Disclaimer: Amano Akira owns Katekyo Hitman Reborn, all rights go to her.
DEDICATED TO: ANGEL DESCENDANT
Tsuna stood in his dark blue hoodie, in front of the abandoned warehouse. His brown hair tousled by the gentle night breeze, body frozen.
"Are you scared?" asked the man beside him.
Of course he was scared! Who did Reborn think he is?
He's Dame- Tsuna! DAME –TSUNA WHO CAN'T DO ANYTHING!
Tsuna took a deep breath and chose to stay silent.
Reborn tipped his fedora and gave Tsuna's back a kick.
"Get moving."
Gulping, Tsuna took a shaky step forward.
Soon, he was inside the warehouse – also known as his grave.
He did not dare call out, for if he did, it would leave him with less time to plan a way to escape.
Then again, there was the devil known as Reborn.
"We're here," Reborn called out.
Echoes greeted them, along with a faint scratching sound.
The noise got louder and louder as it got closer to them.
As delinquents surrounded them, Tsuna's fear became more prominent within himself.
Was he going to fight all these people himself?
His eyes focused on one person, standing in front of all the others.
"Tsuna, how wonderful of you to join us tonight," Mochida sneered.
"E-eh?"
"Anyway, Let's begin. You know the rules of an F-class battle don't you?"
"F- F-class battle?"
"You don't?"
Mochida's gaze turned to Reborn.
"Some tutor you are," he scoffed.
Reborn stiffened. He did explain it to Tsuna. It's too bad Tsuna is such an idiot.
"An F-class battle is known as 'dash'. And it's just that- dashing. It's a race. First one to the finish line wins. In this case however, first one to get the emblems win."
"Oh. That. Right, Reborn taught me," Tsuna mumbled, a blush appearing on his face.
"Let's start then. The starting point will be the Namimori hill."
…
Tsuna stood nervously at the starting line, hands fidgeting with the hem of his hoodie. He looked to the left, where he saw Mochida also wearing a hoodie with his school pants, only that his was red.
One of Mochida's followers stood some way beside them, hand holding a chequered flag.
"Starting point is Namimori hill, the goal is the Namimori school clock tower, and first one to get the emblems wins. Ready… set… GO!"
Cheers erupted around them, nearly deafening Tsuna.
"Wai- Wha? I'm not-!"
Mochida sped ahead of him, body leaning forward, knees bent between a sit and a stand. His arms kept firmly at his side, he glanced back and threw Tsuna a smirk.
Tsuna could only gape as Mochida disappeared from his line of sight. A shoe hit him from somewhere within the crowd, jeers following soon after.
Lowering his brown head down in embarrassment, he got into position and lamely started off, slowly but surely gaining speed.
"Tsuna-kun! / Tsuna-san!" Two familiar voices cried out.
"Hurry up!"
Glancing up, Tsuna saw Haru and Kyoko standing on one of the building's rooftop.
"Hahi! He's already at the conjunction! Tsuna-kun hurry!"
"We know you can do this Tsuna-san!"
Tsuna gave them a feeble smile as he sped up once again, though it was mostly the dark figure with the sadistic smile and fedora behind the girls that motivated him to attempt to catch up.
Tsuna watched his surroundings go blur as he kept skating down the hill- the hill with the cliff which he had fallen off during Reborn's training, also where he had his first flight which ended with plenty of bruises and cuts unfortunately.
He slowed down a bit here, not wanting to fall off again, when he realised he saw Mochida's familiar head down below the cliff, skating down a winding road.
"Mochida…?"
His head snapped up in realisation as he saw the school tower in direct line of his sight. All it would take was just one jump.
One jump and he could be closer to the clock tower than Mochida.
One jump, one landing.
Could he do it?
Tsuna stopped and stood there for a moment, mind drowning in his internal battle.
Reborn, who had followed him, watched silently, not making his presence known.
The reason why he had training Tsuna at this cliff was just for that reason.
He knew there was no way Tsuna could win in terms of speed but if he knew a shortcut, a risky shortcut, surely he could have a chance.
"Tsuna, Air Treks are all about flying."
He watched in disappointment as Tsuna turned around and made his way back to the road from the edge of the cliff and continue skating down the safer road.
Reborn turned around and decided to make his way back to his house, where he could tell the Nono that Tsuna could never lead the –
His thoughts were interrupted as a loud yell came from behind him, along with the familiar scraping of air treks against the ground.
"Tsuna! Did he…?"
Indeed, Tsuna was balancing precariously on the edge of the cliff, as if he had tried to jump off but chickened out at the last second.
And yes he did.
Tsuna needed to win this race; it had Kyouko and Haru's team badge on the line.
If it was something else then perhaps it was fine.
But this… this is important. He had managed to talk to them, the two birds who had always seemed so free in the sky, he couldn't let them down by chickening out of a jump.
He had to do this, and he knew he could.
He did it once, and he survived.
But he had reborn to help him then, this time he was alone.
This cliff overlooked nearly the whole of Namimori, which means it is not of a very easy height. However… that sensation he had while flying.
The feeling of the wind carrying him, lifting him up.
The feeling of freedom, looking over the whole of Namimori.
The feeling of being weightless, as if gravity did not affect him.
That feeling, he missed it.
He wanted to feel it one more time.
He… he needed to fly.
Who cares if he does not land properly?
Who cares if he breaks a bone or two?
The delinquents would probably be happy.
Haru and Kyouko might be worried, but at least he tried.
Heck, maybe even reborn would be proud.
And so with that-
"GAH!" Tsuna hollered as a blast of wind blasted him from behind as he wasted time just thinking on the cliff.
Tsuna turned around midair and saw reborn with one foot up in the air, the two wheels on his air trek whirring.
Reborn looked down on him from beneath his fedora and stated simply in a monotonous voice, "You were taking too long."
Tsuna paled.
Reborn stared at him for a moment.
"Tsuna, you are the person closest to the sky."
And with those simple words, Reborn flipped himself and started walking away from the face of the cliff, leaving Tsuna alone.
"I… am the person closest to the sky?"
With those words in mind, Tsuna turned himself around to face to direction he was falling, only to see a path laid out before him.
It was a path yet there was… no solid road.
It was a path made out of wind, yet he knew that just by entering, just by following that path… he could most probably win this.
Probably.
And so he shifted his body's centre of gravity and plunged himself into the path.
And it was there that the magic happened.
His form started accelerating even more, his body moving naturally as if he had been doing this all his life.
His senses rushed, dull yet taking everything in.
He watched as the whole of Namimori was spread out beneath his feet, as the twinkling lights of the night brightened up the town.
He spread his arms out and let out a soft laugh of amazement, mirth also evident.
He was flying.
He was flying.
He knew at once, this was how it felt to fly.
It was better than anything he had ever tried before.
The rush of adrenaline, the ecstasy, the feeling of freedom.
But as they say, all good things must come to an end.
Mochida was near the school tower, too near for Tsuna's comfort.
He needed to be closer, closer.
But the only way to reach the clock tower first would be to break out of this path.
"No… Just a little bit more. I'll follow this path for just a bit more. I don't want to leave here," He thought.
Mochida was so close now, he just had to turn a corner and he would be inside Namimori middle school.
Tsuna twisted his body into a diving position, just as how Reborn had taught him to do.
Mochida was climbing the stairs towards the top of the school tower now.
Tsuna once again twisted himself, this time into a landing position.
Mochida is reaching over to grab the badges…
Tsuna lands…
Mochida's head is used as a landing platform by Tsuna.
"HIEE! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I was supposed to land of the roof but I and then –" Tsuna babbled.
"Tsuna." Reborn cut in.
"E-eh? Reborn how did you get here so fast?" Tsuna asked.
"I'm a professional storm rider. But anyway, you won. In a kind of anti-climatic way, but I'm not complaining."
"W-what?"
"Look at your hand."
In Tsuna's hand were two gleaming emblems; one which was of the midnight bandit's and the other the air kendoka's.
"A-ah…"
Tsuna looked down at the unconscious Mochida and then to the emblems in his hand.
"I- I won."
"Hahi! Tsuna-san won! Haru knew he could do it!" Haru exclaimed and tackled Tsuna for a hug.
Kyouko appeared beside Reborn and said, "Congratulations Tsuna, you did it."
A genial smile appeared on her lips, and all that Tsuna could do in Haru's chokehold was let out a strangled cry for breath.
"Hahi! Haru is sorry!"
"Let's go back dame-Tsuna, you still have school tomorrow," said Reborn.
Tsuna gave a quick nod, a silly grin still on his face from the joy of actually winning against Mochida.
"Wait a moment!" one of Mochida's followers growled out.
"We won't accept this!"
A chorus of 'yea!' followed.
Reborn shot them a glare, effectively shutting them up.
He put a hand on Tsuna's shoulder, took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Do you not know who he is?"
Most of the delinquents gulped and shook their head.
"He is the next leader of the Vongola, meaning he is your leader, and his." Reborn's foot nudged Mochida's lifeless body.
"W-What?"
In other parts of the world, they sky has stirred up the weather.
"Kyouya-san, the next leader of the Vongola has been determined. He saw the sky road."
"Hn."
..
"Gokudera, go to Namimori."
"Che, already? Did he…?"
"Yes."
...
"Sempai! It's all over the web; a boy saw the sky road!"
"THAT IS EXTREME! Let's go look for him Yamamoto!"
"Ahahahaha!"
?
"Lambo, you are going to go on a very important mission now. You will need to look for the boy who saw the sky road in Namimori, Japan."
"But Lambo is hungry~"
.. Mist.
"Kufufufufu… Ken, Chikusa, I have found my next vessel."
A/N: Right, so how long has it been? 2 months? I'm not abandoning this though, that you should know. I'm determined to finish this, no matter how long it may take. Not sure about the quality of this chapter, 2 months of not writing and I feel as if my ability has decreased.
Dedicated to Angel Descendant. Happy birthday and I hope you liked this chapter! GO WISH HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOW BECAUSE SHE IS AWESOME. :D
Happy (belated) Valentine's to everyone else!
Some shameless self promotion: Do check out the original story project that I have on fiction press. It's under the same pen name by the way. What's up for now is just a rough draft, I will be posting another more polished one up soon.