Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
A/N: I have finally found a way to access this website.
Chapter 4: Horrors
Maki Haruna entered her classroom with an expression knew by many: lack of rest.
"Are you okay, Haruna?" her seat neighbor asked as she sat down.
"I couldn't sleep in a wink after what happened last night." Haruna whispered. "How could you even sleep? Isn't this your fault?!"
Haruna's neighbor was her male classmate, with his bleached brown hair and improper uniform, he was constantly picked by his teachers and Hibari's men. He refused to change, having said that appearance was nothing, anyone could have anything they wish.
"What, you were interested, weren't you?" he retorted.
"You dragged me into a mess! Screw you! I hope you'd trip and die, Hisao!"
Sawada Tsunayoshi sat silently in a corner. He minded only himself, the society were unable to understand him. When someone approaches him, were only bullies who wanted to make a fool out of him, or wanted to make a name for themselves. There was no single soul that would dreamt that Sawada Tsunayoshi would be an heir of the largest influential mafia Family in Italy.
Despite their arguments, they knew that, deep down in their hearts, Sawada Tsunayoshi is not to be messed with. There are those who were oblivious, and there are those who realized his specialty. Maki Haruna and Hisao who sneaked in that day realized Tsuna's ability. There's no way they could look at him the same way again.
Despite the rumors, Sawada Tsunayoshi held his head high. He didn't even flinch when rumors reached his ears. He wasn't in the least worried that someone could have planned it against him.
After that tense battle at the shrine, the school noticed that Tsuna and Hibari had become friendlier and closer. Every time Tsuna's bullies came and surrounded Tsuna, Hibari would glare at time like a raging fire. As if his glare could burn down the town if they even hurt a flick of Tsuna.
"You don't have to bother with me, Hibari." Tsuna sighed. "They're just not worth your time."
Hibari only scoffed and walked away. Tsuna smiled. If only Hibari had chosen someone better, Tsuna knew he would do great. Tsuna days spent in Namimori were fairly normal. It was peaceful, and it suited Tsuna well.
Tsuna sighed as he put down his pen. He couldn't find a way to make Hibari give up, nor the ring he was given. He stared at the ring on his finger. The ring had the Hibari Clan's crest on it. Tsuna wondered if it was an ancient heirloom passed down from generations. It was made out of pure gold, and Tsuna could feel the cold metal brushing against his skin.
"What are you writing, Baka-Tsuna?" his classmate sat next to him asked. He noticed the times when the bullies nor Hibari were disturbing him, he was always quietly writing in his seat.
"Nothing much." Tsuna replied.
"You're lying. You always have that face when you're writing that. Say, tell me, what you're writing? A love letter?" he asked.
Tsuna blushed and turned red in five milliseconds. "L…. love letter?!"
"Isn't that so? You're engaged, aren't you?" he asked.
Tsuna was stunned frozen. "I….am…...not engaged… Masahiro…." He mustered all his strength just to reply his oblivious classmate.
Masahiro grinned. He knew Tsuna was bad at lying. He had not been Tsuna's neighbor for nothing. He had always known he was not a bad person. It was true he was constantly bullied and bad rumors about him often spread, Masahiro knew Tsuna wasn't the type of person. Tsuna was too gentle of a person. And there was a change after Hibari had challenged Tsuna in front of his classroom. Masahiro noticed, Hibari Kyouya would show up and drag Tsuna away five seconds after the last bell rang.
"Tsunayoshi." Hibari arrived just he had ever other day.
Tsuna gathered his belongings and sighed. "Well, I'm going, Masa. See you tomorrow."
"Hurry up, Tsunayoshi." Hibari grabbed Tsuna by his wrist and turned on his heels, dragging Tsuna along behind him by his hand.
Masahiro smirked as he watched the Disciplinary Chief dragged his best friend away. It was a first since he had saw Tsuna blushed. His smile when Hibari came for him was radiant, as if he had given up his idea of pretending to be gloomy and useless. Masahiro was Tsuna's only friend who knew who Tsuna really was.
A car was brought to the entrance when Hibari and Tsuna arrived at the school gate. The car was a black sedan, with tinted windows. The car belonged to the Hibari Clan, as the driver was Hibari's attendant and it had the Hibari's family crest imprinted on it.
"What….is this?" Tsuna asked.
Hibari opened the passenger door and said, "Just get in, Tsunayoshi." He dragged Tsuna into the car along after he settled himself comfortably in the back seat. Tsunayoshi turned pale as the car drove off with him inside the car.
"Are…. you planning to kidnap me, Hibari?!" Tsuna panicked. "Where are you taking me?"
"I intended to, if only you've agreed to Reborn's terms, Tsunayoshi." Hibari replied.
After a mere half an hour, the car had stopped in front of a grand Japanese mansion. "We've arrived, Young Master Hibari." said his attendant. Two servants opened the car doors before Tsuna could even reach for the handles. The servants wore the same outfit Hibari's attendant wore. Males wore a black suit with a red tie, and the females wore ribbons instead. Tsuna sighed. He had forgotten Hibari came from a prosperous family, especially one infamous for their martial arts skills.
It was later Tsuna found out that not everyone serving the Hibari Clan wear suits. It was only those who were responsible for attending the members of the clan and visitors wore suits. The lion's share of the Hibari family wore the traditional clothes since the times of the Lord of the Namimori Clan. Even most of the family members still wore the traditional clothes.
"What are you doing, Tsunayoshi? Take off your shoes and come in." said Hibari.
Tsuna blinked. "Oh." After taking off his shoes and lined them neatly on the rack, he followed Hibari into the mansion. He stuck closely to Hibari and followed him down the hallways. He could already picture himself getting lost in the huge mansion if he had not followed Hibari closely after him.
After many turns down the long hallways and rooms, Hibari slid open one of the doors on the right.
"You're late." There were two men in that tatami room. One looked exactly like Hibari, which Tsuna guessed was Hibari's father. He was just like a carbon copy of Hibari. Tsuna silently wondered who the other man was.
"You're being ridiculous. School was just over half an hour ago." Hibari replied as he sat on the cushion laid by the servants. "Sit here, Tsunayoshi." He pulled Tsuna onto the cushion next to him.
The other man chuckled. "You're too excited, Alaude. Sorry, Little Kyouya. Seems like he couldn't wait to meet him." His pure orange eyes gazed over the small built of the man named Sawada Tsunayoshi. Tsuna felt the man was someone special. He could sense that his eyes could 'see' and 'penetrate' though anything, even the deepest of his very soul.
The man rubbed the end of his chin. "Hmmm…. He looked familiar…..." he muttered.
"So, this is the rumored Sawada Tsunayoshi?" the man who looked like Hibari said. The other man had called him Alaude. Like Hibari, he had a lower voice and sharp eyes that could glare almost everyone away.
"Of course he is. You told me to bring him over, Father." Hibari glared at his father.
Tsuna tensed, his body turned stiff. He began to perspire sweat at the back of his neck. Tsuna had scenarios prepared lined up at the back of his mind, praying he would be safe and whole.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi." Alaude called him. "I have heard the story from Kyouya."
"Y…yes!" Tsuna answered nervously.
The man who Tsuna didn't know who he was chuckled. "You don't have to be so nervous. Just relax."
"Hn. Be quiet, Giotto." Alaude glared at the man next to him. After the squabbles calmed down, Alaude continued. "I heard you and Kyouya became engaged, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Are you willing to accept such a person as your partner? In this family, we tend to be very violent and hard-edged. There's also a high chance you will be killed."
Hibari scoffed. "Hn. He won't be killed. I challenged him to a duel. We fought and he won the victory."
"Oh?" The two elders in the tatami room were fairly amused. It didn't take them seconds to become interested in the man Hibari had brought home.
Shivers ran down his spine. Tsuna had no idea what to say or how to react. It was as if he was plunged into a new world, everything was so unfamiliar. Only the man beside Alaude, he felt calm, fond, warm and somehow…. familiar. He felt as if he had once had this feeling, somewhere…... a long time ago.
Alaude narrowed his already naturally-born sharp eyes. "You look familiar."
Tsuna blinked. "I believe this is the first time meeting you, sir." He politely replied.
Alaude glanced at Giotto, and wondered to himself. It couldn't be. He glanced at Giotto, then back at Tsuna. They looked similar, Alaude then concluded.
"Giotto. Tell me something." said Alaude.
"What?" Giotto's oblivious happy-looking expression could only tell that much. They both reacted the same way, even down to their expressions, habits and ticks were in a single synchronicity.
"You do know this boy, don't you?" said Alaude.
"Huh?" Giotto stared at Alaude. Giotto glanced at Alaude, disbelief visible in his eyes. "How could it be? This boy is a native Japanese!"
Tsuna observed the way Alaude and Giotto interacted. "Who are you, Sir Giotto? You don't seem to be Hibari's guardians, or a member of this family."
"Me? Didn't you already know my name? I am Giotto." Giotto replied.
"Tsunayoshi, he is Father's engaged partner." Hibari replied.
Tsuna was stunned frozen. He had a hunch, however he couldn't believe it when the truth was revealed. "Whaaaaat?!"
Reborn jumped onto Tsuna and tackled him onto the ground. Tsuna hit the floor, his face planted onto the tatami mat.
"What…. are you doing here, stupid Reborn?" Tsuna grumbled as he got up from the ground.
Reborn did a quick nick of Alaude and Giotto. "So I see. You do look familiar." said Reborn.
"Who are you? You can't just walk in as you please, little boy." said Giotto. "Are you lost?"
Tsuna turned pale. "Sir…... you shouldn't say thing like that to him… he is capable of killing people, even if he looked like that."
"Hey, baby. You know the truth about this idiot, am I right?" said Alaude.
Reborn smirked. "Why, didn't you know, Hibari Alaude of the Hibari Clan? He is Giotto di Vongola, the founder of largest influential mafia Family in Italy, the Vongola Family."
Giotto paled. "Who are you?"
"And this kid here," Reborn jumped onto Tsuna's soft tuft of hair. "Is the next heir of the Vongola Family, the Vongola Decimo."
Alaude was amused. "Heh. So in other words, Giotto and this kid are basically family. No wonder he could win against Kyouya. No one had ever succeeded. Only I had."
"I won, Alaude." Giotto defended.
"That, is not important." Alaude replied. "You are the main topic here. Don't you dare hide between your tails, Giotto. Do that, I'll kill you." He glared at Giotto.
Giotto raised his red flag. "I won't!" Giotto didn't feel like risking his dear life. Alaude's favorite long sword was displayed on the sword stand just next to Alaude. Giotto knew Alaude would have stirred a war in the very room if he hadn't liked the answers.
Tsuna smiled. It solved the mystery Tsuna had sensed from Giotto. Because Giotto and himself were so alike, they both sensed a connection from each other without realizing. They both possess the same abilities and ways, they even have similar habits and ticks, which made them the exact carbon copy of each other.