Chapter 9 : Tsukune

Soft footsteps echoed as solid black military boots slammed against the rough texture of the cement floor. It's owner held his head high, black wavy locks framed his face, blank of all emotion. A single, moon-shaped scar marred his features, placed just under his right eye, high on his right cheek. The long coat in basic black flowed and waved around his ankles as the man walked toward the rusty door to his left.

A long prolonged creak could be heard as the man opened the door, inwardly wincing at the small scream from the rusted hinges. Inside was a dark, dingy room filled with small children dressed in rags. Each child had at least a few bruises covering their small malnourished bodies. Small dirty plates held dirty, almost rotten food and water that tasted faintly of rust.

The man flinched at the pitiful state of the countless small children cramped together in the small room, caged like the animals, the monsters they were supposed to be. Each and every one of the children trapped inside the cage-like room were Kronos, supposed monsters with special powers in human skin. The man gave a grim and disgusted smile, the worst thing was that the very people who did this was the children's parents. The very same people who should have protected their little ones, the ones that they should have cared for.

Moreover, the moronic idiots didn't even bother teaching the children anything. None of them knew how to speak or form simple words, eat using forks, spoons and/or knifes or even how to go to the bathroom like a normal human being. Due to their lack of common knowledge, all of the children acted like animals.

They were taught no words, only the cruel pain from the countless beatings dealt by their parents, constant glares of disgust, hatred and scorn. Years of such inhumane cruelty had truly opened the man, Tsukune's eyes. No matter what had happened or what these children could do, they were still human...in a sense.

Most people would say that the children and their powers are monsters that should be killed while others would say that the humans that did this abuse to children are the true monsters, the children can't be blamed for something they couldn't control.

Tsukune shook his head. Damn, politics and philosophy sure does a through job of making someone's head hurt... No wonder everyone hates those two subjects. Tsukune lay a large clean container of clean, freshly cooked food and dozens of clean water bottles at the feet of the nearest children.

Tsukune smiled bitterly as the children all but leaped at the clean food and water. The children shared the food and water equally and made sure to properly care for the weaker ones. How ironic, the supposed monsters acted more ' human ' than the people that trapped them in this miniature hellhole. Tsukune walked over to his two favourite kids in the batch, two boys with a month between their births. The younger boy had jet-black hair and silver-gray pupils, the elder had silver-blond hair and eyes the colour of a green ocean.

Neither were given any names. Both had shown signs of being a Kronos on the day of their birth and were almost immediately abandoned by their parents. The younger still saw his parents everyday, when they beat him up. His father was Tsukune's boss. The current leader of the Assault Division 49.

' Wonder if anyone noticed that Boss is insane? ' Tsukune wondered, remembering all the ...episodes their boss had in private. There are certain perks to being the right-hand man of the boss... provided that his sanity was kept intact, something Tsukune was finding very hard to keep. In any case, those perks sure help in anonymously sending highly protected, secret and important information to Kronos. He was, after all, a spy for Kronos. How could he continue to help the Hunters after what they did to their own children who was innocent except of the crime of being a Kronos? Tsukune would never be able to live with himself. It already disgusted him enough that he used to be part of such monstrous acts against these people with powers.

" Suu-!" yelled the raven-haired boy, tugging on the older man's sleeve. The elder boy frowned before grabbing the younger's arm, yanking the three into a hug. Tsukune smiled sadly, none of the children knew how to talk so Tsukune was unable to properly communicate with them. Despite Tsukune's constant visits, he didn't have enough time to teach them either. Maybe after That was over, he would have enough time. The agreement stated that they will help him convince Hunters that he would be dead and Tsukune would officially adopt these two.

Tsukune had already sent all files on the current members in his division, the kidnapped children, adults and teenagers, as well as the Kronos children they kept since birth. All, he was told, will be taken care of. As all of Kronos were in a similar boat before, Tsukune knew that they, unlike Hunters, will keep their word.

They took care of that four-year-old who burned his kidnappers to death.

Tsukune could still remember it. The small, broken voice ordering the men and scientists covered in blood, the blood that came out of that tiny four-year-old's body, ordering them to release them, or rather the unlucky boy that came out of the cupboard near them. Tsukune had winced when one of the more foolhardy slammed a hard fist into the child's already broken jaw. What had happened next completely terrified Tsukune, the child whose ' name ' Tsukune later learned to be Tenshi or Angel, he spoke in an unbelievably cold voice, dipping with venom, warning the men of their unavoidable death if they do not chose to release them. The men, foolish with their over-confidence, intelligence and pride, laughed and mocked Tenshi.

Tenshi seemed almost lost for a faction of a second before composing himself so fast that Tsukune wondered if it was just his imagination. Not long after, hell broke loose.

It was one of the worst moments in his life. Each second stretched into years, minutes into lifetimes. Fire blazed everywhere, burning and eating up the cold, leaving almost nothing but heat. The bodies turned to ashes, the ashes to dust, the dust to nothing.

It felt like a true taste of hell.

Tsukune saw a small faction of Tenshi's power, at it's full potential. Tsukune would know, Tenshi told him. Tsukune nearly had a heart attack to see the child in his private room inside Hunters Headquarters.

Flashback : Tsukune's Private Room ; Hunters Headquarters

" W-W-What are you doing here? " stammered Tsukune, staring at the child. Unlike the last time he saw the small brunet, Tsuna now had blond hair that covered his right eye and stopped just short of his collar bone. Instead of the warm chocolate brown orbs, there was a single sky-blue left eye while his right was covered with a modified medical eye patch.( A/N: think of Ciel's medical eye-patch during black butler.)

Instead of spiky hair that stuck out, Tsuna's hair only puffed up a bit, making it look like soft curls. It tumbled from the top of his head and wound around the sides of his neck in snaky coils. Tsuna also wore a over-sized button-up shirt that had curved silts on the sides, shorts that stopped below his knees and dusty-brown boots that reach mid-calf.

All in all, Tsukune wondered if the child was a girl.

Tsuna looked up and smiled sadly. " What do you think of Hunters ? "

Tsukune blinked. The first thing Tsuna asked was what he thought? " I-..."

" No one can or will hear us here. I made sure of it." smiled Tsuna, his single blue eye whispering a silent message. You can speak freely here.

With that, all of Tsukune's thoughts spilled out of him. All his misgivings, theorys, plans, even his childhood memories. There was just something about the child before him that prompted the man to confess everything to him, knowing that he will never be hastily judged, falsely wronged or harshly punished by this form of life, this creation of God himself. There was just soft understanding and velvet forgiveness.

" What do you think of us ?" whispered Tsuna's silently soft voice, a voice so soft that it was almost silent. " You were told that we were nothing more than monsters with human skin. You were recruited into this twisted organization that has become a faint shadow of it's former self without being allowed a look at the truth. You were convinced you were doing the right thing. But now... you seen the truth, the cruelty they caused us to suffer, the unfairness of it all... What do you think of us ? Are we truly monsters ?"

Tsukune reflected on Tsuna's soft words. Despite his age, the child spoke wisely. It was true that he had joined Hunters on nothing but their words, his immature mindset convincing him that he was going to be a hero by destroy the monsters. And the worst thing was, he knew better than to walk in blindly but he still joined the twisted guild without taking a good look at the so-called monsters. Now, after seeing them take all the crap Hunters throw at them ...

" You guys...aren't monsters..." Tsukune reluctantly admitted. Tsuna smiled somewhat reluctantly as well, mostly because he understood that Tsukune wasn't ready to completely let go of the Hunters' beliefs. Prior research had indicated that Tsukune had been influenced by Hunters for a good portion of his life. It wasn't going to be so easy to let go of something that you believed in for most of your life.

If things were so easy, the world would probably be peaceful instead of this false calm. Despite what the people say, under all this calm exterior was an uneasy chaotic mess. What seems to be perfect on the surface, never is down below.

" ... How about this ?" asked Tsuna in a quiet voice, prompting the man to look the child in the eyes. " I'll let you play with some of the Kronos kids, then you make up your mind about them. Adults can handle the mess by themselves but, strangely enough, no one thinks on how the kids handle it. Without a choice, children are continuously thrown into the fire where they are nearly defenceless and when they do manage to defend themselves using their powers, they are treated like dirt without an explanation, never mind the trauma from using their powers in very desperate times.

With all these factors, I'm not really surprised that many of the strays, including the ones who never really met any of the Kronos or Hunters, turned rouge. Mentally, spiritually, physically and psychologically speaking, this are pretty ideal conditions for them to go either rouge, insane or both. The adults should handle the aftermath of their actions themselves but the children have no place in this war." Tsuna's eyes grew dark and threatening. " They will have no place in this ridiculous war. Not if I can help it."

Tsukune stared at the child as his mind went over the words that dropped from the four-year-old's lips. The words sounded like they were from an adults that had seen many things and far, far too much of life. The problem was that they were from a four-year-old child.

However...

The words made a lot of sense. Children had no place in a war, no matter what. But ... Hunters were pushing innocents into a war-zone without a proper excuse other than that they were Kronos. If they were born Kronos, they were not yet monsters, right?

As reason and logic fought in Tsukune's mind, the actions he took during his time in Hunters dawned on him. " G-God. What have I done ?" he whispered in horror. " What have I done..."

Tsuna gazed sadly at the man as he cried and shook uncontrollably. The misguided man had finally seen through the thin veil of lies that Hunters had fabricated.

In a tiny and quiet voice, Tsuna whispered " Can you do something for the children?"

After that, Tsuna had asked him to become a spy, to relay information to Kronos. Even a little was fine, Tsuna said. On Tsuna's advice, Tsukune began to visit the caged children. They were wary at first but quickly adapted to this change in life. They quickly warmed up to the only man that was kind to them, that would not beat them, brought them clean food and water and so many others.

Tsuna visited whenever he could as well, sneaking in when he can. Bringing treats and sweets, knowledge and games. They warmed up to the blond/brunet faster than to Tsukune, trusting the smarter child to come when he could, to free and protect them. They could somewhat understand the child better but, as Tsuna explain to Tsukune, it was most likely due to his telepathic powers. Tsuna could broadcast the meaning of various things directly to their minds, making teaching them easier and allowing them to understand things better.

Things were looking better, and Tsukune hoped to bring back the light in the children's eyes.

Tsuna stared at a crying Helios and the other dumbfound Thantos. They were staring at the competed pile of paperwork which their youngest member finished in record time. They would have understood if it was a small pile but noooo~ , it was a freaking five huge piles that halfway reached the ceiling from the top of the desk.

The infamous Thantos Siblings were out-worked, out-smarted and out-bested by a four-year-old of all things. The famous self-adopted siblings that were both infamous and famous for being the fastest workers, smartest genius and the best of the best were out-done by a tiny, small and way younger child, one who could still be considered a mere baby.

What has the world been coming to ?

" Umm... Am I done here?" asked the now blond boy. Because his body couldn't completely handle the influence from his constant use of power, his body changed to this state to better adjust. They learned that from time to time that Tsuna could change back but then, the effects would become worst.

So far, the only problems were Sonia's reaction to Tsuna's changed state. In simpler words, she kept trying to dress Tsuna up like a doll. Everyone was surprised when Tsuna said he didn't mind being dressed as either a boy or girl but didn't appreciate being treated like a doll. Anthea kept quiet but smiled as she secretly knew the reason behind that dressing issue.

Of cause, Doctor-patient secrets.

But that didn't explain why he could finish paperwork so easily. Now, if only she could just-

" Hel-LO! Am I done ?" repeated Tsuna, slightly impatient. Apparently, for all of Tsuna's wisdom, knowledge and maturity, he was still a child. Still trapped in the jaws of dumbfound-ness, the Thantos Siblings nodded. Shortly after Tsuna left, they started screaming.

" NOOOOOO~! HOW COULD WE LET HIM LEAVE WITHOUT FINDING OUT THE SECRET OF DOING PAPERWORK~!"