Written by: Hajimeru Rinko
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: T
Summary: Found by a young girl, Sawada Tsunayoshi had no idea of his origins. When he gets targeted, he sets out to search for his memories and prevent his friends from getting hurt. Will he be able to find them? AU & OCs! No Pairings too, lol.
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! and all rights goes to their respective owners!
A Fantasy Tale I Chapter 4
\ *Chapter 4: The Decision and Comparison* /
At the house, Gokudera and Yamamoto were sitting at the table, as Rinko was writing a letter to the school. Sakaishi and Tsuna were standing by each other, as the silent scenario unfolded itself as time passes. The unconscious assassin and ninja were tied up together.
"So…what are you doing writing a letter to school?" Gokudera asked, breaking the silence.
"Tsuna can't go to school now if he's targeted." Rinko pointed as she focused on the letter.
'Honestly, I've started to not bother with this overprotective sister and young boy.' Sakaishi thought, scratching his head, thinking of what to say.
"Why so serious? You should relax once in a while." Yamamoto tried to soften the situation.
"How can I relax when my brother's targeted?" Rinko snapped at Yamamoto, who stepped back at the sudden burst of emotion.
'It feels like she's just clinging onto him to keep going…' Yamamoto looked sad, because she seemed desperate. 'This woman needs to grow up. Tsuna doesn't need her every day.' Gokudera thought, his first impression of Rinko was ruined. By now, Tsuna had noticed the pain in his sister's voice. All the pressure and depression were coming out of her. For the first time, he had seen the painful face of Rinko, and started to feel bad. 'Am I this much of a burden to her?' Tsuna frowned.
"Rinko-nee-chan."
"Yes?"
"Am I that much of a burden to you?" Tsuna asked in a sad tone.
"…"
"Rinko…you better spill out your feelings before you go berserk." Sakaishi added, seeing that she's confused at Tsuna's question.
"No…you're not." Rinko said, turning away from Tsuna.
"You're lying." Tsuna insisted, seeing that Rinko is running away. "You're perfectly not okay at all…Rinko-nee-chan, please be honest…" He pleaded.
Rinko felt like she was going to burst into tears. Yamamoto immediately prepared some tissues, while Gokudera ignored her and started reading a book. 'I can feel it…the insecurities of her is flowing out very fast…' Tsuna had noticed the sudden increased empathy he suddenly had.
"I…don't know what to say." Rinko said, clenching her head as she fell to her knees.
Gokudera was getting irritated by the moment. 'What a weak-willed peasant. Hmph.' He was unimpressed.
"Rinko…if you're suffering, at the least you should tell them." Sakaishi walked over to try and comfort her.
"It's…so hard…working and trying to take care of Tsuna at the same time…" Rinko stammered as tears flowed down her face.
Tsuna walked over and could not describe his sister's face. He had never seen that side of her before.
"Rinko…nee…chan…" He's starting to regret this, but he can't turn back now.
Not when his sister could be at risk.
"I want to go on an adventure." Tsuna announced to her.
"Oi…Tsuna…your sister is crying and you don't care?" Yamamoto said as he handed Sakaishi a tissue to pass to Rinko.
"She's crying…because I'm a burden…I don't want her to always suffer because I was here…" Tsuna slowly said as he did not know how to tell her.
Rinko used the tissue to wipe off her tears, and stood up, facing Tsuna. She was trying to stop the tears from flowing, and tried to hear him properly. Tsuna hoped that she's not misunderstanding him.
"I'm sorry." The words came from her mouth, surprising Tsuna.
"Rinko-nee-chan…to be honest, I want to go on an adventure so that I won't always make you worry all the time…and…retrieve my lost memories." Tsuna admitted, feeling awkward.
'Lost memories!' Everyone in the room was shocked. Immediately, Rinko grabbed Tsuna's arms tightly, being very anxious.
"Do you remember anything that tells you who you are!" Rinko impatiently questioned him, panicking.
"…Sadly…no." Tsuna looked down in shame as Rinko released her hold on him.
Rinko and Sakaishi had disappointed faces, while Yamamoto and Gokudera were surprised. 'Why are they so anxious upon hearing that he wants to retrieve his memories?' They thought, being really confused. 'Can he be…?' They soon shrugged off the idea.
"Then…can I go on a journey?" Tsuna asked her.
"Other than looking for memories, tell me why you want to go on a journey?" Rinko demanded.
"I realise that I'm bringing my friends a lot of trouble because I'm targeted." Tsuna admitted. "But if you keep on thinking me as a burden, I'll feel more like a burden to you…" Tsuna's voice trailed off, feeling shameful.
By now, Rinko had wiped off her tears and now smiling at him.
"Sure, but on one condition." Rinko said determinedly. "Before that…you tell me…How in the world did you knock out that assassin?" Rinko demanded, as she pointed at the assassin with apparently had a weird hat.
"I dropped a stone on him." Tsuna lied, being nervous.
'How would she believe that I knocked him out anyway…?' He thought, turning away from her.
"Nonsense, he had no blood on him at all. There are no signs of injury on him, well, except for that wire." Rinko emphasized on the last word. She's definitely no idiot either.
'I'm so screwed, am I?' Tsuna thought, as he felt like giving up.
"Umm…Rinko-san…there was some fighting classes in school…maybe he plotted to fool that assassin…right?" Yamamoto mentioned, as if Rinko had never heard of Tsuna going into fighting classes.
Immediately, Rinko turned to Tsuna, glaring at him.
"You better own up or else I'll not give you the condition to go travelling. Now." Rinko was getting impatient by the moment.
"Umm…Well I didn't kill him…" Tsuna pointed. "I only used that wire with a tree branch to scare him and lower his guard…"
'Jeez…what a child. First he makes me worry, and now he makes me mad. If only I was close to him like Sakaishi…' Rinko was annoyed that Tsuna had not told her anything and hid this much of a secret to her.
"Well...go easy on him. He's targeted anyway." Sakaishi tried to comfort Rinko as much as possible.
"You knew? Why didn't you…" Rinko walked towards Sakaishi.
'Oh shit.' Both Tsuna and Sakaishi thought, sweat dropping
"learn from him!" Tsuna and Sakaishi were shocked and almost did an animated fall down.
'That was the last thing we expected from her!' Tsuna and Sakaishi were dumbfounded, knowing how Rinko is really overprotective. Rinko suddenly walked over to Tsuna and hugged him.
"I'm sorry to leave you in the care of Sakaishi, who's so useless. I should have known better of you!" Rinko had gone back into over protective mode, and emphasizing the word 'of' made it a direct insult to Sakaishi.
'How dare her…that…immature brat!' Sakaishi was getting pissed. 'I can tell that he's really pissed…' Tsuna had nothing to say, seeing Sakaishi's infuriated face. 'Well…Rinko is just an alien we all will never know…' Tsuna concluded, freaking out at the sudden ever changing Rinko. 'I'm surprised someone like her exists…' Yamamoto had never seen a fangirl do that to him…well maybe because he had no siblings. 'I swear I'm going to puke, this totally reminds me of that sickening sister.' Gokudera was already starting to puke.
Rinko stopped hugging Tsuna, slowly standing up and facing him.
"Well, the condition is…you are better off travelling with friends then alone." Rinko pointed, because Tsuna is targeted.
"And that means…"
"If you don't get a companion to travel with you, I won't let you go. Sakaishi isn't going to travel because he has to take care of his sick father." Rinko reasoned with Tsuna.
"Finally…he's growing up to be a 'man'…" Sakaishi commented, feeling proud of Tsuna.
"I have no need for your comments." Rinko bluntly cut in, ignoring Sakaishi.
"EXCUSE ME?"
'Honestly, I know why she's suddenly changing her moods.' Tsuna remembered how she was anxious before, then crying, then anger, then crying again, and finally calm. 'It's that freaking time of the month.' Sakaishi and Tsuna thought in unison.
"We'll go with Tsuna." Rinko and Sakaishi turned to Yamamoto, who was standing with Gokudera.
"If…it's fine with you." Gokudera added, turning away from them.
Rinko smiled, thinking, 'I think I should give up keeping him to me. It's time he learns to make friends.'
"Then go. It is, after all, a once in a lifetime opportunity." Rinko said, finally assured that Tsuna could protect himself.
And, she's finally freed of the accursed over protective spell. That didn't mean she's freed of that time of the month.
In a small shed at the back of Cadre De Arden, stands Tsuna with Gokudera and Yamamoto. They were packing up, preparing to set off for a journey. Earlier, they came to school as usual, but had told everyone it'd be their last day there. All the girls spammed Gokudera and Yamamoto farewell gifts, some which might be of use to their journey ahead.
"Jeez…what can this….pink lollipop be of use to us?" Gokudera irritated commented as he hung up the lollipop in front of him.
"Well, at least it can be bait for fishing." Yamamoto mentioned as he carried his baseball bat.
"You fished before, Yamamoto?" Tsuna asked Yamamoto in a curious tone.
"Yep. My grandfather was a fisherman and on Valentine's Day, he fished a fish out using chocolate; the chocolate my grandmother made for him." Yamamoto recalled, smiling at Tsuna.
"We're talking about lollipops and NOT chocolate!" Gokudera emphasized, lunging at Yamamoto.
"But they're still the same, aren't they? They're sweets." Yamamoto pointed, making Gokudera angrier.
"They are different! Chocolate is made from coca and lollipops are hardened sucrose with corn syrup!" Gokudera bellowed at Yamamoto for his sillyness.
"Would you two please stop? We need to set off now or else we won't make it to the next town in two days." Tsuna tried to stop them, convincing them to start off now.
"By the way, we're not travelling in a carriage, are we?" Gokudera asked Tsuna, seeing that they will be walking on foot.
"A carriage is not likely to be useful if the wheels break down." Tsuna pointed, seeing that assassins would more likely sabotage the carriage.
Suddenly, Yamamoto's butler, Douji, had arrived with a horse. The horse trotted towards Yamamoto, which Yamamoto petted. He then put his baggage on the horse, and did the same for Gokudera.
"Is that a horse we're going to bring with us?" Tsuna asked, having not heard that Yamamoto is bringing along a horse.
"Yeah. I figured our backs will ache if we carry the baggage on our own." Yamamoto mentioned, reaching out his hand to get Tsuna's bag pack.
"Yamamoto-sama, please take care." Douji said again.
"Of course I will. This will be a fun adventure!" Yamamoto exclaimed, with Gokudera frowning at him.
"Gokudera-kun, won't your parents be worried for you? Yamamoto did get permission from his dad." Tsuna worriedly asked Gokudera.
"Don't worry! I will tell them I did this of my own free will!" Gokudera assured Tsuna, who seemed unsure.
'Right…' Tsuna looked down slightly as the three set off to travel.
"Besides, I've run away from home before." Gokudera added, smiling.
"WHAT?" Tsuna shrieked, since he had never heard of the noble running away from home.
'He's a real delinquent!' Tsuna gaped in shock.
"Oi Tsuna, hurry up, before I leave you two behind." Yamamoto yelled, as he was already ahead of them, with the horse.
"Ah, Yamamoto!" Tsuna shouted, as he and Gokudera ran to catch up to Yamamoto.
They walked into the Alicata forest, heading towards the south. The forest was as small as the Autinara forest, the one Tsuna's home was in. Cadre de Arden was always surrounded by forests, and the poorest peasants would build their homes in the forests, seeing that they will not have problems with animals. In the first place, few animals habit the forests, because of human deforesting the forests to a very small radius, driving animals away sadly.
But…it seems that Tsuna has a bloody problem with some carnivorous animals.
"What's that?" Tsuna asked, pointing at something running in the distance.
"Oh, it's…a wild boar right?" Yamamoto answered him, squinting to see a small animal charging towards them.
"Umm…let's not get in its way-"
Too late. The wild boar had pushed Tsuna down.
"Uwahh!" Tsuna shouted, as Gokudera took out his handgun and shot at the animal.
The wild boar then slumped to the side, dead. Tsuna was slightly frightened. How could he just kill an innocent animal?
"Looks like we won't be worrying about food for now" Gokudera said in a monotone, walking over and picking up the dead carcass.
'…Is he a cruel person or what?' Tsuna and Yamamoto thought in unison as Gokudera walked back to them, carrying the dead carcass.
"Let's pick up some firewood so we can set up fire later on." Gokudera mentioned, seeing that they would have to camp out every night.
"That's a good idea." Yamamoto agreed, snapping out of his shocked stance, and the three picked up branches, pieces of wood along their route out.
The whole day was spent walking through the Alicata forest and seeing the endless hills of grass in the evening. If it is spring, the grass would be green, but they are a pale orange. It fits really perfectly with the evening sun setting down. The three stopped moving and admired the sunset.
"Say, is it a good idea if we camp in the hills?" Yamamoto questioned, seeing that it'd be late.
"Of course not! We'll be open from attack anywhere!" Gokudera yelled at Yamamoto. "And, we'll have to keep guard at times of the night too." He added as Tsuna looked around.
"Let's go as far as possible until night falls. Then we'll camp." Tsuna decided, kneeling down to touch the ground.
"In the open?" Gokudera questioned his decision.
"They have nowhere to hide in the open either…except for the hills. It'd be a hindrance for them to try disguising themselves in an open space where we might see everything clearly." Tsuna explained, standing up.
'…I thought he would be too traumatised to even strategise.' Gokudera was surprised as Tsuna continued on, followed by Yamamoto. Gokudera immediately caught up to them, seeing that they would have to cover as much distance as much as possible. After covering as much distance as possible, the group started to set up the tent and the campfire. The night fell, and the stars started illuminating the dark blue sky. They cooked the wild boar's carcass and ate its meat for dinner. Gokudera hammered a pike where it was tied by a rope to Yamamoto's horse. He then retreated to the campfire as Tsuna and Yamamoto went to take a look around.
"Hey Tsuna. Why don't you go back and rest first?" Yamamoto shouted to Tsuna, who was staring at something in the distance.
For a moment, Yamamoto had seen Tsuna's face in a different expression. It's hard to describe, but it's different. In a blink of an eye, Tsuna had already changed his expression back to normal, seeing Yamamoto, and started to shout back at him.
"Is it fine?" Tsuna shouted back, worried that the two will be deprived of sleep.
"Sure it's fine! We know some combat skills to a certain degree; you shouldn't worry about us anyway." Yamamoto reasoned with him, and Tsuna was assured enough.
Tsuna started to head back to the tent while Yamamoto scanned the surroundings, wondering what Tsuna was staring at. Seeing nothing, he started to follow Tsuna back to the tent, where Gokudera was staring at the fire as it flicked.
"Umm, Gokudera-kun, are you okay?" Tsuna asked, snapping Gokudera out of his daydreaming.
"No, I'm fine." Gokudera replied, wishing no one to interrupt him now on his reminiscing of an old friend in the past.
"Well…I'm going to sleep." Tsuna told him, yawning, and heading into the tent to sleep. "If you're really not okay, you should tell us. Keeping everything in just like Rinko-nee-chan did will make you crack." Tsuna reminded Gokudera, who frowned.
'I know how to take care of myself. Does he not trust me?' He thought, looking down as Tsuna had went to sleep. Yamamoto walked over to Gokudera and sat beside him, also staring at the fire.
"What are you doing here?" Gokudera demanded, surprised and annoyed by Yamamoto's presence.
"Keeping watch." Yamamoto nonchalantly said with a stoic face.
"This wouldn't be good if Tsuna will have to keep watch the next night. You go sleep, I'll keep watch." Gokudera insisted that Yamamoto go to sleep.
"Make sense…"
"Now go to sleep." Gokudera persisted, wanting this annoyance out of his sight.
"But even if I do, I'll still be awake anyway. It's the first time I've slept outside of a comfortable bed at home." Yamamoto admitted, lying on the ground, facing the sky above.
Gokudera seemed to agree, seeing that it's the first time he's in the open because the times he ran away he was always in a hideout somewhere in town. Even if he did run into the forest, he didn't stay long anyway due to his annoying sister sniffing him out with Poison Cooking to some effect.
"Hey Gokudera. Do you notice anything about Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked Gokudera, who snapped out of his memories with his sister.
"Tsunayoshi-kun? Nothing much." Gokudera had no comment.
"Why did you treat him like a king in the first place?" Yamamoto inquired, seeing that Gokudera had dropped the 'king' stance on Tsuna.
"Because he reminds me of a friend I used to have…" Gokudera admitted, staring at the fire reminded him of the friend.
"Oh…I'm finding Tsuna really different." Yamamoto pointed, as on that night he had never seen Tsuna stand up for himself before.
"Like how? Care to explain, you baseball freak?" Gokudera was going to think Yamamoto is wrong.
"It feels…I'm comparing the difference between the day and the night here if it comes to Tsuna…" Yamamoto confided in Gokudera, who widened his eyes.
End of Chapter 4
Hurray for epic long chapter! x-x I got carried away and in the end, ending up typing a chunk of 3,000 words with lots of dialogue. Amazingly, all my first three chapters are exactly 10,000 words. LOL And sheesh, I keep leaving out the disclaimer, wtf...
LilyMoonstone: I love you for reviewing, you have brightened up my day! Well, the explanation for a Night time Tsuna will be explained later, which I shall have to take note to mention in the next few chapters. His memory loss is also associated with the reason why he's Night Time instead of Day Time, xD
Preview for Chapter 5: The Chaser, And Lack of Sleep
"Let's…set off quick before we tire to death…" Gokudera pointed, as Yamamoto started to go despite being delirious of sleep.
"Yamamoto, would it be okay if you slept on the horse?" Tsuna suggested to him, which Yamamoto refused. Tsuna turned to Gokudera, asking the same question.
"I won't find it comfortable to be sleeping on my stomach; I have my pride as a noble too!" Gokudera refused, as he is too proud to accede to Tsuna's request.
Consequences of staying up late = delirious of sleep = slow pace = few distance covered. They seriously need some time management skills.
