ChApTeR 21 – The edge's call
"Beyond the edge of the world there's a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop. And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard."
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
Tsuna felt the cold deep within his bones, chilling him from the inside out. The red that met white, made him shiver again. His eyes were wide and watery, his face flushed with fever. His lips were cracked and bruised, having bitten down on his lower lip in his attempt not to throw up at the limp bodies in front of him. They were small in death, their age obvious in their tiny slumped forms and not for the first time, his heart ached. "Let's get you cleaned up" his grandfather broke through his musings and Tsuna nodded. Leaning on his grandfather, so that he wouldn't place all of his weight on his injured feet, they walked across the bridge, as the evening sky reflected in the dark, green water that ran through the village. "You did really well" his grandfather said, his voice soft with emotion.
"It was all Nao, really" Tsuna said with a weak smile, glancing at the other boy who shied off into the shadows. Tsuna shook his head and looked around to see that the other candidates were escorted off the courtyard by their parents. They were all ready to get some rest just as the Soke told them to do.
"He likes you" his grandfather spoke up, but Tsuna didn't answer. Realizing that Tsuna wasn't in the mood to entertain any conversation, his grandfather allowed the silence to settle between them as they walked through the crisp night together, lit with the same paper lanterns that guided them up the mountains. The word loyalty started to sound like the beginning of a bad joke. "You all are given your own rooms, but you will have to share a bath though" his grandfather said as they walked down the little alleyway between the spaces the Minkas created, moss gathered at the foundation, a visual tell of how long they had been there. "Ah, here we are. The dorm" his grandfather announced and Tsuna's eyes widened at the simplistic bamboo fence that cut off their Minka from the rest of the village. The entrance was flanked with two large Pagoda Pillars*. As they walked up the steps, he could see the other candidates disappearing in the deeper interior, unfazed and unbothered by both Tsuna as well as his grandfather. "And this is your room. When you're ready, the bath is in the back" his grandfather said, nodding at the fusuma.
"Thanks" Tsuna said, sliding the fusuma open. He wasn't in the mood to speak really, because a numbness that had nothing to do with his injured leg, had settled over Tsuna's body and mind. He wanted to drop his face first on a soft mattress, and forget everything that happened in the last few days.
"I know it's a lot to take in, Tsunayoshi but once you get used to this life, you'll see understand why sacrifice is necessary in everything we do" his grandfather said and when Tsuna looked at him, he felt disconnected in the way that he just didn't care anymore.
"Yeah" Tsuna said and entered his room, sliding the fusuma (Sliding Doors) behind him.
The ache in his leg made him pause his descent, struggling not to jostle the wound too much. Once he managed to sit down on the futon placed on the tatami flooring, he didn't even bother to crawl under the duvet. He just twisted his body to the right, and pressed his face down on the sheets that smelled like lavender. He knew he should take a bath, should wash off all the blood, sweat and grime that made him smell worse than he probably looked, but the fatigue was too much to handle. So, without another thought, Tsuna closed his eyes and it wasn't before long that he drifted off to sleep.
Tsuna woke up to the sun caressing his face and wind tickling his nose. He woke up warm and full of happiness. The pain from the last few days faded to the background, death and blood far from his mind. As he sat, he saw that he was lying down in a patch of daffodils, surrounded by the immense blueness of a clear sky and a calm sea.
He was near a cliff's edge.
"I was expecting you" a voice spoke and Tsuna's eyes widened as he saw Rinko sitting not too far from him. She was wearing a beautiful yellow dress that fluttered in the wind, and a smile on her face. "Come sit with me" she beckoned him over, patting the ground beside her.
"What are you doing here? Where….Why…" he whispered, but stopped as his throat tightened. He sat down next to her, cautious as ever because the last time he saw her, she was just a corpse lying in some alleyway.
"I don't really know myself" Rinko said, looking out at the endless glittering sea. "But, I can tell you one thing. I'm happier here" she added with giddy laugh.
"I wanted to save you" Tsuna sobbed, his face buried in his hands, body shaking with his grief.
He wanted her to be ALIVE and happy.
When she pulled his hands away from his face, he looked at her through a watery veil. Her eyes softened at his messy face, and using her thumbs, she wiped away the tears.
"You did" she softly told him, hushing him when he wanted to cry again. "You were the second person in the ENTIRE world who succeeded" she said, pressing their foreheads together. The smell of oranges was stronger then.
"But Yuiji" Tsuna said, and Rinko smiled again, bright and warm like her existence had been.
"He will be okay. His father may not have loved me, but he loves Yuiji enough to look after him" Rinko said, and Tsuna sniffed, struggling with himself. "Hey, it's okay. I'll always be with you both" she reassured him, running her hands through his hair, scratching at the scalp.
"You deserved so much more" Tsuna confessed and Rinko looked down at the enormous drop and the waves that slammed against the rocks.
"Did you know, that all it takes, is a tiny step to fall?" she lamented and turned to him.
"Sometimes, the people we love are the ones to push us over that edge" she added and gently clasped her hands over Tsuna's.
"I won't forget you" Tsuna blurted out and she smiled, though it was tinged with sadness.
"Nor will I" she confessed, pressing her hand over his heart. "I pray that the world is kind to you, Tsunayoshi, just as you've been with me. I pray that no matter how much you may fall, that you will possess the strength to get back up. For you are the brightest Kaen in this dark world" she whispered, pulling away.
"Will I ever see you again?" he asked, following her as she stood up. She turned her body to him, and placing her hands on his shoulders, she shrugged.
"Don't cry for me Tsunayoshi" she said, and he screamed as she pushed him over the edge.
Tsuna woke up, fighting the duvet of his futon, his skin soaked and sticking to his clothes. He could still hear Rinko's voice, the soft timbre sick with a kind of melancholy that spoke of heartache. Tsuna felt his head swirl with too much unanswered questions, so much so that he hadn't noticed the little old lady sitting near his leg.
"You stink" is what greeted Tsuna when the storm finally cleared. The old woman, Kotoko from Iga smiled at him, as he sat up confused and surprised as she nudged the sheets. "Let me have a look at that leg of yours, you silly boy" she gently chided and Tsuna did as he was told. Grimacing at the pain, he managed to lift his leg and place it on her lap.
"What are you doing here?" He asked as she uncapped the green glass jar. She rolled up the pant leg and he watched her as she worked. Using her index and middle finger, she scooped out a glop of grey mud.
"Someone was worried about you so they sent me" she said, as she slathered the wound with the foul smelling mud. He arched an eyebrow but winced at the sting. "He was a little hurt you know" she added but Tsuna didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing. "He seems to think that once you get used to this place, only then will you appreciate our ways" she said, recapping the jar and wiping her hands on a towel. Tsuna rolled his eyes and looked down at his leg in awe. The pain had been reduced to just a slight jab. He watched as she took some gauze and gently wrapped it around the wound and the mud.
"And what do you think?" He asked, watching as she finished working. She hummed as she gathered up her supplies and stood up.
"I think that you won't be the one to adapt to our ways, rather the other way around" she said with a breathy laugh. Tsuna smiled little and she tilted her head as she watched him. "Now don't get that wound of yours wet. It needs some time to heal. Just as much as this" she said, pointing to the temple of her head. He frowned and looked away, but she kept staring at him.
"What?" he asked and she just smiled. Something small and limp, like those children who had killed themselves.
"You're different from when I last saw you" she added and he shrugged. He had noticed it too.
"What do you mean?" He asked despite himself, because he wanted to know the answer. She seemed to know it too, as she slid the fusuma open. For a minute he pondered on whether or not she would reply, when she seemed to humor him.
"You're sadder" she said and left it at that as she walked out of the room. Tsuna shook his head and slumped back down on the futon, his hands covering his eyes. "And don't forget to clean up yourself. You stink!" she shouted from behind the fusuma, cackling when she heard Tsuna floundering inside his room.
"What did you see?" a voice called out from the dark, his eyes focused on the still water in front of him. "What did you find?" the voice whispered in his ear, the words caressing his neck.
"Nothing" he replied, his hands clutching the Hannya mask tighter. "Nothing" he shouted, frustration frothing at his mouth.
"You're lying. You're a liar" the voice taunted with a laugh, as the water rippled and broke his reflection. "You see the future, one where the boy kills you or even worse, he saves you" the voice mumbled as a hand, cold like the mask, stroked his wrist.
"He's Nana's son" Hiroshi refuted, turning away. He could almost see her, standing before him with a cold glare, and a hand ready to cut him down.
"But…he's his father's son as well" the voice told him, the wind curling around his clothes and slithering against his skin. "A Kaen that never dies" the voice spoke, and Hiroshi threw the mask against the wall.
"He doesn't have it" Hiroshi said, with a shake of his head. "He didn't have it" he screamed, clutching his hair.
"Maybe, he wasn't the Cielo, you were looking for" the voice stated and Hiroshi looked up. "Only time will tell" the voice told him, and disappeared into the night.
Notes:
Pagoda Pillars: these are stone lanterns that are in the shape of a Pagoda.
Fusuma is a sliding door in traditional Japanese homes.
Kaen is Flame in Japanese (or so the internet says)
Cielo is Sky in Italian.
A/N:
It's been awhile folks.
Exams and work had me feeling all kinds of way, but I'm back.
For the moment.
I originally wanted to make this chapter longer, but I decided to cut it short.
As we proceed, you'll get more details on the clan and the mysteries they hold, but for now, we're going to ease their storyline in the background so canon could come forward.
So as I said, there will be a time skip in the next chapter and an even different Tsuna.
Whoop, don't you just love it when authors have decided to jump forward in time, providing little to no context of character growth and plot? Yes, yes we do (and even if you don't….welp too bad)
PS: Did you get to see Infinity War as yet?
I already saw it myself, but I'm going to see it again tomorrow….
I'm expecting my popcorn to be extra salty.
I'm a masochist like that.
