[lamborghini] Anomaly (Part 1/2)
Title: Anomaly
ID: [lamborghini]
Word Count: 11 942
Rating/Warnings: PG-13. AU.
Character(s) or pairing(s): KHR ensemble. Many hinted pairings. Strongly hinted 1827 and 8059.
Disclaimer: Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn! © Amano Akira.
Summary: In a world where everyone is divided into plus and minus, Sawada Tsunayoshi is a zero and he doesn't belong.
Notes: This is an experimental-style AU with a follow-up oneshot sequel. A lot of love goes to S&M for stopping me from panicking from the lack of ideas. And, Microsoft Word keeps on changing Hibari to Hilary. Hmm, maybe it's a sign. Reviews are nice. Nicer than cookies and ice cream, trufax.
This is a world where everyone is either a plus or a minus.
Tsuna didn't really think much about his soul's characteristics until the moment he stood in front of scientists and researchers, scrutinizing eyes focused on him. They murmured amongst each other, as they ran test after test on him.
In a world where everyone can be divided into two groups based on their innate characteristics, Sawada Tsunayoshi is an anomaly.
-Because his power is neither a plus nor a minus.
He is a zero and he doesn't belong.
*
Plus: for people whose qualities are based on building or creating.
Minus: for people whose qualities are based on destroying.
Zero: For people whose qualities do not belong.
*
The whole world is divided, chaos erupting at each major city every day. Japan -or rather, what has become of Japan now- managed to stay alive and on top of the masses of corpses and turmoil by concentrating all of its resources in fortifying its walls and gathering all the capable soldiers for training.
-Since the discovery of rings, of boxes, of spells, of plus-and-minus-things that any sane person would have thought ridiculous outside sci-fi television shows or mangas-everything has changed.
Women, children and the elderly are all transferred to the evacuation dorms, while the youth are sent to the MAFIA, where they are trained to become efficient soldiers.
(Soldiers who will kill to keep Japan alive and breathing
And soldiers who will be killed by the enemy-forces who also wanted to be alive.)
Sawada Tsunayoshi is one of the newest recruits of the MAFIA Organization. He remembers saying an unwilling goodbye to his mother, Nana, just a couple of days ago. His eyes are filled with another onslaught of tears, but he holds them back, because now is not the time to be feeling scared.
After those scientists told him that he's a zero, he could feel those haughty glares at his back, he could feel some pitying stares from the more kindhearted ones.
Plus-attributes are sought-after because of their skills in healing the sick and injured, along with their capabilities of restoring destroyed architecture. Minus-attributes are treated with awe and respect because they are the most important players in attacking the enemy.
Zero-attributes, on the other hand, aren't supposed to exist.
Tsuna bows his head in apology as he almost slams into another trainee. He scurries off to his briefing room, because walking in hallways is dangerous-soldiers of different levels are present and Tsuna knows better than to accidentally piss off some high-ranking soldier.
He sighs in relief as he manages to reach the briefing room without any mishaps. Everyone present is wearing identical white shirts and brown pants -given by the Organization- along with their respective identification cards with their specified code and attribute.
He looks at his ID. The words TSUNA27 and ZERO greet his vision and he shifts uneasily. Would it be too much to ask, to not be a loser after high school?
Apparently it is, indeed, too much to ask. Tsuna sighs again as he hurries to find a seat.
A baby -one of the Arcobaleno, Tsuna corrects himself- stands in the middle of the podium, looking threatening and confident despite his small stature. He is Reborn, one of the elite members of the Organization.
"As the new recruits, study your orientation folders on your own time," Tsuna can hear the grumbles of his fellow trainees, "and you are expected to do your best if you want to stay alive. If you want better facilities and more privileges, you must do well in your training."
Tsuna notices how Reborn leaves out the fact that getting better living space and tastier food also means getting more dangerous jobs.
"Vongola is recruiting new members," Reborn announces, and excited murmurs erupt in response; Tsuna fiddles with his folder, not entirely sure what the fuss is about, "So you better not neglect your training."
Reborn then points a gun at the trainees' general direction, smirks, and walks off.
That's all?
"Some orientation that is," Tsuna mutters, before he starts flipping through the long list of house rules and instructions. After all, he is already on a dangerous position of being an outcast and he doesn't intend to make his life harder than it already is.
*
Thanks to the more-informed loudmouths of their batch, Tsuna manages to learn that the Vongola is the elite group of soldiers for Japan's MAFIA Organization. Much like how Italy's syndicate has its favored Giglio Nero and Millefiore, the MAFIA also has a 'family' where all members enjoy rare luxuries and are given the assassin-level jobs.
Tsuna is not interested in getting such high-profile and high-responsibility work-but it's not like he has a chance of getting selected, so it's not really a concern for him. He's content with getting proper meals, a usable sleeping quarters and not getting killed.
Sometimes, he thinks that life here isn't so bad.
He can still see his mother once a month. He doesn't have a girlfriend, so it's not like he has someone he's pining for to see outside this training facility. He can still eat meals, even if they taste a little bland and the serving is rather small. He can still get sleep, even though he sleeps on a bunk bed with a very thin cushion and fifty other noisily-breathing teenagers inside the room.
It's a far cry from being an ideal life, but it's something that's also far from being hateful.
Of course, there are still bullies-as though they haven't left the juvenile high school clichés. Tsuna is not a stranger to being an outcast, but he wishes that the stronger trainees would just stop picking on him.
It's not really unbearable -queuing for lunches, filling in for the cleaning duties, being pushed around for their self-assurance- but it's just…
Tsuna grits his teeth as he tries to focus his shot towards the target. He lets go of the soul-gun (an instrument that's supposed to fire one's energy as an energy bullet) with an exhale of dejection. He misses the dummy by about a meter and he ignores the jeers of his 'classmates'.
Oh well.
It seems that the 'focusing one's anger' doesn't really work for him in that exercise, no matter what Colonello-sensei says.
*
"The battle simulations here are EXTREME!" Sasagawa Ryohei's voice reaches Tsuna's ears easily. Tsuna inches away from the over-enthusiastic teen, though he returns the smile Ryohei's sister gives him.
Kyoko-chan was his classmate all throughout high school. She goes here with Hana, every month during the only day the Facility is open for visitors, to visit her older brother.
"I'm glad brother is enjoying his stay," Kyoko says and Tsuna hopes that she stays longer, because seeing her smile and hearing her voice has always made him a little bit happier.
His mother has already left a few minutes earlier, but Tsuna was sincerely glad to see her. He knows that she's hoping for him to get out of the lowest level of training for him to get better food, better sleeping quarters, but it's just not Tsuna's forte, if he even has one.
No-Good-Tsuna is his nickname during his student-years and even until now, so Tsuna is not really surprised that he's still stuck at the lowest training level.
Tsuna is startled when Kyoko waves goodbye at him and tells him to take care. It appears that he was preoccupied with his thoughts that the Sasagawa-siblings' conversation has already ended.
"So, Sawada, I'll be going first, okay?" Ryohei says as soon as Kyoko leaves and Tsuna manages a slight smile and a 'yes, big brother' as Ryohei moves away.
Sasagawa Ryohei, plus-attribute, good in boxing, and he has left the Level 0 of training a long time ago.
Erasing any possible thoughts of wistful jealousy, Tsuna closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, before he makes his way back to the training rooms.
*
When Tsuna finally moves away from Level 0, three months after his arrival at the Organization, he learns that everything just turned even more complicated.
"Fighting Partners?" Tsuna echoes, eyes blinking in puzzlement.
Lal Mirch, the only female Arcobaleno, crosses her arms across her chest and begins explaining.
"A person can partner with anyone in a fight. The attributes doesn't matter. However, there are partnerships that yield the optimal results. Finding the optimum partner will help you rise up in the ranks faster. It is possible that your best-match partner is one of the higher-ranked members, so there will be training sessions where every level is involved…"
Tsuna feels his head spinning not even halfway-thru the explanation but he thinks he already knows that gist of it. It's rather easy to understand in common terms-plus-plus partnerships are better if you want to reconstruct something faster; minus-minus is better for a higher-effect of destruction; plus-minus is better for something that requires balance.
But how about those with zero attributes like him?
Lal Mirch continues her explanation, oblivious to Tsuna's despondent thoughts.
Tsuna buries his head in his hands as he realizes that once again, he doesn't belong.
*
Being in Level 1 is not really that much different from the previous level. There are less people sharing the room and the food's serving size gets slightly bigger.
Nothing really changed, fundamentally-he still gets those obnoxious glares, he still gets harassed by bullies occasionally, he still gets concerned glances, and nobody talks to him.
It all changes when one day, he accidentally steps on Reborn.
He wants to protest that it's not like he did it on purpose, and Reborn was just so silent and so small that Tsuna didn't see him.
Aside from getting chased across all the hallways by the gun-wielding arcobaleno, getting punishment training and being thoroughly verbally abused, it seems that the accident is only the beginning of the changes in Tsuna's life.
*
"Yo!"
Yamamoto Takeshi, one of Vongola's members, is smiling at him.
Tsuna surreptitiously glances to his left, to his right, before he looks back at Yamamoto again. Yamamoto is still smiling at him.
"M-me?" He squawks in hesitance. It has been four months since he arrived here, but he is still in Level 1, still powerless and still easily-scared.
"Tsuna, right? I heard you're the one who stepped on Reborn! Is that true? I want to know how you did it!" Yamamoto says excitedly, and Tsuna almost face-palms at the touchy topic.
He doesn't really want to relive the memories of Reborn chasing him across the Facility until his legs gave out, the memories of the Punishment of Doom no thanks to Bianchi-no, he really doesn't want to
think about it.
But the famous swordsman is looking at him expectantly, and Tsuna cannot feel any sort of malice from this person. Plus, he isn't really sure what's the punishment for not answering a Vongola-member's enquiry.
"Erm, well, I just. Stepped on him, like this," And so Tsuna demonstrates how one would act when accidentally stepping on someone ten-sizes smaller.
"That's all?"
Tsuna wonders how is stepping on someone supposed to be more complicated than that. "U-uh, yeah…"
"That's… amazing! I want to try that later!" Yamamoto exclaims and Tsuna is suddenly glad that nobody is here in the hallway because he might get bullied again for daring to be on 'friendly terms' with a Vongola member. "Thank you, Tsuna!"
"Um… welcome…" Tsuna says distractedly, scratching his head. Well… that was weird. He shrugs the incident off with a roll of his shoulders, and he makes his way towards his next training room.
*
On the day of Tsuna's cleaning duty, he finds a dynamite-bomb on the floor.
Actually, it's not just one bomb. There's a couple of them and Tsuna desperately wishes that his cleaning partner didn't abandon him-he could really use a hand here to stop the dynamites from blowing the classroom into smithereens.
He moves as fast as he can, body moving on autopilot as his hands try to put out the dynamites. He isn't sure who would be dumb enough to throw dynamites to an empty classroom, but he doesn't want to be blamed if there are any casualties later.
He wipes sweat from his forehead once he manages to dispose all of the dynamites, completely oblivious to the gaping person in the doorway.
"Y-you…!" A silver-haired teenager exclaims with a mixture of horror and bafflement.
Tsuna nervously turns away from the garbage bag he brought along for the cleaning duty. And Tsuna feels a wave of déjà vu about something that happened last week. "M-me?"
"How did you do that?! Why did you put out my dynamites, you bastard!"
"So it was you!" Tsuna comments with a long-suffering tone, "Don't just throw those things in a classroom! The classroom will explode if you do that!"
Gokudera Hayato blinks. "But that was the point…!"
Frightened, Tsuna jumps away from the other teen, "Are you a terrorist?!"
"What! No!" Gokudera looks surprised that someone dared to imply that he's a terrorist. "Anyway, how did you stop my dynamites? I threw so many…!"
He pauses, before he glares intensely at the easily-frightened teen, a dynamite stick appearing in his hands, "Show me how you did it!"
Tsuna almost rolls his eyes, thinking that everyone has been saying 'show me how you did it' an awful lot lately.
"I just did it like this," He takes the now-lighted dynamite from the older male's hands, and pinches at the end. The spark ends easily, and Tsuna takes time to wonder about not feeling any heat from touching the spark. He thinks that it's maybe due to the different nature of the weapons from this Facility.
Gokudera looks absolutely floored by the demonstration. "J-just like that?!"
Tsuna nods warily and he almost jumps when Gokudera grips his hands tightly, adoration and respect shining in his eyes. "That's… amazing! You should be in Vongola! I'll… tell Reborn-san that I found a recruit…!"
Vongola? Reborn? Recruit?
Tsuna gapes at the space Gokudera occupied mere seconds ago, before he sprinted away from the classroom. It's only at that moment when Tsuna realizes that the person was Gokudera Hayato, another member of the Vongola.
*
And just like that, it seems that Tsuna is slowly being integrated into the lives of the two bickering members of the Vongola, Yamamoto and Gokudera.
Tsuna can't exactly pinpoint when it started, but he can't remember when was the first time Yamamoto called out to him from the crowd of people getting lunch, when Gokudera pulled Tsuna away from the long queue for food and towards the 'express queue' for the higher-ranked members.
It's like, suddenly, Tsuna is already a regular at Yamamoto's and Gokudera's lunch table.
Tsuna thinks that it's nice to have such friends, even though they're not really friends-friends, just lunch-mates, but it's better than nothing, right? When he's having lunch with those two, the worries about the world outside Japan's defensive walls, the worries about him still stuck at Level 1, worries about him still not finding a partner-those concerns all disappear.
It's a nice feeling, being surrounded by such a cheerful atmosphere. Six months since he has arrived here, and the sight of Gokudera's dynamites being thrown at Yamamoto don't scare him as much anymore.
Tsuna thinks that he likes this kind of life a little better.
*
He supposes that it's his fault, really, for letting himself be carried away by luxuries such as having friends. He still remains to be an anomaly, after all. An outcast presently surrounded by bullies, just in time for Gokudera and Yamamoto to be out on a mission.
He is already a puddle on the floor, after three? four? five? punches. He takes in a sharp breath and winces; breathing now brings pain instead of relief and it's most likely due to that punch on his chest earlier-
Tsuna can feel his consciousness slipping away slowly. His arms are growing numb, and he almost cannot feel the boots kicking his legs. Someone is lifting him by his shirt's collar, and his toes cannot feel the ground, and he cannot breathe, but he thinks that fainting sounds like a good idea now.
Much better than staying conscious and actually feeling the metal lockers that are cold and unforgiving against his back, than feeling his body protesting from the agonizing assault. He closes his eyes and waits for the pain to subside, for the bullies to tire of making him a punching bag, as punishment for daring to eat lunch with Yamamoto and Gokudera.
When he finally opens his eyes, he sees a red splash of color painting the tiled floor. He instantly recognizes the brilliant red hue as blood. He gingerly touches his head and brings his hands down. Strange-there's no blood on his hands, which means…
His brown eyes focus on the scenario more clearly. He sees the battered figures of the bullies piled on the floor-and the blood is pooling beneath that unconscious mass of bodies.
"W-what," He asks, voice thick, chest wheezing in pain. "W-what happened…?"
Tsuna's eyes make out the form of a teenager standing victoriously beside his bullies' bodies. The tonfas in that person's hand gleam ominously under the locker room's fluorescent light.
He doesn't know who this person is, but from that stance and the murderous aura he is emitting, Tsuna is not delusional enough to think that this person is his savior.
"So you're the herbivore who initiated this crowding," The person says in a very commanding voice and Tsuna closes his eyes again, thinks that he doesn't really know what he did wrong to deserve this kind of life, "Be prepared to be bitten to death."
*
Tsuna wakes up with a gasp, sitting up from the bed instantaneously.
He immediately looks down and notices that the bruises he knows he should have gotten from that encounter are missing. He doesn't have any visible wounds or scars and he actually feels fine.
He is wearing a blue shirt that is definitely not the one the Organization gave him. He is sitting on a very comfortable bed and there are no bunk beds in sight. The room is spacious and well-lit.
"Where am I?" Tsuna asks the room, but the room doesn't reply.
Someone enters the vicinity, presumably after hearing Tsuna resorting to conversing with the room.
"Congratulations on being promoted to Level 9, Tsuna-kun," Dino Cavallone says cheerfully, appearing seemingly out-of-nowhere, walking over to the bed after tripping over the carpet twice.
Tsuna thinks of asking, 'why are you here', 'why am I here', 'what happened to the bullies', 'where is tonfa-guy and is he still going to beat me up', 'where the hell am I'-but all the questions collide with each other inside his mind, and he only manages a garbled, "Bzuh?"
Dino laughs and sits beside Tsuna. Tsuna barely feels the cushion accommodating the added weight. Dino's friendly grin is shiny. "You're cute. I want you as my younger brother, Tsuna-kun."
"W-w-what-huh?"
"Oh! Silly me!" Dino slaps his head with a little more force than necessary (his forehead looks mildly pinkish) and shows Tsuna the promotion letter signed by the Ninth, the CEDEF, by Reborn.
A surprised gasp escapes Tsuna and he acutely stammers, "L-L-Level 9…"
"That's right," Dino enthuses, "and you also have a partner!"
The blond barely pauses to breathe before he continues, "You are actually at your partner's room already-I was against you being brought here directly, but then, Kyoya was insistent and he ordered Ryohei and Basil to treat you here, and he hurried Reborn to pass the papers already, and oh, your entrance test to Vongola is next month!"
Again, Tsuna wants to ask, 'Level 9?!', 'Vongola?!', 'who the hell is Kyoya', 'will someone please explain to me more slowly' and 'whaaaaaat' and 'whyyyyyy', but he suddenly feels tired, and he can't even summon his hands to pull at his hair in frustration, and really, sleeping is the best answer to this.
So Tsuna closes his eyes and flops back down to the fluffy bed.
*
When Tsuna wakes up again, Dino explains things to him, more slowly, but he still doesn't understand a big chunk of things.
Apparently, his partner found him after he was beaten up by the bullies. Moreover, his partner appears to be a rather forceful person - after all, he pushed his way through to apply for Tsuna to be promoted and to become a Vongola member.
Dino tells him that his suspicions are correct and his partner, whoever Kyoya is, is a Vongola member and an important one too, because he managed to get his way rather easily.
"Kyoya is on a mission now, so he can't explain his incredibly childish acts," Dino says apologetically, "but then again, you don't really want him to explain these things."
How nice.
It means his partner is an overconfident brat who is bad at talking to people.
Tsuna feels headache forming in his temples.
*
"That's great news, Tsuna!" Yamamoto says with a huge smile, patting Tsuna on his shoulder. Gokudera is giving the seventh 'that's so awesome, Tenth!' speech for the day and Tsuna chuckles awkwardly.
Gokudera is apparently pushing a petition for him to become the next Vongola boss, even though he hasn't even taken the entrance exam yet. Heck, he hasn't even met the person responsible for all the roller-coaster changes in his life.
"Eh, so who's your partner, Tenth? Reborn-san told us to just ask you-"
Tsuna stiffens slightly, "It's-"
"What are you doing here, herbivore?"
Tsuna instinctively shrinks into his seat and attempts to be as inconspicuous as possible. Tonfa-guy is glaring at their table with unmasked distaste, but thankfully, the tonfas are nowhere in sight.
"Eeep!"
"Yo, Hibari!"
"What's it to you, jackass?"
Hibari ignores the two Vongola members and grabs Tsuna's wrist, causing Tsuna to suddenly look up in horror. "Hi-Hi-Hibari-san!"
"You should not hang around these… pathetic herbivores."
Tsuna wants to protest that he doesn't understand because Hibari-san refers to everyone as herbivores so he doesn't really know who is he talking about, but-
"He's our friend, Hibari, so it's no problem if he sits with us," Yamamoto explains calmly, and Tsuna feels his heart beating in joy at Yamamoto's acknowledgement of him being their friend-but that isn't really helping to loosen up the death grip on his wrist.
Hibari doesn't reply but instead continues to drag Tsuna away, with Gokudera's yells resounding in the background.
*
It becomes Tsuna's new lunch-routine: start off with Gokudera and Yamamoto, listen to their everlasting bickering, notice how Yamamoto looks fondly at the dynamite-lover, notice how Gokudera flushes slightly each time Yamamoto touches him to help him calm down, try to hide from Hibari-san, get dragged away by Hibari-san, have lunch with Hibari-san at the rooftop, get kicked out by the going-to-have-afternoon-nap Hibari-san.
Two weeks after, and he finally realizes that he still doesn't know who his partner is and he still doesn't know what should he do for the Vongola Test.
*
Even though he doesn't know who Kyoya-the-partner is, it seems that a lot of people know that person. And it seems that everyone has decided that it's interesting to just leave Tsuna in the dark about his partner's identity.
Sometimes, when he's alone and not doing anything, Tsuna wonders if the person is also a zero like him. Tsuna wonders a lot of things about his partner, and someone who apparently knows his partner quite well has appeared before him.
"Oya, oya, I didn't expect Kyoya's partner to be such a small kid," Rokudo Mukuro comments slyly as he leans against the corridor's walls, blocking Tsuna's way back from his daily lunch at the rooftop.
Tsuna reddens, fingers curling tightly around the handle of his lunch bag. "I-I'm not a kid," He protests feebly, flushing even more and shoulders folding as Mukuro's eyes roamed unabashedly on his body, as if assessing the truth of his protest.
"Kufufu, an interesting choice, if I say so myself," He murmurs to himself, while Tsuna edges away slowly from the mysterious person, a bit baffled and freaked out by the devious smirk and the strange, low laugh. Who the hell laughs like 'kufufu' anyway? Isn't that kind of trademark-laugh limited to world-domination-villains?
Mukuro steps away from his post against the wall and peers more closely at the escaping-Tsuna. "Aren't you that recruit who stayed at Level 0 for such a long time?"
Tsuna gulps and feels sweat forming at his temples, sliding down uncomfortably to his cheeks. Those mismatched eyes give an odd sort of pressure, like they're unhurriedly dissecting each part of his slightly-trembling body, like they're prying open his mind and reading his thoughts like they're displayed for the whole world to see.
Mukuro took that nervous silence as a 'yes' and hums thoughtfully in response. He mutters things that are too soft for Tsuna to hear, but he can sense the undercurrent of annoyance and fondness, and he vaguely hears snatches of words like, 'cutesy things' and 'weird affinities'.
The mild atmosphere instantly dissolves as soon as Mukuro's eyes narrow at him though. Tsuna feels a shiver run down his spine.
"Kyoya is easy to match, attribute-wise," He murmurs, stalking towards Tsuna slowly, while the brown-haired teen backs against the wall, a panicky look on his expressive face. Mukuro continues, disregarding Tsuna's discomfort with his close proximity, "But his personality easily clouds his soul, making his SYNCHRO difficult."
Mukuro smirks, leaning down so that his nose barely touches Tsuna's. The newest Vongola recruit fidgets, but not too much, because if he pushes too much, he'll end up kissing this weird guy…! "Hiiii, w-what are you doing…! Stay away…!"
"With such a frail soul like yours, I wonder if you can keep up with Kyoya…?"
Something inside Tsuna sparks, like he ought to defend himself and his partner, because he knows (rather, he hopes) that his partner isn't some rampaging beast that will trample down on everyone. His deeply-seated intuitive senses tell him that there's something else in Mukuro's voice aside from snide taunting and puzzling motives.
Really, his mouth takes on bravery at the worst possible opportunities. "Y-you're jealous…?" He asks incredulously, because he is thinking about how strong this person's aura is and how close he is, and his lips moved before he can even think of stopping himself from speaking out.
A faint trace of surprise crosses that handsome face mere millimeters away from his own. "Oya? I didn't expect that you'd say that, young Vongola."
Mukuro's glove-covered hand rests on the wall behind Tsuna. Tsuna dearly hopes that nobody would pass by this hallway at this moment, because he is trapped in a compromising situation with a strange person who is, quite frankly, creeping him out. "I can possess your body at this very moment, yet you say such amusing things. I'm interested how well you'd be able to keep with us, then."
Tsuna notices the two Hell Rings -he learned about those from Lal Mirch's orientation from before; and he supposes that this person is also one of the Vongola, judging from his speech and those rings- on those gloved hands before they move away from him.
Mukuro walks away from him, disappearing into thin air, as if he melted and integrated himself into the air molecules. Tsuna has a horrified moment where he thinks he'll be able to breathe in that guy. A few seconds after Mukuro disappears, Tsuna sags against the wall, hands sweaty and belatedly noticing that his lunch box has already escaped from his grasp and is now on the floor.
"Well. That was creepy," Tsuna mumbles, before swearing to hide in his room for the moment. He didn't exactly adore his boring routine life from before, but if his future encounters will be filled with strangeness, he'd rather go back to his boring life, thank you very much.
*
Despite his earlier resolution to stay in his room for the whole day, Tsuna ends up trudging towards Dino's office. Dino is friendly and accommodating-and is definitely not creepy. Upon more pondering about that guy's confusing words and actions, Tsuna determined that while creepy, that guy made a good point.
If Tsuna's partner is such a strong person, he'd definitely pull him down with his inexperience. He is No-Good-Tsuna after all, and he hasn't aced any of the trainings and he got stuck at Level 0 for an embarrassing amount of time, and he is a failure and an anomaly and he knows it.
He raises his hand to knock, a gloomy air surrounding him and his slumped shoulders. He hears voices from Dino's office and, out of curiosity, he leans in closer to the door and eavesdrops.
"You shouldn't just leave your partner alone, you know? He's going to need your help and support," Dino says with a resigned tone, as though their conversation has dragged on already and he hasn't made his point across yet.
"I don't have the time and patience to assist pathetic herbivores," A deep voice replies and Tsuna sweatdrops. It's H-Hibari-san! The horrifying thought of Hibari-san standing over his soulless corpse if -no, not if, but when- he finds out that Tsuna is eavesdropping on him crosses over Tsuna and he nervously takes a step away from the doorway.
"B-but he's a beginner! He needs you for his synchronization, and you need him too!"
Tsuna couldn't see it, not from this distance and this small an opening in the doorway, but he knows that Hibari-san glared fiercely at Dino in response to that statement. Hibari-san doesn't need anybody. He is strong on his own and the thought of Hibari-san depending on someone is both laughable and terrifying.
"I don't need anyone," Hibari-san quietly says and from Dino's strained chuckle, Tsuna knows that those tonfas have made their appearance. "He should learn things on his own."
Tsuna frowns, because he kind of pities and admires and fears for Hibari-san's partner. Being a beginner who doesn't know anything-he can guess how helpless and lost that poor person is feeling without someone to guide him.
"B-but he's a beginner!" Dino wails insistently, and Tsuna opens the door a bit too forcefully. He finds out that he's right-Dino's expression is already bordering on frustration and those tonfas are shining dangerously as a promise of pain and injury.
"H-Hi-Hibari-san shouldn't just leave his partner alone!" Tsuna blurts out, butting in to the conversation rather courageously, when his all his mind could think of is, 'ohmygod earthtoself pleaseshutupshutup Idon'twanttodieyet!'. "If you don't practice, then he won't know what you expect him to be and you'll be unprepared and-"
Tsuna notices the painful silence that now reigns in the room. His brain's message of 'survival first!' to his mouth finally caught up. "I-I'm shutting up now."
Instead of delivering punishment to Tsuna for insolently interrupting their conversation, Hibari simply smirks at Tsuna, a confident curl of his lips, and Tsuna finds himself staring a little longer than necessary. If possible, Hibari's smirk grows even wider at that.
"You're saying I need training," Tsuna shakes his head violently at that, because if there's one person who doesn't need anymore training, it'd be Hibari-san…! Hibari-san nudges Hibird away from its perch on his shoulder. "Be prepared to get bitten to death then."
Hibari-san then shifts his intense stare to Dino, "I'll be using the training room."
For a few seconds, Dino gapes, then grins widely, "That's great! Good luck, Tsuna!"
"G-good luck? Wait-what?"
*
Two hours later and Tsuna can feel his bones screaming and his lungs heaving and his muscles stretched to the limit and it feels painful and it fills him with exhilaration.
He wonders if it's because that glint in Hibari-san's silver-grey eyes drives him to do his best, urges him to keep on standing up even as blow after blow is delivered into his skin, prevents him from surrendering without a fight. He wonders if it's because he actually likes feeling that powerful stare focused on him and only him; he wonders if it's because he doesn't want Hibari-san to be disappointed in him the way that strange guy hinted that his partner will feel towards Tsuna and his weakness.
Dino gave him a wooden sword before the start of their training match, but it lay forgotten on the floor, because Tsuna doesn't have a clue on how to wield it. Calling it a training match is a bit generous-it's more like, Hibari-san hunted him down while he tried his best to dodge and run away from those painful tonfas and maybe try to unbalance Hibari-san.
"That was pathetic, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari-san says, standing over his slumped form, blocking the bright lights with his tall figure. Tsuna leans heavily against the training arena's wall, nursing the bruises that will be sure to leave ugly marks on his arms and legs. Tsuna feels his cheeks warming up, the way they always do whenever Hibari-san chooses to call him by his full name -who the hell calls people regularly by their full names anyway?- and not by the impersonal 'herbivore'.
The dark-haired teen then crouches down, legs painfully close to Tsuna's boneless form. Hibari-san pushes the tip of his tonfa against Tsuna's chin, forcing it up, making Tsuna shiver from the cold metal contacting his sweat-flushed skin. Hibari-san leans in close-and Tsuna is surprised that he doesn't feel any of the suffocating pressure that he felt when the pineapple-hairstyle-guy stared him down.
He wonders again if Hibari-san will ever stop making him feel contradictions like this.
Tsuna swallows, resolving to not flinch even though he is defeated already and Hibari-san looks so serious like that, facial color remaining pale despite the 'spar session' they just finished.
"My abilities as a human being are far more superior to yours-I can fight without a partner." Haughty and confident and Tsuna cannot blame him because he knows that it is true and he mentally berates himself for interrupting Hibari-san and Dino's conversation earlier.
Tsuna wants to say that he understands and he's sorry and he's going to try hard so that he won't disappoint Hibari-san next time and he wants to send his condolences for Hibari-san's partner and a lot of other things, but Hibari-san is already standing up and walking away from him and he can just remain on watching Hibari-san's strong and dependable-looking back moving out of his reach.
Hibari-san stops at the doorway, where Kusakabe-san is waiting patiently along with Hibird. The yellow bird is chirping Hibari-san's high school's anthem yet again. "His training is up to you, baby."
"H-huh?" Tsuna's eyes are wide with confusion.
The arcobaleno Reborn enters the room, glancing at Tsuna's injured form disapprovingly.
"See you later then, Hibari," Reborn says and Hibari-san leaves the training room, leaving Tsuna with the now-sadistically-smiling infant. Tsuna feels a little sorry for himself for being frightened by a baby, but it's Reborn and he might still be mad at the stepping-on-Reborn-incident.
"Are you ready for your training in hell?" Reborn asks a tad too cheerfully, pointing a gun menacingly at the still-tired-Tsuna.
"HIIII…!"
*
Tsuna resists the tempting urge to scratch at his collar, refuses to cower from the inquisitive looks shot to him by the other occupants of the room. He nods at the right moments as Gokudera keeps on telling him stories about the great feats of the previous Vongola bosses, while Yamamoto simply interjects with his very simple-minded comments that make Gokudera swear very loudly and even Tsuna grin awkwardly.
He didn't want to accept the seat at the head of the table, but Reborn had him at gunpoint, saying 'stay put or I'll shoot you' and Tsuna wishes that Reborn was simply kidding, but he has been very realistic and he just knows that Reborn won't hesitate to shoot him.
Tsuna lets his eyes wander, because he has heard this baseball freak argument a hundred times already. He sees some familiar faces: Gokudera, Yamamoto, Reborn, Basil (who bows at him, all perfect manners and soft smiles, addressing him with a reverent 'Sawada-dono'), Kusakabe-san (who nods at him; whose presence makes Tsuna's heart beat a little step faster, because Kusakabe-san being here means…), Dino (who waves enthusiastically at him, but doesn't trip like he's prone to do, since Romario is there at the corner of the room) and some others.
There are a lot of people he doesn't know though. There's a sweet-looking girl with an eye patch covering her right eye -and Tsuna shivers as he remembers that strange guy who cornered him the other day. There's a broody-looking guy who's currently twirling his black locks of hair in his fingers, a steaming cup of milk on his table.
There are seven seats reserved for the Vongola and Tsuna blushes as he remembers Gokudera's ramblings about him being the perfect Tenth boss. Three seats are currently vacant, including the one beside the only girl in the table.
Most of the room's occupants are standing, stiff postures and straight backs, looking somber. Tsuna is tempted once again to leave his seat, because he feels so out-of-place here. A threatening smirk from Reborn effortlessly stops him from moving even an inch.
"I'm so pumped up and READY TO THE EXTREME!" Sasagawa Ryohei exclaims as soon as he enters the conference room for the MAFIA-Vongola meeting, and he flashes a thumbs-up sign at Tsuna after greeting with an energetic, "Sawada! I heard you're going to be the next boss! That's EXTREMELY AWESOME!"
Tsuna shrinks into his seat, feeling a number of eyes focusing on him. He's not really going to be a boss, right? He's far from being a boss-material: he's always bullied, he's always a loser, he's always failing tests and trainings and such, and he doesn't have many friends, much less subordinates.
("Look, go to your seat, hey," Colonello says; "Yes, master!" Ryohei complies easily.)
The eye-patch-girl stands up from her seat and politely introduces herself as Chrome Dokuro. Tsuna hesitantly shakes her hand, greatly embarrassed when she proclaimed that she'll do her best as a Vongola Guardian to protect her Boss. "T-thanks, uh, Chrome."
"You can let go of Tenth's hand now, woman!"
"Maa, maa, Gokudera, they're still becoming friends…"
Chrome's hand is soft and Tsuna is confused how such a gentle girl became a Vongola member. She doesn't look like she's into fighting and violence. "Um," Tsuna mumbles clumsily as he tries to extract his hand from the handshake.
Chrome didn't let go. With a force unexpected from her petite form, she holds on as she leans in and invades Tsuna's personal space and plants a feather-light kiss on his cheek.
"HII!" Tsuna drops her hand and touches his cheek immediately, as though he was scalded.
A number of things erupts at that moment-Gokudera lounges towards Chrome with an animalistic snarl, emerald eyes burning like he wants to strangle her, gentlemanly expectations be damned; Yamamoto instantaneously springing into action and holding back Gokudera's flailing arms with ease, as though he has done this a million times before-and he probably has, knowing Gokudera's tendency to rush head-on to any situation; Dino loudly gasping in surprise, with said gasp covered with Ryohei's loud welcome of 'Hello there, Hibari! Let's have that training again and I promise I won't be defeated that easily this time!'.
Tsuna turns towards the door so quickly that he almost got hit by Gokudera's rage-controlled limbs-and he exclaims like he always does, "Hi-Hi-Hibari-san!"
Hibari-san regards them all with a cool stare before he takes a seat and says commandingly, "If you don't stop herding together, I'm going to bite you all to death."
Tsuna wonders despairingly why isn't Hibari-san the Vongola Boss. He definitely can command his subordinates with just a simple quirk of his lips, with a simple narrowing of his eyes.
Gokudera is about to shift his irritation to retorting to the newly-arrived teen, but Tsuna places a placating hand on Gokudera's arm, causing the other to wilt and shuffle apologetically. Chrome is now back on her seat, and the Vongola Table is complete, which means that Kyoya-the-partner is…
"Kyoya-san, it's nice to meet you," Tsuna offers a brilliant smile to the now-drinking-milk curly-haired guy. …Who now promptly spits out his milk with a loud cough.
Tsuna blinks.
Yamamoto is grinning at him, while Dino looks like a cross between amusement and pity. Ryohei is gaping at him, and even Basil and Chrome look like they're going to burst into laughter soon. Tsuna looks at them, silently asking for help. Was he wrong? But he knows everyone in the table, and his partner is a Vongola member, and only the guy wearing a cow-printed shirt is left…
Gokudera looks like he's going to faint in the next minute. "K-Kyoya…? Tenth…! I never knew you were that close to that guy! W-why! Not that I'm questioning your choices in friends, because your judgment and taste in friends are surely first-class, Tenth, but, it's that guy!" Ohmygod, are those tears welling up in Gokudera's eyes? Did he really make such a big mistake that it moved Gokudera to tears?!
"I-I'm Lambo. N-not Kyoya," Lambo corrects him as soon as he manages to control his coughing. I-pin hands him a box of tissues, but she looks slightly flushed and distracted.
Tsuna blinks again.
"T-then who…?"
Then, comprehension dawns at him, and it feels like the realization that he's going die by Hibari-san's hands. Sounds like the click of Reborn's gun being readied to shoot him.
In any case, Tsuna wants to die. "H-Hibari-san is Kyoya-san?"
"Yep," Yamamoto looks all-too-happy to confirm Tsuna's fear.
"Hiiii," Tsuna simultaneously pulls at his hair and proceeds to flatten himself against his chair in mortification. He doesn't dare to look at Hibari-san's expression.
"How pathetic," A gruff voice pulls Tsuna away from his shame-filled mental berating. The room is suddenly tense and Tsuna can feel the tension raw and solid and stifling. "This brat is your Boss? Vongola's standards have reached a new low, infant. Are you really that hard-pressed for time? Admitting even weaklings and newbies. Che."
It feels surreal, this quick change in atmosphere-even Yamamoto looks mad. He didn't think Yamamoto is capable of such a hard expression on his usually-friendly visage.
"Boss is my boss and he isn't a weakling," Chrome speaks up determinedly, even though her body looks fragile and her voice is gentle.
("A girl? That's nice… hmm…" A scary-looking guy mumbles; "Shishishi, this is interesting, is she an illusionist too, Mammon?"; "She must be Rokudo Mukuro's apprentice," the illusionist arcobaleno replies sagely.)
"VOIII! Stop mumbling so loudly when Boss is talking you piece of shits!"
("You're the loud one," Tsuna wants to say to the long-haired swordsman, though Dino already echoed his sentiment, resulting in bickering between Dino and the swordsman.)
Xanxus laughs-cruel, crisp and bitter. Tsuna recalls that this guy is Varia's leader, the head of the MAFIA's special assassination squad, a group of elite people just like Vongola. Bitterness cascades from the scarred guy in strong waves, choking Tsuna with the sensation. "A boss who comes out of nowhere, with no will to fight, with no fucking idea how it's like in the world outside the walls, that's what defines weakness!"
Fierce and elegant-like a lion growling from atop its throne, like a tiger stalking its prey with assurance in its power-that's what Tsuna gathered from Xanxus. He feels even more insecure than ever-because it is so obvious to him that Xanxus is a better leader and Xanxus knows it and wants it to be that way, but Tsuna is in the way.
"Vongola's downfall-and consequently, Japan's fall will all be your undoing, brat."
Reborn starts, "You will show respect to your leader, Xanxus."
Gokudera is livid, Yamamoto not bothering to pacify him, "YOU WILL STOP DISSING TENTH, YOU FUCKER, OR ELSE I'LL MAKE YOU EAT DYNAMITES-"
And Tsuna wants to agree with Xanxus and stop Gokudera, but he doesn't really want to disappoint his friends, and Hibari-san-
And Hibari-san who's now wielding his tonfas like a flag of death-warning.
"A reject like you has no right to criticize other people," He says coldly, aloof and superior amidst the current of chaos and uncertainty around them.
"H-Hibari-san," Tsuna murmurs with a mixture of gratefulness and fright, because it's Hibari-san and contradictory emotions are all Tsuna feels around him.
A staring contest ensued between Xanxus and Hibari, both stubborn and self-assured, but Xanxus backs away with a bark of laughter, mocking Tsuna and Vongola by walking out of the Vongola meeting along with his Varia squad.
"Tenth! Don't listen to what that bastard says! You're the best boss Vongola is going to have and as your right-hand man I'm going to make sure that that asshole pays for insulting you and your skills and-"
But Tsuna isn't really listening, because despite Gokudera's assurances, Tsuna feels a part of his heart and confidence crumbling as Hibari-san leaves the room as well, without so much a glance at him.
*
Link to Part II.
ID: [lamborghini]
Word Count: 11 942
Rating/Warnings: PG-13. AU.
Character(s) or pairing(s): KHR ensemble. Many hinted pairings. Strongly hinted 1827 and 8059.
Disclaimer: Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn! © Amano Akira.
Summary: In a world where everyone is divided into plus and minus, Sawada Tsunayoshi is a zero and he doesn't belong.
Notes: This is an experimental-style AU with a follow-up oneshot sequel. A lot of love goes to S&M for stopping me from panicking from the lack of ideas. And, Microsoft Word keeps on changing Hibari to Hilary. Hmm, maybe it's a sign. Reviews are nice. Nicer than cookies and ice cream, trufax.
This is a world where everyone is either a plus or a minus.
Tsuna didn't really think much about his soul's characteristics until the moment he stood in front of scientists and researchers, scrutinizing eyes focused on him. They murmured amongst each other, as they ran test after test on him.
In a world where everyone can be divided into two groups based on their innate characteristics, Sawada Tsunayoshi is an anomaly.
-Because his power is neither a plus nor a minus.
He is a zero and he doesn't belong.
*
Plus: for people whose qualities are based on building or creating.
Minus: for people whose qualities are based on destroying.
Zero: For people whose qualities do not belong.
*
The whole world is divided, chaos erupting at each major city every day. Japan -or rather, what has become of Japan now- managed to stay alive and on top of the masses of corpses and turmoil by concentrating all of its resources in fortifying its walls and gathering all the capable soldiers for training.
-Since the discovery of rings, of boxes, of spells, of plus-and-minus-things that any sane person would have thought ridiculous outside sci-fi television shows or mangas-everything has changed.
Women, children and the elderly are all transferred to the evacuation dorms, while the youth are sent to the MAFIA, where they are trained to become efficient soldiers.
(Soldiers who will kill to keep Japan alive and breathing
And soldiers who will be killed by the enemy-forces who also wanted to be alive.)
Sawada Tsunayoshi is one of the newest recruits of the MAFIA Organization. He remembers saying an unwilling goodbye to his mother, Nana, just a couple of days ago. His eyes are filled with another onslaught of tears, but he holds them back, because now is not the time to be feeling scared.
After those scientists told him that he's a zero, he could feel those haughty glares at his back, he could feel some pitying stares from the more kindhearted ones.
Plus-attributes are sought-after because of their skills in healing the sick and injured, along with their capabilities of restoring destroyed architecture. Minus-attributes are treated with awe and respect because they are the most important players in attacking the enemy.
Zero-attributes, on the other hand, aren't supposed to exist.
Tsuna bows his head in apology as he almost slams into another trainee. He scurries off to his briefing room, because walking in hallways is dangerous-soldiers of different levels are present and Tsuna knows better than to accidentally piss off some high-ranking soldier.
He sighs in relief as he manages to reach the briefing room without any mishaps. Everyone present is wearing identical white shirts and brown pants -given by the Organization- along with their respective identification cards with their specified code and attribute.
He looks at his ID. The words TSUNA27 and ZERO greet his vision and he shifts uneasily. Would it be too much to ask, to not be a loser after high school?
Apparently it is, indeed, too much to ask. Tsuna sighs again as he hurries to find a seat.
A baby -one of the Arcobaleno, Tsuna corrects himself- stands in the middle of the podium, looking threatening and confident despite his small stature. He is Reborn, one of the elite members of the Organization.
"As the new recruits, study your orientation folders on your own time," Tsuna can hear the grumbles of his fellow trainees, "and you are expected to do your best if you want to stay alive. If you want better facilities and more privileges, you must do well in your training."
Tsuna notices how Reborn leaves out the fact that getting better living space and tastier food also means getting more dangerous jobs.
"Vongola is recruiting new members," Reborn announces, and excited murmurs erupt in response; Tsuna fiddles with his folder, not entirely sure what the fuss is about, "So you better not neglect your training."
Reborn then points a gun at the trainees' general direction, smirks, and walks off.
That's all?
"Some orientation that is," Tsuna mutters, before he starts flipping through the long list of house rules and instructions. After all, he is already on a dangerous position of being an outcast and he doesn't intend to make his life harder than it already is.
*
Thanks to the more-informed loudmouths of their batch, Tsuna manages to learn that the Vongola is the elite group of soldiers for Japan's MAFIA Organization. Much like how Italy's syndicate has its favored Giglio Nero and Millefiore, the MAFIA also has a 'family' where all members enjoy rare luxuries and are given the assassin-level jobs.
Tsuna is not interested in getting such high-profile and high-responsibility work-but it's not like he has a chance of getting selected, so it's not really a concern for him. He's content with getting proper meals, a usable sleeping quarters and not getting killed.
Sometimes, he thinks that life here isn't so bad.
He can still see his mother once a month. He doesn't have a girlfriend, so it's not like he has someone he's pining for to see outside this training facility. He can still eat meals, even if they taste a little bland and the serving is rather small. He can still get sleep, even though he sleeps on a bunk bed with a very thin cushion and fifty other noisily-breathing teenagers inside the room.
It's a far cry from being an ideal life, but it's something that's also far from being hateful.
Of course, there are still bullies-as though they haven't left the juvenile high school clichés. Tsuna is not a stranger to being an outcast, but he wishes that the stronger trainees would just stop picking on him.
It's not really unbearable -queuing for lunches, filling in for the cleaning duties, being pushed around for their self-assurance- but it's just…
Tsuna grits his teeth as he tries to focus his shot towards the target. He lets go of the soul-gun (an instrument that's supposed to fire one's energy as an energy bullet) with an exhale of dejection. He misses the dummy by about a meter and he ignores the jeers of his 'classmates'.
Oh well.
It seems that the 'focusing one's anger' doesn't really work for him in that exercise, no matter what Colonello-sensei says.
*
"The battle simulations here are EXTREME!" Sasagawa Ryohei's voice reaches Tsuna's ears easily. Tsuna inches away from the over-enthusiastic teen, though he returns the smile Ryohei's sister gives him.
Kyoko-chan was his classmate all throughout high school. She goes here with Hana, every month during the only day the Facility is open for visitors, to visit her older brother.
"I'm glad brother is enjoying his stay," Kyoko says and Tsuna hopes that she stays longer, because seeing her smile and hearing her voice has always made him a little bit happier.
His mother has already left a few minutes earlier, but Tsuna was sincerely glad to see her. He knows that she's hoping for him to get out of the lowest level of training for him to get better food, better sleeping quarters, but it's just not Tsuna's forte, if he even has one.
No-Good-Tsuna is his nickname during his student-years and even until now, so Tsuna is not really surprised that he's still stuck at the lowest training level.
Tsuna is startled when Kyoko waves goodbye at him and tells him to take care. It appears that he was preoccupied with his thoughts that the Sasagawa-siblings' conversation has already ended.
"So, Sawada, I'll be going first, okay?" Ryohei says as soon as Kyoko leaves and Tsuna manages a slight smile and a 'yes, big brother' as Ryohei moves away.
Sasagawa Ryohei, plus-attribute, good in boxing, and he has left the Level 0 of training a long time ago.
Erasing any possible thoughts of wistful jealousy, Tsuna closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, before he makes his way back to the training rooms.
*
When Tsuna finally moves away from Level 0, three months after his arrival at the Organization, he learns that everything just turned even more complicated.
"Fighting Partners?" Tsuna echoes, eyes blinking in puzzlement.
Lal Mirch, the only female Arcobaleno, crosses her arms across her chest and begins explaining.
"A person can partner with anyone in a fight. The attributes doesn't matter. However, there are partnerships that yield the optimal results. Finding the optimum partner will help you rise up in the ranks faster. It is possible that your best-match partner is one of the higher-ranked members, so there will be training sessions where every level is involved…"
Tsuna feels his head spinning not even halfway-thru the explanation but he thinks he already knows that gist of it. It's rather easy to understand in common terms-plus-plus partnerships are better if you want to reconstruct something faster; minus-minus is better for a higher-effect of destruction; plus-minus is better for something that requires balance.
But how about those with zero attributes like him?
Lal Mirch continues her explanation, oblivious to Tsuna's despondent thoughts.
Tsuna buries his head in his hands as he realizes that once again, he doesn't belong.
*
Being in Level 1 is not really that much different from the previous level. There are less people sharing the room and the food's serving size gets slightly bigger.
Nothing really changed, fundamentally-he still gets those obnoxious glares, he still gets harassed by bullies occasionally, he still gets concerned glances, and nobody talks to him.
It all changes when one day, he accidentally steps on Reborn.
He wants to protest that it's not like he did it on purpose, and Reborn was just so silent and so small that Tsuna didn't see him.
Aside from getting chased across all the hallways by the gun-wielding arcobaleno, getting punishment training and being thoroughly verbally abused, it seems that the accident is only the beginning of the changes in Tsuna's life.
*
"Yo!"
Yamamoto Takeshi, one of Vongola's members, is smiling at him.
Tsuna surreptitiously glances to his left, to his right, before he looks back at Yamamoto again. Yamamoto is still smiling at him.
"M-me?" He squawks in hesitance. It has been four months since he arrived here, but he is still in Level 1, still powerless and still easily-scared.
"Tsuna, right? I heard you're the one who stepped on Reborn! Is that true? I want to know how you did it!" Yamamoto says excitedly, and Tsuna almost face-palms at the touchy topic.
He doesn't really want to relive the memories of Reborn chasing him across the Facility until his legs gave out, the memories of the Punishment of Doom no thanks to Bianchi-no, he really doesn't want to
think about it.
But the famous swordsman is looking at him expectantly, and Tsuna cannot feel any sort of malice from this person. Plus, he isn't really sure what's the punishment for not answering a Vongola-member's enquiry.
"Erm, well, I just. Stepped on him, like this," And so Tsuna demonstrates how one would act when accidentally stepping on someone ten-sizes smaller.
"That's all?"
Tsuna wonders how is stepping on someone supposed to be more complicated than that. "U-uh, yeah…"
"That's… amazing! I want to try that later!" Yamamoto exclaims and Tsuna is suddenly glad that nobody is here in the hallway because he might get bullied again for daring to be on 'friendly terms' with a Vongola member. "Thank you, Tsuna!"
"Um… welcome…" Tsuna says distractedly, scratching his head. Well… that was weird. He shrugs the incident off with a roll of his shoulders, and he makes his way towards his next training room.
*
On the day of Tsuna's cleaning duty, he finds a dynamite-bomb on the floor.
Actually, it's not just one bomb. There's a couple of them and Tsuna desperately wishes that his cleaning partner didn't abandon him-he could really use a hand here to stop the dynamites from blowing the classroom into smithereens.
He moves as fast as he can, body moving on autopilot as his hands try to put out the dynamites. He isn't sure who would be dumb enough to throw dynamites to an empty classroom, but he doesn't want to be blamed if there are any casualties later.
He wipes sweat from his forehead once he manages to dispose all of the dynamites, completely oblivious to the gaping person in the doorway.
"Y-you…!" A silver-haired teenager exclaims with a mixture of horror and bafflement.
Tsuna nervously turns away from the garbage bag he brought along for the cleaning duty. And Tsuna feels a wave of déjà vu about something that happened last week. "M-me?"
"How did you do that?! Why did you put out my dynamites, you bastard!"
"So it was you!" Tsuna comments with a long-suffering tone, "Don't just throw those things in a classroom! The classroom will explode if you do that!"
Gokudera Hayato blinks. "But that was the point…!"
Frightened, Tsuna jumps away from the other teen, "Are you a terrorist?!"
"What! No!" Gokudera looks surprised that someone dared to imply that he's a terrorist. "Anyway, how did you stop my dynamites? I threw so many…!"
He pauses, before he glares intensely at the easily-frightened teen, a dynamite stick appearing in his hands, "Show me how you did it!"
Tsuna almost rolls his eyes, thinking that everyone has been saying 'show me how you did it' an awful lot lately.
"I just did it like this," He takes the now-lighted dynamite from the older male's hands, and pinches at the end. The spark ends easily, and Tsuna takes time to wonder about not feeling any heat from touching the spark. He thinks that it's maybe due to the different nature of the weapons from this Facility.
Gokudera looks absolutely floored by the demonstration. "J-just like that?!"
Tsuna nods warily and he almost jumps when Gokudera grips his hands tightly, adoration and respect shining in his eyes. "That's… amazing! You should be in Vongola! I'll… tell Reborn-san that I found a recruit…!"
Vongola? Reborn? Recruit?
Tsuna gapes at the space Gokudera occupied mere seconds ago, before he sprinted away from the classroom. It's only at that moment when Tsuna realizes that the person was Gokudera Hayato, another member of the Vongola.
*
And just like that, it seems that Tsuna is slowly being integrated into the lives of the two bickering members of the Vongola, Yamamoto and Gokudera.
Tsuna can't exactly pinpoint when it started, but he can't remember when was the first time Yamamoto called out to him from the crowd of people getting lunch, when Gokudera pulled Tsuna away from the long queue for food and towards the 'express queue' for the higher-ranked members.
It's like, suddenly, Tsuna is already a regular at Yamamoto's and Gokudera's lunch table.
Tsuna thinks that it's nice to have such friends, even though they're not really friends-friends, just lunch-mates, but it's better than nothing, right? When he's having lunch with those two, the worries about the world outside Japan's defensive walls, the worries about him still stuck at Level 1, worries about him still not finding a partner-those concerns all disappear.
It's a nice feeling, being surrounded by such a cheerful atmosphere. Six months since he has arrived here, and the sight of Gokudera's dynamites being thrown at Yamamoto don't scare him as much anymore.
Tsuna thinks that he likes this kind of life a little better.
*
He supposes that it's his fault, really, for letting himself be carried away by luxuries such as having friends. He still remains to be an anomaly, after all. An outcast presently surrounded by bullies, just in time for Gokudera and Yamamoto to be out on a mission.
He is already a puddle on the floor, after three? four? five? punches. He takes in a sharp breath and winces; breathing now brings pain instead of relief and it's most likely due to that punch on his chest earlier-
Tsuna can feel his consciousness slipping away slowly. His arms are growing numb, and he almost cannot feel the boots kicking his legs. Someone is lifting him by his shirt's collar, and his toes cannot feel the ground, and he cannot breathe, but he thinks that fainting sounds like a good idea now.
Much better than staying conscious and actually feeling the metal lockers that are cold and unforgiving against his back, than feeling his body protesting from the agonizing assault. He closes his eyes and waits for the pain to subside, for the bullies to tire of making him a punching bag, as punishment for daring to eat lunch with Yamamoto and Gokudera.
When he finally opens his eyes, he sees a red splash of color painting the tiled floor. He instantly recognizes the brilliant red hue as blood. He gingerly touches his head and brings his hands down. Strange-there's no blood on his hands, which means…
His brown eyes focus on the scenario more clearly. He sees the battered figures of the bullies piled on the floor-and the blood is pooling beneath that unconscious mass of bodies.
"W-what," He asks, voice thick, chest wheezing in pain. "W-what happened…?"
Tsuna's eyes make out the form of a teenager standing victoriously beside his bullies' bodies. The tonfas in that person's hand gleam ominously under the locker room's fluorescent light.
He doesn't know who this person is, but from that stance and the murderous aura he is emitting, Tsuna is not delusional enough to think that this person is his savior.
"So you're the herbivore who initiated this crowding," The person says in a very commanding voice and Tsuna closes his eyes again, thinks that he doesn't really know what he did wrong to deserve this kind of life, "Be prepared to be bitten to death."
*
Tsuna wakes up with a gasp, sitting up from the bed instantaneously.
He immediately looks down and notices that the bruises he knows he should have gotten from that encounter are missing. He doesn't have any visible wounds or scars and he actually feels fine.
He is wearing a blue shirt that is definitely not the one the Organization gave him. He is sitting on a very comfortable bed and there are no bunk beds in sight. The room is spacious and well-lit.
"Where am I?" Tsuna asks the room, but the room doesn't reply.
Someone enters the vicinity, presumably after hearing Tsuna resorting to conversing with the room.
"Congratulations on being promoted to Level 9, Tsuna-kun," Dino Cavallone says cheerfully, appearing seemingly out-of-nowhere, walking over to the bed after tripping over the carpet twice.
Tsuna thinks of asking, 'why are you here', 'why am I here', 'what happened to the bullies', 'where is tonfa-guy and is he still going to beat me up', 'where the hell am I'-but all the questions collide with each other inside his mind, and he only manages a garbled, "Bzuh?"
Dino laughs and sits beside Tsuna. Tsuna barely feels the cushion accommodating the added weight. Dino's friendly grin is shiny. "You're cute. I want you as my younger brother, Tsuna-kun."
"W-w-what-huh?"
"Oh! Silly me!" Dino slaps his head with a little more force than necessary (his forehead looks mildly pinkish) and shows Tsuna the promotion letter signed by the Ninth, the CEDEF, by Reborn.
A surprised gasp escapes Tsuna and he acutely stammers, "L-L-Level 9…"
"That's right," Dino enthuses, "and you also have a partner!"
The blond barely pauses to breathe before he continues, "You are actually at your partner's room already-I was against you being brought here directly, but then, Kyoya was insistent and he ordered Ryohei and Basil to treat you here, and he hurried Reborn to pass the papers already, and oh, your entrance test to Vongola is next month!"
Again, Tsuna wants to ask, 'Level 9?!', 'Vongola?!', 'who the hell is Kyoya', 'will someone please explain to me more slowly' and 'whaaaaaat' and 'whyyyyyy', but he suddenly feels tired, and he can't even summon his hands to pull at his hair in frustration, and really, sleeping is the best answer to this.
So Tsuna closes his eyes and flops back down to the fluffy bed.
*
When Tsuna wakes up again, Dino explains things to him, more slowly, but he still doesn't understand a big chunk of things.
Apparently, his partner found him after he was beaten up by the bullies. Moreover, his partner appears to be a rather forceful person - after all, he pushed his way through to apply for Tsuna to be promoted and to become a Vongola member.
Dino tells him that his suspicions are correct and his partner, whoever Kyoya is, is a Vongola member and an important one too, because he managed to get his way rather easily.
"Kyoya is on a mission now, so he can't explain his incredibly childish acts," Dino says apologetically, "but then again, you don't really want him to explain these things."
How nice.
It means his partner is an overconfident brat who is bad at talking to people.
Tsuna feels headache forming in his temples.
*
"That's great news, Tsuna!" Yamamoto says with a huge smile, patting Tsuna on his shoulder. Gokudera is giving the seventh 'that's so awesome, Tenth!' speech for the day and Tsuna chuckles awkwardly.
Gokudera is apparently pushing a petition for him to become the next Vongola boss, even though he hasn't even taken the entrance exam yet. Heck, he hasn't even met the person responsible for all the roller-coaster changes in his life.
"Eh, so who's your partner, Tenth? Reborn-san told us to just ask you-"
Tsuna stiffens slightly, "It's-"
"What are you doing here, herbivore?"
Tsuna instinctively shrinks into his seat and attempts to be as inconspicuous as possible. Tonfa-guy is glaring at their table with unmasked distaste, but thankfully, the tonfas are nowhere in sight.
"Eeep!"
"Yo, Hibari!"
"What's it to you, jackass?"
Hibari ignores the two Vongola members and grabs Tsuna's wrist, causing Tsuna to suddenly look up in horror. "Hi-Hi-Hibari-san!"
"You should not hang around these… pathetic herbivores."
Tsuna wants to protest that he doesn't understand because Hibari-san refers to everyone as herbivores so he doesn't really know who is he talking about, but-
"He's our friend, Hibari, so it's no problem if he sits with us," Yamamoto explains calmly, and Tsuna feels his heart beating in joy at Yamamoto's acknowledgement of him being their friend-but that isn't really helping to loosen up the death grip on his wrist.
Hibari doesn't reply but instead continues to drag Tsuna away, with Gokudera's yells resounding in the background.
*
It becomes Tsuna's new lunch-routine: start off with Gokudera and Yamamoto, listen to their everlasting bickering, notice how Yamamoto looks fondly at the dynamite-lover, notice how Gokudera flushes slightly each time Yamamoto touches him to help him calm down, try to hide from Hibari-san, get dragged away by Hibari-san, have lunch with Hibari-san at the rooftop, get kicked out by the going-to-have-afternoon-nap Hibari-san.
Two weeks after, and he finally realizes that he still doesn't know who his partner is and he still doesn't know what should he do for the Vongola Test.
*
Even though he doesn't know who Kyoya-the-partner is, it seems that a lot of people know that person. And it seems that everyone has decided that it's interesting to just leave Tsuna in the dark about his partner's identity.
Sometimes, when he's alone and not doing anything, Tsuna wonders if the person is also a zero like him. Tsuna wonders a lot of things about his partner, and someone who apparently knows his partner quite well has appeared before him.
"Oya, oya, I didn't expect Kyoya's partner to be such a small kid," Rokudo Mukuro comments slyly as he leans against the corridor's walls, blocking Tsuna's way back from his daily lunch at the rooftop.
Tsuna reddens, fingers curling tightly around the handle of his lunch bag. "I-I'm not a kid," He protests feebly, flushing even more and shoulders folding as Mukuro's eyes roamed unabashedly on his body, as if assessing the truth of his protest.
"Kufufu, an interesting choice, if I say so myself," He murmurs to himself, while Tsuna edges away slowly from the mysterious person, a bit baffled and freaked out by the devious smirk and the strange, low laugh. Who the hell laughs like 'kufufu' anyway? Isn't that kind of trademark-laugh limited to world-domination-villains?
Mukuro steps away from his post against the wall and peers more closely at the escaping-Tsuna. "Aren't you that recruit who stayed at Level 0 for such a long time?"
Tsuna gulps and feels sweat forming at his temples, sliding down uncomfortably to his cheeks. Those mismatched eyes give an odd sort of pressure, like they're unhurriedly dissecting each part of his slightly-trembling body, like they're prying open his mind and reading his thoughts like they're displayed for the whole world to see.
Mukuro took that nervous silence as a 'yes' and hums thoughtfully in response. He mutters things that are too soft for Tsuna to hear, but he can sense the undercurrent of annoyance and fondness, and he vaguely hears snatches of words like, 'cutesy things' and 'weird affinities'.
The mild atmosphere instantly dissolves as soon as Mukuro's eyes narrow at him though. Tsuna feels a shiver run down his spine.
"Kyoya is easy to match, attribute-wise," He murmurs, stalking towards Tsuna slowly, while the brown-haired teen backs against the wall, a panicky look on his expressive face. Mukuro continues, disregarding Tsuna's discomfort with his close proximity, "But his personality easily clouds his soul, making his SYNCHRO difficult."
Mukuro smirks, leaning down so that his nose barely touches Tsuna's. The newest Vongola recruit fidgets, but not too much, because if he pushes too much, he'll end up kissing this weird guy…! "Hiiii, w-what are you doing…! Stay away…!"
"With such a frail soul like yours, I wonder if you can keep up with Kyoya…?"
Something inside Tsuna sparks, like he ought to defend himself and his partner, because he knows (rather, he hopes) that his partner isn't some rampaging beast that will trample down on everyone. His deeply-seated intuitive senses tell him that there's something else in Mukuro's voice aside from snide taunting and puzzling motives.
Really, his mouth takes on bravery at the worst possible opportunities. "Y-you're jealous…?" He asks incredulously, because he is thinking about how strong this person's aura is and how close he is, and his lips moved before he can even think of stopping himself from speaking out.
A faint trace of surprise crosses that handsome face mere millimeters away from his own. "Oya? I didn't expect that you'd say that, young Vongola."
Mukuro's glove-covered hand rests on the wall behind Tsuna. Tsuna dearly hopes that nobody would pass by this hallway at this moment, because he is trapped in a compromising situation with a strange person who is, quite frankly, creeping him out. "I can possess your body at this very moment, yet you say such amusing things. I'm interested how well you'd be able to keep with us, then."
Tsuna notices the two Hell Rings -he learned about those from Lal Mirch's orientation from before; and he supposes that this person is also one of the Vongola, judging from his speech and those rings- on those gloved hands before they move away from him.
Mukuro walks away from him, disappearing into thin air, as if he melted and integrated himself into the air molecules. Tsuna has a horrified moment where he thinks he'll be able to breathe in that guy. A few seconds after Mukuro disappears, Tsuna sags against the wall, hands sweaty and belatedly noticing that his lunch box has already escaped from his grasp and is now on the floor.
"Well. That was creepy," Tsuna mumbles, before swearing to hide in his room for the moment. He didn't exactly adore his boring routine life from before, but if his future encounters will be filled with strangeness, he'd rather go back to his boring life, thank you very much.
*
Despite his earlier resolution to stay in his room for the whole day, Tsuna ends up trudging towards Dino's office. Dino is friendly and accommodating-and is definitely not creepy. Upon more pondering about that guy's confusing words and actions, Tsuna determined that while creepy, that guy made a good point.
If Tsuna's partner is such a strong person, he'd definitely pull him down with his inexperience. He is No-Good-Tsuna after all, and he hasn't aced any of the trainings and he got stuck at Level 0 for an embarrassing amount of time, and he is a failure and an anomaly and he knows it.
He raises his hand to knock, a gloomy air surrounding him and his slumped shoulders. He hears voices from Dino's office and, out of curiosity, he leans in closer to the door and eavesdrops.
"You shouldn't just leave your partner alone, you know? He's going to need your help and support," Dino says with a resigned tone, as though their conversation has dragged on already and he hasn't made his point across yet.
"I don't have the time and patience to assist pathetic herbivores," A deep voice replies and Tsuna sweatdrops. It's H-Hibari-san! The horrifying thought of Hibari-san standing over his soulless corpse if -no, not if, but when- he finds out that Tsuna is eavesdropping on him crosses over Tsuna and he nervously takes a step away from the doorway.
"B-but he's a beginner! He needs you for his synchronization, and you need him too!"
Tsuna couldn't see it, not from this distance and this small an opening in the doorway, but he knows that Hibari-san glared fiercely at Dino in response to that statement. Hibari-san doesn't need anybody. He is strong on his own and the thought of Hibari-san depending on someone is both laughable and terrifying.
"I don't need anyone," Hibari-san quietly says and from Dino's strained chuckle, Tsuna knows that those tonfas have made their appearance. "He should learn things on his own."
Tsuna frowns, because he kind of pities and admires and fears for Hibari-san's partner. Being a beginner who doesn't know anything-he can guess how helpless and lost that poor person is feeling without someone to guide him.
"B-but he's a beginner!" Dino wails insistently, and Tsuna opens the door a bit too forcefully. He finds out that he's right-Dino's expression is already bordering on frustration and those tonfas are shining dangerously as a promise of pain and injury.
"H-Hi-Hibari-san shouldn't just leave his partner alone!" Tsuna blurts out, butting in to the conversation rather courageously, when his all his mind could think of is, 'ohmygod earthtoself pleaseshutupshutup Idon'twanttodieyet!'. "If you don't practice, then he won't know what you expect him to be and you'll be unprepared and-"
Tsuna notices the painful silence that now reigns in the room. His brain's message of 'survival first!' to his mouth finally caught up. "I-I'm shutting up now."
Instead of delivering punishment to Tsuna for insolently interrupting their conversation, Hibari simply smirks at Tsuna, a confident curl of his lips, and Tsuna finds himself staring a little longer than necessary. If possible, Hibari's smirk grows even wider at that.
"You're saying I need training," Tsuna shakes his head violently at that, because if there's one person who doesn't need anymore training, it'd be Hibari-san…! Hibari-san nudges Hibird away from its perch on his shoulder. "Be prepared to get bitten to death then."
Hibari-san then shifts his intense stare to Dino, "I'll be using the training room."
For a few seconds, Dino gapes, then grins widely, "That's great! Good luck, Tsuna!"
"G-good luck? Wait-what?"
*
Two hours later and Tsuna can feel his bones screaming and his lungs heaving and his muscles stretched to the limit and it feels painful and it fills him with exhilaration.
He wonders if it's because that glint in Hibari-san's silver-grey eyes drives him to do his best, urges him to keep on standing up even as blow after blow is delivered into his skin, prevents him from surrendering without a fight. He wonders if it's because he actually likes feeling that powerful stare focused on him and only him; he wonders if it's because he doesn't want Hibari-san to be disappointed in him the way that strange guy hinted that his partner will feel towards Tsuna and his weakness.
Dino gave him a wooden sword before the start of their training match, but it lay forgotten on the floor, because Tsuna doesn't have a clue on how to wield it. Calling it a training match is a bit generous-it's more like, Hibari-san hunted him down while he tried his best to dodge and run away from those painful tonfas and maybe try to unbalance Hibari-san.
"That was pathetic, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari-san says, standing over his slumped form, blocking the bright lights with his tall figure. Tsuna leans heavily against the training arena's wall, nursing the bruises that will be sure to leave ugly marks on his arms and legs. Tsuna feels his cheeks warming up, the way they always do whenever Hibari-san chooses to call him by his full name -who the hell calls people regularly by their full names anyway?- and not by the impersonal 'herbivore'.
The dark-haired teen then crouches down, legs painfully close to Tsuna's boneless form. Hibari-san pushes the tip of his tonfa against Tsuna's chin, forcing it up, making Tsuna shiver from the cold metal contacting his sweat-flushed skin. Hibari-san leans in close-and Tsuna is surprised that he doesn't feel any of the suffocating pressure that he felt when the pineapple-hairstyle-guy stared him down.
He wonders again if Hibari-san will ever stop making him feel contradictions like this.
Tsuna swallows, resolving to not flinch even though he is defeated already and Hibari-san looks so serious like that, facial color remaining pale despite the 'spar session' they just finished.
"My abilities as a human being are far more superior to yours-I can fight without a partner." Haughty and confident and Tsuna cannot blame him because he knows that it is true and he mentally berates himself for interrupting Hibari-san and Dino's conversation earlier.
Tsuna wants to say that he understands and he's sorry and he's going to try hard so that he won't disappoint Hibari-san next time and he wants to send his condolences for Hibari-san's partner and a lot of other things, but Hibari-san is already standing up and walking away from him and he can just remain on watching Hibari-san's strong and dependable-looking back moving out of his reach.
Hibari-san stops at the doorway, where Kusakabe-san is waiting patiently along with Hibird. The yellow bird is chirping Hibari-san's high school's anthem yet again. "His training is up to you, baby."
"H-huh?" Tsuna's eyes are wide with confusion.
The arcobaleno Reborn enters the room, glancing at Tsuna's injured form disapprovingly.
"See you later then, Hibari," Reborn says and Hibari-san leaves the training room, leaving Tsuna with the now-sadistically-smiling infant. Tsuna feels a little sorry for himself for being frightened by a baby, but it's Reborn and he might still be mad at the stepping-on-Reborn-incident.
"Are you ready for your training in hell?" Reborn asks a tad too cheerfully, pointing a gun menacingly at the still-tired-Tsuna.
"HIIII…!"
*
Tsuna resists the tempting urge to scratch at his collar, refuses to cower from the inquisitive looks shot to him by the other occupants of the room. He nods at the right moments as Gokudera keeps on telling him stories about the great feats of the previous Vongola bosses, while Yamamoto simply interjects with his very simple-minded comments that make Gokudera swear very loudly and even Tsuna grin awkwardly.
He didn't want to accept the seat at the head of the table, but Reborn had him at gunpoint, saying 'stay put or I'll shoot you' and Tsuna wishes that Reborn was simply kidding, but he has been very realistic and he just knows that Reborn won't hesitate to shoot him.
Tsuna lets his eyes wander, because he has heard this baseball freak argument a hundred times already. He sees some familiar faces: Gokudera, Yamamoto, Reborn, Basil (who bows at him, all perfect manners and soft smiles, addressing him with a reverent 'Sawada-dono'), Kusakabe-san (who nods at him; whose presence makes Tsuna's heart beat a little step faster, because Kusakabe-san being here means…), Dino (who waves enthusiastically at him, but doesn't trip like he's prone to do, since Romario is there at the corner of the room) and some others.
There are a lot of people he doesn't know though. There's a sweet-looking girl with an eye patch covering her right eye -and Tsuna shivers as he remembers that strange guy who cornered him the other day. There's a broody-looking guy who's currently twirling his black locks of hair in his fingers, a steaming cup of milk on his table.
There are seven seats reserved for the Vongola and Tsuna blushes as he remembers Gokudera's ramblings about him being the perfect Tenth boss. Three seats are currently vacant, including the one beside the only girl in the table.
Most of the room's occupants are standing, stiff postures and straight backs, looking somber. Tsuna is tempted once again to leave his seat, because he feels so out-of-place here. A threatening smirk from Reborn effortlessly stops him from moving even an inch.
"I'm so pumped up and READY TO THE EXTREME!" Sasagawa Ryohei exclaims as soon as he enters the conference room for the MAFIA-Vongola meeting, and he flashes a thumbs-up sign at Tsuna after greeting with an energetic, "Sawada! I heard you're going to be the next boss! That's EXTREMELY AWESOME!"
Tsuna shrinks into his seat, feeling a number of eyes focusing on him. He's not really going to be a boss, right? He's far from being a boss-material: he's always bullied, he's always a loser, he's always failing tests and trainings and such, and he doesn't have many friends, much less subordinates.
("Look, go to your seat, hey," Colonello says; "Yes, master!" Ryohei complies easily.)
The eye-patch-girl stands up from her seat and politely introduces herself as Chrome Dokuro. Tsuna hesitantly shakes her hand, greatly embarrassed when she proclaimed that she'll do her best as a Vongola Guardian to protect her Boss. "T-thanks, uh, Chrome."
"You can let go of Tenth's hand now, woman!"
"Maa, maa, Gokudera, they're still becoming friends…"
Chrome's hand is soft and Tsuna is confused how such a gentle girl became a Vongola member. She doesn't look like she's into fighting and violence. "Um," Tsuna mumbles clumsily as he tries to extract his hand from the handshake.
Chrome didn't let go. With a force unexpected from her petite form, she holds on as she leans in and invades Tsuna's personal space and plants a feather-light kiss on his cheek.
"HII!" Tsuna drops her hand and touches his cheek immediately, as though he was scalded.
A number of things erupts at that moment-Gokudera lounges towards Chrome with an animalistic snarl, emerald eyes burning like he wants to strangle her, gentlemanly expectations be damned; Yamamoto instantaneously springing into action and holding back Gokudera's flailing arms with ease, as though he has done this a million times before-and he probably has, knowing Gokudera's tendency to rush head-on to any situation; Dino loudly gasping in surprise, with said gasp covered with Ryohei's loud welcome of 'Hello there, Hibari! Let's have that training again and I promise I won't be defeated that easily this time!'.
Tsuna turns towards the door so quickly that he almost got hit by Gokudera's rage-controlled limbs-and he exclaims like he always does, "Hi-Hi-Hibari-san!"
Hibari-san regards them all with a cool stare before he takes a seat and says commandingly, "If you don't stop herding together, I'm going to bite you all to death."
Tsuna wonders despairingly why isn't Hibari-san the Vongola Boss. He definitely can command his subordinates with just a simple quirk of his lips, with a simple narrowing of his eyes.
Gokudera is about to shift his irritation to retorting to the newly-arrived teen, but Tsuna places a placating hand on Gokudera's arm, causing the other to wilt and shuffle apologetically. Chrome is now back on her seat, and the Vongola Table is complete, which means that Kyoya-the-partner is…
"Kyoya-san, it's nice to meet you," Tsuna offers a brilliant smile to the now-drinking-milk curly-haired guy. …Who now promptly spits out his milk with a loud cough.
Tsuna blinks.
Yamamoto is grinning at him, while Dino looks like a cross between amusement and pity. Ryohei is gaping at him, and even Basil and Chrome look like they're going to burst into laughter soon. Tsuna looks at them, silently asking for help. Was he wrong? But he knows everyone in the table, and his partner is a Vongola member, and only the guy wearing a cow-printed shirt is left…
Gokudera looks like he's going to faint in the next minute. "K-Kyoya…? Tenth…! I never knew you were that close to that guy! W-why! Not that I'm questioning your choices in friends, because your judgment and taste in friends are surely first-class, Tenth, but, it's that guy!" Ohmygod, are those tears welling up in Gokudera's eyes? Did he really make such a big mistake that it moved Gokudera to tears?!
"I-I'm Lambo. N-not Kyoya," Lambo corrects him as soon as he manages to control his coughing. I-pin hands him a box of tissues, but she looks slightly flushed and distracted.
Tsuna blinks again.
"T-then who…?"
Then, comprehension dawns at him, and it feels like the realization that he's going die by Hibari-san's hands. Sounds like the click of Reborn's gun being readied to shoot him.
In any case, Tsuna wants to die. "H-Hibari-san is Kyoya-san?"
"Yep," Yamamoto looks all-too-happy to confirm Tsuna's fear.
"Hiiii," Tsuna simultaneously pulls at his hair and proceeds to flatten himself against his chair in mortification. He doesn't dare to look at Hibari-san's expression.
"How pathetic," A gruff voice pulls Tsuna away from his shame-filled mental berating. The room is suddenly tense and Tsuna can feel the tension raw and solid and stifling. "This brat is your Boss? Vongola's standards have reached a new low, infant. Are you really that hard-pressed for time? Admitting even weaklings and newbies. Che."
It feels surreal, this quick change in atmosphere-even Yamamoto looks mad. He didn't think Yamamoto is capable of such a hard expression on his usually-friendly visage.
"Boss is my boss and he isn't a weakling," Chrome speaks up determinedly, even though her body looks fragile and her voice is gentle.
("A girl? That's nice… hmm…" A scary-looking guy mumbles; "Shishishi, this is interesting, is she an illusionist too, Mammon?"; "She must be Rokudo Mukuro's apprentice," the illusionist arcobaleno replies sagely.)
"VOIII! Stop mumbling so loudly when Boss is talking you piece of shits!"
("You're the loud one," Tsuna wants to say to the long-haired swordsman, though Dino already echoed his sentiment, resulting in bickering between Dino and the swordsman.)
Xanxus laughs-cruel, crisp and bitter. Tsuna recalls that this guy is Varia's leader, the head of the MAFIA's special assassination squad, a group of elite people just like Vongola. Bitterness cascades from the scarred guy in strong waves, choking Tsuna with the sensation. "A boss who comes out of nowhere, with no will to fight, with no fucking idea how it's like in the world outside the walls, that's what defines weakness!"
Fierce and elegant-like a lion growling from atop its throne, like a tiger stalking its prey with assurance in its power-that's what Tsuna gathered from Xanxus. He feels even more insecure than ever-because it is so obvious to him that Xanxus is a better leader and Xanxus knows it and wants it to be that way, but Tsuna is in the way.
"Vongola's downfall-and consequently, Japan's fall will all be your undoing, brat."
Reborn starts, "You will show respect to your leader, Xanxus."
Gokudera is livid, Yamamoto not bothering to pacify him, "YOU WILL STOP DISSING TENTH, YOU FUCKER, OR ELSE I'LL MAKE YOU EAT DYNAMITES-"
And Tsuna wants to agree with Xanxus and stop Gokudera, but he doesn't really want to disappoint his friends, and Hibari-san-
And Hibari-san who's now wielding his tonfas like a flag of death-warning.
"A reject like you has no right to criticize other people," He says coldly, aloof and superior amidst the current of chaos and uncertainty around them.
"H-Hibari-san," Tsuna murmurs with a mixture of gratefulness and fright, because it's Hibari-san and contradictory emotions are all Tsuna feels around him.
A staring contest ensued between Xanxus and Hibari, both stubborn and self-assured, but Xanxus backs away with a bark of laughter, mocking Tsuna and Vongola by walking out of the Vongola meeting along with his Varia squad.
"Tenth! Don't listen to what that bastard says! You're the best boss Vongola is going to have and as your right-hand man I'm going to make sure that that asshole pays for insulting you and your skills and-"
But Tsuna isn't really listening, because despite Gokudera's assurances, Tsuna feels a part of his heart and confidence crumbling as Hibari-san leaves the room as well, without so much a glance at him.
*
Link to Part II.