khr ain't mine.
Just a little tidbit, Yamamoto had asked that question in the first chapter to nudge the brunette into forming relationships so that if they became friends, Tsuna didn't have to worry about having repercussions from befriending the most popular kid in school while being hated on so apparently. In case you didn't catch it.
Welcome. This is where the story actually starts.
I wonder how many of Tsuna's moves can you find out in this chapter? Fufu.
Hope you have fun with the chapter, lemme know what you think, k? (๑ↀᆺↀ๑)
Chapter 5
Festering grudges
Tsuna stared at the exhausted jock snoring softly above him. This guy had looked at him with the same look that the brunette looked upon him; searching for something, lamenting on how fate rolled its dice. He wondered if this guy would meet the same fate of the brunette?
In a way, it would have given a sense of normalcy if this teen could take the place of his late master and weep and vent right at him... but the latter wasn't looking at him. Ah... that stare was mesmerizing. Maybe, one day, there'd be one that was looking at himself with that look.
The other may want to project his version of Tsunayoshi onto him.
Now, isn't that just unfair? He was the one that his master actually talked to. What could this guy know about his master that he didn't? For this little jock, Tsunayoshi was his personal Hello Kitty.
He smiled darkly at the sleeping beauty. Well, who was he to refuse guests?
Tsunayoshi abhorred the actions that those who tormented him took. But those actions can have different motives, intents, and meanings. The world that the brunette had given up even with the different solutions it provided, he could drag these residents into. Weren't they jealous that Tsuna created this beautiful kingdom, but didn't allow any entry?
He stroked the hair of Yamamoto almost gently. He'd give the eager a VIP pass and a personal invitation. As for the rest...
But he'd be the one to judge if they deserve those invites.
He waited until the jock seemed to wake up groggily and asked the other who looked dazedly at the new background, not comprehending any of it.
"Will you do a favor for me?"
He didn't bother asking about the other's intents. Words thrown at him were cheap, and he could understand by looking at the other's telltale signs. The jock seemed to finally reach an epiphany, recalling all train of actions that explained his current surroundings. Absent-mindedly thinking that he had to call his dad and give him a heads up that he'd probably be sleeping over like last night in his friend's house, he gave a hum of approval, to let the other let him know the contents of the request.
"Get me an ant farm. Don't worry, I'll pay for the expenses and you can forget about getting it for me later."
Yamamoto gave him an easy ok. He didn't question about the odd request since he had also wanted to take a close look to ascertain the other's characters and habits. It would be easier if he could stick by his side and not make the latter be wary about him.
So the jock had off-handedly commented about how weird it was that people would buy ants for pets when he and his friends had passed by the pet store. Seeing his rare disgruntled face, the group had bought and placed the ants on his desk with a neat ribbon wrapped on it. They guffawed when he saw the exasperated Yamamoto who held the ant farm in bewilderment.
Kurokawa joked about offering their sweet snacks as an offering to Yamamoto#2 and Kyoko looked aghast at the prospect of losing her sweets this way.
The very next day, they looked at a mopey jock who said that his dad had gotten rid of it when the ants attacked their sushi supply that night. They laughed merrily at his predicament and laughed even harder when the other bought a popsicle and stuffed it in the mouth of the main perpetrator's mouth, as a sarcastic form of thanks for everything. And eventually gave the group a treat when they jokingly protested at the fact that only one of them got a treat.
Tsuna had looked at the ant farm that lay perfectly intact in his hands. He immediately passed the money that the other used for giving that treat, which the jock accepted while distracted by the impressed look that the brunette sported at him.
The baseball lover had observed that the brunette gave his new pets only the minimum amount to survive, but didn't give them a route of escape to better hunting grounds. He wondered why did the guy want them in the first place?
Tsuna had his eyes targeted on the first experiment to test a theory. He wondered if what happened to his master could be replicated to someone else. It didn't even matter if the first experiment failed, it would take a 2 out of 3 odds to be statistically relevant anyway.
Luckily, his master had a lot of dolls that could serve as vassals. He could learn about the weaknesses that his body could sport, since he had to be here long enough to do what he must, and no one should interrupt his stay.
So he needed hapless test subjects, and the ones perfect for the job would be the ones that threw themselves onto him- his dear friends. In fact, he had set his eyes on. Mochida Kensuke, who had been quite persistent in making him his wingman to court Sasagawa Kyoko.
Valentine's day was coming up and he found a good recipe to get things cooking.
He had spent a week doing recon work in the kendo captain's classroom. Hibari wasn't making the usual rounds and the students were either in clubs or in the ever-popular go-home club. So he could move to a corner right next to Mochida's desk and dug a hole there.
He spent time getting the ants used to having the chocolate he planned for the captain for their food. They were lately getting into a frenzy when he had the piece in their sight, lid open.
In the actual day, he reached the captain's locker and slipped an open packet of the Valentine chocolate. He brought the ant farm and emptied the contents into the hole that he dug. Finally, he reached the empty classroom and placed another set of open chocolates in his bag, and left it slightly open. Mochida had come early that day, anticipating a day where he'd be at the receiving end of adoration in the form of sweet goodies.
An hour or two later, he heard yells loud enough to reach the lower floor. At recess, Yamamoto dragged his chair and flopped on his direct opposite so that they were face to face.
"You know, Mochida-senpai's luck seems to be the worst today. Somehow, a whole swarm of red ants flooded into his bag and locker. They were having a feast with the chocolates that he had placed inside it. The class freaked since some of them been around their candy too. But since senpai was the worst hit out of them, one of them poured water to get them down and away from traversing the other's arm.
And you know? Senpai freaked immediately and tossed the bag outside the window. Man... now his books are all wet. His locker's in a better state, but since his kendo clothes were there, senpai accidentally tore parts of it because of the burning itch."
"...Why're you telling me this?"
"Hmm? Just thought you might want to know.
It's too weird to not talk about it. Ant infections are horrible. The prank those guys pulled taught me that!"
Mochida Kensuke was in a prickly mood that day and anything anybody had to say about their Giri or Honmei chocolates really stung him.
But when bad luck struck, it struck in spades.
The very next day, his shinai randomly broke in the practice match with a powerhouse and the opponents didn't pull their punches on how sloppy the captain had to be to not take care of the main item that would lead them to victory.
The humiliation fanned his rage, and he snapped at people around him making Sasagawa Kyoko show her disapproval and even openly berate him. The peanut gallery snickered at the whole event, and it drove him to charge at her and threaten her. It immediately hushed the bystanders who started heckling him. Then, he made a hasty retreat, snarling some choice words.
The very next day, Tsuna had stopped Sasagawa Kyoko from practicing her recorder for the music class and whispered in a concerned tone-
"Sasagawa-chan, you might not want to use that..."
The girl looked at the glistening end of the recorder and dropped it, shocked and disgusted. With the previous day's incident fresh in mind she berated Mochida as a creep. Kurokawa Hana became furious at her expense and charged into the senpai's classroom and interrupted the class with a loud accusation. She cornered his seat and let out complaint after complaint, screaming at his audacity for leaving his saliva and spit at her friend's recorder.
The teacher grew morose at the claim and the class broke into whispers. Mochida's courting was a famous affair and the other did it aggressively. But his strongman approach had been forgiven since the other had brought in accolades and had the support of his friends and teammates.
But the mock battle had left his teammates frustrated at being looked down at since the captain's screw up had been used to label them as useless. The coach had yelled at them since they had been spending weeks to show off their skills and now they were considered a joke. It threw their efforts into the metaphorical trash bin.
Sasagawa Kyoko was the school's idol and was well liked by many, if not, most of the students in the school. Seeing her being openly harassed and belittled didn't stick well into the hearts of her peers who had pegged the captain's ardor as a misogynistic, backward man's abuse. And with the recorder being treated as his sick form of payback, the juicy piece of gossip burned bright and the fire was kindled magnificently. They were given an opportunity to hate with a passion and gain great social acceptance. Who would pass up on this chance?
But Mochida Kyosuke was a prideful teen, so he stood against the accusations in staunch denial. He didn't deny the accusations but instead accused them of being assholes and jerks for even thinking of judging his character, for putting a stain in his pristine reputation. He was like a cornered animal and cursed and attacked anyone in his vicinity.
When Hibari caught wind of the havoc, it was a very sticky situation. The two sides became entwined in a dark twisted and warped symbiotic relationship. The girls started accusing the guys of sticking up and engaging in the perverted and deviant people like Mochida. The guys didn't take well to being marginalized and accused the other side of leading them around by the noise and dressing promiscuously. Well, of course, it wasn't like the whole school participated. It was mainly the ones associated with Sasagawa Kyoko and Mochida Kyosuke. An enraged Sasagawa Ryohei just added oil into the fire and the boxing club became involved into the catfight.
So Tsuna went forward to Hibari and gave the other a delicious offer, it might as well be the devil's whispers.
"Take care of the aftermath, and I'll help Mochida-senpai quiet down."
Weirdly enough, Sasagawa Ryohei was there when he had made that offer. Tsuna wondered how had those two gotten close. The boxer had heard his proposal and volunteered to help him do that.
Well, he wouldn't refuse an extra hand, so he asked the other to knock the other out so that he could cool down a little. He added on that he could drag back the teen to his house and let his parents know what the other had been getting into so that they can beat some sense into the other. The boxer seemed slightly disappointed by the idea, but the darkness in the brunette's eyes, looking like that of Hibari, made him think that this deal may be sweeter than it sounded like.
Charged by fury at what the ass had done to his little sister, the other had unhesitatingly punched the living daylights out of a twitchy and desperate kendo captain. The three reached the Mochida residence and Hibari suggested that the brunette and himself could take care of it from there. The boxer hesitated a bit, but ultimately, his worry for his sister's state won out and he rushed on back with a quick sorry and sincere thanks.
Hibari brought out a phone that looked suspiciously like Mochida's own and swiftly took out the original and smashed it into bits. He also brought out a manilla folder. It seemed like the other had an inkling of his plans, but seemed strangely on board for it. But the doll couldn't exactly pry it out of the steely prefect.
So he moved on to what he could actually control. With time... Hibari wouldn't have this kind of chokehold over him.
Hibari rapped on the door and barged into the house and stated the current state of affairs. He told the parents that the child was being arrested as a juvenile delinquent (not that he should talk) for exhibiting sexual deviant behavior and compromising the safety of the female students.
From the manilla folder, the candid photos of girls spread over their dining table and he tossed the mobile onto the table like it was dirt and filth. The brunette felt like snickering when he imagined the phone like a hot potato.
Getting back on track, Tsuna took over from there and bowed his head and spoke in an aggrieved tone, bringing his hands to his face to apply the saline drops to emulate tears and claimed that the other beat him to silence so that he couldn't speak up. He lifted up his sleeves and showed the painted bruises and 'cried' over what happened this day and the previous day. By mixing in parts that fit the boy's personality- it became a story made of half-truths. Definitely, much more convincing.
And knowing the captain's pride combined with his bad temper, he would never have tried to reveal a soft side or try to get his parents to pity his ordeals; and simply fly into a rage and cause mayhem. The other's tendency to be petty and small-minded could help him dig a bigger pit for himself. It could just mean that the situation was falling into the spotlight for the first time.
It seemed like the earth had been shattered under the two adult's feet as they weren't even given a chance to think straight or mull over the fact as the DC committee barged into their house to search for further evidence, well... planted evidence that they would later find. It seemed like it was it was the time interval that the prefect would provide him to do his deeds. There would be no law firm that would take their case and Tsuna had his own methods of persuading them.
This was apparently Hibari's side of dealing with the aftermath. It also showed him the extent of power that Namimori middle school's chairman possessed and erased the possibility of throwing the boy as a used pawn. But still, he didn't want to take this teen under his wing, because he was this powerful.
When he returned to the Namimori residence with the boy in toll, he saw a cheerful Yamamoto wave at him. The other helped him bring the ragdoll onto the tree and into his room via the windowsill. He didn't expect this guy to be on board with what he was pulling.
But Yamamoto had made a decision while waiting for the brunette to reach the house.
He had been looking from the sidelines at the whole incident, right from the start. It told him that he had two choices- he could retreat and avoid being subjected to the next Mochida in the far future. Or he could become powerful enough to become as indispensable as Hibari is right now and stay by the other's side. When he thought of what choice he made with Tsunayoshi and where that lead...
The jock stood by the door, ready to interfere if things went south.
Tsuna thought that if the delinquent could obsess over a wish as his master did, the other could definitely quiet down. After all, the teen's new body- Amore, was a cloth doll. It couldn't speak, nor could it move and it couldn't dominate over the brunette like it did when they lived in the same space.
Even if it seemed like a bum deal, it had its own pros. Since Tsuna had to give up some things to become who he was, and then... Tsuna could smile for the first time, and smile easily and frequently. The new Mochida didn't have to hear any more libel since he would be physically incapable of doing that. He, technically, would stop from being the person they framed him into, and he would never become that person... not in this eternity.
So he tied the teen up, to give him a glimpse of how he would soon become and slapped him conscious.
He giggled happily, mirth filling his body at how the tables turned.
Seeing the callous smile sported on the pathetic kid that he had been teaching lessons into, Mochida flew into a rage when he noticed his new state. Seeing the brunette crouch and so obviously look down at him, his anger fueled as the other taunted him mercilessly.
The brunette goaded him on and poured salt into his wounds by picking up a panty that he had bought and stuffed it into the teen's chatty mouth. He made sure to push it inside, making it coated with his spit as the other choked at the forced intuition.
Shame and humiliation burned into him at the treatment forced into him as the other bought a lovely doll that had been dressed into the same hairdo as Sasagawa Kyoko, and pushed its face right into his face. Not giving the other a break, he sat leisurely onto his back and forced the captain's head right at the doll's face and whispered on what had actually happened, and what exactly was the hurricane and sh*t storm that he had been caught into- the truth.
Tsuna gleefully observed the other darken with each word he uttered and when the other's countenance turned pitch black, he drove a salad knife right into his neck. The other's life promptly snuffed out of existence.
It left the brunette disappointed with the fact that Amore wasn't up and talking.
Well, it didn't matter in the end. He still had two tries left.