A/N: I forgot to post here. LMFAO. If I haven't informed you guys, this fanfic Is crossposted on Ao3 and is a chapter behind. XD Sorry for the late update, guys!
When the afternoon bell rings, signifying the end of today's classes, Lambo sighs tiredly as he slouches and lies his head sideways on the cold table. His emerald green eyes watch listlessly as his other classmates hastily fix their things and excitedly run out of the classroom. Not a moment later when the room devoids of students except him, he turns his head and looks outside. He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath as a gust of wind enters the classroom, groaning as he thinks of the prospect of going home.
He sighs.
Starting from the day he was sent back to Namimori, this has become the norm. He wakes up in the morning, goes to school, takes classes, goes home, then sends a report via holographic meeting. Lambo sure is having fun from all this, but he misses Bakadera and the others who are staying in Italy, despite the Storm Guardian's incessant scolding and nagging.
Remembering the other guardians, Lambo's eyes involuntary burn and redden. He lets out a sniffle.
He may as well go home if he's going to be like this again.
Another sigh slips past his lips, a little bit shaky, however.
"Maman, I'm home!" Lambo exclaims as he removes his outdoor shoes and fixes them at the shoe rack.
"Ah, Lambo! Welcome back!" Nana exclaims back, fixing her hair in front of a mirror as she hums. She cranes her neck to look at her charge with a huge smile on her face. Watching as Lambo nears her, she goes back to face the mirror and lightly dabs her face with a sponge. "Lambo," She starts, putting the final touches on her light make-up.
"Yes, Maman?"
"I'll be going for a bit to visit my friend. The food is already prepared. You guys can heat them later if you want."
Lambo nods slowly, thinking about his other two friends. "Oh, okay!"
"Oh, I-pin and Fuuta just told me through the phone that they'll be a little late in going home since they have some tasks in school."
"Yeah! Fuuta told me too, Maman!" Lambo exclaims as he lightly throws his bag onto the couch and runs to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
Nana then giggles, "I should be going now. I don't want to be late." She walks towards the entrance, wears her shoes, and goes to the door. "I'll be going now, Lambo!"
"Okay!" He cranes his neck to face the entrance and grins widely, "Be careful, Maman!"
The door slowly closes and a stifling silence permeates the house.
As Lambo finishes drinking, he drags himself toward the sink, placing the glass there. He turns the faucet on and watches how the glass slowly fills up. But when the water rises in the middle, he turns the faucet off.
How will he see that glass he wonders. He already had seen a lot of things despite his young age. Betrayal, brutality, ruthlessness, death, too much for him who is supposed to be only having fun with friends, and receiving the love that his loved ones give him, but a kid like him who was born in the underworld and automatically constrained with its rules don't have the privilege. The right to have a childhood.
Morality is a sin. Pity is a sin. Consideration is a sin. Innocence is a sin. Being a child is a sin. Everything is a sin if it means being weak. Children in this world tend to mature early, lest they lost their lives. That's the only thing they can do, adapt to the adults' rules so that their meager life can continue. Retaining their innocence means death. So he had no choice but to learn the know-how to stay alive in this unforgiving and ruthless world.
He's the exemplar of the underworld's immoral upbringing. The Bovino Famiglia sends him, a fucking five-year-old, to assassinate the Reborn. Do their heads have a screw loose? Not really; they are simply telling the child to go die since having him continue living won't bring them any benefit. His life wasn't worth anything.
But what can a five-year-old do? Mere children aren't simply capable of killing the greatest hitman in the world just because they were sent by their Famiglia. Even if he was given a bunch of life-saving items if things go south, that doesn't change the fact that he's a mere child. And besides,, who can say with utmost confidence that even with such life-saving devices, a child can leave alive? Battling the greatest hitman is not even something adults can accomplish, what can they expect from a child?
Though in hindsight, even with a lot of misgivings, his being sent to Namimori to kill the greatest hitman of the world is the kindest act the Bovino Famiglia has done to him. Sending him to his death? None of that mattered since he was prepared for it, but what he didn't expect was meeting Tsuna; his Tsuna-nii.
Their first meeting was incredibly eventful with all that chaos and screaming and explosions but he can dare say with utter confidence that meeting Tsuna-nii was the most unforgettable moment of his whole life.
He, a castaway child of the Bovino Famiglia, with no other meaning to his life but to defeat the greatest hitman, gained another purpose. To live, to protect his family.
Yet, merely a handful of years had passed, another excruciating sorrow courses through his heart.
Tsuna-nii abandoned us.
This was the unforgiving thought that emerged in his mind when he heard of Tsuna's passing.
Lambo always says to himself that Tsuna-nii isn't the type of person that will leave without warnings. The youth knows that his Tsuna-nii will come back, but so many years have passed, he never returned. Not even a shadow of him was seen. Who will he blame? Will he blame Tsuna-nii for breaking his promise? Or will he blame himself for not being old and strong enough to protect him? Actually, he can only blame the ruthless world they were sent into. Why is it that those who were actually making a change were ruthlessly killed, unforgivingly sent to their deaths?
The lime-eyed youth blankly looks at the glass, his thoughts indiscernible. "Tsuna-nii," he mutters brokenly. "How should I see this glass, half-full, or half-empty?" He then presses his lips to suppress the grief that suddenly engulfs him, his eyes blurring from the accumulating tears. He sniffles. "How should I think of your passing, 12 years already passed, or 12 years only passed?"
Lambo lets go of the glass and crouches as he covers his crying face with his hands. "Tsuna-nii," he cries painfully, doing everything he can to not just break down.
"Being a Guardian means not showing any weakness, Ahoushi." Bakadera scolds him as he gives him a displeased look. His face then morphs into a complicated expression as the Storm Guardian watches his crestfallen charge. He sighs, crouching in front the child.
"But that doesn't mean anything between family. Know that Decimo and the others will be always with you."
"I-Including you?"
Bakadera snorts as he rolls his eyes, a warm gaze falls toward the child. A comforting hand rubs Lambo's messy hair.
"That's a given, Ahoushi."
"But what if you guys aren't here?"
"Idiot. We're just one call away."
Lambo continues to cry as he recalls that warm memory. "But how the hell can I call Tsuna-nii this time, Baka-dera?" A painful sob escapes his lips. "How?"
"Hmm? Calling me is pretty easy, you know," A voice suddenly intrudes, jolting Lambo awake from his despondent musings. "Either, just knock on my room's door, dial my number—and from what Reborn told me, it's still unchanged—or simply call me Tsuna-nii." The voice adds, a grin evident from its tone.
The child freezes, thinking that the voice is simply a figment of his imagination, desperate to have his Tsuna-nii before him. What can he do? He really misses his older brother, the only person who accepted him who was thrown away by his famiglia by sending him off to accomplish an impossible mission. The only person who took care of him and gave another family to rely on. His older brother, Tsuna-nii.
"Oh? Why are you just staying still there, Lambo? Won't you hug your Tsuna-nii? You see, Tsuna-nii missed Lambo greatly, so he wants a hug." The voice urges on, but Lambo is still in disbelief. Tears accumulate in his lids, and his eyes redden, his heart tightening, at the likeliness of him turning around only to see an empty space.
"What are you doing, Dame-Tsuna? Just enter the damn room so I can brew an espresso." The ever-indifferent voice of the greatest hitman curses suddenly.
"Lambo is frozen!" The voice of his Tsuna-nii answers back.
"That's because you surprised the child, Dame-Tsuna. How else will he react after hearing the voice of his brother that was dead for more than a decade?"
"You have a point there, but is it that really surprising?"
A cocking of a pistol is then heard. "Okay, idiotic question of mine, disregard it, Reborn!" Tsuna-nii's panicked voice hastily amends.
A sigh follows and he hears Reborn's voice once more, this time, exasperated. "Fix this mess." Then a long silence follows.
"Hey, Lambo." Tsuna-nii's voice starts, a little bit sheepish. "Hey, are you still there? Earth to Lambo?"
Slowly, Lambo turns around, his eyes tightly closed, still not believing this sudden turn of events. He then hears Tsuna-nii laughs in amusement.
Footsteps approach him slowly and the child feels a frighteningly familiar presence before him. "Hey," the ever-encompassing presence the child feels makes his eyes tear up more, and his arms itch to hug the person in front of him tightly, never to let go. "Lambo, open your eyes, you dummy." Tsuna-nii's voice laughs, then he feels a warm hand grasping his. "I'm here."
Lambo opens his eyes and his tears finally fall, "Tsuna-nii…"
And he does embrace his older brother, tightly. Not planning on letting go for a long, long time.
A/N: Thank you, guys! Really! All your feedback encouraged me! TTATT Shameless plug: For those MDZS fans out there, I wrote a fanfic titled: "A Weapon of Mass Destruction." It's about Wei Wuxian turning into a child, and pandemonium ensues. :