6 weeks later...
"Hey, Tsuna!" a very bright and cheery Takeshi called out, "Wait up!"
The brunet stopped and waited for the taller boy to catch up, before walking together at a leisurely pace. The long summer break had ended, regrettably, without the boys managing to do anything together, but they were happy to be together again. They chatted happily with each other about what they had done over the summer, though Tsuna was much more reluctant to reveal where he had gone for the six weeks and stammered a lot more when he tried to lie his way out of it.
As they got closer to the school, they noticed that there were a lot more other students on their way to school as well, and Tsuna wasn't quite oblivious enough to ignore all the whispers he could hear from them.
"Eh? Isn't that Muyō-Tsuna there with Yamamoto?"
"Really? That guy is still here? Mou, I thought he was finally gone."
"Yeah, especially since his house burned down at the beginning of break."
Tsuna's fists tightened, but he made no other motion that he had heard, keeping his gaze fixed on his feet. However, he looked up in surprised when Takeshi stepped closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "W-Wha…?"
Takeshi flashed him a grin. "We're friends, right? And I made a promise; that I would help you and prevent them from bullying you again."
Stunned, Tsuna's expression slowly melted into a relieved smile, thankful that he finally had someone at his side that wouldn't ignore him or belittle him while he was in school. Ignoring the shocked whispers of their peers, the two happily walked into the school, their bond together much stronger than before.
All through classes, there were mutters from their classmates about the new relationship between Takeshi and Tsuna, and they all wondered what and when it had happened. The teacher hadn't scolded them for it, since he was also stunned at this new development.
Once lunch time came around, Takeshi excused himself from the group of people that usually was with him during lunch, and instead went to eat with Tsuna.
"But why?" Many of them asked, not knowing what was going on at all. "It's Muyō-Tsuna, you never talked to him before!"
"Why?" Takeshi asked, scratching the back of his head. "That's because we're friends. And friends eat together, so that's what I'm doing."
Everyone watched with bewildered expressions as Takeshi plopped down in a chair next to the brunet and started eating his rice like there was nothing wrong. Even Tsuna was staring at him with his mouth open, not familiar with having someone willing to be his friend like Takeshi.
After a few minutes, Takeshi finally noticed that Tsuna wasn't eating and gestured at the unopened boxed lunch. "Aren't you going to eat? You said you didn't get a chance to eat this morning." He mumbled around a mouthful of food.
As if on cue, Tsuna's stomach gave off a loud grumble, much to the brunet's embarrassment. Several of the other children snickered at that, and left them to their own devices. After his blush died down a little, Tsuna picked up his chopsticks and started to eat his rice.
Feeling as though it was much too quiet, Takeshi decided to start off the conversation. "Ne, don't you think we should have something that goes along with rice?" He asked with a smile.
"W-What?" Tsuna returned, startled out of his thoughts. "Oh, er, yeah. I-I guess it is kind of plain."
"No, that's not what I meant." Takeshi said, shaking his head. "I was talking about the main dish. They usually give us tempura or gyoza, but you know what? They should give us sushi!"
Tsuna sent him a questioning look. "Why? Is sushi your favourite food?" he asked.
"Well, yeah, but that's not the only reason." Takeshi replied, his grin growing even wider, if it was even possible. "My dad owns a sushi restaurant, and he makes the best sushi around! You remember, right?"
For a moment, the hanyō had to stop and think about it. With all the training he had done with Rikuo over in Tōno over the six weeks, his memory was a little hazy on his last few days in Nanimori. Not only that, he had only been to Takeshi's house for a few hours. It wasn't unknown that his memory wasn't as great as other people. "Sorry, it must have slipped my mind," Tsuna said awkwardly, taking a bite of his rice. "It was a long time ago, and my trip over the break was… tiring."
"Oh, don't worry about it!" Takeshi laughed, but then his expression turned thoughtful. "Actually, you still haven't told me too much about what you did over the summer. You said you went to a family friends', right?"
Sweat started beading Tsuna's brow as he dodged eye contact once the topic was brought up. "Y-Yeah," he said, "s-something like that."
"And you also look like you got some muscles in those arms of yours!" Takeshi laughed, pointing at the firm bicep on Tsuna's formerly thin arms. "Before, they looked as much as twigs! Now… Well, they're still like twigs, but they look like strong twigs!"
Tsuna laughed along with him, not quite knowing whether to take it as a compliment or not. Of course, Itaku's training had made him more fit than before, but he didn't manage to advance as far as Rikuo. Still, he was willing to admit that he would at least be able to get a more passing mark when it came to physical education, and maybe he would even be picked on team sports before he was the last person.
"What's your secret?" Takeshi asked, with utter seriousness in his smiling eyes.
The smaller boy looked at him with a confused stare. "S-Secret? What do you mean a secret?" He asked, not know what he was talking about at all.
"You know, how you managed to get stronger in six weeks over the break! Not a lot of kids our age get strong!" Takeshi grinned at him.
"But there's no secret, and you're already strong too. You're the ace of the baseball team, aren't you?" Tsuna asked.
The raven haired boy gave a smile that had sparkles in his eyes, and Tsuna somehow knew that he was going to go off on a rant about his dream and everything. Tsuna really didn't mind though, it would keep Takeshi away from asking about his summer, though the baseball loving boy would be persistent enough to keep asking about it until he got answers.
After fifteen minutes had passed, the bell had rung, signalling the end of lunch. Tsuna, having had finished his lunch in time, put the garbage in the trash, with Takeshi still talking about his beloved baseball.
"Oi, Yamamoto!" Someone called. "Hurry up and finish your lunch, the teacher will be here soon!"
That seemed to snap him out of it, and he hurriedly scoffed down his rice and gyozas and guzzled down as much of his milk as he could before throwing them away. Tsuna gave him a worried look, wondering if maybe he ate it all a bit too fast. Tsuna had done that on more than one occasion when bullies were after his lunch and he ate it all before they found him. It had hurt when they found him and discovered he ate all the food, but the stomach cramps that came long after had left him curled up in pain all night.
Sure enough, Takeshi started looking pale and groaning in pain as he leaned his face onto the cool desk. People around him were giving him worried glances, but none made any motion to help him. The teacher was giving him a blank stare as though it would miraculously cure him, but turned back to the bored when it did nothing but made Takeshi groan even louder.
It finally got to the point where all they could hear was Takeshi's stomach protesting against the amount of food it had to digest, and Takeshi's groaning as he turned while he slept. The teacher sighed and put down the chalk, knowing the noise would be too distracting for a bunch of full eight year olds to really care about what they were supposed to be learning about. "All right, I need one of you to go and take Yamamoto down to the infirmary." He drawled.
He wasn't too surprised when there weren't too many volunteers. Many of the girls were too weak to carry Takeshi's taller frame down the hallway to the infirmary on the other side of the school, and many of the boys were too lazy or too distracted to pay any attention to what he was saying. However, he noticed there was one student that was paying attention while casting many apprehensive glances over at Takeshi.
"Sawada," he called out, feeling somewhat satisfied when he saw the brunet jump at the sound of his name. Even after all these years, he was still way too distracted. "Take Yamamoto-kun down to the infirmary."
Tsuna could feel the blood drain from his face as some of the boys snickered at his fate. Sure, he had gotten stronger during the break, but there was no way he would be able to carry Takeshi all the way over to the infirmary within half an hour! And there was always Kyoya still roaming the halls, watching for any students that had decided to skip classes and go home. Not that they would with the bloodthirsty child at school, but Kyoya wasn't going to take that chance.
"S-Sensei! Can't some else do it? I, uh, I don't think I can do it." He said, his voice growing quieter at the end when the snickers started turning into not so subtle chuckles.
The teacher had already turned back to the board, picking the chalk back up again. "Take as much time as you need. Just bring him down to the infirmary, got it?"
"Y-Yes..." Tsuna muttered miserably, and slowly picked himself up from his seat over to where Takeshi was sitting on the other side of the room close to the windows. It wasn't the fact that he didn't want to take his friend to the infirmary, but he wasn't sure he could carry him without dropping him somewhere. With his luck, he might drop him on his head somewhere dangerous like the edge of a door.
After much grunting and panting, Tsuna had managed to half drag; half carry Takeshi over to the door. After closing the door behind them and shifting Takeshi to a more comfortable position on his back, he looked down the hallway in the direction of the infirmary. "Did the hallway always look this long?" He muttered to himself.
With several much needed breaks down the hall, Tsuna finally made it to the corner while sweating enough to drench his uniform. "Ugh, this feels like training with Itaku all over again. At least it was cold over in Tōno…" he sighed, "I'll probably be sweating more than enough half way there."
He was so concentrated on his thoughts and holding on to Takeshi that he missed the loud yell of 'EXTREEEMMME!' coming from around the corner. Hence, the reason why they both collided with one another with the other person's fist flying into Tsuna's face and knocking him several feet away while Takeshi plopped to the floor where Tsuna had been standing.
"HM? What EXTREMELY is this?! Kid, are you EXTREMELY okay?" The white haired boy asked with a loud voice.
"Y-Yeah, somehow." Tsuna groaned, and got up from his twisted position that he had landed in. He gingerly touched the side of his cheek and winced. "Ugh, this is going to bruise later… Mama's going to worry…" He moaned.
"WHAT EXTREMELY WAS THAT? I could EXTREMELY not EXTREMELY hear you!" The boy boomed, moving closer to Tsuna.
"Agh! Please don't step on him!" Tsuna said hurriedly before the other could step on the unconscious raven. He hurried over to Takeshi's side and checked him over before giving a sigh of relief. "Phew, at least he managed to be ok. Wish I could say the same about myself."
"I am the EXTREME Sasagawa Ryōhei, class 1-B! What is your EXTREME name?" The boy, Ryōhei asked them.
Tsuna grimaced slightly at the volume but decided to endure it. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, and this is Yamamoto Takeshi. We're both in class 2-C." He greeted, trying to heave Takeshi back onto his back.
"2-C? Are you EXTREMELY in my EXTREME little sister's EXTREME class?" Ryōhei asked, his excitement causing his voice to grow louder.
"Sister? Who's your sister?" Tsuna asked rather distractedly, concentrating more on getting Takeshi onto the uninjured side of his body.
"The EXTREME Sasagawa Kyoko!" Ryōhei roared out, causing several teachers to stick their heads out their doors and scold him for being loud again.
For the brunet, it was more of the words than the volume that nearly made him drop Takeshi again. "K-Kyoko-chan?! You're Kyoko-chan's big brother?!" He stammered, completely surprised at how different he was.
"That's EXTREMELY right! If you EXTREMELY need anything, just give me an EXTREME shout!" He said, turning to leave again.
"Ah, wait a minute!" Tsuna rushed out, hoping he wouldn't run off too quickly. "Actually, could you help me with something?"
Jogging on the spot, the older boy turned to look at Tsuna from over his shoulder. "Yes? What do you EXTREMELY need EXTREME help with?"
Tsuna gestured over to Takeshi still slumped over his shoulder, though he was quickly falling off again. "Well, I'm supposed to be taking Yamamoto-san to the nurse's office, but you see… I'm having a little… trouble." He started. "Could you maybe… help me out?"
"Sure! That would be an EXTREME workout!" Ryōhei roared excitedly and easily picked up the unconscious boy and slung him across his back before dashing off at top speed in the direction opposite of the nurse's office.
"W-Wait! That's not the right way! Sempai!"
Ryōhei keep on dashing all over the school yelling for the school nurse, but had been running so fast that no one could tell him he was going in the wrong direction. People had been amused to see Tsuna trying to catch up with the older boy, though he was still obviously much more unfit that the boxing child was.
It wasn't until he had passed by Tsuna's class that Kyoko had stood firmly in front of him and finally made him stop.
"Kyoko!" Ryōhei had greeted, "It is EXTREMELY nice to see the EXTREME you! But I EXTREMELY have to find the EXTREME nurse's office!"
"Geeze, Nii-san, you're causing so much trouble for the school." Kyoko huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "The nurse's office is the other way."
"Oh, it is? I EXTREMELY forgot!" The older sibling laughed, making people wonder how it was he managed to make it to this grade without failing a subject.
"S-Sempai! W-Wait for… me…!" A more than slightly out of breath brunet finally came into view, and Tsuna slumped to the floor panting heavily.
"Ah, Boy! You managed to EXTREMELY keep up! That is EXTREME! Let's EXTREMELY run to the EXTREME nurse's office EXTREMELY now!" Ryōhei shouted and ran off before he could reply, making Tsuna sigh in exasperation. "What does he have to run so much?" He muttered.
A small voice behind him caught his attention. "Sorry, Sawada-kun."
Tsuna immediately whirled around to see Kyoko looking at him rather apologetically. "K-K-Kyoko-chan! Uh, no! It's no big deal! It's, uh, really fun to exercise and, uh, IhavetogosoI'llseeyoulater!" He stammered out and immediately started scrambling after the overexcited boy who had already turned the corner, no doubt in the wrong direction once more.
After finally an hour, Ryōhei had stumbled upon the nurse's office by chance, though there was no one inside despite the whole school apparently knowing about Ryōhei's trip around the school. The older boy had almost thrown Takeshi onto an empty bed and declared, "That was an EXTREME training! Boy, we should EXTREMELY train together EXTREMELY soon!"
"My name is Tsuna," the tired brunet muttered, not really caring too much at the moment. "and I don't know about that 'again' thing."
"Why EXTREMELY not?" Ryōhei replied, sounding honestly confused why he would refuse. Of course the hanyō seemed a little weaker than even his sister, but he's a boy, and boys should always be EXTREME! "Hey, what EXTREMELY happened to your EXTREME eye?" He suddenly asked, moving closer to examine Tsuna's face more closely.
Tsuna refrained from saying that it was Ryōhei's fault he was probably going to go home with a black eye today, and instead said, "Oh, this? I, uh, ran into the, um, wall…?" He bit his lip nervously and squirmed around a little under the other's scrutiny.
"That must EXTREMELY hurt! Your mother would be EXTREMELY worried too! I will EXTREMELY go and EXTREMELY find the EXTERME nurse! So stay EXTREMELY put!" Ryōhei called back and he dashed out the door off to somewhere unknown.
"I hope he doesn't cause too much trouble…" Tsuna muttered before taking a seat next to Takeshi. The boy's stomach had quieted, though there were a few protesting grumbles still coming from his stomach. There wasn't any noticeable bruises on his face, which Tsuna was thankful for. He still wasn't great at lying, and Takeshi would notice if he did. "Where is Hanayome when someone is actually ill?"
Probably drinking somewhere, like that other stupid part of us. Came the voice that Tsuna had become all too familiar with by now.
'G'morning, Sora. ' Tsuna greeted, 'You're up early. '
Sora scoffed. I've been here the whole time, just like that Ishou. You're just too Muyō too see it.
Oi, oi, that's not something you should be saying. After all, you screamed like a— Ishou was interrupted by a flare of heat shooting by his head, burning a few strands of hair from his head.
If you want to be able to drink sake later, you'd better keep your mouth shut. Sora growled, though his cheeks were flushed red.
'Guys, please. Could you not so early in the morning? I'm injured too, you know.' Tsuna butted in before they could go off on another argument. He could feel a migraine coming on; he was just glad there was no other pair of people who hit it off worse than those two.
Tired? Let me take over, then. I want to go and try out those new skills we learned in Tōno!Ishou asked eagerly, ignoring the fact that his fiery counterpart was trying to burn his face off with that abnormally hot flame of his. When Sora had heard his request, however, the flame burst even bigger and Ishou swore his face was starting to melt. No way, it's my turn! We made an agreement; I get the day, you get the night, and our human side gets whatever's in between!
"What?! When and where was I when this was decided?!" Tsuna exclaimed, feeling rather left out. It wasn't fair, this was the human world! As a human himself, he should be able to stay out here and make human friends!
A groan alerted all three of them, and they all turned to see Takeshi starting to stir.
Good going, now you woke him up! Sora snarled, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Can't even keep his thoughts to himself, definitely worth the Muyō title.
Tsuna sighed, covering his face with his palms. 'Why am I the only one who has to deal with something like this?'
I think we'd get along just fine, it's just that glowing matchstick that's a making things difficult. The long haired yōkai huffed, jerking a thumb over in the other's direction.
"Tsuna…?" Takeshi groaned, his face scrunching up slightly in pain. "Where… Am I in the infirmary? Wow, that doesn't happen too often."
"Yeah, I think it's just because you ate your lunch too fast." Tsuna chuckled, giving his friend a wry smile. "Are you okay now?"
Takeshi looked down at his stomach, then gave Tsuna a smile. "Yeah, I think that rest was all I needed, although…"
"Although…?" Tsuna prompted, not knowing what Takeshi was looking so puzzled about.
The taller boy reached over to run the back of his head, running his fingers through his hair. "It feels like I got hit by a few baseballs on my head. I don't remember play baseball today, though." Takeshi laughed, "Maybe I was dreaming it so hard, that I actually felt it!"
None of the three knew what to say to that, though Sorabi declared, Geeze, this guy's more Muyō than Muyō here!
'Hey!' Tsuna protested, 'he's my friend, which means he's your friend too! You'll probably meet him in the future, so you should be nice to him! At least treat him better than how you treat me!'
No way am I gonna be friends with someone like that! There are those… things that follow him! Sorabi hissed, making wide gestures. Tsuna wasn't quite sure what he was talking about.
From his seat on the floor by Takeshi's bed, Ishou drawled, Those 'things' are called girls, and they're also our classmates too. Really, it makes me wonder what happened to result in you.
Tsuna decided that when their bickering like a old married couple started (WE ARE NOT A MARRIED COUPLE, DAMMIT! DON'T EVEN GO THERE!),it would be best to ignore them. "Um, do you need anything? Like water, or maybe some food…?" He started, but winced at the thought of food. Wasn't that the reason why he was here in the first place?
"Well, with all that rice and stuff, I didn't get to drinking my milk." Takeshi laughed, "Do you think they still have more somewhere?"
At the thought of doing something helpful for his friend, Tsuna sprang up. "Of course! I'll go ask for some! Wait right here, I'll be right back!" He said before rushing out the door. Takeshi was left blinking at the door in surprise with his smile frozen in place at the brunet's surprising speed. "Haha, I wonder how Tsuna does so bad in gym like that?"
"Milk… milk… where would they have milk?" Tsuna muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway. Although he had offered to get some for Takeshi, he had no idea where the school would have it. It didn't quite occur to him that maybe a room with a fridge would have a box of milk.
"Oi, Tsuna!" A voice hissed from a window. "What are you doing here?"
Tsuna looked up in surprise, but it quickly melted into a smile when he saw who it was there. "Kioku! What are you doing here? I thought you were helping Mama!"
At that, the bird yōkai winced and looked around as if checking for anyone listening nearby. "Well, er, I'm on a break right now. Anyways, that's not important! What are you doing out of class?"
"Well, Yamamoto-san got sick, so I'm looking for some milk!" Tsuna beamed, giving a wide smile, but then turned crestfallen. "But… I don't know where to find any milk."
"Milk, huh? Well…" Kioku hesitated, not really sure if it would be a good idea to tell him. It wasn't because the milk was hard to get, it was just because Tsuna had the remarkable ability to cause an accident as a human. A simple task of fetching milk could result in the school being burnt down by a highly toxic acid that shouldn't even be in Nanimori, but Tsuna could somehow manage to do it. "Uh, they don't have milk here today. They ran out."
Kioku's heart yearned for the boy when he made an almost teary expression, and his bottom lip wiggled dangerously. The yōkai was very glad at that moment that Tsuna wasn't too alike to his mother. At the age Tsuna was at, Nana had mastered the use of the 'kicked puppy' expression, and managed to get all the yōkai, with the exception of her family, wrapped around her fiery little finger. "D-Don't make that face! Um, why don't you take your friend home? I'll tell the school you've gone home for today. I'll take care of your things too, so you can stay with the kid today."
"R-Really? Mama will let me? She told me always to let her know if I go somewhere…" Tsuna sniffled, though his expression was hopeful.
"Yeah, yeah! Just get going, okay?" Kioku huffed before disappearing in a flurry of colorful feathers.
Wow, you have got that puppy dog look mastered. Think I can do it? Sora whistled, looking rather impressed. Well, it's a good defense for him, in any case.
'Well, excuse me.' Tsuna pouted, 'I'm the only one that doesn't have any cool moves like you guys. I need a way to protect myself.'
Besides, that look would look like those dead fishes that we see when Mama brings us to the store. You know, that really weird one that looks like it has a face? The lax yōkai didn't even look fazed as a bright flaming ball flew right through his head, not really caring that he almost got burned to crisp. Well, I think he is the only one that can do that kind of face. Good enough for him, I guess.
Anyways, better get that Yamamoto guy home. Someone's going to notice you're wandering around the halls, and no way am I gonna come and bust you out. The fiery yōkai growled out before disappearing in a flurry of bright orange flames. Likewise, Ishou disappeared in a blink of an eye with a knowing smirk into somewhere behind Tsuna.
"Tsuna?"
The brunet jumped before turning around quickly, with his heart thumping loudly in his chest. "Y-Yamamoto-san! What're you doing up? You should be resting!" He fussed, rushing over to make sure he was alright. The baseball loving boy was still pale, but there was more color on his face, and he didn't look like he was going to hurl his lunch up anymore.
"I'm fine, don't worry about it." Takeshi said, an amused smile on his face, "but who were you talking to?"
At those words, Tsuna froze in place. "T-Talking? W-what are you talking about? I wasn't talking to anyone!" He said, his voice oddly high pitched and his eyes were roaming everywhere but at his friend.
"Tsuna," Takeshi said suddenly, all traces of a smile gone from his face and body. "is something going on? If there's something wrong, you know that you can tell me. We're friends, right?"
The brunet stared down at his feet, watching them shuffled together. "There's really nothing wrong, just… talking to myself. That's all!" He said, looking up at Takeshi in the eye.
Takeshi looked at him skeptically. "Talking to yourself? I've never seen you do that before. I thought you were talking to a ghost or something, haha!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Tsuna replied, relieved to find an excuse. "There was a ghost that got lost here, and wanted directions to the shrine! So I was talking to him about that, that's what you heard!"
"Whoa, that's awesome! What did he look like? Did he look like those guys with bed sheets over their heads? And did they go 'Booooo!' and stuff? Haha, that would be so cool! I wish I could see ghosts." Takeshi laughed, a large grin spreading across his face. "That's such a cool power!"
The hanyō laughed along awkwardly with the other, not even trying to deny the fact that he actually could see spirits and the like around town. Well, at least it seemed Takeshi couldn't see them. "They don't seem to have any more milk, but I asked the nurse. She said that it would be best to bring you home."
"Oh, really? That'd be great! If I went back to class, I'm sure I would've fallen asleep like always, haha!" Takeshi grinned cheerily. They managed to leave the building without much incident, except for one tiny little thing they forgot about.
"Herbivore, are you skipping school?"
Tsuna shrieked at the warning in the bloodthirsty boy's words, though Takeshi waved and gave Kyoya a friendly 'hello.' Standing right around the gates leading out of Nanimori Primary, was the feared guardian of the school, looking ready to beat any children who were planning on skipping school. None had ever managed to escape while he attended, and Kyoya wasn't planning to start now.
"N-No! You don't understand! Um, Yamamoto-san isn't feeling well, so I'm taking him home!" Tsuna said, hoping to deter the frightening boy from harming either of them. "So, well, c-could you let us off for today…? Please?"
"Yeah, I'm not feeling too well today. Oh, how about you come over? Then we can all play together!" Takeshi laughed, completely ignoring Tsuna's pleading looks. "We can all be good friends!"
Kyoya stalked forward, and Tsuna realized with horror that Kyoya's infamous tonfas were already in the boy's grip, and he knew that Kyoya wouldn't hesitate to beat them unconscious and drag them back to school. Thinking quickly, Tsuna grabbed a broken branch of a tree lying nearby, hoping it would be strong enough before holding it in front of him protectively. There was a hollow thud as the tonfa met wood, both of the black haired boys were surprised to see Tsuna taking defensive stance in front of the strongest boy in school.
Though the self-proclaimed carnivore was sure he could easily overpower the brunet, he was strangely pleased to see the light of defiance in his brown eyes. "Herbivore," he growled in warning, "I'll bite you to death for crowding."
"You can bite me all you want, but… I won't let you hurt Yamamoto-san." Tsuna replied evenly, a small heat burning within his chest. He let a little bit of the warmth travel around his body thinly, and steeled himself. He almost felt Itaku's comforting presence next to him, coaching him as he had in Tōno.
"Never release your Fear. Doing so will end your life in an instant. Always attack swiftly, and don't leave room for a counterattack."
Using the branch to block one of Kyoya's tonfas, Tsuna brought up a fist and went for a wide right hook. Something in Tsuna's subconscious told him to switch from a fist to a grab in front of him, and Itaku had always told him to trust his instincts. With the thought of protecting Takeshi strong in his mind, Tsuna opened his hand and managed to stop Kyoya's second tonfa before it reached him.
"Wow, Tsuna!" Takeshi whistled, obviously impressed. "You're much more better than you were before! I was right, you got a lot stronger!"
"You'll have to do better than blocking me to make me reconsider you from a herbivore, herbivore." Kyoya said, carefully watching Tsuna's brown eyes to change color as it had the last time. And soon after the words left his lips, he saw it; the change that he had been waiting for. The flickering of red and orange behind the brunet's regular brown eyes that signaled a strange strength Kyoya was sure he didn't have before.
During the summer, Kyoya had exhausted every resource he had in order to find out more about this strange herbivore that had caught his interest after a long while. Even with the vast information network he held, he couldn't find out what he wanted about the one called 'Sawada Tsunayoshi.' He only had the basic information of Tsuna living in Nanimori with only his mother, with his father working overseas as a person who handled traffic at a construction site. There was a relative in the town of Ukiyoe in Tokyo, as well as traces of ancestry coming from Italy. He was a lonely child who was weak and constantly bullied, and always got the lowest mark in his class. He never attended any after school activities, nor did he leave his house for anything other than school. His house was burned down for unknown reasons before the summer, though it had strangely been rebuilt already.
But still, it had made Kyoya go on a rampage and bite to death anyone who had made the boy irritated in the slightest. None of that information told him about how he had managed to gain the strength to oppose him, or why his eyes changed colors when he fought! So, Kyoya decided the easiest way to find out would be to find the boy himself.
The boy had met his expectations, as he managed to block both of Kyoya's tonfas without leaving eye contact. Was he even aware that a flame blazed behind his irises? Well, today, Kyoya was going to find out the boy's full potential, and he would make sure he exhausted all of Tsuna's strength to find out.
Quickly retreating and ducking, Kyoya aimed to ram into Tsuna's exposed stomach with his tonfa. He didn't feel surprised at all when Tsuna was gone before the weapon even grazed him, pulling Takeshi back behind him as well. The brunet's eyes were narrowed, and he gave the impression of a small kitten bristling its fur against a large dog. Kyoya smirked; this might prove entertaining, especially since the brunet exposed his weakness very quickly.
Running forward once more, the attacking boy kept his face carefully blank to hide his true intentions, and aimed a swipe in front of Tsuna. As he expected, the boy jumped to the side, out of his way, and he immediately realized that he had just left Takeshi open to take a hit.
This time, Kyoya didn't hide his surprise when Tsuna abruptly appeared before him, and blocked the blow with his arm. He hadn't even seen him move, and Kyoya's battles senses were finely honed through the years. "Interesting…" he said, before stepping back to examine the strange boy before him. It was obvious that Tsuna was tiring, but his battle stance was firm and hardly had any openings, which was surprising considering how much experience he seemed to have the last time they had encountered. "Herbivore, where did you learn to fight? It's against the school rules."
Tsuna blinked briefly in surprise before raising his chin up defiantly. "There's no reason for you to know. I'll be bitten to death either way." He replied, his voice strong and firm.
Kyoya grinned in a way that would normally have sent a shiver down Tsuna's spine. He was instantly in front of Tsuna, aiming blows as quickly as possible, with Tsuna parrying or dodging them at the same pace. He was partially dodging them on instinct, but he was mostly dodging them from his own experience telling him where to place his next move. When Tsuna was a sufficient distance away from Takeshi, Kyoya changed tactics and started attacking Takeshi, much to the other's bewilderment. With a cry of alarm, Takeshi raised his arms as he fell backwards, too unsteady and weak to make any attempt to dodge.
"Why are you attacking Yamamoto-san? I'm the one you're fighting." Takeshi heard, and opened his eyes to see Tsuna blocking the blow in front of him. "Awesome, Tsuna! You're the same as Hibari is, haha!"
Tsuna could instantly tell that was the wrong thing to say, as Kyoya's grip on the tonfas tightened and the brunet was instantly faced with a barrage of attacks from the other. From the calculated and aimed attacks they had now become wild random attacks of ferocious strength and blinding speed, and Tsuna could do nothing as he tried to block the blows from reaching vitals parts of his body or Takeshi.
But with his ebbing strength, he knew that he wouldn't be able to defeat him with defense, and he couldn't risk letting Sora or Ishou taking over and blowing their hard-kept secret. If he wanted to make it, then he would have to go on the offense!
Unfortunately, the hanyō didn't have a weapon on him, nor any way of calling for help. Yōkai around town were ordered to stay away from the school, and all of Nana's Hyakki Yakō was off watching over the town. He was completely on his own, since Takeshi was still sick and wouldn't be able to help.
"Yamamoto-san." Tsuna said, keeping his eyes firmly on Kyoya still. "You need to get out of here. I can't protect you, and I don't want you to get hurt. I'll… I'll manage somehow."
Takeshi looked surprised, but he gave a confident grin as he stood up. "No way, I told you before, right? We're friends! I promised that I'd support you, and I'm not going to break it now! If I'm going to fight Hibari, then I'll help you out!"
Though the brunet was shocked at the declaration, he was quickly brought back by Kyoya's relentless attacks on him. "All right. Can you distract him for a while?" He said breathlessly, gritting his teeth as the blows started landing heavier and he could start to feel the toll on his fragile body.
"I'll do my best!" Takeshi replied, and picked up a small stone. It wouldn't be enough to hurt the advancing boy, but he would distract him the best he could! After all, that was the best he could do for Tsuna at the moment. "Oi, Hibari!" He hollered, throwing the stone as hard as he could at him.
Kyoya deflected it with one tonfa without looking, though he had stopped his assault to glare at the interfering herbivore. Without a word, he started his attack on him, growling, "Interfering herbivores will be bitten to death."
"Haha, I'm not an herbivore, though! I eat a lot of meat at home." Takeshi grinned as he used his arms to shield himself. He was sure that he would have bruises from this later, but he trusted Tsuna to do something.
With Kyoya's attention elsewhere, he could concentrate on sending the heat further. Usually, it wasn't strong enough to make a difference. But now, he had a reason to need the heat. He could see Takeshi's pained expression as he received the blows, and it tore at his heart to see it. "If only I was stronger," he said to himself, "I could protect him. No, I SHOULD protect him. He trusts me, and I will save him, even if I die!"
With his heart set firm in his goal, his eyes blazed a dark orange color and there was thin coat of orange on his forehead and hands. He looked at his hands in wonder, surprised that something had happened. It felt pleasantly warm against his skin, though the glow seemed to dance off his skin like fire. It wasn't the same as Sora's fire, however, as it had a more gentle feel to it. He was brought out of his thoughts when Takeshi gave a yell of pain, as Kyoya had finally gotten through and was now beating Takeshi. With a firm determination, Tsuna leapt forward, using every bit of energy left in him to get to Takeshi.
Kyoya seemed to have sensed his approach, as he whirled around to hit Tsuna squarely on the head with the tonfa. The brunet easily caught it, and Kyoya got a clear view of Tsuna's now orange colored eyes the flickering flame from his forehead. He could then feel the intense heat emanating from Tsuna's hands, and was surprised to see his tonfas melting from the direct contact. He immediately let go and retreated a small distance, observing the other carefully.
With the other retreating for now, Tsuna chanced a quick glance over at Takeshi. A quick glimpse at the taller boy revealed small red swells on the bits of skin he could see, more of them concentrated around his face. To his relief, there were no broken bones or other wounds that he could see, and Takeshi was still conscious if the pained grin and thumbs up was any indication.
"Herbivore, don't get distracted." Kyoya said a split second before he attacked, with Tsuna easily dodging the blow. With the flames coating parts of his body, it seemed to give him a heightened sense, as he felt as though Kyoya was moving slower than he had before. As the other was about to strike Tsuna with his last tonfa, the hanyō caught it in between his hands, watching it bend out of shape and render it unusable. "I never said that I was," was what Tsuna replied with before aiming a strike at Kyoya's chest with a fist.
Now Kyoya was on the defensive and Tsuna was on the offensive as he used both his hands and feet to force his opponent back. He could feel himself tiring quickly, and he had to end it fast before Kyoya found out another way to fight him. He put more energy into his attacks, not caring about the burning sensation he was starting to feel in his muscles, and only concentrated on driving away the threat before taking care of Takeshi.
On the other hand, Kyoya decided that they had fought long enough and retreated a fair distance. The herbivore had proven itself worthy of his attention, and was an opponent he would fight again another time, when he had better weapons. "Herbivore, who are you?" he called.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna replied, slightly out of breath now.
Kyoya narrowed his eyes and stared hard at Tsuna, but the brunet returned the glare evenly and said nothing. After a moment, Kyoya turned around and called behind his shoulder, "You herbivores are crowding. You may leave today, but do not expect a second time."
Once Kyoya was gone and Tsuna's instincts told him it was safe, he collapsed into the dirt with the fire extinguishing. "That was so scary," he muttered, feeling as though he had woken up from a dream. "I can't believe I survived an attack from Hibari."
"Yeah, I can't believe it either!" Takeshi called weakly with a chuckle. "You're much more amazing than you seem, Tsuna! Are you two acrobats or something?"
"Yamamoto-san… Acrobats don't resort to fighting…" Tsuna said, wondering how he was so oblivious to the fact that they were very close to ending up in the hospital. "You wouldn't have those bruises otherwise."
"Maa, I guess that's true… Oh, maybe warrior acrobats? Like those warrior monks I've heard of! That'd be really cool, don't you think?" Takeshi asked, his eyes wide and a wide grin on his face.
For a long while, Tsuna stared at Takeshi with a dumbstruck look. Then he gave a weak laugh and turned over. "Haha, there's no arguing with you, is there?"
"Nope, isn't it more fun that way? Haha!" The boy replied easily.
Somewhere in Italy…
A boy was passing restlessly in a room before a man dressed sharply in a suit. Though the child was obviously much younger and weaker than the other, anyone could easily tell who the superior power in the situation was.
"What do you mean you can't find him?! It can't be that hard to find someone in Japan! Besides that, that entire mountain and the area around it is owned by our Famiglia, isn't it? A kid like that being able to easily wander in- there's no way!" A boy yelled, slamming his hands onto the table in front of him. "Look again!"
"We apologize, Master Gokudera, but we've checked several times," the man sighed, knowing he was on the end of the proverbial exploding stick. "and you are aware that I've done such a thing several times. We are sure; there is no such boy who lives on the mountain, or any towns close by."
Hayato ground his teeth together before punching the desk and turning away. "Fine!" He barked, "Leave immediately, then!"
The man sighed and bowed deeply, before exiting the room.
In another location in Italy…
A large and lavish mansion set in a deceptively calm forest belonged to the infamous Bovino Famiglia. Though they weren't especially well-known amongst the other Famiglias for their strength or their brilliant minds like many others were, they did have a weapon famous for technology no one else in the world had been able to create: The ten-year bazooka. There were many reasons that other Famiglias came up with as the reason to why the Bovinos would make such a thing. Was it to gain more knowledge of the future to come? Gain more strength from younger members when a fight was upon them?
Well, no matter what everyone else said, the Bovinos never stated their true reason for creating it. And they never would.
"Gyahahahaha!"
The infant's laughter rang throughout the mansion, and many of the servants serving in it were chasing around a baby wear a cow-print onesie.
"My goodness, why is that boy such a pain?" A maid panted, clearly exhausted from chasing the boy. It was amazing how a one year old could crawl so quickly around the house for three hours. It was quite endearing to the Famiglia, to them a sign of health, but the servants were quickly getting tired of it.
"Oh, can't somebody get the bazooka and blast this kid again?!" She moaned, the child's laughter ringing throughout the mansion.
In an unknown location far from the mafia world…
A figure stepped into a darkened room, going to one side before there was a swishing sound and brilliant sunshine fell into the room. The light revealed the room to belong to a young child, a male from how the room was decorated. In a bed in the corner of the room, a bundle moaned and wiggled around. The figure, his mother, smiled and went to sit on the side of the bed.
"Come on, Adrea, you like to go to the fair, don't you? I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with your friends!" The boy's mother crooned, combing her fingers lovingly through a young boy's hair. "You should get ready soon, Ken called earlier. They'll be here soon."
The woman gave a gentle kiss to the boy's temple before leaving the room. As the door clicked closed, the boy's eyes opened to reveal a mismatched pair of eyes colored red and blue, with a malicious smile crossing his face.
"Of course, mother."
As the boy sat up to look out the window, the sunlight cast a shadow behind him, splaying across the wall. Though the shadow wasn't particularly large itself, it appeared quite strange. It had nothing of the silhouette of the boy it supposedly belonged to, but spiky points sat upon the shadow's head, as well as wriggling appendages moving around the shadow's body.
A/N : The italicized words means that they're speaking in Italian here. It was closer to the bottom, so I decided to stick this down here. This chapter and the last are not nearly enough to make up for the month and a half of chapters I should've posted, so I'm sorry about that.
With this, 'The Sky Revealed by the Night' has finally been completed! Hurrah! I can honestly say that I never thought I would ever finish a piece of writing. I thank everyone for following and reviewing this story. I'm pretty sure that if no one paid attention to this story, it would've died out long time ago.
About the last few cuts(?), those are about the Guardians and what they're doing at this point in time. I'll go more into it in 'The Skies of Night and Day,' which will partly go over what was done during this four year period of time. What happened to Reborn and Colonello during their time in Tōno will come into play there as well.
If you couldn't tell, I chose the name 'Ishou' for Tsuna's Nurarihyon part. The reason behind this is I wanted to give each a name that was related to what they were. Sora is a fire yōkai, but he uses the same Sky Flames that Tsuna uses (their fighting styles are different, remember that). The meaning of 'Ishou' is 'vision' or 'a strange phenomenon.' That kind of name… doesn't it seem to fit those of the Nurarihyon species?
tsukuyomi . sakurachi – Thanks your ideas for names, but they were for the fire yōkai of Tsuna, no? As much as I appreciate you suggesting names, I'd rather not mix up names as much as possible. They're OCs, and its already confusing enough that there's two of them that make up Tsuna. And with all the other yōkai I stuck in here, well. I wouldn't be surprised if I wrote about one and stuck someone else's name into it instead. My mind just might do that to me.
Nightblade1021 – Ah, that makes sense then. No, I never heard of Touhou until you mentioned it. I'm trying to keep strictly to the NnM and KHR world. If Yukari actually is from Touhou, that was the original author's, Hiroshi Shiibashi's, idea. But I doubt this is likely since the Yukari in NnM is a zashiki-warashi, a child-appearing yōkai that bestows luck upon occupants of a household. Not quite sure what kind of boundary powers the other Yukari has, but I don't think it's quite the same.