Chapter 7

"Where's Isago?" Tsuna yawned as he rubbed his full stomach while eating his breakfast. Reborn beside him had a slight frown, but instantly masked it up with his poker face.

"Baka Tsuna, why are you worried about your brother when you can't even wipe your own ass?" Reborn smirked, watching Tsuna gape with his red face.

"I'm just worried! Isago never left without me!" Tsuna opened his palms to explain. It was true, even if Tsuna woke up late, Isago would have waited and always been with him to arrive on time. Usually, it was Isago who would wake Tsuna up, but today, Isago was strangely missing.

And there was an unusual feeling in his gut that told him Isago was not just simply away because of going to school early. Reborn sipped his coffee calmly, munching on his toast. Mom was doing the dishes near the sink and was smiling as she hummed her favourite song without showing an ounce of worry. Tsuna felt conflicted.

"Razzago just went to school early," Reborn piped, not really caring either. Tsuna's eyes instantly flashed with worry, the feeling in his gut swirling even deeper. Something was not right. Something had happened to Isago.

"Reborn, you're lying," his lips tightened along with the crease on his head. Tsuna realized something in that instant. Reborn lied because he knew where Isago was.

'Why would Reborn lie? Did he take Isago somewhere? Is Isago safe? Is Isago still alive?'

"Reborn! Where is Isago?!"

Fury.

That was all Tsuna could feel in his body, trembling and raging through his blood. If Reborn actually did something to harm Isago-

'Then I will be out for his blood.'

As if Reborn could read Tsuna's mind, the hitman's eyes snapped towards the young Vongola boss, feeling the bloodlust seep out and almost created a dark and looming aura over him.

"Baka Tsuna," Reborn leaped up and knocked Tsuna on the head, causing the boy to smack his face right into his plate of eggs. "Cool your head. You've been too attached to your brother."

Tsuna's shoulders shook, not knowing what to do with his extra anger. Reborn was right. Throughout these past 13 years, Isago had been with him almost every second, comforting him and coddling his own ass. Without Isago, Tsuna was barely able to do anything. He wanted Isago. He wanted his brother, now.

And his own thoughts disgusted himself.

"Tsuna, don't worry! Isago is only taking a short break from school! Reborn ensured his safety!" His mom comforted his worries as Tsuna lifted his face out of his plate, the yolk splattered across his face and some of it even dribbled off of his chin.

"You need to know that Ragazzo isn't your fifth limb, baka Tsuna. A true Vongola boss does not show weakness easily."

"Mafia this, mafia that!" Tsuna slammed his hands onto the table and snarled, standing up and wiping the oil off his face with his sleeve.

'Ah, Isago will be so angry if he sees my sleeves all messed up with yolk...'

"I've told you so many times that I don't want to be part of the Mafia!"

"You have no choice, baka Tsuna. Now get ready in 15 minutes or else you'll miss the best chance to apologize to Sasagawa in private."

With that, Reborn left the room, clutching his hat tightly as his expression was still in its usual poker state. Tsuna couldn't see the tightness of Reborn's lip though, slightly being a little worried about his student who was forced into the situation from his own actions.

"Reborn!" Tsuna screamed, feeling fed up with his tutor. But Reborn was right. Grumbling, Tsuna stomped upstairs, reaching the bathroom and slamming the door childishly, splashing his face into the cold tap water.

Tsuna couldn't imagine living without Isago.

But was it the same to his brother?

His brother knew it all. His brother was perfect. Even though Tsuna was supposedly the older one, Isago was suited so much for his position. But other than all of that, Tsuna still wanted Isago by his side.

'Curse Japan and its traditions that the older should be better!'

Dunking his head directly into the running sink, Tsuna breathed, trying to calm himself down. In fact, when thinking about how other people realized that Isago was the younger one, Tsuna felt ashamed. He was ashamed of being useless- jealous of Isago's talent, but soon understood that no matter what he became, his brother would not abandon him.

And that relieved Tsuna of most of his burdens.

He wouldn't care for the other. He already told himself that Isago was unreachable. Tsuna was just untalented. Isago was born with all the talent and deserved to be loved the way he was.

But Tsuna felt lonely that way. As if his brother was walking further and further away from him. As if Isago could just abandon him with a flick of his finger. Reborn was right, Tsuna was relying too much on his brother. Mafia boss or not, this sudden absence of Isago sparked a realization in Tsuna's mind.

One day, they'd both be married to their crushes and live separately.

"Hah," Tsuna groaned, burying his face into his towel before glancing back into the mirror.

His hair was messy and wet, some of the oil still apparent in his strands. His eyes weren't twinkling as usual, instead it was replaced with a sullen and given-up hollow. Why wasn't Tsuna born with even an ounce of talent that Isago had? Was it even possible for him to catch up to Isago?

'No,' Tsuna thought bitterly, his hands lowering from his face. 'I can't do it, even if I tried.'

There were many instances where Tsuna thought that he could be the hero. That he could save and protect Isago like how the older one should. But every time he wanted to try, Isago had set the bar so high that it was intimidating. It was scary how fast Isago could understand new concepts. It was creepy how Isago seemed to have everything that Tsuna lacked-as if the world was pushing him to hate his own brother.

But he couldn't. He could only admire from behind.

"Isago suits the position so much better than me," Tsuna murmured, sinking the facts into his thick head. Isago had everything. Friends, family, future career...but what did Tsuna have?

"Nothing," Tsuna sighed out, blinking his tired eyes. "I'm no-good Tsuna."

(╥﹏╥)

Reborn held a gray hair's profile in his hand, sipping on his coffee in his little cubicle. The listening device he had installed in Tsuna's bag was effectively telling Reborn where his student was currently at.

"Gokudera Hayato," Reborn's lips curled slightly, flipping through the files. "He's the perfect storm guardian for baka Tsuna's family."

Thinking about Tsuna's wimpy and sunken personality, Reborn sighed slightly, twisting the corners of his mouth. He didn't mind his student being a harder one to teach, rather, it was interesting to see Baka Tsuna's reactions when Reborn was teasing him. It was only the fourth day at the Sawada residence, but he was already confused as to why the Ninth chose the older brother to become the successor.

Everything the older brother had was lacking in comparison to the younger one. While the older one had no confidence in speaking up even for answering questions in class, the younger was already class leader, every classmate of his nominated him. There was almost no question in who to choose as a leader, but…

'Did the ninth see something Baka Tsuna that the Ragazzo didn't have?'

The bitter taste of the coffee lingered on his tongue as he heard Tsuna's wimpy apology to his crush. It was true that Tsuna was charismatic in personality, almost attracting everyone towards him, but was that what the ninth prioritized in a successor?

'Or was it,' Reborn's eyes blinked as he touched his sideburns, playing with it. 'Because Ragazzo was too ambitious?'

There was one thing that sparked Reborn's interest the most for the younger sibling, and that was his ambition.

But I didn't like how Macbeth fell because of his own ambitions.

Ragazzo's voice rang loud and clear in Reborn's mind.

I think it depends on the person, Reborn. If one can control their desires and know when to pull back, they will use ambition to reach unbelievable heights.

That was true, but in history, no one really managed to control their desires. That was why the wise said that ambition was the creator to the great, but also one's downfall. If Ragazzo really took control of the Vongola, no doubt, the Vongola would flourish. But there was also a chance of him taking things too far and accidentally destroying the core of the Vongola family.

The ninth preferred people who were more similar to him.

'And baka Tsuna is strikingly similar to the ninth and primo.'

But that was also why Reborn wanted to see how far Ragazzo could go with his ambition. Was it able to save him from peril? To burn and ignite his lifeforce? It was a cruel reality, and honestly, Reborn had to go harder on the smarter brother.

Reborn hoped that his student wouldn't die from a tall fall off the cliff. Because if that was the case, then he would have to endure the wrath of the Sawada family. Isemitsu aside, because Reborn had already warned him of the things he might do to Ragazzo.

The test was harsh and cruel, but if Ragazzo wasn't able to handle this...then he was better off being in the history of the Vongola successors. Was it wrong that Reborn wanted both brothers to become the leaders of the Vongola? Reborn scoffed at his own thoughts, maintaining his usual poker face.

But that was impossible because there could only be one leader.

(╥﹏╥)

Step by step, Isago went up, listening closely to the sounds and sensations that were coming from the bottom of his stick. There was no doubt about it that this way took a long time, but it was better than running in different directions. There were a couple of times that Isago tripped over rocks, tumbling back down to his previous steps.

It made things worse when Isago remembered that he was wearing running shoes instead of hiking boots. The slippery backside of the shoe made it really unstable when stepping on the stones.

Isago gasped, slipping forward as both his elbows collided on the jagged rocks, howling as his knees scraped his pants open, carving the jagged stone deep into his kneecap. The piercing sensation shot up, stinging itself as Isago gripped his knee hard, gritting his teeth.

"Guh!"

The staff he had held had also snapped, scattered down somewhere on the rocks while Isago threw his head back and held the pain in as it dimmed in waves, slowly diminishing until he could breathe again. He whimpered, gasping before taking a break as he released the hold on his leg, slowly shifting his body into the starfish position as he breathed in and out.

Isago was currently laying on the beginnings of a rock steep, the moss growing at the sides of the bottom rocks almost confirmed Isago that there was a water source nearby. The sounds of water also echoed in his ears as he licked his cracked lips, knowing that he needed to stop for a long moment before continuing.

His staff was broken, and he was already halfway up the slope. There was no way he was going back down to search for a twig, much more, a snapped one. There was only one way to proceed, and that was to completely rely on his senses.

How many hours had it been already? Isago couldn't count. But from the disappearing chirps of birds, he knew that it was well past 10 am. It had almost been 4 hours, wandering in this mountain. And that wasn't even the worst of it.

Isago feared. He feared the higher he went would mean he would tumble down towards his death. He feared walking faster because he might trip over something and rip open his scratches into larger wounds. This task was near impossible. No, it was impossible to begin with.

His senses did get better though, after being one with nature, he could tell the direction where the wind went, yet it still did not occur to him that the higher he went, the sound of the wind would increase, blinding his sense of hearing. Only if he used his ears perfectly, he would be able to hear the distant clanging of the bell on top of the mountain, waiting for him to ring it.

(╥﹏╥)

"Tenth! Tenth!" Gokudera shouted like a puppy, a literal tail could be seen behind him as the grey hair waved at Tsuna, beckoning him to join him on the roof. Tsuna sweated, feeling anxious about the boy who had just tried to kill him yesterday.

"Er-Gokudera-kun, are you sure you want to sit next to me-"

"Of course! Your right-handed man must sit next to the boss at all times!"

Tsuna gulped, wondering exactly where his brother was, and if his brother was able to defuse the situation that he stirred up himself. Gokudera's eyes shone brightly like a star as Tsuna sat down beside him, stiff as a board.

This was gonna be a long one.

(╥﹏╥)

Isago's footsteps were steady as he walked up the path this morning, setting off the moment the chirping of birds sounded as an alarm for him. Gone was now the careful and haggard boy-well, he was still haggard-even more tired than the first day because he couldn't sleep as the wind roared in his ears at night.

Bears, spiders, snakes-you name it, Isago was more conscious than sleeping in the middle of the night. Maybe that was why his footsteps were more unwary, stepping however he liked as the wind guided him.

Yesterday he had successfully found a small stream, drinking so much until he felt his belly slosh with water as he moved. Honestly, at that point, Isago didn't even care what he was putting in his mouth. He was actually surprised that grass tasted so edible. Even the stems of his food were sweet and sometimes sour. Dirt tasted good too-well, anything tasted good when you are hungry.

He missed his mother's cooking but dared not to think twice of it as he knew that he would break down the moment he recalled the taste.

"Ah," Isago fell limp from tripping over a log, slowly pushing himself up without any resistance before continuing on like a zombie. He was so tired, almost falling asleep halfway as he made his way closer up the mountain, shoes stepping in dry wood. By now Isago didn't even care about the new wounds he had gotten. Everywhere on his body was aching-itching.

There was a roar from the distance as Isago ducked down where he was, feeling that he was behind a rock as he panted, trying to sense where the animal came from.

Hopefully, it would rain today.

(╥﹏╥)

Tsuna watched as the rain poured down the sky, resembling tears that he had seen on Isago's face years ago. Isago never cried after he turned six. Today, he met one other classmate who actually knew his name apart from Gokudera who was so apparent on being his right-handed man. Yamamoto Takeshi, the guy who was on good terms with everyone.

Tsuna admired Yamamoto's carefree grin as he talked about baseball. Today in PE class, no one wanted him on their team until Yamamoto invited Tsuna into the group. Tsuna was ecstatic, only to realize that his presence was more of a burden because everyone was aiming at his side even though Yamamoto was trying so hard to make up for Tsuna's mistakes.

Tsuna felt so bad, apologizing profusely as Yamamoto only laughed it off, telling Tsuna that all he needed to do was put in more effort into the things he liked.

Watching Yamamoto, Reborn commented that a guy like that was needed for Tsuna's family.

It was at this point where Tsuna realized that if he didn't stop Reborn, he would actually be forced onto the seat of a mafia boss. But in all honesty, he didn't even believe that the whole entire mafia charade was real.

"Isago…" Tsuna's worried eyes trailed out into the countless houses outside, their lights glowed as the sound of rain pattered on their windows. The gut feeling in his stomach didn't disappear, instead, it increased.

Hopefully, his brother would make it back in one piece, even though Tsuna had no idea what Isago was going through.

(╥﹏╥)

Isago sat under the entrance of a cave, teeth chattering with each other as he felt his ice-cold fingertips press against each other and tried to seek out any lingering warmth. His fingers were already turning blue, and Isago could literally feel his own skin freeze across his chest. Sneezing once, Isago took off his sweater, placing the wet thing by his side as he rocked on his butt, whispering words of comfort.

When he wanted rain, he didn't mean it this way.

Honestly, what was he even thinking? Rain was terrible to wish for. Now the ground he would walk on would be wet and it would be even harder to climb up the mountain. His shoulders trembled as he slapped his cheeks the movement he felt that he was going to faint.

There was something called dying in sleep which he wasn't going to risk any of it happening to him. He was going to survive, and after that, he would prove to Reborn that he could handle anything thrown at him.

How dare Reborn leave Isago by himself, not even caring? He was better than Tsuna. Did Reborn not see it? Was Tsuna so precious that Reborn just didn't care? No, Isago would prove to everyone that he was stronger than Tsuna could ever be.

Isago was a winner at birth. He wanted to win. He had to win.

Gritting his teeth, Isago listened to the thundering rain pass through the night.

(╥﹏╥)

It was sheer will that he was working with right now.

Nothing passed in his mind except for the torturous tugging at his quivering muscles as he paced forwards, listening to the sounds of his footsteps and trying to sense his surroundings. He was getting better at this game. Instead of relying on his sight, Isago could now feel the presence of living things.

It was like playing in a VR game, where you could imagine your surroundings. Although the path he walked on was blurry, according to the rustle of leaves, he could see and smell the wood. He could feel their existence.

Or maybe that was just the pounding in his head that was making him hallucinate. Isago winced, picking up his feet as they sloshed in a puddle. He could feel it, he was closer to the top than he had thought. Maybe there was only a quarter left?

That hopeful thought flammed his will as he pushed onwards.

(╥﹏╥)

"Thank you, Tsuna!" Yamamoto smiled brightly, staring up from the building that he was just about to jump down from. He whistled, admiring the height they had just flown down from. Tsuna had saved the both of them, bursting out with the flame from Reborn's three dying will bullets.

Tsuna laughed lifelessly, hanging his head down as he murmured how a whole crowd called him a pervert just seconds ago.

"Don't worry about their gazes!" Yamamoto patted Tsuna lightly on the shoulder, extending a hand outwards to the boy to pull him up. Tsuna looked at it as Yamamoto beamed the moment he took it.

"Hey, Tsuna! Let's be friends!"

Tsuna's eyes widened, gaping with an open mouth as he repeated what Yamamoto just said with a more flabbergasted tone.

"Are you s-sure you want to be friends with me?!" Tsuna squeaked as Gokudera ran towards him, placing distance between his boss and this unknown person.

"How dare you force Tenth dive down the building for you?!" Gokudera's green eyes blazed with fire as he shouted. Yamamoto laughed, making fun of how Gokudera called Tsuna's name 'Tenth.'

The trio continued on, one growling like a dog to protect its master, the other finding the whole situation amusing, and Tsuna trying to calm the both of them down but only to squeak like a mouse in the end.

In the distance, Reborn smirked, noting down that Tsuna's second family member was attained. Good thing that he had asked Leon to make some extra dying will bullets before handing him off to Ragazzo or else Tsuna would have been in trouble. The hitman glanced at the mountain that Namimori Middle school was facing in the distance, frowning instantly when he thought of the days that passed.

"Stay alive, Ragazzo," Reborn muttered, his hat producing a shade that covered his eyes.

(╥﹏╥)

Isago's fingers stiffened from his weight as the rocks above him started to crumble, bits of the stones falling down the cliff. He threw his other hand upwards, trying to grasp anything that was holdable. The muscles in his arms tore as he screamed, left hand falling limp beside him.

"Fuck-" Isago wheezed, smelling his dried up bad breath as his fingers started loosening their grasp. Blood started to trickle out of his cracked nails, dirt making the raw sharpness cripple more of his will to live.

"Fuck!"

Was this it? Everything he had done was just for this moment-falling to death? Isago heard more rocks tumble down and there was no sound of clatter, meaning that he was hanging on the edge of a really high cliff.

"No-" Isago's eyes started to tear up, shaking his head as he tried lifting his lower half, stomping steadily onto the rocks, however, slightly slipping.

"I don't want to die-"

Emotions weld up in his chest, furiously hammering as they tormented his numbing fingers.

"I'm not done yet-"

Isago clawed his broken nails into the rocks, trying to grab onto some more space-even if it was just a little.

"I regretted it so much in the past-"

Memories wretched through his body, twisting them and mocking his own pathetic state. His regrets, his apologies to his parents who tried so hard for him. His own chance was put right in front of him but he grasped it a second too late because of his hesitation.

"I can do more-I'm not done yet-"

Isago heaved, choking on his tears. It was that moment when his stomach gnawed at his powerless state and his fingers slipped off the rock. His hands bounced in midair as he felt himself fall.

"No!"

He couldn't die. He was going to make it out. If he only had more strength.

God only favoured those who take action. He would either do it or die trying. No-he wouldn't die. He would live to tell the tale. He would live to grasp what he wanted with his own hands.

Isago screamed, suddenly feeling his body flare-up. Something was burning inside his chest as he reached out, suddenly feeling ten times lighter.

Up! I need to get up-

Instantly, Isago's hand flew towards the ground as he spread the fire in his chest all over his body. It looked like he was a shooting star, falling into the trees as he landed, and the ground caved in to make way for him. The dirt trembled as his breath quickened, suddenly seeing everything around him so clearly that it seemed as if he wasn't blindfolded in the first place.

He had to make it to the top.

Isago felt light, no more slipping. No more tripping. It was just him and the passing of time which went so slow compared to his speed. Everything inside him roared as his body turned into an unstoppable engine, pushing past his limits until he stopped, listening to the small clinging of the bell seemingly in front of him. Isago walked forward, feeling the burst of energy and punched his fist into the bell.

Rings and rings echoed through the mountain as Leon slowly morphed back into his lizard form, sweating with a tired and relieved tongue. Isago opened his eyes.

Even though the natural reaction was for him to grimace from the light, somehow he didn't feel the need to. Power was overflowing from his body, literally enveloping him as he gazed quietly at his hands. Two powers.

Isago realized almost instantly that he was a dual wielder. His flame was orange like the typical sky flame except he could see his hands clearly in the flame. It wasn't that crystal clear since the clearness of the flame represented how strong the user's resolution was.

It was definitely clearer than Tsuna's original flame up until after the Mukuro arc, though. Isago's lips curled up as he stared into the blue that was firing up deep inside his orange flame, resembling an actual fire. The blue was so beautiful, the shade of sapphire as the colour mingled with his orangish-red.

He originally thought that orange and blue would create a brownish colour, but instead, they merged into red at the tips, parting half and half with orange stranges trying to engulf the blue.

The Sky and Rain flame.

The sun slowly rose up from the east as Isago's red eyes flickered to the sunrise. His gray hair was matted with sweat, but it made him look like a fallen angel.

"The flame of Wrath was a special flame made from the Sky and Storm. It looks like Sky flames are able to combine with other flames," his gaze never left his own hand and stared at the burning power fondly.

"Flame of Eternity," Isago named, the spark in his eyes glimmering. "I shall be the first to wield it."

Author's note:

Any comments are welcomed! Have a nice day!