Wow It's been awhile, hasn't it. Sorry, I've been busy trying (and failing) to get my YouTube channel up and running. I've also been having some issues with my motivation recently and I'd even say some mild depression (nothing even in the same ballpark as depicted in this story, don't worry.) But I'm back. Please stick around and read the closing note as well.
Warning: This chapter as depictions of torture. Nothing too graphic but it's mentioned nonetheless.
Chapter 6
Tsuna found himself in his backyard standing in front of Dino, who had a baseball mitt on his hand. Tsuna looked down and saw there was one on his hand as well. He also had the ball in his other hand. "Come on," Dino said in an encouraging tone. "Throw it over here."
Tsuna sighed but gave a small and almost unnoticeable smile before he passed the ball to Dino. However, his lack of athletic skills mixed with his clumsy nature caused the ball to completely miss Dino. Tsuna winched and looked away only to hear a gentle chuckle. He looked up to see Dino giving him a reassuring smile as he went to pick up the ball. "Don't worry. You'll get better."
He passed the ball back to Tsuna and Tsuna even managed to put his mitt in front of it but failed to keep the ball there as he tumbled and dropped it. He quickly scrambled to pick it up and Dino chuckled gently again. "Relax. It's just a game of catch."
Tsuna took in a breath and tossed the ball back to Dino. He missed again but this time Dino reached out in order to catch it. Dino looked back at Tsuna, holding the mitt with the ball in it in front of him to show Tsuna, and gave a goofy smile that made Tsuna chuckle.
Suddenly, Dino's face contorted into a demonic smile and his eyes and mouth started to glow an eerily bright but menacing shade of red. His body turned pitch black as it was covered in shadows and the ball became skinnier and longer until it transformed into a whip. Tsuna tried to run but suddenly found himself tied up and lying on the ground. With a crack of the whip, pain spread its way through Tsuna's entire body and he crawled up into as much of a ball as he could with his arms and legs tied up in order to protect as much of his body as possible. A small figure covered in shadows with the same demonic face as the other appeared and held out its hand as something crawled into it before transforming into another whip. They attacked Tsuna again and he let out a muffled grunt as he tried to resist crying out in pain. As they continued Tsuna was finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to give in to the pain, but he refused to scream. He knew how to handle this situation. It was nothing he hadn't been through before. In the long run he could never hold out forever, but if he was going to be tortured for the fun of it, then he wasn't going to make it easy for them. Suddenly the endless assault stopped and the taller shadow made its way over to Tsuna. It grabbed Tsuna by the hair and forced him to look it in its demonic red eyes.
"You're a stubborn little brat," it said. "No matter. I know what will make you cry." It dropped Tsuna and took out a small book-like object. Tsuna froze as he realized it was his photo album. "Did you really think you could hide it from me?" Tsuna's eyes widened and his pupils shrunk to the size of pin needles as the figure lit a match.
'No,' he thought as the match drew closer. Once it made contact the album instantly burst into flames and was completely engulfed.
"No!" Tsuna screamed and realized that he was now in a dark room. As his eyes adjusted, he realized that it was his room and he was in bed. Tsuna let out a sigh of relief. It was just another nightmare. He had them almost every night, but it had been a long time since he had one that bad. Suddenly the door flew open with a crash and Dino was standing in the doorway, seemingly terrified.
Dino awoke to the sound of a scream. "Tsuna!" he shouted as he jumped out of the bed and dashed through the hall. Upon reaching Tsuna's room he threw the door open so fast that it crashed into the wall. "Tsuna! Are you okay!?" Tsuna, still sitting on his bed, just tilted his head.
Tsuna reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his notepad. [Yes.]
"What happened?" Dino asked, still panicked.
[I just had another nightmare. It's nothing new.]
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"
Tsuna rolled his eyes. Seriously, this was ridiculous, even for Dino. [Yes. Why are you so worried? It's not like I've never had nightmares before.]
"But you screamed."
'What!?' Tsuna thought as he mentally cursed himself. How could he let some stupid nightmare get him to use his voice? He was getting weaker. He needed to fix his barriers before it was too late.
Tsuna looked at the clock and saw it was about two hours earlier than the usual time he got up. [I'm going to get ready for school.]
"No, you're not. You need more sleep. You don't get enough as it is."
[If I go back to sleep now I won't wake up in time and I'll be late for school. Besides, I'm not tired anymore.]
"Not tired my…" Dino stopped short and took a deep breath. "You may not feel tired, but you never get enough sleep. And I'd rather you not go to school at all than get even less sleep than you already do."
[I can't skip school. Hibari has no mercy for those who break the rules.]
"Then tell him I forced you to stay home for medical reasons and if he has a problem with that, he can take it up with me."
Tsuna was about to write something down again when Dino grabbed the notepad before gently pushing him back down and pulling the blankets back over him. "No more excuses," Dino said as he put the notepad back on the nightstand. Reluctantly Tsuna closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. However, the image of his photo album burning immediately popped into his head.
That album was the only thing left in this world he still cared about, as it was the only evidence he had that someone once wanted him. Someone once loved him. That, at one time, he was needed on this planet. As such he valued it more than his own life. He decided that he couldn't wait any longer and was going to bury the album in the backyard. The fact that he couldn't reach it when he was locked in his room didn't matter anymore. He had to keep it safe at all costs.
As the image refused to go away, Tsuna tensed up and was unable to breathe properly until he felt Dino's hand comb through his hair. Why was Dino so nice to him? He just couldn't understand. Even so, he let the action calm his nerves and suddenly his mind went numb as he became extremely tired and immediately fell asleep.
Tsuna's eyes slowly blinked open as he woke up and he gave out a loud yawn as he sat up in his bed. He couldn't remember the last time he had a night's sleep as good as that. Even when his mom was alive, he was always anxious about school and the bullies, so, while not short, he was still never comfortable when he slept, always thinking about the next day's problems.
Tsuna smelt breakfast being cooked, and it smelled like there was a lot more being made than usual. He looked at his clock and nearly jumped two feet into the air. 'I'm late!' he screamed into his head. He scrambled to put on his school uniform and dashed towards the door, only to be blocked by Reborn.
"Where do you think you're going?" Reborn asked.
Tsuna looked at Reborn dumbfounded. 'He's got to be kidding,' he thought.
"You're not leaving without breakfast."
Tsuna looked at Reborn extremely annoyed. He did not have time for this. The later it was, the angrier Hibari would get, and the more the other students would mock him.
His attendance was the one thing he was good with since his mom died, always at school earlier than the other students and the only times he was absent the last two years was when Reborn and Dino kept him home to make the legal and life adjustments he needed with the change in guardians. He never even stayed home sick. No one ever got close to him so there was no risk of giving the illness to someone else and there was no way he was going to stay with those things when he was that weak. He had a better chance of getting better by sleeping in the park during a rainstorm than staying home with them. Besides, if he went to school the nurse would sometimes give him some medication.
Tsuna took out his notepad in a rush. [I don't have time for breakfast. I'm already late.]
"You're heath comes before school at the moment."
[Do you have any idea what Hibari will do to me? The later I am, the worse it will be. That will be a 1000 times worse for my health than not eating breakfast.]
"I'll accompany you to school. If he tries something, I'll stop him myself."
Tsuna sighed. There was no escaping Reborn, and he knew it. He reluctantly sat down at the table as Dino placed the last dish down. "Good morning Tsuna," Dino said. "It seems you got a full nights sleep for a change." Tsuna rolled his eyes. He didn't care about that. "Sorry breakfast was so late. I wanted to make a bit more since your appetite has been improving. Bianchi offered to help, but it turns out that she can only make poisoned foods, even when she doesn't want to. Point is, we had to scrap everything she helped cook and start over." Dino scratched the back of his head and gave an embarrassed chuckle.
Tsuna sighed again and began to eat. He thought that Dino must have gone all out that day as the food was really good and there was a large variety. It reminded Tsuna of when his mom used to cook for him. She was an extraordinary cook. She would always make large amounts of food and loved to have company. The memories brought forth made Tsuna's eyes water.
"Tsuna, why are you crying?" Dino asked almost immediately after Tsuna's eyes began to water. "What's wrong?"
Tsuna smiled and shook his head. [It's just that it's been so long since I've had a meal like this. It reminded me of home.]
Dino's eyes were practically sparkling the moment Tsuna smiled and there seemed to be a sudden flash of light. "I finally got to see you smile," Dino said ecstatic and Tsuna covered his mouth. "Don't be like that. I want to see you smile." Tsuna sighed and uncovered his mouth. "That's it. I want to make it so that smile never fades. And by the way, this is your home."
Tsuna suppressed the urge to chuckle at Dino's enthusiasm. [The point is that the food is really good. That combined with the amount you made reminded me of my mom's cooking.]
"Thank you for the compliment, young master," Romario said. "I'm glad you like it." Tsuna tilted his head at that statement. "Oh, sorry, I should have known that you would be confused if I called you that. It's just, as the boss's son, that is what I called you naturally. It's supposed to be a sign of respect."
Tsuna nodded in acknowledgment. [Okay, but you don't have to call me that. I'm not someone you should respect.]
"It's okay. I take great pride in helping to raise you. You may not believe me, but I see great things in your future." Tsuna just rolled his eyes and continued to eat.
It had gotten so late that Tsuna was at the point that he was afraid to go to school. Even if he got past Hibari, there was no telling what the other students would act like. Unfortunately for him, Reborn followed through on his promise to escort him to school, and it wasn't like he could back out of it now, not after the big deal he made out of it that morning. Even worse was the fact the Reborn said that Dino needed a lot of help with his work, so he couldn't stay.
Once they reached the school gates Tsuna slowly peered around the corner and didn't spot Hibari. 'Maybe he already started his nap,' he thought. That would be good. If Tsuna stayed quiet, he may be able to avoid him. Tsuna turned to Reborn letting him know he can go.
Reborn looked over before nodding. "Before I go, I need to tell you that we have made arrangements with the Yamamoto's," he said. "Takeshi will tell you about it during lunch. Take care." Reborn started to walk away and Tsuna quickly, but almost silently, made his way to the school.
"Herbivore," Tsuna heard Hibari say from behind him right before he made it into the school. Tsuna contemplated dashing into the school but realized there was no point. Hibari would catch him easily and, if anything, it would make Hibari even angrier. Tsuna turned around to face Hibari but didn't make eye contact. "You're late." Tsuna tensed up and squeezed his eyes shut as he braced himself for the attack. However, he only felt a slight bonk on the top of his head. Extremely confused, he opened his eyes and looked at Hibari to see an amused look on his face. "Get to class, little animal," he said and walked away.
'What just happened?' Tsuna thought. Hibari never let anyone off the hook, not even other members of the discipline committee. The fact that he only hit Tsuna on the top of the head with his tonfas made no sense. It didn't even hurt. Tsuna shook his head. He figured that he should just count his blessings and get to class. It didn't really matter after all.
Tsuna reached his classroom and took a deep breath to mentally prepare himself for the assault to come. Deciding he was prepared enough, he opened the door and walked in. At that moment the room went silent and all eyes were on him. "Look who it is," one student broke the silence. "Looks like Dame Tsuna is falling back into bad habits. Late again?"
The class erupted into laughter and Tsuna noticed Takeshi practically jump out of his seat, startled, probably waking from a nap because of the laughter. The teacher once again made no attempts to quiet the room down, but this time seemed noticeably uncomfortable.
"He just can't do anything right, can he?"
Tsuna hung his head and made his way to his seat. By now the teacher would have usually calmed the class down by saying something like, it's nothing new to see a student come in late. However, she seemed confused and unsure of what to do for some reason.
"Will you all shut up!" a female voice called out. Tsuna looked over to see a girl with golden brown hair and gold eyes standing at her desk and glaring at the rest of the class. It was Kyoko, the most popular girl in school. "Do you have any idea how annoying you all are when you take every opportunity to mock Tsuna as much as possible!? And how heartless can you all be!? Did you forget what happened yesterday!? I'm frankly surprised he's in a good enough shape to show up today after that! And what do you all do?! You mock him for showing up late for his first time in two years, like none of you ever show up late! If anything you've all been tarty more than him, but because he's," she switched to a sarcastic tone, "Dame Tsuna," she switched back to a normal voice, "you have to mock and bully him over every little thing, even if it's something you're guilty of yourself!"
"Kyoko," her friend, Hana, a girl with dark, almost black, brown hair and black eyes, said form the seat next to Kyoko, "calm down. Associating with him will just get them to come after you."
"No! I know you're just looking out for me Hana and that's why I've stayed quiet till now! But after hearing what happened yesterday, I can't sit idly by anymore while these complete assholes make Tsuna's life as miserable as possible! Do you know how ashamed I felt when I heard that yesterday! I felt like I was going to die from all the guilt!"
The classroom went silent. After almost a full minute of uncomfortable silence, the teacher cleared her throat. "Kyoko," she said, "while I must thank you for helping to calm the class down, I must ask that you refrain from shouting in class." Kyoko glared at the teacher but sat down quietly regardless.
Tsuna, however, was still baffled at the fact that the most popular girl in the school stood up for him. Even though it was only out of pity, she seemed so angry at the rest of the class, and even more so at herself. Tsuna couldn't believe that there was someone that would care so much about what was happening to him, after all, no one ever did before. It was nice to see that people like Kyoko did actually exist. Still, the fact that she felt guilty over not helping someone as useless as him made Tsuna feel like he did something wrong. She shouldn't be concerned about him to the point that it hurt her. She shouldn't even be concerned at all.
At the end of class, after most of the students left, the teacher walked over to Kyoko and said, "I'm sorry about earlier, but shouting in class isn't really allowed and I didn't want the students to think I was playing favorites with you. That being said, I really do want to thank you for getting the class under control. After hearing about what happened yesterday, I just didn't know how to handle the situation."
Kyoko smiled. "It's no problem. It's nice to see someone else realize that Tsuna is a person besides me," she said. "I'm sorry I glared at you. Just be nicer to Tsuna for now on, okay?"
"Yeah I will, but I still can't let him off the hook if he breaks the rules just because he had a rough time."
Kyoko nodded. "I guess that will do."
Tsuna was just getting more confused the more the day went on. What was everyone talking about? Why were the teachers uncomfortable around him suddenly?
Since Tsuna was late, the first half of the day flew by. Lunch arrived and before Tsuna could even get out of his seat, his most persistent bully came over to him. Tsuna got up and waited for whatever was going to happen to happen. He noticed Takeshi get out of his seat and head towards him, but was blocked by the other bullies.
"Hey," the leader said. "I wanted to apologize for the last two years. I didn't know your mom died." Tsuna internally screamed. He completely forgot about that. Now Kyoko's outburst and the Teachers' relative unease around him made sense. However, he knew that this bully was not doing this for good reasons. He could feel the incoming torment. "It makes sense now why you never had any money or lunches. You should have told me. We could have worked something out." There it was. This was still about getting money out of him.
"Seriously though, it's such a shame. Your mom seemed like a nice person from the times I've seen her. I guess having Dame Tsuna for a son would take its toll on anyone though."
Tsuna twitched and his hands squeezed into fists. It didn't matter what anyone said about him. He was useless. However, this bully was suggesting his mom killed herself and that was crossing a line Tsuna didn't even know existed. His mom was one of the strongest people he had ever known and he wouldn't let anyone soil her memory. If this kid continued, Tsuna didn't care how long it would take or how it was done, he would make him regret it.
The bully gave a crooked smile. "What's wrong, I'm only telling the truth? Anyone would ha…" Tsuna slugged him square in the jaw, cutting him short. The room went silent as all eyes turned towards them. The room seemed frozen. The bully's head didn't budge because of Tsuna's lack of muscle, but he still stopped in his tracks, completely shocked.
After a few seconds, the bully smiled. "So there is something that gets under your skin." The smile dropped. "That being said, I can't just let you get away with hitting me, can I?" the bully raised his fist and despite Takeshi's efforts, he couldn't get past the blockade in front of him.
Right as the fist was about to make contact, someone grabbed the bully's wrist. Tsuna and the bully turned to see Hayato wearing a death glare before throwing the bully into the wall and holding him against it by the shirt collar. "Look, I couldn't care less about what you do to this wimp," he said, "but if you insult his mother one more time without knowing the facts, I will kill you." The bully gulped. "Also, if you insist on picking on this kid, I suggest you quiet it down or take it somewhere else. You're obnoxious. If you don't want to have the same speaking habits as the wimp there, I suggest you stop getting on my nerves. Do I make myself clear?" The bully gulped again and nodded. "Good." Hayato let the bully go and went back to his seat.
The bully made his way over to Tsuna again and grabbed his wrist. "You heard the guy. Let's take this outside."
Takeshi couldn't hold back anymore and attacked the underlings with a chair, knocking them to the ground before tackling the leader. "I've had it with you and your bullshit!" he said. "You want to fight someone! Then fight me! Oh, that's right! You don't want a fight! You're too much of a coward to attack someone that can fight back! All you want is a punching bag! Maybe the reason you keep demanding money from Tsuna here is because you're too poor to afford to buy one! But you know what!? The pendulum swings both ways! Now it's your turn."
Takeshi raised his fist to punch the bully. However, before he could swing, someone grabbed it and threw him off of the bully. "Herbivores," said Hibari, announcing his presence. "For fighting on school grounds, I'll bite you to death."
"I was only doing this to protect Tsuna! He was going to attack him!"
Hibari raised an eyebrow and looked over to the bully. "Don't look at me," the bully said as he got off the ground. "That brat attacked me first."
"That's only because…" Takeshi stopped short when Hibari threw his tonfa into the bully's face.
"I know the little animal," Hibari said. "He wouldn't raise his hand to swat a fly or stop a rock from hitting him in the face. So either you're lying, or you did something far worse. And for your sake, it better be the former."
"Oh... o...of course I w...was just trying t...to make an e...excuse," the bully said.
"Who said I would trust your word? You harass the little animal on a daily basis." Hibari turned to Takeshi. "Follow me and bring the little animal," he said and began to walk away.
"Come on Tsuna," Takeshi said. "We both know where he's going. We'd be heading there anyway, right?"
Tsuna nodded and began to follow Takeshi out of the room. As he passed by the bully, he heard him whisper, "You may be safe here for now, but what about your home? How much longer do you think that pretty boy can hold out?"
Tsuna nearly froze as visions of his dream flashed before his eyes. He continued to the roof on autopilot and when he made it to the edge he looked down once more. The visions were making it hard to see the ground. One step. Just one step. He lifted his foot and moved it over the ledge. All he had to do was put it down. He could finally end this. It could finally be over.
"Hey, Tsuna!" Takeshi called over snapping Tsuna out of his trance. The moment the ground became clear again, he faltered and his leg retracted back to the roof's floor. "Hibari heard what happened from me and he just wants some confirmation."
"Is it true that he was insulting your mother?" Hibari asked. Tsuna nodded. "And that's what pushed you over the edge?" Tsuna nodded again. "You should have done this sooner. I will excuse your attack for now because you haven't done something like this before and it needed to be done. Besides I know you won't strike first without good reason."
Tsuna took out his notepad. [That reason was enough?]
"If you won't raise your hand to protect yourself, but you will for that then it is a cut that is beyond forgiveness. Now eat." Hibari went to his usual corner of the roof to take his nap.
Takeshi joined Tsuna as he sighed and sat down. Knowing that Reborn was busy, Tsuna figured he'd be going without lunch until Takeshi held out a lunch box in front of him. Tsuna just stared at it blankly. He never ate any of Takeshi's lunches before and didn't plan to start now.
"This one's yours," Takeshi said. "Yesterday, while you… " he paused. "Yesterday your dad and my dad arranged for my dad to make you lunches when the kid can't bring them to you." Tsuna rolled his eyes. "I'll be handling delivery and I was also told to make sure you eat."
Tsuna sighed once again and took out his notepad. [I had a big breakfast this morning. It's one of the reasons why I was late. Dino wouldn't let me leave without breakfast.]
Takeshi smiled. "Okay, but can you eat a little. It would make my dad happy." Tsuna sighed as he opened the box to see it was full of sushi. He took a bite and noticed the high quality immediately causing his face to light up until he realized it and forced himself back to his neutral expression. "Good, right? My dad runs a sushi restaurant. You and your family should totally drop by sometime." Takeshi jokingly nudged Tsuna in the arm. Despite it only being a light tap, the unexpected friendly contact caused Tsuna to drop the piece of sushi he was holding. After realizing, he watched as it bounced off the floor and fell off the roof.
"Sorry," Takeshi said immediately. Tsuna, however, didn't hear him. He just stared off the roof, feeling slightly envious and Takeshi started to look at him with concern. "You know, I've been meaning to ask, why do you always eat so close to the edge of the roof?"
Tsuna sighed. There wasn't really a point in hiding it. Everyone else currently taking pity on him already knew, with the exception of the ones that started that day, like Kyoko. He grabbed his bag and took out his notepad. [To try and jump off. I just can't seem to take that last step. I've silently hoped that one day a bully would come and push me off, but no such luck.]
Takeshi stared at Tsuna in utter shock. "You're trying to kill yourself?" Tsuna rolled his eyes and nodded. Why did everyone respond like that? After realizing that he would lead a life devoid of love, it seemed like a natural conclusion. "We're not eating here anymore." Takeshi grabbed Tsuna by the back of his shirt and started dragging him over to the center of the roof. Tsuna struggled, not wanting to be forced away from his possible release. "I'm not letting you give up on life! You have a chance to make it better now so I won't let you throw that away!"
"Herbivores," Hibari said with a menacing tone as he awoke from his nap. His attention soon turned to Takeshi holding Tsuna by the back of his shirt as Tsuna seemed to be trying to escape. "You better have a good explanation for this."
"Oh, I have one!" Takeshi snatched Tsuna's notepad and held it up to Hibari. "This!"
Hibari gave it one glance and turned to Tsuna. "If you even think about doing that again, you will be forbidden from coming up to the roof. I will not allow suicides on school grounds. You will refrain from approaching the edge of the roof from now on." Hibari then turned to Takeshi. "If something like this happens again, you will tell me. Your lunch is about to end so you might as well head back to class." Tsuna nodded, wanting to leave this situation as soon as possible. If Hibari ordered it, then there would be no more chances for him to try to jump. If he failed and was banned from the roof, then he'd have nowhere to hide from the bullies.
Once he made it back to class one of his bullies was waiting at his desk. "Back from lunch early today?" he said. "What, did Hibari finally get tired of babysitting you?" Tsuna rolled his eyes. He was not in the mood for this. "You know I was wondering, those guardians you had before the pretty boy, did they just beat you, or did things get a little more in…" the bully was cut short when Hayato threw an unlit stick of dynamite at his head.
"I thought I told you that you're annoying me," Hayato said. "And in case you're wondering, yes and I got more so shut up or leave."
The bully looked at the stick of dynamite and shook his head before heading back to his seat.
Tsuna didn't care anymore. The day was just one thing after another. Did those things do anything besides beat him? Of course they did. If there's a kind of abuse, Tsuna went through it. Some of them were even forms of torture. Those things just loved to try all kinds of methods on him. Waterboarding, electric shocks, but their favorite was the whip. They'd tie him up and whip him continually, relishing the screams.
Tsuna's mind went hazy as the teacher walked in and started math class. He could barely hear her take attendance and as class started he began to see visions of his past.
The whip cracked. "Scream boy!" the man yelled joyfully as Tsuna whimpered in pain. Tsuna bit his lip in order to stop himself from complying with the man's orders.
"Tsuna," someone said annoyed.
The whip cracked. "Do you think he's ready?" the man asked.
"Tsuna!"
"Not yet," a woman said. The whip cracked again.
"Tsunayoshi!"
"I think he's ready now," the man said as he walked over. He grabbed Tsuna by the binds on his wrist and pulled him off the ground, smiling as he looked at the tears Tsuna was holding in his eyes.
"Tsunayoshi Sawada!" Tsuna's attention was dragged back to the present as the teacher shouted his full name and for the first time, Tsuna was happy that she liked to pick on him.
"You have some nerve to daydream in my class!" she said as he turned his glassy eyes over to her. "Now that I've got your attention, how about you answer this question?" Tsuna looked over to the chalkboard, but with his cloudy vision, he couldn't see a thing. He couldn't even think properly as he used all of his power to keep himself from slipping back into the memory. Eventually, Tsuna shook his head. "What?!" The teacher probably looked like she was about to rip his head off, but Tsuna couldn't tell as his cloudy vision couldn't make out her facial expressions anymore. "Let me rephrase that. Get up here and answer this question, now!" Tsuna once again shook his head as his vision became even blurrier. "Let... me... get… this… straight. Are you disobeying a direct command from your teacher?" Tsuna nodded as the teacher's figure merged with the background. Suddenly there was a loud bang that, in Tsuna's current state, he could swear was the crack of a whip. The noise caused Tsuna to jump backward and fall out of his seat. "Principal's office! Now!" Tsuna nodded and got up. Detention sounded pretty good at that moment. He began to walk to the door when he suddenly crashed into something, but with his vision getting worse by the second, he couldn't tell what. All he could tell was that the room seemed to be spinning around him until it stopped with the roof in front of his eyes.
There was some laughter, but it seemed so far away and was getting quieter by the second. "He just walked straight into the wall!"
"You're becoming even more of a klutz, Dame Tsuna!"
"Are you okay?" a voice said but Tsuna could no longer tell who it was. Everything seemed to blur together, like a horrible mess of watercolors. "Tsuna! Can you..." Tsuna couldn't hear the rest. All the noise around him faded away and the colors shifted from place to place. He couldn't tell what was happening anymore, but he no longer cared. He had no more energy to waste on such things.
To Be Continued…
Please Read: First off I want to let you know that I don't plan on leaving you with this cliffhanger for too long. I plan on releasing the next chapter within a month if possible. The next chapter was originally going to be part of this one, but so much happened in this chapter that I felt that was a good stopping point. However, as a result, the next chapter may be a little short.
Lastly, I want to thank everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed this story as well as make a few shout-outs.
Thanks to Nekkoismyname, lovleydragonfly, and one guest for sending in some ideas for the story.
To the Guest:
"[Do] you plan on introducing Ryohei and Kyoko and maybe Haru into the story[?] (This wasn't originally a question. The things in the brackets aren't fixing grammar, just rephrasing it into a question.)
As you read I have just introduced Kyoko into the story, and that was partly so I can introduce Ryohei. As for Haru, I'm not sure yet.
"I'd like to see Haru crash into his life. I can still kind of see them in a situation where he saves her (although I imagine he'd probably try to kill himself in the process maybe) and she becomes infatuated."
I'm not sure I can fit that into the story, but for the record, I LOVE the idea.
Lovleydragonfly PM'd me but I'll be responding here (I asked first):
"Before we Introduce any other guardians, Tsuna can get worse, horribly worse. Now I'm talking something pushes him over the edge and he does try to kill himself, or he starts secretly doing drugs/ drinking"
He did almost do that in this chapter, but that is as far as he will go. I can't fit anymore because of where this cliffhanger leads. You'll see why soon.
"Depending on who you're wanting to introduce next start with those and get that out the way or just keep them forever gone. Like I have a horrible time writing Ryohei and Lambo and such. I simply can't."
As I said, I introduced Kyoko partly so I can introduce Ryohei, so he'll probably be next. As for the other's, no plans yet. I have been struggling with Lambo in particular though. He wasn't exactly the nicest to Tsuna, in fact, he was a complete brat and even attacked Tsuna from time to time. Cannon Tsuna shrugged it off because Lambo was five, But this Tsuna, he'd probably take it the wrong way. If anyone has any ideas for Lambo, please let me know.
"Have Tsuna's first time using flames or he secretly knows how to use them already."
Obviously, he will be using flames at some point, but I'm not sure when yet. I do have a few ideas, but no, he doesn't know how to use them yet.
"Tsuna could find a cat or a baby lion and that literally keeps him grounded more than his guardians ever would."
While I do find that cute, I'm not confident in my ability to write that. Not to mention I want the guardians to have a definite impact on Tsuna's emotional state.
"Have Tsuna get pulled from school and home tutored. That's the only thing I can see food happening."
Unfortunately, I feel the need to keep him in school in order to meet the rest of his guardians. The being said, as you read, I have come up with another solution. Thanks Tsuyoshi.
"Have the Mukuro ark early? YES PLZ! or just Mukuro interaction. Also, you can have Tsuna become closer to Mukuro and Chrome than anyone."
Well, having it early is a question of what you define as early, as the events of the story are completely different. As for Tsuna becoming closer to Mukuro… THANK YOU! That is an idea I am totally using. I may not have Tsuna become closer to them than the other guardians, but definitely much closer to them than he was in canon. But thanks because if it wasn't for this suggestion I would have never thought of that.
Nekkoismyname PM"d me with an idea for a chapter that was already written. I'd like to release it but I'm still waiting for a response from them to give me an ok.
Other reviews I want to shout out are the six or so reviews that said you were or on the verge of crying. You have no idea how much it means to me that my writing was emotional enough to make you have such strong feelings.
Also, to my newest review from Vongola10… Here you go? So sorry it took so long.
Finally, I want to thank kuroneko nnch. If there's one thing I thought my writing would never do, it's change someone's life. Thanks for telling me.
Thank you all.