[fic] The Tenth Diary {sort-of 5927 mirai nikki/reborn! fusion | 2/3}
gokudera ilu. don't hate me for this.
Part 1 is here.
The Tenth Diary
Part 2
This wasn't an ordinary cell phone. This cell phone spelled out the life or death of another human being.
And Sawada had it for one whole day.
He turned it over and over in his hand. He had the freedom to do it, but he wasn't sure he wanted to read anymore. Maybe he'd already seen too much when he peeked into it the first time.
...Or was the thrill just gone, now that he had the diary owner's permission?
At any rate, he told himself, it was pointless not to read through it, because he may never get a second chance. Gokudera wasn't the sort who trusted anyone, and though Sawada can boast of the fact (if he was the boasting type - which he wasn't) that Gokudera trusted him enough with something this important, he knew the privilege couldn't last for more than a day.
So, out of a twisted sense of duty, he opened the diary again.
Skimming through the flood of random comments related to him - e.g. Tenth is turning to page 48. or Tenth stops to pet kitten. Is bitten by kitten. - he made a conscious effort to look for entries that might give him more clues as to Gokudera's personality. Gokudera's diary sometimes (not frequently) included commentary that sounded so much like him, Sawada didn't doubt that this was the way Gokudera would have written his own diary.
It just creeped him out beyond repair that the diary happened to involve so many thoughts about him.
20XX / 07 / 15
12:39
Just finished lunch with Tenth. Wiped rice grain from the side of his mouth while he was talking and distracted. Score!
Alas, bastard Eighth was in area, so couldn't do better than rice grain.
20XX / 08/ 22
18:55
Fifth and Tenth are out on date. Eighth is along as third wheel.
Hate Eighth.
20XX / 08/ 25
11:42
Tenth scored a homerun, with Eighth's encouragement.
Tenth looks so happy.
WAY TO GO TENTH!!!
There was something he realized: Not a single entry was about him meeting Yamamoto alone. Whenever the Eighth was mentioned (meaning he was in the same area as Sawada was, since this was the diary that stalked him), Gokudera was always there.
He figured it was because diary entries changed. Currently, all diary entries were being written by Deus, and one of Deus' rules was that the diaries would be written according to the personalities of the diary holders. Another of his rules was that diary entries would change depending on how the holders could alter the future.
This meant that whenever Gokudera's "Tenth Diary" foretold that he was going to meet up with Yamamoto - or, in fact, with anyone alone - Gokudera must have done everything in his power to change that diary entry.
20XX / 09/ 04
07:14
Tenth is finally wearing leather bracelet. Must buy more. Nothing's too good for the Tenth.
20XX / 09/ 09
19:04
Tenth must really like this restaurant. Will order more Gavi and spaghetti vongole. Nothing's too rich for the Tenth.
20XX / 10 / 14
09:43
Tenth tries on birthday gift.
Birthday gift shows off Tenth's waistline and collarbone. Smart choice after all ♥
Against all odds, Sawada was desperate to believe Gokudera didn't like him that way (otherwise he wouldn't be calling him "Tenth" in that respectful manner, he'd be using something more intimate. Like Tsu-chan. Or maybe even Tsunayoshi-sama.) but it was clear enough that Gokudera really liked him for some reason.
And sometimes Gokudera looked at him like he was the universe, with a smile that could melt anyone's heart and knees and resolve to stay calm and unaffected. Sometimes Gokudera would stand real close, while helping Sawada do his homework or just reaching past him to wrap his hands around something completely ordinary, and he would stay real close like that for a second or two longer than any boy would stand close to any other boy. Sawada would faintly smell nicotine and sweat off Gokudera's shirt and feel his neck and the back of his ears growing hot by the time Gokudera was slowly, languidly pulling back.
It would probably be less confusing, Sawada thought, if only he didn't remember Gokudera as he was before this whole mess started. He still had a clear mental image of Gokudera Hayato as angry, sullen, completely untouchable - almost your stereotypical gangster punk. But the future diaries happened and suddenly, Gokudera Hayato started wearing his uniform right, smiling brilliantly at Sawada and not going out of his way to make as many enemies as he used to.
As if he had become a completely different person.
What happened to make him like this? Or was he always this fixated on Sawada, and he just never had the chance to show it before receiving the Tenth Diary gave him the perfect excuse?
20XX / 10 / 14
12:43
Hate Eighth. Hate how he makes Tenth laugh. Hate how Tenth doesn't mind that he's touchy and grabby all the time. He obviously corners Tenth every chance he gets.
Eighth should just die. Like Third and Ninth and all the other diary holders.
I should just put him out of his misery.
Sawada shut the diary function off without thinking. For some reason, these perfectly ordinary words filled him with dread.
That was it. He decided: No more for today.
It was best to make the first move.
"Gokudera-kun," he said as he held out the sleek black phone, "I... Well, I... Thank you."
He had no idea how romantic the scene looked: against a sunset backdrop a teenage boy stood blushing, cradling a cell phone in his palms as carefully as if it were a Valentine's day present. In the meantime another boy stood just at arm's length, gratitude and excitement shining on his face. It was some sort of confession, to be sure: the world shrinking to just two young people.
"You've read it, Tenth? All of it?" the taller boy said as he accepted this offering. "You see now, don't you?"
Oh boy, did Sawada see now. "Gokudera-kun," he cautiously ventured, rubbing the back of his neck, "these entries about Yamamoto... do you really - "
"NO." The answer was quick and loud. Sawada almost jumped back from the sheer force of it. "No, no, not at all, I mean..." He bit his lower lip, fumbling for the words. "Tenth, you know I don't like the guy. It's just... my diary taking on my voice, you know? It's not like I'll ever actually..."
Actually what? Sawada could be polite and insist that it was all right, they could drop it, he was sure Gokudera would never entertain such murderous thoughts... but he stayed silent. He wanted to know.
"...Tenth." Gokudera looked at him straight in the eye, voice low and pleading as it had never been before. "He's your friend, isn't he? For your sake, I'll put up with him. I'll never, never be a burden on you."
Sawada was struck dumb by this. Gokudera sounded like he was hurt - genuinely, deeply hurt. And no accusation was even made.
"Well, I - I'm glad to hear that, Gokudera-kun. Really." He tore his gaze away from the vision of helplessness before him. "You should know that... well... I never doubted you for a second."
The relief in the other boy's face upon hearing these words was immeasurable. Sawada could only guess that the Tenth Diary had already recorded exactly what he had just said, stammers aside, making him sound cooler than he actually was.
"Well..." Force a smile out, that's it. "I have to go home now."
Without staying for Gokudera's final, routinary "Take care, Tenth!" Sawada fled. How cute, an onlooker would say: the smaller boy had just finished confessing, and obviously the taller boy liked him back, but the whole ordeal must have been so embarrassing, smaller boy had to run off and compose himself.
But if Sawada had lingered just a moment longer, just another round of "Goodbye, careful on the way home, see you tomorrow"s, he would have heard the Tenth Diary beep. He would have seen Gokudera, all alone against a sunset backdrop, innocently turning on the diary function to see what the latest entry said.
He would have seen Gokudera standing perfectly still, a stunned look on his face.
The next few days saw Gokudera being a lot moodier than usual. Unlike before, when he made an effort to insinuate himself into every aspect of Sawada's life, he started going off on his own. Sometimes Sawada would find him on the rooftop, smoking... or just strolling through school grounds by himself, wearing his trademark scowl - much like a general surveying a possible battleground.
It was almost like the Gokudera of before, although one thing had not changed: every time he spotted Sawada, his face broke into a youthful grin. He relaxed and honestly seemed thankful that Sawada would want to spend time with him.
However, there were times when not even Sawada's company was welcome. "Sorry, Tenth. I just have to do... something. I'll be back later."
Sawada would not have minded the time alone, if only he didn't feel it was so - suspicious. All the same, it was something he'd wanted ever since the whole mess started, so he wasn't about to waste it.
"Tsuna, I gotta talk to you." Yamamoto spoke in a whisper. He had run up to Sawada as if they had just chanced upon each other on the way to another campus building, but it was clear enough that he'd been seeking Sawada out. "Gokudera too. Where is he?"
"Beats me," Sawada answered. "He'll turn up sooner or later, though."
Yamamoto frowned, not feeling as flippant. "That guy's been acting weird. Normally he's hanging all over you and everything. I don't like this..."
"Don't like what? What's going on?"
In answer, Yamamoto threw an arm around Sawada's shoulders and led him away from the very public path, toward a secluded, shadowed corner of the school.
"You can tell Gokudera this later, if I don't find him first." Once they were in a quiet spot, Yamamoto was able to breathe easily. Sawada didn't remember ever seeing his friend this tense.
"I know who the First is," Yamamoto told him.
"WHAT?! When - How did you - "
"He introduced himself. Listen, I don't know if I shouldn't be telling you this." Yamamoto ran a hand through his hair. He seemed a lot more distressed than Sawada was prepared for. "His diary, it's... different. It gives him an advantage. If Gokudera were here he could probably figure out how to beat him, but right now it's just - I can't - "
"Yamamoto." Sawada held his friend's shoulders, fighting his own panic. "Calm down. Tell me everything from the start."
Yamamoto took a long, deep breath. He sure looked pale, Sawada noted. The meeting between him and the First obviously took place very recently; he hoped Yamamoto wasn't wounded. Sawada would probably pass out from shock if it turned out to be like that...
"This morning," Yamamoto began, "one of the upperclassmen in the baseball club asked me to help carry a bunch of stuff to the Student Council office. I had time, so I helped. The office wasn't empty, there was someone standing there waiting. And when we were done unloading, he told me to stay."
Sawada could feel where this was going, and he didn't like it.
"That person was Hibari Kyoya, high school sophomore. Head of the disciplinary committee. You've heard of him, right?"
"Yeah, he's... he's a real big shot. The kids in class say it all the time - 'You better pick up after yourself, or the disciplinary committee chief will bite you dead'..."
"Everybody's heard of him, but nobody's ever actually seen him." Yamamoto took a quick look around. When he was sure nobody was listening in, he continued, "He called me by my name, and he said, 'You should've paid more attention to your Baseball Diary. If you were better at reading it, you would've seen it predict this meeting.' "
"HUH?!" No. Oh God no. Not the head of the disciplinary committee. If you ever got on his case, you'd just be found with your bones ground into powder, with some sort of sign saying exactly what it was about you that pissed him off.
One boy was found bruised and bleeding from head to toe, with the words "Habitual tardiness" carved into his chest with a switchblade. One girl was found tied naked to the rooftop fence, almost dead from exposure, with a sign saying "Promiscuity" hanging from around her neck.
(For a second, Sawada wondered what sign would be found with his body. "Stupidity"? "Mediocrity"? "Being utterly useless"?)
Hibari Kyoya was almost an urban legend in Namimori. No one could say for sure that he personally carried out that brand of extreme justice, but this reputation worked to his advantage. Kids scared each other with stories of the "Ghost of Namimori." They feared him like a dark cloud looming just over their heads.
If Hibari Kyoya was the First, and he was as powerful as the stories about him said, Sawada could understand if Yamamoto did not fight him. He would lose. Their first meeting that one dark night in Namimori was more than enough to show how weak they were before him.
What he wanted to know was, why did he let Yamamoto go?
And also -
"How did he know what kind of diary you had? Did you tell him?"
"No." Yamamoto's voice turned grim. "That's just it. He knew. He laughed at me. He said it was high time he told someone else about his diary, so he chose me."
The questions were piling up, but Sawada didn't want to interrupt.
"He calls it the 'Shadow Diary.' It shows him the new entries on another person's future diary. Any one he wants."
A chill ran up Sawada's spine. "Gokudera-kun's... Tenth Diary..." he fearfully muttered. "It updates the fastest. If he shadowed that, he'd know all about me..."
It was Yamamoto's turn to lay a hand on Sawada's shoulder. Look at me, his eyes said. I'm scared, too. But we're in this together, so toughen up and listen.
"He said, 'Since it doesn't matter, I'm going to tell you its only limitation. It can only look at one diary at a time, and only one diary a day. So as long as you, the Fifth and the Tenth stay together, I can see from any of your diaries what you three herbivores are going to do. And if you scatter, I can pick you off one by one.' "
"Why doesn't it matter?" Sawada demanded. "I don't understand. Why was he telling you about his diary? Why you especially?"
For a second, Yamamoto looked like he didn't know how to answer. Sawada found this silence the most frightening of all.
"I asked him," Yamamoto eventually replied. "He said, 'I don't have to dirty my hands with you. You'll be out of my hair soon enough.' "
For the rest of that day, Sawada found himself more worried for Yamamoto than for himself. It was the first time for him to ever feel like this.
Since Gokudera didn't show up when it was time to go home, Sawada decided to walk with Yamamoto to the bus stop, and then to the train station. It wasn't as if he could do anything in case the First or anyone else attacked, but it just made him feel better to be there... to be with his friend and be comforted by the fact that he was alive and well.
As they were walking, Yamamoto clarified that his Baseball Diary had not shown anything especially alarming. The last entry was timestamped 9 PM, and all it said was that Gokudera was going to call him out later that night to talk - in baseball terms, of course. There couldn't be anything bad about that, he said, it would only be Gokudera, who would only want to talk... but just as he was saying this, he trailed off. A thoughtful look appeared on his face.
"Tsuna," he said, "how much do you trust Gokudera?"
"Eh? What do you mean?" It was only after the words escaped his lips that he realized how idiotic they sounded.
"I mean - the three of us are buddies, right? But you know him better than I do. He won't do anything stupid like. Team up with the First, or anything?"
That was, Sawada admitted, a possibility that never entered his head. And now that it did, he wasn't sure he could ever get it out.
"To tell you the truth, Yamamoto... I don't see him teaming up with anybody, not even us. But you know." He wanted to sound confident. He wanted to believe in the things he was about to say. "You know... I trust you both. Gokudera-kun's not that kind of person, he wouldn't... he would never turn against us."
Against ME, was what he first thought of saying. But these were the words needed to assuage Yamamoto, so he let them be.
Yamamoto smiled his guileless smile. And he said "All right" in a way that wrenched Sawada's insides, made him feel like he shouldn't even be playing this crazy game.
Sawada's No-Good Diary was just as useless as the Baseball Diary. It didn't even tell him about the meeting Yamamoto and Gokudera were going to hold later that night - and why would it, if he wasn't going to be there? The last entry said 5:45 PM - Boarded train with Yamamoto. It was currently 5:35 PM.
Not for the first time, Sawada tried to think of what the First would plot, if he ever chose to spy on the contents of the No-Good Diary. Sawada didn't know the First at all and couldn't get into his head, couldn't even imagine what he would have up his sleeve.
It was a task for someone smart, someone with imagination and the ability to think several paces ahead of the enemy. It wasn't often that Sawada thought this, so when he did, it always surprised him: If only Gokudera-kun was here...
As Sawada was getting ready for bed that night, the No-Good Diary beeped. He had been ignoring its beeping all night, given that it only recorded mundane things like Curry again tonight. Boring rerun on TV. Homework is killing me, turning in early.
But it was weird to still get a new entry just when he was getting ready to sleep.
20XX / 10 / 28 21:53 (HOME)
Just received weird call from Yamamoto. WHAT IS GOING ON?!?
It was 9:43. He would be receiving a call from Yamamoto within the next ten minutes.
Sawada stared at the phone in his hand. Yamamoto should be at his meeting with Gokudera now, like the Baseball Diary had predicted.
Sawada could call first and pre-empt this No-Good Diary entry - he could change the future right now and possibly even avert a disastrous situation.
But would he truly be averting a disaster by changing things - or would he be making things worse?
One thing was for sure: something was going on with Yamamoto. Something Sawada was too far away to do anything about, even if he could do anything. His diary only showed him what was going to happen within the next ten minutes - warnings couldn't come any earlier.
He made up his mind to call Yamamoto first. It couldn't do any harm, could it? But just as his finger was approaching the keypad, his phone rang.
The number was one he didn't recognize. It wasn't Yamamoto's number, certainly.
He picked up. "Who is this?"
"TSUNA!" came the urgent reply. "Listen to me! Gokudera is - "
Tsuna thought that while Yamamoto was shouting, he could hear the sound of thunder in the background, coming in closer and louder at breakneck speed.
Then static, then the call was suddenly dropped.
There weren't many ways for a call to end like that.
The phone fell from Sawada's limp hand.
He fell back onto his bed, all strength gone. It was a while before he could muster the courage to pick up his phone again, and try contacting the number that had just called.
It didn't even ring.
Bracing himself, he called Yamamoto's number. The phone rang, but there was no answer.
He tried again. And again. Until his heart was tired and fear took him over. He set his phone aside and pressed the heels of his hands against his tightly shut eyes.
He didn't even know where Yamamoto was.
What was worse, he'd seen what Gokudera was capable of.
Eighth should just die. Like Third and Sixth and all other diary holders.
I should just put him out of his misery.
This wasn't happening. Not Yamamoto. No.
(tbc)
--------------------------------
Part 1 is here.
The Tenth Diary
Part 2
This wasn't an ordinary cell phone. This cell phone spelled out the life or death of another human being.
And Sawada had it for one whole day.
He turned it over and over in his hand. He had the freedom to do it, but he wasn't sure he wanted to read anymore. Maybe he'd already seen too much when he peeked into it the first time.
...Or was the thrill just gone, now that he had the diary owner's permission?
At any rate, he told himself, it was pointless not to read through it, because he may never get a second chance. Gokudera wasn't the sort who trusted anyone, and though Sawada can boast of the fact (if he was the boasting type - which he wasn't) that Gokudera trusted him enough with something this important, he knew the privilege couldn't last for more than a day.
So, out of a twisted sense of duty, he opened the diary again.
Skimming through the flood of random comments related to him - e.g. Tenth is turning to page 48. or Tenth stops to pet kitten. Is bitten by kitten. - he made a conscious effort to look for entries that might give him more clues as to Gokudera's personality. Gokudera's diary sometimes (not frequently) included commentary that sounded so much like him, Sawada didn't doubt that this was the way Gokudera would have written his own diary.
It just creeped him out beyond repair that the diary happened to involve so many thoughts about him.
20XX / 07 / 15
12:39
Just finished lunch with Tenth. Wiped rice grain from the side of his mouth while he was talking and distracted. Score!
Alas, bastard Eighth was in area, so couldn't do better than rice grain.
20XX / 08/ 22
18:55
Fifth and Tenth are out on date. Eighth is along as third wheel.
Hate Eighth.
20XX / 08/ 25
11:42
Tenth scored a homerun, with Eighth's encouragement.
Tenth looks so happy.
WAY TO GO TENTH!!!
There was something he realized: Not a single entry was about him meeting Yamamoto alone. Whenever the Eighth was mentioned (meaning he was in the same area as Sawada was, since this was the diary that stalked him), Gokudera was always there.
He figured it was because diary entries changed. Currently, all diary entries were being written by Deus, and one of Deus' rules was that the diaries would be written according to the personalities of the diary holders. Another of his rules was that diary entries would change depending on how the holders could alter the future.
This meant that whenever Gokudera's "Tenth Diary" foretold that he was going to meet up with Yamamoto - or, in fact, with anyone alone - Gokudera must have done everything in his power to change that diary entry.
20XX / 09/ 04
07:14
Tenth is finally wearing leather bracelet. Must buy more. Nothing's too good for the Tenth.
20XX / 09/ 09
19:04
Tenth must really like this restaurant. Will order more Gavi and spaghetti vongole. Nothing's too rich for the Tenth.
20XX / 10 / 14
09:43
Tenth tries on birthday gift.
Birthday gift shows off Tenth's waistline and collarbone. Smart choice after all ♥
Against all odds, Sawada was desperate to believe Gokudera didn't like him that way (otherwise he wouldn't be calling him "Tenth" in that respectful manner, he'd be using something more intimate. Like Tsu-chan. Or maybe even Tsunayoshi-sama.) but it was clear enough that Gokudera really liked him for some reason.
And sometimes Gokudera looked at him like he was the universe, with a smile that could melt anyone's heart and knees and resolve to stay calm and unaffected. Sometimes Gokudera would stand real close, while helping Sawada do his homework or just reaching past him to wrap his hands around something completely ordinary, and he would stay real close like that for a second or two longer than any boy would stand close to any other boy. Sawada would faintly smell nicotine and sweat off Gokudera's shirt and feel his neck and the back of his ears growing hot by the time Gokudera was slowly, languidly pulling back.
It would probably be less confusing, Sawada thought, if only he didn't remember Gokudera as he was before this whole mess started. He still had a clear mental image of Gokudera Hayato as angry, sullen, completely untouchable - almost your stereotypical gangster punk. But the future diaries happened and suddenly, Gokudera Hayato started wearing his uniform right, smiling brilliantly at Sawada and not going out of his way to make as many enemies as he used to.
As if he had become a completely different person.
What happened to make him like this? Or was he always this fixated on Sawada, and he just never had the chance to show it before receiving the Tenth Diary gave him the perfect excuse?
20XX / 10 / 14
12:43
Hate Eighth. Hate how he makes Tenth laugh. Hate how Tenth doesn't mind that he's touchy and grabby all the time. He obviously corners Tenth every chance he gets.
Eighth should just die. Like Third and Ninth and all the other diary holders.
I should just put him out of his misery.
Sawada shut the diary function off without thinking. For some reason, these perfectly ordinary words filled him with dread.
That was it. He decided: No more for today.
It was best to make the first move.
"Gokudera-kun," he said as he held out the sleek black phone, "I... Well, I... Thank you."
He had no idea how romantic the scene looked: against a sunset backdrop a teenage boy stood blushing, cradling a cell phone in his palms as carefully as if it were a Valentine's day present. In the meantime another boy stood just at arm's length, gratitude and excitement shining on his face. It was some sort of confession, to be sure: the world shrinking to just two young people.
"You've read it, Tenth? All of it?" the taller boy said as he accepted this offering. "You see now, don't you?"
Oh boy, did Sawada see now. "Gokudera-kun," he cautiously ventured, rubbing the back of his neck, "these entries about Yamamoto... do you really - "
"NO." The answer was quick and loud. Sawada almost jumped back from the sheer force of it. "No, no, not at all, I mean..." He bit his lower lip, fumbling for the words. "Tenth, you know I don't like the guy. It's just... my diary taking on my voice, you know? It's not like I'll ever actually..."
Actually what? Sawada could be polite and insist that it was all right, they could drop it, he was sure Gokudera would never entertain such murderous thoughts... but he stayed silent. He wanted to know.
"...Tenth." Gokudera looked at him straight in the eye, voice low and pleading as it had never been before. "He's your friend, isn't he? For your sake, I'll put up with him. I'll never, never be a burden on you."
Sawada was struck dumb by this. Gokudera sounded like he was hurt - genuinely, deeply hurt. And no accusation was even made.
"Well, I - I'm glad to hear that, Gokudera-kun. Really." He tore his gaze away from the vision of helplessness before him. "You should know that... well... I never doubted you for a second."
The relief in the other boy's face upon hearing these words was immeasurable. Sawada could only guess that the Tenth Diary had already recorded exactly what he had just said, stammers aside, making him sound cooler than he actually was.
"Well..." Force a smile out, that's it. "I have to go home now."
Without staying for Gokudera's final, routinary "Take care, Tenth!" Sawada fled. How cute, an onlooker would say: the smaller boy had just finished confessing, and obviously the taller boy liked him back, but the whole ordeal must have been so embarrassing, smaller boy had to run off and compose himself.
But if Sawada had lingered just a moment longer, just another round of "Goodbye, careful on the way home, see you tomorrow"s, he would have heard the Tenth Diary beep. He would have seen Gokudera, all alone against a sunset backdrop, innocently turning on the diary function to see what the latest entry said.
He would have seen Gokudera standing perfectly still, a stunned look on his face.
The next few days saw Gokudera being a lot moodier than usual. Unlike before, when he made an effort to insinuate himself into every aspect of Sawada's life, he started going off on his own. Sometimes Sawada would find him on the rooftop, smoking... or just strolling through school grounds by himself, wearing his trademark scowl - much like a general surveying a possible battleground.
It was almost like the Gokudera of before, although one thing had not changed: every time he spotted Sawada, his face broke into a youthful grin. He relaxed and honestly seemed thankful that Sawada would want to spend time with him.
However, there were times when not even Sawada's company was welcome. "Sorry, Tenth. I just have to do... something. I'll be back later."
Sawada would not have minded the time alone, if only he didn't feel it was so - suspicious. All the same, it was something he'd wanted ever since the whole mess started, so he wasn't about to waste it.
"Tsuna, I gotta talk to you." Yamamoto spoke in a whisper. He had run up to Sawada as if they had just chanced upon each other on the way to another campus building, but it was clear enough that he'd been seeking Sawada out. "Gokudera too. Where is he?"
"Beats me," Sawada answered. "He'll turn up sooner or later, though."
Yamamoto frowned, not feeling as flippant. "That guy's been acting weird. Normally he's hanging all over you and everything. I don't like this..."
"Don't like what? What's going on?"
In answer, Yamamoto threw an arm around Sawada's shoulders and led him away from the very public path, toward a secluded, shadowed corner of the school.
"You can tell Gokudera this later, if I don't find him first." Once they were in a quiet spot, Yamamoto was able to breathe easily. Sawada didn't remember ever seeing his friend this tense.
"I know who the First is," Yamamoto told him.
"WHAT?! When - How did you - "
"He introduced himself. Listen, I don't know if I shouldn't be telling you this." Yamamoto ran a hand through his hair. He seemed a lot more distressed than Sawada was prepared for. "His diary, it's... different. It gives him an advantage. If Gokudera were here he could probably figure out how to beat him, but right now it's just - I can't - "
"Yamamoto." Sawada held his friend's shoulders, fighting his own panic. "Calm down. Tell me everything from the start."
Yamamoto took a long, deep breath. He sure looked pale, Sawada noted. The meeting between him and the First obviously took place very recently; he hoped Yamamoto wasn't wounded. Sawada would probably pass out from shock if it turned out to be like that...
"This morning," Yamamoto began, "one of the upperclassmen in the baseball club asked me to help carry a bunch of stuff to the Student Council office. I had time, so I helped. The office wasn't empty, there was someone standing there waiting. And when we were done unloading, he told me to stay."
Sawada could feel where this was going, and he didn't like it.
"That person was Hibari Kyoya, high school sophomore. Head of the disciplinary committee. You've heard of him, right?"
"Yeah, he's... he's a real big shot. The kids in class say it all the time - 'You better pick up after yourself, or the disciplinary committee chief will bite you dead'..."
"Everybody's heard of him, but nobody's ever actually seen him." Yamamoto took a quick look around. When he was sure nobody was listening in, he continued, "He called me by my name, and he said, 'You should've paid more attention to your Baseball Diary. If you were better at reading it, you would've seen it predict this meeting.' "
"HUH?!" No. Oh God no. Not the head of the disciplinary committee. If you ever got on his case, you'd just be found with your bones ground into powder, with some sort of sign saying exactly what it was about you that pissed him off.
One boy was found bruised and bleeding from head to toe, with the words "Habitual tardiness" carved into his chest with a switchblade. One girl was found tied naked to the rooftop fence, almost dead from exposure, with a sign saying "Promiscuity" hanging from around her neck.
(For a second, Sawada wondered what sign would be found with his body. "Stupidity"? "Mediocrity"? "Being utterly useless"?)
Hibari Kyoya was almost an urban legend in Namimori. No one could say for sure that he personally carried out that brand of extreme justice, but this reputation worked to his advantage. Kids scared each other with stories of the "Ghost of Namimori." They feared him like a dark cloud looming just over their heads.
If Hibari Kyoya was the First, and he was as powerful as the stories about him said, Sawada could understand if Yamamoto did not fight him. He would lose. Their first meeting that one dark night in Namimori was more than enough to show how weak they were before him.
What he wanted to know was, why did he let Yamamoto go?
And also -
"How did he know what kind of diary you had? Did you tell him?"
"No." Yamamoto's voice turned grim. "That's just it. He knew. He laughed at me. He said it was high time he told someone else about his diary, so he chose me."
The questions were piling up, but Sawada didn't want to interrupt.
"He calls it the 'Shadow Diary.' It shows him the new entries on another person's future diary. Any one he wants."
A chill ran up Sawada's spine. "Gokudera-kun's... Tenth Diary..." he fearfully muttered. "It updates the fastest. If he shadowed that, he'd know all about me..."
It was Yamamoto's turn to lay a hand on Sawada's shoulder. Look at me, his eyes said. I'm scared, too. But we're in this together, so toughen up and listen.
"He said, 'Since it doesn't matter, I'm going to tell you its only limitation. It can only look at one diary at a time, and only one diary a day. So as long as you, the Fifth and the Tenth stay together, I can see from any of your diaries what you three herbivores are going to do. And if you scatter, I can pick you off one by one.' "
"Why doesn't it matter?" Sawada demanded. "I don't understand. Why was he telling you about his diary? Why you especially?"
For a second, Yamamoto looked like he didn't know how to answer. Sawada found this silence the most frightening of all.
"I asked him," Yamamoto eventually replied. "He said, 'I don't have to dirty my hands with you. You'll be out of my hair soon enough.' "
For the rest of that day, Sawada found himself more worried for Yamamoto than for himself. It was the first time for him to ever feel like this.
Since Gokudera didn't show up when it was time to go home, Sawada decided to walk with Yamamoto to the bus stop, and then to the train station. It wasn't as if he could do anything in case the First or anyone else attacked, but it just made him feel better to be there... to be with his friend and be comforted by the fact that he was alive and well.
As they were walking, Yamamoto clarified that his Baseball Diary had not shown anything especially alarming. The last entry was timestamped 9 PM, and all it said was that Gokudera was going to call him out later that night to talk - in baseball terms, of course. There couldn't be anything bad about that, he said, it would only be Gokudera, who would only want to talk... but just as he was saying this, he trailed off. A thoughtful look appeared on his face.
"Tsuna," he said, "how much do you trust Gokudera?"
"Eh? What do you mean?" It was only after the words escaped his lips that he realized how idiotic they sounded.
"I mean - the three of us are buddies, right? But you know him better than I do. He won't do anything stupid like. Team up with the First, or anything?"
That was, Sawada admitted, a possibility that never entered his head. And now that it did, he wasn't sure he could ever get it out.
"To tell you the truth, Yamamoto... I don't see him teaming up with anybody, not even us. But you know." He wanted to sound confident. He wanted to believe in the things he was about to say. "You know... I trust you both. Gokudera-kun's not that kind of person, he wouldn't... he would never turn against us."
Against ME, was what he first thought of saying. But these were the words needed to assuage Yamamoto, so he let them be.
Yamamoto smiled his guileless smile. And he said "All right" in a way that wrenched Sawada's insides, made him feel like he shouldn't even be playing this crazy game.
Sawada's No-Good Diary was just as useless as the Baseball Diary. It didn't even tell him about the meeting Yamamoto and Gokudera were going to hold later that night - and why would it, if he wasn't going to be there? The last entry said 5:45 PM - Boarded train with Yamamoto. It was currently 5:35 PM.
Not for the first time, Sawada tried to think of what the First would plot, if he ever chose to spy on the contents of the No-Good Diary. Sawada didn't know the First at all and couldn't get into his head, couldn't even imagine what he would have up his sleeve.
It was a task for someone smart, someone with imagination and the ability to think several paces ahead of the enemy. It wasn't often that Sawada thought this, so when he did, it always surprised him: If only Gokudera-kun was here...
As Sawada was getting ready for bed that night, the No-Good Diary beeped. He had been ignoring its beeping all night, given that it only recorded mundane things like Curry again tonight. Boring rerun on TV. Homework is killing me, turning in early.
But it was weird to still get a new entry just when he was getting ready to sleep.
20XX / 10 / 28 21:53 (HOME)
Just received weird call from Yamamoto. WHAT IS GOING ON?!?
It was 9:43. He would be receiving a call from Yamamoto within the next ten minutes.
Sawada stared at the phone in his hand. Yamamoto should be at his meeting with Gokudera now, like the Baseball Diary had predicted.
Sawada could call first and pre-empt this No-Good Diary entry - he could change the future right now and possibly even avert a disastrous situation.
But would he truly be averting a disaster by changing things - or would he be making things worse?
One thing was for sure: something was going on with Yamamoto. Something Sawada was too far away to do anything about, even if he could do anything. His diary only showed him what was going to happen within the next ten minutes - warnings couldn't come any earlier.
He made up his mind to call Yamamoto first. It couldn't do any harm, could it? But just as his finger was approaching the keypad, his phone rang.
The number was one he didn't recognize. It wasn't Yamamoto's number, certainly.
He picked up. "Who is this?"
"TSUNA!" came the urgent reply. "Listen to me! Gokudera is - "
Tsuna thought that while Yamamoto was shouting, he could hear the sound of thunder in the background, coming in closer and louder at breakneck speed.
Then static, then the call was suddenly dropped.
There weren't many ways for a call to end like that.
The phone fell from Sawada's limp hand.
He fell back onto his bed, all strength gone. It was a while before he could muster the courage to pick up his phone again, and try contacting the number that had just called.
It didn't even ring.
Bracing himself, he called Yamamoto's number. The phone rang, but there was no answer.
He tried again. And again. Until his heart was tired and fear took him over. He set his phone aside and pressed the heels of his hands against his tightly shut eyes.
He didn't even know where Yamamoto was.
What was worse, he'd seen what Gokudera was capable of.
Eighth should just die. Like Third and Sixth and all other diary holders.
I should just put him out of his misery.
This wasn't happening. Not Yamamoto. No.
(tbc)
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