Tsuna is worried. It's eleven o'clock, and Kyouya isn't home. If anything, he can always be counted on for being punctual, but…
People had been getting beaten up for the past couple of weeks. First, it had been random people from the Disciplinary Committee (thankfully, Tsuna had been left alone). Then, the students themselves had been attacked. Kyouya traced the origin to Kokuyo Land and had left to apprehend the perpetrator.
It's been eight hours since he left.
And he knows it's stupid because Kyouya is the strongest person who lives in Namimori, but something is tugging at his intuition like something is about to go wrong (or already went wrong). He stares outside his window, willing Kyouya to come back home safely.
Tomorrow, he promises himself. If he doesn't come home by then, I'll go to Kokuyo Land myself.
For now, Tsuna will focus on defeating the worst enemy known to man, otherwise known as paperwork.
XXXXXXXXXX
"..." Tsuna stares down the hole where glass is shattered and dashes of blood are on the ground. For some reason, he sees a broken baseball bat as well. Tsuna sighs and begins to lower himself carefully down before slipping. Thankfully, he remembers to curl into a ball to minimize the damage.
It looks like Tsuna is off to a great start.
(That was sarcasm.)
After wandering around for fifteen minutes, Tsuna begins to hear explosions and yells. Another five minutes and Tsuna is standing in front of Gokudera and two other Kokuyo students (judging from their uniforms). Gokudera looks like he's been dragged through a paper shredder, with bleeding cuts all over his body while the pair closes in on him. Tsuna backs away slowly. Should I help? He fingers his taser that always rests in his pocket and draws it out slowly.
He would have to shock both of them quickly enough so they didn't see him coming. Tsuna really wants to run away, but his conscience can't leave Gokudera alone like that, so he inches forward. Step by step. The silver-haired boy's eyes widen as he catches sight of Tsuna's fluffy brown hair. Tsuna presses a finger to his lips. Gokudera inclines his head ever so slightly.
Okay. He can do this. He prays that he doesn't trip over his own two feet and lunges forward, taser sparking. The pair whirl around to face him, and their frenzied eyes meet his.
Zap.
Two bodies slump to the floor, shirt charred. Tsuna lets his taser clatter to the ground. Gokudera looks at the bodies and looks back up at Tsuna's unassuming form and breathes out with awe laced in his voice, "That was amazing."
Tsuna blushes and says bashfully, "It wasn't that big of a deal." Gokudera looks ready to argue, but then they both hear a faint melody coming behind a wall. A very familiar melody that everyone who goes to Namimori knows.
"Is that..." Gokudera's brow furrows in concentration, straining to hear. "Hibari?" A grunt of affirmation is all Tsuna needs and he rushes to the wall (more like a pile of rubble), inspecting it carefully. He notices a discarded tonfa lying farther away.
"Back away, Tsunayoshi-sama!" Gokudera shouts suddenly. Tsuna turns around to see- holy crap those are dynamites. Tsuna lets out a long shriek and backpedals away quickly. He flings the lit dynamite and-
Kyouya is sitting on the ground, accompanied by a yellow bird who is still singing their school song. Kyouya also looks murderous. That is... not good. "Bunny. Why are you here."
Tsuna fidgets around nervously. He doesn't respond, instead choosing to hand over Kyouya's lone tonfa. Surprisingly, Gokudera comes to his defense with a "don't harass Tsunayoshi-sama!" and what the hell, since when did that start?
"You can just call me Tsuna, Gokudera-san," Tsuna says uncomfortably.
"Bunny."
"Nonsense! You just saved my life!" Gokudera insists and then hesitates. "I'll call you that if you call me by my first name," he offers, and it's not the worst offer out there so Tsuna takes it.
"Thank you, Hayato-san," Tsuna says, relieved. He knows that he probably has a death wish by ignoring Kyouya, but he really doesn't want to deal with it right now. It turns out Tsuna doesn't have a choice when he feels himself be lifted up by the collar of his jacket (Kyouya is fond of doing that whenever he's annoyed with him. It's irritating, to say the least). "I was just worried about you, Aniki!" he protests. "It's been more than a day, so…" he trails off. He wiggles his feet, trying to contact the ground, but with no avail.
Kyouya clicks his tongue. He begins walking towards where Tsuna could hear clanging and a voice that suspiciously sounds like Ienari in a bad mood. "Wait, Aniki, where are we going?" he cries out, feet still dangling in the air. Kyouya nods his head toward the noises. Nononono. "Can't we go somewhere safer?" he asks weakly.
"Yeah! Tsuna-sama's-" (Tsuna nearly cries when he hears the added honorific) "safety comes first!" Gokudera says, shaking a fist at Kyouya. Naturally, he ignores him and goes on his merry way, with Tsuna's collar in one hand and tonfas in the other. Gokudera huffs angrily
When they arrive at the battle scene, Tsuna had already resigned himself to his fate. He sees Ienari flaming(?) in his boxers (it's sad that this is a regular sight nowadays) and a boy with purple hair styled into a pineapple shape. Farther to the right is a baby with curly sideburns who is eyeing the intense battle with interest.
The battle itself is going poorly; Ienari is getting thoroughly thrashed by Pineapple. Tsuna looks up to see Kyouya bare his teeth. He is set down semi-gently next to Gokudera who immediately fusses over him like a mother hen.
And then Kyouya leaps into battle.
This...is probably the first time Tsuna has ever seen Kyouya go up against an opponent just as strong as himself. Pineapple lets out an ominous laugh and blocks him with ease. "Kufufufu, you came back," Pineapple purrs (disturbingly). "But I'm afraid you won't be on your feet for a moment longer." He snaps his fingers and sakura trees appear. What? How is- what is happening? Tsuna's mind reels and he can almost feel it breaking down.
This is all forgotten when he sees Kyouya stumble and fall to the ground on his knees. "Aniki!" he screams, leaping to his feet. He bats off Gokudera who tries to restrain him and runs. Ienari looks at him in shock and starts to open his mouth only to close it.
"Oh? The almighty Hibari Kyouya has a little brother?" Pineapple takes in Tsuna's trembling form as he stands in front Kyouya, arms flung out. With closer observation, Tsuna discovers that one of Pineapple's eyes is red with a number imprinted on it.
But...Tsuna can see confusion and sadness and helplessness swirling in complicated patterns as well. It's too much for him to take. Tsuna averts his eyes to the ground.
"Tch. Stupid bunny, you're in my way." All of a sudden, Kyouya is in front of him and drives a tonfa into Pineapple's stomach. Pineapple falls to the ground.
"I thought you-"
"I'm fine," Kyouya says curtly.
It's all too much. Tsuna faints.
XXXXXXXXXX
Tsuna wakes up to talking. He opens his eyes and sees three cloaked figures in black. Pineapple and the other two who had attacked Gokudera are bound tightly in chains. "-they will live all of their life in Vendicare, the mafia prison. They will be given punishment as seen fit-"
"You can't do that!" Tsuna slurs, his mind still fuzzy from sleep. "They're only," He yawns loudly at this point, "kids!" Blond-Animal-Kid lets out a stream of muffles, presumably along the lines of, "I'm not a kid!"
"Hibari Tsunayoshi, formerly known as Sawada Tsunayoshi," one of the figures intones, voice echoing.
There's a squawk from Gokudera's direction. "You're that bastard's brother!"
"That's my name," Tsuna says warily, completely ignoring the bomber.
"Rokudo Mukuro, Kakimoto Chikusa, and Joshima Ken are to be sent to Vendicare," another says. "We will not be changing that fact."
"Yes, you will. They can't be that much older than me, but you're sending them off to some jail with a life sentence!" Tsuna is surprising himself constantly today, he never thought that he could work up the courage to speak his mind fully. "I won't accept that!"
"Kufufu," Pineapple (Mukuro?) laughs through the chains. "Dear Sky, your words will change nothing." Sky? Out of the corner of his eye, Tsuna sees the baby stiffen in shock.
"Don't talk to him, pineapple," Kyouya remarks darkly, stepping in front of Tsuna. (He isn't very surprised to learn that they share a common naming sense.) Mukuro looks mortally offended.
"What if we do an exchange?" Tsuna asks. "Like...I'll give you something you want and you let those three free?"
"What could we possibly want from you?"
"I don't know, what do you want?" Tsuna says truthfully. For some reason, the three look slightly surprised when he says this.
"Your Flames are quite pure," one of them observes. Since when did fire come into this? "Very well. Give us some of your Flames for an experiment, and we shall let your...friends go."
"...What are these Flames you keep on talking about?" he questions in a small voice. A bony arm beckons Tsuna to him. Hesitantly, he shuffles closer. Kyouya watches him unnervingly but doesn't stop him.
"The hell are you doing, Dame-Tsuna?" Ienari (honestly, Tsuna totally forgot about him) demands. The baby kicks him in the head with amazing strength and knocks his (douche) twin out.
A cold hand is placed on Tsuna's forehead. He feels something stir in the core of his being, something warm. It flows out of him in fiery bursts and for the second time that day, Tsuna faints.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Tsuna-sama!" is what he is greeted with when Tsuna comes to. He blinks and sees green eyes shimmering with tears right up in his face. He blanches and tries to sink deeper into his pillow. "I was so worried!" Gokudera blubbers, backing away. Thank God for small miracles, Tsuna thinks.
"Is everyone okay?" Tsuna asks.
Gokudera chews his lip thoughtfully. "Well, Hibari's already out of the hospital. Ienari and Mochida are still healing up."
I don't give a jack about Ienari or Mochida, Tsuna wants to say, but he's (unfortunately) too nice to say that, so instead he goes, "That's nice. What about Pine- I mean, Mukuro and the rest?"
"I'm not too sure why you went so far for a couple of strangers," Gokudera says, giving him a measuring look. He brightens up a few seconds later with, "Tsuna-sama is so kind!"
"Please, just call me Tsuna," he begs half-heartedly. Of course, he's ignored. "And of course I helped them, they're just a couple of teenagers. And…" Their eyes seemed so sad. "So? How are they?"
"They're fine," he replies dismissively. "They're at your house."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, the Vindice told us that you had full responsibility for them. D-don't worry, Tsuna-sama! I'll make sure they don't corrupt you!"
"That's nice," Tsuna says weakly.
XXXXXXXXXX
When he's discharged from the hospital, he finds that no, it isn't nice at all. Kyouya and Mukuro seem incapable of getting along outside of physical violence, which is what they're doing now. Ken and Chikusa (Tsuna learned their names from Gokudera) can be seen through the windows, gobbling down the feast that the Hibari matriarch, Miyu, had prepared for everyone. He'll have to stop this quickly if Tsuna wants any of that food for himself. "Stop!" he shouts, hands cupping his mouth. Miraculously, they listen to him.
"You're awake," Kyouya says, pleasantly surprised.
"I must thank you for saving me, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro lets his illusions disappear with a flick of his hand. Tsuna lets it go without questions, with all these things happening, he wouldn't be surprised if a flying unicorn goes soaring above the skies. "Indeed, I'm quite grateful, except there is something I don't understand. Why would you save someone you barely know?"
"Well, wouldn't you do the same?" Tsuna asks, trying to dodge the question because there is no way in hell he'll say some emotional crap about his "eyes being sad."
"No," Mukuro replies flatly. "I would let them suffer in a dank prison cell. Their wellbeing is of no concern to me."
Well then.
...Is he the only one in Namimori that actually has a conscience?
"So?" Mukuro prompts.
"Look, a cow!" he yells, pointing randomly at the sky.
His eyes narrow. "Tsunayoshi, I am not a child and therefore will not be tricked by such-"
Thump.
Kyouya picks up the thing that slammed into Mukuro's head. Wait, it's a kid! Tsuna realizes. The kid has a bushy afro with a cow-print suit. His green eyes widen and immediately starts to tear up. Tsuna panicks and hurriedly snatches him away from Kyouya's grasp because he's pretty sure the kid started crying because of his fierce glare. "Who are you?" Kyouya demands.
"I-I am Lambo from the Bovino family!" he introduces himself, sniffling loudly. "I'm five-years-old and I l-love grape candy! Reborn is a jerk!"
"You're the annoying herbivore that stays with the other herbivore," Kyouya states. At Lambo's confused yet watery look, he elaborates, "Sawada Ienari."
Lambo bursts out in sobs again. "L-Lambo is being replaced!" he wails. "Reborn said that I was going to be the Lightning Guardian!" Where did that come from?
Mukuro sneers, "You? A Guardian? Don't make me laugh. You're far too young to even consider such a high-maintenance job." Tsuna sends a desperate look towards the purple-haired boy, violently shushing him. Even he knows that's the wrong thing to say and he has the social ability of a rock! Mukuro just smirks and shakes his head like he's saying, well, what can you do? It's the truth!
Tsuna awkwardly rocks Lambo, trying to discreetly wipe away the snot from his shirt. "There, there..? Why don't you tell onii-san what's wrong?" Inwardly, he winces at his horrible attempt at comforting a child. He is so not cut out for this.
"Stupid Ienari says that Mochida is going to be his Lightning, not me! And Reborn promised that I would so I could bring fame and fortune to the Bovino family! Everyone knows the Vongola, so everyone would know me, right?"
Okay. So my (douche) brother is involved in something weird, not that I'm surprised. I never did think that Ienari would get a respectable job like a doctor. So, the Bovino family...a family of bodyguards maybe? Maybe Ienari inherited some sort of fortune and needs someone to watch over him? But that doesn't make sense, why would someone hire a five-year-old for that? And why is he talking about the weather? I mean, Lightning?
"I'm sure that everything's going to work out in the end," he tries, patting Lambo's head.
Lambo stares up at him. "Are you stupid? That only happens in fairytales!" Tsuna's heart breaks just a little bit after being insulted by a five-year-old.
"Well, everything worked out with him, didn't it?" Tsuna replies helplessly, waving a hand towards Mukuro's direction, who had taken to entertaining himself by conjuring gory scenes that look like they belong in a horror movie. Kyouya looks fascinated, no matter how much he tries to hide it. Oddly enough, Lambo doesn't seem fazed at all.
"I guess," Lambo says doubtfully. "Thanks, Stranger-nii!" He bounds out of Tsuna's arms and goes dashing off into the streets. "Byee~!"
And just like that, the cow child is gone.
"What if he gets run over?" Tsuna says in horror.
Mukuro says lazily, "You'll find that people like him don't die very easily. He'll be fine."
"He's five!"
A/N: Enjoy this for now, remember, I update when I feel like it so don't be surprised if I don't update for a month or something ahaha. And for the person who wondered why Nana easily gave up her parent...ship?-, Miyu may or may not have utilized her Mist Flames to convince her. (Kyouya inherited his Cloud Flames from his father who is not dead.)