Swallowed the Moon
By: The DayDreaming
Warnings: AU Unfortunately very short. Might be slightly OOC, since I'm rusty. See note (2) at the bottom for an explanation as to why.
Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! and its characters belong to Amano Akira, not me. This is the only time I'm going to say it.
This chapter has not been edited for mistakes. If there are any, please notify me and I'll try to rectify the situation whenever I get off my lazy ass.
Here's a refresher as to where we are in the story:
Prologue: Tsuna leaves SAGE school.
Chapter 1: Tsuna returns home.
Chapter 2: Tsuna departs from his house and arrives in Perambulāre, where he finds a pub and a posting asking for an escort up to Heretic's Hollow.
He was promptly spun around, his hood flying off to reveal stunned, tawny eyes, as he clutched the posting to his chest in reflex. He could feel all sorts of eyes focused on him, but he ignored it in favor of staring up at his assailant, a teen with blond, scruffy hair much like his own, and a pair of sky blue eyes. The teen was grinning madly while he absentmindedly threw the tack he had caught up and down.
The guy glanced down, eyeing the paper clutched to Tsuna's chest, and Tsuna was able to look away from his startling eyes to observe that the teen was dressed in a dark mantle, and that printed on the glove clutching his shoulder was a large 'I.'
"Now, then," the teen glanced to Tsuna, grin widening in excitement, "If you have the time, let's get down to business. Drinks on me, yeah?"
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Chapter 3: Idle Conversation
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Before he could realize what was happening, Tsuna found himself plopped unceremoniously into a hard wooden chair across from the strange man, whom had immediately taken to calling over a bar maid and requesting refreshments. He clenched his fingers, mind still in a daze, and found that the bill he had previously been holding was twisted into a small roll and partially torn.
"Forgive me," the stranger began, flashing a winning smile that made Tsuna simultaneously wince and melt, "I just couldn't wait when I saw you looking at my post."
The stranger paused, genial smile still tacked in place. He stared at the man, expecting more of an explanation but receiving none. It was a few seconds before Tsuna caught sight of the stranger's hand which was laid on the table and making small gestures towards him; he latched onto the motion, not wishing to look at the man's face anymore in the event that his skull began to liquefy from just how intensely the stranger was scrutinizing him.
The hand's movements became more erratic, and Tsuna steadily followed, until the digits stopped and the man cleared his throat. He lifted his gaze to the other teen once more and found that the previous smile plastered on his face had grown, and maybe developed a slight tick.
"Uh…," he started, lost on what the other wanted.
The man suddenly thrust his hand forward, almost knocking the appendage into Tsuna's face, "I'm sorry! I should have introduced myself first!"
Oh, Tsuna thought, the man had been waiting for his name. The hand in front of him wavered slightly, and, catching the gesture, he took hold in a loose version of a handshake.
"My name is Ieyatsu," the man said, beginning to vigorously shake Tsuna's arm. He had an extremely firm grip and calloused, warm hands. The gloves didn't seem to detract from the heat at all, and he was almost under the illusion that the coverings were exuding some sort of warmth as well.
"T-tsunayoshi," he bit out, trying to reciprocate the man's enthusiasm with a wavering smile that appeared more as a grimace and a slight squeezing of his fingers that couldn't have possibly been felt by the other, "Tsunayoshi Sawada."
The handshake came to a jerky stop after he spoke, and Ieyatsu's hand immediately returned to its place on the tabletop, tapping out an erratic rhythm in the wake of its violent motion.
"Uh, well," Tsuna started, watching as Ieyatsu's jovial façade fell away slightly, only to be replaced by an unsure, almost lost expression, "I, I guess I had a couple questions about the job…?" He let the sentence trail off.
Ieyatsu instantly brightened, coming back into control of the situation at his suggestion, "Yeah, the job!"
After his exclamation, the barmaid he had ordered from wandered back over, setting two mugs of grog neatly in front of the pair. She made a show of the low neckline of her blouse and assets before standing and sending Ieyatsu a defined wink. He gave a polite smile and courteous 'thank you' to her before she left, a sashay that swung her skirts about ever-present.
Ieyatsu let the smile slide off his face once she moved out of eye-shot, "She looks rather suspicious, don't you think?"
Tsuna, who had been completely ignored, nodded along as he fidgeted with the thick glass handle of the mug in front of him, "I don't know, maybe. I think she likes you."
"That'd be kinda weird," Ieyatsu smiled at him, "The people down here are strange."
"Hm, what do you mean?" he asked, confused, "You're not from around here?"
Ieyatsu spasmed at the question, smile immediately ticking, "I, well—"
"It's okay!" he quickly interrupted, waving his arms, "I'm not from here either." He offered a tentative smile to try and placate the other boy.
"Well, of course it's okay!" said boy let loose a too-loud laugh and scratched the back of his head, "I'm just startled that it's not obvious, that's all!"
This guy's really weird, Tsuna couldn't help but think as the other grabbed his glass and chugged down about half of the concoction before choking slightly, or he's crazy.
"So, anyways," he tried again, "About the job…"
"Oh, yeah, right!" Ieyatsu set down his glass and steepled his fingers together under his chin, "It's pretty easy. You'll be acting as an escort, mine specifically. You'll be helping me make the journey up to, and back from, Heretic's Hollow. Doesn't sound too bad, right?"
Somehow, the too-friendly smile stamped across his companion's face did more to unease Tsuna than anything.
At his unresponsiveness, Ieyatsu straightened himself, "Anyways, the pay's really good! At least, I think for someone of your stature—" At this, Tsuna raised his brows in contemplative surprise, "Not that there's anything wrong with your stature!"
"Just who do you think I am?" Tsuna smiled, though it was strained to the point of being barely more than a grimace, "A bounty hunter? A Post's Man?(1) Maybe someone, I don't know, dangerous?"
Ieyatsu wasn't perturbed by the question in the least, instead making a small motion towards Tsuna's untouched beverage, "You don't like this stuff?" At Tsuna's shake of the head, he reached over and took the mug into his hand, making to sip at it, but upon viewing the contents merely placed the glass out of the way, "Me neither. I thought it made for good conversation to drink it. Sorry. I don't really like it, either."
"Anyways, I was hoping that you might be any of those things," Tsuna averted his eyes to the side, pretending to examine an overly obese man as he paraded drunkenly around his table with one of his compatriots.
"Well, I'm not," the truth tasted almost bitter on his tongue, "In all honesty, I'm probably about the most useless person you could find. From what I hear, only a failure would try to help you."
Ieyatsu quitted his fiddling with the drink handle, drawing his eyes to examine the pathetic figure of a haggard boy, with eyes too big for his face and a cloak that wrapped around his figure like a child's security blanket that made him appear lost and alone.
He tried to smile, even though gazing into Tsuna's eyes made him feel small, "Hey, don't be that way, Tsuna. I'm sure you're fine." The words did little to convince the boy, whom merely averted his face to the table, form curling in on itself like a snail.
"If you say so."
Maybe it was the way Tsunayoshi said those words, with the ease that comes from a long list of failures, honey and milk gone sour; or maybe the place in his heart that held the boyish whim of proving others wrong; maybe even the small, dark corner in his head that whispered of his own fear of inadequacy; whatever it was, it made Ieyatsu stand and move to Tsuna's side. He placed his palm over the boy's heart, radiant heat seeping past the padding of clothes and skin, and leaned in close to his ear, noting the scent of anxiety and hard work from a long day gone.
"You are not a failure. That word is a lie, and perhaps you are a fool to believe it; but, never a failure," he could feel as the body so close beside him trembled, and he smiled, trying to feed all the warmth he could muster into his words, tried to believe in them, "The sky is vast. In order to fly, the wings of one will not fit the shoulders of another; the wind doesn't come when one calls; nor is the world ever without storms and rain. My predecessors taught me that."
He patted Tsuna's chest one last time before standing, pulling out his wallet and tossing several silvery paper bills onto the table, "C'mon Tsuna—is it alright if I call you Tsuna?—whereabouts are you staying?"
Tsuna blinked at the sudden change in atmosphere, before stumbling up and after the already-moving figure, "U-um, actually, I haven't been able to look for a place yet…"
"Oh, that's good!" Ieyatsu swung around and grabbed onto Tsuna as he caught up, "You can stay with me!"
"But—but—!" Tsuna was cut off as they exited the tavern and fell into the crisp air of Perambulāre, the chill rolling in from the sea raising gooseflesh along his arms.
"Heh, don't worry about it! I'm your employer now, and you're technically my escort, so it's cool!" Ieyatsu tugged harder and Tsuna was forced to follow at a brisk trot, down the cobbled street and into an alley, only barely dodging past trash bins and puddles of grimy water.
"WHAT? Bu—I never agreed to be your escort!" he tried to pull his arm away, but the grip on it was so vice-like and strong that it felt as though he were trying to tear away from a wall, "Let go!"
"I guess you really are a fledgling," Ieyatsu said, grin plastered onto his face as he raced through the alleyway only to emerge onto another street, this one only slightly less crowded than the last with people milling around late-open stores and restaurants, "Didn't you know that tearing the bills off of the Post Board is like signing a contract? There's magic there on that paper; touching it is as good as signing your name on the dotted line."
Tsuna blushed; something so blatant should have been obvious to even a first-year academy student. He wondered again how he'd managed to graduate.
They stopped in front of a finely furnished building, the exterior gleaming even in the dim light of the evening, Tsuna almost running into Ieyatsu's back as he gaped openly at the establishment.
"Will it be okay for you for the night?" Tsuna snapped his stare away and shut his hanging jaw, turning to face his companion who looked mildly concerned.
"Y-Yeah, it's great," he stumbled out, "But you really don't have to do this, Mr. Ieyatsu."
"Heh, it's okay kid, and call me Ieyatsu, will ya?" Ieyatsu tousled his hair, steadfastly ignoring the fact that he was probably only a few years older than Tsuna, "By now, most every place will be full. You won't be able to find a room anywhere. Besides, mine comes with two beds; why not use 'em?"
Tsuna bit his lip, conflicting thoughts fluttering like birds through his mind before finally conceding, "Okay."
Ieyatsu seemed to glow at the response, ushering him forward like a herder guiding his sheep, "Great! We can talk more inside."
And, despite his outward protests, on the inside, Tsuna could feel just the tiniest seed of hope burrow into his heart. Could this really be leading to better things; tomorrows that did not drag on into regretted yesterdays and mornings bright with the tang of expectations? A life not wrought in wasted time?
The hope burned at the back of his eyes.
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(1) Post's Man is basically lingo for people who work solely on board-postings at pubs and other establishments. They don't really stray from bill-work, and are often-times more reputable than bounty-hunters and mercenaries.
(2) Why is Ieyatsu characterized the way he is? Simply put, we never see Giotto out of Hyper-Dying-Will mode, do we? So we don't actually have a true gauge on his personality. He's supposed to be socially awkward, for a reason that will be explained in the next few chapters, and he's also supposed to be keeping a secret, though I tried to portray him as a bad liar (from what I read, Giotto seems like an honorable person, so I used some creative license and turned this into being nervous when lying). As for the failure part? In the manga (I think?) it's said that Giotto was told he would fail in his task of defending his town, but he actually succeeded. I played off of that to show him having a bit of a fear of failure, but having the determination to push past it.
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Hey guys! How ya doing? Have you all died yet? Yes? Sorry… Anyways, I'm really sorry for not posting in such a long time, and for updating with something so crappy. I've really lost my groove with this story, and I only just realized this as I started back in on typing the chapter. I had gotten a few paragraphs in, but stopped for months afterwards, only starting up again when I got inspiration from reading the new manga chapters. Who else really hates Adelheid? Sheesh, what the fuck is wrong with her chest? Hope to god we get rid of her by the end of the arc. Enma I'm kinda iffy on. I thought he was okay, but as things are progressing, he might turn out to be a total jackass. Who knows, but I have my fingers crossed that he turns out okay.
So, good news for you guys! I now have my own laptop, which basically means almost unlimited amounts of writing time! Pray that I don't lose focus and chapters will be posted relatively quickly. I've also graduated (that's why I was absent for so long; tons of shit happened in the interim of my last update and now, back-to-back projects and assignments and bouts of depression and all that teenage drama), meaning we'll now have to contend with college in about two months. I'll try and get as much in as I can.
One last thing: I'm thinking of changing the title. "Swallowed the Moon" used to have a reason for being the title, but now that time has passed and the plot has developed more in my head, it's lost its place in the story. I'm thinking of changing it to "RevenanT" which is more apt for what I have in mind. If you guys read this, please tell me what you think. The next time I update (which might actually be in a couple days if I have it my way), I'll change it to that. If you guys really want to keep the title the way it is, then I won't. :) Deal? Okay, signing out! And don't worry, next chapter will be longer.