Tsuna felt conflicted. His proud, formal upbringing demanded that he stand straight and look his adversary in the eyes, but his own instincts curbed that notion and instead favored backing away from the dangerous predator. He attempted to do both. In the end, he looked like a lynx trying to stand up to a wolf, stubbornly meeting his opponent head-on but ready to make a retreat at any moment. Actually, he was more of a lynx kitten. For all that he postured, Tsuna wouldn't be able to outrun Hibari no matter how hard he tried. After all, Hibari had years of running down delinquents and lawbreakers while Tsuna played hide-and-seek-tag with his guards. "Hello, Hibari-san," Tsuna called out, drawing attention to himself and away from the panting students.
Hibari regarded him silently. "You… you're one of the transfer students. What are you doing here?" According to his files, Sawada Tsunayoshi was a quiet, unassuming boy that stayed out of trouble; nothing to be concerned about. The way he was standing up to him was commendable but not threatening in the slightest sense—it was more of a cute act than a challenge for power. As such, Hibari took no offense.
Tsuna waved a hand towards Gokudera and Yamamoto. "I was worried about my friends. I saw them fall from the roof."
Hibari looked upward, seeing a section of the safety fence missing and a crowd of herbivores standing close to the edge. The missing piece was not so far from the herbivores on the ground. What were they doing on the roof anyways? He'd claimed it as his personal territory, not just as a part of Namimori under his jurisdiction. "Is that so?" Then Hibari turned to the banged up duo questioningly.
Yamamoto laughed lightly. "Yeah. That whole fence needs to be fixed. It broke and fell when we were both… leaning on it."
Gokudera stepped back a little to see Yamamoto eye-to-eye. "Are you kidding? We nearly just died! And you're laughing! Are you insane?"
"Considering he just tried to commit suicide, I'd argue it to be true," Fran helpfully commented.
"Suicide? Dying on the campus is not allowed. Prepare to be bitten to death." Hibari raised his two tonfas, ready to start his attack. Speaking of which, where did he get the tonfas from? Tsuna didn't see them anywhere even three seconds ago. He looked more closely at them, finding lines all along the metal body. Huh. So it was retractable.
"You just said dying is not allowed here and you're going to 'bite him to death'. Doesn't that mean you're going to make someone break the rule?" Fran clapped mockingly. "Brilliant law enforcement we have here. Right, fairy prince?"
Fairy prince? Tsuna wondered incredulously. Where did that come from? Nonetheless, he shook his head and responded, "Should you really be antagonizing him right now, Fran?"
"I'm not antagonizing him; I'm pointing out he's making a contradiction," Fran returned easily.
Seeing the prefect grip his tonfas just a bit tighter, Tsuna intervened before any more lines could be crossed. He could tell Hibari wasn't going to listen to reason, so at this point the best thing to do would be to make a distraction and divert attention from themselves. "Hibari-san, look at all of those herbivores staring down at us." I'm very sorry, Tsuna mentally apologized to the students on the roof. Hopefully they'd get the idea to flee before death fell upon them. Tsuna had a feeling it was worse than the giant falling apples of the 62nd district. The memory of a "useless littering herbivore" beat-down floated to the forefront of his mind. Yep. Definitely worse. Those bloodstains still marked the side wall of the art room. "Wow, that's a really large crowd of herbivores up there."
Hibari's attention was redirected to the spectators, feeling irritation rise as he registered just how many were gathered. His overwhelming hatred of crowds won over this questionable situation, so he decided to put this case on hold. He'd get Kusakabe to gather information about it for him later. For now he'd break up that crowd.
Tsuna felt relief as the intimidating prefect deemed them to be a less important matter and left, his black jacket's empty sleeves fluttering as he walked back into the school. The students above seemed to catch on that trouble was coming their way and hastily scattered, not wishing to fall victim to the brutal disciplinary head.
The brunet let out the suspended breath he'd been holding while Hibari had been making his verdict. Exasperatedly, he pled, "Fran, can you not provoke people so much?" Now it looked as if he'd have to look out for taunts with Gokudera and Hibari. And the list would keep getting longer…
Fran folded his hands behind his head, rustling his own sea-green hair minutely. "Why not? It's fun."
Right. Tsuna had forgotten that Fran came to Japan to leave his drab life back at Merith. And it seemed that Fran would stir up trouble if there was a chance of finding even a trace of entertainment, even if it ended up giving Tsuna a headache. "Never mind."
School the next day was somewhat awkward. News had gotten around about Yamamoto's attempted, aborted, and accidental-almost suicide. His false friends felt guilty for using him only for his skills and not valuing him as a person and attempted to reconcile. Yamamoto smiled broadly and told them not to worry about it, but no one noticed that he never said all was well. The star baseball player was willing to forget about them but not forgive.
He still played baseball; after Gokudera forcefully became his first genuine friend, he regained his motivation to play—this time not to stay in the good graces of the school but to prove to Gokudera how much his words meant to him. He was lively and spirited on the field, all traces of depression gone, even on the hidden level. And Gokudera picked up on it, lips twitching upward just a little bit as he and Tsuna watched Yamamoto practice with his distanced teammates.
Yamamoto started to hang around Tsuna and Gokudera after the "Falling Star" event, which is what the school's gossipers called Yamamoto's unprecedented break in frivolity. The name caught on with the spread of rumors. Tsuna didn't know if the name was meant to tell about the baseball star's actual fall or if it predicted a decrease in popularity, which in that case would've been wrong. Yamamoto was still coveted as the school's best baseball player, although the team and admirers no longer pretended that they cared for more than that.
The rumor mill spun uncontrolled by the Disciplinary Committee. Tsuna thought it was Hibari's unusual way of punishment for causing such a ruckus in the first place. Yamamoto wouldn't do it again, though; Tsuna could tell. He was genuinely enjoying his life and brightened up even more when Gokudera was near. And no matter how much Gokudera pretended to think that Yamamoto was a bother, Tsuna could see that he appreciated his calming aura. Although it seemed to have no effect, in reality Gokudera's curses grew to have less vitriol and his blows less strength. Tsuna enjoyed having Yamamoto around as well. The atmosphere was generally lighter with him nearby. Tsuna helped Yamamoto study for his classes when he needed help, and sometimes Gokudera made small contributions as they all sat in Tsuna's room, two tiny hammocks swinging overhead.
The rumors themselves got more ridiculous with each telling. At first it was the general truth—Gokudera followed Yamamoto to the rooftop, they had a serious conversation (or as much of a conversation as Gokudera's one-sided yelling allowed), the fence broke as they were getting back to safety, and they miraculously landed mostly unharmed, which drew Hibari to the scene.
The story got warped after being passed down second-hand, then even more with the next round. The first "edited" version was fairly innocent—Gokudera shyly confessed to Yamamoto in order to stop him from committing suicide out of what he thought to be unreciprocated feelings, but as they were getting back on the other side of the fence, it snapped and they fell, but the "power of love" protected them and saved them both. (Bianchi liked this version the most.) Tsuna didn't think it was very rational. The romance addicts ignored him.
Currently, the story went that Gokudera passionately declared his undying love for Yamamoto while on the rooftop, Yamamoto reciprocated, they had several dates (how was that possible within the ten minutes they spent on the roof?), they found each other to be the perfect match, and they held a small, sweet wedding ceremony at the front of the school under blooming trees with Hibari as the priest (but how they got there was never mentioned, nor was the broken fence ever explained). Supposedly there were two witnesses there at the "ceremony". Students' efforts to discover the identities of the unspecified people commenced soon after the start of the butchered rumor circulation, but to no avail. (And every time Fran encountered gossipers discussing it and made to open his mouth, Tsuna slapped a hand over it to keep him quiet. He staunchly ignored the odd looks the act garnered. He didn't want nor need Fran to out them.)
The people that were actually there to witness what happened didn't know how the truth got so warped, but no one bothered to correct the rumors. It was good entertainment to find out what ridiculous detail was added in between classes and even behind books while the unobservant teachers lectured. There really wasn't much that could be done anyways. Gokudera tried at first, but his denial only fueled the flames. Gokudera was obviously shy about his new relationship. Maybe it was even his first. The school journalism committee then started to sniff around their class, hoping to find another intriguing story or a confirmation of the recent events. Needless to say, they were not well received. Hibari searched for the source of the burns marring Nami Chuu's walls, but was unable to track whoever it was down. Meanwhile, Tsuna confiscated Gokudera's bombs while in school. (But what Tsuna didn't know was that Gokudera could simply make more using supplies from the janitor's closets dotting the school. Needless to say, the confiscation had no effect on the number of burn marks appearing every day.)
Reborn approved of Tsuna's choice of Rain Guardian—even though Tsuna himself was not aware of both Yamamoto's Rain nature and Reborn's acceptance. Investigations into the boy's background revealed his line of succession from the First Generation's Rain Guardian, Asari Ugetsu. The resemblance was uncanny. Although Yamamoto didn't have formal sword training, if any at all, the potential to be an outstanding swordsman was definitely there.
With Gokudera taking position as Storm Guardian as his ancestor once did and that potential Cloud Guardian descended from Alaude, it was evident that Tsuna's circle of Guardians would be a troublesome but entertaining bunch to watch over and guide. Then there was Fran, a potential Mist Guardian. Tsuna handled him well enough, but Fran was an individual that liked to cause tumult. He was a foreseeable problem in the future should he choose to weigh his own wants over Tsuna. Reborn would keep an eye out for other Mists before making a final judgment.
For the past couple of days, Reborn left the house frequently for hours to do something undisclosed to Tsuna, and Tsuna didn't ask, correctly deducing that it would cause more trouble than relief should he choose to. Nothing he said would veer Reborn from his actions if he saw no merit or a larger benefit in it. During the time Reborn was home, however, he worked Tsuna to the bone, exhausting the teen enough for him to drop into bed in exhaustion every night. He made Gokudera train with Tsuna, prompting a project of finding ways to make bombs and their explosions more subtle. They found that Flame animals of a decent size could swallow a bomb and run it to a target covertly by taking a swerved path instead of head-on. The problem was that the added heat of the Flames tended to make the bombs explode faster, so not all of the bombs met the target. This impelled Gokudera to start to design a new bomb that was less affected by outside temperature and only responsive to the burning wick. On top of that, Fon started Tsuna's physical training, wearing down even more of his strength. The next day was a repeat of the last, and again, and again…
Each day Tsuna went to school, he was weighed down by fatigue. He was thankful that he sat at the back of the classroom since most teachers tended not to extend their range of perception there. Gokudera sat next to him, hidden even better from the teacher because of Yamamoto's tall frame in front of him. Unfortunately for Tsuna, the desk before his was empty and left him vulnerable to the teacher's eyes. On the fourth day since the start of Reborn's abnormal scheduling, Tsuna was finally caught sleeping during class.
"Sawada! Get your head off the desk! Do you think this is your room and you can do whatever you want?" Nezu barked at him.
"Geh!" Tsuna's head shot up from his arms crossed over his desk. His hair was ruffled more than usual and light circles under his half-lidded eyes made him look like a sleepy panda. Some of the girls cooed. Gokudera flushed red. Fran hummed interestedly. "I'm very sorry, sensei. Please excuse my unforgivable behavior," he slurred out. Even half-asleep, Tsuna knew how to slip out of a bad situation. This one wasn't particularly difficult; all he had to do was appeal to the teacher's misplaced sense of superiority.
"Hmph." Nezu was very satisfied with the response he got. At least one student in here appreciated his talents. "Just don't do it again." His conceited smirk ruined the picture of respectability he was trying to project.
"Yes, sir," Tsuna replied with a mocking salute, although the prideful teacher didn't realize it. As soon as Nezu turned around and continued his lesson on the discovery and uses of potassium, Tsuna dropped his head back into the comfort of his arms and drifted into a light doze. That reminds me; I need to adjust my song for humans. That would make this even easier. The thought sunk into the back of his mind as he fell further into sleep, unbothered until the bell signaled for lunch.
Big brown doe eyes peered up at Tsuna innocently. The long striped scarf wrapped around the boy's neck made him appear to be smaller than he really was. He smiled appealingly and cried out, "Tsuna-nii!" The boy ran forward to Tsuna. The sandy-blond head pressed into Tsuna's chest and his arms wrapped around his torso, the small hands clutching at the back of Tsuna's shirt.
Tsuna stumbled a little, finding balance after the boy slammed into him. He… was sure he'd never met this boy before. But… Tsuna-nii? That was not a coincidence. How many other people around here were called Tsuna and looked like him? Zero. But how'd the boy know who he was? Unless he had some type of connection to him… Tsuna froze. Tsuna-nii… Big Brother Tsuna… Did his dad…?
Reborn leapt from the tree above and landed on Tsuna's head, the unexpected weight pressing Tsuna's face into the top of the boy's hair. "It's not what you're thinking. Don't worry," the Sun Arcobaleno said. "Now, if you're done getting over your unnecessary shock, let's go home. You can't talk freely outside. People can listen in."
Still somewhat paralyzed, Tsuna jerkily walked home, the affectionate boy all the while keeping hold of his shirt.
Tsuna set out his customary snacks and tea for guests. Once done, he settled onto the couch with a piece of cake. "So," he asked, "what is it you came for?"
"I'm Fuuta de la Stella, the Ranking Prince," the boy introduced.
"Prince? Of what territory? I haven't heard of you before." Tsuna couldn't recall any prince named Fuuta. Well, considering that Fuuta was quite young and Tsuna started to go to the Royalty Summits only in recent years, it was very unlikely that Tsuna would've known of him, even less if Fuuta was not first in line.
"Territory?" Fuuta asked, uncomprehendingly.
"It's a title, little prince. He's called the Ranking Prince because of his ability to make accurate rankings. He's not part of a monarchical family," Reborn explained to Tsuna. "In addition to that, he's part of the mafia world, so he is hidden from the rest of society."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Now, about why I came here…"
Tsuna sighed, relieved. "Is that it? That's not out of my range."
"So you'll help me?" Fuuta looked hopefully at him, hands clasped together in front.
"Yeah. Sure." Tsuna smiled reassuringly.
Fuuta did a happy dance. "Yes! I knew you'd be my best choice!"
Tsuna could guess why, but just to confirm his theory, he asked, "Why is that?"
"The Ranking Star told me that you are the least likely to turn a child down in need."
Well, that wasn't the ranking I was expecting, but it's accurate. Tsuna brushed off his hands and got up. "If you're going to be staying here, you'll need a room. Do you have anything on you?"
"Nope, just my Ranking Book."
Poor child. To be chased down to be abused for power… "In that case, we'll have to go shopping for some clothes. Let's get you settled in first." Tsuna maintained a cheerful disposition in front of Fuuta, not wanting him to feel unwelcome. He didn't need that, especially after being on the run without help and finally finding asylum. "Now, let's see… We're actually quite full in the house and there's not much room left…" At Fuuta's crestfallen look, Tsuna hastily added, "…but rooming together is very fun, isn't it?"
Fuuta instantly perked up and nodded. "I wasn't able to do anything like that before, so I'm happy I can do it now."
Tsuna gave a strained smile.
Fuuta moved into Gokudera and Fran's room, which now held three futons and a desk. None of them wanted a bed because they either thought that having one would take up too much room or they preferred futons. When the futons were pulled out of the closet and arranged on the floor, there was only a small strip of unobstructed space to walk on. Then Fuuta put his futon on top of the desk. Problem solved. The height off the floor made it feel like a bed (which Fuuta liked) and the arrangement freed up more walking space.
When Tsuna walked into the room on the first night of Fuuta's stay in order to check that the room wasn't too cramped, he was unprepared to see the desk against the far wall fluffed up with a futon and for Fuuta to be peeking out of a pile of blankets on it. Gokudera's and Fran's futons each lined one of the walls on his left and right.
Fuuta grinned at him. "You're right, Tsuna-nii! This is very fun!" he exclaimed.
Tsuna chuckled. "Goodnight, you three." And he withdrew to go to his own bed.
There was no problem with the current housing arrangement for now (other than the odd agreement within the Gokudera-Fran-Fuuta room, but they were okay with it), but at the current rate of new tenants arriving, there would be at least one more by this time in two weeks. Then there really wouldn't be any room and they'd either have to cram together even more or spill into the living room. Maybe he really should get a new house?
Natsu is an animal Tsuna made from Flames; he's not a spirit~ though I guess I could turn him into one. Somehow.
I'm not really describing canon events since, you know, you can watch/read it on your own from the anime/manga. I find it pointless to write it all.
Eh... not much happened. This chapter was supposed to have the Kokuyo event, but then I decided that I wanted to do it differently (which is why it's so short). Now I just have to decide how to go about it… Any suggestions? Shamal and Dino come in three or so chapters. That Varia chapter is getting farther away… Mu… I don't know if I'll be able to finish another chapter before the start of April.
I've not read 8059 extensively, so I don't know other people's portrayal of them all that much. I figure Gokudera would be tsundere (is tsundere a noun or an adjective? I'm going with adjective) and Yamamoto would be like a puppy vying for attention.
Thank you for being understanding (or uncaring) about my updates. Really busy right now. I sleep 4-6 hours on average currently. *dying in a corner* Help me. Also thanks for encouragement~
Posted: 3/20/15
