Another Path Part 7 : That pondered on escape routes

Hi, sorry, this came out a little late. Problems with real life and updating slipped out of my mind until now.

I know you've read this before (and will probably continue seeing this on most fanfictions), but thank you again to all those who read, followed, favorite-d and especially reviewed this story. Every message, from a simple smiley to a text explaining precisely what they would like to do to Ienobu makes me so incredibly happy (although it's hard to explain to my family why messages that want one of my characters to 'die in a ditch' make me smile like a loon for hours without sounding like an insane psychopath). It also really helps to encourage me to write more.

Disclaimer : I can safely assume that I will never own KHR. And it makes me sad.

Kyoya, Shoichi and Tsuna spent the next days of their summer vacation brainstorming about ways to protect the brunet from his twin on the long term. For now, he would remain in the Hibari household and only leave when escorted by both his friends -Kyoya could fight any threat and Shoichi would remain right next to Tsuna and check for any other danger. But that arrangement wouldn't hold once school started again.

Hibari had suggested that Tsunayoshi could stay and be home-schooled, but the idea was quickly abandoned. The school and Ienobu would alert the Sawada parents and things would degenerate from there. And while Tsuna didn't mind lowering his head in front of bullies and teachers, he categorically refused to spend the rest of his life in hiding, cowering from Ienobu.

There really was only one solution. Tsuna had to leave Namimori. But there were many issues with that as well. Sawada Iemitsu genuinely cared for Tsuna in his own way and would use whatever means at his disposition to bring him back -the brunet's will hardly mattered since no-one would believe his side of the story. Unfortunately for the three children, Iemitsu had access to too many resources to escape him easily. Not to forget that if the Mafia caught them, Tsuna would be stuck with his abusive family under heavy surveillance, and who knows what would befall Kyoya and Shoichi for helping in his escape...

So Tsuna had to disappear with no lead to track him, even for the most powerful and influent crime syndicate. Piece of cake...

At this point in the conversation, both of Tsunayoshi's friends felt the need to make something clear : they would not leave the brunet on his own. Whether it was in planning his escape or him leaving the country.

"But you can't!" countered Tsuna. "You have family or duties in Namimori! You can't just let everything go to help me. It's your lives that we're talking about!"

"Tsunayoshi" calmly retorted Kyoya. He had expected the reaction, but wouldn't yield. "It is our decision to follow you and make sure you are safe. And the Discipline Committee is now competent enough that I can leave Kusakabe to lead for me and keep the peace of Namimori."

"And" added Shoichi just as serenely. "Even if you were to go on your own, that 'Vongola' would definitely hear of our friendship and guess we know something. We would be in danger anyway. I can just tell my family I am leaving for my studies and they won't question me. Might as well stay with you and keep having fun together." he smiled. Anything Tsuna could have said was stuck in his throat : they were right, and he was honestly overjoyed that they were willing to stay with him. He could only direct them a tearful and grateful smile and keep on working on their plan.

Now that it was decided that they would all run away together, they had to settle the detail. First of all : where to escape to?

Japan was quickly dismissed. It was too obvious and the first place Iemitsu would look at, especially since no-one had any idea that Tsuna and his friends could speak other tongues. The brunet was actually fluent in Japanese, English, Italian, Chinese and French by now, and knew basic German and Russian as well as bits of many other languages. Kyoya had mastered Japanese, English and Italian, and had a good understanding of Chinese thanks to his family (his mother was of Chinese descent). Shoichi had started learning languages with Tsunayoshi much later than Hibari, but was by far the smartest of the group (though he didn't pick up languages as easily as Tsuna) and was proficient with Japanese, English, Italian and Chinese. He had just started learning French with the brunet.

It would be easier to fit in a country whose language they knew, at least a little. That left all the English-speaking countries, Italy and China. All the teachers knew of Shoichi and Kyoya's perfect scores in English, and if they disappeared at the same time as Tsuna, it will easily be deduced that they left together. So English-speaking countries were out as well.

So China or Italy.

"How about Italy" started Shoichi. Kyoya was looking at him like he was crazy.

"Italy is the home-country of Mafia and Vongola. They will find us in no time." he said slowly, as if explaining something evident to a child (which he was, but none of them could be treated as such).

"Not necessarily." continued the inventor. The three were truly a great team and completed each other well. Shoichi was the tactician, he elaborated plans. Kyoya was the one with the most battle experience, he also had many connection and was familiar with the criminal world and its ruthlessness. Tsuna was the decision-maker, he ended up decided if plans were to be put into action and was the one who held the group together despite their opposing personalities. "They would never expect us to hide right under their nose. In a way, it's the safest place of all."

Shoichi and Kyoya turned to Tsunayoshi. It was his escape they were planning, it was his decision to make. And his intuition had always led them on the right path so far. They would follow his choice.

The brunet pondered his decision for a moment. It was a capital one, not so much for his own safety, but for his friends'. But his intuition -which had inexplicably grown stronger after his fall- hummed affirmatively. "I think this could work. We all have a good grip on Italian, so we should blend in smoothly, despite our young age and obvious Asian features. And no better place to hide than right under the nose of the Mafia. Now, we have to see the details."

And that's what they did. Kyoya offered to have his mother make them fake passports saying they were older than they really were. Not by much, since it needed to be realistic (and all three were rather small for their age, even Kyoya at 11, but no-one dared say that to his face). However, Mrs Hibari would not do anymore, and would not accompany them : she trusted her son -and his friends since he had chosen them- to handle themselves.

Then, they had to figure out how to leave Namimori unnoticed. And how to not leave any trace to track them. Shoichi said that he could further his computer and hacking skills. That way, he could erase any unwanted data so that Vongola and Iemitsu would not find too much to follow.

Tsuna's job was to find and organize where and how they would live in Italy. They had funds thanks to the investing the brunet did and continued doing, but they all knew better than relying on their account money for the long term. Naples was decided as their destination since it was a big enough city that they could blend in, but not too international for hiding.

The biggest issue was how they would make a living. They were evidently too young to go job hunting. No honest employer would hire three kids with no adult backing. The only solution was to start their own company.

The three of them all had multiple skills, but none of those abilities were common to all of them, apart from flames, but that had to remain a secret. Tsuna was amazing with languages, had a knack for teaching and had decent fighting skills (well, 'decent' according to Kyoya, which meant that he could beat almost anyone to the ground); Shoichi was a genius inventor, was especially talented in science and computer science; Kyoya was an exceptional fighter, truly a genius in that field, and had surprising leading abilities and an innate talent in reforming delinquents -to create a private army devoted to him, but details, details...

As such, it was almost impossible to create a specialized company. The obvious solution was to build a 'jack-of-all-trades' business. Of course, it would be hard to create and promote a company that was ran by three kids, but Tsuna was certain that with their skills and abilities, it would only be a matter of time until business was thriving.

The three friends were now tired and had already sorted out a number of things. It had been a tiring day, and they all decided it was time to go to sleep.

()()()()()()

The next three months followed the same pattern of escorting Tsunayoshi as much as possible and him not returning to school with the excuse that he had to recover from the heavy injuries of his fall. It went smoothly and it was now the end of September.

Lately, Tsuna always took whatever occasion he had to take a breath of fresh hair outside. It's not that he was ungrateful to his friends' body-guarding, he just felt stifled staying inside the Hibari mansion for so long without leaving.

So today, a sunny Saturday morning, Shoichi and Tsunayoshi were trailing a few steps behind Kyoya during one of the boy's patrols. The red-hair was almost glued to the brunet's side and the raven made sure to keep them both in his sights as often as possible. It was nice, if not a bit overbearing.

Shoichi was babbling about his progress in hacking when Hibari spotted a group of grade schoolers surrounding another kid and giving him light kicks. Kyoya rushed to bite the unlawful Herbivores to death while the other two stood behind by the side of the road (Tsuna had been expressly forbidden from entering any fray for his safety).

Tsuna was feeling that something was amiss -really, how did his intuition pick such things up?- and observed the delinquents who didn't actually seem to hit as hard as they could. They were all somehow familiar... Even the 'beaten' child's face rang a bell and didn't portray as much fear and hurt as it should... It took a minute for Tsunayoshi to remember where he had seen them.

Both the 'delinquents' and the 'victim' were goons of Ienobu.

At the exact moment he came to that realization, he was pushed onto the road and in front of a speeding truck. He had been so engrossed in figuring out what was wrong with the bullying scene that he didn't notice his intuition warning him about the figure exiting from a dark alley on his side and pushing him on the road.

Funny as time seemed to flow slowly when you're about to die -and seeing the speed of the truck, Tsuna was definitely going to die. Oh, he hadn't seen the face of his assassin, but he had no doubt about his identity. From what he could guess, Ienobu had schemed to kill his brother : he had made his friends stage an aggression to keep Kyoya -the biggest threat- busy, and he was hiding in a deserted, dark street, ready to push his twin in the path of the first vehicle to come. It was just his luck that said vehicle was a huge truck.

Despite his impending end, Tsuna felt strangely calm. Eerily so, to be honest. He should be panicking, trying his hardest to avoid the truck's front as he was falling in slow-motion. But he knew it was futile to attempt to escape, he didn't have enough time. So he used whatever little time available to assess his situation and read Ienobu's plot. He had obviously put a lot of time and thinking in this murder.

It was saddening to see. This was different from the first time : Nobu pushing him over the railing was an impulsive act, not that he hadn't wanted to kill his brunet brother, but he hadn't planned it and just seized the opportunity.

But this time, Ienobu had prepared meticulously his murder. He planned a way to distract any threat, and was making the opportunity happen. And despite all that, Tsuna felt sorry for him and not angry. How awful it must be to hate someone so very much that you were willing to spend time and thoughts, to hire your friends to make sure said individual was killed?

The truck would now collide with him any moment. Tsuna wonderer whether he should close his eyes or not. Would it actually make any difference? Might as well close them, then. To make sure he didn't catch Kyoya's or Shoichi's shocked stares. He could already feel them on him, no need to see them as well.

And suddenly, he felt another person pushing him out of the way. They both fell painfully on the opposite sidewalk.

Opening his eyes to see who his savior was, Tsuna was met with red hair and displaced glasses. Surprised amber eyes met olive ones where worry melted into reassurance.

It was only then that the brunt of realization fell onto the brunet. Ienobu had tried to kill him for a second time! Shoichi had evidently rushed on the road to push them both out of harm's way. On the other side, he could see Kyoya staring unblinkingly at them, as though he couldn't quite understand fully what just happened.

Thoughts swirled inside of Tsuna's head : Kyoya was going to be mad. Shoichi had scraped his knee. Ienobu was glaring at him, displeased that he wasn't a bloody piece of meat and bones on the road. Nobu's friends seemed unhappy that their leader's plan had failed. He didn't know how the blond had managed to convince them he had to be eliminated. The driver and his truck had fled the scene. Shoichi had been hurt and he could see that it was a sprained ankle due to his extended knowledge of injuries...

Shoichi's ankle was sprained because of Ienobu's actions.

Tsuna's vision turned red. He wasn't furious because of his life being endangered, he was sadly used to being mistreated. He was mad because one of his friends had been injured. That was the one thing he wouldn't tolerate.

While Shoichi was still getting over the fact that they had narrowly escaped death and Kyoya still hadn't broken out of his stupor, Tsunayoshi stood back up.

This time, Ienobu wouldn't get out of this so easily. This couldn't be allowed to happen again. No matter what. Tsuna's eyes started glowing, like lit up by orange fire from the inside.

"Ienobu." started the older twin, his voice stern and full of repressed rage. All the kids present raised their heads and stared shocked. Never had they heard the brunet speak so authoritatively and they all felt compelled to obey him. Even Nobu. "I don't care that you hit me or slander me, but if you ever, ever harm one of my friends in any way, I swear that I will make you pay. You will regret laying a hand on them."

It wasn't a threat, really. It was a promise. He would protect his friends from any harm. He would keep them safe, no matter what happened to him.

It was a vow, his vow. One he would keep until his last breath.

Once he had finished stating his promise, he turned to help Shoichi up, minding his sprained ankle. "Kyoya" he ordered, and the raven immediately went to the inventor's other side to hold his arm. They left without a glance to the other stunned children.

()()()()()()

Back at the Hibari mansion, Shoichi's ankle was bandaged and he was installed in a comfortable chair (Hibird was setting on his lap and singing). Both him and the raven head were still dazed and couldn't understand that Tsuna had been the one to cut Ienobu down like that. They had never seen him so furious. Even when Shoichi had been bullied, he hadn't snapped like that. But then again, it hadn't been a life threatening situation.

Kyoya quickly understood that it had been because of the threat to his friends' lives that Tsuna had lashed out. He knew the Omnivore had fangs, and had seen them when he protected Hibird, but he only now realized that it had only been a glance. Only today had Tsunayoshi showed the extent of his power and strength. His authority. And Kyoya had obeyed that authority without question. Him, the independent, freedom-loving demon of Namimori had bent in front of the small brunet.

And he realized he didn't mind at all.

He acknowledged Sawada Tsunayoshi as his pack-leader, actually had for a long time. He decided once more that he would follow the Omnivore, he would protect him, even when the boy refused to protect himself.

Shoichi was having a similar revelation. Only without the animal kingdom references. His body had moved on his own when he had seen his friend falling before the truck. He had no time to think and was pushing the other out of harm's way before the situation had caught up to him. Tsuna being gone was just too hard a concept for him to grasp. It could not be permitted to happen.

Tsuna had calmed down and his eyes had returned to their usual color. He was still raging, but at had least managed to think properly. Shoichi's sprain would be healed by the next day, thanks to the flame's healing side effect. But that didn't mean that the situation was fine. Ienobu had been shocked by Tsuna's access of authority, but it wouldn't last, and the Sky was sure that the blond would do it again.

The preparations to leave Japan had to be sped up. Nobu would not be given any other opportunity to harm Tsunayoshi's friends. Not now that Shoichi had almost been run over by a truck.

And once again, Tsuna completely ignored how close he had been to dying.

"We need to hurry and leave Namimori. As soon as possible." He declared. His friends were still lost in their own thoughts and absently nodded. They were already planning their next step.

()()()()()()

September came to an end and October began. Shoichi's sprain was indeed gone when he woke up the morning following the truck incident in the Hibari mansion. He pretty much lived there at that point and his family didn't even question his whereabouts.

Tsuna's birthday was approaching fast. Both the red head and Kyoya had already picked their present and the staff of the Hibari mansion had everything ready to celebrate the day their favorite brunet was born.

A 10th birthday was an important date, and everybody in the house was determined to make it memorable. And the servants were aware that their three young masters would leave Namimori to escape the abusing family of Tsunayoshi. They had seen his injuries and scars and bore a strong hatred for the brutes who would harm such a sweet and caring child. The reasons why nothing could be done had been told to them, since they were trusted, but none of the three kids had explained where they were going. So the staff had concluded that this would most likely be the last birthday they would celebrate.

And they had decided that they would make this the greatest party the kids ever attended (while still making it enjoyable for shy Shoichi, cheerful Tsunayoshi, and more importantly unsociable Kyoya who could trash anything he didn't approve of).

The preparations for leaving Namimori were going well for the three friends. Shoichi had managed to hack into the hospital files and erased any data about them (he actually copied them onto his own computer in case he one day needed proof of the abuse on Tsuna) and had everything prepared to make the school think they transferred to another elementary school each in another town in Japan at different dates (Tsuna and Kyoya had both enough absences that it wouldn't be noticed that they left until a few days after). They were ready to vanish and make it so it seemed they never lived there to begin with.

Kyoya's mother had agreed to providing them fake passports (with their true first name to make it easier on them, but fake family names and ages to be harder to track) and would be coming soon to deliver them. She also wanted to meet her son's friends before they left. Once they would be in Italy, they would limit direct contact with their known acquaintances to stay hidden. It might sound paranoiac, but they couldn't afford to underestimate Vongola.

So Mrs Hibari would meet Shoichi and Tsunayoshi soon. To be honest, she was much more curious about the latter. He was the one to first befriend her solitary and aggressive son, and she had understood that he was also the one to bring the inventor into their closed group. Hibari Yukiko had absolute confidence in her son's judgment, but still wanted to see for herself if the 'Omnivore' truly was worthy of the trust and devotion placed on him. She would arrive soon to deliver the fake passports anyway.

Tsuna was having more trouble with his job of finding a place to live and a way to earn money in Italy. He didn't want to burn through their savings too fast, so they had to find a cheap house to live in, at least until they had a stable income. And it needed to be safe from any Mafia influence in Naples, which meant lots and lots of cross-checking and took plenty of time.

Creating a jack-of-all-trades business would have to wait until the actually were in Italy, since they wouldn't be able to build their reputation until they could truly work and prove their worth. Tsuna had, however, decided on how they would promote their company. Fliers to start with, and then, word of mouth should do the trick. To be honest, Tsunayoshi wasn't too worried about their income. They were all talented enough to find jobs despite their young age, and they had more than enough money to last a while.

Their respective duties within the company-to-be were already decided. Tsuna -who had much experience with economics thanks to their investing for Shoichi's experiments- would take care of finances. He would also be the leader of their business (given his recent burst of authority, it was logical) and decide which jobs to accept and which to decline. Shoichi would orchestrate the promoting and Kyoya would make sure that they wouldn't be discovered by the Vongola (he had an undeniable knack for calling delinquents to his side, they could act as spies). He would also deal with most of the administrative paperwork, since he was the most experienced (due to his founding of Namimori's Discipline Committee).

The last problem was finding a name for their company. Giving it a Japanese name was deemed to eye-catching and risky, much to Kyoya's disappointment. The three wanted it to be something meaningful to them, but impossible to guess for others. Shoichi suggested to link it to their flame ability, the one thing they all had in common. But it couldn't be too obvious, so they went for the 'official names', that is to say Sky, Cloud or Sun.

Since Tsuna was to be the head, and the name couldn't be too long for word of mouth to work, they selected the 'Sky' idea. Again, it shouldn't be too obvious, so Tsuna spent some time online, looking for things related to the sky. He found the word 'cerulean' from Latin 'caeruleus' which meant 'sky blue'. It sounded perfect and his two friends agreed for their shop to be called Caeruleus.

So, all that was left to do was to find a discreet place to live in for a while and for Mrs Hibari Yukiko to bring their passports.

()()()()()()

October the 14th. Tsuna's birthday was to be celebrated in the evening, after school. The Sky was giddy with excitement. But the last thing he expected was for Ienobu to accost him before he left the school grounds. The blond had a grumpy expression on his face and seemed unhappy with what he had to say. Shoichi, who wasn't in the same class as the brunet but always regrouped after lessons, quickly went to Tsuna's side and tried to look as menacing as he could (which wasn't much, but at least he tried).

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna" began Ienobu, spiting each word out in disgust. "Mama said she wanted to see you alone today. For my... our birthday." He looked as if the word 'our' was hurting him physically.

Tsuna was stunned. He didn't know what to think. On the one hand, his instinct was whispering that Ienobu wasn't telling the truth, and he wasn't too keen on going in the lion's den without his friends to have his back. On the other hand, he didn't know why his twin would lie to him. He had nothing to gain from Tsuna being in the Sawada household.

Unless it was another assassination attempt, but he couldn't imagine the blond murdering him in front of their Mama. Nana might have been neglecting, but she wasn't a criminal, at least not in Tsuna's mind.

And Tsuna had to admit that he still yearned the acknowledgment of his mother.

Shoichi was looking uneasy, he also found the offer strange, but had reached the same conclusion as his friend if his glance was any indication.

"...OK." started Tsuna after much pondering. "I'll head there immediately after school. Shoichi, could you warn Kyoya and tell him I'll be a little late? It shouldn't last very long."

The red hair nodded. It would do no harm. Ienobu might want to hurt his twin, but he would not go further in front of Nana. And Tsunayoshi was strong enough to get out if anything happened.

How wrong he was...