Another Path Part 6 : That tightened bonds
Here's this week's chapter. A big thank you to all those who reviewed and gave ideas for the box animals. Some of your suggestions were very well thought and helped me decide what to give who. Really, you guys are the best. A special thank you to ShinDragonX for his inspired PM which looked like it had taken him/her a lot of time and research.
Disclaimer : I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Days turned into months which turned into years. Tsuna and Shoichi were now 9 and Kyoya was 11. They pretty much lived together at that point in the Hibari mansion. Some things had remained the same during all that time, while others had evolved in odd ways.
One of those changes were the creation of the Discipline Committee, also known as Kyoya's private army by Tsuna and Shoichi. It started with a simple patrol and encounter. Hibari was making his usual rounds around town -with Tsuna in tow- when he stumbled across a bunch of teenage delinquents ganging upon a single younger child. Not that the child didn't look like a delinquent : he had rough traits and a most curious pompadour hairdo. Anyway, Kyoya quickly dispatched the older ones (read : hit as hard as possible until they lost consciousness) and turned to the younger one. He was about to bite him to death for crowding when the Herbivore suddenly knelt on the ground.
"Hibari-sama, please let me be your subordinate!" he yelled in a military manner, a respectful glint in his eyes. Kyoya was stunned and forgot about the bitting to death and Tsuna was just as shocked. He, however, recovered faster and burst out in laughter. You didn't see such a reaction every day to say the least! Hibari finally managed to snap out of his daze and asked the weird Herbivore (he hadn't hit him yet, so why was he already delirious?) "What are you talking about Herbivore?"
"I know that Hibari-sama is always patrolling and protecting Namimori. I would like to put my meager abilities to use and help as much as I can. So please, Hibari-sama, take me as your subordinate." he pleaded. Tsuna was roaring with laughter in the back and Kyoya shot him a scathing glare. He was also thinking. He was alone in protecting Namimori (the Omnivore had already expressly announced that he wasn't very interested in that job and only followed him to practice his moves. And Kyoya wasn't too keen on letting him wander alone and risk encountering his bastard Herbivore of a brother). Having others that could go on different patrols and cover more ground could be useful. He knew even his mother used subordinates to investigate and capture criminals.
"I guess you could be useful, Herbivore. From now on you will work under me and protect the peace of Namimori. Come with me to discuss how you will help. And stop calling me 'Hibari-sama', that's my father's name." He turned around and left in the direction of his house. The pompadour-boy quickly stood up and followed, he looked strangely happy under his serious face. Tsuna was bewildered by this turn of events, but promptly caught up with the new subordinate, plastering a smile on his face, he began.
"Hi, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kyoya's friend and I'm 8. Call me Tsuna. I think you can call him Kyoya-san or even Kyo-san for it to be shorter (and to make it sound more like a gang). He doesn't like being called 'sama'. So, by the way, what's your name?"
The boy was surprised by the bubbly brunet, but his new employer just slightly turned his head towards him and nodded sharply. It seemed the smiling boy's story was true. And he had seen him trail behind Kyo-san too often for it to be a coincidence (the nickname had already been adopted). "My name is Kusakabe Tetsuya, you can call me Tetsuya. I'm 11 years old. It is nice to meet you, Tsunayoshi-san." He bowed.
"No need to be so formal, I told you to call me Tsuna, and stop bowing. So, what made you want to be Kyoya's subordinate?"
And Tetsuya wove the story of how he was inspired by the demon of Namimori when he saved his neighbors from yakuzas. He then started observing Hibari when he encountered him in the middle of bitting unlawful Herbivores to death. He asked himself what he could do to help -he held no illusions of ever fighting as well as Kyoya. He taught himself how to dispose of unconscious bodies and to treat most injuries. He was adamant about being of use, and Hibari saving him today was just the last push he needed to offer his services.
Tsuna had no idea how to react and just nodded. Tetsuya's list of abilities could definitely be useful to Kyoya, and the raven seemed to have accepted the offer.
When they all reached the mansion, Tsuna briefly filled in Shoichi who was tinkering with a new invention, while Kyoya and Tetsuya worked on their new arrangement. Kusakabe would deal with the aftermath of his boss' carnage, while Hibari would continue as always.
A few days later, after assessing the efficiency of their collaboration, Shoichi jokingly said that Kyoya should start a group to 'keep the peace of Namimori'. He didn't think the raven would do it, judging by his distaste of crowding. But the gleam in Hibari's gray eyes made him shudder. From then on, Kyoya and Tetsuya proceeded to hire (not that they were paid, but it was a full time work) any delinquent that crossed their path and didn't want to be bitten to death. A few tried to abuse their new-found position, but Hibari was merciless and such ideas were quickly extinguished. Discipline was the most important quality in the new 'peace-keeping' group; as such, the group was officially named the Discipline Committee and even managed to force Namimori Middle to recognize them as a club and give them funds and an office. Kyoya was really proud -not that anyone but Tsuna, Shoichi and Kusakabe, his newly proclaimed right-hand man, could tell.
Tsunayoshi and Shoichi were not exactly on very good terms with most of the Discipline Committee members : most of them were ex-bullies and the two children had a history. Tetsuya was OK, he was earnest and didn't bother those weaker than him, but they never became very close, he was first of all Kyoya's lieutenant. However, Hibari had introduced his two friends and added that anyone bothering them had to be thoroughly bitten to death (he didn't directly mention Ienobu's abuse, but fully expected them to stop him on sight. The blond kept harming his twin at school, since Tsunayoshi couldn't avoid him there). As such, Tsuna was mostly spared Ienobu's attacks, but whenever the blond found an opening, he was even more vicious.
Another change was brought directly by Shoichi's addition in their circle of friends. The red-hair had somehow managed to summon yellow flames after three months of meditation. Kyoya's reports explained that they were called 'Sun flames', but didn't tell more about that. The raven found out that his flames were 'Cloud' ones and the Omnivore's were indeed 'Sky flames', but any other information was heavily guarded and he couldn't explain his curiosity to his relatives who could help without exposing Tsunayoshi's secrets. As such, they only knew the flame's names according to their color.
Anyway, Shoichi had wanted to study this ability, but needed funds to do what he wanted. Kyoya had offered to lend some money (what he had access to), especially after hearing that it could improve their flame's offensive abilities. However, the red-head was reluctant to take money from his friends without a way to pay them back. He suggested to Tsuna that they could invest Hibari's loan and pay him back when they earned enough; he could use the school's facilities at first and wait until they had enough money to start the more expensive experiments. Tsuna accepted and followed his intuition to select which companies to invest in. They quickly earned a small fortune, repaid Kyoya, and Shoichi would have enough to continue his study when he would need to.
So now, Namimori middle was way too well furnished in scientific material for a school, and the main lab was more often than not occupied by a small red-hair cackling like a mad scientist (Kyoya had 'negotiated' with the principal). Rumors were running all around town about the haunted laboratory on the third floor of the local middle school and how the ghost of a child would drag you in and knock you out with incantations. Tsuna and Kyoya had a good laugh -or an amused smirk; which is the equivalent of mad laughter for a Hibari- the first time their friend's scientific rambling drove someone to unconsciousness, but made it a point to avoid Shoichi when he went into 'study-mode'.
From the time Tsuna was 5 to when he became 9, Iemitsu hadn't visited once, and Tsuna didn't sleep in the Sawada house at all. He wondered if his mother thought about him even once since he left to live with Kyoya. He knew that Ienobu thought about him often. In fact, he was almost obsessed with Tsunayoshi. He learned the patrol routes of the DC and spied on his twin's actions to jump him with his friends when he was alone. Tsuna always kept Hibari from getting revenge : the first time he did, Nana caught her eldest at the exit of school, dragged him to her house (nobody protested and Kyoya had his hands tied. She was the Omnivore's mother and the raven couldn't draw the father's -Mafia's- attention) and beat him with Nobu's help. The small brunet concluded that it was better to avoid his twin as much as possible.
But Ienobu kept attacking him at whatever opportunity. He sent his goons (Shoichi's way of calling his friends) after the brunet during breaks and lunchtime. Shoichi was quickly recognized as Tsuna's friend and saw an increase of bullying until Tsuna snapped at seeing his friend attacked. He demonstrated the effects of Kyoya's training and sent the offenders to the hospital. The teachers heavily punished him, since they were in Ienobu's pocket, but Tsunayoshi didn't regret it. He was used to bullies, but wouldn't allow any of his friends to suffer from it (though Hibari was safe to be honest). Nobu and his friends understood quickly (after a few retaliations) and focused solely on Tsuna. Shoichi was still mocked and made fun of for his acquaintances, but wasn't physically attacked anymore.
Tsuna was starting to seriously strain under Ienobu's constant 'attention'. He was only ever completely hidden from his twin's eyes in the Hibari mansion. Nobu was watching his every movement when he was in the streets through his goons' eyes (the blond had a certain charisma, hence his many followers, because the term of 'friends' wasn't adapted) and he was spying on him at school (first in kindergarten, now in grade school) personally. The very moment that Tsuna found himself alone, that is to say with no DC member, he was sure to be attacked. And Ienobu was downright cruel in his assaults.
Today was one such days. Kyoya and most of his Committee were away from the school due to a yakuza attack in the outer Namimori during lunch, and Ienobu had seized the opportunity. All of his older and/or delinquent minions had been called and Tsuna was currently running from 30 kids ranging from 9 (like himself) to 15. He could have easily taken care of them, but he was still inside the school building and the teachers were watching, ready to intervene to punish the brunet for fighting and thus keep him longer at school (where he was an easy target). However, Ienobu and his goons' chasing and bullying was considered a rough kind of playing : something to correct the bad tendencies of Dame-Tsuna,the clumsy, stupid, useless child with a history of cheating.
Tsuna had been performing rather well so far : his intuition was guiding him through the corridors, away from his pursuers. But right now, he was cornered. The halls on his left and right were filled with bullies, and his only escape was the emergency staircase. His intuition was screaming that it was a bad idea, but it was his only solution.
He opened the door and ran down the stairs. He was on the fifth floor and had to go to the ground to escape since the emergency doors only opened from the inside. Tsuna had just reached the fourth level when he felt hands on his back.
He was pushed over the railing, from the fourth floor and towards the cold, hard concrete. From the corner of his eye, he briefly caught the sight of his brother, arms outstretched in his direction, in a pushing motion.
A deviant smirk plastered on his face and an evil light deep in his eyes.
Tsuna was shocked. Really, truly shocked. He knew Ienobu was obsessed with harming him, that he wanted him to be hurt and miserable, to be alone. But that was on a whole other level : his own twin brother was trying to murder him! He wanted him dead!
But Tsuna didn't have the time to be thinking about this. He was free-falling and had nothing to stop or even slow his descent.
His body moved on reflex before he even realized it. Thankfully, no one was there to see him since his bullies were busy running down the stairs and Ienobu was slipping away unnoticed through the door he had kept ajar with his foot.
Tsunayoshi invoked his so-called 'Sky flames' (he really wanted to know why and who named them that) and called them out through his palms faced with the ground. He pushed as much of his flames out as he could to oppose gravity.
He hit the ground. Hard. He felt some of his bones break upon impact and pain beyond anything he ever felt before -and god knows he knew about pain.
The corner of his vision went darker and darker until his whole sight was pitch black.
Unconsciousness caught him right after he heard the familiar and worried cries of a certain red-head.
()()()()()()
He woke up in a white room. Too clean to belong to someone. A hospital room whispered his intuition, more strongly than he was used to. Weird. He'll have to think about that later. Once everything stopped hurting so much.
"Tsuna!" shouted a voice. It took a few seconds for the brunet to realize it came from his right side and to turn his head slowly.
A crying red-head and an anxious raven. Tsuna's hazy brain needed a couple seconds to put names on their faces. "Shoichi, Kyoya..." he whispered, to tired and hurt to speak clearly. But the two boys heard him and their worry clearly eased.
"Tsunayoshi" began Hibari in an uncharacteristically kind voice. "How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?"
The 9-year old brunet softly shook his head. It hurt, but he needed to reassure them. "I feel like crap, but I don't think it's anything permanent. I'll heal." His intuition agreed with him. Again, he noted that it never reacted so much before, it was like it had gotten even stronger. "I" he hesitated, feeling that telling the truth bluntly to Kyoya would have consequences. He needed to carefully explain what happened. "I remember what happened, yes. What did they tell you?" Better to know how much of the incident was discovered.
"We were told you slipped on the emergency stairs while running. The teacher" and there was a surprising amount of spite in Shoichi's tone. "Said that you were trying to escape from school to not go to the afternoon classes. That you took the emergency exit against the rules and that you fell over the railing due to you own clumsiness. Not that any of us actually believe that nonsense. So" There wasn't even a hint of distrust in his voice, which warmed Tsuna's heart. "What really happened?"
Tsunayoshi took a deep breath. He needed to make sure of a few things before revealing the truth. "I'll tell you, but first of all, I need you to both promise me you won't take any irrational actions. That really won't help any of us." he looked them both in the eyes. It took some time, but they eventually swore not to be reckless (Shoichi) or nodded their agreement (Kyoya).
"Well" began Tsuna. He knew this wouldn't go well, but couldn't hide such a major turn of event. Not from his friends. "Ienobu sent his goons after me during lunch break." he saw their shoulders stiffen and could only pray they would keep their promise. "They managed to corner me and I had no choice but to escape through the emergency staircase outside. I was at the fifth floor and Nobu was waiting on the fourth." He trailed off. It was still so hard to believe that his twin wanted him dead...
"Did you try to avoid him and tripped?" helpfully supplied the red-head. But for some reason, Tsuna wouldn't meet their gaze. Kyoya had a sudden realization and growled.
"Don't tell me, Tsunayoshi, that the bastard Herbivore pushed you over the railing?" Tsuna could only avoid their eyes and pitifully nodded. He was on the verge of crying. His own brother had tried to murder him... "I'm going to kill him." announced Hibari in a dark voice, already making for the door. Tsuna snapped his head up (which hurt like hell, but he had to do it).
"No, Kyoya, you can't!" he pleaded with as much strength as he could muster. "You promised. It would only make the Mafia notice us all, and then, they'll kill you too for murdering him, and they'll find Shoichi too, and they'll kill him, and I'll be left alone, and you'll all be dead, and Mama would beat me, and Nobu will have that evil smile again, and... and..." he was crying hysterically, losing what little sense he had managed to regain since he woke up. The mere thought of losing his friends sending him in a frenzy on his hospital bed. "You can't, you can't" he repeated between sobs. "You can't..."
It calmed Hibari down quite efficiently. Despite all the abuse he endured daily, the Omnivore was very strong inside, and he must have been truly shocked by the murder attempt to break down so completely in front of them. Shoichi closed in on the hyperventilating brunet and attempted to soothe him by rubbing whatever area wasn't in a cast (which meant his forehead and right shoulder), while Kyoya went to sit on his left, silently showing that he wouldn't chase and assassinate Ienobu. Not now, at least.
After an hour of crying his heart out and blubbering incoherent words, Tsunayoshi calmed down. He managed to give his friends a small, grateful smile for their presence and worry, before the pain that he didn't feel during his panic attack came back with a vengeance.
"So" Tsuna tried to distract his friends from the assassination plans they were obviously formulating and himself from the suffering. "Exactly how bad are my injuries?"
According to the doctors, he had most bones of both lower legs broken, his left arm was in pieces since he fell directly on it, many ribs were fractured, a trauma on his head and multiple smaller but still worrying injuries all over his body. He was lucky that he had survived such a fall and that his internal damage was strangely limited to his bones and not to his organs. Doctors predicted he would spend almost a year recovering and many month in rehabilitation.
But Kyoya and Shoichi knew that with the healing power provided by their flames, the brunet would most likely be up in a month, and would be completely back to normal in two. They had somehow managed to prevent the hospital and the school from calling Tsuna's parents (the hospital was a hassle, but the school was way too easy to convince. In a way, it was infuriating how little they cared about Tsunayoshi). Hibari pulled some strings again and he obtained that the Omnivore would be spending his healing time in the raven's house, so as to hide his abnormal recovery time.
Once every test and observation time was over and nothing new was discovered, Tsuna was moved to the Hibari mansion. The staff was fussing around him and always checking on his health and well-being. Shoichi went much less often to do experiments in Namimori middle and Kyoya delegated many of his own patrols to his more than willing Committee. They respectively claimed it was because they had no experiment that required big facilities and that their men needed to be able to handle any patrol thrown at them, but Tsuna knew they stayed at home because they were concerned about him and wanted to remain close. He didn't call them on their lies, but felt immensely grateful nonetheless.
The boys' predictions turned out to be correct, and by the end of the second month (which meant it was now the end of June, Kyoya had celebrated his 12th birthday) Tsuna was up and about, almost the same as he'd been before the incident except for the mental and physical scars he had added to his already wide collection.
He had tried to hide how upset he was after his first break-down in the hospital, but both Hibari and Shoichi knew him better than that.
The red-head had read somewhere that the best way to cure emotional traumas was to talk about it before the mental injury festered. So the boys kept gently pushing Tsuna to speak of the details of the incident. It took some time, but eventually, the brunet managed to talk about the chase, about the stairs and about his brother pushing him. The Cloud and the Sun had sensed that there was something more and kept insisting for Tsunayoshi to talk about it.
When Tsuna finally talked about the evil, disturbed smile and manic glint that appeared on his twin's face after he had almost murdered him, the face that still haunted his nightmares, both boys could feel a surge of absolute hate well inside of them. They knew they couldn't harm that bastard without Tsuna having to pay for it and their lives targeted, but at that exact moment, had Ienobu been in front of them, they would have gladly snapped his neck.
Tsunayoshi had expected that reaction and kept reminding them not to act rashly. Ienobu had the backing of the most powerful Mafia Famiglia, whether he knew it or not. Shoichi and Kyoya were completely outclassed.
Anyway, the brunet felt so much better after exposing his whole story, and th other two boys were relieved that their friend had let go of that secret, and glad that he had enough trust in them to share his nightmares. To make Tsuna more at ease, Shoichi explained that he feared dogs since he was attacked by an especially vicious chihuahua. Kyoya reluctantly admitted that he disliked crowding since he once got lost in a crowd at age three and it took his mother two hours to locate him -after he began punching all those who got close in an effort to clear the place (Tsuna and Shoichi held back a smile). Tsuna had revealed his deepest fear, it was only normal they did the same.
They all felt that their bond had gotten stronger, strong enough to tell each other everything, from public knowledge to intimate fears. The three kids spent the rest of the day sharing small stories and anecdotes about their lives and fell asleep next to each other with a bright smile on their faces.
()()()()()()
Four days later, the three children were walking around Namimori. A new science-fiction movie had came out that day, and Shoichi had really wanted to see it. But he was too shy to go on his own and asked Tsuna and Kyoya to come. The brunet cheerfully agreed, and the raven yielded under the pleading puppy-eyes of his two friends (Shoichi was doing a decent job, but the true champion of the begging stare was Tsuna : you could see sparkles and blooming flowers behind him if he pulled out the big guns).
They had just left the cinema and were arguing about the movie. Shoichi had really enjoyed the general universe, but had found too many flaw in the scenario and laughed at the 'pseudo-scientific babbling' as he called it. Kyoya had loved the action scenes and was eager to try and see if some of the moves were feasible in the real world. However, he had found the emotional scenes and technical explanations boring. Tsuna was more lenient and just enjoyed the movie as a whole, especially since he saw it with his friends.
They were discussing a particular plothole when Tsuna froze, eyes glazed. Kyoya and Shoichi looked at him and then glanced around. They had been around Tsunayoshi long enough to notice when his intuition was acting up.
On the other side of the street, stood an obviously shocked and upset blond with his friends.
Ienobu was staring at Tsunayoshi like he had seen a ghost. He looked genuinely stunned that his twin was walking around. Worse, he seemed shocked to actually see his brother alive.
Then, after his initial disbelief, a frown of pure hatred appeared on his face. Kyoya went and stood in front of the brunet to shield him from the deadly glare while Shoichi squeezed Tsuna's hand. They would protect him from anything the blond would throw his way.
No-one moved for what seemed like days. Ienobu's eyes were glued on his twin behind Kyoya's back. His friends and goons were either looking at their boss with questions in their eyes, or sending disgusted stares at Tsunayoshi and frightened looks at the demon of Namimori. The raven-head was standing protectively in front of his first friend and was glaring along with Shoichi at the blond. Tsuna was staring unseeingly in front of him, like he couldn't bear to see Nobu's spite.
The stalemate was suddenly broken when Ienobu's face shifted. His brows relaxed and a cruel smile appeared. For half a second, the blond looked absolutely evil. He leered at his twin and his eyes made a promise.
'I will get you next time'.
And he simply turned around and left in the opposite way. His friends followed after him immediately.
The three remaining kids released their breath. The tension had finally left and they all felt drained of all their energy. That, and they had all been able to read the threat and promise.
Something had to be done to keep Tsuna definitively safe from Ienobu.