Hold on your seats and prepare the tissues.

Il Maestro

Second Arc

IV

Once the hotel door was closed, Tsuna opened his eyes and sighed heavily while running his hand through his ruffled hair. Then, he straightened his back and slowly raised his hands until they were at mere inches from his face. His eyes darkened as he furrowed his brows and a shaky smile stretched his pale lips.

"My time is running out," the man noted in a whisper.

He let himself fall against the bed cushions and let out a pained groan when his broken ribs protested at the bad move. The brunet put his right hand over his closed eyes and let out another sigh while he thought over the future problems that would follow his decreasing health.

Reborn wasn't going to like this. Far from it.

The bedroom door suddenly opened, and the laying man startled from his relaxed stance. It hadn't even been ten minutes since his lover had left him and he sincerely doubted Reborn had finished his mission, as talented as the dark-haired hitman was.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," the newcomer whispered with a suave voice. It surprised him.

Tsuna tensed when he heard his full name. Since his arrival in the past, he'd never given his full name to anyone. Not even Reborn knew it. And if that stranger, whose face Tsuna couldn't fully see because they kept it hidden in the shadows of the poorly lit bedroom, did know his name, that meant Trouble. Big Trouble.

The brunet sat up on the bed, his eyes narrowing as he tried his best to keep his composure and not let his pain show over his face. He watched the stranger standing at the door of his bedroom with hawk eyes, calmly going over the pale hair as well as the iron hat covering them before Tsuna was hit by a sudden realization.

"I had almost forgotten your existence," he whispered while closing his eyes with a tired sigh.

"I see that you ended up using the knowledge I taught you," the other man told while sitting down on the chair Reborn had previously used. "And that you sealed the Mare rings. I didn't think you had it in you to do it…"

"Then why did you teach me all of that?" Tsuna retorted quietly as he kept his eyes closed.

He clearly heard the stranger laugh and furrowed his brows. That man had never been easy to peg and Tsuna had always knew that he couldn't trust him. However, there had been a day, back when he was in his time period and that he had tried his best to save the rare loved beings he still had, that the stranger had visited him with his wry smile, his iron hat and that mysterious checker mask. And, in only one night, he had taught him so many secrets that still made the brunet shudder whenever he thought about them. Then, when Tsuna had asked him why he'd taught him that, the stranger had merely smiled and told him that it was repayment of an old and almost forgotten favour.

"To assure that the flow of time would keep going like it should," the man's mysterious words shook Tsuna away from his thoughts and he snorted unhappily. The brunet heard the stranger shift on his seat and waited for the latter to speak again.

"You will soon be born, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"And?" Tsuna opened an eye and looked with curiosity at the checker mask.

"Two beings can't exist at the same time," the man told him while taking hold of his iron hat.

"How many time is left?"

"Two years."

Tsuna closed his eyes again and sighed weakly. Then, he opened them again and glared at the masked man, orange eyes blazing threateningly.

"Don't take advantage of Reborn's misery," he warned in a menacing hiss.

The stranger didn't move from his spot and merely looked at the pale face whose orange eyes shined with such a determination that he knew the brunet would rise from the dead just to kill him if he dared to go against his words.

The masked man got up and walked silently to the door while Tsuna tried his best to leave the bed and catch up to him.

"Wait!" he screamed, his voice letting out the despair that menaced to overwhelm him.

However, the stranger didn't stop and Tsuna let out a wrecked scream that he smothered in his pillow. Then, just as he got his head out of the cushion, the brunet got so surprised he almost fell from the bed.

"Who was he?" Reborn asked him calmly.

Tsuna gulped loudly when he noticed that his former student was eerily calm and that his sniper riffle was nonchalantly put on the dark-haired man's crossed knees.

"Reborn," he answered with a weak smile. "How did the mission end?"

His lover wrinkled his brows and put the riffle against the bedside table, his eyes carefully going over the brunet's body. From the darkening frown, Tsuna shouldn't have been awake and should have been resting his weary body.

"It went well," Reborn answered with a dry tone. "Who was he?"

"An old acquaintance," the brunet muttered while shaking his head softly.

"How did he get into the room so easily? In fact, how did he know where you were?"

Tsuna raised a surprised brow when he heard his lover's protective tone and he smiled softly.

"Could it be that you're jealous?" he teased him while stretching his body over the bedsheets.

Reborn's dark eyes slowly went over his offered body and the younger hitman pursed his lips, visibly trying to keep his cool.

"You're a brat, do you know that?" he grumbled while slowly walking over his lover and laying next to him, his arms carefully holding him so he wouldn't jostle his hurt ribs.

"Hm," Tsuna nodded laconically while he happily nestled his nose against Reborn's hair. "Tell me, Reborn, can you speak Japanese?"

"Mmm," the latter muttered as he felt himself drift off. "No…"

"Good," the brunet commented lightly, and his closed his eyes happily. "If that's the case, we will go to Japan and I'll teach you the language…"

Because I want to enjoy our last moments together.

Tsuna had to bite his tongue to stop those words from coming out.

.

.

.

.

When they arrived in Japan, Reborn couldn't help but get tense when he noticed all the curious gazes he attracted. He ran his hand through his ruffled hair and regretted once again that he'd finished his last bottle of gel.

"Reborn," his former tutor called him softly.

The young man turned toward the Japanese and looked at his neutral face with curiosity. The brunet was still looking somewhat pale, but he didn't waver from his spot.

"Remember the first rule," Tsuna reminded him with a wry smile.

The Italian man repressed a groan and slowly straightened his back, elegance and charm seeping through his pores. His dark eyes noticed the approval over his lover's delicate features and Reborn couldn't help but roll his eyes. One day, he promised himself, he'd learn why Tsuna held that much importance to their looks.

"Where are we going?" the young hitman asked while he looked around them.

There were Japanese citizens all around them and Reborn couldn't help but compare them to his lover. The latter didn't have their black hair, nor their tired faces.

"Hm," Tsuna mused as he softly tapped a finger against his pursed lips. "What do you say of eating some sushi?"

Reborn accepted silently and noticed his former tutor's eyes glint an almost nostalgic flash. Then, without even thinking about it, he stretched his hand to hold his lover's and softly squeezed it. Tsuna seemed startled for a second but gave him a soft smile to the young hitman who looked away, checking the perimeter to make sure they weren't followed. As he did so, Reborn couldn't see the incredibly sad emotion lingering over Tsuna's pale and tired face.

The latter tightened his hold over his former student's hand and walked towards the taxis waiting in line in front of the airport entrance. His brown eyes went over the cars and stopped on one of them before they widened in surprise when he recognized the driver's face. He walked to the taxi and opened the door to enter it. Reborn followed him in silence and sat next to him on the black leather seats just as the brunet began to openly stare at the driver's face through the mirror.

"Yes?" the taxi driver asked in English while meeting Tsuna's intense gaze.

"The best sushi restaurant you know of," Tsuna answered in his native language.

It seemed to surprise the driver who turned around and looked with wide eyes at the former Decimo and an amused smile soon enough graced his lips. Reborn shuffled slightly on the uncomfortable leather and somewhat regretted to not understand Japanese when the taxi driver switched to that language and answered Tsuna's request.

"My brother has a restaurant. It might not be known… but his sushi are to die for!"

"I don't doubt it," Tsuna smiled, a somewhat nostalgic air fleeting through his eyes.

His lover held his hand silently and Tsuna looked at him with a happier smile. The drive didn't take much time, not that Reborn noticed since he was busy looking at the scenery as well as his partner's face. The latter seemed happier, Reborn could see it in his normally dull eyes which were now shining happily and his fleeting smile.

The taxi stopped in front of a tiny restaurant placed in between two shops. Reborn got out of the car and attentively looked around before he relaxed his stance a bit.

"Your friend doesn't really look nice," the taxi driver commented dryly while Tsuna paid him for the drive.

"First time in the country," the brunet told him laconically. His eyes told a whole other story and held the taxi driver's gaze with a bubbling amusement.

"Well," the latter whistled with a cackle. "Make sure he doesn't meet one of the local clans. His clothes scream easy prey."

"Really?" Tsuna asked as his smile stretched into an amused grin. His brown eyes went over his former student and he shook his head. "What if I told you he could destroy all those clans in just one night?"

"I wouldn't be surprised!" the other man winked at the brunet. "Foreigners love to surprise us!"

Tsuna shook his head softly and promptly bid his goodbye to the taxi driver before he walked to the entrance of the restaurant. Reborn followed him with a raised brow, silently inquiring him to explain what had happened with the stranger, but nonetheless trusting Tsuna to know what he was doing.

Meanwhile, Tsuna sighed in happiness when he noticed the restaurant interior and compared it with the one he'd known in his own period. Nothing had changed and it somewhat reassured him.

"Welcome to the Takesushi!" a man bearing a shockingly similar face as their taxi driver greeted them.

"Hello," Tsuna greeted him politely.

Reborn sat next to him and silently saluted the chef with a small move of his head. The man was behind the restaurant counter, expertly slicing open a red tuna.

"Ootoro," Tsuna ordered after he perused the menu. "For two."

"Right away," the sushi chef smiled at them and turned to the kitchen behind him. "Tsuyoshi, bring us another red tuna!"

A young man in his twenties came out of the kitchen with a fish in his hand and carefully put it down on the counter. Then, without ever saying a word nor looking at the couple sitting next to him, he left, and the sushi chef noticed Tsuna's interested look had given the young worker.

"My son," he explained while slicing the tuna expertly. "He's supposed to take over this shop but nothing except the Shigure Souen Ryu interests him…"

"Someday," Tsuna answered calmly while accepting a sushi with a smile. "He'll be behind this counter and will say the same thing about his son."

The chef raised a surprised brow and burst out laughing just as Reborn took a sushi and tasted it carefully.

"So, what do you think of it?" his partner asked him in a whisper.

The dark-haired man merely took more pieces of sushi. Tsuna gave him an amused smile and started eating as well.

That day, Reborn didn't know it, but Tsuna started to prepare him for the moment they'd have to say goodbye.

And you, what would you do if you only had two years left to live?