Chapter 5: The Chess Pieces
He really should be feeling guilty that he wasn't listening to the words his two sempais were saying but he really could care less about the school he already knew about since Reborn forced him to memorize the blueprint of the school and its information from top to bottom and from left to right (for ONE whole day, mind you).
Because really, he had a more important ...thing to do (or well, figure out).
Tsuna stared at the back of one Giotto Vongola, trying so hard not to burn a hole through the shirt, hiding his stares as inconspicuously as possible. He couldn't help it, really. The guy interests him (not in that way, you fools. He isn't gay). That and well… There was one thing that kept bothering him, you see. Giotto-sama (according to the fanboys that were screaming his name) had the surname Vongola though he hasn't heard of a 'Giotto Vongola' before and that's saying something. For the two or three years Reborn trained him in becoming the best Vongola boss out there, one of the weird things Reborn made him do was - he was forced to familiarize himself with everyone in the Vongola Empire (including the servants and the most distant relatives of his), memorizing each and every one – but as he dug deeper in his memory, the name Giotto Vongola still didn't ring a bell.
His hand, which was hidden in his two-sizes-too-big of a sweater pockets, unconsciously twitched – a tell-tale sign that he was getting impatient - and the boring talk about a school he already knew about added to it. He wanted answers and Reborn has them and he wanted him NOW (though anyone from the Vongola HQ is okay too, just as long as he gets some answers but Reborn knows almost everything, so he's the best choice).
Tsuna cringed when he replayed his earlier thoughts.
Damn, that sounded too selfish. First day only and already this impatient. I knew this school wasn't good for me. Ugh. I miss Italy – and that's saying something.
He puffed out his cheeks, totally becoming submerged in his thoughts and totally becoming uncaring of his surroundings.
Giotto.
Giotto looked at the boy right next to him. A tuft of brunette hair met him. He was surprised that he didn't need to look down too much. He thought that Sawada Tsunayoshi was short – a head smaller than him – because from afar, he really looked short but he thought wrong. Maybe it was the big clothes that he wore or the hideous glasses that made him smaller but Tsunayoshi was just an inch or two smaller than him, reaching his ear and Asari's (both he and Asari were of the same height).
He was once again, surprised when their eyes met. Even though the glasses were blocking his view, he knew that the boy was also looking at him. He smiled the smile he was known for – his killer smile that made fanboys and fangirls kneel at his feet (not that they're not kneeling at his feet already even without his smile, the name Vongola makes up for it) but once again, the boy wasn't affected. Tsunayoshi just returned his smile with a timid one and then he looked to Asari's direction, listening intently. He blinked. Twice. The boy was interesting. Terribly interesting. And with what Lambo said about him being 'cute' just added to it. A strange light passed his eyes. He was planning and thinking. He grinned inwardly, excited.
He met Asari's eyes that were saying 'stop whatever you're planning' but Giotto just winked at him, leaving it at that.
Tsunayoshi.
Tsuna groaned. Even though he was submerged in his thoughts earlier, he saw the exchange between the two guys in his sides, especially that strange glint that passed through the eyes of the blond Vongola and he knew (how? Ask his hyper intuition) that it was him they were talking about. His inner self cursed Reborn once again. He was the root of this all.
Damn him.
Tsuna just sighed for the nth time before composing himself. He might as well get his needed information when it was just them. Besides, he's not certain that Reborn would give him the information about what he needed, so the best thing to do would be to just get it from the man himself. He cleared his throat, and looked at Giotto's direction. He started the conversation.
"Giotto-sempai." He squeaked, complete turning on his Dame-mode. "U-Uhm." He heard a 'hmm' from the guy. "Can… Can I a-ask someth-thing? A-about you, I mean. I... I'm curious about you."
Giotto slowed down his walk and turned to Tsuna.
"Curious eh? What do you want to know? Haha. I'll answer what I can so shoot."
Tsuna breathed deeply before asking the question that was plaguing his mind.
"A-are you the next D-Decimo of V-Vongola? I mean, o-of course, uhm, w-well, b-because you're… well, y-you're surname is V-Vongola. I-I mean.. S-sorry. You d-don't need to a-answer that. I-I was ge-getting ahe-" He stopped when he heard Giotto and Asari chuckle.
"No, Tsunayoshi. I'm not but I was… no, nevermind. Sorry, but I can't tell you that right now. Because of Omerta and all. Sorry. Haha. Just… know that I'm not the Decimo."
Of course, Omerta would ruin it all. Tch. The code of silence. Then I really need to ask Reborn about this.
Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows and Giotto noticed this. He chuckled once again.
"You know, I can tell you that but then before that happens, we need to know if you're trustworthy and all that. This is a mafia school, after all, and no matter how much you stutter or how timid you are, it doesn't change that you're still a Mafioso, more so a Mafioso under the Vongola."
You don't know how spot on you are. Moreover, I'm not just a Mafioso… I'm a Mafioso BOSS… Well, soon-to-be anyway. I should be the one saying sorry for lying to you.
Giotto continued. "Anyway, I think I can tell you something about me. Just like you said, I'm a Vongola. From the direct lineage of the Vongola or not, I can't tell you but this one thing, I suppose I can." He muttered the last part. "I'm one of those ba-" He was cut off when Asari clutched his elbow.
"Sorry Tsuna. He can't tell you that, even if it's ok for him. Even if you're under Vongola, just as you don't know much about Giotto's life, we too, do not know much about you." Asari muttered another sorry before changing the subject. He resumed talking about the Science laboratory floor, totally acting like nothing happened, except for the facts that Tsuna noticed how tense his shoulders were, and how distant Giotto's eyes suddenly seem.
He was more curious as ever. It was two times that Giotto stopped what he was about to say. He wondered what the continuation of the 'I was' was and what word the 'Ba' was supposed to be.
He couldn't wait to know more about Giotto, and he'll do what he can to get it out of Reborn, and if Reborn or any of his sources wouldn't answer, then he'll be forced to hack through the Vongola Archives (of course he was also taught to hack stuff, especially company archives and what not. Why though? He still didn't have the privilege to know the deepest darkest secrets of Vongola).
True, he shouldn't pry about other's businesses, but he learnt everything he knew from Reborn, who was a prying I-want, no, he was a prying i-need-to-know-everything-about-you-even-if-you-don't-want-me-to kind of guy so it wasn't a surprise if Tsuna was influenced by some of Reborn's attitude and characteristics. Besides, he was also brought up as the Vongola Decimo to know everything about his famiglia – history, relatives, and all other information – so it was a surprise to him when he didn't know this one Vongola here, especially one with the surname of Vongola.
AbruptTimeSkip
Tsuna… didn't know what to say. He was speechless. Terribly. Dumbfounded. And pissed. Yeah. He was pissed. Nothing he hoped to happen when he got here actually happened. Nothing goes his way. Gosh. Just how terrible is his luck?
A gust of wind blew over the field where twenty nine students can be found scattered throughout its sides, their focus on two other individuals standing in the centre.
The sky was as blue as it could be and a few clouds can be seen here and there. It wasn't that hot nor was it that windy. It was the perfect weather for a fight.
A fight.
Tsuna shook his hands before putting it into his sweater's pockets. He grimaced, hating what was about to happen. He didn't like this. At all.
He noticed Gokudera glaring at him. Tempted to glare back, he just stood up straighter and looked away. Still, his eyes met narrowed brown orbs. Yamamoto was looking at him like a cornered prey. Having enough, the twitch he was trying to control broke lose. Thankfully though, no one noticed it.
He sighed one last time when he saw their 'referee', who was a classmate of his, starting to signal a go. He tried to remember how his peaceful morning turned to a chaotic lunch time.
First of all, he was with his dorm leaders slash tour guides, Giotto and Asari. The three of them were touring for a full hour and a half and the tour was about to finish, the training grounds the only place left to go to. They were about to go there when a classmate of his guides came stumbling down the stairs, mumbling about G, Varia and explosives. His two sempais immediately snapped awake (because really, the tour was utterly boring, even Tsuna yawned a few three or four times (discreetly of course)) at the mention of explosives. Giotto hurriedly went up the stairs first while Asari left to go help the student. Having no other choice, Tsuna also tried to help the fellow other student but Asari just told him a 'sorry' and a 'we'll continue the tour some other time' and another 'sorry' –then smile, before going to the infirmary.
He was left standing in the middle of the corridor like an idiot. He didn't exactly know what to do so he just opted to go back to his class. That was where things got wrong. He shouldn't have come back to that classroom of his.
The moment he was about to open the door, the door itself opened (or was more like slammed). Thank God the door was designed to go inside or else, he would have been sporting a bloody nose by now. Since he was looking down, his eyes slowly travelled upwards but he already knew who the other person was. The skull-decorated belt was already a dead give-away. Tsuna inwardly cursed his bad luck. Gokudera said a few more profanities at him before bumping his shoulder. Hard. And then his classmates came pouring out, bringing him with them to wherever they wanted to.
And so, after that, he was dragged here to the training grounds to be 'evaluated' by his classmates because 'Gokudera said so'. (Gokudera was one of the strongest in the class, on par with Yamamoto, so they follow him –this Tsuna just found out earlier… That or his temper was just plain scary)
Really, ever since I stepped into this school, all that's been happening to me is pure, utter chaos. Dam- Woah.
Tsuna ducked just in time when a punch came flying his way. Gokudera hissed. Tsuna winced. Tsuna felt the air that came from the punch. That arm of his was as strong as a CEDEF member's.
"Tch. Stop spacing out and fight me for real, idiot." Tsuna half-listened to Gokudera's ranting but the rest of his mind was still stuck in the other places in his mind.
Let's see. I have two choices. Fight like the Decimo or fight like Dame-Tsuna?
Tsuna was on auto-pilot mode. He was just ducking and avoiding all of Gokudera's advances. He heard another tch (and a few more profanities) from his opponent before a right hook took him by surprise. He staggered backwards, nearly unable to block an incoming kick coming from his side. He clicked his tongue when continuous attacks followed him. This was getting annoying.
He jumped to the side, trying to stop Gokudera from moving.
"Wait! Wait! Wai—Argh." Once again, he was caught off-guard. Tsuna clutched his stomach, dropping to the ground. Damn. That hurt like hell.
Gokudera scoffed at him. "There's no 'wait' in fights, you idiot." He proceeded to pummel Tsuna when Tsuna had enough. "Tch. I wonder why you were even accepted into this school when you can't even handle this much. I'm not even using my attribute. You're no good at all."
Tsuna snapped when Gokudera said 'no good'. True, he was acting like one but that was for school only. He didn't know half of what Tsuna was going through in this school. Mission be damned, he was in a fight, damnit.
All righty! Fight like the Decimo it is. Sorry Reborn, but this is a fight concerning my pride. Dame-Tsuna be damned.
Tsuna clutched the arm Gokudera was using to punch him and spun him, letting go once enough force and speed were applied. There was a chorus of 'oohh's and 'woahh's that immediately filled the training grounds as Gokudera stumbled away from Tsuna.
"I said wait, didn't I? This isn't a real fight anyway, so there are time-outs and I only wanted to get more… comfortable." With this, Tsuna walked a bit further from where he was standing and took off his school sweater, folding his sleeves in the process. He clutched the ring in his neck that was dangling in a mammon chain. He was terribly tempted to use his sky ring but then that would be a dead giveaway to what he was hiding and thus, he would fail his mission in the process (or more like fail it more). He left it at that and just took the other rings in his other pocket – there were five rings in total: 2 class-B rings, 1 class-A and 2 class-S rain-attribute rings. He took the class-B and class-A, putting each in his middle and ring fingers.
He went back to his former spot and signalled Gokudera that it was now okay to proceed with the fight but Gokudera didn't move.
"You're not taking off your glasses? Is your face the fucking ugly that you won't take them off even in a fight?" Gokudera hissed, apparently very pissed off.
Tsuna ignored him. He didn't need to tell him the reason why. There'll be another time for that. And besides, he could still fight like how he does even in normal circumstances, though the continuous slipping of his glasses could become distracting.
He should even feel lucky. It'll be the first time in a long time I'm going to use my flames to produce another one. Ugh. That would take double the amount of energy I need to use to produce flames.
He stood in his spot once again, his position was like that of a bored one but still, even though his stance was like that, his audience still felt the strength oozing out of him. Tsuna rubbed the rings in his fingers. He was contemplating once again on what to do first.
Sooo. I take back what I said… If I fight like how I usually do and in the possible outcome that I beat him, I might receive numerous fight 'proposals' and that would ruin my supposed-to-be peaceful life here. Not that it isn't ruined already. God, let this be quick.
"-mn. You should just go back to wherever you ca- Ugh."
Gokudera didn't expect the left hook in his gut that came from Tsuna. He was stunned when he met with Tsuna's eyes (Tsuna's glasses slipped off his nose), not expecting the glare that was present in it. He thought the kid didn't have it in him to possess such intense emotions. He blocked an incoming attack from his left, a small 'bam' echoing in the field – the force of the punch strong enough to make him skid a few steps back. He spat out whatever liquid was in his mouth, wiping his mouth after. He tried to compose himself but he didn't get too for too long when he felt a side kick from Tsuna, hitting his chest in the process.
"Argh. Cough. Ugh. Shit. This Tsuna kid means business. Whoever said he was weak?"
Gokudera tried to punch Tsuna but Tsuna just blocked it like it was a fly buzzing around. He aimed a kick to Gokudera's legs but Gokudera just jumped, also aiming a kick in mid-air at Tsuna's head.
A pattern took place. Tsuna would attack. Gokudera would block. Gokudera would attack next then Tsuna would block. This continued on for a few minutes and everyone totally forgot that the two fighting had their own attributes to fight with. They were that much into the fight. As for the fighter's themselves, this was their side.
Tsuna knew he still had the rain attribute rings and he could use them all he wanted but since he didn't want to waste more of his energy into a fight he was already exerting energy more than usual (it's been so long since he fought with trying to not put his all into his punches and kicks, so doing something like this exerted double the energy he usually use), he didn't use the rings.
As for Gokudera's side, he totally got into the 'street-fight' kind of style they were into that he forgot that he could use his flames and his explosives. And also, for him, this kind of fight would be like a real man to man fight.
They continued their punching-kicking spree, not even taking a minute break to get their breaths back. Tsuna caught a glint from the side and his eyes widened. He saw an opening in Gokudera's stance and he kicked him to the side – hard, making Gokudera fly a few feet back.
BANG.
But of course, like any other fights that has been continuing for far too long with no outcome taking place, someone just had to interrupt it. The sound of the gunshot broke everyone from their reverie and they just stood still, silently contemplating on whether to continue on watching the two fighters or whether to look for the guy responsible for the shot.
Idiots.
Tsuna panted for a while before slumping down on the ground, acting like Dame-Tsuna once again. He winced when a bruised part of his body got pressed down too hard. He stared at the still-smoking bullet hole in front of him then at the place where he saw the glint come from. It was in one of the buildings nearest to the training grounds. He knew, even if he didn't see the person, he knew already who did it. He groaned.
Reborn. Damn it. You were obviously aiming to shoot either me or Gokudera. Wait, that was a stupid thought. It was obviously me he was aiming for. Shoot. Still, what would have happened if I didn't kick Gokudera away earlier?
Tsuna stayed on his position for a while before standing up, taking his things on the ground and continuing on his way to his dorm room (the dorms were just near the training grounds so instead of just going to his class room, he opted for his dorm and 'sides, he was sweaty).
REBORN! Stop making may life harder than it already it. Tsk.
He made his way to his destination, completely ignoring the looks given to him from his spectators. He looked at Gokudera who, surprise, surprise, was not glaring at him. He raised an eyebrow before, once again, looking at the rooftop of one of the buildings. He saw a dark silhouette just like that from yesterdays.
Psh. Looks like I caught the attention of more people. Double damn. It seems like it won't be long before I get discovered. Give me two weeks, three or four at most, before they find out who I really am. Before that though, I need to train my body once again. Ugh. I haven't sparred in too long because of the paperwork Grandpa gave me when I was in Italy.
Yamamoto.
Yamamoto's eyes flickered between Tsuna and the bullet hole. He had been watching the whole time, observing the new student who was the second person to notice his fake smiles and happiness. And the whole time he was observing, based on the Sawada kid's movements, he was not giving his all into the fight even though it looked like that to normal people's sight. Tsuna even looked like he was holding back… except for that last kick he gave Gokudera though. It was different from the other kicks he delivered and…
"No. Actually, that last kick was different but… it wasn't meant to hurt Hayato. It actually even looked like Sawada kicked him in purpose just so that they could avoid the bullet. But then that would mean that that kid knew about the bullet coming."
His eyes narrowed. Yamamoto may act like a dense, naïve guy in the class room, but he actually had the wits and the intelligence though not just as high as Gokudera's or Tsuna's.
"What are you really hiding behind that hideous getup, Sawada?"
._.
Elsewhere in a classroom.
"Hmm. It seems like we got an interesting new student, don't we, Gio-kun~," A white-haired male with hair-defying-gravity like that of Tsuna's and Giotto's said in a sing-song voice to the man in his left. They were also watching the fight that took place a few minutes ago in their classroom. That and there was a flat-screen television that broadcasted the fight, live. "And it seems like he's under your wing again. Ni-ice isn't it~ Is he as interesting as he seems to be?"
A grumble was heard from the man beside Giotto. "Shut it, Byakuran. Don't even think about going near the kid. We don't want a repeat of what happened last year so don't come near him. Tsk."
"G. G. G-kun. I was just trying to be friendly with the freshmen from last year. How would I know that showering them with a marshmallowy love would scare them?"
"Byakuran-san. Please. Stop. Classes are about to start." Irie Shouichi, Byakuran's vice president and vice dorm leader, sighed at his dorm leader's antics. "Leave them alone. Please."
"Your assistant's right, Byakuran." G., who has an unknown real name because of something that happened about his past (he keeps it a secret), said. "You should follow your minions because it looks like they make more sense than you and that marshmallow incident that you started wasn't scary. It was just plain creepy when hundreds of marshmallow started to arrive from different countries. The kids were traumatized at least for a week because of those things. Tsk. Who would even be that addicted to marshmallows in the first place?"
Byakuran didn't say anything but he smiled that sickly sweet smile of his. Everyone, even those that was at the far end of the room (they were in their classroom, alright?) felt the temperature around them drop. Everyone knew that whoever dare insult or mock Byakuran's marshmallow-loving tendencies would receive a harsh or else. Giotto stopped his musings and instead, started to focus on whatever was happening around him.
"Stop it, G. Don't even think about starting another fight when you just did one earlier. If you repeat a fight again, god knows that I'll keep all your weapons, explosives and rings, so stop it. As for you, Byakuran, leave the new kid alone. Bother him when he gets used to things here. No. Wait. That came out wrong. I meant… don't bother him. Please. But I agree with you though… He is interesting but he's under my wing, so leave him alone."
"Aww, that sucks, Gio-Kun~. I thought you would at least share him with us." Byakuran pouted. He was about to continue when their subject teacher came in. He stopped whatever he was about to say and just instead looked out the window, focusing his sight in the training field near them, seeing almost that the students were dispersing. He grinned inwardly when he saw the new student walking towards the dorms. The mop of brown hair wasn't hard to miss. He chuckled. He had a feeling that with the new addition of the new kid, this year would be different. What more with the mission the higher ups gave them about the Vongola Decimo.
Giotto observed Byakuran for a while before he too, looked outside the window to stare at the brunette hair sticking out. Because of the topic they were talking about earlier, his musings came back to revolve around that topic - the new student – Sawada Tsunayoshi. Even though Asari tried to change the subject they were talking about earlier, he knew that Asari was still bothered by it. That topic of his life wasn't really that appreciated nor was it accepted to talk about openly. And this he knew. But it was his life and he was okay with it. He would even actually prefer if everyone knew about it so they wouldn't look at him with those kinds of worshipping eyes. That topic hadn't been talked about for a long time and Sawada Tsunayoshi, a newcomer, was the one who opened it again. The kid… The kid was innocently curious and even though this was a mafia school, with Giotto's intuition, Giotto couldn't help but trust the boy because well, it just feels right to. That was the reason why he was willing to tell that one fact about him.
He once again sighed when his musings were cut short. He lazily looked at the teacher who called him before answering the question. One last thought passed through him though before he left to answer the question.
He couldn't help but feel this attachment to the new student.
Okay, so like.. i"m sorry. :D It took me 3... 4 months to update? SORRY. gosh. you don't know how much i tried to finish this chapter. i lost my freaking motivation to read and write and i haven't even proofread the whole story yet because i wanted to update as soon as possible, so i'm sorry if you see any mistakes. the fight between gokudera and tsuna sucked. because i have no idea how to write a freaking fight scene. i watch and read it but i can't write it. yeah. i suck that much. haha. sorry. anyway, this chapter was cut in half ( the other half was the other POVS of the other guys who saw the fight and the club hunting and more interaction.) yeah. sooo. sorry if the other characters are OOC. i write based on what i want eh. haha.
right.. i forgot. haha. my vocabulary's limited (english isn't my first language and i'm still learning to perfect my english. :P haha. at least my grammar's (somewhat) okay, no?) and i tend to forget what appropriate words to use in some parts so forgive me if other sentences aren't appropriate for the scene. :D anyway..
i promise to reply to your reviews starting this moment (or whenever i get free time and enough motivation to open the laptop).
alsssoooo. please vote on the poll in my profile about who you want to be paired with tsuna.
I'LL TRY TO UPDATE BY TSUNA or REBORN's BIRTHDAY THIS OCTOBER. YEY~ (i finally bought this reborn plushie i've been wanting since years ago).
REVIEWS, guys~ i get extremely happy when i read your reviews.. though.. one liner-reviews are a bit.. well.. haha. so..please? :D i want to improve my writing if that's possible. THANK YOU FOR READING. :)
