Damage Done - Yamamoto's Story Universe 6b
Summary:
Tsuna didn't activate his Flames falling out of the tree when he was almost eight, no… it happened earlier, and an Active Sky will always draw at those riding the cusp of decision. So really Vongola is to blame for the damage done to them all and Takeshi would BLEED THEM DRY if they dared to harm what was his AGAIN!
Chapter 1Takeshi was different. Not in any way that was better or worse than the other kids… just different, in little ways. At least Kaa-chan said so whenever the subject came up around the dinner table, which was often. Kaa-chan said things like that a lot with her sunbright smile. Small comforts Otou-sama called them. Small comforts for the stinging words of the other children at the park… or school. He thought they could have found a better place than the giant party Kaa-chan had planned for his seventh birthday though.
Udo and Kune were twins who never went anywhere alone and were fairly nice most of the time but with the Lo siblings (Yuki-niisan, Ai-hime and Yuri) they could be really cruel. Not that the meanies ever said anything with the adults around but loud whispers carry through open windows and around corners easily. Takeshi was watching blankly from the back of the crowd as the five got dressed down (even if he didn't understand the bad word that Yuki had called him Otou-sama did and oh was he mad) when he felt a soft poke on his shoulder. He turned and met dancing caramel eyes.
"Happy Birthday Yamamoto-san." Sawada Tsunayoshi, from the other Grade 2 class, peeped with a dancing firefly grin. Takeshi felt warm all over and jelly kneed as he stared into that glowing face. The brunet boy held out a small wrapped box and he reached for it with hands that shook as he tried to keep his chest from whooshing painfully and gumming up his throat. Their fingers brushed and Takeshi's world exploded in harp-light-and-screaming-colors mixed with oh-kamisama-home-never-felt-so-good followed by a splash of a-little-too-much-ice-cream and a dash of please-kaachan-just-one-more-time thrown in for flavor. Takeshi blinked twice, scrunching his eyes closed for two catching breaths each time, before he could bring himself to look at Sawada-san again. Who was looking back at him with soft eyes and a gooey smile, so unlike the other children.
Takeshi pulled the almost forgotten box, wrapped in bright baseball paper, to his chest. He had no clue what was in it but it was still the best present he had ever received. His world tilted and swiveled oddly; his eyes bounced around, stuttering in his head until it blazed and his teeth ached. Then he looked into sad sunset eyes and felt everything fall heartbreakingly still. Sawada-san looked over Takeshi's shoulder before seeming to shrink into himself. When he finally turned back to him Takeshi barely recognized the other boy.
"I am sorry Yamamoto-san. Kaa-san always says I should be more careful. That I could hurt someone if I am not," Sawada-san said very slowly, his shoulders both slumped and a hand came up to rub at a glazed orange eye. "I didn't hurt ya, did I?"
Takeshi blinked; his body felt warm and tired in the way only baseball with Kaa-chan normally made him but he didn't think he was hurt. He was struggling to reply when a hand came down on his shoulder. It was Otou-sama… he knew that… but he still tensed; every last bit of him felt torn between burrowing into the big arms of Otou-sama and pulling Sawada-san up to the safety of his room for a nap.
"Who's your little friend, Takeshi-kun?" Otou-sama asked in a deep lulling way that set every single hair on Takeshi's body alight in its wake. He fought to open his eyes… it was important that he do so because soft, smooth navy had begun to creep over candy orange threatening to drown it and he just couldn't let that happen.
"Otou-sama…" Thankfully his kitten weak whimper was enough to draw the man's gaze and the creeping, suffocating blue stopped in its path. Takashi reached forward with every last bit of strength left in him to wrap his right hand around a skinny wrist and pull. Sawada-san stumbled forward with a soft giggle and Otou-sama sighed as he caught the other boy to keep them all from the ground.
"Sawada-san, you should be more careful." Otou-sama's voice seemed to float and drift and Takeshi yawned because he really was so very sleepy. He nuzzled his face in Sawada-san's hair and found that, yes, it was just as soft and fluffy as it looked. Otou-sama continued to speak but the words all seemed so far away and…
~0~
Sometimes being a parent was harder than being an assassin had ever been.
Tsuyoshi quietly sighed to himself as he returned from carrying his sleeping boy up the stairs to the apartment above TakeSushi. Thankfully he could feel that Ha-chan had cleared the place out except for the slumbering Sky-child and his mother… Though if he were being honest with himself, and he tried extremely hard to be, he was in no way ready to deal with the fact that his seven year old had gone Active and started Harmonizing with a Sky while his back was turned for five seconds.
Not just any Sky either; the boy had to be the son of Vongola's Young Lion and his crazy ass Sun Guardian Nana of the Seven Summers.
Tsuyoshi paused at the bottom of the stairs before the curtain leading to the dining room, drawing on the deep deadly calm of his Flames until they simmered beneath his skin, he walked in with his head held high. He did not have the same social ranking as Nana prior to their separate retirements and even though things worked a little differently in Namimori he still wasn't about to show an ounce of weakness when his Takeshi's freedom was at stake.
Nana was sitting at one of the tables; the polite smile on her rosy face as she patted the fluffy hair of the kid passed out in her lap was in direct conflict with the sharp hard look in brown eyes that tracked his every move. She was a pit viper in a sundress, watching and waiting in all her disarming prettiness for the perfect moment to strike.
He could tell that she was a woman who could and would do anything for her boy and one completely convinced in her ability to come out with the upper hand. Of course she was; her husband and Sky was a known powerhouse who had just been made C.E.D.E.F. Boss and that didn't even take into account her own strong Sun Flames that could stand toe to toe with the likes of Hibari Akira. Tsuyoshi bowed respectfully to the mother of his boy's potential Sky before slipping into the seat across from the brunette.
He knew there was a chance that Nana would forbid the Match, it wouldn't take much to dissolve the fragile Bond and it would only affect the boys for a few days at most, or worse she could take his boy from him… His heart skipped a single long beat; the mere thought nearly enough to shatter his Rain calm and his weakness almost felt like a drop of blood in shark infested waters.
Thankfully Ha-chan chose that moment to join them with the good tea set, the one they kept far from Takeshi, on a tray. She was silent as she set up the cups but her mere presence did more for his nerves than any amount of Flames ever could. After the tea had been poured, an expensive blend of Gyokuro that his wife adored but kept for special occasions, Tsuyoshi decided to bite the metaphorical bullet.
"Sawada-sama…" He started formally only for Nana's face to split into a manic grin as giggles spilled out. This was most certainly not the response he was expecting.
"Sorry, sorry," The giggles led to a snort as the woman waved a warding hand in front of her. After a moment she seemed to collect herself, all the exuberance disappearing as fast as it started, but Tsuyoshi could see just a hint of the curl of her Flame induced insanity in her once again mundane smile. "Reset and go…"
Tsuyoshi stared at her in confusion right up until he heard a soft laugh from Ha-chan to his left. She chuckled for a moment and just like that Tsuyoshi felt relaxed, more at ease then he had been since before Takeshi was born. To see his wife so relaxed even in the semi ceremonial setting was a blessing and not one he would soon forget. He bowed his head slightly in Nana's direction with a wane smile.
"Nana of the Seven Summers," This time he went for the less formal address and received only a small twitch of her lips in response. He reached forward and clasped the prepared teacup in his right hand. "May we celebrate the Bond that has been formed on this day between your Family and Mine?"
"We may, Autumn Rain," was Nana's response as she too took up her cup. They both raised the china in salute before taking long sips. After a long moment she spoke again. "I do apologize for all the trouble that my Tsu has caused Tsuyoshi. I have warned him more than once about being careful with his Flames."
"Children will be children." Tsuyoshi said with a snort. He couldn't really blame the boy after all he had met adult Skies with less control of their Harmony. He also had the feeling that it had only been a matter of time until Takeshi had gone Active on his own.
So was it not better that it had happened in their home of all places?
"That they will." Nana looked down at the child in her lap with a soft smile, one hand buried in his chestnut locks.
"If I might ask?" The swordsman turned chief inquired after a long pause in the conversation.
"You may but I am not sure myself," The brunette said. "One day a few weeks ago he came home from school and he was Active… He won't tell me what happened. Sometimes he reminds me so much of Iemitsu in the best… and worst ways."
Nana's eyes were distant for a moment and Tsuyoshi could see the weight of her sins in the set of her shoulders but worse he could see The Young Lion's in the curve of her smile. He raised his cup again and after a heartbeat so did she.
"May they grow up to be better than we are."
