Well, hello there again. First off, I would like to apologize for the extremely late update; a virus had erased all the work I had on the chapter, and it took much time trying to rewrite and -hopefully- make it better.
Also, many FAQ's will also be answered in the author's note below, so be rest assured.
And as a WARNING: This chapter will have point of view shifts, so there will probably some gender distinction confusion as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will try to explain through clearer terms through PMs and the like.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't. Ever. Never have and never will. Please stop asking.
Chapter III: As a sibling…
Raising his head from a pile of complicated English notes, Tsuna blinks silently at the strange sight in front of him. Giving a raised eyebrow, he asks in a slightly bemused voice,
"Yes, Hibari-senpai? Is there something the matter?" And then Tsuna gives a small smile when said prefect simply gives a cold, assessing stare. Letting the boy asses him all he wants, Tsuna thinks back briefly on his own current state.
It has been almost six months since he has arrived in this strange-yet-so-familiar world, and even now, Tsuna still can't get completely used to it. Every day when he wakes up in the morning, he can't help but wonder: is it right for him to suddenly take over another's life, regardless of being parallel selves?
(But then on that same morning, every day, he faces Nana's neglect and Takahiro's poisoned-now-dulled words and his classmates' mockery-now-turned-neutrality and then he will remind himself – wherever the young Tsunayoshi is now, she is probably better off there then she was here).
"You," Tsuna snaps back from his thoughts to listen carefully to the clipped words of Hibari. "You have held back, Sawada Tsunayoshi."
Quickly, Tsuna suppresses his feelings of surprise at the prefect actually noticing and then shakes his head ruefully; of course Hibari would notice. Granted, for all of their fights on the rooftop it was more of Tsuna constantly dodging and not actually 'holding back,' but he supposes that Hibari would still take offense to that.
And though he is pretty sure no else would have been able to, Tsuna had known Kyouya for years – despite the parallel differences - and so he can easily discern the frustration in Hibari's words, mixed with a sense of eagerness and… with a tiny, minuscule, microscopic bit of hurt?
Oh?
Tilting his mouth upwards in amusement, Tsuna pulls himself up from the floor and schools an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, senpai, but I believe that you are mistaken. I don't believe that I have held back at all." Which was the total truth; because six months of extensive training on an already weakened body could not compare to Hibari's many years of experience.
(It is here that Tsuna purposely ignores the fact that he's had over a decade to hone his own instincts and intuition – a physical limitation like a weak body was really at best only a minor disadvantage).
"Starting from tomorrow, you are to battle without any hindrance – if you don't, I will bite you to death." In the back of his mind, Tsuna mentally rolls his eyes as the prefect continues on as if he had not just heard Tsuna's words. "Listen well, Sawada Tsunayoshi, for this is the last time I will say it: I have little tolerance for any herbivorous notions, regardless of whether the person is a carnivore or not."
And before Tsuna can say another word, Hibari is gone, leaving Tsuna perplexed and completely bemused.
Had Hibari just called him a carnivore?
Huh. The Kyouya of his world hadn't called him anything of that sort till a few years before the prefect's demise.
Briefly, Tsuna wonders if that is a good thing or not, and then decides not to even bother doing so.
Tsuna has long since passed the stage of pondering over Hibari's strange labels. Really, he's just glad that the prefect hadn't decided to usurp their 'spars' over something as simple as that.
Silently, he admits that though they are completely brutal and leave him with tattered clothes every other day, Tsuna knows that Hibari's constant fights are the best ways to stay in tiptop shape and, in Tsuna's humble opinion, the best ways to get to the know the prefect better.
And Tsuna wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
That night finds Tsuna in the only apron Nana is willing to lend to him, trying to cook something somewhat edible after realizing that his mother will be leaving for the night and his brother asleep upstairs. Apparently, the Nana of this world likes to go out once in a while to hang with friends; thus leaving Tsuna and his twin to fend for their selves for the evening.
Sniffing cautiously at the curry he had started to make a few hours ago, Tsuna gives a small grin at the edible looking contents in the pot. While he was absolutely terrible at it at first, Tsuna now finds cooking as a great hobby to pass the time away; time that he can spare, because elementary homework is hardly a chore and training his body, along with reviewing language notes, barely take up half of his leftover hours.
So although he can barely make a pot of curry without burning it, Tsuna feels immense pride at learning the basics for cooking at a fairly quick pace. And since it is only now that he is able to eat his lunch without grimacing, Tsuna finds it immensely gratifying to eat your own cooked food that actually tastes good.
Setting down a steamy bowl of his dinner, Tsuna raises his eyebrow at the sight of a slightly drooling Takahiro. The kid had walked down the stair five minutes before Tsuna had finished making his curry, and though Tsuna had offered a plate to his twin, the boy had refused, simply insisting that it was probably poisoned.
Drying his hands on the kitchen towel, Tsuna gives a small smile and asks for a second time,
"Taka-chan, would you like a plate as well?" Inwardly, Tsuna pushes down the brief flash of amusement at changing the suffix for his twin (because really, Taka-kun is such a mouthful) as the boy in question snorts and looks the other way.
"No, I don't! Who would want something made by you, Tsuna?" Secretly, Tsuna smiles softly in accomplishment; it has been more than four months since Tsuna was last called a Dame by his brother, and it is only now that Takahiro has actually bothered to say 'Tsuna' rather than the usual 'hey, you.' "It probably tastes terrible."
Chuckling, Tsuna simply gives an agreeing nod and wordlessly brings out a second plate of curry, placing it across from his own dish. Ignoring the stare pouring from his twin, Tsuna sits quietly down and begins to eat, noticing with slight disappointment that the curry is a bit spicier than he would have liked.
For a few minutes, the only thing protruding the silence is the sound of Tsuna's careful chewing and the slight growls coming from the other boy's stomach. Still eating, Tsuna gestures for the kid to take a seat and silently waits as the boy only scoffs and turns his head away in return.
But luck is not in favor of Takahiro, because the moment Tsuna shrugs and begins to take the second plate away, a deep roar fills the area, causing both siblings to freeze in their place.
Laughing quietly, Tsuna retrieves a spoon and places it into the still warm curry and graciously looks back down at his own plate when he sees his brother turn beet red at the traitorous sound his belly had made.
"Come, Taka-chan." Tsuna once again gestures at the plate and this time, he sees clear hesitation in the boy's face. "Have at least a couple of bites; the food's getting cold."
And seeing his twin's reluctance, Tsuna gives another point.
"If it actually tasted so bad, do you think I would be willing to eat it for dinner?"
Hearing this, Takahiro finally relents and sits down at the table with a huff, mentioning that if it wasn't for the fact he is starving and craving curry, he certainly would not be sitting here, eating Tsuna-cooked food with only a Tsuna for company.
Tsuna nods pleasantly in return and watches carefully as Takahiro takes his first bite. Oddly enough, though he has cooked his own meal for months now, it is strangely nerve-wracking to have another try his food; Tsuna hopes that Takahiro will take a liking to it.
"Che. It's not as good as oka-san's." Takahiro grumbles as he continues to shove heaps of curry into his mouth. Munching loudly on the food, the boy takes one look at Tsuna's exaggerated dejected face and adds on in a mumble. "But it's good. Kind of."
Immediately Tsuna's face brightens up and gives a proud grin.
"Yeah? You think so?" Takahiro scowls in return.
"But it's only okay. I've tasted a lot better." Tsuna nods his head in acceptance, still smiling proudly. Watching as Takahiro quickly finishes his first plate, Tsuna grins as his twin shoves his dish forward for more, refusing to look at Tsuna's face.
Glancing at the curry in front of him, Tsuna pours on a second plate for his twin and thinks wonderingly.
Maybe I should try making sushi next time.
"Uh, Hibari-senpai?" Tsuna furrows his eyebrows as the prefect simply grunts in response. "Is this… really necessary? I thought that whatever we were doing before was good –"
"We have already discussed this, Sawada Tsunayoshi," With a flap of his jacket, Hibari lands lightly a good distance from Tsuna and scowls. "I do not tolerate herbivorous notions such as holding back, especially from a flesh-eater like you."
"But I wasn't holding back –"And before Tsuna can even finish his protest, the prefect is gone, appearing right in front of him in a flash, and swings his left tonfa sideways. Muttering inwardly about impatient boys and Hibari's annoying tendency to interrupt others, Tsuna falls back to avoid another deadly swing of a tonfa, and tumbles backwards a few times to create some distance from the prefect. Sighing, he rubs the back of his head and raises a hand in defeat.
"I'm never going to get to leave till I fight you, huh?" Tsuna mutters in slight irritation – because the fights from before were just spars. What Hibari is so eager to have is a full, blown out, frontal fight; something Tsuna has tried to avoid since he has arrived into this world.
Ignoring the narrowing eyes of the prefect, Tsuna mirrors the boy's readied stance and raises his fists in preparation.
(Briefly, Tsuna considers using his flames to quickly end the fight; but then he throws that ridiculous notion out the proverbial window because really, not only would he have to explain to the wary prefect why exactly he has orange flames spouting out from his hands, but his body wouldn't be able to handle the strain of simply conjuring flames for an elongated amount of time. Currently, it's too weak to support the massive amount of energy needed to create Dying Will Flames without any supplements, along with the fact that he has no weapon to channel them out of).
And once again, the prefect is gone, flashing behind him this time, but Tsuna is more than ready and ducks under and sweeps his feet towards the prefect's legs.
A calm feeling spreads throughout his body, the familiar feeling of Hyper Dying Will Mode starting to wash over him. Twirling to the right and smoothly passing through Hibari's left guard to make a quick jab to his ribs, Tsuna pauses for just a second to stop the effects from taking over. His body is not nearly ready enough to handle the removal of the internal limiters inside it, and, in Tsuna's eyes, the Mode is a bit too excessive for a simple fight between 'friends' on a school rooftop.
So Tsuna relies only on his years of reflexes, his six months of extensive training, and his trusty intuition to wage through the aggressive sweeps of Hibari's tonfas; and he finds with no short amount of relief that it is just enough to keep him afloat.
And so the minutes pass by, with Hibari throwing his usual aggressive blows – all aimed towards Tsuna's head – and with Tsuna hitting back, for once, and (also, for once) focusing on giving all of his efforts on beating Hibari.
(Of course, Tsuna doesn't expect to win – once again, read: six months does not equate to years of experience – but he supposes he might as well give his all; he owes it to Hibari at least, and it wouldn't leave the prefect's notice if Tsuna did not try his best – and then that would lead to a lot of blood flowing down the streets due to one offended prefect).
Quickly side-stepping another jab to his head, Tsuna blinks to try to get rid of all his straying thoughts. And following another swerve to the right, he swoops beneath the left side of Hibari, but pulls back immediately and feints again to the right.
Idly, Tsuna notes with a certain amount of calm that Hibari is truly a prodigious fighter. The boy is barely into his teens and yet has a better footing along with a stronger defense than many of the other, older fighters that he has seen.
Still, the prefect is still young, with many holes, and Tsuna does not hesitate to turn them to his own advantage.
(Because once you enter the mafia world, there is no turning back. In his previous world, Tsuna and his family had long since learned that hard lesson; words such as honor and nobleness hardly mattered unless you were dealing with Family business, and it was quickly learned by all that if you wanted swim, you pushed down the heads of your opponents to keep your own afloat.
Tsuna rarely ever agrees with this method; but he agrees that it is such an ingrained conduct for all mafia that it is practically impossible to not use it).
There!
And in a flash, Tsuna jumps barely over a low sweep from the prefect's legs and without a moment's more of pausing, leaps straight over Hibari's crouched form and lands a drop kick aimed for the boy's head.
Of course, Tsuna is not that surprised when the prefect flies to the right – it is Hibari that Tsuna is currently fighting. And though he is slightly annoyed at constantly being thwarted by a pre-teen, Tsuna doesn't mind that much, especially when his heel lands on the prefect's left wrist (that was left unguarded for just a moment) and causes Hibari to drop his tonfa. Sliding quickly, Tsuna runs and gives the annoying tonfa a kick (minding both the weapon and Hibari's oncoming hands; he also makes sure to not damage the tonfa too much – he certainly does not have a death wish), sending it flying above and embedding itself on the other wall to the right.
Smiling sheepishly at the prefect's hardened, cold glare, Tsuna tries not to cry inwardly as Hibari gives a tiny smirk in return - and there went his plan on simply 'indulging' the prefect; there is no way the boy will let him be after today.
"Hn. Interesting, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna puts on his best innocent look and asks, all the while cursing himself on the inside.
"Eh? What do you mean, Hibari-senpai?" And of course, Hibari decides not to answer, and instead charges forward once more.
Sighing, Tsuna gives his aching shoulders a short massage as he ducks at another swing towards his head and prepares himself for another long sequence of jab, swipe, duck, and oh-my-god-that-was-close.
Apparently, Hibari is just as good with one tonfa as he is with two.
"Sorry, senpai, did that hurt?" Hibari does not pause in wrapping bandages around his left wrist as he gives a full glare at the deceiving carnivore in front of him. The girl in question does not even flinch at the stare that has had grown men fleeing for their lives; instead, she gives an encouraging smile that, had Hibari not known better, would have fully convinced him that Sawada Tsunayoshi is simply an annoying, weak herbivore – just like the rest of the people in this town are.
But Hibari, of course, knows better.
And he knows that something strange has occurred over the past summer vacation to Sawada Tsunayoshi; and while he does care about the private (or public, for that matter) life of Namimori's students, it is his duty to overlook and watch over their state when necessary.
So when he hears rumors from a bunch of crowding herbivores (who he made sure to bite after in the most painful way) of a certain weak-willed herbivore changing, he does not care. He keeps note of it in the back of his mind, but the name 'Sawada Tsunayoshi' does not cross his head again until he catches the stupid girl loitering. On the rooftop.
(There, he briefly remembers a scene on the first day after summer vacation when the Sawada twins were late to school, and decides perhaps the firm and unmoving will behind the female twin's eyes was not an illusion).
Thus, Hibari watches, for three weeks on, the herbivore as she eats poorly cooked meals and reviews her notes. Notes, he finds with a small amount of interest, which are far too advanced for a middle-school student, let alone an elementary one.
And then it becomes increasingly clear how different the girl is when compared to everyone else. Hibari has noticed, since the day from summer break, that there was something off about the herbivore. The Sawada Tsunayoshi of before was pathetic at best – she attracted bullies like flies to carnage with her weak posture, her lack of confidence, her poor efforts in grades and sports, and with her utter lack of realism in her surroundings.
However. The Sawada Tsunayoshi in front of him now is like a total stranger – and at first he suspects that it is a whole other person all together. Her posture is firm and set, with eyes that hold far too much and a calm deposition that keeps even the most raging bullies at bay. The differences were subtle, but anyone with good sense could see the slight alterations, and this causes Hibari to narrow his eyes as he begins to assess the bruised and battered Sawada once more.
The girl in question simply raises her eyebrows and continues to wrap bandages around her multiple wounds, wounds that, while many and far higher in number than his, were mostly superficial and shallow at worst.
An omnivore, he decides at last, after months of swiping after Sawada's head and hardly ever making his mark. Sawada does not crave the blood of prey like a carnivore, but she does not act like all the other herbivores do.
And here Hibari considers it strange how such an annoying girl like Sawada could ever deserve the title of 'omnivore,' but he decides that it is a title for only those that are slightly better than those crowding herbivores, and Sawada seems to match that description perfectly.
"Hibari-senpai?" Ignoring the girl once again, Hibari gives a final tug at the bandages around his bruised wrists and stands up to leave. "Do you think we could just have normal spars like the ones we had before? I probably will be unable to function properly if we don't."
As if he did not even hear a word, Hibari brushes off a piece of imaginary lint on his coat and walks off, only to stop at Sawada's next words.
"The school might be damaged if we continue like this, Hibari-senpai." He tilts his head slightly around and glares at the small girl before turning around completely. Sawada in return merely gestures at the demolished wall to her right, before giving a questioning and innocent glance that seems to hold the will of a thousand suns and unmovable mountains.
Hibari pauses for just a moment, weighing the pros and cons before nodding stiffly his agreement.
"Fine." Briskly walking off once more, he stops to give another glare at the annoying girl before adding in with no small amount of viciousness. "But you are no longer to hold back on your strength; if you do, I will bite you to death."
Whipping out a tonfa and glaring menacingly to prove his point, Hibari feels slightly better when the omnivore squeaks and moves back with a startle, nodding rapidly her agreement.
There. At least the girl has some amount of fear of him.
After all, even if he had technically won the fight, he is still walking away with multiple bruises and other shallow wounds, and that is a fact that irritates him to no end.
(He's never been injured in a fight before, that was certain, and he is certainly not pleased when that certainty breaks by a pint-sized, annoying omnivore like Sawada).
Tsuna holds the paper tightly and smiles at the approving nod Mazasu-sensei gives him when handing back an earlier test the class had taken a few days ago.
"Well done, Sawada. Just don't forget to switch the order of names next time we cover shogun history." Nodding in acceptance, Tsuna gives another brief smile at the '90' glaring back at him before placing it neatly into his folder at his desk. Briefly he glances over the rest of the classroom, and sighs in mild relief when no whispers break out at the praise of another teacher.
(Tsuna's fast pace towards improvement had, for the past months or so, brought much attention and gossip around his class, to the point where many would stare when he answered a question correctly, or when he pulled out a highlighter and color-coded his notes.
Kami, it was as if the kids had never seen a diligent student in their lives before).
He decides not to tell his sensei that he already knows the order behind Japan's ruling history, along with Italy's as well, and instead looks around for his brother, who is scowling intensely at his own test.
And seeing that scowl causes Tsuna's own eyebrows to furrow and mouth to turn down. His frown grows even deeper when he sees Takahiro clench his fists and crumple the test into a ball before shoving it inside his school bag.
Was a '75' truly upsetting for a grade?
Then again, his own sense of what 'good grades' land in is practically skewered beyond repair. He is, after all, Dame-Tsuna, and even if living in the world of Mafioso has long since stamped that uselessness away, grades were still not much of an importance to him even in his later years. Keeping the family alive and happy seemed a priority above anything else.
Quickly, Tsuna skims over Takahiro's behavior over the past few days and stares intensely at the back of his twin's head. He does not recall anything drastic that may have altered his brother's life – other than the huge soccer tournament that was held just a weekend ago - but then again, Takahiro never has confided in him before, so how can he be sure?
Perhaps, Tsuna muses, Takahiro is simply upset about the bad test grade, and that is merely it.
Unfortunately, the familiar cold feeling that seems to crawl and squirm in his stomach tells him otherwise.
Damn Vongola intuition.
"You brat, do you think that's funny? Shut your mouth before I make you a new face!"
"P-please stop! I-I didn't mean it that way, honestly!"
Smack!
Watching with grim satisfaction as the younger boy flies, Sawada Takahiro takes a casual glance at the fallen child and pushes fiercely down on the silver of guilt that always has managed to worm its way into his heart.
"Oi, Sawada, what are you doing standing there? Let's teach this little punk a lesson." Snapping back from his thoughts, he gives a nod towards his other classmates and cracks his knuckles viciously.
Perfect. This kid will be a perfect stress reliever for all the crap that seems to have piled into his life from out of nowhere.
Ignoring the jeering calls of his other two classmates, Takahiro gives a wild smirk and pulls back his fist, relishing at the fear and obvious terror in the boy's eyes (and ignoring that guilt) before –
Wait.
And Takahiro stops, listening to the sudden feeling of coldcoldcold dread that is screaming for him to stop.
"Sawada, what the heck? Punch him already!" One of his classmates (Jirou, he remembers with a sneer) calls and demands, with the other fool nodding his agreement rapidly. And Takahiro shakes his head, opening his mouth to explain that what they are demanding is impossible, because -
But it is too late (to run or to warn his classmates? Takahiro wonders) and suddenly a heavy weight fills the air, as if gravity itself is pressing into his sides. Gasping for breath, he notices that the younger boy behind him and his classmates are not excluded from the sudden pressure, and it feels like forever before the weight is lifted and out from the shadows comes the person he had least expected to appear.
"Takahiro." It takes all he has to not flinch at the tone of his twin's voice and involuntarily, Takahiro takes a step back.
"T-Tsuna!" Mentally cursing himself for stammering, he balls his hands into tight fists and straightens his back while snarling. "What are you doing here?"
And in the courtyard where they all stand in, where the sunset's rays seem to wash over the area, Takahiro swears that Tsuna's eyes were glowing orange just a few seconds ago. But then he blinks and it is gone, leaving behind narrowed hazel eyes that seem completely unbreakable.
"I think the proper question is, Takahiro," He winces slightly when he realizes that Tsuna is not calling him the usual 'Taka-kun' or 'Taka-chan,' but instead his full name, and that is when knows that he is deep shit now. "What are you doing?"
He opens his mouth hastily to reply, only to clamp it down shut when he begins to wonder what the right response would be.
"I - we-" Thankfully (and unfortunately for them), his two other classmates sense a confrontation and barge into the awkward silence with annoyance and clear dissatisfaction.
"We were just going to teach this punk a lesson, what's so wrong about that? He was picking a fight with us in the first place!" Tsuna turns to the other two and gives them a cursory glance that lasts just long enough for them to squirm a bit uncomfortably.
"Is that so?" Without bothering to hear their reply, Tsuna walks and kneels beside the still fallen, crying boy and offers her help. And here, Takahiro watches with slight irritation as the boy hesitates before nodding and giving his sister a wobbly smile as she helps him up to his feet. Brushing off the dirt on his legs, she gestures for him to leave, and the boy is only happy to do so, ignoring the protests of his attackers and the like.
"Tsuna, what the hell are you-"
When asked years from now, Takahiro will continue to deny that his hands were shaking and sweating when Tsuna starts to speak.
"Takahiro." Automatically closing his mouth shut, Takahiro instead chooses to glance behind him to see his other two classmates shrink back at the amount of pressure Tsuna is exuding. "I would like to have a word with you. Alone."
And as one of the two idiots steps forward in shaky but indignant protest, Takahiro can only dredge up some amount of sympathy when the fool squeaks at the sight of a narrow-eyed, frowning Tsuna before beginning to worry about his own health and safety.
(Is he going to die? At such a young age?).
Watching as his two classmates-turned-cowards scramble away in haste, Takahiro winces internally at the churning in his stomach that had roared since the moment Tsuna was near. And as he slowly turns back to face his twin, he can only wonder about what it was that he has done wrong.
(Here, he also wonders; since when has Tsuna's opinion on anything mattered to him?
…
Since that day during summer break, he decides, because before 'that day' had come, Tsuna was nowhere near any place labeled in his life as 'important'; she always had been a disappointment – something that he poked and made fun of during his free time when there was nothing else to do.
But after 'that day,' it was as if Tsuna had died and an alien had taken her place. He hadn't noticed it at first, but now, as he watches warily at a steadfast, unmovable Tsuna, it's as if everything that he thought was right suddenly became downright wrong.
And what he guesses is even worse is that he can't help but gravitate towards this new Tsuna, this not-Tsuna, this Tsuna that is his sister but at the same time is so not-).
"What?" He asks defensively, and it is only through pride alone that Takahiro does not flinch back at the sight of a narrow-eyed Tsuna as she pauses before sighing.
"Takahiro," She begins, but he is quick to cut her off.
"What?" Takahiro repeats, this time with a more steady voice. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"The fact that you say you didn't just tells me that yes, you did." Tsuna replies back in an even firmer tone, while continuing on. "All I have seen for the past ten minutes was you along with our classmates belittling and hitting a child younger than us."
"I cannot deny what I have seen, Takahiro," She firmly states when Takahiro begins to open his mouth, her face now completely neutral and arms crossed loosely around her chest. "But I have not been present for the entire time. Do you have anything to say that would change my views on this situation?"
(In the back of his mind he wonders, since when has Tsuna been able to use such complicated and crafted words?
…
He decides to not even bother answering his own question).
So Takahiro considers briefly on just outright lying to Tsuna; pushing the blame on his classmates and insisting that they had pressured him into doing these things.
But then he looks into his twin's eyes (and really looks – why did they look so orange in this light?) and then there's a tightening in his stomach that is telling him: he cannot lie. Whether it is because he can't or he won't doesn't matter, because the bells in his head are ringing, and they are screaming for him to tell the truth.
… He doesn't want to, but what choice does he have, against those calm, electrifying orange eyes that are telling him that he has done wrong?
"… No," So he replies, knowing that he has just admitted to bullying a younger child for no specific reason. And he scowls (whether from embarrassment or anger, he's not too sure) while looking away, refusing to look at his twin, who is now most likely to lecture him about how important being nice was like all those other annoying, nosy, bothersome –
"Well then. Would you like to tell me how your day has gone, Takahiro?"
It is probably the neutral and patient tone behind Tsuna's voice that has his head flipping back to stare at her in confusion. Takahiro's twin in return sits gracefully (he snorts here, because he had been so sure that before summer vacation, the name 'Tsuna' and the word 'graceful' would not come together unless the words 'is not' was in between) on the hard concrete floor before patting the spot next to her in an invitation.
Takahiro's first instinct is to flat-out refuse and storm off; what right does Tsuna have to barge into his business like that?
But suddenly, before he can even blink, he quite abruptly finds himself sitting down on the floor, with his legs crossed and facing Tsuna.
… And though he has never seen it before, he knows that he, for the rest of his life, will always hate that disarming. quiet smile that graces Tsuna's face when he finally looks at her instead of the interesting orange sky above. So he promptly tells her so.
"I hate that smile of yours; stop smiling." Immediately, Tsuna drops her smile and gives what Takahiro assumes is her best straight-faced look. To him, it looks as if someone had just twisted his twin's face and tried to paint an old lady's face instead: it is comical at best.
He pauses and stares disgustedly at the smile that he sees is already creeping up his sister's face.
"Just so you know, I'm not going to 'pour my heart and soul' out to you or anything like that," He sneers, thinking back to the other disgusting, emotional things the other girls in his class had been talking about the other day. "I'm only sitting here because I've got no one else to complain to."
And when Tsuna simply nods and gives him her full attention, Takahiro pretends to ignore his stressed-for-far-to-long shoulders relaxing and leans forward and complains.
So they sit there, two siblings; one with stress that no one else seems to notice and another with another set of life-long memories that no else seems to know. And as the boy complains and heaves and whines, the other nods and listens on.
And they continue on for hours on end; till the sky turns dark and the stars burn brightly behind the glowing moon.
"- we lost at that soccer tournament which sucked- "
" – and everybody keeps on asking me if I'm okay, which is stupid 'cause I am – "
" – I don't even know why I'm bringing this up but I especially hated that last message otou-san sent – "
" – my grades keep dropping, I don't know why but they are, and okaa-san keeps on asking – "
" – and I'm just sick and tired of having to do – do – all of… this!"
And end of Takahiro's practically non-stop tirade, when he is left panting from rage, shame, and exhaustion, Tsuna simply pats his somewhat fluffy head and gets up from his spot.
"What, w-where are you going?" The 'I-just-poured-my-heart-and-soul-into-you-and-this -is-how-you-treat-me?' tone is clearly present in his voice, but Tsuna just shakes of the numbing, tingling feeling that comes from sitting for too long from his legs. He holds his hand out to Takahiro and quickly has to stifle his laughter at the lost look on his brother's face, and gently raises him from the ground without much trouble.
(Tsuna is now satisfied at the results of training with a hardcore fighter like Hibari; his stamina and strength are definitely steadily increasing if he has no problem lifting his not-really-light brother from the ground).
"Let's get some ice cream, Taka-chan," He keeps his sibling close by and practically drags the boy off the cement and into the more populated part of town. "I'm really hungry."
Takahiro resists from Tsuna's pull and scowls.
"Wait, after all of this… talking, you're not going to say anything, anything at all?" Tsuna's tilts his head slightly when his twin shouts out these words before ruffling Takahiro's hair again. Ignoring the boy's scowls, Tsuna notes with some disappointment that Takahiro's hair is not as soft as his own; but since it'll be weird to just be petting his own hair; he'll just have to deal with his twin's.
"Mm… Takahiro," Tsuna begins, while taking his twin's wrist and promptly continues on to drag the boy once again. "I can't really say much, because I'm not too worried."
"What do you mean?" Takahiro is still resisting, but not as much as Tsuna looks back and forth on a road before crossing it.
"I'm not too worried about you, Takahiro, because you will be just fine." Tsuna illiterates, and looks up to the brilliant sky with a sense of wonder. Huh. The stars are really pretty in Namimori.
"I believe," He continues on, and Takahiro listens carefully, barely noticing that another busy road is approaching rather quickly. "I believe that all you have to do is relax. Relax, and stop for a moment."
And quickly Tsuna grabs his brother's shoulders to stop him from walking further into the road, just as a huge truck zooms by at a speed higher than what is legal in Namimori.
BEEP!
"Right?" Tsuna asks quietly as a pale-faced Takahiro gasps in rapid breaths at the close chance of injury or death. "I think that you are just over-stressing yourself over things that aren't necessarily bad. Take a break and enjoy what you have now, Takahiro. There's always another chance to win another soccer tournament, another test to ace and another time to worry about what has already happened."
"So, where are you going to go from here, Takahiro?"
And as the pedestrian's lights turned green, Tsuna decides to not speak further, and instead continues on to the nearest ice cream parlor; all the while trying to hide the smile that comes up when Takahiro walks right next to him, side by side on the road.
Inside, he muses that his twin's compliance is most likely either due to Takahiro's sudden strong desire for ice cream or because Tsuna's words has made a large enough impact that it has affected the boy's normal behavior.
Tsuna preferably would like to consider the latter as the reason, of course.
-o-o-o-o-o-
FAQ:
- Does Takahiro have a sister complex? My first reaction to the first couple of times this question when asked was, "What? No, of course not!" And he really doesn't. Really. But it's something I might like to entertain in the future. Though note that a 'pairing' between the two will never happen. Ever.
- Will this story/fic be Mafia-related? Yes. I may have this story be AU (heck, it already is), but there's no way I can write a KHR story without writing about Dying Will Flames and the freakin' Mafia.
- Will you bring Tsuna's guardians from his original world here? I honestly never actually had considered that, but now it's a thought I actually would like to entertain. We'll see.
- How often will you update? As often as I would like. Your thoughts, strangely enough, have given me much inspiration and actually sped up the writing process, so thanks to all of you who reviewed. But in the end, my update schedule will most likely be sporadic.
- Who will be Decimo, Tsuna or Takahiro? *Insert evil laugh here*. Muahaha.
Any other questions I will gladly try to answer through PM or the next chapter. If it allows me too, of course. Spoilers are funny things, y'know.
There might be another transition chapter before Reborn's arrival, or there might not be. I'll see how it goes.
So, once again, apologies for the late chapter, and I do hope the length was long enough to make up for it. Hopefully.
And of course, your thoughts are always welcomed and greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Searching. For. Enadi.