Date Released: Sunday, April 03, 2011
Title: Transcending Dreams
Author: Gin Nanashi
Creation Type: FanFiction, "Crossover"
Main Rating: T
Disclaimer: The Lyrical Life © Gin Nanashi; Katekyou Hitman REBORN! © Amano Akira
Summary: What is reality? No one knows for sure. And, when Tsuna accidentally finds himself in a world where he exists as a form of entertainment, what is he to think? Not only that, but he meets the characters of a manga that's famous in his world! Just, what is reality?

Transcending Dreams

Dream 09: Troubling Presence

The cool morning breeze blew gently as Kadin breathed deeply and stretched out the kinks in her body.

Tsuna stood idly by and watched the older one warm up, blushing lightly when she bent over before quickly shifting his gaze to look around him.

He didn't recognize the people but he certainly knew of the place they were in.

Oakland Gardens Park was the place where most of the street dancing competitions that Kadin participated in occurred.

A satisfied sigh brought his attention to said girl as he asked nervously, "Um… Kadin-san? Is there a prize for today's competition?"

The tomboy relaxed and flashed a smirk, "First prize is ten grand and an audition for a contract."

'Why does that sound familiar…?' Came the vague thought as Tsuna stuttered, "Th-That's a lot!"

"Precisely." Kadin cracked her knuckles, "The host is someone who's better off than most of the other hosts."

'This sounds really familiar…' Tsuna pondered while tilting his head and asking, "So who is the host anyway?"

The tomboy grinned lightly at the adorable gesture before motioning to the DJ station set up.

The boy looked over and time seemed to stop.

An icy coldness dumped onto him.

His brown eyes flashed amber.

His fist clenched tightly.

'It's him.'

"Him" referred to the owner of Devil's Six.

And Kadin's "boyfriend" in the manga.

His heart pounded terribly in his chest as fear gripped him, 'If she goes with him…'

The image of the bleeding girl flashed through his memories.

He bit his lips, 'I don't want that to happen!'

'I…' His bangs shadowed his eyes, 'I…!'

He jumped upon feeling hands on his shoulders and looked up.

Worried gold eyes gazed into his frightened brown ones.

"What's wrong?" Kadin murmured softly.

Tsuna hesitated, unsure of what to say, before glancing at the host.

He tensed upon seeing that man's eyes trail over the tomboy's body and he knew of the dark thoughts that ran through the other's mind.

A warm caress brought him out of his glare as he looked back at the tomboy.

Kadin watched the tensed and worried look on the boy's face before resting her forehead against his.

The action caused the boy to blush and whisper, "K-Kadin-san…?"

"Are you uncomfortable, Tsuna?" Kadin asked seriously, "If you are, I'll take you home right now."

Tsuna's eyes widened at the words as his heart continued to beat rapidly.

Only this time, his heart was filled with warmth at the older one's concern.

His lips parted, about to answer the tomboy with an affirmative, when he remembered-

Mocha-colored eyes trailed over two pages of the manga as a frown graced Tsuna's lips.

The pages revealed a rather one-sided dialogue between Kadin and an elderly man who towered over her.

"You're late. Again." He had stated with a scowl on his wrinkled face, "This is the fourth time you've been late in paying your rent!"

"…" Kadin had remained silent and listened without expression as the landlord had continued his rant.

"You have three other people living with you and two of them have profitable jobs so I cannot accept excuses like 'We're short on money.' or 'We haven't received our paychecks yet'! If you're short on money, then learn to budget correctly! And even if one person hasn't received their paycheck, all of you should have savings so take it out of there! Now, I have my own family to take care of and if you cannot pay on time then I'll be forced to take legal actions and evict you! Is this understood?"

Her fists clenched but she bowed her head in apology and murmured, "… Yes, sir."

"Good." The man nodded curtly, "You have one more chance. Good day to you."

That said, the landlord stuffed the envelope of money into his pocket and slammed the door shut.

A frustrated sigh left Kadin's lips as she turned tail and began her trek down the street towards home. Along the way, she dug into her pocket and flipped open her checkbook. Her current balance was barely ten-cents above the minimum that she needed to avoid paying fees to the bank. A dark cloud hung over her before she shook it off and stuffed the checkbook back into her pocket when she suddenly paused in walking.

Her hand rustled through that same pocket before she pulled out a fold-up paper. Unfolding it, Kadin glanced over the poster and immediately took notice of three major things: a street dance competition, the $10,000 prize money and an audition for a Devil's Six contract.

-Kadin needed the money to support herself and her friends.

The landlord really didn't know much about their troubles. Wynn was the only one with a profitable job but her money had to go to her destitute family first and Dakota's job depended on commissions; even then, the money she earned went to her schooling. Kadin pretty much has to pay the rent herself and take care of Noel too.

'Not only that but…'

Tsuna pursed his lips as his answer died away.

'Kadin-san's also supporting me.'

His eyes closed as weight pressed heavily on his heart.

'I… I don't have the right to deny her this chance.'

His eyes opened dully.

'Still… If she goes through with this…'

He raised his eyes to meet hers.

'It might seal her fate.'

Gold eyes trailed over the younger one's face, taking in the worried furrowing of his brows and the darkening of his eyes as if pained, before closing in thought.

'He's contemplating something…'

She pulled away as her eyes fluttered open again, revealing a unknown depths of red.

'Perhaps… the would-be consequences of today…?'

Tsuna flinched at the change in the older one's eyes and dropped his gaze, shivering.

'Please…' Came the whispery thought, 'Don't look at me like that…'

A cold chill ran up his spine as desperation clenched at his heart.

'Don't look at me like I'm your enemy…!'

Her burning eyes trailed over his trembling form before she looked away, heart clenching in her chest, tightening so deeply that it hurt.

'What am I doing?' She thought to herself, feeling disgusted, 'Why am I acting so violently?'

Because you doubt your existence.

She inwardly flinched at the answer as her eyes closed.

'That's right, I still don't understand everything that's going on.'

She sighed softly, ruffling her hair in irritation before pulling the younger boy close to her.

"Damn it, I'm being a total jerk, aren't I?"

Tsuna raised his eyes to meet with her guilt-ridden ones before shaking his head, "It's not your fault. I… I shouldn't have acted like that. It's your life, I… have no right to interfere with it."

He slumped against her taller frame.

'Absolutely... no right…'

Her eyes widened in shock before softening.

'I nearly forgot, Tsuna's still just a kid. He's probably just as scared, if not more so, being in a different world.'

Her embrace tightened as she nuzzled his fluffy hair, murmuring, "Tsuna, if I didn't want you, then I wouldn't have bothered taking you in."

His heartbeat quickened as his cheeks flushed darkly, suddenly feeling hyper aware of her body, before he berated himself.

'Stop it, Tsuna!' He shouted at himself, 'She didn't mean it that way!'

Still, he couldn't help his feelings as he looked into her eyes as they warmed into that familiar honey-gold color.

"Kadin-san…"

She quirked a lopsided grin, "Besides, I'd like to think we're already friends."

A chuckle left her lips upon seeing him gape like a fish before she brushed away his bangs and murmured, "That is, if you agree too…?"

"Yes!" He blurted out before clasping his hands over his lips, heat radiating from his cheeks in embarrassment.

Kadin blinked before laughing lightly and Tsuna relaxed upon seeing such a carefree expression on her face.

'I'm glad that Kadin-san trusts me.'

However, his warm feelings didn't last long as he caught sight of that man.

And the way he leered at the girl.

Hands dropping to his sides, he caught the man's eyes and gave the darkest glare he could manage.

The man raised a brow, amused at his attempt at a glare, before turning away to speak with his employees.

Tsuna clenched his fists and pursed his lips, irritated at being played off as his mind reeled.

'I… I want to protect Kadin-san! But, what should I do?'

A hand pressed against his forehead, making him blink, before he looked up at the older one.

Kadin smiled lightly at the worry that shined in his eyes before pulling him close again, relishing in his warmth and ruffling his soft hair.

"What will happen, will happen. Don't worry too much about it."

Tsuna wanted to protest, he wanted to tell her that such carefree thoughts could lead to her demise, but the sense of security that the older one supplied in her embrace made his mind fuzz in delight.

Instead of warning her, the brunet sighed in bliss and threw his arms around her, whispering, "Be careful, okay?"

Her heart melted at his obvious concern and she nuzzled his hair, murmuring, "I will."

Neither one noticed the dark look that was being shot at them for it disappeared the moment Kadin released him from her embrace and walked towards the arena, intent on winning the competition.

As Tsuna watched her go, he tightened his fists and vowed inwardly.

'Whatever happens now… I'll protect her!'

(Extended Ending)

Sitting on the bleachers that were set up around the dancing arena, Tsuna rested his chin on his hands and awed over both the amount of people competing and the number of spectators when a sudden force on his back nearly sent him tumbling.

"Yo, Dakota! I see you're-HEY! You're not Dakota!"

Hand over his beating heart, he robotically turned towards the loud voice to see a familiar man with spiky golden hair and narrowed blue eyes.

'Oh no...'

Sweat trickled down his face as he paled.

'It's Zeke-san!'

Zeke was one of Kadin's rivals and, while Tsuna harbored no ill feelings towards him (in fact, Zeke was one of the more tolerable men in the manga), he couldn't help but be wary because of the man's obvious affections for the tomboy.

Suddenly, a smile broke out onto the blond's lips as he clasped a hand onto Tsuna's small shoulders.

"Now I know why I mistaken you for Dakota!" He exclaimed with a silly grin, "You're wearing the clothes she wore!"

'… What?' Confusion was evident on Tsuna's face as he tried to piece together his words before stuttering out, "I-I know not E-English."

Zeke blinked at that before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "Whoops! A foreigner, huh? Uh…" A pause as the blond looked him over before snapping his fingers, "Oh! Japanese?"

The brunet nodded, a bit relieved upon hearing his native language, as Zeke chuckled and sat down besides him, explaining, "I should've figured since Kadin has a bunch of Japanese-speaking friends."

Tsuna nodded meekly and the older man continued on with his story, not at all perturbed by the other's silence, "Anyway-! I was just saying that I thought you were Dakota because of your clothes!"

At the brunet's confused look, Zeke explained more in depth, "You see, a few months ago, there was an impromptu get-together of street dancers and Kadin invited her family."

By family, Tsuna knew that he meant Noel, Dakota and Wynn.

"They were all dressed up pretty damn well! Even Noel did despite hating to doll up!" A grin before he pointed at Tsuna's clothes, "And Dakota was wearing those clothes to ward off her crazy stalkers."

'Being cute sure has its flaws…' Came Tsuna's empathetic thought.

"It worked too! Probably because of how notorious Kadin is!"

The brunet recalled the manga's allusions to various street fights in which Kadin either coming out victorious or in a tie before a sigh caught his attention.

"… I admit, I was a bit jealous. They looked like they really could belong together…"

At this, Tsuna's fists clenched.

'Kadin-san and Dakota-san… A lot of people liked to pair them up with each other…'

His mind trailed back to Dakota's cold attitude towards him.

'Could it be that they actually are together…?'

The good mood that built up plummeted before he mentally smacked himself.

'What am I thinking about? Kadin-san will never look at me like that!'

But his mind remembered her words.

"Tsuna, if I didn't want you, then I wouldn't have bothered taking you in."

Flushing red, he quickly shook it off while ruffling his head and groaning.

'You know that wasn't what she meant!'

Zeke watched the reactions of the brunet before stating airily, "Oh well, we all know that Kay doesn't care about love."

Tsuna blinked and looked over at the blond who was watching the tomboy with a serious expression, one full of want and doubt, before looking over as well.

His eyes met hers and he blinked when she smirked and saluted at him.

Unable to stop the blush from creeping up on his cheeks, Tsuna waved back shyly before flinching upon hearing screams from the audience.

"KYAAAAAAAAA~~~ KADIN, YOU SEXY BITCH!"

Zeke bursted into laughter, "LOOKS LIKE HER FANS ARE HERE!"

Tsuna could only groan at that.

Author's Note:

I love random bursts of inspiration. C: But, anyway, real slow updates coming your way. On the plus side, for those who enjoy reading in the second-perspective, I've got a KHR-fanfiction called Forging A Heart going on Lunaescence so go check it out! Ciao~ ;3