I.
"Class, we have a new transfer student joining us today… You can come in now."
Sawada Tsunayoshi watched as a silver-haired teen with green eyes walked through the doors of the classroom before coming to a stop next to the teacher.
"This is Gokudera Hayato, he just moved here from Italy and I expect you all to help him settle down and get used to Namimori, okay?" After the class replied, the teacher nodded and glanced about the room. "Alright then, your seat will be next to- Gokudera-kun? Where are you going? Wait… don't-!"
Gokudera Hayato ignored the teacher's warnings and stalked over to Tsuna's desk before glaring down at the brunet. The silver-haired teen raised a leg and kicked the desk, sending it clattering to the ground before he continued down the aisle and took a seat at the back of the classroom.
The classroom was dead silent.
The teacher coughed nervously, loosening his tie a bit, before shuffling some papers on his podium. "W-Well then… sh-shall we all g-get started…?" He turned and wrote on the board with a trembling hand. "P-Please turn your books to page two-hundred and three…"
II.
As soon as the final bell rang, signaling the end of school, Tsuna was dragged from his desk and out the door by a very irate and disgusted-looking transfer student.
The rest of the class watched wordlessly as the brunet was dragged away, before they all turned to face one another.
"… Wh… What should we do?" One student asked, breaking the tense atmosphere.
"Tch… We shouldn't get involved… the new kid will realize soon enough what'll happen when you touch Sawada."
"If…," another student began hesitantly, "If Tsunayoshi-kun get's in-injured… w-wouldn't we get in t-trouble al-also…? Because we s-saw Gokudera-kun take him a-away and we didn't s-say or d-do anything ab-about it…?"
The classroom falls silent once more, then the remaining students all rush towards the doors.
"T-Tae-Il-sempai should be on the s-second floor, right?!"
"Doesn't that guy have kyudo practice today?! Or was it karate?!"
"No! He practices taekwondo remember?!"
"Ma-Maybe Hibari-sempai would kn-know where he is…?"
"Like hell we're gonna be able to do that! We would get bitten to death for even trying!"
"We need to split up then! Half of us will look upstairs; the other half will look at the clubrooms!"
"O-Okay!"
"Right!"
III.
Gokudera tossed the Tsuna to the ground. As the brunet scrambled to his feet, the silver-haired teen withdrew a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a drag in one smooth motion.
The two were in a field located behind the school, next to the Namimori River and a hiking trail.
Green eyes scanned the brunet up-and-down. "… What a pathetic sight you are," Gokudera growled out – a slight accent tainting his words – as he dropped the cigarette and dug his heel into it.
Tsuna nervously glanced around the field. "Wh-What? I-I'm sorry but… I believe this is the first time we've m-met?"
Gokudera scowled and took a step forward. "Tch… I can't believe a guy like you is supposed to be the Vongola Heir… I can't accept it!"
"H… How do you know about that?! I-It's only been one day since I learned about it!"
"Does it matter? All you need to know is that I've come to claim the Vongola as my own!" Gokudera reached into his pockets and withdrew a handful of dynamite. "Disappear, Weakling!" He twisted his wrists and launched the explosives at the brunet.
Tsuna let out a shriek of terror before back-pedaling away from the dynamite. When they exploded, the blast blew the brunet off his feet. Quickly, Tsuna tucked and shifted his body so that the momentum from the blast threw him into a roll instead of just sending him flying.
'Th-Thank goodness Tae-Il t-taught me the basics of falling and rolling.' Tsuna thought gratefully as he hurriedly got back to his feet.
"W-W-Wait a moment!" Tsuna cried, throwing up his hands. "Wh-Why are you attacking me?!"
Gokudera growled and took out more explosives from his person. "So you're an idiot along with being weak? Figures…" he ground out, eyes glaring harshly at the brunet. "I'm going to kill you so that way I can be the Vongola Heir!"
"Th-That sounds impossible! A-Aren't only those with V-Vongola blood allowed to b-be the Heir? A-Are you even related to the Vongola?!"
"I don't fucking care! I will destroy you, Bastard!" With that said, the silver-haired teen threw the dynamite in his hands at Tsuna.
Tsuna let out another yell and jumped to the side – successfully evading the explosion next to him.
Gokudera flung more bombs.
The brunet dodged more explosions.
Furious, the transfer student began throwing even more sticks of dynamite at Tsuna. "Stay still you bastard!"
"I-I'm not going to let myself be blown up!" Tsuna ducked under some bombs, falling to his knees for a moment, before scrambling back up and running away from the silver-haired teen.
"Tch… running away are you? Like I'd let you do that!"
As Tsuna ran away, he thought despairingly, 'Wh-What do I do?! I can't fight someone like him! I'd die!'
"A competent Mafia Boss does not run away from a fight, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn appeared suddenly next to the brunet, who nearly cried in relief at the sight of the hitman.
"R-Reborn! Pl-Please help me!"
Reborn scoffed and leveled his gun at Tsuna, who froze in fear. "If you can't even solve this simple problem-"
"You call this 'a simple problem'?!" Tsuna screeched in disbelief.
"-then perhaps you never will be better than Tae-Il… Die."
Reborn pulled the trigger.
A gunshot.
A body falling.
An orange flame and a cry of, "REBORN!" followed soon after.
IV.
Tsuna's body felt like it was pure fire and there was something hot and scorching and boiling flowing in his veins and across his skin and over his eyes and under his nails and there was a burning desire to do, to act, and he turned his head and looked around for something that he had to do, to finish, and spotted-
Glowing orange eyes locked onto green.
Tsuna knew what he had to do.
"DEFEAT GOKUDERA HAYATO WITH MY DYING WILL!"
V.
A well-placed punch was all it took for Tsuna to defeat Gokudera – although the silver-haired teen had put up a struggle and managed to keep the brunet at bay for a few minutes by utilizing his explosives as a sort of buffer.
Tsuna let out a shaky sigh as the orange flame on his head flickered once, twice, then dissipating in a wisp of smoke. He slowly sunk to his knees, body suddenly sore and aching, as he peered at the prone form of Gokudera, on the ground in front of the brunet.
"A… Are you okay…?" Tsuna asked when it became clear that the transfer student wouldn't be talking anytime soon.
Gokudera was silent for a moment before he suddenly sat up with worshipping eyes. "Th-That's was incredible! I was completely wrong! You are the best candidate to be the next Vongola Heir, Tenth!"
Tsuna gaped at the seemingly 180 Gokudera's personality did. "H-Huh?!"
The other teen quickly got to his feet and bowed deeply before Tsuna. "Please forgive my brashness earlier! I didn't mean to injure you so!"
The brunet chuckled nervously before asking, "I-I… guess it's fine…? W-Why were you trying to be the next Vongola Heir, anyway? From what I understand, only those with Vongola blood can inherit the title…"
"Oh…" Shame colored the silver-haired teen's face as he looked downwards. "The truth is… I knew that even if I could defeat you, that I wouldn't be able to become the next Vongola Boss."
"Then why…?"
"It's because I heard that the Vongola Heir was the same age as me and I wanted to see what kind of person would be taking over such a powerful Family… at first I thought you were completely weak and useless, but, now I know differently! You are strong, Tenth! Strong enough to take over the Vongola!"
Something fluttered in Tsuna at being labeled 'strong' and he ducked his head with a small smile. "You… you really think I'm strong?"
Gokudera nodded his head enthusiastically. "Of course! You are, without a doubt, the strongest person in the world!"
Tsuna laughed, a happy and pure sound. "Ha! I wouldn't go that far… but… thank you, Gokudera-kun… you are the first person to ever tell me that I'm 'strong'."
Even Tae-Il had never called him that.
"T-Tenth… I-!"
"Tsuna!" The smooth voice caused the brunet's head to whip around in shock and dread. His eyes fell upon the out-of-breath form of Tae-Il.
"T-Tae-Il…!"
Yeong Tae-Il's face was scarily blank and Tsuna knew that he had screwed up… big time.
He quickly got to his feet and flailed his arms around, trying to articulate what his words were unable to say. "T-T-Tae-Il! It's not… I-I'm not… I-It's o-okay! I'm okay! G-Gokudera-kun didn't m-mean to-!" Tsuna's protests were immediately silenced when positively livid golden-eyes fell on the brunet's battered, bruised, and scantily-clad body.
A heartbeat passed.
Then two.
Then suddenly, Gokudera Hayato was on the ground once more, this time with a bleeding – and definitely broken – nose and the tensed form of the Tae-Il looming over the silver-haired teen.
A foot slammed down onto Gokudera's chest and he let out a pained, strangled gasp; one of his hands moving upwards to try and staunch the blood-flow from his face, while the other feebly grasped at Tae-Il's ankle.
"Y-You bastard…!" Gokudera ground out harshly, his voice slightly muffled by his hand.
"… No… you bastard." The teal-haired teen's voice was calm – eerily so – and it was only Tae-Il's years of training and discipline that kept his body from shaking in pure anger and rage. "I don't know what the fuck happened and frankly, I don't care. All I see is, all I need to know, is that my best friend is injured and that you are the responsible party…"
"T-Tae-Il! I-It's not-!" Once again, the brunet's words were cut off when the older teen glared angrily at him, betrayal and protectiveness lacing his golden eyes.
Tae-Il held Tsuna's gaze for a moment, before turning his attention back to the silver-haired teen underneath his foot.
"… I'll tell you how things are run around here, since you are so obviously new and all…" Tae-Il leaned forward, placing more pressure on the Gokudera's chest and drawing out another strained gasp of pain. "Sawada Tsunayoshi is under my protection – and by extension, the protection of the entire Hibari and Yeong clans… what you just did to him is quite… unacceptable. You have just brought down the wrath of over four-hundred trained martial artists and fighters on you… but," the taekwondo practitioner slammed his other foot down on the Gokudera's wrist – there was a loud and audible crack – which had been inching its' way into a pocket on the younger teen's pants, "You needn't worry about them… I will make sure that you pay for your transgressions."
"T-Tae-Il…!"
The teal-haired teen raised his foot – the one that had been steadily applying a painful amount of pressure on silver-haired teen's chest – and slammed it back down.
Another gasp.
"Tae-Il!"
Another raise.
Another slam.
"It seems like you favor the usage of explosives – if the burn marks on your hands and Tsuna is any indication… I wonder if I can cause the same injuries using just my hands…?"
Another raise.
Another slam.
A shout of pain this time.
Another raise.
Another slam-
"TAE-IL!" Tsuna lurched forward and grabbed a hold of his friend's arm – yanking it roughly. "Please stop!"
The older teen allowed the brunet to tug him backwards – and subsequently off Gokudera – but shook Tsuna's hand off after being pulled back a few feet.
Tae-Il closed his eyes and took in a deep, sharp breath before exhaling loudly. His muscles were loosed and relaxed now – a far cry from the poised and coiled state they were just in, reminding Tsuna of a predator ready to strike. After a few minutes of silence, Tae-Il opened his eyes and pinned Tsuna with a biting glare.
"… I gave you a chance, Tsuna," Tae-Il murmured in a dangerously soft voice, "a chance to solve whatever you had gotten yourself into, but… I can't just sit by and watch you get hurt when I can – or could have - done something about it!"
Tsuna stared at his friend with a remorseful expression. "Tae-Il…"
The older teen moved forward and grasped Tsuna's shoulders. "Tell me… tell me what the fuck is going on, Tsuna!"
VI.
"I…"
For a heartbeat, Tsuna wonders just how far he can fly with Tae-Il by his side… For a heartbeat, Tsuna wants to tell, wants the reassurance and protection and unquestionable safety that his friend will provide… For a heartbeat, Tsuna is about to tell Tae-Il – his best friend – everything… but he doesn't.
He can't and he won't.
Instead, the brunet takes a deep breath and exhales slowly – "The key to staying calm in any situation is to remember to breathe, Tsuna." – and flashes Tae-Il a reassuring smile, one the older teen doesn't buy if the narrowing of his golden-eyes is any indication.
"… It's nothing you need to worry about, Tae-Il." Tsuna's proud that his voice doesn't waver, doesn't break, as he speaks.
Tae-Il draws his hands back as if he had been burned and a cool masks slips on the teal-haired teen's face. His body is relaxed and calm yet, his gaze is unreadable and for a second Tsuna wonders if this is the calm before the storm – the moment when Tae-Il will finally snap and unleash his true anger on Gokudera and then onto him and-
Tae-Il takes a single step back and turns around swiftly in one smooth, fluid motion.
He walks away without saying a word.
Wow, it's been five years since I last wrote a Dying Will Mode persona…
Hope you all enjoyed and please let me know what you all thought!