"Alright class, get into groups of three for your physics lab," Dino announced. "Don't give me that look. I hate physics just as much as you do."
"Then why do we have to do it?"
"Because the principal says so. And the principal is scary. Now, get to it!"
Automatically, Yamamoto and Tsuna gravitated towards each other.
"Third person…"
Most everyone else had clumped together in their usual friend cliques. Only one person remained…
"Hey, wait here, Tsuna. I'll go ask Gokudera to join us."
"H-huh?" Tsuna protested, reaching out a hand and stopping Yamamoto. "W-we've already tried that, and last time, he gave you a concussion with a textbook…"
Yamamoto laughed. "It's alright! It wasn't a bad concussion after all. I still remember who King James II is… or… or maybe not, but things like that aren't important anyways. I'll be right back!"
"But…" Tsuna said doubtfully. "Gokudera-san seems like he likes being alone better, so…"
"Come on, Tsuna, you saw his face just now," said Yamamoto. "Is that the face of someone who likes a solitary life?"
"Well…"
"Plus, Tsuna, you shouldn't give up so easily."
Tsuna's head snapped up, his eyes questioning Yamamoto, who laughed.
"It's plain to anyone who'd bother looking that you really want to get close to Gokudera. If it's so important to you, why are you giving up on him so easily? I don't know why you want to become friends with him so badly, but since you're my friend, I won't just stand by and watch you just let it be." Yamamoto grinned at Tsuna and ruffled his hair. "If something's important to you, you shouldn't let go of it so easily."
'If something's important to me, I shouldn't let go of it so easily?'
That phrase reminded of something he had read that morning while he was waiting for Yamamoto on the way to school. Tsuna glanced down at his schoolbag where he could see the tips of a hastily folded piece of paper poking out of the depths.
May 7
I'll give you a few words of advice for today, self of ten years ago. Don't give up on something that's important to you—that's what a good friend of mine said to me long ago. Over the years, I have done just that far too many times to count, and I have regretted it each time.
Now, for today:
1) Today, I had a brush with death.
A package came to our classroom, and somehow, the door got blocked from outside. Our classroom is on the third floor, so there was no way to get out. […] No one knew what to do. We all thought we were going to die.
Then, Gokudera did something completely unexpected, something that saved us all. But in the end, it was also something that destroyed our lives in that moment. […] I ended up in the hospital, half my bones broken.
I want you to follow your instincts, no matter what. If people try to stop you, don't give up. No matter what, you must do what you think is right.
Trust yourself.
Truth be told, this letter frightened Tsuna more than anything had in his entire life. Knowing what had happened to Yamada, Tsuna could no longer take any chances.
And yet, even though he had seen what had happened because he had not followed the letter's instructions, Tsuna could not bring himself to act.
Here he was, five days after Gokudera had transferred in, and he still could not carry a conversation. He had given up on communicating with Gokudera.
He hated himself, who had always been this way. Always giving up before starting. Always giving up halfway. Always failing.
Always regretting.
"Screw off!"
"Whoa, there, pens are dangerous when you wave them around like that!"
"You two!" Dino said, hurrying over. "Please, Gokudera, calm down. Yamamoto, you… well… you're not exactly doing anything wrong, so, I can't scold you, but…"
"He's harassing me—"
"Dino-sensei," a girl called out. "A package came."
Tsuna stiffened.
A package came to our classroom, and somehow, the door got blocked from outside.
Had the time come? Was what the letter said really going to come true? Tsuna stood, frozen to the spot, only his eyes moving as they tracked Dino's every movement.
Sighing, the golden-haired teacher rubbed the back of his neck and walked to the door, where a neat, rather large package sat.
"Did you see who dropped it off?"
"No."
Dino rummaged in his back pocket and pulled out a credit card, using it to slit open the package. Styrofoam peanuts spilled out of the box. Dino pulled something square and black from the box.
He froze, eyes widening.
Then, sharply, he ordered, "Everyone, get out of here!"
The chatter in the classroom died away. The students had never heard this harsh, commanding tone from their teacher.
"Sensei, what—?"
"You heard me!" The note of panic in Dino's voice was ill-hidden. "Run! Get out! Tell everyone you see to get out of the building! Call the police, tell them to bring in the bomb-disposal squad—"
"The what—?"
Dino took as calm a breath as he could.
"There are bombs in the package."
A moment of silence in disbelief—then, Tsuna was covering his hands around his ears as screams erupted. A mass of confusion conglomerated at the door but did not decrease; the door would not open. The boy tugging at the door was pushed roughly aside by a member of the wrestling club, who slammed his shoulder against the wood. But, after having been kicked down by Gokudera's foot, the door had been replaced by something sturdier and stronger, and even under the furious, panicked assaults from the students, the wood did not break.
Dino's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. The students parted as he made his way to the door. He took one look out the window and then turned back around, face dark.
"Someone blocked the door," he said. His eyes darted to the windows. "Too high."
'Our classroom is on the third floor, so there was no way to get out.'
"What are we going to do?"
'No one knew what to do. We all thought we were going to die.'
Chills ran down Tsuna's spine. Yet again, the letter's words were holding true.
"Are we going to die?"
"Is this just a joke?"
Dino put on a strained smile. "It's not a joke, you guys. But, I promise you, we will all get out of here alive."
His eyes hardened. "I swear it on my life."
Dino seemed to grow taller, back straightening, jaw squared. "Sawada, Yamamoto. Call the police and tell them to send in the bomb squad. Kurokawa, here's my cell—find the principal's number and let him know he needs to get everyone out of the building. The rest of you, stay calm, don't call anyone, and don't make noise."
"Are we going to—"
Dino cut in before the question could be finished. "We're all going to be fine."
Dino turned back to the bomb-laden package as Tsuna fumbled for his phone. "A-ah—hello? I'm calling—there's an emergency—bombs here in school—where? Namimori High School… we're locked in—"
Dino meanwhile was about to plunge his hands into the package when a cold hand grabbed his shoulder and threw him back. Tsuna forgot to speak for his moment, eyes fixed on the scene.
'Then, Gokudera did something completely unexpected, something that saved us all.'
At the edge of his nerves, Dino turned, ready to yell, but was met by a cold, green stare that silenced him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gokudera said quietly. "Those bombs could be designed with a trembler switch. Besides, clumsy people like you should just get out of the way."
Leaving Dino to splutter, Gokudera rolled up his sleeves and tucked his hair behind his ears. Ignoring the angry calls of his classmates, he ran his hands around the package.
"About ten of them in here," he grunted. "This is the first one you picked up, right? It doesn't have a trembler switch, then, otherwise it'd have detonated already."
Turning green at the near brush with death, Dino ushered the students to the back of the room, as far as they could get from Gokudera. Seeing Tsuna hesitate at leaving Gokudera alone, Yamamoto pulled him forward.
"Gokudera, is there anything we can do?"
Gokudera's eyes flickered up to their faces before fixating on the bomb in his hands again. "Scissors. Do you have any?"
"H-huh? Y-yeah…"
As Tsuna hurried to fetch the scissors, Gokudera scrutinized the bomb heavily. Snorting, he slammed the bomb against the floor harshly, eliciting screams from the students. Dino ran forward hastily, ready to stop seemingly suicidal Gokudera.
"Are you trying to kill us?" a girl in hysterics screamed. But, Gokudera simply poked his finger inside the bomb and shook it around. The contents tumbled out in a jumbled mess on the floor.
"Amateur," he scoffed. "This one was simple. Just separate the explosive material from the rest of the bomb, and you're safe. It didn't even matter that I banged it around a bit… The next one, though," he said, bending down to examine it, "I think this one actually has a trembler switch set up in it."
"You've been going on about that one for a while," Yamamoto commented, squatting down. He garnered both admiring and frightened looks for his way-too-calm demeanor. "What's a trembler switch anyways?"
"Balance sensor," Gokudera mumbled distractedly. "If you tip the bomb, it'll explode. Shut up, I need to concentrate."
Yamamoto backed away a bit, stopping Tsuna from handing the scissors to Gokudera.
"I don't really get it," Yamamoto said sheepishly, "but it seems like it's a pretty serious game, so we shouldn't interfere just yet. But toys these days look so real!"
Tsuna gaped at his friend. "… not… not a game, I don't think…"
"But, Gokudera's pretty amazing, don't you think?" Yamamoto said. "He knows all these things about bombs—I mean, look at him go!"
Gokudera triumphantly set aside the trembler-switched bomb and ran his eyes over the next one. The minutes crawled by. Sweat ran down faces, and hearts were trembling as all eyes fixated upon the silver-haired, pale boy.
Six bombs left. Five. Four, then three. Eyes flickered to the clock on the wall. Twenty minutes had passed. Outside, the rest of the school waited anxiously in the sports-stadium, and ladders were being pulled up to the third floor window.
The intercom crackled, and a cheery voice floated out into the air.
"My, my, you might want to put those ladders down. Wouldn't want the bombs to go off by accident, now would we?"
More than one person screamed at the announcement. Faintly, they could hear orders from below to stop.
"Who is that?"
"Is that the person who set this all up?"
"That basta—"
"Who are you?" Dino yelled over the ruckus. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
The voice chuckled. "Now, now, calm down now. Gokudera-chan is doing so nicely right now, working hard to save your lives."
A confused mumble geared up.
"How does he know Gokudera's name?"
"An accomplice—"
"—a prank—"
"Murderer…"
"No, no, Gokudera-chan and I aren't acquaintances. What you're saying doesn't even make sense. Don't break his concentration now, or he might not finish in time! There's a time limit, you know?"
Another voice broke out over the intercom, a little younger and panicked.
"W-wait, Byakuran, you never said anything about putting timers on them!"
"Now, now, Shou-chan, it's much more fun this way!"
A clatter in the classroom made everyone jump. Gokudera had dumped the last bomb onto the floor. A timer was taped onto it…
4:02
4:01
4:00
3:59
"That's the timer!" Dino yelped. "Just under four minutes left!"
"Very good deduction, Dino-sensei. Or, should I say, Bucking-Horse Dino? They still call you that nowadays, don't they?"
"How did you—"
"Shh, Gokudera-chan's working…" 'Byakuran' sang.
Gokudera had pried off the top of the bomb. Inside was a mess of wires, red, green, blue—a whole rainbow of them was tangled up in the small box.
"Like it?" 'Byakuran' said, sounding as if he very much enjoyed what was happening. "I designed it myself. The typical 'red or black' wire bomb—times seven! Which one will cut the circuit; which one will make it explode, I wonder? There's only one that will let you leave the room safely!"
"I told you not to put that one in there!"
"Hush, Shou-chan. Two minutes and ten seconds left… my, my, better get a move on it."
"Gokudera, need anything?"
"Shut it," Gokudera said. Tsuna took a quick look at the other boy's face. It had gone as white as a sheet. "Just… I need the scissors."
Quickly, Tsuna handed the blue-handled scissors to Gokudera, jumping away as quickly as possible. He desperately wanted to huddle at the very back of the classroom with the rest of his classmates, but something held him where he was, standing next to Yamamoto and Dino, watching anxiously as Gokudera's slim fingers traced the wires.
"Clever," he was murmuring. "Very clever…"
Tsuna could not take his eyes away from the bomb. He felt a pull towards them; something intuitively was telling him which one to cut…
The orange… cut the orange…
But Gokudera's fingers had gripped the red wire. Sweat ran down Tsuna's face. He wanted to tell Gokudera to snip the orange wire in two, not the red. But, what did Tsuna know? Gokudera was obviously the explosives expert in the room, and all Tsuna had was his intuition… his instinct…
I want you to follow your instincts, no matter what. If people try to stop you, don't give up. No matter what, you must do what you think is right.
Eyes wide, Tsuna stopped breathing. Every eye was riveted on the red wire and the silver blades. The metal clamped around the red wire, and Gokudera's face, a mask of concentration, was whiter than a sheet.
Tsuna could see the muscles in Gokudera's hands working to squeeze the scissor handle. He could see them shaking. He could see the skin turning white from applied pressure; could see the first knick in the insulating plastic around the wire—
"Stop!"
Tsuna jumped forward and snatched up the bomb, scissors clattering to the floor.
"The hell, Tsuna!" his classmates screamed. "What do you think you're doing? Give that back to Gokudera! Only a minute left—"
"Tsuna, calm down," even Dino was saying. "C'mon, Gokudera knows what he's doing… what's this all of a sudden? Only a minute left—"
Only Yamamoto remained silent. His warm brown eyes met Tsuna's for a full second, and Tsuna got the sense that Yamamoto was telling him 'I trust you.'
Telling him 'Trust yourself.'
"Put it down!"
"Only twenty seconds left!"
No one wanted to come near Tsuna; no one wanted him to hold the bomb. Gokudera still kneeled on the floor, muted, frozen; Yamamoto held an arm out in front of Dino.
Sweating, Tsuna picked the scissors from the ground.
If my future self is wrong… well, I can't do anything. I guess I'll be dead.
But should I do it?
What do I do?
The seconds were slipping past him; his entire body was drenched in sweat; he didn't know what to do.
Trust yourself.
"Trust yourself, Tsuna!"
I'm trusting you… myself in ten years.
And without another thought, Tsuna clenched his eyes shut and snapped his fingers together.
The blades of the scissors sliced the orange wire in two.
"Anyone there? If you can hear me, call out!"
Tsuna's eyelids felt like lead. Every part of his body ached. Darkness enveloped him, hugged him, caressed him, whispering to him that he should never leave, never leave, never leave…
"Leave it… we've already come past this spot."
"Just wanted to make sure…"
The voices were drifting away, but Tsuna still couldn't lift his eyelids. It was warm—was he in bed? The blanket was awfully heavy; the air was musty.
"I feel bad for the kids of Namimori… They're taking so much crap these days…"
"I know, right? First the murder, and then a bomb… lucky everyone else had evacuated the building… only this classroom."
"From the third floor… I'm not too hopeful about finding many survivors… ten dead already…"
"Just once more… Anyone here?"
I'm here!
I'm here…
I'm…
"…here…" Tsuna finally opened his eyes, which were raked by a thin ray of sun. Above him, the sky was black—no; not black; his sky was a pile of rubble held up only by a support beam of what used to be the school building. What he thought was his blanket was a body—Yamamoto's.
With the little strength he had, Tsuna rolled the body off of himself. He turned his head far enough to be able to look at Yamamoto's face: bloody, disheveled, and pale. For a moment, Tsuna's heart stopped.
"Yamamoto?"
No part of Yamamoto's body moved.
Is this my fault?
"Yamamoto… please… please…"
Yamamoto's eyelids flickered. Tsuna closed his eyes, too tired to even sigh in relief.
"Tsuna…" murmured Yamamoto. "You're… safe?"
"Don't talk," Tsuna replied hoarsely. "D-don't worry, w-we'll be fine…"
"Not worrying," Yamamoto said, closing his eyes. A ghost of a smile graced his lips, and his broken hand patted Tsuna's weakly. "With you… not worried… trust you…"
As Yamamoto slipped back into unconsciousness, Tsuna turned his head in the other direction. Inches away lay Gokudera, and on top of him, someone with burnt red-golden hair. Who had red-gold hair like that? Tsuna never remembered seeing someone like that… but golden hair… only one person he knew had that shade…
"Dino… sensei?"
Without him knowing it, Tsuna's hand rose to Dino's head. Just brief contact with his hair, and his hand came away stained with blood. Undeterred, Tsuna moved aside Dino's hair.
For a moment, Tsuna was confused. Had Dino put on a mask during all the confusion? Gently, with morbid curiousity, Tsuna touched it…
"God, no…"
It wasn't a mask. It was just burnt flesh, burnt black until bone shone through.
XxX
"God, no!"
With a yelp, 26-year-old Yamamoto dropped his phone.
"T-Tsuna, are you alright?"
Tsuna was taking deep, shuddering breaths, sweat pouring down his face. He took a look at his shaking hands, and a shiver ran through his body.
"Y-yeah… just… a bad dream…"
"You sure? You wanna talk about it?" Yamamoto said, his face a mask of concern. "Your face is grey…"
The car they were riding in ran over a pit hole, and in the backseat, Tsuna received a little jolt that cleared his thoughts a bit. He shook his head, accepting the bottle of water passed to him from the middle seat. "No, I'm fine. Just… just a dream about the past… with Gokudera and the bombs… Dino as well…"
Yamamoto nodded his head. "I got you." He patted Tsuna gently on the shoulder, offering him a grin. "Don't worry about it! We're in the present, now, not in the past. That stuff is over and done with."
"Having dreams about me again, Tsuna?" Dino called from the middle seat of the car. Getting up on his knees, Dino poked his grinning face over the seat. The older Dino wore his bangs low over the left side of his face, now, to hide the scars left behind from that incident.
Tsuna laughed a bit. "Don't get too full of yourself, Dino. How long was I asleep for?"
"Maybe thirty minutes. We'll be at Squalo's in another hour, maybe. You can go back to sleep on my shoulder!" said Yamamoto.
Exhausted, Tsuna rested his head on the taller man's shoulder. "I'll do that… wake me up if I start having nightmares again…"
Yamamoto chuckled and ruffled Tsuna's hair, Dino reaching over the seat and doing the same. "Will do."
To myself of ten years ago,
How are you faring now? Have you managed to change the future? What I saw was a dream of the past, something that will happen to you if you don't begin to believe in and trust yourself.
Please, I hope you have taken my warnings seriously. I hope Yamada is still alive, that Yamamoto's mother is still living. But, knowing myself of ten years ago, this all may not be so. In the end, I have, after sending my letter, no control over our life. Fate rests in your hands.
Please, change it.
Feeling safe next to his friend of ten years, Tsuna managed a small smile that went unnoticed. Autumn leaves fluttered past the window, the last of their kind at that time, saying a sad farewell to that which had never been, to that which would never be.
Lolol last chapter's response wasn't that great… but hey, I deserved it.
Hopefully, this chapter is better! Tell me what you think :)
To clarify: 16 year old Tsuna has just clipped the orange wire. After the line break is a dream 26 year old Tsuna is having of what happened in his past. So, where the building collapses is part of 26 year old Tsuna's past, NOT of 16 year old Tsuna's future. Confusing, right? In the end, Dino is shown to be OK in 26 year old Tsuna's time, though he has a scar, which he hides with his hair. Hope that clears things up :)
Until next time~