A/N: I'm just gonna leave this here.
Enjoy.
Scene 32:
Bonding Moments
July 5
Sunday 2215
One would believe that life with an 8-year-old in the house would be pretty hectic in a household with two females and a frequently visiting young delinquent. But what Tsuna and her mother quickly discovered just the next day was that… Lambo was too out-of-place in the house to do much of anything other than move around in a robotic manner, keeping his mouth firmly shut for hours on end.
Seeing as the kid hadn't been with them for that long, the two females decided not to try and coax him out of it. They would wait to see if the behavior remained as such once he'd gotten settled, become comfortable in their presence before they would worry about such things.
Of course, the family had ensured that they contacted Child Services about them having taken in a kid from the streets. It was required that it was on record exactly who lived where and how many people lived in each house in case there was an emergency.
Of course, Child Services wouldn't immediately remove Lambo from the family he had just begun to tentatively trust and shove him into a building full of people he didn't trust at all, that would only work against what they wanted. However, they had informed the family that they would have regular check-ups at least twice a month just to ensure that Lambo was doing well. When they had asked if they would be alright with the check-ups the Sawada women had been offended that they would think they would be offended at someone double-checking on Lambo's living condition.
They may or may not have immediately gotten into the Office's good books from that reaction…
They had sent a pair of workers over immediately though, to check up on his current mental and physical health. The kid had only agreed to go through with it if Tsuna had been in the same room with them, not wanting to be left alone with the strangers.
Thankfully, the workers had allowed Tsuna to do so.
To say they had been worried about the lightning-shaped scars running over almost the entirety of his young body would be an understatement. They had asked him about them but they quickly stopped upon seeing the absolute stony expression that formed on the kid's face.
An expression that shouldn't be possible on an eight-year-old.
The Child Services workers had just left when Tsuna had been on her way back to her room, her mother taking over looking after Lambo as the eight-year-old happily helped her with dinner.
"He's a Salamander."
She didn't jump at Reborn's sudden words, but she did pause, turning around towards her tutor where he was leaning against the hallway wall.
"A what?" was her deadpanned reply.
Letting out a long sigh, Reborn peeled himself off of the wall.
"It's one of the many failed attempts at creating a second Phoenix." he started slowly, peering down the hallway to make sure they weren't overheard. "One of the only two that had a chance of the victim surviving."
Tsuna could feel herself paling.
He couldn't mean…
Could he?
Reborn sighed again, adjusting the brim of his fedora.
"Someone has forced that boy to experience high levels of Raw-Anima directly, in effort to make his skin immune to their effects." the man confirmed her fears, not looking at her as she collapsed against the wall. "Those scars he carries are proof of their failures." Reborn continued, joining her in leaning against the wall, his dark eyes still flicking from side to side. "He'll be able to release Raw-Anima directly from those scars, but never from his untouched skin."
It was silent for a long moment between tutor and student before Tsuna let out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Who puts an eight-year-old through that kind of thing?" she breathed, her one hand falling over her face, mind trying to figure out ANY possible reason as to why someone could even THINK about putting a child through that.
"Six."
Tsuna felt herself freezing at Reborn's voice.
"What?" her voice was harsher than she'd intended.
She did not hear what she had just heard.
For a moment, it looked at through Reborn wasn't going to answer.
Finally, he sighed.
"Most likely..." Tsuna didn't think she had ever seen Reborn look so angry, so exhausted at the world they lived in. He refused to look at her. "He was six when it happened."
Tsuna's brain short-circuited.
Six?
The number kept ringing through her head as Reborn stalked away from her, his hands clenched in his pants pockets, leaving Tsuna with her flames running at raging heat her body practically simmered where she stood.
July 7
Tuesday 2215
Tsuna's skin itched.
It had itched since Reborn had forced her to memorize a map of the human bloodstream detailing the exact movement of the blood as it is pumped through the body, how many veins there were, and where they lead. How he had gotten ahold of something like that, she had no idea, he just said it was common knowledge to those studying Anima because it has proved to be a great help in what she was attempting at this very moment.
"That's it, keep the flow stable." Reborn's voice sounded quite pleased from somewhere at her side where she once again sat in her little nest, consciously circulating a concentrated amount of flames through her body, changing which veins it traveled through as Reborn commanded it.
It was strange, to say the least, feeling a strong heat moving swiftly beneath her skin from her fingers to her shoulder-blades, to her stomach, to her knees, her remaining skin rapidly cooling back down the second the flames continued its journey.
"Now, I want you to imagine you're pushing the flow to your eyes. Your pupils to be exact. Focus the flow towards that spot, you may increase the amount of flame if you feel it is necessary."
It took some time, but Tsuna managed to slowly close off certain veins to force the flames up towards her eyes, trying to focus them within her irises.
"Keep them there." Reborn immediately ordered once he noticed them reaching their target. "Don't attempt to have them stop completely of course, that could potentially singe the inside of your veins, but do keep them circulating within the veins connected to your eyes."
Okay…
Okay, she could do that.
Finding those tiny, closely-knit veins was a bit tricky. She suspected that it took her a good few minutes, but she finally managed to close off the necessary veins to keep the flames circulating within her eyes.
Stars… she could feel them tearing up at the heat behind her closed eyelids.
"You can open your eyes now." she did as her tutor asked. "What do you see?"
"Wow..." Tsuna's eyes wandered over the shadow-wast world, feeling like she was seeing what the world would look like if you were walking through the thickest of forest in the dead of a winter night, having to rely on your peripheral vision to see anything at all. "This is so strange."
"I imagine it is." Reborn's voice reached her from somewhere behind her, though from the sound of things, he was moving. "You'll get used to it."
His form entered her field of vision.
Her jaw dropped.
"You're glowing." she breathed.
That was to put it lightly.
Despite the black clothes Reborn usually wore, it looked as though his entire being was completely coated in a bright, glittering yellow light, a light strong enough that it bounced off of the surfaces close enough to him, making his direct surroundings clearer than most, her belongings looking like she would have seen them with normal eyes, only everything had had a can of yellow paint and glitter thrown all over them.
The man chuckled at her statement.
"The glow you see me give off is something you will only see in six other people that I am aware of," he explained. "With a regular Ignited person, what you will see is the shadow of a person surrounded by a layer of light of varying sizes depending on the size of their core, along with a pulsating light somewhere in their chest area." Tsuna found herself nodding in understanding. "If a person is not ignited, the only difference is that the glow around the body won't we there." another nod.
Something changed in the glow.
Parts of the glow seemed to grow dimmer and dimmer whilst other parts of it seemed to glow even brighter.
"You notice a change?" he asked, earning another nod. "That is what it looks like when I focus my energy into specific parts of my body." again, Tsuna nodded, waiting for her tutor to continue.
The glowing figure's head rose slightly.
"Come on in, Gokudera."
She had known this was going to happen, though it still felt rather strange that the delinquent was going to be there as she was actively training in her flame control.
She listened carefully as a second set of footsteps ascended her staircase, waiting for Reborn to speak up again.
"What do you see?"
Carefully keeping her hold on her flames, Tsuna slowly turned her head around to face her best friend, her eyes roaming over her blurry, colorless surroundings until her eyes finally landed on the second figure in the room.
Just a figure.
A blurry array of grays that formed the almost painfully familiar silhouette of Gokudera Hayato.
And that was it.
There was no flickering light in his chest like Reborn had explained.
He was just gray.
"… nothing." she answered as a confused frown formed on her face, additional flames flooding into her eyes in an almost instinctual, desperate attempt to try and see if that would change anything.
It didn't.
"He's dark."
Releasing her hold on her flames, Tsuna flew to her feet, eyes shifting frantically between her best friend and her tutor, begging either of them to explain to her what was going on. Only for Reborn to slowly begin to back away into the wall.
Gokudera took it upon himself to explain after a few long moments of silence.
"That's because I am a special case." he sighed as he walked up to her. "I lost my potential to become Ignited in childhood."
Tsuna felt like the breath had been knocked out of her.
Lost the potential to what?
How can someone lose something that's fueled by determination?
"What?" she forced the question through her throat, almost choking on the word.
Gokudera gave her a sad look.
"I've been told that..." he sighed, ruffling his hair. "I somehow managed to snuff out my core." Tsuna practically collapsed back into her nest, her legs no longer capable of holding her up. "I have never managed to regain that special spark of will-power required for my core to reform, and with how long it has been, the possibility of me getting it back now is…" he sighed again, shrugging dismissively. "Not likely."
Not likely…
How…?
"I..." Tsuna breathed, shaking her head, trying to wrap her mind around all of this. "How can that…?" her face fell into her hands, her breaths heavy.
Special spark?
What kind of special spark?
What in the world did he mean?
"Hey." Gokudera hurried to her side, hesitating for a moment before he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a gentle, comforting hug. "Don't worry about it." he rubbed her soothingly over the arm. "It doesn't bother me."
Tsuna's head snapped up to look him in the eye.
Doesn't bother him?
How can something like that not bother him?
The mere fact that her best friend was missing something that was fueled by determination worried her something fiercely.
"Tsuna-nee-chan."
The light, timid voice caused the three in the room to turn towards the small figure almost cowering just at the top of the stairs, peering u at them, shifting nervously from one person to the other.
This was not the time for heavy emotions…
Shoving down her worry for another time, Tsuna smiled encouragingly at the eight-year-old.
"Can we paint the room now?"
Her face practically lit up at his question.
"Of course we can." she practically ran over to her closet, pulling out her white jean jumper shorts, the ones already splattered liberally with multiple shades of paint, coupled with what looked like an old, worn, slightly-larger-than-her t-shirt. She paused when she turned back around, remembering that Gokudera was still in the room.
She had forgotten about everyone else in the room at the prospect of getting to paint.
Gokudera seemed to have realized this, a fond smile on his face.
She shifted where she stood, feeling sheepish.
"You want to join us?" she asked after a moment, finding herself smiling again.
"Why not?" the silverette shrugged nonchalantly.
Frowning, Tsuna let her eyes rake over the clothes her best friend was wearing.
It was his regular style, ripped jeans with a worn zip-up hoodie over a black t-shirt with an abstract print.
"You have a change of clothes?" she asked. "This is going to get messy." she motioned with her paint-splattered jumper shorts for reference. She was well aware of how stained they most likely were going to end up.
Gokudera just chuckled.
"With these clothes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her as he motioned down at himself. He looked down himself, looking as though he was mockingly considering something. "You know..." he fiddled with a worn patch on the sleeve of his hoodie. "Paint might make them look even better." he looked up at her again, smirking.
She scoffed at him, shaking her head.
Lambo had been given Tsuna's old nursery, the room she had grown out of by the time she had turned thirteen. She and Lambo had spent Monday inside that room and down in the basement picking out what furniture he wanted from what they already had. It had been clear that the kid hadn't been a fan of the soft orange color the walls had been painted with.
Tsuna had been quick to ensure the kid that it was alright to change it.
And no, Tsuna had actually not been the one to pick the color, the childish sharpie drawings that littered the walls, however, were hers.
Tsuna had brought down her collection of wall paints, the ones she still had left from her mural, letting Lambo choose which ones he wanted on the wall. He picked out a vibrant green color she hadn't actually used together with pain white and black.
They spent hours in that room covering the walls with a white base color, some of the paint winding upon them and their clothes, allowing it to dry over lunch and dinner before the real fun began in a manner Lambo himself chose.
Sure, Tsuna had been the one to describe the many ways he could have the walls painted, but it was Lambo, but it had been the kid that had chosen to get his hands and feet dirty.
With the help of Tsuna and Gokudera, Lambo had managed to cover most of the bottom of the walls in a mix of green and black hand and footprints, some of them even ending up on the floor despite the paper the teens had lined the floors with.
That had been the first time the household had heard him laughing.
Tsuna followed Gokudera out of the front door.
She had seen the way his eyes had flashed in her direction during the entire day, her curiosity finally getting the better of her.
"You have something to tell me." she stated as Gokudera got on his hoverbike.
The delinquent froze, the collapsed helmet already fitted to the back of his head, his fingers hovering at the buttons that would unfold it. Slowly, his hands lowered, his head turning towards her as he seemed to steel himself for what he wanted to tell her.
He swallowed heavily, squaring his shoulders.
"I'm leaving for a science convention tomorrow."
Tsuna blinked.
A science convention?
Gokudera, the gun slinging delinquent dressed in ripped clothes and skull themed accessories was going to a science convention? The thought didn't really register for a split second, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.
He may have the outlook of a delinquent, but Gokudera was a legitimate genius.
She knew.
He had told her the results of his IQ test.
"Really?" she was silent for a moment, still pondering over his words. Finally, she let out a breathy chuckle, shaking her head before looking up at him, smiling. "I so did not peg you for having those kinds of interests."
If anything, Gokudera looked even more nervous.
"Well," he shifted where he was sitting, not looking at her. "Looks like there are some things you cannot see."
Who did he think she was?
"That's alright with me." was her immediate response with a light, one shoulder shrug, not even a hint of hesitation as she smiled up at her friend. "It wouldn't be fun if I could." he stared at her in almost wonder as she walked up to him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, her smile lingering longer than he was used to seeing on her face. "I hope you have a great time."
Gokudera found himself smiling right back at her.
"Thank you."
Nodding, she removed her hands, watching as Gokudera activated the helmet, kicked the engine on the hoverbike into gear, and drove away after a quick wave.
July 9
Thursday 2215
They had finally finished decorating Lambo's room.
After having somehow managed to snare Reborn into helping them, the Sawada's had managed to assemble an old forgotten loft bed that they had found in the basement. A bed that Tsuna hadn't been surprised that she couldn't remember, but surprised that even Nana couldn't recall them having it, but when they found the thing, she could recall that she and Iemitsu had bought her the bed only for her to have been too afraid of using it, so they bought a new one, deciding to keep the loft bed just in case she would change her mind later in life.
That never happened, clearly.
All the better for Lambo, who was beyond happy to take it the second they explained what it was.
From what the family had seen, the kid loved to climb, to be high up.
It was during breakfast that Nana brought up the subject of shopping for Lambo. The kid had so far made due on old, shrunken clothes belonging to her husband that he had left behind, they didn't own any clothes or toys that Lambo could see himself taking, and thus, a shopping trip would have to be required.
Originally, Nana and Tsuna had planned to take Lambo to the shopping center after Tsuna had returned home from school, only to find their plans foiled by a sudden knock on the door.
"Is Tsuna-chan home?" Sasagawa Kyoko asked Nana once the door was opened.
Stepping out from behind Nana, Tsuna's eyes widened at the sight of her classmate.
"Kyoko-chan?" she exclaimed before she could really stop herself.
"This is a friend of your Tsuna-chan?" Nana asked, eyes wide as she shifted her gaze from her daughter to the girl standing in her doorway.
Taking a deep breath, Tsuna held out a hand towards Kyoko, her head turned towards her mother.
"Mom, this is Sasagawa Kyoko, a classmate of mine." she said, unconsciously refusing to say the word 'friend' when addressing anyone other than Gokudera.
She didn't know she was doing it. It was just that she had gotten so used to being around Gokudera that it sort of came naturally. She knew Gokudera's personality and so, she had allowed him to see the personality that she had come to block from everyone that didn't know her.
Noticing this, Kyoko turned her attention to Nana with a smile.
"I'm also her friend." she filled in, surprising Tsuna but was pleased when she didn't say anything against it.
For a moment, Nana just looked between the two girls.
"Oh lovely!" she burst out, almost scaring the two girls out of their skin, a bright smile on her face as she looked at Kyoko. "I had started to believe my daughter would only get male friends." these words caused the blood to rush to Tsuna's face.
It wasn't her fault that she somehow felt it easier to connect with males than females.
She had realized this as time continued to pass. Whenever girls would try to talk to her about female things such as boys, make-up, potential parties or anything along those lines really, she had felt completely alienated, no clue what to do. She didn't feel comfortable around other girls her age, something she didn't feel around either Gokudera or Yamamoto.
Had never felt in fact.
She didn't know why it had nothing to do with interest or anything like that. She would never be able to hold a conversation about sports with Yamamoto or academics, science, and definitely not the extraterrestrial with Gokudera, but a conversation with either of them had never been even close to stilted. If only she knew if she had been friends with males in earlier years, then it would have made a lot more sense that she'd have an easier time connecting with the male gender, but she couldn't remember having any.
There were those three blank years, but...
"Tsuna-chan." Kyoko suddenly spoke up, snapping Tsuna out of her thoughts. Turning her head, she found the other girl smiling sweetly at her. "I was wondering if the two of us could go out today."
Tsuna's eyes flashed in her mother's direction.
"Today?" she asked, feeling the nervousness building up inside of her.
Kyoko's face fell at the tone of her voice.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked, her hands wringing in worry in front of her.
Tsuna was aware that Gokudera had a tendency to refer to her as an angel, everyone did really because of the way she looked, but that was not what Tsuna saw. The girl was an angel, not because of the way she looked, but because of her kind heart.
Girl could be dressed like a punk rock stripper decked out in tattoos and piercings with her hair in a rainbow mohawk and Tsuna would still call her an angel.
"No." Tsuna quickly answered, trying to soothe the other girl's worries. "It's… Mom and I were just going to go shopping." she suddenly noticed the little shape standing in the living room doorway, half his body hidden from view as he studied the young woman Tsuna and her mother were talking to.
With a light, laughing breath, Tsuna held out her hand towards him.
"Lambo." she called out, catching the eight-year-old's attention. "Lambo, this is Kyoko-chan." she jerked her head towards Kyoko, who looked shocked at Lambo's presence.
"Kyoko-chan," Tsuna spoke as she pulled the kid up in front of her, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "This is Lambo." shared a look with her mother just before the woman slipped back into the kitchen, her gem in hand. "Mom and I just took him in a few days ago and he's in need of a few things."
For a second, Kyoko didn't say anything.
"Sweet Sunlight." she finally whispered, crouching down in front of the boy with an expression as though she was in a trance. His face forming a lovely, sweet, perfectly angelic close-lipped smile, her eyes sparkling. "You're just too cute."
Tsuna watched as Lambo's face flared up in color, his hands fiddling with the fabric of his shirt as he absolutely refused to look at Kyoko's smiling face.
"Lambo-san's not cute." he mumbled through pouting lips.
Kyoko just smiled, this time in a much gentler manner.
"Of course you're not." she agreed after a slow shake of her head. Reaching out a hand to ruffle his jet-black curls. "You're such a handsome boy." she giggled before standing back up.
She looked between Lambo and Tsuna, her face breaking into that same wide, angelic close-lipped smile, her hand coming up to clasp in front of her chest.
"I know!" both Lambo and Tsuna flinched at her sudden exclamation. "Why don't you and I go with Lambo, Tsuna-chan?!"
Tsuna and Lambo both just stared at her, but Nana apparently had other ideas.
"What a great idea!" the woman giggled as she reappeared at Tsuna's side, clapping her hands together in excitement.
Tsuna turned to the woman who gave birth to her, blinking up at her in confusion.
"You alright with that, Mom?"
"Of course I am." Nana spoke up as though she thought the question was stupid, smiling encouragingly down at her daughter. "You two go, buy some things for yourself as well Tsuna-chan." she made a shooing motion with her hand towards the door. "Go have fun."
Tsuna narrowed her eyes at the woman.
"Sakura called, didn't she?"
The smile on her mother's face immediately turned pained.
Tsuna sighed heavily at the reaction.
The woman had put up an ad for a manager some time ago, a person that would be able to take over the running of the bakery so Nana could spend more time in her home. But so far… all applicants had either had something of a nervous breakdown at the disaster that was Sakura, of they had been attractive young men that were quickly seduced by the woman and thus couldn't bring themselves to handle her messes they way they should have been.
Everything was a mess really.
Shaking her head, Tsuna turned back towards Kyoko.
"I guess it's decided then." the redhead smiled widely at this turn of events.
It didn't take long for the small group to get ready. Tsuna received a rather large bundle of money from their "special occasion" savings and put their shoes on.
That was when she noticed Lambo nervously grappling with the edge of his borrowed T-shirt.
Smiling lightly, she put her hands on his shoulders, crouching down in front of him.
"It'll be okay Lambo, I'll be with you the whole day." she insisted, looking him right in the eye.
The eight-year-old threw a cautious glance out the door where Kyoko was still waiting for them, and finally, his hands loosened around the fabric of the shirt.
"Okay..." he breathed, looking back at Tsuna.
Still smiling, Tsuna rose from the ground.
Holding out her hand, she waited for Lambo to take it before they left the house.
It was actually fun being out with the kid.
Of course, the first shop they steered towards upon entering the shopping center was the closest shoe shop where the kid had been somewhat hesitant to pick out several pairs of shoes that he liked on sight, allowing the girls to pick a few as well. He had spent a good half hour trying out the many different brands of sneakers, sandals and even a few formal shoes before they finally convinced him to pick as many as five pairs that they would actually buy.
The kid had said that was too much but neither girl even pretended to listen to those complaints.
It was when the trio was moving from clothes shop to clothes shop picking out multiple outfits for the boy and a few for the girls themselves, piling the amount of bags hanging from their arms that is happened.
"Should we go in here?" Kyoko's voice brought Tsuna attention away from the overly excited eight year old as he ran from shop window to shop window. The kid having finally gotten over the anxiety of having people spending that much money on him enough to just wallow in the sensation of just being a kid getting new stuff.
Tsuna turned to the shop Kyoko was pointing towards, feeling her eyebrow raising.
It was a themed clothes store that Tsuna had never entered in her life despite it having been there for as long as her memory allowed her. She had never even wanted to give that store a passing glance, the very sight of it making her cringe.
It was girly.
OVERLY girly.
Excessive frills, ribbons, and lace in soft pastels and bright pinks, blues, yellows, and greens filled the shop window looking like a monstrous princess display that threatened to break the glass by the sheer amount of it. Layered short skirts and flowy poet shirts paired with glittering stockings and painfully cute heeled shoes.
To Tsuna, that store looked like what a five-year-old girly girl would choose to wear to look like a princess only enlargeable to teenage, young adult and adult size and in some cases even sexualized to suit the tastes of certain customers.
It was a very specific taste.
Most definitely not Tsuna's.
And from the look on Kyoko's face…
"Why?" Tsuna found herself asking, despite the fact that Kyoko was currently wearing clothes that looked as though they had come from that store. The girl couldn't look more uncomfortable. "You don't want to."
It was actually something Tsuna had noticed for a long time, something that had always been there so now she never really thought about it anymore. The sweet little innocent, oblivious girl act that Kyoko puts up for everyone.
Oh, she was sweet, she was kind, she was genuinely good to everyone around her. But she wasn't innocent, she wasn't oblivious, she wasn't a perfect little angel despite the perfect little persona that she had managed to paint onto her skin ever since childhood. So far, the only crack in the mask anyone had seen had been her fight with Mochida.
Her perfectly placed punch.
Girl was powerful, girl was strong, but for some reason, she was acting as though she was none of those things.
"… yes I do." Kyoko's voice couldn't have been less convincing.
"No, you don't." Tsuna immediately retorted. Seeing the redhead open her mouth in what she knew would be even further denials, she raised a hand in the air. "Don't argue with me." Kyoko's mouth snapped shut. "I'm a great people reader, just ask Gokudera-kun the next time you see him."
Kyoko's head lowered, her entire posture looking as though she was shrinking in on herself, something Tsuna had never seen on her before.
Clearing her throat, Tsuna jerked her head away from the Girly Girly store.
"Why don't you and I go shopping for clothes you actually like and are comfortable wearing for a change?"
Now all she had to do was wait.
It only took a few seconds.
"Can I really?" Kyoko's hopeful voice was barely over a whisper.
"Should I keep you from doing that?" Tsuna asked, tilting her head to the side.
"No..." Kyoko answered though she sounded unsure about it. "It's just that I've never gotten to..."
"You sure about that?" Tsuna cut her off, raising an eyebrow at her. "Because Kurokawa definitely doesn't look like the kind of girl that goes into those kinds of shops for clothing." she threw a pointed look towards the Jungle of Frills and Lace.
Kurokawa Hana was a girl that relished in feeling mature, like she was older than she actually was, preferring a style that sported straight, elegant lines, mostly monochrome in color with minimal accessories chosen for simplicity and even practicality. It wasn't often that Tsuna actually got to see the girl in her casual wear but she'd always been impressed at how she managed to rock dress pants and pencil skirts at her age.
"Just be yourself." Tsuna continued, awkwardly patting the girl on the shoulder. "Don't let anyone else tell you who you're supposed to be." she let her arm drop.
Kyoko let out a shaky kind of chuckle.
"That's something you live buy, isn't it?" Tsuna had to strain her ear to hear what the other girl was saying, though the look on her face Tsuna everything she needed to know.
One more push.
"I told Yamamoto-san this at the start of term." she waited for Kyoko to properly meet her eyes. "If you don't like me for who I am, I won't bother with you." she said the words with the same amount of certainty as she had when she'd laid them out for the athlete. "If I have to change who I am for someone to like me, they are not worthy of my attention." she extended her arms at her sides dramatically, feeling a sense of accomplishment spreading in her chest as she watched the insecurity a doubt wash away from Kyoko's face.
She smiled as Kyoko straightened her back, closing her eyes for a moment as she let out a long, deep breath. When she opened her eyes again that ever present innocent, oblivious gleam fluttering within the amber faded from existence, only to be replaced by what Tsuna could only describe as a powerful, mischievous sparkle.
Reaching into her bag, Kyoko pulled out a small pack of paper tissues, taking one of them to wipe off the glittery pink gloss from her lips.
When she looked up at Tsuna again, her bright, wide smile had a crocked quality to it, showing off a previously hidden chip in one of the four teeth between her canines. The practiced, perfect, angelic close-lipped shape that had been there before nowhere to be seen.
And the girl couldn't have looked more beautiful in Tsuna's eyes.
"Let's go." the redhead said, hooking her arm with Tsuna's and proceeded to pull the two of them as far away from the pastel princess monstrosities as they could get, waving down Lambo as they went.
Kyoko liked earthy colors.
Muddy brown, mossy greens, murky yellows, rusty reds, mahogany. Almost the complete opposite from the bright yellows, pinks and whites she was usually seen in, and most of the time, the colors she now pulled out to show Tsuna actually brought out the bright red in her hair even better than anything Tsuna had seen her wear before, especially the greens.
They looked lovely on her.
There was also a theme when it came to what style of clothes she picked.
She steered as far away from any skirt as possible, making a beeline for the cargo pants and really anything that had obvious pockets. She liked tight-fitting tops with a surprisingly wide neckline when compared to the modest close-to-the-neck, loose-fitting tops and blouses she wore before, preferably crop tops. Tsuna had seen the other girl grab a considerable amount of flannel shirts almost in passing. In one store, the redhead had spotted a retro aviator jacket and promptly fallen in love on the spot. When she'd shown the briefest hint of hesitation at getting it, all Tsuna had done was raise an eyebrow at her before the girl had turned right around and allowed herself to hug the thing to her chest, practically purring. Tsuna also discovered that the redhead had a love for Stiletto heeled ankle boots, belt-loop chains, thick hoop earrings, and chokers.
Apparently, the girl saves a portion of her allowance and any money given to her over the year that she spends on All Out shopping sprees. One before summer, the other before winter.
Tsuna had been the one chosen to accompany her for her summer shopping.
The more Kyoko bought, the more Tsuna couldn't help but think that the girl would look absolutely badasss.
Of course, Lambo had been a little confused at Kyoko's sudden switch in what she was buying, this had caused the redhead to freeze up until Tsuna had told the kid that Kyoko had been buying for someone else before, but now she was buying for herself.
The kid's reply couldn't have been more perfect.
"Good, because what she's buying now looks WAY better on her."
A true little charmer in the making.
The kid would be a ladies man by fifteen if he kept that up.
After that, the kid even paused in his own shopping to help Kyoko pick out clothes and make-up that looked like HER, gaining the attention of the other shoppers around them.
Scratch that…
The kid was ALREADY a charmer.
The girls had to fight off other shoppers asking the eight-year-old what he thought of their choices, cooing every time he made a comment stating his approval.
Tsuna wasn't sure she wanted to know where the kid had learned such things.
The last stop they made, was the toy shop.
They had let Lambo run along with the isles on his own, deciding to just wait at the check-out as the kid vanished with one of the carts usually only used for the holidays when most of the presents were expected to be bought.
They simply didn't have the muscle required to carry all the boxes and bags they already had through the entirety of the store.
The two girls had shared a glance when Lambo had returned, his arms full of things such as remote control helicopters, toy cars, there were a few drone-based toys in there if Tsuna saw right, and even a few plush toys, one of which being a rather large Minotaur wearing a cow print shirt similar to the one Lambo had worn when Tsuna and Gokudera had fount him. There were also boxes of legos among his gathered collection among other large boxes of what looked like adventure gear and things that would fit in a jungle gym.
Of course, Tsuna's family was anything but poor, they had just decided to live in that modest household because Nana hadn't wanted a bigger house to clean and she absolutely refused to hire house help, she didn't like to leave such things up to other people when they couldn't understand exactly how she wanted things done.
Hence why it had taken such a long time before she thought to hire a manager for her bakery.
But, how were they supposed to carry everything home?
That was the general problem at hand as the group sat in front of Jumbo's for a burger and fry Dinner.
"How are we going to do this?" Kyoko asked, glancing at the mountain of bags and boxes as she threw another milkshake dipped fry in her mouth.
The only reason they had even managed to get everything there in the first place was because they had been allowed to borrow the cart from the toy shop to get everything out, but only if they promised to only bring it as far as just out the shopping center.
Tsuna shook her head, having no idea herself.
She couldn't call Gokudera, the guy had left the day before, having received a pass from the school to attend his science convention as they all knew that the there really wasn't anything the school could teach the genius and as it was a science convention, it would be something like a field trip for the young man. He had called her the previous morning before he set off, telling her to keep in contact with him whilst he was away.
She already missed him.
She couldn't call Yamamoto either, he had started to actually work alongside his father in the sushi shop as of late, mostly working as a waiter what with his broken arm. He had told her that his father had started talking about showing him how to actually make sushi once his cast was off, teach him proper knife handling skills and other tips and tricks that had been passed down in their family for generations, things he really should have started learning a long time ago but Yamamoto Tsuyoshi believed that one was never too old to learn new things.
Yamamoto had sounded absolutely ecstatic when he'd told her.
She couldn't be happier for him.
Checking the time on her gem, Kyoko's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Onii-chan's out running!" she happily exclaimed.
Tsuna felt her eyes widen at the words.
Kyoko had an older brother?
How had she not known Kyoko had an older brother?
What with how much she heard the students talking about Kyoko in passing, how had she never heard anything about her having an older brother?
Quickly, Kyoko swiped against the surface of her gem before she pressed the device against her ear as she waited.
To Tsuna's further surprise, it only took a few seconds before Kyoko's face lit up even further, happily answering the person that had picked up on the other end.
How quick were this person's reflexes?
"Onii-chan!" she laughed. Tsuna noticed how her finger flexed over the device to lower the volume. "Do you think you could come and help me and my friend with our shopping bags?" she asked. "We have bought a little too much and don't have enough hands to carry all of it." she was silent for a moment before it looked as though her face brightened even further. "Thank you." her eyes shut in a relieved yet pleased expression. "We're sitting in front of Jumbo's, come when you can." and with that, she hung up.
Tsuna had expected to wait at the very least ten minutes for the arrival of the mystery brother, at most half an hour depending on where in town he was running, it was small enough that you'd be able to reach the city center within 30 minutes if you ran no matter where you were. But she found herself surprised when, six minutes later, she spotted a running figure at the end of the street.
A figure running faster than one should be capable of maintaining for a longer period of time.
A figure that slid to a stop in front of them much like how Gokudera would abruptly stop his hoverbike when Tsuna wasn't riding behind him.
Kyoko's brother looked nothing like her.
The young man looked to be about Gokudera's height, but unlike her best friend who sported a lean swimmers figure with subtle muscle built in his arms from archery and a pale alabaster complexion, the young man standing in front of her had the obvious rippling muscle build from some kind of combat sport, his skin a dark tan, darker than one would have thought given Kyoko's fair skin, and his short, outgrown buzz-cut styled hair was even lighter in color than Gokudera's, one shade away from white.
Not to mention, he had a small scar cutting through his left eyebrow.
He was a rugged type, a seasoned fighter, no doubt about that. But Tsuna could still see the strong line of his jaw, his slightly crooked nose didn't take away from the almost puppy-dog feel to his eyes, his naturally slanted eyebrows fitted onto a strong forehead.
This guy's entire being screamed, power, and confidence.
Tsuna didn't lie.
She thought it attractive.
Tsuna found her fingers just itching to paint his portrait. It would serve as quite the contrast to the one she had already made of Gokudera.
He gave Kyoko a bright smile before he turned his attention to Tsuna, revealing his eyes to be a bright, warm gray color, a color that reminded her of molten tin. This puzzled her a little as Kyoko's own large eyes were amber in color.
"You're not Kurokawa." the young man stated bluntly, almost looking disappointed at the fact. His voice was a deep baritone, not to mention quite hoarse as though he had done a lot of screaming through the years, never allowing his vocal cords to heal properly.
"No..." Tsuna breathed, feeling Lambo hiding behind her body. "I'm not."
Thankfully for Tsuna, Kyoko decided to intervene.
"Onii-chan," she spoke up, making her brother turn back towards her. "This is my new friend Sawada Tsunako." she motioned with her hand in Tsuna's direction. "Tsuna-chan, this is my older brother Sasagawa Ryohei."
"Sawada?" Ryohei asked, looking back at Tsuna. This time, his gray eyes held a studying quality to them as he took in her appearance.
In the blink of an eye, his face suddenly split into a wide grin.
The look actually threw Tsuna off. It was so open, so pure, and his oh so obviously Ignited core almost knocked her off balance. She didn't even need to focus her flames into her eyes or actively reach out whatever strange connecting ability she possessed towards him, he reached out to her. She only needed to be aware of the existence of Anima to clearly see the bright glittering yellow aura that radiated off the young man in front of her.
She blinked.
This guy… should he learn how to access his core properly, he would discover that he had a larger one than even she did, an overwhelming supply of Anima of a brighter yellow than even her tutor possessed, Reborn's light having looked slightly misty now that she really thought about it.
The thought of anyone having that much untapped Anima potential…
To be honest, it frightened her a little.
"You're the girl that saved my sister," Ryohei said in realization, sounding as though he was just barely keeping himself from screaming. He walked right up to her, almost slamming one of his hands on her shoulder. "I never got the chance to thank you for that."
Shaking her head, Tsuna brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she turned her gaze away from the shining young man.
"It was nothing." she spoke, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "Mochida had it coming."
The hand on her shoulder tightened, making her look back up into the young man's eyes.
"It's not nothing." Ryohei insisted, his entire demeanor suddenly turning serious.
Tsuna felt herself at a loss for words.
It was a strange yet pleasant breath of fresh air, seeing someone wearing his emotions on his sleeve like this young man did.
He cared for his sister…
Her eyes wandered over the muscles visible under his training outfit, carefully categorizing all the possible reasons as to what had caused them to form in the first place.
It didn't take long before she singled out the reason.
She now knew how someone fighting to maintain an angelic persona knew how to throw a perfect boxer's punch.
Suddenly, the feeling of fingers tightening around the fabric at the back of her shirt reminded Tsuna of the presence of the eight-year-old at her side.
"Oh." she gently pushed the boy in front of her. "This is my new surrogate brother, Lambo." she felt the boy's shoulders relaxing under her hands, making her smile.
Ryohei looked between the two of them before he quickly crouched down in front of the kid, smiling brightly once again.
"Hey there." he greeted energetically, making the boy back away right into Tsuna's body. This, thankfully, didn't seem to bother Ryohei too much. Instead, he gently punched Lambo on the shoulder. "You look like a strong young man."
Lambo's eyes widened at the kind words.
Smiling a little bit brighter, Ryohei threw a pointed glance up at Tsuna.
"I've heard you got an awesome older sister there."
Tsuna felt some of her blood rushing into her cheeks when she watched Lambo give Ryohei a shy, affirmative nod.
Laughing wholeheartedly at the reaction, Ryohei reached up a hand to ruffle the dark curls.
Who would have thought someone that looked like he did would be so good with kids?
Then again, if he had a younger sister like Kyoko, Tsuna could only guess that he had experience dealing with younger kids.
"So." he suddenly said, standing up from the ground. "Where are the bags you were talking about?" he asked, his attention turning back towards his sister.
A bit self-cautious, Kyoko pointed towards the mountain they had created.
For a split second, Tsuna feared that Ryohei would back out of helping them.
Instead, his face lit up in a bright grin.
"Perfect!"
Ryohei had taken more bags than was strictly necessary. Leaving the two girls with only a few of their own bags hanging from their arms, Lambo proudly carrying two larger toy boxes against his chest.
Ryohei still looked like a radiant sun with all the bags hanging from his arms, boxes piled high in his arms, and still, it didn't look as though he was breaking a sweat.
Before Tsuna knew it, they were walking past a familiar sushi shop.
Just as they did, the hangings were moved aside by an arm, an arm encased in a thoroughly signed and doodle covered cast.
The group stopped as Yamamoto stepped out, his healthy arm carrying a sign that he expertly placed on the ground. They couldn't read the sign from where they were facing.
It appeared as though Yamamoto would have turned right back inside, but as he turned, his eyes locked onto the group standing just a few feet away from him.
His eyes widened in surprise, the corner of his lip curling up into a small, genuine smile.
"Yo, Tsuna." he greeted, moving towards them. "Sasagawa-san." he nodded towards Kyoko, who smiled right back at him. "Sasagawa-sempai."
"Yo!" Ryohei greeted back, even more enthusiastically.
Tsuna didn't bother asking how Yamamoto knew who the man was, what with him being in the athletics division opening a different circle of students to him, coupled with his reputation as something of a natural in anything sports-related.
Truly, she wouldn't have been surprised if Yamamoto was able to put a name to every face within the school building.
It was a miracle that Yamamoto would even recognize their upperclassman behind the tower of boxes he was carrying.
Yamamoto looked over the group, his brow furrowing in confusion as he noticed the eight-year-old looking as though he wanted to hide behind Sawada.
"Who's this little fella?" he asked, gesturing towards Lambo with his healthy arm.
Tsuna smiled down at the kid, jerking her head towards Yamamoto with an encouraging smile.
Lambo took a deep breath, raising his head to properly look at the athlete.
"Lambo-san is Tsuna-nee-chan's new brother," he stated, his back straight, sounding very proud of what he was saying.
Slightly bewildered, Yamamoto looked between the two before his eyes softened.
He reached out his hand, putting it on top of the kid's head to ruffle his hair.
Who could blame him really, his curls simply begged to be ruffled.
"Good for you." the athlete stated, throwing a glance in Tsuna's direction.
Smiling at Lambo, Tsuna's eyes wandered over to the cast still surrounding the athlete's wrist.
"How's your arm?" she asked, glancing up at the taller teenager.
Hazel eyes snapped towards the cast, although his gaze didn't hold as much resentment as they would have a few weeks prior. In fact, his whole demeanor had lightened considerably since the last time she had seen him.
"I was at the hospital just yesterday," he said, looping up at her, his eyes glittering with joy. "I will be ready to have the cast removed come summer." a wide smile of absolute joy at the news spread across his face.
The first real one she had seen in a long, long time.
Overwhelmed by his joy at the news, Tsuna allowed her bags to fall to the ground before she reached out, allowing her arms to wrap around his solid shoulders.
For a split second, Yamamoto stood shocked, before a gentle smile spread across his lips, his arms rising to wrap around her body to join her in her excitement.
"I'm so happy for you," she said, patting him on the back before she stepped away.
They didn't spend much more time in front of the shop, their bangs starting to dig into their arms coupled with the sound of what Tsuna was pleased to recognize as Yamamoto senior calling for his son to hurry and get back inside to help him in the kitchen.
She hadn't missed the absolute happiness on Yamamoto's face at the sound, even happier than he had been when he'd told them about his arm.
She'd patted him encouragingly on the shoulder as the group of four left the recovering athlete, continuing down the road towards their destination.
Sometime later, the group finally reached the Sawada household.
Swiftly, Ryohei unloaded to bags containing Tsuna and Lambo's things, leaving himself with Kyoko's bags. Which was actually a considerably larger compared to the ones Tsuna had bought for herself. But then again, Tsuna really had no need for that many new clothes, not to mention that Tsuna suspected that Kyoko didn't own that many clothes she actually liked.
Once everything was inside, the siblings bid Tsuna goodbye with shared smiles, and went on their way, seemingly relishing to be in the presence of the other.
This made Tsuna frown.
Did they not meet each other for longer periods of time…?
Oh…
That would make sense…
If their parents were divorced…
Nana approached her daughter where she was still standing with Lambo, watching the siblings disappearing down the street.
"Hey, who was that boy?" the woman asked eagerly.
Tsuna couldn't help the heavy sigh that escaped her lips.
"He's Kyoko's older brother," she said, giving her mother a pointed look.
A look of disappointment formed on Nana's face, her back straightening out as she stated at the two retreating figures, a hand resting against her cheek.
"What a shame." she breathed. "I had hoped he was another one of your boyfriends."
Tsuna's eyes shot open.
"I don't even have one," she said shaking her head, frowning at the playfully doubtful look the woman threw her. "I don't, and I never will have a harem Mom."
The woman just laughed at her, waving her hand in her direction.
"I'm just teasing sweetheart."
A confused frown made it's way to Lambo's face.
"What's a harem?"
The two females stared at the boy, their eyes blown wide.
The three of them stood in awkward silence for a long moment before Tsuna finally found it in herself to clear her throat, slowly lowering herself to the kid's level.
"I'll tell you when you're older," she promised.
A/N: Please tell me what you think and I'll be back with the next chapter next week.
This has been:
A message from Her Ladyship.