Chapter 1: Prologue
Chapter Text
00: Prologue
Tsuna was prepared--still a bit scared, but ready.
He found no answer to preserve the Arcobalenos’ flames without killing the previous generation, but he found a way to cheat death. At least with this, Reborn and the others may have a chance of living.
The dawn before the final battle, he called Bermuda for a little chat. A history lesson. Bermuda was confused of Tsuna’s sudden appearance, but obliged nonetheless.
Tsuna noted of two things on the survival of the previous Arcobalenos. One, there existed a will on something, far stronger that offsets death. Two, a flame to support there will and is able to push their existence was an ingredient to success. That was why he needed everyone present. He needed everyone, even Bermuda, to forcefully cheat death. Being an Arcobaleno was nothing but an afterthought.
Tsuna was indeed prepared.
Standing in front of Checker Face or as he revealed earlier, Kawahira, Tsuna prepared for the absolute worse. He stood behind the Arcobalenos, clenched hands beside him, and an unyielding look that not only was visible to Reborn, but to everyone present at that time.
“I’m already prepared,” Tsuna declared.
The others were taken aback while Checker smiled. There was no second thoughts from Tsuna’s words. It was a direct answer.
“It seems that you are,” Checker said. “Then, shall we?”
“Wait!” a voice echoed. It was Gokudera, but it was clouded over by the sound of an intensifying ring that made everyone, if not all churn and kneel in pain.
A bright light enveloped everything. Tsuna felt his skin burn, but not of hot heat. Cold. He felt too cold all-over him, and it felt burning. His skin felt like being ripped away from him, being teared open. He tasted a tang of metal, probably blood.
His body shook and shivered, but as soon as it started fading, Tsuna forced his eyes open. He was still on his Dying Will Mode, thankfully. Tsuna propped himself up; he felt small-- he felt the world small, but he put that aside for now. His head bobbed, feeling heavy, nauseous, and completely not functioning correctly, but he persisted.
Tsuna reached the Arcobalenos. It was this moment when the ringing stopped for him, and all he can hear were screams screeching through the air. Tsuna gulped, stopping the urge to vomit as his eyes began to focus on the Arcobalenos, even Lal’s and Yuni’s, body started decaying.
He did not have the time to think. He quickly held his now tiny hands in front of him, and brought the power of the Vongola Ring to force wills and flames in the bodies of the Arcobalenos.
If Tsuna is thinking in theory that this is the same way Reborn does with the Dying Will bullets and pills, then forcing an ample amount would be enough to start the stabilizing process of the Arcobalenos not dying.
Then, he felt another heat coming from his chest-- the sky pacifier.
He breathed in and used the pacifier like how he does with the ring. He poured out his resolve to save the Arcobalenos, and the pacifier burned brighter and purer than anything Checker saw.
Checker was watching it unfold in front of him. What a terrifying human Tsunayoshi Sawada is. It was the right choice choosing him to lead the new generation of Arcobalenos.
Checker was about to leave when he heard Tsuna call for him.
“Checker…” Tsuna huffed, battling his exhaustion and pain. “Don’t leave… yet.” Tsuna met his eyes as he coughed up blood. “Please.”
Chapter Text
01: Reborn and an Arcobaleno
Sounds of birds chirping was not Reborn’s first thought to hear when he woke up nor was a familiar hospital ceiling the first thing he thought he would have to see. He tried moving his body, hands, head, but nothing budged. He was completely paralyzed.
He almost chuckled, remembering how he hasn’t been paralyzed since a mission from--! His eyes widened as his mid suddenly flooded of the reality he was in.
What happened?
There was a fight, a representative battle… then Tsuna… Tsuna! That Checker Face prompted the light and the ringing, and everything was a blur afterwards. He could perceive nothing.
Tsuna… Checker said he was the first in line to be the next Arcobaleno, if so, then that would mean…
Reborn heard the sound of the door opening, and from the sound alone, he could deduce four people coming in: Gokudera, Yamamoto, Shamal, and Bianchi.
“Oh, Reborn,” Bianchi said, appearing above him.
Reborn closed his eyes for a second; his vision turned hazy and he felt the depth around him to be too close.
“Reborn, can you hear me?” Shamal asked as he brought out a small flashlight.
Reborn took note of the small vials he heard clanging at each other.
“Yeah.” Reborn’s eyes widened. Because he was numb all over his body, he never noticed the difference in his body, but the voice that came out confirmed his suspicions on the ending of the representative battle. His voice was hoarse, but it was his. It was older, not squeaky. It was his.
“What do you feel?” Bianchi asked.
Reborn coughed and tried to move again, but there was no response. “Paralyzed.”
“I see,” Shamal said, taking notes as Gokudera and Yamamoto peaked at it. “It seems like a side effect from the sudden healing and growing of your body, so--”
“Tsuna,” Reborn cut him off. He already knew it was a side effect. Reborn also knew that the vials at Shamal’s pocket are just for the pain and numbness. And, he could care less of the medications at this moment, since a question still troubled him.
It was hard talking when his throat felt so dry and unused, but Reborn wanted to know. No, he must know. “Where is--” Reborn coughed-- “Tsuna? What… happened?”
“He… The tenth…” Gokudera said. Before he can finish his sentence, they heard a chime mix with a soft swish in the wind.
“Here.” Tsuna flew in, landing on top of Reborn’s chest-- the way Reborn does (when he was still infant-sized) when he wakes up Tsuna for their morning exercise. “How the tables have turned, Reborn.”
As expected, his voice was younger. Unlike Reborn’s, it wasn’t pitched too high. It was mellower and softer. He still wore his trusted hoodie, yet he donned his X-Gloves version Vongola Gear in his hands. His hair was still as messy as they were, yet his honey-colored eyes looked the same when he enters his Dying Will.
“Tenth!” Gokudera gasped.
Tsuna nodded at everyone at the room, then stared back at Reborn before saying, “You weren’t hurt that bad, unlike the others, but you suffered some internal injuries. You have to be confined for awhile before you can move. The numbness was an effect of both my forceful insertion of flames and will as well as the unexpected speed of growth in your body. I can’t get--”
“Tsuna,” said Reborn, stopping Tsuna’s rambling. “Beginning. Breathe.”
Tsuna nodded, and so, he recalled. “After Checker transferred the position of the Arcobalenos, the previous ones, even Lal, will cease to exist. I used my flame and will to force the eight of you to have enough wills and flames to stabilize your bodies. Like the previous surviving Arcobalenos, my insertion are temporary. I already asked Bermuda to aid you all of this; he will come every time to replenish it.”
“How?” asked Reborn. “How did you force it? This means… everyone is…?” Reborn coughed again.
“Water,” said Tsuna. At this, Gokudera and Yamamoto nodded without even an order being given at them and left the room. “Everyone else, but you, Lal and Yuni are in critical condition, but they will be fine. I asked some healers to standby.
“As for the ‘how’ I managed to do that,” said Tsuna, opening the palm of his hands and conjuring a pure sky flame, “ever since the sky pacifier was given to me, I can manage to procure flames willingly. I applied the theory of the Dying Will bullet and pills to my transference.”
Reborn could laugh right now if his throat didn’t burn, but he scoffed. “Look at you,” he said, “saying all the big words now.”
“Can’t help it, if I’m too calm to be the ordinary Tsuna.”
Gokudera and Yamamoto came back with a pitcher and a glass. Tsuna jumped to Reborn’s bedside table as Bianchi helped Reborn to sit with Shamal assisting to adjust the bed.
Reborn found drinking the water to be painful; it was scratching his throat, somehow. It was a level of pain, he could handle. “You’re stuck in that form?”
“Well,” Tsuna started, “yes and no. Yes, since this is not the ordinary Tsuna you know of. On the other hand, no, since this is the normal for me.” Tsuna hopped up and sat back on Reborn’s blanket. “I am currently not using my flame nor any mode. I can summon Nuts, have the cape, and release them, but at the end of the day, I come back to this.” Tsuna pointed at himself and tilted his head. “Checker said the Arcobaleno power seemed to have force it.”
“I see,” said Reborn. “Now, tell me the--”
Tsuna cut off Reborn and looked at Yamamoto, saying, “Accommodate them.” Yamamoto furrowed his brow confused, but followed nonetheless, pulling Gokudera with him out of the room.
“Oi! Don’t--!” Gokudera spat, trying to release himself from Yamamoto’s grip as they went out.
“What was that?” asked Reborn.
“Bianchi,” said Tsuna, making Binachi stand up and leave as well. “Sorry about that. There were guests downstairs lost and puzzled. They are visiting for the other Arcobalenos they know. Some already left Namimori to write their reports or heal on their own. The hospital is quite understaffed at the moment, so I let able-bodied people to help with the service. What was that again?”
Reborn just stared at him in response. Who would have thought the maturity of his student would spike up just from getting the Arcobaleno title? He couldn’t help pride overjoy him, but he didn’t smile.
This must not go over Tsuna’s head, he noted. “How long was I out?”
“20 days.”
Reborn nodded. Twenty days of recovery, too slow. “Tell me about the other picked Arcobalenos.”
“Basil, rain. Hibari Kyoya, cloud. Mukuro Rokudo, mist. Xanxus, storm. Byakuran, lighting. Enma Kozato, sun.”
“Byakuran being the lightning and Enma Kozato, the sun?” repeated Reborn for clarification.
Tsuna shrugged. “Checker said they can wield them.”
Reborn collected his thoughts for a moment. Shamal continued doing some tests and later, gave him some medicine before heading out, leaving the tutor and his student alone.
“I thought Yamamoto would be chosen,” Reborn finally said.
“Checker never said the reason why.” Tsuna stood and went beside Reborn, laying himself down. “I’m tired, Reborn. Now, I get why you always unexpectedly sleep. Any last questions?”
“Your curse. Is it the same?”
Tsuna was silent, letting Reborn do a double-take whether Tsuna’s awake or not. Well, he is. “Short lifespan.” Tsuna scoffed. “What a joke to a fourteen-year-old.”
They were met with silence. Reborn gritted his teeth, knowing what that meant, knowing how Tsuna may not live long like Luce or Aria. Perhaps that was the reason why he started forcing himself to act mature all of a sudden. Tsuna has a lot of promise; he has a lot to prove to the world, only to be gunned down by one curse.
Reborn wanted to kill Checker.
Reborn cursed himself, knowing what will come, knowing that it has to come.
Notes:
Well, let the story begin!
Chapter Text
02: Being an Arcobaleno
A lullaby, someone was singing a lullaby. It was a famous lullaby, but the song felt different.
Tsuna sensed people gathered around him. A familiar scene of fun. There’s Gokudera obviously shushing people up, Yamamoto and Dino chuckling at the corner, Ryohei intensely staring at Tsuna, Reborn realizing I just woke up, and Chrome and Bianchi preparing some snacks.
When he first noticed that he could easily pinpoint someone by the wave of their energies, sounds of their footsteps, and breathing patterns due to the Arcobaleno’s boost in his power, he has been using it consistently. He has to at least still learn, despite his circumstance.
But there is one that Tsuna couldn’t recognize, the one who sang the lullaby.
The song was something Tsuna could never forget. It was what his mom does whenever Tsuna feels scared at night. His mother didn’t notice, but Tsuna only gets nightmares when his father’s gone. He was six-years-old when the nightmares stopped.
Now that he thought about it, Tsuna met the ninth when he was six.
“Tsuna,” said Reborn. “I know you’re awake.”
Tsuna sighed inwardly, knowing how he could not feign being awake with Reborn around. He opened his eyes to see the last person to be Uni on a wheelchair.
“That lullaby,” Tsuna said, “where did you learn of it? It’s famous here in Japan, but abroad?”
Uni smiled as she glanced at Tsuna, then Reborn. “I saw it,” she said.
“A future vision?” Tsuna asked. At this moment, the others in the room were watching their conversation as Tsuna steadily stood up, still not used to the infant body.
Uni hummed in agreement. “It was… faint. But, I saw you, cradling someone while singing it. Then, I woke up.” She chuckled. “Gamma didn’t want me to move just yet, so I waited until Shamal said it’s fine. I asked for a wheelchair, so here I am delivering the news.”
Tsuna stilled, stopped. He looked at his pacifier, then at Uni. “Was I… was…”
“It wasn’t clear,” Reborn answered instead, knowing full well what Tsuna wanted to ask. Was he alive, well, and an adult? It was clear Tsuna was still stressed on the sudden situation, however hard he tried to not look affected.
“It was blurry, but I know it was you, Tsuna,” Uni said. “I am unsure if the Arcobaleno’s curse was lifted, but you were cradling someone’s body frame.”
“Unsure? Someone’s body frame? You mean…” Yamamoto commented, stepping in the conversation.
“By someone’s body frame,” Dino also commented, “that would mean that it is possible Tsuna’s not cradling a kid or a baby? I thought he was.”
“That was an unexpected turn of events,” Yamamoto said.
“She’s unsure, since the vision was only that. The background was nothing but fog and even the foreground was unclear,” Reborn said.
“Then, what’s the point of sharing that?” Gokudera asked.
“Because I know that song…” Tsuna said in a low voice. “That person I’m cradling, was I holding their head? Body?”
Reborn smirked. Tsuna’s thought process has become fast.
“You were supporting their back. And,” said Uni, “you were moving back and forth like a cradle.”
No replies from Tsuna nor was there any elaborations from Reborn. Yamamoto scratched his head and was about to question something when Chrome spoke softly, “You were singing a lullaby.”
Everyone looked at Chrome, causing her to jump in shock and started waving her hands in a refusing notion.
“Ah! I was just… I suddenly just said something aloud.” Chrome sank in her chair.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Your free to do that.” Bianchi comforted Chrome and patted her back, then she aired her question as well. “It’s a weird scene to be honest. Why would he do that? Cradling someone, perhaps an adult, and singing them a lullaby--” Bianchi looked at where Tsuna was, but he wasn’t there-- “Where… is he?”
“Tsuna?” Yamamoto asked at the same time as Gokudera’s shout of “Tenth!” and Ryohei’s scream. Dino and Yamamoto agreed to start looking for Tsuna outside while Ryohei in the room, following the outburst of Gokudera suddenly rushing out of the room.
Reborn narrowed his eyes. “That boy.”
“You also didn’t notice?” asked Uni in a hush that he and Reborn could only hear.
Reborn didn’t confirm anything. He only looked up at the ceiling as Bianchi and Chrome resumed to prepare some snacks.
The white room was a place Tsuna requested Checker to borrow for awhile after the transference of wills and flames, which Checker generously agreed it’s fine. It was a room Checker has been using while hiding from the world. It was a place that is everywhere and anywhere of any time, but is also nowhere since it is non-existent in any plane. It was a place Checker created, a pocket world, if you will.
And, Tsuna has also asked permission for the other new Arcobalenos to use it; Checker face, although perplexed, gave his permission. It was easily accessible by allowing themselves to be swallowed by their flames.
Currently, it is the place that the seven new Arcobalenos have been staying at for quite some time. They have been using it for two months. How is that possible when they have only been Arcobalenos for twenty days?
Time passed differently in the white room compared to the real world. Tsuna thought they could use it to find for a solution to this Arcobalenos’ curse.
Tsuna exited the conversation of the vision in the hospital when he sensed a different ripple of energy in the white room. When he emerged there, well, it was as lively as he left it hours ago.
Enma, Basil, and Byakuran were doing some research and experiments on a corner. Xanxus slept farther away from everyone. And, Rokudo and Kyoya has been fighting since who knows, which started due to Checker’s childish rule and Rokudo’s taunts.
Rokudo… Kyoya… It took some time adjusting to the childish demand of Checker, but the Arcobalenos felt less awkward now. Checker’s childish rule aside from the obvious-don’t-do-stupid-world-ending-things-in-the-space rules was to call each other by their first names.
Kyoya was not thrilled at first, but he soon gave up and just did it. Checker’s not a force the Arcobalenos can fight and win against. Everyone knew that, hence it was a waste of time to fight over something trivial.
“What happened?” Tsuna asked, approaching Byakuran, noticing their place were littered. At the ground were shattered glasses and a book on craftsmanship about the box weapons.
“Hi, Tsu!” Ah, Byakuran was the most welcoming in the first name basis rule.
“Byakuran came back from a universe, and started experimenting on waves and limitations,” Basil said.
Tsuna saw six floating fish bowls with fighting energies and varying levels within them. The first bowl is nearing its breaking point, and Byakuran quickly summoned a shield and some lab gown and goggles over him. (Thank Checker, this place can summon anything from nothing.) He poked through the bowl and when it bobbed back, he put his hands in overwhelmed the bowl with his lightning flames. It shattered.
Enma sighed. “Nice try, though.”
“Ah! What a travesty whatever should I do!” exclaimed Byakuran, grabbing a marshmallow from a non-existent bag while sweeping the glasses to the side. He moved to the next bowl.
“What exactly are you three doing?” asked Tsuna, crossing his arms. Enma and Basil looked at each other, and pulled Byakuran away from the bowls to Tsuna. “So?”
“Dear, Tsu,” said Byakuran, “like how being an Arcobaleno made you stay in that version all the time or how it helped you control and manifest your flames easily; it helped me with my voyage across multiple realities.
“I discovered how I suddenly have much easier control on pulling through and navigating my way around universes, so I used that to look at points in the space where the Arcobalenos’ curses have been removed or cured.” Byakuran span around and presented the bowls at Tsuna. “From what I have researched, it’s like the boxes. A container filled with intense energies and flames to ignite the start while the flame of night repeatedly jumps start it. It is a perfect solution.”
Kyoya and Rokudo were now paying attention; Xanxus was now wide awake and is heading towards them.
Tsuna hummed. “Like pouring flames into something as so it wouldn’t die,” Tsuna said, which Byakuran agreed passionately with, clasping Tsuna’s hands and nodding fast. “We could ask engineers that we have, or even the grand Talbot.”
“Yuppy-yes, we could,” said Byakuran.
“But?” Tsuna asked impatiently. Byakuran likes being dramatic, but when the answer has now been given to them, Tsuna really could care less about playing along.
Byakuran started to insert his flames again in another bowl. “The success rate is less than 0.003%. There are times that Talbot dies while in the process of creating it; the reason was due to exhaustion and side effects of her craftsmanship. Even if it wasn’t Talbot, its creators still has their mortality given to them fast.” The bowl shattered again. “Most of times, while inserting the flames to ignite the start, the casters die. And at the near future, when it has been done, most of the times, the container shatters for varied reasons.”
“So you ought to create it to perfection here?” asked Rokudo.
Byakuran sighed. “Well, as you can see,” he said, showing the bowls, “it’s pretty hard to do so.”
“Grab Talbot, and work here,” Xanxus suggested.
“We asked Checker, but…” answered Enma, shaking his head.
Xanxus cursed, before going forward. He pointed his gun in one of the bowls, and before Enma could reprimand him to not destroy the bowl, Xanxus fired it. His flames weren’t overwhelming like how Tsuna remembered it; his storm flames were controlled. His shot curved and went in the bowl; minutes of silence later, however, the bowl shattered. He cursed again.
“I went and asked Talbot her opinion,” said Basil. “The only response I get was not from her. Apparently, she’s sick.” Basil sighed and cleaned off Xanxus’ mess.
“Sick?” asked Tsuna and Rokudo at the same time.
Basil nodded. “We called some healers already to look at it; we still have yet to get a response.”
“Oh~ The babies are sad now.” Byakuran laughed. “It’s just 0.003 percent! You managed to beat me, Tsu, and everyone around this room. What’s a mere percentage to a room where we can beat time and to my powers where we can freely gather information!”
“I haven’t beaten Kyoya,” said Tsuna, turning away from the crowd to Kyoya, who’s standing away from everyone. “You do that, and Vongola will assist with what you need.”
“Gosh, Tsunayoshi Sawada,” taunted Rokudo. “What happened to you to act so mature?” He chuckled and turned to Xanxus. “I always forget that you’re the next in line.”
“You did not,” Enma whispered to himself.
Xanxus didn’t respond, but fired his gun at Rokudo. Rokudo dodged laughing.
“Now, guys.” Basil went between them.
“Fight when there’s at stake,” said Byakuran, grabbing another marshmallow. “It’s more dramatic.”
“In the mean time,” said Tsuna before anything escalated again. “we will also search for information present now. Verde and the other scientists could help.” Tsuna turned to Kyoya. “Will you be able to gather information on boxes like your future self did?”
Kyoya just narrowed his eyes. “I can.”
“I’ll send Reborn with you. He’ll go,” said Tsuna to everyone’s surprise.
This interaction was a delight, and everyone who witnessed it agrees, since Kyoya will rarely be willing talk to someone. Tsuna, since his becoming of an Arcobaleno, seemed to be an exclusion.
More than that, Tsuna was more decisive. He made choices that everyone simply agrees with; some questions will be raised, but nonetheless, agreeable. Tsuna’s choices and orders weren’t on a whim as well; he has carefully calculated so much-- this, Byakuran and Enma found out when Tsuna dealt with the aftermath of the representative battle.
Tsuna talked with the CEDEF and the other people awake after the battle and sent them back to Italy, excluding the injured back to Italy to provide their reports. He talked with Checker for a while and came back to Namimori with the Cerbello’s agents assisting on the aftermath. He managed to let Bermuda agree with him to continue his work as the law of mafia while he timed well the people who can both protect the injured from possible sudden assassinations and the efficiently divided deployment on different tasks.
Byakuran was there to see it unfold in front of him; Enma was there helping. When Rokudo and Xanxus woke up, they, too, were convinced to move as Tsuna asked them. Basil went with the CEDEF while Kyoya managed information on what is happening.
Perhaps it was an effect of the Sky Arcobaleno’s charm, but the way Tsuna convinced and ordered people around, Byakuran hasn’t seen efficiency and acceptability unfold in front of him even with Aria or Yuni’s time.
Tsuna’s guardians will attest that something changed in Tsuna. Perhaps, and Byakuran has confirmed it when he asked about it a month ago, Tsuna has spent an unwilling amount of time in the white room.
“Alright!” Byakuran exclaimed. “I’m tired with these bowls. I’ll go visit a universe. Bye~!”
Byakuran has done this multiple of times, but he has more control now. The paths to various of universes to Byakuran resembled strings, and when he finds a place he wanted to go, he would pull the string to that reality. He allowed himself to find the universe where Tsuna never became an Arcobaleno, where the curse was solved immediately.
“What in heck?”
Byakuran jumped in surprise and snapped his head back. Tsunayoshi Sawada, the man, the myth, the legend, the variable that stopped Byakuran, was there with him in the path.
“How are you here?” Byakuran asked.
“I don’t know,” said Tsuna. “And, I should be the one asking you that.”
Byakuran cursed and searched something from his pocket. “I already pulled a string. How the hell are you in here? Just what sort of weird explanation is there for this thing again? You being an Arcobaleno and a Vongola Sky? Quite unfair and overpowered, really.” Byakuran shook his head and threw the ring he was searching.
Tsuna instinctively caught it and raised it to see the ring clearly. “And this?”
“A prototype,” said Byakuran. “Sho made it. It’s a communication device that works beyond realities. It’s a twin ring situation; I have the other one, so if this weird happening swirls you to a different place than mine, I can track it and help you back to our reality.”
“A ring? Really?”
“I want it to not get out of the way, so I asked for a ring.” Byakuran showed the twin of the ring, and it was identical. It’s a similar style with the Mare Rings, but smaller. “You’ll be able to communicate by manifesting your flame in the ring and telling whatever it is you wanted. I will be able to get everything you say, even those two-meters away from you.”
Byakuran put the ring in his hand. Tsuna did as well.
“The ring will adjust,” said Byakuran.
“Why would the ring need--” A ringing cut Tsuna off and the next thing he knew, he was in his room back in Namimori.
Then, it started flooding him. It was someone else’s memories-- Tsuna overhearing his mother crying, then a man that his mother introduced to Tsuna. Then, a marriage. Nana’s pregnant. The man was overjoyed. Tsuna’s baby brother.
No, it was this reality’s Tsuna’s brother.
And, what on earth were those memories? This earth’s Tsuna has a step-father? What happened to Iemitsu?
Notes:
Tsuna's journey starts! What would happen now?
Chapter Text
03: Kindness, the Forgotten Normalcy
This Tsuna’s room was the same as Tsuna remembered it to be when he was younger, just with… more toys. He opened the door--!
Tsuna’s eyes widened and looked at his hands. The gloves transformed back to mittens, but more importantly, his hands grew. He quickly went out, stumbling on the process, and rushed in the bathroom. Tsuna gasped, chuckling.
“Surprised?” asked Byakuran through the ring as if he’s watching Tsuna. “I knew you’ll be pulled in a different reality, so don’t ever do anything without the ring.”
Tsuna didn’t respond; he was just looking, looking at himself through the mirror. He was a toddler, but not infant-sized. He wasn’t in his Arcobaleno form. He gasped again, saying, “The pacifier!” He quickly searched his body and found an unlit pacifier in his pocket.
“Tsuna?” asked Byakuran. “Are you there?”
Tsuna, on the other hand, still didn’t respond. He placed his hand on his forehead and washed his face with water. He wasn’t dreaming, but how could this happen? Tsuna should still be in his Arcobaleno form without the pacifier, sure, but why isn’t he? He understood some semblance in what travelling to another universe could mean, but this shouldn’t happen.
He pushed forward flames of sky on his ring, but this toddler body could only produce sixteenth or less of what Tsuna can, but it works.
“Is this normal?” he asked through the ring. “I’m not… Byakuran, was my body suppose to turn back to normal?”
”What? Repeat that again. Your body… turned back? TO NORMAL?” The last one was more of a shout than a question.
“I’m not normal-normal, but my body turned back to being a toddler.” Tsuna examined himself more. “But this body feels weird… it feels as though… um… it feels like I’m inside this universe’ Tsuna.”
“WHAT?”
Turns out, after a lot of rambling, curses, and an unexpected turn of personality from the charming Byakuran, this wasn’t a phenomena he has encountered nor experienced. Tsuna told him about the memories and differences of the place, which Byakuran noted to be interesting and asked Tsuna to provide him further information about changes and everything else, if Tsuna finds any.
With that, Byakuran advised to lay low for awhile before Byakuran gets him back to their timeline.
Now, Tsuna’s at the hallway. He just noticed that there a lot of pictures he recognized in the walls were plastered with a different person, a different face. Tsuna reckoned it to be this Tsuna’s step-father.
One of the photos were a certificate, the man’s name’s Kaito Yamanaitto. He seemed like a normal man, not some mafioso or anything like Tsuna’s father. But what really bothered Tsuna was the lack thereof, or more precisely absence of, Iemitsu and this Tsuna’s pictures.
Perhaps Iemitsu died early, or he left Tsuna in Nana’s care? Perhaps Tsuna never knew his father? Or was Iemitsu a bastard enough to be thrown away and forgotten.
Tsuna sighed, walking down to the living room.
It was dark, but he could see all the signs. There were no people currently residing in the house, except for this world’s Tsuna. The laundry hasn’t been done for days. The pantry was not stocked up with anything. There was a lack of dusting from places a toddler cannot reach. Letters and newspapers from the mail were all junked in a corner.
The clock was harder to find as it was placed higher than where it was in his own world, but it clearly said, 06:00 AM.
“A baby,” Tsuna said, seeing the photos in the fridge of this world’s Nana’s almost nine-months pregnant body with the man. With the bundle of notes and pictures of them together, there exist one buried and old photo of Tsuna.
The picture was taken years ago, and has been poorly managed. It was crumpled and has scratches. The photo was placed lower than the others-- a place where a toddler could reach.
This Tsuna placed it himself multiple times after what seems to be multiple occasions of the photo being discarded.
A note was posted in front of all the others, from Nana. It said, “Tsuna, there’s food in the fridge. Heat it up, and don’t forget to eat.”
“They’re out? Of course, they are. Days, it seems.” Tsuna grabbed the calendar at the side table, and saw the date today encircled. A bright red marker wrote in what seems to be this Nana’s handwriting, ‘Baby Michiko’.
“They’re in the delivery room,” Tsuna realized.
Tsuna felt a pang of pain throb in his chest. “You didn’t like that?” he asked himself, directing the question to the real owner of the body. “They left you alone here, Tsuna. Why would they do that to a four-year-old?”
He opened the fridge to reveal one-half of a boiled egg, and he laughed at it sadly. “This is what you’ll only be eating later? From your memories, they left you with three whole boiled eggs. THREE. WHOLE. BOILED. EGGS. You’ve eaten the others the days before, trying to eat only half each day... and you’re too malnourished for your age. Should I get mad at your mother for allowing such things?”
Tsuna felt the body growl in hunger. He slammed close the fridge, and sighed. “This won’t do,” he said, “We’ll go shopping…”
Rummaging the place, Tsuna can only find money enough to buy nothing but candy. Next, he looked for things than can be sold for a sum of money or be exchanged for food, but he doubled take on that thought, he wouldn’t want this Tsuna to suffer the consequences if those parents of his learn that he sold anything valuable for Tsuna’s own freaking hunger to be satiated.
“Is child labor better than starving to death?” Tsuna asked himself, readying to go out at 6 AM for money and food. “Wait… didn’t the third Vongola used that reasoning? Wasn’t there a case with the kid from the Raelia Family… how did that kid get a job again?”
Tsuna hummed going outside, remembering the whole article and other resources he read during his stay in the white room, during his stay with only silence or Checker to be his company.
The house stood directly where Tsuna knew it should be. The roads and houses were the same, except for some of the neighbors that should be residing there including the Sasagawa Family. They appeared to be not in the neighborhood.
He continued to the marketplace, which was now four blocks further, and asked around. Immediately, an old woman setting up her store has invited him for breakfast and has given him fruits. Tsuna gambled on having someone be generous enough to offer him anything; he was not expecting this kind of generosity. With the events that happened within the last weeks, a normal encounter with a kind person was a surreal experience.
Tsuna, as though he came back to his former self, stuttered. “Um… I- Ah- It’s…” He blinked, shocked of his actions. He managed to appear mature enough in front of others and learned to carry himself with confidence. A kind gesture from others, which he has experienced, if not his normalcy since he was a kid, made him stutter?
He shook his head. “Thank you, ma’am. My parents,” Tsuna paused, thinking, “the one who took me in, rather, are away for the time being. And, I wanted to…” Tsuna, again, paused. Whatever it is that he will say will affect this Tsuna heavily; Tsuna does not like it, but he must lie… and act… like a kid should.
“I wanted to be a model big brother and know my way in the market! I want to help!” Tsuna helped himself up the ledge to sit beside the elder.
The elder beamed as she gave him a portion of her cooked porridge and some banana she was selling. Tsuna swore to make a note for this Tsuna to pay to this woman for the kindness he has forgotten from all the seriousness and maturity he needed to have in a snap.
“Thank you.” He smiled. “Really.”
It started there. The elder woman waved goodbye and Tsuna walked in further the market. A group of workers called him in their store after he helped with stocking, two buyers talked to him while they were passing, three older children and their mother welcomed him at their table, and other store owners took care of him as he walked from one store to another.
At the end, Tsuna garnered a rolling basket, he never had, with a variety of fruits and deserts, three potatoes, some vegetables, and a bottle of water, which could be made available for the next three days. He was also given a whistle and a toy pacifier (how fitting).
Tsuna squinted up, taking a bite at a popsicle stick one of the workers gave him. The sun was in its highest point, yet he did not feel the heat burn at this pale body’s skin. Perhaps, it was still nearing summer in this world.
From afar, the clock at the center hasn’t changed as well the overall design he could see from where he walked. The sun shone bright, yet the ever-familiar building seemed to illuminate brighter.
Yellowish beige.
That’s how the seventh boss would have describe the color, and Daniela would have interjected with it really being saturated.
Tsuna chuckled remembering the diaries of the eight boss when she was as little as this world’s Tsuna.
The eight boss adored Giotto. She saw the world differently from her father, Fabio. Tsuna thought this was the decisive reason why Timoteo’s reign has lesser violence recorded. Daniela paved the way for Vongola’s change, albeit small and slow. She respected Primo more than anyone, perhaps even understood him the best from this day and age.
Giotto should be proud; his ideals have been slowly coming to fruition. His precedent managed to get out of the loop away from Secondo’s blood painted reign.
Tsuna stopped walking. Thoughts halted with a turn by the block as he witnessed a boy, a ruler taller than Tsuna, adoring Namimori Middle High.
A neat black hair, almost covering the lids of the boy’s eyes. With a lean frame, he almost looked clumsy, if not for the narrowed gray eyes and the stance he has. It was a stance that Tsuna could only describe as ‘ready’. The boy wore a white long sleeve partnered with black trousers.
The boy did not look anything like his age, which Tsuna assumed to be a little older than this world’s Tsuna. The boy felt distant, cold and rich with how the boy presented himself, the manner he stood, the clothing he has, and the look on his face, yet his eyes that gazed upon the school meant a yearning desire.
Mindlessly (better termed ‘triggered by his intuition’), Tsuna offered him a dorayaki from his basket. The boy looked down at him, but grabbed the food nonetheless. They ate in silence, gazing up on the school with the gates in front of them.
“You’re not normal,” the kid said. His voice soft, but hoarse, an effect from not talking much. “You don’t ask.” He looked at Tsuna. “You’re not vexing.”
Tsuna just smiled and finished his food, before speaking, “People ask usually? About?”
“You’re asking.” His eyes narrowed.
“I am asking,” Tsuna said.
The boy furrowed his brows. Tsuna thought, he acted a lot like Kyoya. Kyoya dislikes people bothering him, especially with orders one can just do by themselves.
Tsuna grabbed a dorayaki himself to feast upon, his breakfast. “As far as I am concerned, I am normal.” Tsuna lied, but he felt the need to talk to this person. Intuition was to be blamed. “And, tell me, why do I have to ask you about anything?”
“You irritate me now.”
Tsuna chuckled. “Say what, that dorayaki’s not free… and that’s supposed to be my breakfast.” The boy stopped munching and froze. “Pay me through a chat, will you?”
Another thing about Kyoya was his dislike for being indebted and restrained. He’s the perfect Cloud Vongola, the one that refused to be controlled. And this kid, if Tsuna’s right, will talk to him.
“People always ask useless and trivial things. They bother too much of everything and anything. They irritate me.”
Irritation. That was Kyoya’s dying will. Tsuna chuckled remembering that.
The boy looked at him, eyes judging.
“Sorry,” Tsuna said, “You… remind me of someone. Confident. Loyal. Trusted. Sometimes rash with no regards for others. He’s the cloud’s sky.”
The boy hummed. “Strong?”
Tsuna smiled. “Oh, yes, he is. Super strong. The strongest. Scary, actually.”
The boy finished the sweet, and Tsuna offered another one to him. The boy was about to mouth a resounding no, but Tsuna handed it further forward. “Take it. Free of charge.”
As soon as the boy couldn’t do anything, but take it instead, a car parked behind them. “Sir Kyoya,” the driver said, who was now opening the passenger seat.
Tsuna nodded goodbye and turned to walk away, but the boy grabbed Tsuna’s open arm and pivoted him around. Tsuna winced. Then, he felt the boy loosen the grip, but not release him entirely.
Surprisingly, which Tsuna should not have been, Kyoya’s grip is harder to pull away from. His hold was firm and strong, or was this Tsuna’s body just so malnourished?
“Breakfast,” said Kyoya, not minding the driver.
“Why? Compensation for that food?” Tsuna did not get a response. “No, thank you. That one’s for free. Honestly, the market people gave it to me for free, so don’t be indebted or anything.” He eyed the dorayaki at Kyoya’s hand. “So, unhand me?” He, then, eyed the hand still holding his arm.
“No” was just Kyoya’s overall response.
“I’m already having my breakfast. I’ll be full after this.” Tsuna raised the dorayaki at his other free arm.
Kyoya tilted his head. “Lunch.”
Tsuna protested in his mind, but what came out was a chuckle. “You are so persistent, aren’t you, kid?”
The driver has his eyebrow raised, but Kyoya only tightened his hold.
“Alright, alright! I’m a stick, stop with the squeezing!” Kyoya finally let go. “If you’re asking me to dine with you, the very least you could do was introduce, no? I’m Sawada Tsunayoshi.”
Kyoya nodded. “Hibari Kyoya.”
That night as Hibari insisted Tsuna to stay for dinner and the night as well, the real Tsuna woke up and came back with memories of what had happened intact.
As for the Arcobaleno, he woke up in an unfamiliar bedroom with a framed photo of him, his mother, and father at the bedside table. An old woman walked in, donning what seemed to be a maid’s uniform, and had greeted him in Italian.
This time, the body he’s in was no longer malnourished, but athletic, lean, and older, around seven or eight. This Tsuna donned a lighter shade of hair color, something akin to his father’s. He looked more like Giotto in this fashion, except that his hair’s long and tied back.
And, this time, no memories came forth him.
##
Notes:
I must say this, I have not posted not due to my own causations, but by someone else's. Rest assured that I will continue and see to it that in this account, I will finish what I had started.
Hope you enjoyed the reading! Let me know your thoughts!
MamiLynne on Chapter 1 Mon 05 Sep 2022 12:17PM UTC
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MamiLynne on Chapter 2 Mon 05 Sep 2022 12:22PM UTC
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Saraato_Saletome on Chapter 4 Fri 09 Jun 2023 09:16PM UTC
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skyskyfer on Chapter 4 Thu 06 Jul 2023 06:11AM UTC
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Dman21 on Chapter 4 Tue 05 Sep 2023 07:05AM UTC
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