Smile
A/N: My precious plot bunnies were devoured by bad wolves.
Summary: The look in his eyes changed, even his voice changed; Tsuna came back bad-ass. His guardians want the old Tsuna back, but it won't be easy with everyday mishaps and enemies. Yaoi/1827
Chapter 12: Dreamless Nostalgia
Statement (known fact): I epically fail with fast updates now. I apologize x100 -bows-
Recap:
Tsuna. It was all Tsuna's fault! Only if Tsuna wasn't sleeping like that on top of his futon. Heck, he could have tried to cover himself at the least!
When the six had entered the room, they stopped and smiled when they saw all the futons laid out, but stopped when their eyes roamed over to the brunet who was sleeping, hitting them in the face mercilessly.
The brunet was sleeping on his back, slightly on an angle, on top of his futon for starters and his yukata was just barely covering his slender body. The orange yukata slid of both shoulders, revealing his entire chest and up. The bottom of the yukata slid off his legs, revealing his smooth, creamy legs. The material in the center that was meant to hold the yukata closed, was loose. What was worse - his sky blue boxers were showing. But what was worse than that - the material seemed really thin. It seemed incredibly inviting.
End of Recap
"Ne, is everyone alright?" Tsuna asked stoically,folding his worn yukata into a neat square, "Didn't you get enough sleep last night?" he patted the yukata and placed it on the pile on top of everyone else's.
The rest hid their faces and remained quiet, doing their own things and trying to ignore the brunet.
"O-oh, it's nothing Tsuna!" Dino said rather hastily, making the brunet raise a brow, but he didn't question.
"If you say so." Tsuna mumbled, stretching his arms with a soft yawn.
Being contagious as it was, everyone else started yawning after him, all stretching their limbs before smiling in content to each other. As they walked out of the room they spent the night in, Reborn told them to pick up the pace and reminded them that they weren't on holidays, so it was only a matter of seconds before they reached the limo that awaited them outside.
"Juudaime, you go in first!" Hayato said, grinning and ushering Tsuna inside.
Tsuna smiled and thanked him before he climbed in over to the seat next to the window. Once everyone was seated, the limo started up and they set off for the Vongola mansion, which was apparently only around thirty minutes away from the place they were at. As usual, Hayato sat next to Tsuna, then it was Takeshi, Ryohei and Mukuro, then on the seats opposite of them, there was Hibari, who was sitting directly opposite of Tsuna, then Reborn, Dino and Romario. A noticeable glaring/smirking contest was going on between Mukuro and Hibari.
"This isn't what I expected to see in Italy..." Tsuna thought, watching the scenery blur past his window. There were lots of trees all in a neat row surrounding the narrow gravel path that the car traveled on. He also noticed there were all sorts of animals and such. "Though, it's probably because we're nearing headquarters, which is most likely away from normal civilization."
As the rest quarreled and chattered, Tsuna held back a sigh and gazed out the window with his permanent bored stoic expression. He noticed that they were now passing through a civilized street, where lots of buildings and a few stores resided. Despite the great speed the car was traveling at, the brunet's eyes widened as he took in the scenery blurring past him.
Almost immediately as he recognised the buildings, he sat up straight in his seat abruptly and gazed outside confusedly.
Despite wanting to shut out the horrible dream he had a few days ago, and though it was only partly a small fragment of memory at the moment, these buildings were no doubt the same ones in his dream. A scene of crimson red flames engulfing an entire cluster of small stores and buildings flashed before his eyes; the horrid stench of death and burning itself.
Blinking a few times to clear his eyes, he eyed the land outside and felt goosebumps rising on his skin. He could remember everything clearly now; the path he was running, the stores...and the tunnel.
Speak of the devil, he felt his eyes widen further as the car was suddenly dim-lit from lights inside of a tunnel. Refraining himself from saying anything aloud, he breathed in and out quietly and regained his usual posture.
"...That's impossible, right?" he sighed quietly. "I'm just becoming paranoid."
Slumping in his seat and brushing a hand against his forehead, he closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened them again to look out the window. Though, because he was having a mental talking contest inside his head, he didn't notice the three stares he received. The three cocked a brow and watched his strange actions. They had their suspicions and thoughts, though fortunately for Tsuna, they didn't question him.
The car passed through the tunnel within a matter of seconds, and finally, he couldn't stop himself from gaping at the sight before him.
"Whoa!" Takeshi exclaimed, but rather than gaping, his face lit up like a Christmas tree. "That's huge!" everyone seemed to agree.
"They could probably fit a whole town in the front garden alone." Hayato mumbled, though no-one really heard.
"I know the Vongola has a high status and is surrounded by luxury...but I didn't think it was to this extent." Tsuna felt himself let a sweat-drop become visible as he took in the picture of the front garden.
To make things a bit more clear; Tsuna had come to Italy once before to train with Reborn, but that was in a different place and it was considerably far from the headquarters. Reborn had made frequent trips to the Vongola headquarters, but for two reasons Tsuna didn't tag along. One being, he wasn't sure if he was ready to face the ninth again, and two being that he didn't know what kind of harm he would bring to the ninth if he went. Rumors that Vongola Decimo had arrived in Italy was spreading like wildfire, and many were out for him, and most likely scouted the main headquarters.
"We're here." Reborn announced, even though he knew everyone was pretty much aware by now.
"That's extremely big!" Ryohei shouted, pushing Mukuro into the seat to get a better view outside.
"Kufufu, this one is very noisy, isn't he?" Mukuro said, rather irritated as he pushed Ryohei back into his seat next to him.
Takeshi laughed and scored a random conversation with Ryohei, who seemed overly-hyper. Hayato scoffed and mused over it, probably thinking that it was the boxers' way of suffering from jet-lag. Tsuna remained slumped in his seat and the rest kept their thoughts to themselves, seeing as they weren't as childish or anything like such.
As the group stepped out of the car, they were greeted by men all dressed in black suits bowing in two straight lines, like one of those fancy greetings you would get as a rich person, in which this case, was somewhat similar.
"We have been expecting your arrival, Decimo-sama." the man standing at the end of the line stepped forward and bowed again briefly, "Let us take care of your luggage; there will be officers waiting inside to lead you into your rooms." the man finished off, bowing once again as he ordered a few men to follow him to the back of the car.
"Luggage?" Right...Tsuna's mind was too busy gaping, he had completely forgotten about everything else, that of course including the rest of his companions, though it was only for a wee bit.
Although it was against his idea, Tsuna was forced to stand at the front of the group like a good, obedient boss would, or rather that's what Reborn kicked him to do. On his right as usual, was Hayato and next to him was Takeshi who walked along with his usual grin. On Tsuna's left was Dino who had Reborn on his shoulder. Behind him was Romario and Mukuro, and finally, Hibari who lingered far behind the group. The way Ryohei got riled up just then didn't exactly please him. On the other hand, the way they walked through the entrance was utterly and too breath-taking for the maids who greeted them, and heck, even the other mafioso that remained in the headquarters on a daily basis.
The sunlight that emitted through the widely-opened large mahogany doors provided a bright, illuminating background behind the group of nine men, who blinded most of the people inside with their overwhelming aura. Or so it seemed so? It was the typical 'bishounen entrance' that would appear in shoujo mangas. Dino greeted the maids and other men dressed in black (let's just call them mafioso officers, okay?) with his usual toothy grin, Tsuna was hesitant, but he smiled charmingly to people here and there, and the rest with the exception of Takeshi didn't bother doing or saying anything besides walking.
"Please follow us to your rooms'." a couple of maids said, a blush strewn across each of their faces.
They walked up the large, spiraling, white marble staircase with the click of their shoes and eventually parted off into their rooms which were next and across each other, much like a dormitory. Tsuna's room was at the very end of the hallway by itself; the door was alone in between two large paintings. The door to his right, was as you guessed it, Hayato's room. Opposite of his was Takeshi's room, next to his was Ryohei's, in front of his was Mukuro's, next to Ryohei's was Hibari's and in front of that room was nothing except for a small decorated table with a large enamel vase with all sorts of flowers in it. The wall beyond Hibari's room was decorated with different paintings and custom wallpaper (you can imagine what it looks like), which stretched out a few meters until it reached the stairs. It was exactly the same on the other side of the extremely long hallway, and surprisingly much, Reborn's actual room in the Vongola headquarters was directly opposite of Tsuna's on the other far end.
Everyone had gone into their rooms' to change into fresh clothes, since they changed into the same clothes as they did before they arrived at the hot springs in Italy.
Tsuna looked around the spacious room and smiled faintly before flopping down onto the queen-sized bed that had white draping curtains around it. The bed was lined up with the door. (From a person's perspective standing at the door) To the right of the bed, there was a large window with white curtains draping it on the wall facing the door, then on the wall adjacent to it, there was a mahogany coloured door that was most presumably the bathroom. Next to that door was a series of large sliding mirror closets that turned the corner and near the entrance door. On the other side, there was a large bookshelf stuck against the wall, followed by a large veranda door and a small shelf with nothing inside of it except for a small orange vase of roses sitting on top of it. The entire room seemed a bit too...white.
All of the other rooms looked the same, but Tsuna's was just a teeny bit bigger.
Back to the plot, Tsuna sat up from his bed and walked over to his luggage sitting in the middle of the room. Frowning to himself as he remembered the wonderful new clothes Reborn had replaced his old ones' with, he dug around for a while before pulling out something he seemed more or less satisfied with.
He threw the clothes onto his bed, along with a few other things and stepped into the bathroom, where he would wash up quickly before changing. Though he didn't realise it, a maid had come in straight after he went in and rather quickly put all his clothes into the closet just in time before he came out in his bright rainbow-coloured boxers with a small towel hanging off his shoulder.
"I wish I could sleep the rest of the day off..." the brunet mumbled, running a hand through his hair.
Rather lazily, he slipped into a pair of light-gray faded skinny jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt that was a bit too lose for his liking, but he didn't have anything else he really wanted to wear at the moment.
As if on cue, there was a knock on his door.
"Juudaime, are you r-" It was Hayato's voice. Wait, why did he stop? "A-ah, Reborn-san!"
Then, the door slammed open.
"Don't make us wait any longer than we already have." Reborn said, entering the room without a care for the door which he literally kicked open.
Tsuna apologised and threw his towel into the basket in the bathroom and left the room with Reborn, Hayato, Takeshi and Ryohei. Hibari and Mukuro apparently went down before them.
"We're going down to greet the ninth first," Reborn said as they descended down the flight of stairs. They didn't need a maid or officer with them since Reborn knew his way around the place. Hayato looked determined for some strange reason, and Takeshi and Ryohei didn't show any other gesture besides their trademark ones'. Tsuna nodded curtly, but glared at his shoes at the thought of conversing with the ninth, his so-called 'grandfather'.
"I still feel responsible for a couple of things, and my regret is eating me away..." he thought solemnly, "How am I going to face the ninth in this shameful state?"
Though, knowing it wasn't like himself to act and think like that, he mentally slapped himself and straightened up. After all, the sky was the foundation and centre of everything; if the sky faltered or was unstable, then everything else would come to a crash. And it was incredibly true, without Tsuna, his guardians wouldn't know what to do. Although they were thankful for having Tsuna at their side, they couldn't help but want the old Tsuna back. Desperately.
Before he could torment his inner-self any further, he stopped abruptly before he slammed into Takeshi's back, who let Reborn ride on his shoulder as usual.
"Straighten up your posture Tsuna. " Reborn said glancing back sharply at him, before prompting Takeshi to knock on the door.
Almost immediately, the door swung open to reveal none other than the ninth sitting in his large chair behind the oak table with his guardians lined up behind him. The room was filled with expensive looking furniture and different type of pot plants in every corner.
"Grandfather-" Tsuna whispered, but it was audible. He clamped his mouth shut as fast as he had opened it.
The old man, namely Timoteo let out a small chuckle and smiled, "Come here, Tsunayoshi-kun."
Tsuna's expressionless, sharp eyes softened a little as he felt nostalgia rush through him. He stepped forward and eventually found himself slowly making his way closer to the ninth, whilst the rest of his group stood near the door which was now closed. Timoteo continued smiling and stood up from his seat, before spreading his arms out for a hug.
"N-ninth..." Tsuna hesitated, but stepped closer to the open arms anyway.
"Call me grandfather like you used to." he chuckled, tightly embracing the younger boy who only barely reached his chest.
"Yes, grandfather." Tsuna smiled into the ninth's suit, before pulling away with a small smile of content. It was just his lips curved up slightly rather than a smile.
Timoteo passed with the introductions since they already knew each other, and greeted them as they moved towards the sofas.
"Glad to see you again, Reborn." he said, moving towards the sofas as well with his guardians following him.
Reborn smiled and titled his fedora as a gesture, "It's always a pleasure."
"Now, the reason why you came all the way to Italy..."
Although Timoteo knew why they came, he wasn't informed on the entire story and how everything started. Though he was growing old, he saw the brunet flinch from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the left where Tsuna was seated beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll tell you everything, grandfather." Tsuna turned his head to the side and looked up at his grandfathers' old eyes with his dull honey brown orbs. Timoteo swore he saw an entirely different person from the last time he met the boy.
"But I don't think I'll be able to talk with this many people in the room..." the brunet thought, looking up at his guardians who all had serious looks on their faces'. Reborn included. Though, thank god someone had answered his thoughts.
"Oi, you three go find Hibari and Mukuro. Tell them to stay in their rooms until I come get them." Reborn said, or rather demanded.
Hayato, Takeshi and Ryohei nodded solemnly before bowing respectfully and taking their exit.
"Why-" Tsuna just had to question Reborn's actions. Maybe he really was a mind-reader.
Reborn pulled his fedora down further, shading his eyes. "They don't need to be reminded." he said simply.
Feeling a bit lighter that the amount of people inside the office had decreased, he took a subconsciously took a deep breath in and out as the ninth's six guardians sat on the sofa opposite of them besides Reborn.
"Tsuna, just brief everything. I'll inform the ninth with the minor details later." Reborn said, earning a meek nod from the brunet.
"Everything seemed to happen like a chain reaction starting from that day..." Tsuna started, closing his eyes for a moment or two as he spoke. His voice was deep and he spoke in a dull, melancholic manner. His brows were furrowed and his eyes were sharp and almost lifeless. They had lost its' glimmer.
Tsuna began to tell the ninth and his guardians everything. From the day everything started from, about their enemy; the pistole family, the spy and assassination attempts, the midnight attack, the truce, their decisions and current situation. Timoteo knew he didn't have any words to express with a chime, so instead, he just nodded from time to time. His guardians seemed to do the same.
"And that explains why we're here in Italy at the moment." Tsuna concluded, glaring down at his fists which were balled up and turning white in his lap.
"I see..." Timoteo felt sorry for the boy to have to go through such pain at a terribly young age. He was about to comfort the brunet in one way or another like he used to, but instead he stopped when he saw Tsuna was calming himself down.
"I-I'll be taking my leave now." Tsuna said, standing up abruptly. He turned to everyone and bowed politely, before going around the sofas towards the door. He reached a hand up to turn the door handle, but froze when he heard a small gratitude.
"Thank you for telling me, Tsunayoshi-kun." the old man said, smiling weakly as he continued to watch the others' back.
"It was nothing." the brunet mumbled in return, not bothering to turn around. Though, if he had, the ninth and everyone else surely would've seen through the guilt and regret swimming around in his eyes.
As soon as Tsuna left the room, the ninth generation guardians attempted to leave, but stopped and remained in their seats when Reborn continued as he had said earlier.
"Tsuna missed out on quite a few things, but I'll tell you now."
Later in the day, the brunet walked along the vast corridors of the Vongola mansion or headquarters you would call it. As soon as he left the office, he didn't have to hear to know that Reborn was most likely going to spill everything to the ninth. Not that he minded that much anyway; the ninth was someone you could trust whole-heartedly.
"Don't go around breaking everything, you moron's!"
Tsuna managed to break a small smile onto his current facade. He knew that voice and language could only belong to one person; the person he probably trusted the most besides the ninth and Reborn. Well, anything that was mafia-related.
"My bad! Everything just seems so cool and expensive, that's why!"
Takeshi, his rain guardian was always doing his job. Washing away unwanted things away from the family. Takeshi's genuine smile could literally blow you away; it was that bright.
"This painting is extreme!"
Ah, no words are needed to explain this loud boxer. The guardian of sun.
"That's why you shouldn't touch it, you stupid baseball-idiot and Turf-head!"
"Guys-" Tsuna interrupted their small quarrel by placing a hand on his right-hand man's shoulder, making him jump and calm down at the same time.
"J-Juudaime!" Hayato seemed super happy to see his beloved boss.
"Come on, Reborn's calling for us." Tsuna said calmly, spinning on his heels as he knew the three were going to follow him.
"Ah, we found Mukuro but we haven't found Hibari yet." Takeshi informed, placing two hands behind his head casually.
"Don't worry, Reborn coincidentally came across him earlier."
Tsuna lead them to the lower levels of the mansion, where Reborn was supposedly waiting for them. Exact to his words, Tsuna lead them further underground the mansion until they arrived at a level which looked vaguely similar to the hideout in Japan. It was only a matter of steps until they met Reborn in a very large room that seemed incredibly white and dull all over.
"To see what level your all at, we're going to have a sparring session for the rest of the day." the arcobaleno announced, who was standing in the middle of the room.
Far behind the infant, Hibari was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed as if he didn't have a care in the world, which he frankly did not. Mukuro was doing pretty much the same in the opposite corner of the large room.
"Reborn-"
"This is a special training room constructed and used by the Vongola only. It's soundproof and the interior has a strong foundation and is very big as you can see. You can go crazy in here and people above won't be able to hear a thing; though they might be able to feel a few quakes from time to time depending on the strength of your attacks." Reborn explained, sparing no time for Tsuna or anyone else to make comments.
"There will be eight rounds in total and two individual sparring rounds for each person." Reborn said, walking closer towards the four who had just entered.
"The first round will be, Yamamoto Takeshi and Gokudera Hayato."
Takeshi grinned and Hayato smirked, liking the idea of beating up his annoying baseball freak. The two stepped forward and faced each other in the middle when Reborn moved out of the way and sat on Tsuna's fluffy brown hair. On Reborn's signal, the two started their heated sparring session; bombs going off everywhere and a katana swinging around here and there. It really was quite intriguing to watch, and the two seemed to be having fun themselves, though they wouldn't admit. What seemed like ages later, both stopped fighting out of exhaustion.
"The second round will be Hibari Kyouya and Rokudo Mukuro."
Hibari's whole body tensed and his eyes glared fiercely at the smirking man on the other side of the room. Mukuro simply smirked and tightened the grip on his trident. Almost immediately, Hibari grabbed his tonfa's out of nowhere and immediately dashed towards the illusionist. Seeing as the prefect absolutely hated the illusionist, and the other had no intention of stepping down either, the round ended up being something far worse than a simple sparring session. After what seemed like an eternity later to the rest, both Hibari and Mukuro stopped before they were going to collapse on each other. Reborn smirked and applauded their efforts.
"The third round will be Sasagawa Ryohei and Sawada Tsunayoshi."
Ryohei shot a fist in the air with determination and joy, whilst Tsuna closed his eyes and warded off an incoming headache from the loud voice that echoed through the room. Hayato turned to his boss and wished him luck against the turf-head, which he honestly didn't need. Although, he was thankful. Takeshi wished both of them the best of luck and grinned until they were standing facing each other in the middle. Ryohei had the usual fire lit in his eyes and Tsuna remained expressionless as usual. Before when he went into HDW mode, his entire facade and personality would change, but now, the only difference you would notice is the flickering flame on his forehead and the bright orange colour burning in his eyes.
"Focus." Tsuna had to remind himself over and over again as he continued his small sparring session with the boxer.
His mind continued to wander off and think about completely unnecessary things, which often made him lose focus with Ryohei, who certainly did not punch lightly.
Exactly thirty two minutes later, Reborn stopped the fight and called for a two hour break before resuming the next round.
"I'm beat! Who wants to come get a drink with me?" Takeshi asked, resting his shigure kintoki on his shoulder as he walked towards the door casually, followed by Ryohei and Hayato.
"Coming, Tsuna?"
Tsuna shook his head, "I'm fine, I'm gonna explore this level a bit more." he said as he slid his gloves into his pocket.
Mukuro disappeared off to somewhere and Hibari had already left the room. Reborn, Takeshi, Hayato and Ryohei went up to fetch a drink and something to eat, whilst Tsuna parted with them and walked around the level, not so much to explore, but to have some time to himself for a while.
After a while of continuous mindless walking and jumbled thinking, Tsuna heaved out a sigh and leaned his back against the wall, running a hand through his hair.
"I'm so tired." he said to himself, not expecting anyone to reply to him, though much to his surprise, someone did.
"Then go rest." came a deep and cold voice, which the brunet could recognise none other than his infamous cloud guardian.
"K-Kyouya-kun-you scared me." Tsuna said with a meek and weak smile, sliding down and squatting as his legs failed to keep him standing up and longer.
"Hn."
"Ne, Kyouya-kun...Is it possible to dream about an existing thing that you've never seen before?" Tsuna asked out of the blue, breaking the long and awkward silence that had only approached.
Hibari raised a brow at the brunet, "...Not that I've heard of." he replied, folding his arms against his chest, as he found it more comfortable.
"I see." Tsuna stopped talking there, making the prefect wonder why he did so.
"Why?"
Tsuna looked up at the raven-haired teen and kept quiet for a moment or two, until he decided to talk. Checking left and right to see that no-one was there, he shot a small smile to the floor in front of him and spilled his thoughts out to his beloved aloof cloud.
He didn't care whether he was going to get a reply or not, he just wanted someone to listen to him, and that was exactly was Hibari was giving him.
"...and I thought it was just strange. I mean, it's not everyday you dream about something that you've never seen before, but then realise it actually does exist."
"..."
Tsuna stood up and brushed his clothes before shooting a thankful smile at the raven-haired teen, "Thank you for listening to me, Kyouya-kun."
"Hn." the brunet held back a small chuckle, knowing that was Hibari's way of saying 'No problem'.
The young boss stretched his limbs and smiled to himself again in content, feeling a tad bit lighter and better than before. Now that he spilled out his feelings and thoughts to someone he trusted, he felt as if one of the two boulders on his shoulders had been lifted. However, just because he had spilled most things, didn't mean his problem and dilemma of thoughts were solved. Just because the boulder had been lifted, didn't mean it shattered or gone. For all he knew, the boulder could come crashing down on him heavier than before, and maybe even more could be added on.
Though, he had to admit something again...
He absolutely hated it when he was right.
"Boss, you have to hear this!" Romario said straight away as he entered Reborn's room, where Dino and Reborn were currently conversing.
He bowed politely towards them both and continued to speak as he took their silence as his cue.
"I overheard Decimo's conversation with Hibari-sama." he said, taking a seat which was offered to him by Dino.
Reborn cocked a brow, "Talk."
Romario nodded and thoroughly explained to the two everything he heard. He had been sent by the two to look for Tsuna and Hibari who were supposed to meet Dino for a small conversation about something with the others, but instead forgot about it and accidentally eavesdropped on Tsuna's one-sided conversation with Hibari. Luckily enough for him, neither of the two seemed to notice his presence.
Minutes later, Romario had concluded his explanation about everything he heard and excused himself again as he received a call on his mobile phone, which was urgently needing his assistance for a small job in the Cavallone headquarters.
"So that's what's bothering Tsuna..." Dino said thoughtfully, regarding Reborn's thinking state as well.
"That idiot." Reborn murmured quietly, though he meant it so Dino could hear it, "I'm going to go find him." Reborn hopped off his seat and made his way towards the door.
"I'll come with you." Dino said, offering the infant a ride on his shoulder which was happily accepted.
"Dammit Tsuna. Why would you let such a ridiculous idea dominate your stupid mind?" Reborn thought bitterly, refraining himself from doing anything to Dino in order to vent out his anger.
To be continued-
Next chapter: No more time? Vigorous training!
A/N: Sorry the update was really late, It's because of the massive workload I have at the moment. Sorry if this chapter was a little action-less; I rushed it and it was mostly like a filler before the actual thing, ya know? I EXTREMELY rushed the last part, so please excuse any incredibly weird sentences or mistakes. I hope it was alright though, and I can't bear to go on any longer because it's really late here and I've got school in a few hours. Ciao ciao~
