Where the Sky Resides
A fan fiction by Aoi Kitsukawa
Disclaimer: Katekyou Hitman Reborn belongs to Amano Akira and its related companies; I only borrow the characters in the manga/ anime. Please enjoy reading it!
Author's Note: Thank you very much to my dear readers, for reading, following, reviewing and favouring this story of mine. Despite finally finishing the last chapter, I found out I still unable to continue my stories in many fandoms including KHR due to the same reasons I mentioned before. Not to mention currently I work as a replacement teacher in my old primary school in evening school. That's why when I found out this story had gained more readers than before I was so happy. I really appreciate it!
After posting the last chapter, I realized that I have made a big mistake. However, I decided to just keep moving on the story. I hope nobody would be asking me when the guardians' moments will appear in the story, since I'm still struggling to make the story plots. My mind is still thinking about DU's plots! DX
Summary: After one accident during mission and a miracle return of Federico, Tsuna slowly lost his bond with his family. Despair and pain, he decided to leave the family with his wife Kyouko. However, their car fell into the gorge and lost. When he opened his eyes, he found that Namimori was not existing and he is the only flame-user exist in the world…
Sky 04: Abnormal Situation
I don't know if I'm getting better or just used to the pain.
- April 30th, Isuzu Household, Fudomae, Tokyo. Human World-
It was still dawn when someone was already in the kitchen, cooking.
Sounds of sizzling and smells of something fried filling inside the mixture of old and new style of Japanese kitchen, where the 'L' shaped island kitchen with marble counter was located. Several ingredients and lunch boxes were left on the marble counter. A pair of hands expertly chopped the chives, mushroom, garlic and onion, gathered together and threw them onto the hot pan. After quick stir and the smell arose, the fried vegetables were out into a bowl of beef and got mixed all together. Turned them into several patties and placed them onto a large metal tray before put it into the freezer for 30 minutes. After that, the owner of the hands quickly took the used pan and washed it while leaving the fire on the stove. While the water washed the soaps on the pan, a kettle was later put onto the same stove.
After washing the soaps away, the pan was put onto the other parts of the stove. Grabbing a large wok with cover on it, it was put opposite to the kettle. The same hands then grabbed two glass bowls, a carton of eggs, some seasonings, soy source and a rectangular pan (the one special to make tamagoyaki). Moving from the stove, the owner went to the rice cooker to check whether the rice was cook or not. After conforming it, the owner moved to the fridge when…
"What are you doing this early morning, Izumi?"
Mizuno Izumi, the young tomboy who was busying herself before she stopped her movement, before slowly looked up at the owner of the voice. A man in late 20s was standing at the main door, calmly leaned against the door frame.
"Making foods. Isn't it too obvious, Yamato?" She asked as she grabbed several ingredients in the fridge and closed it with her elbow.
"It's rare to see you make them in such a large quantity," Said the man called Yamato. "Could it be that you're making for the Sawada Couple (Tsuna and Kyouko)?"
"Who else?" She said as she beat the eggs in the bowl. She poured it into the rectangle pan, which she had preheated before. "Have any complaints about it, Isuzu Yamato-san?"
Isuzu Yamato just smiled. He did not saying anything since he knew, despite the seriousness in her voice, Izumi did not intend to scold him. It was just her nature as well as due to what she had experienced from childhood to her teenage period. The man; with short black hair but long bangs and eyes who was in his late 20 was an excellent lawyer and husband to the doctor in charge of Sawada Kyouko, Isuzu 'Hanamura' Aoi.
"That's quite a lot." Said Yamato in amused, as he took a glass of water from Izumi and drank it. "So…you're planning to go to the hospital this morning?"
"No…I need to visit my mother first. Today's her death anniversary," She said calmly.
Yamato narrowed his eyes. Was he heard the right thing? Isn't today is…
"Izumi, I don't want to be rude, but wasn't Umeko-san's anniversary on March 30th?" Asked Yamato carefully, when he saw the said girl suddenly widened her eyes and turned to look at him. He could swear that her face was paling.
"Isn't today March 30th?"
"No Izumi. Today is April 30th, not March…"
Izumi stopped herself from folding the egg before continued it. Just seeing her acted like that, Yamato knew the teenager still not yet get over the matter of her late mother.
"I'm messed up…" She said in low tone, face unreadable. Yamato looked at the girl sadly, as he knew how much the young girl was suffering from losing her mother. However, he needed to mention something that related to her, or he will forget it.
"That's right Izumi, why don't you stop by at the dorm today? It's been awhile since you go there…"
"…Depends…I just thinking of going to visit my mother, by hook or by crook…"
"You still want to go?" Asked Yamato, concern.
"Aah…" She said slowly, before putting the finally finished tamagoyaki onto a plate. "I plan to go to her grave and pay my respect to her before going to the hospital."
"Don't you want to meet your father first?" Asked the lawyer, carefully.
"…It depends…" She said as she put the pan into the sink, before starting to cook the hamburger steaks. Yamato sighed as he finally gave up on the said girl.
Actually, talking with Izumi about her family was something that people who knew her would never try to do. However, something terrible had happened to her several days before, which led the current Izumi into this kind of 'unstable' situation, so some adults like Yamato had to make sure she did not do something unexpected.
"How's Aoi?" She asked after a long paused.
"Still asleep, but her craving on foods had lesser than before…" Said Yamato as he held his neck. "While she's still in her third month, her mood swing can make me scare too. Even Kotaro is scared with his sister-in-law."
'Figures…' She thought as she cooked the hamburger steaks. "Don't you have to go to work today?"
"It's Golden Week (1) Izumi, my office close through the entire week," Said the married man as he went to the cupboard and grabbed a jar of coffee. "Are these including for us?"
"Yeah, since I have lots of new mothers or mothers-to-be which happen to be my friends along the way so…figure it yourself."
Yamato chuckled as he quickly turned off the fire on the stove, and grabbed the hot kettle from it. He quickly took a pot and made a coffee, while Izumi continued making the foods. Until the clock showed that it was already 7.15 A.M that Izumi had finished making everything. Yamato had helped her along the way, making breakfast and arranging the lunch boxes. Both of them quickly set the table and cleaned everything, before a certain pregnant woman woke up and started her 'morning speech' to them.
The breakfast was quiet and peaceful. Isuzu Aoi, or more known among her friends and colleagues as Hanamura Aoi, was a doctor and specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as an expert in surgery. She was the one who in charge with the pregnant Kyouko.
"So, you're going to visit them again?" Asked Aoi as she ate her breakfast.
"After I visit my mother."
"In the evening?"
"Maybe…I don't know how long though," She said as she took a sip from her warm milk.
"After the Golden Week, you have to wait for an official letter regarding the trial you have to attend. Are you sure that you're preparing for that?" Asked Yamato as he sipped his coffee. "If you keep on hiding your problems from everyone, the outcome wouldn't that good."
Izumi did not say anything, and quietly ate her salad. Both husband and wife sighed, knowing that it was a sign of her refused to say anything that can anger her.
"At least, go and meet your friends at dorm. They're worrying sick as we are although you're on leave from your school," Said Yamato.
Izumi's eyes went cold and emotionless. She did not say anything, as she stood up, washing the dishes and left the kitchen. The adults just sighed as they wondered what exactly she had in her mind, but Aoi said to her husband that it might be related on her dark past with her late mother's death. Surely, they knew that Izumi's mother, Mizuno Umeko-san died almost 11 years ago, but almost all of her friends including Alex, Aoi and Yamato did not know how she died.
According to their 'high-ups', the only things Izumi said about her mother's death was someone murdered her, and that she and Umeko-san were horribly separated forever, without any chance to say good bye...
- Accident scene nearby Vongola Mansion, Sicily, Italy, Mafia World; Day 2 of Accident-
Reborn frowned as he looked at the cliff where Tsuna's car was thrown down during the blizzard yesterday.
A crane was hired to pull the car our from the tree where it was stuck, while the Varia members (minus Xanxus), the Guardians as well as Dino, Ganauche and Irie watched as the car slowly emerged from the gorge. When the car was safely pulled out and on the ground, Irie and the other two mechanics –Spanner and Giannini quickly went to the car and started their investigation. The car suffered great damages especially on the front part, with glasses broken and some tires were out from the rims, however just like Lussuria had said, the door at the driver's seat remained open, with snows inside the car. No traces of someone move or sit on the seats, no luggage or anything related to Tsuna and Kyouko, as well as Anzu, were within the car.
It seems like the small family simply vanish into air.
"This case is going to be hard; don't you think so, Mr. World's Greatest Hitman?"
Reborn narrowed his eyes as he felt AND heard the presence of the person who easily slips into Vongola's meeting yesterday. However, since the said person did not release any evil intent or suspicious acts, Reborn decided that he pretended to watch the scene while talking to her.
"Usually I won't agree with my enemies so easily but I make an exceptional today; you're so damn right about it," Claimed Reborn as he titled his fedora down. A female worker with green sweater and cap covered her blonde hair stood next to him, pulling down her cap.
"My my, so quickly putting me into your 'black lists'? How cold," She said as she smirked. "If I really want to destroy you people and the Vongola, I won't do something as simple as slipping into your private meeting last night. It's a stupid thing to do, for a person like me."
"Oh? How brave of you to brag such things, Miss Chaos?" Said Reborn as he glanced at the said person. The female assassin smirked while titled her cap before she looked at the hitman with seriousness he never expected.
"Let me be honest with you Reborn-san. I didn't come here just to play 'Police and Thief'," She said with cold tone. "I come here to investigate this matter as well, but from different point of view."
"What?" Asked Reborn, shocked. What does she mean by that?
"What do you mean by that?"
"Unfortunately, I can't tell you," She said. "However, I was ordered by my "high-ups" that the Vongola Family somehow got involved with this "mess" created by the people who're under our surveillance. What makes me really piss off about this is that they managed to create such incidents with the family."
"You mean your enemies are the ones who did this?" Reborn slowly turned around acting like he was asking the worker about the progress of the work in the scene. In reality, he was acting like that to avoid attracting any attentions from the people around him.
Although Fon did realize it and slowly came to his side.
"I can't say quite sure, but let me give you several pieces of advice, Reborn-san," She said as she covered a clipboard onto her mouth. "Be careful with the changes in your life."
"Eh?" Asked Reborn shocked.
"Second, that skeleton survivor. If you don't know what I mean, ask Xanxus. He knows him better than anyone else in the family."
"And what are the other advices you want to give to us?" Asked Fon in low voice as he stood next to Reborn. The hitman did not say anything as he actually quite grateful that Fon had decided to come and join together. Hearing everything from this woman made him feel harder to breathe.
"Third, ask Irie Shouichi to collect the blood sample at the crime scene and sent it to that 'Trident Mosquito' secretly," She said with sharp and cold eyes towards the two adults. Both narrowed their eyes at the mention of Shamal's nickname.
"I know you're suspicious with this, but listen careful," She said as she titled her cap. "I know there's a big incident that happened several months ago that affecting Decimo's relationship with his family. However, don't you think that this sudden incident is rather suspicious but coincidently in good timing? Who're the people that will get benefits the most?"
Reborn and Fon looked at each other before their eyes widened in shock. She didn't mean that…!
"Besides, Federico had accused Decimo trying to attract attention by making this kind of incident; obviously he tried to badmouthing him. That's the reason why I'm asking you to ask Irie doing this job secretly."
Her words made both men in deep thought. They never thought such things, since they thought that everything will be done just within the family. However, an outsider had known more than what the members of the family had known, yet asking them to do something for the sake of the missing Decimo.
"Why are you doing this?" Asked Reborn when he saw the woman started to walk away. She looked over her shoulders with unreadable expression.
"Why are you going up to this point to help us? Aren't we're enemies?"
"Geez, I already told you; we're doing this from different perspective," She sighed as she turned around. "I have my own reasons why I want to investigate this matter."
"However, I don't think with our current situation you can place me as your enemy very easily. I have my own preys to hunt, but at the same time I need to help and protect the people who are really in distress, with your dear student is one of them." She slowly pulled down her cap, covering her eyes from the other men. "Yet I will give you clues to find this missing person."
Reborn said nothing but his eyes showed that he wanted to know where the hell his student was. She smirked as she continued, "Very well. Let's just say…"
"The meaning of the parallel world and future."
"What…?" Said both Reborn and Fon, in shock.
"And lastly, ask that fanatic marshmallow to not enter to any of them. It's useless," She said waving her hand as she turned around. "Ask him to help you to solve the puzzle, and then he will understand why."
With that, Princess of Chaos left the scene within the crowd of the people.
Reborn and Fon looked at the vanishing assassin before they looked at each other. After a long silence, Fon decided to break the ice.
"Do you believe in her words…?"
"…It's hard to believe…"
"But she's saying the truth."
"Exactly."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"What should we do, Reborn?"
Reborn sighed as he titled his fedora. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, he knew what the assassin said was true and need to be done in mean time. Putting his hands in his pocket, he gestured Fon to follow.
"We do just like that woman asks for."
- Somewhere in Tokyo, Japan; Human World-
Izumi walked silently towards the quiet and peaceful cemetery. Wearing a sleeveless, blue denim jacket with black shirt and blue loose jeans with her usual black heel boots, she led herself towards one area in the cemetery, carrying a bucket of water with blue roses inside. After a few walks, she stood at the end of the cemetery where a huge tombstone stood in front of her, written 'Mizuno family grave'.
"…Okaa-san…" She said, slowly. "It's been a while, ne…?" She put down the bucket, and kneeled down.
The breeze flew gently, bringing a cool wind to the cemetery. Izumi cleaned up the grave and poured the water onto the tombstone, before she placed the blue roses and lit up the incense, clasping her hands for prayer. After that, she looked at the stone in front of her; saw small writings that making her expression unreadable.
Mizuno Umeko
Age 27
April 12 XX –March 30 XX
27…How ironic that her mother had died too young before Izumi managed to enter elementary school. She too was very young when her mother died, but there is no way she would ever forget the tragedy that stole her mother's life away from her, from her father, from her family…
You're also responsible for her death too, Izumi…
Before she needed to fight with her inner self, her ears picked up certain sounds, alerting her as she slowly stood up, looking at the area surrounding her. Narrowing her eyes, she decided that it was her time to leave the place and bowed to her mother's grave for the last time. She did not wasting any time as she quickly grabbed the empty bucket and left the place quickly. She went to the other path of the road, the one that seems to be less people walk upon, making long strides to walk down the hill until she reached at certain place when she suddenly stopped.
There, she stood alone in the middle of the road, looking directly at her front. It was not unusual for her to be all alone in an empty area; well not too empty actually. A cemetery was not a place for people to meet and greet every day, it was a place for someone who already passed away with tombstones as their last memorial towards the loves one whom left behind by the death. However, this kind of place somehow had became the favourite place for the people with bad intentions, just like what he saw right now. She saw a group of about thirty men in dark suits and glasses eyeing her menacingly. With her second sight, she noted their forms and said,
"Human-form shadows."
Izumi rolled her eyes as she sighed when the enemies attacked.
"I don't have time for this…!"
That afternoon during the workers' lunch break, afternoon news reported that in small hill of some places in Tokyo, several trees were found collapsed and damaging the ground with traces of something was exploded in the earth. Strangely enough, the area surrounding the hill was not affected and no damages were found, puzzling the officials who came to investigate the place…
Including a cemetery that was not far away from the crime scene.
- April 30th, Fudomae General Hospital, Fudomae Ward, Tokyo. Human World-
Tsuna was very happy.
It was the day where he finally reunited with his family that previously was at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department due to Kyouko's condition. When Tsuna was pushed on his wheelchair by Alex-sensei (Yuge Tohru) to the current room, he was greeting with Anzu's cheerful voice and Kyouko's happy face. Alex had explained to him that starting today, he will be placed in the same room as Kyouko and Anzu in one of the hospital's VIP wards. Tsuna instantly paled as he heard that the current room he had shared with his family was one of the most expensive rooms in the hospital (well, considering it was a VIP room so of course the price will be a VIP's price!) but Alex assuring him that the room was already been paid off. Tsuna was shock to hear it but when he asked Alex who paid for it, he just said that it was a secret.
Somehow he had a feeling (intuition!) that this room was paid by none other than Mizuno Izumi and perhaps by Alex too. However, when he remembered that Izumi was just a high school student, it was impossible for her to do such things so he dismissed the idea of the said girl could paid the room's fee.
He also got other visitors that came to visit him. Isuzu Aoi or known among the staffs in the hospital as Hanamura Aoi was Kyouko's doctor-in-charge as well as Izumi's friends. She came with her husband Isuzu Yamato, a lawyer whose reputation had increased several years before. Both of them came with large bento boxes as souvenirs, and much to Kyouko's surprised, most of the foods were what she had been craving lately, including karaage and tamagoyaki. Aoi had assuring Tsuna (again) that it was alright for her to eat other than hospital foods. She also gave some to Tsuna and when that fellow man ate it, he was surprised that the food was so good! When he asked whether it was Aoi who cook it, he got a surprise answer:
"No, all of these were made by Izumi all alone. We just help her to pack and brought it here," Explained Aoi.
"Did Izumi come here, Tsunayoshi-kun?" Asked Alex as he took one tamagoyaki and ate it.
"Err…no she didn't. I thought that she will come this morning but never appear," Said Tsuna nervously. "Is something the matter, sensei?"
"Nope, just asking. She rarely comes late but…oh well, maybe she has something to deal with," Claimed the doctor.
After hearing the conversation, Tsuna could not help but to think where the said girl had disappeared. According to Yamato, Izumi left their house in the morning to pay some visit to her mother's grave, and they had not seen her since then. Then Tsuna remembered; she did say last night that today was her mother's death anniversary. When he told the adults about his conversation with Izumi last night, the reactions he got was quite a surprise.
"Umeko-san's death anniversary? Hers already passed! Today is 30th April! Are you sure about this Tsunayoshi-kun?" Asked Alex as he sat on his chair.
"Err…yes, that's what she told me yesterday. Is…something wrong?"
"No, not your fault," Said Yamato as he sighed. "Izumi's accidentally mistaken the dates and told you the wrong date. When I asked her again this morning apparently she was shock to find out that she had the wrong date."
"Eh? It's not today?" Asked Kyouko.
"No, it's last month. Same date but different month; Umeko-san passed away several days before Izumi's birthday," Explained Alex.
"She was?" Asked Tsuna, shocked. "But…how did she pass away? An illness? Accident?"
"Well…the truth is, nobody knows how she died," Said Alex as he folded his arms head back. "We heard that, 11 years ago, Umeko-san had died on the said date during the raining day. Nobody knows whether she died of accident or being killed, since the main witness of that incident was heavily traumatized and unable to remember what had happened…"
"…Or so what we had been told," Aoi said as she pushed her glasses. The situation suddenly went cold as the three adults seemed depress and tense. The atmosphere became heavy and Tsuna could feel like he was in the wrong place in wrong time!
Tsuna mentally kicked himself; he just arrived in this world barely a week but he already asked so many questions! He still had lots of things to ask, but why about Izumi's late mother of all things? He's seriously needed to reprimand himself!
"Mama, what is 'death anniversary'?" Asked Anzu out of the blue to Kyouko. Almost everyone stared at the innocent child when Aoi decided to break the ice.
"Nee ojou-chan, is your name Anzu?" Asked Aoi as she smiled gently. Anzu looked at the glasses doctor and nodded her head.
"Yes! My name is Anzu, Sawada Anzu! Nice to meet you onee-chan!"
"Kyaah~! How cute! Onee-chan likes you!" Cried Aoi happily.
"Che! You're just grateful that she didn't call you an old hag –BUHUK!" Tsuna and Yamato stared at the slam-faced Alex on the cracked wall in shock, courtesy of Aoi. Aoi sat on her chair but a vein hand was raised to the air while she smiled creepily, while Alex slipped on the floor, nose bleed.
"Opps! Sorry, my hand slips," She said as she smiled devilishly.
Shivers went down the men's spine as they watched dark aura came out from the black hair doctor. Tsuna watched in horror as Alex slowly got up from the floor totally bad mood and started to bicker with Aoi. Kyouko and Anzu just chuckle a little while Tsuna was shaking terribly, as they were watching the two adults fought with each other, insulting and bickering before Yamato decided to step in and insisted that they need to stop fighting. Alex added the fuel into the burning flame as he said that Aoi was an old hag who did not realize her already that old and barely dodged a flying chair that came out of nowhere.
Seeing how those three were acting with each other made Tsuna felt a bit nostalgic; it was just like how his family was before that incident happened and stole everything away from him, including his own existence in his family. He wonder how long did he see his family fight with each other; usually it was between Gokudera and Ryohei, sometimes with Yamamoto but usually the baseball star just laughing his head off. Lambo just stood not far from the group, eating his grape candy while Chrome sat timidly on her seat. Not long after that, the door or the wall (usually the wall) would exploded and revealed his two remaining Guardians –Mukuro and Hibari –weapons in hands, fighting and insulting with each other, destroying their surrounding much to Tsuna's horror and headache. Gokudera did not helping the situation either as he tried to stop the fight with his dynamite, blowing the place into pieces. In the end, Tsuna had no choice but to put him in his High Mode Dying Will state and stopped the fight by hitting both men on their necks and passed out, before he ordered the others to drag them away from the room which now become nothing more than pieces. Later that night, Tsuna's agony cries and wailing were heard throughout the night, while desperately finishing his mountains of paperwork in the office.
Remembering the time he had with his Guardians in the past bring the sudden wave of sadness inside his heart. It was such a long time since he had talk or being with his family. Tsuna himself couldn't recall when the last time they had a proper talk. They hardly talk face-to-face with him, and if Tsuna tried to approach them, either some of them stuttered nervously in front of him, looked away with eyes narrowed, went oddly silent and avoided his gaze, shuddered, cried and ran away, smirked furiously then disappeared suddenly. All that Tsuna could remember was that their distant relationship started after that incident happened, becoming wider as days passed, which triggered the current situation he had been.
He knew they were angry to him, for what had happened. He knew they blamed him for that incident despite he had a very strong reason why it had to be done that way. However before he could have the opportunity to explain everything to them, they started to avoid him and refused to listen to his words. Each time he tried to talk about the said matters, he immediately was denied, followed by words that clearly hurting his heart. They must have known crystal-clear that it hurt him more than any wound he used to have but they don't care about it; they believed that Tsuna should be treated like that for everything that happened.
Everything was even worse when Federico came back. His arrival at the Vongola Mansion was seeing as some sort of relief to his Guardians that not only ditched him as if he was an alien but also became attached to the "new-comer", excluded Hibari. Tsuna did not know why, although he knew that Hibari didn't like anyone very much but his extremely deep hatred toward Federico was completely unexpected. He was grateful that Hibari did not show any sign of hatred towards him, instead he showed it towards Federico. Nono still treated him kindly; however he too, spent his time more with Federico. Not that Tsuna was angry with him, but he knew that Nono deserved to be with his own son, but he won't deny that it making his heart hurt even more. He even felt more irritated when Federico started to attend Vongola's top private meetings, much to the young boss's reluctance. Clearly he could see that Federico was looking down on him, acting high and might while he occasionally criticized him in front of the guests that later become the laughing stock at the party or meeting. Tsuna really hated it whenever Federico was in the meetings or attending the parties. However, he couldn't object to it since all his Guardians, except Hibari, agreed.
He realized that his position as the Vongola Sky was no longer belonging to him; the title was slowly slipped away from him and searching for its new master. His condition as 'The Sky' was fragile; he did not know where his position within the Vongola circles. He finally realized that one day, while sitting in his office dealing with the paperwork as usual, that his has lost his place in his family. He was no longer their Sky; no longer has someone to be relied upon, not as someone they put their trust in. The realization hit him hard, as the pen he held fell onto the desk and tears suddenly started to spill forth from his eyes in a rapid downpour of emotion. Tried his best to stop the tears, but each time he tried, he cried more and more until he finally reached his limits and started trashing and hitting everything in the office, no longer care if anyone heard him throwing tantrum.
Nobody cares for him right? He's acting like a kid, throwing tantrum and trashing things until broken and crack…
He don't care anymore.
Everyone's abandoned him for someone else.
Nobody–
"TSUNAYOSHI-KUN!?"
Tsuna snapped his eyes open as he felt someone was shaking him. He saw Yamato was looking at him with serious stare, while the others were looking at them with worry and concern written all over their faces. Tsuna realized that the room had become too quiet, and the two adults who were bickering with each other had stopped fighting. Anzu had remained silent with scared eyes, which Tsuna did not understand.
Did something happen?
"Are you alright Tsunayoshi-kun?" The lawyer asked and Tsuna couldn't help but notice how Yamato's brows furrowed downwards and there was concern in those dark eyes.
"Is – Is something wrong?" Tsuna asked, not entirely sure what had the other looking concerned, before he felt something warm and wet fall from the corner of his eyes and he blinked.
"What...?" He quickly raised a hand to see what it was, as he trailed his fingers over his cheek, feeling a cold, wet trail leading down his face, before pulling it back and saw that it was wet with tears. "What the..." he mumbled as he brought up his other hand to wipe away the tears.
"You're crying…" Said Yamato, as he took out his handkerchief and started wiping the tears off. "Did something happen?"
Tsuna suddenly felt a heavy wave of sadness as he tried to suppress his tears. Alex narrowed his eyes and turned around silently, saying to Aoi that he would grab some drinks. Apparently he realized that Tsuna was having some conflict within himself that he decided to leave. While he actually appreciated his afford of understanding, he still did not feel like to reveal the main source of his sadness.
"It's…It's nothing…Isuzu-san…" Tsuna said as he let Yamato wiped his face. "It's nothing…"
"Then why are you…"
"IZUMI! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?"
Alex's shriek had shock the occupants in the ward as Yamato and Aoi looked at each other before quickly went to the outside and left behind the small family in confusion. Tsuna wobbly stood up and went to the door that was left open, only to find out that the scene was not something he should see that time.
"An ambush…" Tsuna widened his eyes as he saw Izumi, covered with dirt and blood on her left arm and forehead, stood in the middle of the hallway. Some staffs were shouting and running probably went to get the equipments they need to treat the injured young girl. Alex had already grabbed her hand, trying his best to tend Izumi whose seemly looked annoyed, which Tsuna found it strange. Aoi screamed to the staffs for something only she would know, before she tried to drag Izumi to somewhere so that she could get her treatment. Yamato however, stopped her before telling her to bring Izumi into the ward where the Sawada family was located. It seems like both doctors are agreed to him, because not long after that Tsuna saw Alex came to his direction with Izumi in tow, followed by the married couple and several nurses.
Tsuna did not wasting his by standing at the door and made himself like a fool. He stepped back and went to Kyouko's bed, telling her and Anzu about the commotions they just heard when the said group came in and Izumi was placed on the bed in front of Tsuna's. Apparently her injuries were not that heavy since the wounded were just her left arm and her forehead. Still, the amount of blood Tsuna could see on her was enough to make him feel awful.
One of the nurses pulled the curtain, hiding the girl away from the family's eyes as she received her treatment. Yamato reassuring the family that everything was alright, but he too, couldn't stop flinching whenever the girl cried of pain or anger, mostly arguing with the two doctors who were treating her at the moment. Half an hour later, the curtain was pulled back and the nurses slowly left the room along with the equipments, revealed a bandaged Mizuno Izumi who strangely looked very, very angry.
"Alright Izumi. You better tell us what exactly happen or I'll make sure that you won't see the sun tomorrow!" Said Aoi tensely. Izumi replied with dark glare that showed how angry she was that even Aoi stepped back a little.
"Threatening me isn't working and you do know that Aoi!" Said Izumi as she pointed towards Aoi angrily. "And before you start accusing me, NO! I'm not the one who's starting all the commotion in the TV!"
"I didn't say that you're the one–"
"Of course you are! That site is not far away from my mother's grave! Do you think I'm that stupid to have a fight in such place of all the places? YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT!" She screamed as she slammed her hand against the table.
"I don't want to scold you like a kid, since you're not even a kid but the way you're acting is really irritating me!" Cried Aoi trying to control her anger. "You just disappear without any warning and not bothered to tell us where the hell you're going! What if something happens to you? Do you know how worry we are?"
"It's already happen Aoi!"
"Urgh! Stop being stubborn Izumi! Seriously, you're really a danger magnet!"
"Well sorry for being such danger magnet! I'm not that mind if this is worth of defeating those invaders that suddenly come and attack me!" Her words had made Aoi, Yamato and Alex turned their gaze towards Izumi. Both Tsuna and Kyouko realized that the atmosphere suddenly turned tense, before they looked at the injured teenager who was scowling on the bed.
"What do you mean by that Izumi?" Asked Alex as he watched the girl slipped her hand into her pocket pants. Slowly, she pulled out something from the pocket and threw several rings onto the floor. She stepped down from the bed and slowly went to the group.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi." Izumi's cold yet intimidate voice startled the young boss. He looked up from his wheelchair and saw a ring on her palm, a very significant one.
"Do you know who the bearers of these rings are?" She asked as she showed the ring on her palm. Shaking slightly, Tsuna slowly reached up and took the ring from her palm, watching it intensely.
Widened his eyes, Tsuna realized that the ring in front of him was none other than the Simon Ring –The Earth Ring that belongs to Kozato Enma, the current Head of Simon Family. The Earth Ring was covered with dried blood, and as Tsuna looked for the other rings, Alex had collected them in his hands and showed them to Tsuna. Tsuna tried his best to deny it, to tell him that everything that he saw was nothing but a dream…
It was not a dream.
Along with the ring in his hand, all the Simon Rings were covered with dried blood and laid in Alex's hand. Tsuna felt himself was shaking terribly, clenched the Earth Ring in his hand as he looked at the tall girl who was standing in front of him, frowned.
"I-Izumi…san…" Tsuna said, face paled. "These rings…this rings…why…?"
"I confiscated these from the invaders that attacking me this morning," She said as she looked at Aoi. "Apparently those bastards called these rings as 'Simon Rings' and arrogantly bragging on how they can use the rings as easy as ABC."
"By the time I took them, they were already covered in dried blood," Explained Izumi as she looked at the paled-face Tsuna. She swore that she can see Tsuna was shaking terribly, which worried her a lot.
THROB.
A sound.
"Do you know who they are Izumi?" Asked Yamato seriously.
"I don't know who they are, but when I was collecting the rings they managed to get away," Said Izumi as she clenched her teeth tightly. "Despite that, I managed to catch one of them and struggling him for answer!"
"Geez, you and your harsh methods…" Sighed Aoi.
THROB.
Another sound.
"You should admit that her ways of dealing the enemies are always like that sempai," Said Alex as he sighed hopelessly.
Was this a meaning of bad omen?
BA-DUM…!
He heard another sound.
Tsuna clenched his pant tightly, as his hands were sweating and he started to feel slight pain in his chest.
"Did you kill him?"
"No, I knock him off before I sent him to Hikaru. I'm not making this matter worst, but I have to say that our situation can be put under this term –abnormal! These rings are obviously not from our world, or even made by Muramasa-san! You have to remember; right now the space between time and dimension is unbalance and without permission from us the Guardians or under the power of Time-bearers, nobody is allowed to go across the time, dimension and space! It's a strict order directly from Leona!" Said Izumi seriously.
"Which is strange since they managed to come here," Said Aoi as she pushed her glasses. "That's why you say it was abnormal. But what it has something to do with these rings?"
THROB!
Another sound was bumping inside him.
Izumi turned to face Tsuna, whom she realized had become paler than before. She started to have a bad feeling about this, but decided to ask him anyway, "Tsunayoshi-san, do you know these rings?"
Nodded his head weakly, Tsuna spoke, "Yes…it's the ring that belongs to my friend Enma. It's a heritage of his family called 'Simon Rings'…"
"So it's true it was called as 'Simon Ring'…" Said Izumi slowly, but before she could say anything, Tsuna spoke first.
"I-Izumi-san…do you know…what had happened…to my friend…Enma?"
"Enma?"
"He-he's the bearer of this Earth Ring," Tsuna showed the Earth Ring that he was holding. "His named is Kozato Enma (2). He's the boss of Simon Family and my good friend…"
Izumi went silent for a while, which worrying everyone a lot. Minus Tsuna and Kyouko, everyone in the room knows that if Izumi stayed silent like that, it means nothing good from her. Even Izumi seemed reluctant to answer Tsuna's questions.
"I'm not sure about this…"
THROB!
He winced a little when the pain in his head throbbed as another feeling, slightly not good: his Hyper Intuition had been acted up oddly ever since he saw the bleeding Simon Rings, gave him an uneasy feeling about something had happened to the said family.
Please, please don't it be bad news, please…
I can't deal it anymore…
"When I interrogated him, I asked him where he got those rings. At first he refused, until I threatened to cut off his 'Mr. P'," If the situation was not that serious, Tsuna could see that both Yamato and Alex flustered, hearing what Izumi intended to do. "That he finally told me what happened. Apparently they stole them from the group that has the same name as your friend's family named Simon…"
"Ho-how did they do it?" Asked Tsuna, shaking obviously. The others started to worry when they realized that Tsuna had became too pale and his body was shaking. "How…? Did they…?"
"They took them by force. And that bastard said that they slaughtered them all during the process…"
"You…you mean…?"
No, no, please don't…!
DUP!
"They're dead."
Tsuna widened his eyes as he stared in shock.
No, no way they're death right?
Enma, Adel-san, everyone…
No way…
No way…!
His heartbeat was faster than usual, his head was throbbing painfully, and he started to feel dizzy. He also felt that his lung became tighter and harder to breathe, it hurt him a lot…
It hurts…
"Is what he said to me, but I don't think…!" Izumi was not able to finish her words when she saw Tsuna suddenly fell down, shocking not only her but also everyone in the room. He fell from his wheelchair with loud thud, and the next thing they heard was a rather shocking one.
"It hurts…!" He said, in pain as he laid on the floor, on his right side.
"TSU-KUN!?" Cried Kyouko, panic. What is going here?
"My chest…! It's hurt!" He cried in pain as he held his chest, breathed hardly. "I can't…Breathe…!"
"Tsunayoshi-kun!" Cried Alex as he and Yamato went to his side. "Hang on!"
"Izumi! Quickly call the nurses right now!" Ordered Aoi as she also went to Tsuna's side with worried. Izumi quickly ran out from the room and shouted for help, as Aoi touched his pulse and realized it was beating frantically. "Is he alright?"
"It must be a difficult breathing! Any of you, bring me the paper bag now!" Shouted Alex as she saw several nurses came by followed by Izumi who was holding a paper bag.
Alex tried to calm down the fallen young man, as Tsuna felt the pounding in his head grow worse and the world seemed to spin relentlessly, making him weak and his vision was threatening to fade to black at the corners. Alex quickly grabbed the paper bag handed by Izumi as he asked him to breathe through the paper bag, in order to take out the carbon dioxide in his lungs and the last thing he could remember before falling completely unconscious were the worried faces of Izumi and her friends, before everything became completely black.
As the paramedics were trying to treat him, Izumi swore that he was crying…
End of Chapter 04
Hints or Explanations:
(1) Golden Week – It is the longest vacation period in Japan beside the summer holidays for schools. It was a collection of continued holidays, from April 29th till May 5th.
(2) Kozato Enma – As we know, he is the current head of the Simon Family founded by his ancestor Simon Cozart. Cozart is Italian but moved to an island not far from Japan (refer to Simon Arc in the manga). This is my hypothesis, but I believe that sometime in the past, Cozart somehow went to the main island of Japan and ended up settled down with someone in the said place, along with his Family. Enma's surname Kozato was probably from the Japanese influence upon the name "Cozart" to "Kozato". I'm not that surprise if all the members of the current Simon Family are all Japanese mix blood just like Tsuna through Giotto's lineage.
I have to admit that making this story is far more difficult than Destination Unknown. Upon making this chapter, I realized that not many stories that had the TYL Tsuna and his Family in conflict and ended up avoiding each other (please correct me if I'm wrong) and most of the stories that had such conflicts will be about Tsuna and his twin brother or sister who was chosen as the candidate of Vongola, and the conflicts in the family. I also had to restrain myself from telling more about OCs than the canon characters, which is quite troublesome to me.
This chapter seems a bit fast, but I hope you people could enjoy read it (seriously!?). Angst Tsuna is really hard to make, but I hope I can continue this story as well as DU and Curse and Hope. I hope that you people can review this chapter so that I could improve my story and writing. Thanks for reading this and meet again next chapter.
-Aoi Kitsukawa-