As my other English fanfictions, if you see errors in the story, don't hesitate to tell me, I'll fix them right away.

Also, what did you think of this first chapter? Why don't you leave a review? ( ・ω・)

As the Sunday and Monday are the only days where I can update this story, here's the next chapter!

Also, a big thank you to Blad and oOLoonaOo for the lovely reviews!

Il Maestro

First Arc

II

The hand flew through the air and the boy had the reflexes to jump away to avoid the wallop. He snatched quickly the piece of meat that was on the counter seller and ran to take refuge in the shadows of some porch. The door behind him creaked open and he jumped, turning around to face the newcomers. A pair of rich people looked at him like he was a slumdog.

Not that he wasn't anyway.

He gave them the same look and went without a word, his back straighter than most of the people in the notorious street that he called his dominion.

He ended up sitting on the church stair of the little village where he lived. The bells rang to tell people that it was time to go home and the teenager sighed.

It was time to get home and meet the disapproving looks from his parents.
He wandered in the back streets until he arrived in front of his house door. However, as he heard the racket that came from the cracked window, he changed his mind and went to the graveyard.

Strangely, he liked to go there, finding a kind of serenity that most of the villagers didn't understand and didn't try to.

However, his favourite place, under the shade of an old tree, was already taken. As the sun was setting, he had to squint his eyes to catch sight of the silhouette's shadow that was there.

He vaguely saw long brown hair as well as an oval face with closed eyes before he realized that he was too close to the stranger. But the latter didn't even react as the boy stood before him and the young villager asked himself silently if the man was dead.

After all, it was perfectly possible that this outsider had chosen to take his last breath in a graveyard rather than in an alley-back like some stray dog.

Wanting to check if the man was really dead, the boy stretched a steady hand towards the stranger's throat, but the latter surprised him by suddenly grabbing his hand.

Long fingers covered by old and pale scars caressed the mat skin before a hoarse voice could be heard. "What do you want with me, child?"

"I'm not a child," the boy retorted with a harsh frown. "I'm..."

"The brat who has just woken me up," the adult cut him as he opened suddenly his eyes that he had kept close till now.

The boy was left speechless when he met the amber eyes who seemed to shine with an inner fire. The stranger seemed to be in shock too and he gasped while examining the younger's features.

"Reborn," he muttered as he released the boy's hand to slowly stroke the sideburns that curled before the young's ears.

"Reborn?" the younger of the two repeated without understanding as he rolled the foreign word on his tongue to appraise his rotundity. "What is that?"

The man's eyes shone briefly with a glint that gave shivers to the boy. Once, he had seen a bird of prey catch a vole. The hawk had had the same determined gleam in its eyes.

"What it is," the adult said as he lifted his eyes to entrance himself in the sunset. "It's a word that characterize the sun good enough. Reborn. Day after day, ever present, ever so reliable, powerful. It suits you, child."

"I'm not a child," the boy complained faintly.

Why did he have the feeling that everything that the man had said had a double meaning?

"I know, I know," the man laughed softly as he leaned his head against the tree with a weary sigh. "You're a big guy, Reborn."

The boy noticed that the amusement didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah," he approved proudly, and he folded his arms on his puny chest. "You better remember it. Your name?"

"It's What's your name," the man corrected with a dim smile.

"Whatever," the younger said as he looked at the stranger with incredulity. "So, what is it?"

"You can call me Tsuna."

"Tsuna," the boy repeated slowly. "It's not an usual name."

"Japanese," the other specified tersely.

The dark eyes of the boy lightened with interest and he leaned towards the man to observe him closely. It was then that he noticed the delicate features as well as the faintly slanted eyes.

"Japaneses are frigging uncommon," the boy noted softly for himself. "But I thought that they looked alike and had all black hair and slanted eyes..."

Tsuna laughed again and friendly ruffled the young's dark hair. "You should leave more often your village, Reborn," he commented with an odd light in his curiously intense eyes.

The boy looked at him with indignation. How could he dare treat him like a child?

"Say," Tsuna added as he took a more serious tone. "What do you think of traveling with me?"

The younger looked at the adult with disbelief and shook his head. "No way," he said harshly. "You must have been paid by none other than the old geezers of the village to fool me. I refuse to be fooled like that."

"Oh," the man marvelled at the boy's reply. "So you want to leave this village... In that case, following a perfect stranger to live like a beggar shouldn't bother you?"

The boy looked at him again with a confused face where anger and longing were tightly blended together. It was clear that the young wanted more than nothing to leave this remote village where the mentalities were so dour.

"So," Tsuna asked after a long silence as he stretched his hand to the boy. "What do you say of my offer, yes or not?"

The young clenched his fists firmly and ended up lifting his dark eyes to meet the adult's ambers. "Yes," he whispered as he took the other's hand.

"Good," the man smiled. "In that case, follow me."

This time, the smile reached his eyes.

So, the next chapter will be posted Sunday. What else...

Review? ( ・ω・)