Tsuna shot up and checked the alarm clock to his side, only to see the side of the table. He stared at it for some time before realizing that he was sleeping on the floor.
The children slept in his room again and Tsuna would never let them sleep on the floor. He glanced up and saw the time: 6:00. He silently groaned as he lay his head back down on the pillow. Even though the floor was an uncomfortable bed, he was too tired to care at the moment.
Even though he slept as soon as he got home and gave Fuuta his notes yesterday, he can't seem to get enough rest. Everytime he falls asleep, he has nightmares.
He doesn't really remember much from his nightmares, rather nightmare since it seems to be the same thing over and over again, because there is hardly anything to remember. It's always pitch-black in his dreams and he smells something burning and something sweet. He doesn't understand what's so scary about those two things; he likes sweet things and he's used with the scent of something burning with all the commotion in the Sawada residence. But together, they send a chill down his spine and a feeling of wrongness in his gut. It feels so bad that he wants to vomit.
And so he got up as quickly and quietly as he can to only dry heave in the bathroom toilet. He hasn't eaten yet so there's nothing to vomit. He stayed in front of the toilet for some time, trying his hardest to forget the nightmare, before he washed his face and got dressed for school.
As he got down, he heard Cielo singing a familiar song. "Itsumo kawaranu…Sukoyaka kenage." Tsuna only heard bits and pieces of the song as he sat down at the dining table. "Oh, good morning, Tsuna-kun," Cielo greeted him happily as he cooked breakfast. Tsuna couldn't understand how the man could be happy and energetic this early in the morning, especially wearing another set of his mother's clothes (since he hasn't been able to shop for clothes yet) and the yellow apron his mother usually wears.
"Morning," Tsuna replied softly as he covered a yawn with his hand as he rested his head in his arms.
"Well aren't you a bundle of sunshine this morning," Cielo said with a grin as he turned around to look at Tsuna who just frowned at the comment. Cielo just chuckled at Tsuna's expression. "Why are you pouting?" he asked the younger boy.
"I'm not," Tsuna said as he glared at Cielo, whose grin just widened. Tsuna did not look like he was pouting. He was glaring at the man who was too cheerful for Tsuna's tastes.
"Tsk tsk," the older brunette said as he put a finger in between Tsuna's brows and removed the crease. "Now that's better! You don't want to grow up with wrinkles at an early age, do you? I'm sure I don't," he continued as Tsuna stared incredulously at the man.
"Is there something on my face?" Cielo asked as he was getting unnerved with Tsuna's stare.
"No," Tsuna said as he shook his head before smelling something. "The egg is getting burnt," he added as the other man panicked before rushing back to the stove to try and save the omelet. He chuckled at the other's antics. Then he covered his mouth when he noticed that he was laughing at the other man's expense.
Cielo turned around and winked at Tsuna before panicking over the burning eggs. Tsuna blinked at Cielo's actions and just stared at the back of the older man. "You seemed a bit off so I thought you needed cheering up," Cielo explained as if he could feel Tsuna's curious stare. "But I didn't really wanna burn the eggs though," he added as an afterthought, making Tsuna laugh.
After a few more moment of panicking over the eggs, Tsuna asked, "Um, how are the eggs?"
"They didn't survive," Cielo said so seriously and somberly that Tsuna burst out laughing again. Cielo also burst out laughing and they went at it for quite some time. "It's good that you're feeling better," Cielo finally said after laughing and catching his breath.
"Yeah. Thank, Cielo-san," Tsuna said after also catching his breath.
Cielo grinned in reply and said, "You're welcome, Tsuna-kun. I just thought you might do something you'd regret if you stayed in such a foul mood the whole day." Then he added as an afterthought, "Well, that's what happens to me when I'm in a bad mood. I can't tell you how much trouble I get into, especially with my tutor, when I'm in a bad mood." He visibly shivered when he mentioned getting in trouble with his tutor.
Tsuna smiled at his babysitter before realizing on how similar they were. He already did something he regrets, sort of, because he was in such a foul mood yesterday. He doesn't want to think on how much trouble he's in for answering back to Hibari. He mentally shivered at the thought. And if Reborn was around, Tsuna shivered for real at the thought of actually answering back at the Arcobaleno.
"Here," Cielo said as he offered a steaming mug to Tsuna, who just took it with a small thanks and sipped it without thinking. Then he spit what he drank out and said in surprise, "What's this!"
"Coffee," Cielo answered cheerfully as he made another attempt to cook.
"But I don't like coffee," Tsuna said with a pout.
"And I don't like to see wrinkles, so we're even," Cielo said as he pointed at Tsuna's face with a spatula before facing the stove again. "Besides, you need it." Tsuna felt that Cielo was going to say something more but stopped himself. As if the he knew more than he was letting on. But Tsuna really doubts that Cielo can read minds, like Reborn. He held back another shiver and grimace as he took another sip of coffee.
They spent a few minutes in relative silence as Tsuna drank his coffee while Cielo cooked and sang softly a familiar song. Tsuna thought it was the same song he was singing earlier since the melody sounded the same. Tsuna smiled at the rare peace he was enjoying.
"Tsuna-kun?" Cielo said, breaking the peace in the household. Tsuna merely hmm-ed in reply. "Can you wake up Fuuta-chan? He'll be late if he doesn't dress up now," Cielo said without looking at Tsuna, concentrating on the eggs he's frying.
"Sure," Tsuna said as he got up from the kitchen table and went upstairs to his room where Fuuta was sleeping.
Tsuna couldn't help but smile and coo at the children while they were sleeping. Who would think that these angelic faces would have an unholy love for trouble and getting into it? "Fuuta," he said, gently shaking the boy who mumbled in his sleep and turned over, only to fall on the floor. Tsuna softly chuckled before helping the younger boy up.
"You aren't supposed to laugh, Tsuna-nii," Fuuta whined as he got up with the help of Tsuna.
"I'm sorry," Tsuna said with a smile as he led Fuuta to his own room. "But at least you're awake now, so go get dressed for school," he said as he left Fuuta to check up on Lambo and I-Pin.
He was amazed at how they didn't wake up at the commotion the two of them made while they were in the room but given their hectic lifestyle, Tsuna wasn't really surprised. He patted Lambo's afro and hesitantly did the same to I-Pin's hair. The last time he tried to do that, he nearly lost his whole arm. Luckily, he pulled his hand away before she reached it, but that didn't stop her from kicking him in the chest so hard that he fell down before curling up on his bed again.
"That hurts," Tsuna complained as he got up to tuck I-Pin in. It's weird that she would break his arm (or the rest of his body) for patting her on the head while she's sleeping but she wouldn't react while she's being tucked in. Tsuna just shrugged at the thought before smiling at the two children before checking up on Fuuta in his own room.
"Fuuta," he sighed as he entered the room and saw that the younger boy was sprawled on his bed. "Wake up, Fuuta," he said as he poked Fuuta, who keeps trying to swat his hand away.
"Go away, Tsuna-nii," Fuuta said as he rolled to his side, but Tsuna didn't relent.
"You have to get up and get dressed. Now," Tsuna said as he continued poking Fuuta.
"But it's too early," he whined back.
"Better early than being bitten to death," Tsuna answered back as he started pulling Fuuta's arms to get him off the bed. But Tsuna realized that Fuuta didn't really need his help after he mentioned being bitten to death. "See you downstairs then," Tsuna said as he left the room and closed the door.
"I never thought Fuuta would be that whiny," Cielo said as soon as Tsuna sat down.
"What do you mean?" Tsuna asked as he got up again to set the table while Cielo continued to cook.
"I dunno. I just didn't' think that Fuuta de la Stella would be such a whiny kid. That's all," Cielo commented as he kept a close eye on what he's cooking instead of facing Tsuna.
That comment made Tsuna stop for a while as he set the table. Now that he thought about it, Fuuta wasn't whiny at all when he arrived at the Sawada residence. He was just that quiet boy who was wanted by the mafia for his ranking skills. But now, he's changed. Well, kinda. He got Tsuna's habit of whining now.
Tsuna chuckled at that idea because of all things Fuuta could have picked up from him it was his habit of not waking up early and whining about it. And as he heard Fuuta coming down the stairs, apparently the younger boy also got his problem with dressing up properly in the mornings. At least he got over all of those habits now.
He was about to go to Fuuta to help him with his uniform but Cielo got to him first. "Fuuta-chan," Cielo said as he stopped cooking to rush over to Fuuta and help him fix his uniform. "You're already nine years old. You're a big boy. You shouldn't need help dressing up," he said though he sounded affectionate instead of angry or scolding. For a moment, Cielo actually sounded like Nana as she helped Tsuna with his uniform back then.
Cielo is really a good babysitter, Tsuna realized, even though he keeps forcefeeding him that horrible coffee. How can Reborn drink that stuff?
The three of them had a peaceful breakfast. Well, more like Tsuna and Fuuta ate breakfast while Cielo continued to cook. "Why are you cooking so much food, Cielo-san?" Tsuna asked as he noticed that Cielo hasn't sat down yet while both of them have already finished eating.
"Your bento, of course," he said cheerfully as he continued to cook.
"But Fuuta and I can't eat that much."
"I know," Cielo answered happily, still cooking.
A few moments later, he heard his friends bickering outside, like every morning. Tsuna rushed outside before the neighbors glared at the noise they (Gokudera) were making. Too late, Tsuna noticed as the neighbors were already glaring at them. He sighed mentally because he can't understand why the neighbors bother glaring at them every morning. "Good morning, Gokudera-kun. Yamamoto."
"Morning, Tsuna!" "Good morning, Jyudaime." His friends greeted him simultaneously.
"Morning!" Fuuta said cheerfully as he went out as he brought both his and Tsuna's bags. He handed Tsuna his bag who smiled and thanked him. "Cielo-san said to wait for a moment," Fuuta added.
"Good morning, Fuuta. You feeling better?" Yamamoto said as he ruffled the younger boy's hair. Fuuta just smiled and answered, "Yup!"
"Who's Cielo?" Gokudera asked as Cielo came out carrying four bentos.
"I'm Cielo," he said with a grin. "Here's your lunches," he said, surprising the four by giving all of them a bento.
Gokudera, being the overprotective self-appointed right hand man of the Juudaime, after getting over the shock of being given a bento, brought out his glasses and a clipboard full of questions before Cielo pushed them all out the front door. "You're gonna be late if stay any longer. I'll be here while the Signora is away since I am their babysitter so you can ask me your questions later," he said while he waved them goodbye. Only Gokudera didn't wave back at the older brunette while Yamamoto and Fuuta enthusiastically waved their goodbyes.
"But if you must know, I'm twenty-five and I'm not out to poison you with my cooking, though it isn't that good either. And if you keep dilly-dallying, you might have to face a carnivore. So hurry up and have fun in school!" Cielo said to them as they rushed to school, in fear of facing the Cloud Guardian.
"So Tsuna," Yamamoto said when they were near the school gates already. "Who is Cielo-san?"
Gokudera spluttered and looked ready to blow up Yamamoto for asking first. "Calm down, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said as he waved his arms, hoping that he won't throw any dynamites now that they're so close to the school.
"Cielo-san is our babysitter," Fuuta replied happily to Yamamoto's question.
"Where are Reborn and my sister?"Gokudera asked, giving Yamamoto a superior look for asking before he can. Tsuna just sighed at their antics.
"There's some family business they have to take care of," Tsuna replied. Then he looked up and saw that both of them were giving him an odd look. "Hiee?" he exclaimed when he finally felt uneasy with the stares they were giving him.
"There's a problem with the Vongola!" Gokudera exclaimed in surprise. While Yamamoto said, "Poor kid. Having family problems while still being a baby."
"Don't worry. I'm sure he could handle it," Tsuna said with a smile and a casual wave.
"If you say so, Juudaime, then it's surely true!" Gokudera exclaimed while Yamamoto just laughed it off.
"We're here!" Fuuta exclaimed, happy that he wasn't late. Not that he has ever been late if Tsuna can help it. "See you later!" Fuuta said as he ran to his own school while the three waved and watched him enter his school gates before entering their own.
Tsuna had to admit that it was thanks to the coffee again that he managed to stay up for most of his morning classes. But that didn't stop his friends from giving him worried glances, which made him wonder if they did that yesterday too.
Now that it was lunch time, his Hyper-Intuition is telling him that something is going to happen. Something big and for some reason, it's related to Cielo. He shook his head, not really understanding how his gut feeling could tell him all of that. 'Maybe it's getting stronger?' he mused as he got up to eat with his friends outside.
"So Juudaime," Gokudera said as he immediately went to his right while Yamamoto took his left. "Where did Cielo come from? When did he arrive? How did he become your baby—" Gokudera's questions were cut short when they all heard an explosion. Out of habit, all three of them rushed to the source of the noise while most of the students rushed away.
Usually he would ignore it since it's pretty much a norm in his house but he isn't in his house at the moment. Explosions in school do not happen, well at least not in broad daylight because there were definitely a lot of those during the ring battles.
They reached the courtyard, where the source of the blast came from. "Lambo! I-Pin!" Tsuna exclaimed when he saw the two five-year olds running about. Lambo was happily throwing about bombs from his afro while I-Pin countered with her meatbuns and kung-fu. "What are you doing here!" he exclaimed as he dropped everything he was carrying to run towards the middle of their battlefield.
"Juudaime!" "Tsuna!" Gokudera and Yamamoto shouted at the same time when they noticed that another person was also rushing towards the children's fight.
Tsuna looked around and saw a certain carnivore, with his tonfas out, rushing towards them. Tsuna blanched as he realized he didn't have any pills with him or his gloves. What would he give just to be shot with a Dying Will Bullet right now? But that didn't matter because he had to keep the children safe from Hibari's teeth and so he rushed towards them and gathered the children in his arms.
"They are disturbing the peace of Namimori," Hibari said as he stood in front of Tsuna, who was carrying the children in his arms. Tsuna kept glancing to his sides, hoping for a way to escape, but Hibari was too close. He also had to worry about I-Pin, who was starting her countdown at the sight of the skylark. "And you are an obstruction to justice," Hibari said as he lifted his tonfa to strike at him at the head.
"Please duck, Juudaime!" Gokudera shouted from behind as Tsuna did as he was told. Overhead, several dynamites were flying towards Hibari, who jumped back and avoided all of them. But behind Hibari was Yamamoto, who was carrying a sword, ready to strike at Hibari from the back. But Hibari didn't seem to be fazed as he twisted his body so that his tonfa blocked Yamamoto's attack while the other tonfa aimed for the swordsman's head. Yamamoto pushed himself against the tonfa that was blocking his attack and managed to avoid the other tonfa by a hair's breadth.
"Ahahaha. That was too close," he said as he landed on his feet and scratched his head as he looked at Hibari with a slightly narrowed gaze. Gokudera from the other side shouted, "Baseball freak! How could you have missed?"
"Ahahaha. Sorry for that, Gokudera," Yamamoto said as he prepared himself in using another technique from the Shigure Soen Ryu. Gokudera also prepared himself by bringing out several dynamites.
Tsuna, who fell on his butt from the impact when the dynamites went off in front of him, was now worrying for both of his best friends and for himself since he was still carrying I-Pin, whose forehead showed four dots.
"So you herbivores think you are any match against me?" Hibari said as he prepared himself as well.
"Stop it, you guys. Stop fighting," Tsuna said as he got up even though he didn't want to interfere with the fight. But I-Pin was too close to blowing up and he didn't want his friends, including Hibari, to get hurt because of both the explosion and the fight.
"You wish to fight against me instead, herbivore?" Hibari said as he faced away from Yamamoto to look at Tsuna and give him that look that Tsuna dislikes.
"I'd rather that no one fights, if you don't mind," a deep voice came from the gates, which caught everyone's attention. All eyes turned towards the gate where a young man wearing a plain orange shirt, jeans and rubber shoes. On any other person, it would look like he was wearing normal clothes. But on him, it looked like he was wearing a formal attire.
"Cielo-san!" Tsuna said in surprise as he saw his babysitter at the school gates with new clothes. Not only that, but for his babysitter to look as good as he always does even in civilian clothing. If Reborn could see him, he would be forced to teach Tsuna on how it's possible. Or maybe Reborn would be more insistent with his training since it is possible, contrary to what Tsuna says or believes.
"Hi, Tsuna-kun! I'm sorry for the trouble, but have you seen—Nevermind," Cielo said cheerfully as he walked through the battlefield as if he was just walking along the shore. "Would you mind passing me the children? I should get them home for their afternoon nap, after all," he said as he offered his arms in front of Tsuna, who was still shell-shocked with his appearance.
"He-here," he said as he passed the two five year olds who suddenly started struggling in Cielo's grasp. But with a few soft-spoken words, he managed to calm down both Lambo and I-Pin. Also, he managed to stop I-Pin's countdown at the same time. "H-how? How did you do that?" Tsuna asked when he noticed that I-Pin stopped counting down.
"Practice," Cielo said with a wink and a grin as he turned around and walked back towards the gate. But he was blocked by a tonfa to his face. "May I help you?" he said calmly to Hibari who was glaring at the older man.
"You're crowding," Hibari explained as he struck with his other tonfa towards the man. Cielo didn't seemed to be fazed with Hibari's attack and simply leaned his body back, letting the tonfa's tip nearly graze his face.
"Tsk, tsk. You could have actually hurt someone with those," Cielo said as he stood up straight and walked past the Cloud Guardian, who could not accept being ignored like that. He struck once more, aiming for the head this time.
Cielo ducked and with his left as a pivot, turned his body so he could do a roundhouse with his right, aiming for the tonfa. In that split second, the tonfa was suddenly sent flying away from Hibari's hand as Cielo got up.
"Wao," Hibari said with an impassively impressed look on his face. In fact, everyone in the school was impressed with Cielo's casual display of power.
"Thank you," Cielo said with a smile as he walked towards the tonfa on the ground. Then he kicked it up, like a soccer ball, before kicking it towards Hibari, who caught it easily despite its speed.
"I'm sorry for that, but the children really need to get home and have their nap. I hope you understand," Cielo said with a small bow as he walked away again.
"Fight me seriously, carnivore," Hibari said to Cielo's retreating back.
Cielo turned around at Hibari's request with a feral grin on his face. "You are no match for me," he said but his smile changed into something softer and kinder. "In ten year's time, maybe?" he offered as he turned around and walked away. But before he passed through the gate, he stopped to say, "Cielo. That's my name, so please use it, Hibari-kun."
AN: And here's the update. Finally. Actually, this was supposed to be posted earlier but ff(dot)net doesn't seem to like me very much. But who am I to complain? But just to be clear, this was done and ready to be posted on 3/30/11 (which is 3/29/11 to those in the West). Even though I still had finals the day after, that didn't stop me from procrastinating and finishing this chapter.
Anyway, I didn't like this chapter that much. Kinda. I mean I dunno. It didn't feel right with me but I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out. Actually, there was supposed to be a real discussion for the day and it was going to be about the animal boxes. But I realized that they shouldn't have animal boxes yet so I didn't write it down even though I researched about their meanings and stuff. Then I realized that they already have animal boxes but I was nearly done that I didn't want to rewrite it anymore. And Gokudera was really supposed to interrogate Cielo, but I didn't know what they would talk about so it would appear in another chapter. And Kusakabe was supposed to appear to and help out Hibari, but Hibari seemed to handle himself pretty well, so no Kusakabe. DX And I was so excited to write down the Cielo vs. Hibari showdown but it was too short for my liking. XP But if I extended it, I dunno, I'm not really sure how to write action but I'll definitely improve throughout the story, so yeah. X3
Oh and to 10th Squad 3rd Seat, I've updated and I'm glad you love this story. X3 And to everyone who reviewed and hasn't received a reply yet, I probably just replied as in right now, so you might want to check out your um, emails? Accounts? I actually don't know where you'll see my reply. XP Anyways, I do reply to every review I get so keep them coming please. X3
And if you noticed, I changed the chapter titles (again) and removed the lullaby. Just thought that one song a story is enough. And this seems more appropriate, if you find out what it is. X3
And CONTEST! I'm planning to change the summary too because it sucks so anyone who can suggest the best summary would get a prize..Um, it would naturally be related to this story so the prize is negotiable. X3 And and guess that song up there and who taught Cielo that song. Same prize as the first. XDD Both these questions will be up until I get a good summary or the right answer. X3