Chapter 4

In the bloody decades of Italy, where the Black Death had consumed the lives of numerous nobles and citizen alike, the country had fallen into chaos. Her government had fell into the open arms of corruption; the nobles had long forgone their duties or obligations to retain the luxuries they had. But yet, the heavens had not been kind to the suffering of the people. Again and again, the pandemic emerged taking along many innocents with it. Now, the once majestic country reeked of death and was rotting from the inside.

Down in the small port of Piedmont, a blond man strolled along the empty streets, using his peripheral vision to glance at the roofs and dark alleyways. His fingers twitched, itching to grab one of his hidden knifes when he heard the soft rustling of clothes and shuffling of shoes against the ground. Three…no, four. He guessed, straining his ears, while he continued to feign ignorance and strode onwards, humming softly to himself.

He was glad that his guest had fallen asleep, exhausted after an intensive lesson on the basics of Italian. He felt himself smiling fondly whenever he thought about the brunet. That boy had reminded him of his little sister, and it made him want to protect the teen. His cheerful mood evaporated at that thought. His poor sister…whom he had failed to protect…

His footsteps finally slowed to a halt as he emerged in an opened area. Now, they would not be able to jump him [1] from the any blind spots. Turning back to face his group of stalkers, he causally removed his hands from his pockets.

Amateurs, the blonde teen disdainfully thought as he watched two men stepping out from the shadows. One of them was incessantly tossing a knife from one hand to the other, pretending to be tough, while the other was openly shaking slightly, gripping a rusty rake with both hands.

Giotto felt a little sympathy for them. Just a little. Judging from their looks, it was likely they had not had any decent meals for days and had finally resorted to robbing. He would go easy on them, he told himself ruefully.

When the first robber received no reaction from his prospective victim (He had expected at least a scream or some makeshift attempt in running away-the usual cliché actions.), he could not help but feel irritated-the victim was displaying such a nonchalant attitude, even though he was outnumbered. That blonde man was taunting him! With a growl, he lunged at his victim, attempting to thrust his knife towards the blonde's chest.

The said victim sighed and effortlessly avoided it, and faintly smiled. Just as I thought-none of these men are seasoned fighters. His instincts warned him of the danger before he saw his other attacker. His body snapped a sidekick at the coward who attempted to use the opportunity to sneak up on him. With a groan, the smaller man's rake clattered onto the ground, away from him, and he himself tripped and fell onto the dirt-covered street.

At this moment, the first robber recovered from his surprise and lashed out again. Without stopping a second from his previous attack, Giotto stepped in calmly and disarmed the man by rapping on his wrist hard. He hooked the confused man's leg and yanked his feet from under him. The knife man felt all the wind knocked out of his lungs as he landed on his back hard. Dazed, he stayed there, staring stupidly at the numerous stars above.

That was a little too easy. Giotto thought, dusting his hands together. He paused and turned back to look at the path he had came from. Where were the other two? He could not longer sense them. His face confronted into a frown for a moment, then he shrugged lightly.

Perhaps they had lost their courage after watching their comrades getting pummeled…or perhaps he was getting a little too hypothetical.

He chuckled as he stepped over the unconscious robber who was lying by his foot, and walked back to the inn.

G.'s paranoia must have rubbed off on me.

Up on the rooftops, a certain orange-eyed boy watched silently as his ancestor left the area. Behind him, two unconscious men were piled in a heap with their weapons seemly had melted into unidentifiable lumps of metal. Flames flickered on his forehead and hands when the cold wind blew across the town.

"That was really close." He murmured to the air. He had accidently fallen asleep after the uncountable number of Italian phrases were cramped into his brain and had woken up to find himself alone. Practically jumping out of the inn's window, he had stumbled across two robbers who were discussing how to kill the blond man walking alone in the streets.

It had been pure luck that he had managed to pop one of the cyan [2] pills that Basil had given him while running away. Well actually, he had dropped the pill, slipped on his own foot and this had been followed by falling face first onto the pill, all in one single instant. Swallowing (Or choking on) the pill, he had then used his hyper dying will to take both of these men down.

Tsuna exhale a sigh of relief. That had been scary in many senses. What if those people from the future had taken this opportunity – when he was slumbering – to attack? Giotto would be defenseless in the face of the box weapons, and be in a situation almost similar to standing in a blizzard naked! He frowned. He seriously had to be more careful about this.

Lifting one of his lit gloves, he increased the flare experimentally before thrusting his palms behind him and propelling into the night sky. For now, he needed to get back before Giotto does. It would be really hard to explain the whole situation to those two.

The lesser they know about him, the better it would be.

"Tsuna!" A rough hand shook his shoulder. "Wake up!"

The teen grumbled in his sleep and curled up into a ball. "Five more minutes, mom." He muttered, unconsciously rolling away from G.

G glared at the half-asleep boy. Did he even look like his mother? The red-haired teen kicked the bed hard, deciding to vent his irritation on the mattress (poor bed…G. must have hurt its feelings). The brunet immediately jumped out of his bed in alarm and wildly looked around the room.

"Who's attacking us!" He shrieked in fear, with one hand feeling for his pills in his back pocket.

The red-haired man rolled his eyes and covered his ears. His voice is really high pitched… "Get your butt downstairs. How much sleep do you really need?"

"Oh…" Tsuna blushed as the-disturber-of-his-sleep stormed out of the room. He rubbed his heavy-lidded eyes, feeling the effects of last night's adventure taking toil on his body. He was exhausted; he had barely slept when he had returned to the inn, for fear someone would attack Giotto again.

Tsuna trembled as he splashing the cold water on his face. If he had failed yesterday, his friends and family would have all been endangered.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "I cannot be careless, I cannot fail…" He repeatedly chanted the mantra-esque words as he held on to the rim of the huge bucket with a death-like grip.

"'You cannot fail'? What do you mean?" A voice behind him asked curiously; he instantly froze. The brunet stumbled when he tried to spin around and see who had snuck up behind him, causing him to nearly fall into the water container. But before he hit the water surface, he felt someone grab his shirt collar and unceremoniously yank him back. The brunet landed on his butt with a thump. He grimaced in pain and rubbed his sore spot before looking up to see a highly amused Giotto grinning at him.

"You're such a klutz, right?" Giotto teased the younger boy, and watched as the boy blushed, scrambled to his feet, and then bowed his thanks. Ruffling Tsuna's hair fondly, he led him down the stairs to get some food.

Once settled on a table, Giotto waved and yelled at a passing waitress. "The usual please, with an extra for our guest!" The waitress winked and blew a kiss in response before hurrying back to the kitchen.

"It took you guys long enough!" G grumbled as he appeared out of nowhere and settled himself comfortably in an available chair.

Giotto sniggered. "Someone wanted to take a bath with his clothes on."

His friend looked at blushing Tsuna and a giggling (in his opinion) Giotto incredulously. Was that an inside joke he did not know about? The mystified red head frowned decided to ignore that.

After a filling meal, the trio decided to take a walk around the town. The two teens - who knew the whole area on the back of their hands - had to laugh at Tsuna's expression throughout the trip.

The whole place had looked so different from yesterday. It could not be helped when the-boy-from-the-future had never seen how markets or the bustling lives of people from the 14th century worked. He squeaked every time a horse cart came near his vicinity, gasped when he saw the numerous ships by the harbor, and stared wistfully at a couple of beautiful jewelry that he believed his mother and crush would love…

It was only when he was nearly washed away by the unrelenting waves of crowd, Giotto dragged him back forcefully. "Those stuff are overpriced, country boy!"

"But…" The boy protested.

G tsked at him. "Do you even have money?"

The small teen pulled out the brown bag that his tutor had given him triumphantly and waved it in front of the other's face. G took it and peeked at the contents in surprise.

"Where did you get this from?" Giotto asked, taking his turn to look into the bag. He thought for a second then scowled. "You didn't steal it did you?"

Tsuna stared at the blond horrified. "NO! I would never do that!" The duo looked suspiciously at Tsuna who fervently tried to explain himself. "Rebo… I mean my tutor… gave it to me when I left home!"

G lifted a brow and wagged a finger as he propped a hand up his hips. "And why would a tutor, of all people, give you gold?"

Tsuna looked around desperately for help – obviously none came. How was he supposed to explain that without blowing his own cover?

Giotto looked at him grimly. "I know that it is really hard to get a job… But stealing? I expected more than that from you." The brunet spluttered at the accusation but was unable to say anything in return.

The older teens mistook his hesitation as a confirmation of their doubts. Giotto sighed. "Here's a piece of useful information. If the guards catch you committing an act of stealing or robbing, they will cut off your right hand. If you lie to attempt to cover up your actions, they turn you into a eunuch, to put it in the bluntest way possible."

The small boy looked terrified at the new information and shook his head furiously.

The blond leaned forward so that his sky blue eyes met the brown orbs. Holding the younger boy's cheeks with both hands, he told him sternly. "We will close an eye this time. But promise me, you will not do it again."

Despite himself, Tsuna felt his head nodding without his consent. Giotto removed his hands and stood up, pleased with his answer.

With that conversation done, they continued to elbow their way though the morning crowd.

"Well, at least we know how you had survived on the street…" G commented, putting both hands behind his head and whistling out loud. (A very Yamamoto-ish action, Tsuna observed. But his attitude is definitely more similar to Gokudera's.) "I was really starting to think you were some sort of trap again… Being too… Perfectly innocent and naive…"

Tsuna trudged behind him in resignation.

No one was going to listen to him even if he tried to explain.

"Speaking of which, can you fight?" G asked curiously, looking at the petite boy.

"I can…" Tsuna replied softly, his eyes downcast. "But… I hate it."

Giotto nodded in understanding but his friend prompted on. "…and killed?"

Blood rushed from the young teenager's face and he felt his stomach retching. He tried to avoid thinking about it, but the nightmares had haunted him time and time again. The ghostly face of his white-haired-nemesis, Byakuran, had refused to stop harassing him even after his incineration. Feeling sick, Tsuna leaned against the wall to support himself.

"Tsuna!" Giotto yelled, alarmed at the sudden change. He hurried forward and attempted to hoist the boy upright. "Are you alright?"

The pale boy weakly nodded.

"...I presumed you had." G stated indifferently.

"G.,stop it! Can't you see he isn't feeling too well?" The blonde teen shouted at his apathetic friend, trying to get him to understand the situation he had forced the young brunet into.

"No, Giotto. I believe we have a right to know." The red head said firmly.

Giotto looked uncomfortable. "But…"

"We need to know this if we're supposed look after him."

"I…" The boy in question croaked, getting their attention. He closed his eyes and continued. "I…have…eradicated…someone," He shakily admitted as his mind started replaying the horrifying events that had led up to him taking his first life. "He…was going to murder me…and destroy…not only my future… But…also my friends'…and…and m-my family's…He…he…"

A comforting hand on his shoulder interrupted him.

"That's enough." Giotto said gently. "That's enough." G nodded silently in agreement.

"But…but…he killed…" Tsuna felt a flood of hot tears stream down his face, and stopped trying to say anything else.

Giotto pulled him into a tight embrace. "It's fine…you've already defeated him…and everything pertaining to that is over."

That was all he needed to hear. The tensions, fears and confusions that had been unconsciously locked inside the small teen were all released as the brunet uncontrollably wept in the arms of his ancestor. It was over.

The nightmare was over.

[1] Street Rat: Not literally Rats. Slang for Homeless People living in the Streets

[2] Black Death: One of the Deadliest Pandemics between 1348-1350. I think this would be about Giotto's parent's period. Not too sure. /:

A/N:

Thank Gracefulsunshine for beta-ing.

Reedited as at April 17, 2011