Hello everyone!

Here is the second chapter! Maybe you all think why it takes me so fast in updating the second chapter. Well...this chapter was originally a part of the previous chapter but then, I decided to separate it because it is too long.

Thank you for those who faves and follows, especially Belle-Kurama-style-bankai and Koneko-sempai who also left the reviews. ^^...

And...special thanks to Daylite for the help in editing sentence construction, grammars in this story. ^^

Just for information :

Normal

Narration

'Thoughts'

Emphasis

Latin words

So...here it is. The second chapter.

Hope you all enjoy the story.

Disclaimer : I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or any of its characters.

Chapter Two. First Encounter

It was never a leisure city. Busy and crowded were the best words to describe the whole town. With the celebration of festival, the city was far livelier than ever, even the residents were sleepless at night. The melancholic autumn suddenly turned into a bright autumn as the celebration brought warmth along with cheers, laughter and joys to the town.

At the market, near the town hall...

Two men who were dressed formally in royal guard uniform with one arm holding a sharp spear while a shield was gripped firmly at the other hand and a sword tied tightly to their waist band, was seemed to be investigating all around the town, mostly at the most crowded place.

"Have you found the second prince?" Panic was drawn all over his expression while he was looking around in the crowd, trying to search for the second crown prince of the Vongola, Tsunayoshi di Cielo.

"Not yet. Let's split up again to look for him. We only have few hours before evening or should I say...before we face a very pissed counselor Reborn." said the second man in the same panicky voice but there was a bit tone of warning in it.

The man who asked the question just now, gulped at the statement. He knew the risk he- both of them would face as a guard if they failed in their mission to guard Prince Tsunayoshi di Cielo during His Highness's walk at the Sun Festival. They wouldn't be fired or thrown into jail but before that they would face a very pissed of counselor Reborn. Of course it wouldn't be a pleasant chattering, of course, for them.

However, of all people that would be angry to them, no one could ever be scarier than the overprotective elder brother, Prince Giotto di Cielo. If he knew what happened, they would become dead meat.

Just the thoughts of it were enough to send shivers down their spine. It was at the same level as nightmare for it was a pure torture itself.

"We'll meet again here within one and a half hours. Use the 'signal' once you found him."

"Same with you."

With that, they parted on their ways. One went right and the other to the left. They didn't even realize the mischievous gaze of a pair of brown eyes belonged to a young boy who was standing near the florist seller. A smirk flashed across his young face as he made sure both guards were far enough so he could leave the shop without being noticed by them.

'My disguise works well. With this plain outfit, they would hardly recognize me.' the brown haired boy praised himself silently as he quickly paid the lady for the Baby Breath flowers he bought.

"Wait a minute, young boy." called the lady when he was about to leave the shop, "Take this Sun Flower with you."

"For me?"

"Yes. It's a common tradition of giving Sun Flower during the Sun Festival for wishing someone to have bright and beautiful days."

The brown haired boy smiled brightly as he replied 'thank you' to the lady and handed her another Sun Flower, placing on her stall made of wood along with a golden coin to pay the flower. "This is for you. May you have a bright and beautiful day, too madam." He said, earning thanks and smile from that lady.

After that he turned around and walked along with the crowd, enjoying the fascinating sight of the Sun Festival. To be free without guards behind him, watching his every move, meant absolute freedom for him. It meant not being bind by royal rules or having to announce his existence as a prince among the commoners. Besides, he himself didn't like to be guarded when he walked among citizens, especially during his first time participating in such a commemoration like the Sun Festival.

That's why he decided to act as a good kid until he saw the guards glance to another side; he then changed his outfit with just one snap of his finger and detached himself from them to the nearest shop which later he knew as florist shop. He lowered the hat he wearing. His back was facing them. It made him hardly recognizable as the second crown prince of Vongola, Tsunayoshi di Cielo and of course, it made him blend in easily with the crowds.

"Be quick! The street violinists are going to perform in a minute!"

"Yeah! Yeah! We know! Just slow down a bit, damn it! We're already close to that fountain!"

'A street performance? Sounds nice.' Tsuna thought as he took quick steps to follow that group of kids who was shouted pass him.

He felt so excited...too excited to fail to realize there was someone in front of him. The collision was unavoidable. They bumped into each other, making the other fell on his back with Tsuna on his top, head on his chest.

"Ouch!" he yelped while rubbing his sore spot right at his forehead, quickly getting up from his...uncomfortable position.

"So-" Tsuna blinked confusedly, not finishing his sentence. That guy he bumped into was not in front him anymore but was now standing and seemed to search for something on the ground. Something small, perhaps. Tsuna wasn't sure what was it but he also didn't get up from his sitting position. He also was looking at the ground in front him, trying to help the raven to search that something.

One could say it was a coincidence. Others could call it fate, a synonym for destiny.

The two things Kyoya remembered before somebody bumped into him was the bread he gripped firmly on his right hand and a fresh red apple he was playing with his left hand. The apple was now lost somewhere, in the middle of...thousands of legs that belonged to the passing crowd. He needed to find it quickly before the apple was crushed. How could someone eat after an apple that had been stomped especially there was not only one person stepping on it? He didn't like the idea of losing one of his foods that he planned to eat whenever he felt hungry at his hiding place.

Kyoya promised himself he was going to bite those who stomped on his apple to death. That's after he bit the person who bumped into him just now, the one responsible for his lost of the apple.

However that's not the most important thing for Kyoya now but the lost apple was. He sharpened his eyes, trying to search for his apple.

The search was fruitless. It pissed him off. Kyoya did not have the intention to give up on searching for it. The apple was his FAVORITE food. He was going to find it no matter what even if the apple had already been in a bad condition. Although he would throw it away in the end but at least, he knew his apple's condition which he preferred to obtain it rather than having his apple lost somewhere. It might sound a bit childish but it's important to him.

Kyoya tried to sharpen his eyes once more, trying to search for it carefully this time. He scanned every area around him. It was not too long...less than half minute until he spotted the striking red apple in contrast with the dull color of asphalt.

He found it!

Luckily for him, the apple was not too far from him and was definitely in a good condition. He ran quickly and picked it up, cleaning it from dust and wiping it till its skin looked shiny red under the sunlight. Feeling satisfied after getting the apple back in his hand, he decided to continue his way to his secret hiding place when he remembered the brunette. If he was correct, the one bumped into him was a young boy whose age seemed about two years younger than him and his hair was brown in color.

Then, he walked back to where the brunette was and was quite amused to see that the brunette was still there. Usually people would just run when they knew that they had bump into him or made him pissed off but this boy was different. Instead of running away while he was busy looking for the apple, he just sat still there with eyes looking towards the grey colored asphalt.

Was he trying to help Kyoya search for this certain little red thing or he was just too stunned to run away? Whatever the reason was, Kyoya wasn't interested. He's just a little amused; it didn't mean that he had developed a further interest towards that kid.

That had been his thought before it all altered as soon as the boy looked up at him. He found it hard to tear his gaze away from the brunette.

There was something warm, gentle and innocent in those brown orbs, something that was a totally different from his cold, steel blue eyes. He couldn't explain it for there were no words could explain how he liked those brown orbs. He just...loved it. All that sudden interest had made Kyoya speechless. He completely forgot what he wanted to say to that brunette. It was like everything-...his world...the time-froze.

All he could do was to stretch his hand out towards the brunette that was still sitting. "Do you want this apple?" He asked unconsciously, locking his gaze with the brunette's eyes.

Did he do this because this boy looked small, fragile and...cute?

Well...he always had a strange soft spottowards something small and cute. Whether it was animal or human, as long as it was cute, he would act gently and nice to them. It was probably the same with this boy. Instead of being angry to him for dropping his dear apple, he was being gentle towards the brunette.

Rather than accepting the apple, Tsuna was just sitting there, looking straight to the raven boy's eyes. The way they shined under the Sun was almost like a sapphire instilled with shades of steel color, a calm beautiful color that reminded him of the cold during winter. There was no such warmth or gentleness in those eyes. If anything, it was nearly a combination of elegance, superiority and... It felt myth-like, despite the coldness that was resonating in his eyes.

One would surely feel intimidated by them but to be honest, he felt nothing but pure amazement and attraction towards those beautiful steel blue orbs to the point of being unable to look away from them. It was as if all his being was drawn into them, making him unable to move or utter any word, almost like he's under hypnosis.

Tsuna didn't know why he felt this attracted. He couldn't explain it.

He couldn't because...probably he didn't have any reasons at all. Come to think of it again, did anyone need any reason to be attracted to something so beautiful?

They were just simply astonishing. Never had he seen such beautiful eyes. Everyone would surely admire the beauty possessed by these orbs if they're not too intimidated by the eyes which emitted the aura of superiority. It was, after all, natural.

"Prince Tsunayoshi!"

All of a sudden, a shout shouting his name was heard from someone in the crowd, setting his whole world back into motion again much to his annoyance. Tsuna recognized the voice-it belonged to one of the two guards that were ordered to escort him, guard him during his walk at the Sun Festival.

Tsuna glanced to where the sound came and found that the guard stood just about ten people away from him. It was just a matter of time before being found out by them if he didn't get away from there as quick as possible.

There was no way Tsuna would let himself back under surveillance of the boring guard and to miss the fun for not being able to explore the festival in detail. Plus, he hadn't even enjoyed one bit of this festival!

"Come with me!" Tsuna said, almost yelling while grabbing the raven's hand after taking the apple from that hand, saving his thanks for later when he was already far enough from the guard.

Never did Tsuna release his grip from that hand, not even for a one second. They kept running...or actually, he kept pulling the boy all the way until they reached the fifth district. It was where the renowned public library of Vongola Kingdom was built.

Its formation resembled to a castle, only with less towers. Among all the towers was one that was higher than any other. It was tall enough so anyone standing there could have a bird's eye view of the place. A gigantic bell hung on its ceiling; it was huge enough that the tip of the bell almost touched the ground. The whole body of the bell glistened under the shimmering sunset. It was gold from top to bottom, and the slightest detail which was craved on it was also made of gold.

The library was known as Aurea Turris* which literally meant as golden tower. It was said to be the gathering place for knowledge, which was not only magic, that was spread in different parts of the world.

As both of them arrived inside, Tsuna quickly ran into the back hallway which would directly connect them with the path to the highest tower. Tsuna looked around, making sure the corridor was deserted and no one saw him pressing his palm to the stone wall that beside the stairs located right at the corner of corridor's end.

Slowly, the wall began to open into a human size vertical rectangle. Its height was just tall enough to accommodate adults of 1.8m. Meanwhile the lines started to attach themselves to each other in the middle of the door, forming an engraving symbol of Vongola Kingdom. The surroundings quieted down, there was no noisy cracking sounds falling to their eardrums that might echo through the hallway because there was a barrier covering their near surrounding.

The formation was completed and now, a door without knob lay in front of them.

Stretching out his arm, Tsuna placed smoothly pressed on the stone door using his palm like he did before. A straight line started to grow at the center of both top and bottom of the door, continuing until both ends reached touches, forming a smooth crack that split the door into two. Then, each side started to slide in opposite direction; one to the left and other to the right; showing them a small dusty room. The only source of light inside it was a torch that was hung on the left wall.

Tsuna pushed the raven into the room. Once they were inside, the door slid close while at the same time, a sound of something cracking was heard, like the wall was being shaken slightly. When the door closed completely, a white blinding light engulfed them both. Tsuna closed his eyes and unconsciously raised one of his arm in front his face to protect his eyes from the bright white light.

The next moment he opened his eyes, he found himself already at the highest tower of Aurea Turris*. The gigantic golden bell that was hung in the middle of it was the proof. He took a deep breath, and looked around the room with excitement filled his eyes. Although it wasn't his first time coming here, it never made him bored. He always loved it here, not only because the whole town scenery was so beautiful under the Sunset but also because he could watch the entire city from the above. It gave him a sensation of flying, an experience of what it felt like to be a bird.

With his mind being too occupied with the scenery in front of him, Tsuna completely forgot about the raven haired boy he pulled all the way here.

It was unusual for Kyoya.

It was so unlike the usual him to let a stranger drag him all the way freely to wherever place that stranger wanted. The stranger who was a young brunette with age maybe about two years younger than him.

For Kyoya...to show no protest or sign of displeasure, even his famous "I'll bite you to death" was unheard when that brunette dragged him by force was the same as throwing his pride away, letting it be stomp on like it was nothing. It felt as worse as him being compared with his elder brother, not only by others but also his own family.

Maybe he sounded too much. But no.

No one could ever order him.

No one could ever dictate him.

No one could ever force him.

He would never bow down to anyone except to the King himself or to the one he admitted was definitely better than him, stronger than him.

All because he was Kyoya Nuvola or Hibari Kyoya in short.

The others would always remain as herbivores in his eyes, lower than him who was a carnivore. Even if...that someone was this certain cute little brunette that had gained his attention. That brunette was no exception as an herbivore.

Then why?

If that brunette was not an exception, then why he didn't react when that cute herbivore dragged him by force?

Why did Kyoya just keep his mouth shut and follow wherever that cute herbivore went?

Kyoya found this strange. It was as if he couldn't bring himself to threaten or yell at his newfound herbivore.

Was it because Kyoya found some similarities in the herbivore's action despite him being cute?

Seeing panic fill the expression of that herbivore while they were still in the market and the way he took his steps in a rush as if that herbivore was in a need to avoid someone badly, Kyoya assumed that that little plant eater was running away from someone or a group. Or maybe this brunette was like him which in his case was running away from obligation to study.

By the way...

'isn't this...the renowned bell of Aurea Turris?' Kyoya thought as he took a step forward to have a better view at the engraving detail of Vongola Kingdom crest at the golden bell. Admiring the way every part of it was carved carefully to its utmost detail along with the smoothened surface that was shining mystically in golden by Sunset. It was truly a professional work of art. No wonder that it was known as the most famous treasure of Vongola Kingdom.

All this time, Kyoya just heard of his parents or others speaking about how beautiful and mystical the gigantic golden bell, it would only rang twice a year; at the end of year and at New Year's Day. So, he could only imagine, questioning how magnificent the golden bell actually was, being able to earn the pride of the entire citizens of the Kingdom. Much to Kyoya's curiosity about the bell's appearance, imagining it had been the farthest thing he could do.

There was a restriction for citizens; whether it was commoner or a noble to enter the highest tower of Aurea Turris as only royals were allowed to enter.

Perhaps...allowed was not the actual statement the law meant.

Maybe...royals were the only ones that be able to enter the highest tower of Aurea Turris.

Whatever it was between those two possibilities, Kyoya didn't really care or so he thought. It wasn't his problem. What was the most important for him now was that he already seen how the bell looked like and...the true identity of the brunette stood before him now.

Like what was said before...only royals were able or allowed to enter the highest tower of Aurea Turris.

That brunette, however, didn't appear like a royal. The clothes that wrapped around his slim body are of an affordable price and although it seemed soft, it was nothing compared to the finest quality of silk used to make royal's clothes. Its quality was even far from the clothes he or other nobles wore now. That boy was just so...common; wearing what commoners would wear. Getting up here would be considered as heavy violation against the law. The punishment would be jail or to be exiled to deserted forest in the South.

'Who is this herbivore?' Kyoya stared at the brunette who was now leaning on his arm against the window and looking at the view with joy overwhelming his expression, glancing at the surroundings intensely.

'How could that brunette be still so calm, enjoying the scenery after violating the law?'

'How could that little herbivore enter the highest tower of Aurea Turrisand even bring someone with him?'

'Has that plant eater gone mad already?'

Questions spun around in Kyoya's head, causing a migraine, but he left his questions unvoiced. He couldn't bring himself to ask it. He just...didn't want to ruin the rare serene atmosphere that had calmed his mind.

However, fate said otherwise.

The little moment of his was ruined when faint sounds of footsteps were heard. Being captured and accused as the culprit were never in any of Kyoya's schedule. With Kyoya's physical strength and abilities being above average, slipping out from the tower without getting caught was never a hard thing to do. After jumping out to the roof, Kyoya carefully stepped on it and got into a window that seemed like a corridor. Being sure that no one was looking at him, Kyoya then jumped in and paced through the right wing of it which led to the large reading hall filled with hundreds racks of books.

Most people in it didn't realize him. Well, it's natural to walk in the library and the others were just too busy with their books, chatting or discussions to pay attention to what the other was doing.

He smirked inwardly, feeling happy and satisfied for succeeding to run away.

That person was enough to turn his good mood into the foul one.

"I can see that you're having a good time, Kyoya."

There was only one person that could make all the joy in Kyoya's heart turn into anger and hatred.

The said person that shared the same features and behaviors with him, with Kyoya having black hair, that guy had light blond hair.

There were no sweet gestures or warmth in his voice and stares.

"For you to search for me, that must have something to do with that old man, Alaude." said Kyoya coldly without even sparring glance towards his elder brother.

"It was mother. She demanded you to be home."

"Whatever." Kyoya said, walking pass his brother.

A small sigh escaped Alaude's lips. "You sure never learn, Kyoya." He said in a cold menacing voice.

It was not long until Kyoya felt his body betrayed him. His back was no longer facing his elder brother and despite walking away from there, he took each step closer to Alaude. His damn elder brother must have used his spell against him! Much to Kyoya's displeasure, he was now starting to follow behind his elder brother.

Kyoya tried to fight it but it was a futile attempt. The more he fought it, the more the spell felt stronger against him.

How he hated this situation! He hated being under someone else's controls especially if it was his elder brother!

But the certain thing was their encounter...whether it's because of fate or coincidence...it was not a common meeting.

Tsuna, being oblivious to his surroundings, didn't even realize that Hibari had gone from that room, leaving him alone by himself. It seemed that he was too occupied with the sight along with his new overwhelmed feelings.

Happiness.

A feeling that invited smile to graze on his small red lips. He was happy for being able to escape from guards and came here just right in time to witness the town was bathing in Sunset, watching the whole city glitter in orange. It was a perfect sight while at the same time was also a rare sight for him. He might live up high in the castle but the sight was never the same compared to sight looking from high above the Aurea Turris5). Both were beautiful under the Sunset but each of them had their own unique beauty.

Aside from the beautiful sight of town, bringing someone to share this little moment with was another actual thing that made him happy.

Maybe it sounded like he had already planned to take that raven haired boy along with him to here from the start when he was called out by the guard. To tell the truth...it was all coincidence.

When one of the guards called out his name in such a close distance, panic was rushed up in him. Running away was the only thing appeared in his mind. He didn't have time to instruct the raven haired boy to not say anything if anyone happened to ask whether he had seen him or not. So, he just grabbed the boy's wrist, not even caring if it would displease the raven. What he cared the most now was to find a good hiding place for him from the disturbing guards.

Crowds sounded nice. Their heights were still possible for them to hide amongst the crowds. However, they couldn't hide forever in the crowds. It was too risky for the possibility of getting captured was too high.

At the time like this, alleys seemed tempting as a nice hiding place. Yet, it had never been his choice. It was dark and too quiet even in daylight, the chance of drawing problems to them were too big. As much as people loved him, there were also people who intended to take advantage from him. So...no.

It was then, a place flashed in his mind.

A place where only royals were allowed to enter. Not even royal guards held the right to bark into that place.

The golden chamber of Aurea Turris

Without a second thought, he then hastily went there along with the raven whose hand he had never let go during their run. He was taking the shortcut instead of the usual path corridors used by the royals whenever they feel like paying a visit to the golden chamber. The rest of what he did, after he arrived at the end of the quite corridor, right below the stairs was history.

Tsuna sighed in relief. Finally he could have a peaceful time although it cause him to enjoy the Sun Festival from high above, without using his binoculars, of course. But it's okay. The scenery up here was worth it.

Wait...speaking of bringing someone, he completely forgot about the raven's existence. How rude of him!

"Sorry for ignoring you. What's your name by...the...way...?" His voice trailed away as he was dumbfounded, finding no one behind him.

He looked and wandered around; trying to find a clue of the raven haired boy's existence but there was no one there. It was just the golden, gigantic bell and him alone.

'Where did he go? He couldn't be just stepping out from here, right?! What if he was captured by guards?!' He thought with panic clouding his expression and was going to rush over the door when suddenly, the door cracked open and a blond haired male stepped in with a wide smile on his face.

"There you are, dear little Tuna!" said Giotto in a relieved tone.

"Giotto-nii?" Called Tsuna in a surprise tone.

"What's up with you? Getting surprised by my presence all the time today?"

"Really? Maybe it is just your imagination. I mean...you appeared suddenly so it's natural for me being surprised, right?"

Giotto stared back at Tsuna for a while before ruffling his brother's soft brown locks, "You got a point. By the way, mind to explain why you're running away from the guards?"

"A-aa…That's because...," Tsuna replied groggily, "That's because I feel uncomfortable being escorted by guards. They would attract too much attention." He said while connecting both his two pointers and hung his head low.

Giotto giggled at his little brother's action. "I understand, Tsuna. But you know, I nearly got heart attack when I heard you're lost somewhere in the town." He said, ruffling his brother's hair again.

"So, you're saying that you're leaving your music lesson? What if Reborn found out?"

"It's okay! He was the one that let me leave while he was, of course, 'entertaining' those two guards."

"Ow...I hope they won't severely get punished. After all, half of this incident was actually my fault." said Tsuna. His voice was full of guilt.

Giotto gently grabbed his younger brother's hand and smiled at him, trying to ease Tsuna's worry. "It's okay, dear little brother. They'll be just fine. Why don't we just go home so that you can make sure of their well being?"

Tsuna nodded at Giotto, smiling. His mood had lightened up a bit.

"Sure, Giotto-nii." He said, walking beside his older brother as they exited that room.

Before the door in front of him was entirely closed, he peeked inside once more through the small hole created between the door and its frame, making sure once again that the room was completely empty.

It was impossible for someone to hide inside the room because there was no additional room built in it.

Tsuna sighed in disappointment. One thing that made his mood fall into a bad state that day was because he missed the chance to know who the raven haired boy was. However, he wasn't completely disappointed for he believed that they would meet again.

He didn't know why...

He was just sure of it.

Their first encounter...was the beginning of the story. It's was all where this legend started.

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To be continued

*Translation :

Aurea Turris = Golden Tower

^^...What do you think about the story? Hehehe...please leave your reviews.

Any suggestions and critiques will be welcomed.

See you all in the next chapter. ^^...Have a nice day.

-Whiteberry-