his ears as he darted from rooftop to rooftop with inhuman speed.
"Levi accidentally disposed of our 'housewarming gift', remember? We can't possibly go through negotiations with that sort of man without one. What I don't see though," replied the little figure in the black cloak that seemed to be soaring through the air without support of any kind, "is why we don't just go and buy one off the underground market. It's far easier than looking for a replacement so aimlessly in town. Besides, no human would wander into this area at this hour unless they were touched in the head."
The area they were currently travelling through was renowned for its shady nature. The humanfolk ascribed the occasional murders to mafia and yakuza dealings but any creature of the night could tell this was vampire territory. Even the respectable office-like buildings at the fringes were run and owned by vampire clans.
"Are you going to pay for it, Marmon?" the blond Belphegor quipped, catching up to the two in the front. The narrow arc of a metallic crown nestled in his hair glinted with a crisp sharpness in the fading sunlight.
Marmon sneered and carried on without another word.
The orange-blue sky behind them was dotted with black figures flitting through the air after them. They moved in uniform silence in such high velocities that the dwindling amount of passer-bys below did not have the time to notice them.
"Vooooi! This is going to take all sunset! I'm going to bash Levi's head in when we're back at headquarters!"
Belphegor's snickering was interrupted when a delicious scent made itself known to him. The fabled 'Prince the Ripper' of the Varia squadron was, as the rumours told, the most sensitive when it came to blood.
He broke out in a devilish grin and skid to a stop on the slanted tiled rooftop he had just touched down on.
The rest of them came to a halt three rooftops away and reassembled on top of the surrounding buildings. Some even perched on top of lampposts. Squallo and Marmon dropped down on the faded red shingles on each side of the snickering Prince.
"What's the big deal stopping all of a sudden like that?!" Squallo growled, flicking a long lock of hair over his shoulder. He let the unsheathed blade affixed to his left hand drag over the overlapping tiles. Marmon hovered at eye level and noticed the object of Belphegor's attention.
"Found it," the blond said with a singsong voice brimming with glee.
The Prince ceased his light sniggering and drew out a small curved knife from the folds of his jacket. He pointed it down at the bench under the leafy green tree in the street below, more specifically to the person laying on it.
With a fluid motion, he let it fly, slicing the air. In a fraction of a second, the tip of the blade embedded itself with only the slightest of sound a hair's breadth above the head of spiked brown hair.
The squad recognised this command and executed it in a single synchronized movement. With their faces were hidden deep in their large hoods, they descended from the buildings each as anonymous as the next.
Like a cloud of locusts they struck.
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Tsuna was dreaming. He was dreaming of a time not long ago. Not long ago being just before he dashed into the dense crowd in a mad escape the same sweltering afternoon of today.
School had ended for the trimester.
"Ahh," Tsuna sighed, stretching his aching arms up towards the cloudless sky. He was the last one to leave the classroom as his friendly classmates had dumped the job of the last clean up on him. He hoped he won't have to see another mop for a long time.
A long time had passed since he was ditched with the job and he would've been on his merry way home earlier if Tsuna had not the need to rush back to his classroom, remembering last second that he had forgotten to close all of the windows. Now that he had finished up, the fresh air, though unbelievably thick from the heat, was heaven to him and that's why he was still standing there just outside the front doors of his school, savouring the sense of freedom that the beginning of summer vacation brings.
In the distance, hidden by many buildings and a couple of skyscrapers, the sun was setting with a soothing orange glow, taking the warmth of its light with it.
Wisely, Tsuna pulled on the black knitted sweater vest that his school issued which he always kept in his school bag. The days were warm, sometimes unbearably hot, but the nights could grow ridiculously cold. It puzzled him how this could be.
He turned towards the school building and smiled, knowing that he would not have to see it for a while. He wouldn't miss it for sure though he had to admit there were some days when school was partially tolerable even if these were rare and far between.
His expression chastened at the thought.
"Feeling sappy?" said a voice from directly behind him.
Tsuna whirled around, throwing his own balance off from the movement and toppled backwards onto his behind.
"Ow!" he exclaimed, both from falling onto the ground and the kick to his forehead.
The little guy who dealt this blow bounced back from the impact and landed lightly on his polished shoes, a grin tugging at the corners of his small mouth.
"Reborn! What was that for?!"
"You should know better than to stand around dazed and defenceless like that," the little guy, Reborn, replied, fixing his hat, on which his reptilian companion, Leon the Shape-shifting chameleon, rested on, more firmly to his head of black hair.
"What do you want, Reborn?" Tsuna sighed, getting to his feet. Whenever Reborn went to look for him, he always wanted something or other.
"You know you're going to have to succeed the Vongola clan someday."
"Not this again, no matter how many times you say it, my answer is still no," the brunet stated firmly, beating the dust from his pants. "I like my humanity, there's no way I'm going to throw it away to be a vampire."
Apparently, when the first head of the Vongola clan in Italy had retired, he had relocated to Japan. And through several generations, Tsuna was born carrying a miniscule amount of that blood in him. Usually this would mean the latent supernatural powers the blood contained would lie dormant within his body, harmless.
It must have been a fluke or someone's bad sense of humour that these genetics did not remain as docile as he had hoped. He was by no means a vampire but he was not quite as human as he appeared.
"You can't pretend forever, Tsuna. The Blood of the Vongola is not to be taken lightly even in such small amounts. The vampire genetics is an aggressive strain. Once it is activated it'll only get stronger. You already have one foot through the door to the other side. It's only a matter of time."
Tsuna clenched one hand into a tightly furled fist. His soft brown eyes connected with Reborn's steely black pupils. The dying sunlight reflected for an instant off the slightly protruding white canines in the one-year-old's mouth.
"I don't care. Someone can do the job for me. That's not what I want to do with my life."
Not that I know what I want to do with my life, Tsuna added inwardly.
He hitched the strap of his bag more comfortably on his shoulder and headed for the school gate, bypassing the much smaller Reborn in quick strides.
With a swift split-second leap, Reborn was standing on one of the cement posts that marked the entrance to the school grounds.
"Stupid Tsuna, you know that no one is left to take the job. That's why you have to take it. Because you're the last of the last," Reborn chided. From the insides of his black suit coat, he drew out a cream-coloured envelope and held it out to Tsuna.
"What's this?" he inquired suspiciously, taking it gingerly from the little guy.
"It's from the Ninth in Italy," Reborn answered as Tsuna broke the wax seal, opened the envelope and pulled out the sheaf of stationary tucked inside. Upon unfolding it, the centre of the decorative border at the top alit with a candlelight-sized flame of orange.
Tsuna almost dropped it in his surprise.
"What the-?"
"It's the Ninth's seal. A Dying Will flame." Tsuna shuffled through the paper and squinted at the elegant cursive that remained unintelligible to him.
"I can't read this at all."
"That's because it's in Italian."
"Then why did you give it to me?!" Tsuna exclaimed, miffed. He put the papers back in their original order and carefully stuffed them into the envelope.
"Those are the Ninth's orders concerning your first duty to the Vongola clan. He wants you to assist the special squadron he had assigned to Japan's branch headquarters with a negotiation concerning an alliance with the most influential clan dominating most of this country in the last couple of years. It's just a precaution, to play nice and avoid potential conflicts."
"Look. You can quit trying to make me…make me convert. I'm never going to do it. Not now, not ever! Get that into your head, okay?! Negotiations? What could I even do?! What you need is a lawyer, not some middle school kid who obviously doesn't want to be involved!" Tsuna yelled, his blood boiling. "You never care about what I think about all this, always making me do things against my will, biting me-"
Tsuna paused, a shiver had run down his spine from the thought. He remembered how weird, disoriented he felt after he got bitten.
The rush of adrenaline that coursed through his veins.
All his limits suddenly unrestrained.
The feel of first flight—
He shook his head clear of those betraying thoughts. He was breathing heavily now as if he had just finished a marathon in an impossibly short amount of time. The tainted blood in him stirred sluggishly.
"I'm going home, Reborn. Mom will be worried so…so I guess I'll see you later." Tsuna ran a wearily, trembling hand through his brown locks and stepped out onto the sidewalk. The world seemed to bend and distort around him.
Reborn called out to him from behind.
"Tsuna. The person who you're meeting with his name is-"
Even in the folds of sleep, Tsuna could feel a minor disturbance. Something wasn't right but he was too tired, too weak to care.
"I said I'm not going!" Tsuna yelled and took off into the distance. He ran aimlessly, desperate to get away.
No.
He wasn't running away from the little guy, even if Reborn had so listlessly invaded his life and brought with him a world he never knew or cared for.
He was running away from something even more terrifying than that.
Away from those feelings of joy, of freedom and excitement.
The feelings he had when the vampire within had taken over.
In his blind sprint of escape, he was nearing areas with high concentrations of people; his peaked instincts told him so. Startled, he skidded to a stop; his speed had escalated enough to leave a burning skid mark on the sidewalk. A few months back, he wouldn't have imagined being able to run so fast and so far.
His breaths came out in short pants though not from his mad dash. A minivan rattled past him on the road.
He didn't dare run again in fear that someone might see and settled for a brisk march as he walked in the busiest district, head down, merging with crowd around him.
It was then that he heard the ragged breaths from the alleyway blocks away.
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The darkening street echoed with the clatter of shoes on pavement as Gokudera and Yamamoto returned to the site where the latter had left the poor unconscious boy. Long shadows cast along the walls around them. A lamppost overhead flickered on.
"I can't believe you just left the human outside! And with an open wound to make things worse! It's a wonder that you haven't been caught!" Gokudera growled, setting the pace with his quick long strides.
He hooked a finger on his black tie and loosened it. With the coat unbuttoned, the stuffiness that swamped him all day lowered marginally.
"I just thought you wouldn't appreciate a stranger in your room, is all," Yamamoto interjected with much prudence. The usual good natured expression was dampened with concern for the kid who probably saved him from doing something regrettable.
He'd have to thank him properly when he got the chance.
"People these days. Getting stupider by the generation…" Gokudera grumbled under his breath, groping his jacket's inner pocket for the pack of cigarettes he kept in there. This proved to be fruitless as he remembered momentarily that he had dumped it hastily into his drawer when the thug had barged with the idiot during one of his breaks.
Who cared if there was a little smoke in the building? It's not like anyone was alive enough to die from second-hand smoking.
"Ciaossu."
"R-Reborn-san!" the half-Italian exclaimed as the little vampire landed on his shoulder with practised ease. "What brings you here at this hour? How is the Tenth?"
"Just a few loose ends to tie. Tsuna is being a problem as usual. He didn't take the news of his orders well."
"I'm sure the Tenth will come around. If I were in his position, I too would be troubled especially when having to attempt civil conversation with…that sort of guy," Gokudera grimaced in memory but quickly reverted to the enthusiastic way he spoke to Reborn. "But the Tenth would be able to handle it, absolutely. He would have no problem talking that guy down."
Reborn smirked, putting his hands in his pockets.
"The next time you're off during the day I'll arrange for you to meet him. Then you can judge him yourself."
"It would be an honour, Reborn-san! I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. Thank you so very much!" Gokudera exclaimed loudly from his excitement. Though he had yet to meet the Tenth, next head of their clan, he had heard many stories of his achievements and deeds from Reborn and everything Reborn told him was true. He would never doubt his word.
"You must be Yamamoto," Reborn stated, jumping over to the other teen's shoulder. Yamamoto grinned widely and said casually,
"Hey there, little guy."
Gokudera had never been so appalled.
"How dare you be so disrespectful to Reborn-san?!" Gokudera spat, ready to tear Yamamoto to bits. "I don't care if you're the new guy. I may tolerate your insolence towards myself but I will not stand this sort of behaviour towards Reborn-san!" He bared his teeth, the long white fangs lengthened minutely as a feral savageness clouded his darkening narrow gray eyes.
"It's fine, Gokudera," Reborn said, holding a hand towards the enraged half-vampire who relunctantly desisted.
"Filthy unnatural blooded idiot…" Gokudera spat. He hastened his pace to double the original speed in order to run off his discontent.
The nerve of this fledgling and his disgusting lack of respect for his superiors.
Though Gokudera would never admit it publicly, he was not as of yet a full-fledged vampire as most blood children are fully blooded after puberty ends. It was only a couple more years. He could wait.
"Are you a swordsman?" Reborn inquired, noting that Yamamoto's fit form that was the ideal of any self-respecting athlete.
"Nope. I play baseball. Why? Do I look like a swordsman?"
"Hmm. We should get you assigned under Squallo while he's still in Japan. You definitely have the potential."
"Potential? What do you- Oh, we're here."
They arrived at a cobblestone street that seemed very out of place in the Japanese town. Droves of foreigners milled around; activity thrived at every shop as they began to open for the night.
"I left him over there. He should still be there since he was pretty out of it when I left him." They fought through a dense crowd of giggly half-vampire females who were fawning over an exotic looking outfit in one window and stepped out onto the road which was devoid of any and all vehicles.
"Where is he?" Gokudera griped looking for a sleeping figure with irritation. "It would be much appreciated if you stop wasting our time, idiot! Hurry up and find him. We haven't got all night."
"What happened?" Without delay at Reborn's question, Gokudera hurried explained everything in extreme detail embellishing a few parts and demeaning Yamamoto in a couple others.
"Uh oh."
"What 'uh oh'?"
Yamamoto didn't reply to the snappish retort and jogged over to the empty bench he had left the sleeping boy on except he was no longer there. All that was left behind was the school-issued bag he had noticed on the ground after lifting the smaller teen into his arms.
Reborn's face was dark with a sense of foreboding as he surveyed the scene with steady eyes.
Gokudera inspected the bench thoughtfully and found a fresh knife wound embedded in the wood. Frowning deeply, he touched the mark lightly with his fingertips.
Reborn hopped off Yamamoto's shoulder and dug into the side pocket of the bag. He pulled out a student ID.
"This is not good."
Confused by this statement, Gokudera took the ID from Reborn and inspected it curiously.
The lukewarm blood inside him ran cold.
The name on the ID was the same as the Tenth's but that was not what startled him the most.
What startled him was that he knew that face from somewhere.
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The jostling movement roused Tsuna from his slumber. The light from his surroundings penetrated his eyelids and stung at his tired eyes. He could hear snippets of conversation from around him that sounded distant and fuzzy.
"…good catch…late notice…-utie too…"
"…where's Le-…the moment I…in…"
Fragments of his dream swirled around in his head, some vivid, some blurred in and out of focus. Tsuna shifted uncomfortably as his mind fought between which state of consciousness it should be in.
"…sleeping…-ive him to…fix him…"
The dreams were winning, pulling the brunet back into the wings of sleep before he heard the words that triggered the part skipped part in his memory. The voice in reality was devastatingly loud as it spoke.
"Think that he will like this little gift? That Kyouya Hibari guy…"
Reborn called out to him from behind.
"Tsuna. The person who you're meeting with his name is Kyouya Hibari. Treat him with care and caution, create a misunderstanding in his presence and it might just be the last thing you'll do."
Tsuna's eyes shot open at this sudden recollection. Wincing from the light, he squinted at the high ceiling that was alien to him.
Someone seemed to notice that he had awoken.
"Well well, looks like our Sleeping Beauty has finally decided to wake up."
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To be Continued
