Author's Note:
Well hello my dear readers. Thank you so much for the replies!
I was in doubt about the ages of the characters, but in the end I let it be. The Reborn characters are mature for their age anyways, even Tsuna. Not Lambo though, no, not him, lol.
Chapter 2 – Rebirth
Eight Years later
Iemitsu was going through the homework that he signed up for his class last week. "Tanaka, when are you going to learn, it's not then when comparing things, it's than," he sighed as he gave the lazy boy a D. More of the class made the same mistake. It annoyed him slightly because he had mentioned it at least twice before assigning the homework. He had even gone through it with them, explaining that then is used when you are describing something that has happened or might happen. D, F, C, D, B and four A's later, Iemitsu was happy that at least some of his students understood the idea behind the than and then exercise.
The ones who received A's were of course, Hana, he liked her learning ethnic very well, Kyoko, who he thought was a hard worker, Gokudera, unsurprisingly since he was rumored to be a genius ever since he begun at Namimori Middle School two months ago, and, something he was really proud about, Tezuka.
His boy was captain of the basketball team, could play the guitar and was a genius at school. What more could a father ask for?
He stored the stack of papers in his desk drawer and stood to look outside the window.
It was the tenth of October, again. He clenched his jaws ever so slightly when he tried to suppress the fact that today was the much dreaded day of each year. Today his son, Tsunayoshi, died exactly eight years ago.
Iemitsu looked to the clock above the entrance of the classroom and noted that it was 09:59. Tsuna's heart gave out at exactly 10:00. What a weird coincidence, he thought morbidly. Was it fate's idea to take him so young and at such a weird day and time? The year was even 2010, making it the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year after the second millennium that marked his death.
He sighed when he noticed the clouds outside were darkening and it started raining softly. A bell rang behind him and he knew that class would start, it always did at exactly ten point zero zero.
A march of students snapped him out of his increasingly depressive mood. He walked towards the chalkboard and began writing what he would cover with his students for this lesson.
He turned to the class. Tezuka stood in the back like always. Next to him Gokudera looked at his son with ready-for-service eyes. Behind him Yamamato, the school's famous baseball player and popular male idol eyed his son beamingly.
"Okay class, today we'll be going through English history and its poets," Hana and Kyoko beamed while most of the class churned. He never understood why his class didn't like poetry, so he said, "shut up class, we're doing some Shakespeare today. Be glad that it's the Japanese translation and not the real thing." That silenced them alright.
"Excuse me Sawada-sensei," the classroom door opened and revealed the Dean's secretary.
"Yes?" He asked curiously. It wasn't a custom in Namimori to disturb an already begun class, not if you wanted the Disciplinary Committee after you.
"We have a new transfer student from Italy today. His plane got delayed so please excuse us."
"No problem Yuri-san, bring the kid in already," he was curious, wondering what kind of person the boy was. Reborn had warned Iemitsu about Gokudera alright, but another one from Italy?
He almost choked on the air that he was breathing when Yuri-san led the boy in. "Impossible," he said so low that only the people from the front row and upwards could hear.
{Rebirth}
"Do I absolutely have to sir?" He said on the phone while he looked outside.
"You're already in Japan, so yes, you absolutely have to," the voice said, sounding with lack of emotion like always, but Tsuna could always find at least one shred of humanity in that hollow voice.
"Even so, can't I just rent an apartment and watch from the shadows before taking what you want?" The rain outside was soft, strongly contrasting his unwillingness to execute the mission.
"There is a taxi waiting for you outside the airport, now go before I send Lulaby to make sure you're doing your job."
"Yes sir! Whatever you want, just don't send her." He absolutely did not want Lulaby to come over to Japan. Who knew what that weird woman might do? The last time she went on a mission with him she had almost blown their cover while she tried to get him to eat some of her homemade candy. It wouldn't be a problem if the candy was sweet, but everything Lulaby made tasted extremely sour.
He put his touch screen phone on standby and shelved it in his pants.
This was his first time in Japan since he had left eight years ago, so the beautifully advanced architecture of the airport made him smile. The flight hall was very crowded. There were masses from every corner of civilized earth. People from Asia, Africa, America, Europe, you name it. Tokyo was indeed a tourist attraction.
It was most likely because of that reason that there was a massive row of taxi drivers and people in suits carrying signs with names in different languages. He looked around. The sign on the farthest end had his name on it. The driver looked Japanese.
Ten minutes later found Tsuna looking outside the taxi window. He didn't hate the rain like most people in Italy did. He really wondered what they had against a little change every now and then. The grounds would get way too dry if it didn't rain.
"Tsunayoshi-sama, we will be arriving in Namimori in approximately one hour using one of the Famiglia's transportation routes. Beverages and snacks can be found in the hidden cupboard that can be opened with the button to your left," the driver said, who of course was hired; nothing but the best for Tsuna.
He pushed the button and was met with fine glass and silver wear. The Baron outdid himself for this occasion. Tsuna's foul mood lessened. He smiled when he noticed a chocolate bar of the brand Brillante, his favorite.
The secret passage that the driver was taking was empty and well hidden, and because of that and the fact that he felt no bump on the road yet, he decided to take a small nap. The jetlag from before made him sleepy and a half hour of sleep would do him good. He had a long day in front of him after all.
"Tsunayoshi-sama, wake up, we've arrived," he quickly shook his head and woke up immediately, a thing he had learned during his training in Italy. He had dreamt again. The dream was the same dream he had dreamt about for the past eight years. He cursed because of the curse that was placed on him. Well, it was better than having to live in Namimori he thought bitterly.
He stepped out of the dark taxi that actually wasn't a taxi, obviously, since the middle aged taxi driver wasn't really a taxi driver either.
"Will that be all Tsunayoshi-sama?"
"Yes, leave," he ordered. The not-taxi-driver bowed and swiftly left.
"It hasn't changed one bit," Tsuna whispered. He looked around and was met with a similar image to the one of eight years ago. He would often pass Namimori Middle School with his mother in front of him holding Tezuka's hand, leaving Tsuna to catch up with them. He didn't miss that image at all.
The building didn't look like it had changed a lot; gray and blue and sometimes red. The courtyard of the school was still large compared to other schools. That was going to be in his advantage he thought as he held an umbrella above his head to cover from the soft rain.
He walked towards the entrance and was happy that he already changed into the school's uniform. He was almost certain that the raven haired boy who was hiding on the roof would have threatened him if he had not. He did his research before coming to Japan, and a fight with one Hibari Kyoya was not on his to-do-list, especially not considering Kyoya's ties to China's underworld. Baron would most certainly not approve of animosity between their Famiglia and the five heads of the Chinese Triad.
The Dean's secretary welcomed him and led him to his first subject, English. He apologized for arriving late, which was actually his own fault for taking a nap on the airport. If the Baron hadn't called, he probably would have slept all day long due to the jetlag. This mission was one he didn't look up to in the first place. "Why me," he wondered irritated again.
Oh yeah, he remembered, because the target was his non-identical twin brother, Sawada Tezuka.
Speaking of Tezuka, Tsuna noticed from the corner of his eyes that his blond counterpart was gaping at him. A man who could only be his father, Sawada Iemitsu, held the same complexion.
"Impossible," his father said with eyes behind glasses that held too much hope for Tsuna's liking.
Tsuna moved to ignore his father and stood before the class. The Dean's Secretary, Miss Yuri, stood beside him and smiled.
"Class, this is the new transfer student from Italy, be sure to make him feel at home," she looked towards Tsuna and motioned for him to begin his introduction.
Tsuna, while having the eyes of his father on his back and the stunned look of his brother on his front, smiled happily, "hello everyone, my name is Abel Tsunayoshi, I turned fourteen last week and it's a pleasure to make acquaintance," he said in perfect Japanese with an elegant twist to it that made some of the class give him odd looks. It wasn't always that a person from Italy had an Italian surname and a Japanese first name. Moreover, how could an Italian speak Japanese so perfectly?
To Tsuna's own credit, he did not let the language falter. While he didn't actually go to Japan, he did have more than a handful of Japanese contacts. Speaking excellent Japanese would be beneficial. Baron certainly approved.
"Where did you learn to speak Japanese so well Tsunayoshi-kun?" Miss Yuri asked surprised.
Tsuna looked up in the air uncomfortably before making up the perfect excuse, "my grandfather named me after his father, but my father is half-Japanese while my mother is as Italian as you could find. My mother studied Japanese in college, that's why we speak both Japanese and Italian at home." Miss Yuri nodded happily.
"Alright, you can take the seat next to Hana-chan," Miss Yuri looked to Iemitsu who still looked petrified, "is that alright Sawada-sensei?"
"Sawada-sensei?"
"Yes," he began with a mortified voice, "it's fine."
Tsuna looked towards his father and nodded while giving no hint of recognition. He knew that his father was a teacher at Namimori Middle School, so he was prepared. Still, inwardly he did feel somewhat disturbed at the sight of a father who looked so broken to see him. "Odd, you didn't seem to care about me while you were away in Italy for so long. I wonder if mother ever told you that she emotionally abandoned me?" He wished that he could say those words, but then his cover would be blown away, so he kept it to himself.
With another nod he marched towards the empty seat near the pretty tall brunette and sat down. The rest of the class went back to what they were doing.
After about five minutes the entire class unified under an awkward silence as the teacher said nothing. Finally, after another ten minutes, the brunette to his right asked, "Sawada-sensei, the lesson has already begun; you were going to teach us Shakespeare."
That hit home and made his father wake up. His father gave him another look before uncomfortably continuing the introduction on Shakespeare's Sonnets. Tsuna ignored most of what his father was teaching the class, he knew Shakespeare inside out.
The bell rang after half an hour. Tsuna waited patiently for most of the class to leave. He stood when he noticed Tezuka leaving the classroom with two boys on each side.
He almost passed the doorway when a hand gripped his shoulder.
"Tsuna-fish, is that you? Are you a ghost coming to haunt me?" His father's eyes were wet, almost on the verge of a breakdown, "I was at your funeral, what other explanation is there?"
Tsuna gently removed the hand from his shoulder, "Sensei, who is Tsuna-fish? You can call me Tsuna if you want though," he stepped back slightly, "but I'm pretty sure I'm not a ghost, and you're kind of freaking me out sensei."
"You're my son, have you forgotten?" His father tried to reach out again, but Tsuna stepped back even more.
"Sensei, my father wouldn't like it if one of my teachers told me they are my father. Is this Tsuna-fish a son of yours?" He made a snap with his finger in feigned realization, "I'm sorry that your son died sensei, but you can't just mistake students for your passed away son, that's just wrong," and with that he left a stunned Iemitsu behind in the empty classroom.
"Tsuna-fish?" Iemitsu whispered. Abel Tsunayoshi looked exactly like Tsuna-fish would have now. He spoke Japanese perfectly. His hair was spiky like Tsuna-fish and the glint in his nut-brown eyes was the same.
Yet Abel Tsunayoshi wasn't his son, because he had seen Tsuna-fish's dead body in the casket eight years ago.
This was yet another punishment for his neglect on his family. He would be forever cursed with Tsuna-fish's image. He was never there, so he only deserved this. Now he was seeing his dead son's face on a student who just arrived from another country.
Iemitsu walked towards the window. It still rained softly as he looked up. "Forgive me God, please. If only I was there when my Tsuna-fish got run over, maybe I could have saved him."
{Rebirth}
"Gokudera-san, wasn't it? You're from Italy too I heard, buongiorno," he said in flawless Italian.
"Keep it to yourself kid. You upset Juudaime. I can't allow any punk to do that. I'm his right hand man," Gokudera produced gray-ish dynamite sticks from his pockets.
After he left the classroom and was about to explore the courtyard regardless if it rained or not, he was smart enough to bring an umbrella after all, Gokudera blocked his path. The look of fury on his face told Tsuna enough to be wary.
"Put those away Gokudera-san, it's dangerous to play with firecrackers in school."
That made Gokudera angrier.
"Maa maa Gokudera, what are you doing threatening the new student? That's not very nice," an arm slung over Gokudera and a brunet appeared next to Gokudera.
"Keep out of this baseball-freak."
"Maa maa, Tezuka is waiting for us, you don't want to keep him waiting now do you?" With that the 'baseball-freak' redirected Gokudera and tactfully distracted him as they disappeared from view.
The short sharp gaze of the newcomer didn't go unnoticed by Tsuna.
Tsuna still held a hand in his pocket. He brought his obsidian knuckle brasses with him, just in case. Maybe that had made the other boy wary. Tsuna told himself to remember to leak less killing intent the next time.
"Crap, it's almost time for the next class," he had lost track on time when arguing with Gokudera.
Still, he needed to get a general idea of his surroundings.
Three minutes later found Tsuna in the back of the school, cornered by three big students. They were laughing and cracking their fists.
"Got any money on you new kid?"
"Yeah kid, we want all of it, hand it over."
"Better listen to Zani, he's not known to be nice."
Tsuna almost burst out laughing. He smirked slightly, which made the albino in the middle furious.
The giant student stomped forward and held back his fist, ready to smash it into the new kid's nose. No one defied him.
Tsuna was about to dodge it, but didn't when he felt a presence.
"It's you," he said happily.
A hand clutched around the albino's wrist, stopping it inches from Tsuna's face.
"Of course senpai," the voice answered lazily.