A/N so thankfully my hand is not broken and I have been working on all of my stories recently. This chapter has been in the works for a long while though and I wanted to get it posted. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 13

October 12, 2001 - Japan - Yamamoto

Takeshi woke up quickly, as was his norm, and stretched his sleep warm muscles before bounding out of bed. Still in his sleepwear he began his daily calisthenics, something that he hadn't had much energy for before meeting Tsuna. Something about the brunet inspired him to do better, to be better than he was yesterday. He paused mid push up, his muscles barely quacking, before shifting his weight to one hand and after a moment to steady himself lifted the other behind his back.

He was just carefully lowering himself down when there was a knock on his door. He blinked and looked over at the alarm on his desk to find that it was too early for either of his friends to be there. A second firmer knock caused him to rise and walk the short distance to the door. The shift of weight on the other side of the barrier and a third almost frantic rap caused him to pause hand on the knob.

"Takeshi… open the door." His old man's voice shook with a pleading note. Something inside him yawned sleepily at the sound, finally waking from a seeming lifetime of bored slumber. Takeshi turned the knob and took a step back as the door swung inward.

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi leaned against the frame; one hand half raised in the air the other wrapped tightly around the neck of a bottle. The scent of strong sake drifted up to him and the image of his tou-san transposed itself with the lingering memory of the years following his kaa-san's death. Takeshi took a trembling step back, trying desperately to not remember those days even as the thing in his chest sat straighter in its Deep Blue chains.

"Takeshi…" Tsuyoshi's voice echoed through the ages to the teen's ears. His heart raced and the beast growled viciously in the depths. Takeshi took a deep shuddering breath that nearly knocked him from his feet. Thankfully, perhaps, the older male did nothing but stare at him with dark ringed black eyes and the memory died in its infancy. They stood in silence for several long moments until Tsuyoshi opened his mouth again.

"Takeshi, I don't want you to see that Sawada boy anymore." The older's words were slightly slurred but not enough to hide their meaning. Takeshi felt something come to a crashing halt; all of the confusing emotions that had plagued him froze and the multi-headed monster that lay in his breast licked its chops at the silence that invaded his mind. The cold nothingness started from the tips of his toes and rose in a threatening wave to the top of his head.

"No." His firm matter of fact response might as well have been a slap for the look of surprise that crossed Tsuyoshi's face. It took several moments before the word seemed to sink in and Takeshi could see as the anger slowly rose in the man. Despite him still leaning drunkenly against the door frame the older Yamamoto seemed to swell, to grow ten times over even as the beast inside the teen thrashed in weakening chains.

"What do you mean… No?" Tsuyoshi snarled but Takeshi just stared at him. What was there for him to say after all. He could no more leave Tsuna then rip off his arm, he already knew that and the beast which pulled and strained agreed with him.

Something dark passed in front of the drunk man's eyes before he seemed to crumple in on himself. He licked chapped lips before pushing off the wall only to stumble and sway but Takeshi made no move to steady him.

"Follow…" Tsuyoshi stopped speaking to hiccup. "Follow me, Takeshi."

Silently, still dressed in only sleep pants, the teen followed two steps behind the man. Takeshi didn't know where they were headed for sure, he had a guess, but it seemed important to his ojii-san. They walked in silence for a while, down the backstairs past the shrine to his kaa-san towards the dojo. Only they avoided the shoji doors leading into the area and instead entered the store room.

"I knew…" Tsuyoshi whispered without turning to face him. "I knew when you were born that I couldn't save you. I did everything that I could think of to keep you from that dark path. However, after Harua-chan… you were so different; so quiet."

"Of course I was no help." The sneer was clear in his sake soaked voice. "I drowned myself in the bottle and left you, who witnessed that awfulness firsthand, to fend for yourself. And it was only after I surfaced that I realized how far you were gone. After that I tried Takeshi…"

Tsuyoshi reached out and laid a hand on the wall as if it would give him the strength to continue. The amber eyed boy just blinked. The man made a hollow sound that might have been a laugh.

"I called in just about every favor I had left, anything to keep you safe… You understand that right, Takeshi?" The sushi chef asked as he turned to face him, his eyes wide enough for the white to be seen even in the low light of the store room and tears streaked his pale cheeks though they hadn't entered his voice. After a moment he dropped black eyes away from him in defeat. "I do not blame you if you can't of course. No, I blame myself and Fate."

"What is this about Ojii-san?" Takeshi asked quietly. Tsuyoshi smiled wanly at him and reached with the hand not holding the bottle of sake into the darkness. From the shadows he pulled a decoratively carved wooden sword, one that the teen had never seen before, and after a brief pause held it out.

"I can't stop you from pursuing this path, no matter how much I want to keep you in the light, but I can prepare you." The sword shook but was not retracted. "I can teach you how to protect him… and to kill for him."

The beast roared free and Takeshi smiled.

000000000000000000000000000000000

October 13, 2001 - Japan - Tsuna

Another Saturday dawned, and Tsuna would admit that he was not looking forward to school that day. He was tired and sore after the debacle that had been Yoshimi-san attempting to babysit Lambo-chan the previous day, how Reborn-senpai thought that was a good idea was beyond him. Thankfully he had been able to save the boy from harm via either his otouto's ineptitude or Bianci-san's Poison Cooking.

Truthfully it had been an epic disaster of a day mostly because Yamamoto-san hadn't been there. The baseball player had stayed home but no one had answered the residential door when he had knocked later that afternoon. It left a bad taste in his mouth for some reason and Tsuna had tripped more than once on the way home. Gokudera-san had been just as clueless about the raven haired boy's whereabouts but had not seemed overly concerned about it.

So Tsuna was overjoyed when he looked out the window to see both of his friends lent against the wall across the street. He rushed around his room throwing on clothes and searching for his school bag before stumbling his way out to the stairs. With a grin and sure feet he sprung down them two at a time. He landed in the hall with a flourish and turned to the door.

Only to flounder because Reborn-senpai was lent against the hallway wall. The baby hitman with old eyes had a cup in his small hands from which drifted the scent of strong espresso. He took a delicate sip, his eyes never leaving Tsuna who shifted from one foot to the other.

The black haired tutor set the cup on the floor and beckoned Tsuna closer. He hesitated, dealing with the hitman always led to trouble, but eventually the fluffy haired boy shuffled his way forward. He still stopped a good bit before the hitman; even if he knew that the distance would not be enough to stop Reborn-senpai if he truly wished harm on the brunet. Still the baby's smile was weighted with a pound of sugar sweetness though his eyes spoke of dark promises as he held out a small box.

"Happy Birthday Tsuna."

Tsuna felt his throat close and his heart thunder in his belly as he plucked up the package with a delicate hand. It seemed to throb with anticipation as he worked slowly to untie the small bow without taking his eyes off that shark hungry smile. He gulped when the tie came free and a ring box fell into his hand.

"What?" He rasped. Tsuna's whole world had come to a stop as he creaked the box to reveal a ring which left him practically drooling with want. A broad band etched with delicate vines and small series of amber colored stones Without being able to help it he slipped it on his finger.

"A birthday gift from me to you." The words mocked him even as the world exploded around him, too much of everything and not nearly enough of anything all at the same time.

000000000000000000000000000000000

October 13, 2001 - Japan - Gokudera

Gokudera was smoking frantically as he waited for his Boss to come out. So what if he'd been there since three in the morning and he was on his second pack… of the day… Nightmares had haunted his sleep and he had been unable to dispel the need to just stand there and make fucking sure nothing bad happened in the night. So he was understandably in a foul mood when Yamamoto rounded the corner at a dead sprint.

A single stick of explosive slid easily into his hand though he made sure to keep it out of view, Tsunayoshi-sama strongly disliked when he used his dynamite without a very good cause, but felt reassured enough just by its weight to deal with any situations that might occur. The baka slid to a stop with a grin that shone and wildfire eyes. Something seemed to have changed in the dark haired boy but Gokudera couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Ohayo." Yamamoto cheered as he bounced from one foot to the other for once seeming to be genuinely in a good mood instead of his twisted apathy. Gokudera grunted and after a quick glance around he stashed the dynamite back into its place after determining that nothing was amiss.

He turned back to the house just in time to see Tsunayoshi-sama dart away from the window and that tight bubble in his belly that had been there all night seemed to ease. Yamamoto did not say anything else, just leant against the wall next to him, though his whole body continued to move to some unheard beat.

A few minutes passed and just as the half-Italian was starting to worry, the world stopped. He gasped and the cigarette he had just lit fell from limp fingers as Gokudera felt his knees cave underneath him. Some distant part of him noticed Yamamoto also falling next to him but all he could do was sit there completely unable to move. It did not matter that his brain was running a million miles a minute or that his heart was hammering in his throat because he could not find where the attack had come from. His vision grayed out around the edges and then just as suddenly as it had started the feelings vanished.

Gokudera was on his feet in a blink and stumbling across to wrench open the gate. Half a step behind him came the dark haired boy, a baseball bat held in front of him like a weapon as they charged up the path to the house. The doorknob collapsed under the heel of his boot and the door swung wildly on its hinges.

"Ciaossu!" Chirped Reborn from his place beside a fallen Tsunayoshi-sama.

Every instinct in his belly that said not to trust the situation, that things were not as they should have been, left him in an instant as a wave slammed into his chest of a high unlike any he'd felt before. He floated for eons in that hallway wrapped in the warm togetherness of Home; time seeming immeasurable yet in a blink of eyes he was sober.

Cold, stark and bitterly alone.

It was walking away from a burning building and watching the bombs fall kinda intense against nerves so completely shot from the just pure fucking hell of a trip he had just taken. His knees gave out in the entrance with a deep gut punched grunt. The abandonment was enough to still his heart for just a moment before the world went dark.

000000000000000000000000000000000

October 13, 2001 - Japan - Reborn

Reborn watched silently as Yoshimi's goons made fools of themselves as they tried to score points for the 'Vongola Party'. The blond was not amused by any stretch of the imagination, not that the Cursed Sun cared. He tilted the brim of his fedora to shade his face and let a little of his Flame drift through the floorboards and up into the room where he had placed the three unconscious teens and the cow child.

Tricking Dame-Tsuna into putting on a Sky Ring had been perhaps unnecessarily cruel of him but he had been curious and more than a little desperate after his talk with Tsuyoshi. He wasn't sure what he had expected to happen, but the wave of Harmony that had touched every part of Namimori had been a surprise to say the least.

However the results of his experiment had been satisfactory.

He let his weak probe wrap around the brunet and slowly inched it along the edges of the lock that was still very much present. Reborn was pleased however, when he noticed the hole through which several spiderweb thin strands emerged. While weak and fragile the five bonded Flames would only grow, further solidifying until either the lock broke completely or they died…

The cursed infant had loaded the gun and cocked it, but it would be up to Dame-Tsuna and company to pull the trigger. It was trial by fire in many ways and they would all have to be careful to keep from being burned but Reborn did not feel remorse for his actions, wouldn't have even if he could because Yoshimi would never be Decimo.

Not while the Arcobaleno still drew breath anyways.

000000000000000000000000000000000

October 14, 2001 - Italy - Iemitsu

He was drunk… again… and he knew it. Iemitsu sighed heavily as he took a deep swig from his bottle. Truth was he'd been drinking for two days and had no plans to stop before the end of his week off. What else was he expected to do when he was too ashamed to face his family?

Hell, he hadn't been back to Namimori in years; had told Nana to let the boys think he was dead before tucking tail and running right back into the open (grasping) arms of the Mafia. He was a bad man, a terrible husband and an abomination of a father.

He took another drink and let his head fall back to thump against the wall of his living room where he had come to rest between bottles 4 and 5. Iemitsu closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to over take him.

If he wasn't careful he'd drown in salt water and whiskey.

He took another drink, liquor sloshing from the side of his mouth as he choked on the liquid, before tossing the empty aside. Iemitsu curled in on himself as sobs started to overtake him. In the background the phone rang for the umptenth time.

000000000000000000000000000000000

October 14, 2001 - Japan - Tsuna

Tsuna woke up with a headache the size of Mt. Fuji but surrounded by a warmth he had not felt in years. It was weak and shook with every trembling pain filled breath that he took but when he opened his eyes the first thing he saw was the face of Gokudera–san laying on the bed to his left. Tears welled as he looked at the silver-blond, not that he could have told you why, but something about the other's sleep softened face soothed an aching part of him that he had never even realized was there.

"Ohayo, Tsuna…" The softly spoken voice was wrapped in honey as it drifted over his shoulder. A half turn showed that Yamamoto-san sat leaning against the headboard behind him, a look of contentment taking over his normally blank eyes as a smile touched one corner of his lips. Tsuna would have rolled over all the way to face him except for the heavy weight of Lambo-chan spread across his legs so he settled for lifting his arm.

Thankfully the black haired teen seemed to understand because he scooted down the bed carefully and turned on his side to cuddle up close behind him, one arm wrapping around his middle as he let his arm down. He took a deep breath that ended in a sob when he noticed Gokudera-san's eyes on him. This was the best way to wake up even if the pounding in his head still distracted him.

"Ohayo," he said with a hiccup. He wanted to lie there for all of eternity to bask in the feeling for as long as he possibly could but all good things must come to an end and nature calls at the most impromptu times. "Ano… I have to use the bathroom."