Byakuran
— Five years later from present
"Shou-chan? Where are you right now? ... Oh... So we'll meet at that Japanese restaurant? ... Alright, see you later!" The purple eyes of the white-haired man sparkled as he talked to his university friend on the phone.
As he hung up and ended the call, a sakura petal landed on his phone. Byakuran reached out to remove it before he returned his phone into his suit pocket. It was spring time in Japan, and sakura trees lined the park Byakuran was crossing through in full bloom.
The sakura petals were falling and flew with the wind. One could easily reach out one's hand to catch them, and Byakuran thought that his hair and clothes were probably covered in petals by then.
He checked his watch and then continued to walk. There was still some time before meeting up with his friend, Irie Shoichi. Irie wanted to return to his home during spring break, and Byakuran thought it was a good idea to visit Japan while meeting up with Irie.
Byakuran had to admit that the scenery wasn't so bad after all. He had always loved flowers, and loved the meanings behind them.
Perhaps he should find a bench to rest and watch the sakura. He spotted a bench in front, and although there was already someone sitting on it, there was space for two.
He walked closer, and noticed that the boy who was sitting on the bench had fallen asleep, his head nodding, with a load of sakura petals on his spiky brown hair.
Byakuran found his innocent sleeping face to be fitting to the peaceful background behind him. He watched the boy's chest expand and relax as he inhaled and exhaled, and didn't quite understand what fascinated him that made him unable to move his eyes away from the boy.
Something compelled Byakuran to bend down and reach his hand out to take the sakura petals from the brown silky hair. Byakuran was able to grab a single pink petal in his hand, and it was probably as soft as the boy's hair.
Sakura... The flower language of sakura in Japan was kind and gentle, and it was also known to be fleeting and short-lived. Just like the boy in front of him, his pale skin and peaceful countenance seemed as if they were going to fade into the background and disappear along with the flower petals.
Byakuran wanted to reach out to obtain another petal, but stopped in mid-motion as the boy suddenly opened his eyes and moved away from the hand.
"Who are you?" The boy demanded.
Byakuran grinned and asked back, "Who are you?"
The teenager frowned, and Byakuran thought that he was in fact pouting adorably. "I asked you first."
"I'm Byakuran. Nice to meet you." Byakuran held out his hand for him to shake.
"You can call me Tsuna." The boy replied, staring at the outstretched hand, but eventually took the offered hand.
"Do you know me?" Tsuna questioned, and paused for a little while, as if debating whether or not to ask the next question. "Are you a... creep, uh, I mean stalker, uh no, hmm..." He blinked at Byakuran to gauge his response, then muttered under his breath, "How do I phrase this nicely..."
Byakuran let out a laugh. "No, no, it's not what you're thinking. I'm just visiting Japan, and it's our first time meeting. I just saw there are sakura petals on your hair and wanted to brush them off."
"Uh... Okay? Thanks?" Is it really normal to touch the hair of a stranger? Maybe that's what foreigners do in their country? Huh, what, hadn't I live in Italy too? I'm pretty sure that wasn't a normal thing...
Tsuna stood up. "Sorry, but I've got to go now. It was nice to meet you too."
Byakuran waved as Tsuna walked off hurriedly, and a smile spread across his face.
We're going to meet again, my dear Tsuna-chan.
---
When Tsuna woke up in the middle of the park under sakura trees, it was a pair of bright purple eyes that greeted him.
He didn't realise that he had nodded off, but he immensely regretted the action when he woke up, because the wind that was blowing was still cold, and it felt as if his nose had been frozen off.
He woke up due to an overwhelming and oppressing presence near him.
Years in the mafia had honed his senses and he was a light sleeper in case of danger.
He wanted to open his eyes and get away from that person, but suddenly he felt something on his head and froze for a second. He could not feel any ill intent, thus he decided to wait a while to find out what the person wanted to do.
However, the person reached out his hand again, apparently wanting to repeat the action. Tsuna thought that since the person wasn't going to be doing anything else, he would best wake up before this became a never-ending process.
When Tsuna first laid eyes on the pale-haired man in front of him, a thought flashed across his mind. Something told him that the man was related to the mafia...
... and most likely the Tri-ni-set too.
If he knew everyone who is part of the Arcobaleno or the Vongola, what was left was only the holder of the Mare Rings. For the person in front of him to be an owner of the Mare Rings... This was definitely an unexpected outcome from a walk in a park filled with sakura trees.
Tsuna dared to say that he didn't like the way the man named Byakuran smiled. It was cunning with a dash of evilness and could make him have goosebumps all over his body.
He then worried for Ietsu, as it didn't seem as though Byakuran would be an easy character to deal with, and if they didn't become allies, it would definitely spell trouble for Ietsu.
While busily fearing for Ietsu, Tsuna neglected to realise what this meeting meant for himself.
The time when Tsuna next saw Byakuran, it was a year later, and the circumstances were completely different from the walk in the park. Byakuran became the boss of the Gesso Famiglia, and finally realised that Tsuna was the Sky Arcobaleno. The pacifier Tsuna held was exactly one of the things he needed to complete the Tri-ni-set.
However, Byakuran had something else in his mind other than killing off Tsuna to obtain the pacifier.
To Tsuna's surprise - and Tsuna was never easy to surprise, mind you - Byakuran said he wanted to recruit him.
Why? When his plan was to kill off the rest of the Arcobaleno and the Vongola? Did he seriously expect Tsuna to join an organization which murders the people he cares about?
For a rare moment there, Tsuna did not manage to understand what a person was thinking, and that person was Byakuran Gesso.
---
— Nine years later from present
"Tsunayoshi~! Look at what I've gotten you!" Byakuran barged into the room suddenly, hands full while holding a pot of arbutus, and handed it to Tsuna.
Tsuna looked up from the book he was reading as a pot of flowers was shoved into his face. He put his book down to receive the pot from Byakuran.
He laid the arbutus down onto the table which was already full of flowers that Byakuran had given him previously. "Arbutus... huh." Tsuna watched the small white flowers for several moments before glancing up at Byakuran, who was currently stuffing his mouth with marshmallows.
"Hmm?" Byakuran noticed Tsuna's stare and smiled, or as much as he could with his mouth fully filled.
Tsuna inquired, "Why are you here again? Don't you have things to do?" Like, I don't know, people to kill and plans to plot?
Byakuran grinned as if hearing Tsuna's thoughts, and Tsuna thought that he really looked like a sly fox whenever he did that. "I'm always free for my Tsunayoshi-chan."
A small frown appeared on Tsuna's forehead.
Tsuna knew that Byakuran was crazy and psychopathic, but it was not as if Tsuna couldn't understand where he was coming from. After living for so many years, it was not possible to deny that the world was a horrible place. However, to kill off every single person he knew to create a new, better world, was something he could never do.
When Tsuna was with Byakuran, he could actually feel his thoughts. He knew why Byakuran became the way he was. Tsuna couldn't exactly say he hated Byakuran, but he did hate spending time with him.
At least he managed to obtain the pacifiers from Byakuran, and fulfilled his mission in Millefiore.
"Oh Tsunayoshi, have you heard?" Byakuran said as he looked up from the marshmallow tower he was building. "Luca-kun will transferring to the Japanese Headquarter soon."
Tsuna raised his eyebrows at the sudden news. "Luca Celestino of Black Spell? Why?"
"Because we need more people to sniff out Vongola, of course."
"You...!" Tsuna was sure that Byakuran specially wanted to specially anger him by mentioning that. "I thought Luca wanted to stay in Italy because his girlfriend was here?"
Byakuran laughed. "Who's the boss here?"
"As the Captain of the 11th Squad, I'm certain you would give him more choices... unless..." Tsuna narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me you-!"
"I?" Byakuran repeated.
"Why would you do that? Even though Luca's a captain, he's not as useful in combat as the other squad captains." Tsuna queried.
Tsuna still remembered the time when Luca had return back to Headquarter covered with injuries, but he still insisted on reporting to Byakuran before getting his wounds treated. Byakuran had been with Tsuna at that time, and Tsuna had offered to help Luca tend to his wounds as he had nothing better to do. It was quite boring to be forever cooped up in Millefiore, to be frank.
When Luca announced that he had failed his mission, Byakuran was obviously furious, while still smiling, of course.
Tsuna had nicely asked Byakuran to calm down and let Luca rest before punishing him, and Byakuran agreed, and sent Luca to the medical centre. He was still smiling.
Luca had obviously been thankful to Tsuna, despite Tsuna constantly telling him that it was not a big deal. He was just bored.
Due to that incident, Tsuna and Luca had talked more, like when they met in the corridor, or eating together in the canteen. Tsuna found out that Luca was considered as one of the 'better' people in Millefiore.
He was relatively kind and caring to the people around him and his subordinates. He had a girlfriend whom he liked and thus had requested to not be transferred to other headquarters, but he still went for missions outside the country.
Luca was quite a good company when Tsuna was bored out of his mind most of the times.
Byakuran smiled while replying, "Well, there was one thing he did wrong, and that was earning your sympathy."
Tsuna's eyes widened, bewildered. "What? Me? He doesn't even like me that way. He has a girlfriend, remember?"
Byakuran played with a marshmallow before placing it into his mouth. "Didn't he tell you? He broke up with her long ago, right after he made friends with you."
"Are you implying that he likes me more than his girlfriend?"
"My, Tsunayoshi-kun, why are you usually so intelligent yet so dense at the same time? Especially in the field of romance. Can't you tell that he likes you very much? In the romantic way?"
"I don't want you of all people to be telling me this." Tsuna rolled his eyes. "You're being unreasonable."
Tsuna paused, as if wondering how ridiculous his previous sentence was. "Well, honestly, what had I expected from you anyway? I guess I'm the unreasonable one here. But I had at least expected to treat your subordinates properly. He didn't do anything wrong, did he?"
"What do you think?" Byakuran asked back.
"You do what you want with your subordinates, Byakuran, but don't use me as a reason to remove them." Tsuna's eyes hardened, and picked up his book to continue his reading, completely ignoring Byakuran's presence.
Byakuran did not seem to care about Tsuna's attitude, and continued to eat his marshmallows while watching Tsuna flip his pages.
Byakuran, even before receiving the memories from his other selves, had taken a liking to this person named Sawada Tsunayoshi. (It was as though they were cursed to always meet each other, and Byakuran would always find Tsuna to be opposing him in one way or another in the parallel worlds.)
Perhaps it was because of Tsuna's eyes. They were cold, yet Byakuran felt calm and reassured while looking into those eyes.
Or perhaps it was his smile.
It was Byakuran's plan to kill off everybody and obtain the Tri-ni-set. With Tsuna in the equation, however, Byakuran would have to save Tsuna for the last - he will complete the whole Tri-ni-set before adding in the Sky pacifier, so that Tsuna will accompany him to the last moment possible. Byakuran would then create a new world where Tsuna was alive and staying with him.
After Byakuran destroyed this world, he will create a world where everything is right and Tsuna is with him and him only.
It was a twisted way of thinking, but it was Byakuran.
If Tsuna didn't listen to his commands, then Byakuran would think of a way to control him.
Tsuna seldom responds when Byakuran talked to him, most of the times pretending he was thin air instead of a living being.
"To think that Tsunayoshi cared more for a subordinate of mine than for me." Byakuran said to himself.
Looks like you're being disobedient again, Tsu-chan.
---
Irie Shoichi
"Wahh! What a weird family!" Irie panicked as he watched Lambo and the other weird people from behind the wall.
"Are you okay?" Irie jumped when he heard a voice and turned around.
There was a brown-haired boy behind him. "AHH! Who- when did you get behind me?" More importantly, are you one of the weird scary bunch?
Irie thought that the boy looked like that blond hair guy he had just seen. Maybe they're related?
"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you." The boy gave a reassuring and gentle smile. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. Are you looking for someone?"
They even have the same surname! They must be brothers! I better get out of here as soon as possible.
"No, no, it's okay. I've got to go." Irie hastily thought of an excuse to escape from here.
"You sure?" Tsuna then moved to see what Irie was watching from behind the wall, and saw the usual gang. "Do you think they are crazy? I think so too, but they are nice people. If you need any help, you can always ask me."
Irie heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, really? Thank... thank you." Finally a somewhat... Normal one.
However, he had said that line way too fast, when a grenade came their way and Tsuna jumped to catch it.
"Ah... that... you..." Irie inched backwards, but there was a wall behind him that prevented him from going any farther.
Tsuna smiled. "Don't worry, you can hardly die from this. Ietsu has been through this lots of times." As he said that, he threw the grenade far, far away, farther than normal human capabilities. And very, very calmly, like it was an everyday occurrence.
Okay, Irie thought as he tried to close his gaping mouth, and his legs shook like mad. He couldn't be more wrong, he thought, as he finally slipped into unconsciousness.
---
— Second encounter
Tsuna stared at the bicycle in front of him. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.
Out of all his skills for fighting, fixing a bicycle didn't seem to be one of them.
What should he do now? Leave the bicycle here? Call for help? Hmm, choices, choices.
"Um... Do you need help?" Tsuna heard a voice and looked up, only to find a familiar red-headed man staring at him.
"Ah... You're that guy..." Tsuna wrecked his brain for the guy's name. "Irie Shoichi, was it?"
"You're Sawada-san!" The man named Irie Shoichi exclaimed.
Tsuna nodded. "Yes, I am. I'm surprised to see you here."
"I'm surprised too. Is your bicycle spoiled?" Irie inquired as he pointed to the bicycle Tsuna was holding.
"Do you know how to fix it? That's great. Here I am wondering what am I going to do with this." Tsuna's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, I might know how to fix it. Let me take a look at it."
Tsuna handed him his bicycle. "Sure, thank you."
"Hmm, okay, I can fix it, but it might take some time." Irie said after examining the bicycle. "You can sit down to wait if you want."
"It's fine, if it's not too much trouble. Take your time. Do you want some drinks? I can go buy some drinks while you fix this."
"Uh, no, it's fine! It's not that troublesome. You don't really need to buy anything." Irie waved his hands around.
Tsuna shook his head. "Just take it as a thank-you. I can't thank you enough for your help."
"If you insist..."
After Irie finished fixing the bike, Tsuna was already back with the drinks he bought.
They chatted and rested for a while whilst sipping their drinks.
"You're in your third year of junior high?" Irie asked Tsuna.
"Yeah." Tsuna acknowledged.
Irie sneaked a glance at the boy standing beside him. Even though it had been more than a year since he last saw Tsuna, Irie realised Tsuna didn't even change much.
Irie himself had grown at least a few centimetres, but Tsuna remained the same as ever.
Irie still remembered their last encounter at Sawada Ietsuna's house. He had thought that Tsuna looked innocent at first, but when he saw him throw the grenade he was really scary.
As they interacted more, however, Irie found out that Tsuna was a really kind and gentle person, albeit rather eccentric at times.
Irie noticed that Tsuna's smile was particularly charismatic, and it drew people in like moths to fire. His eyes too, were clear and sincere, and Irie thought that Tsuna was the type to be always wishing the best for the people around him.
"Uh... You can just call me Shouichi." Irie stuttered a little.
"You can just call me Tsuna too. Thanks a lot, Shouichi." Tsuna smiled, and Irie thought that his heart was going to stop.
---
TYL Hibari
"I remember now. You are the Vongola Cloud Guardian, Hibari Kyoya." Gamma said after Hibari attacked him.
"What of it?" Hibari's face was as emotionless as ever.
"Our information doesn't know whether you are an ally or an enemy of Vongola based on your actions." Gamma continued.
"I told you that I'm in a bad mood." Hibari got his tonfa ready.
Gamma smirked. "So Hibari Kyoya is on the side of the Vongola."
"I'm on no one's side."
Gamma took out his box weapons, and so did Hibari.
Gamma realised that Hibari was strong, and insanely so, with his usage of disposable rings and how he evaded Gamma's attacking billiard balls.
It was no wonder that he was called the strongest of Vongola Guardians.
"He sends his regards." Gamma suddenly said, as Hibari got past all the billiard balls and inched closer and closer to him. Gamma's voice was very soft, but Hibari caught it nonetheless, because of how close he was to him.
Hearing that, Hibari froze, and wasn't able to react in time when Gamma sent him another electric ball his way. He only managed to have narrowly escaped it, but the electric field was able to cut through his sleeve.
Hibari looked down at his sleeve and smiled, then he went back to his fighting stance. "So? I won't let you escape."
Gamma watched the crack in Hibari's composure, and moved a few steps back. "We'll see about that."
However, before he could try to escape even further, Gamma was pierced by Roll's spikes.
"I told you. I won't let you escape." Hibari smirked. "Now I'll bite you to death."
---
— Few months before Ietsu's death
"Why are you here?" Hibari asked the two people standing in front of him while sitting cross-legged wearing a kinagashi in his room in the Foundation base.
Tsuna still appeared the same as nine years earlier, but Ietsu had grown into a fine young boss of the Vongola. They, too, were wearing kinagashi while visiting Hibari.
"Sorry for intruding." Tsuna said as he sat down in front of Hibari without any invitation, and Hibari shot him an irritated glare.
"Uh... Hi, Hibari-san." Ietsu was still standing up as he sneaked a glance at Hibari, until Tsuna gestured him to sit down too. "Sorry for appearing so suddenly without notice, but this is kind of important."
"Where do we even start?" Tsuna wondered.
"Speak and get out of here, herbivores."
"Well..." Ietsu started. "You see, Millefiore asked to have a meeting with me."
"And we would doubt Byakuran's sincerity in this." Tsuna continued. "So we decided to turn his own scheme against him. We have collaborated with one of Millefiore's squad captain-"
"Can he be trusted?" Hibari interjected.
Tsuna nodded. "His name is Irie Shoichi. He used to live in Namimori, and I have known him for a while. My instincts tell me that he can be trusted."
"We can't defeat Byakuran with our current state. We need the Vongola rings-"
"Then you shouldn't have destroyed them in the first place." Hibari grumbled, interrupting what Ietsu was saying. If Ietsu hadn't ordered for the destruction of Vongola Rings, then Hibari didn't have to try so hard to search for rings to use.
Ietsu looked down and apologized. "I'm sorry-"
"Kyoya, Ietsu feels bad enough that he had to destroy the rings. At that point in time, it was the best option to choose." Tsuna added.
"Hn." Hibari didn't comment.
Ietsu shook his head. "He's right, Tsuna. If I weren't so weak... No, you don't need to comfort me or anything. Anyway, Hibari-san, let me tell you our plans. You'll play an important part for them to be successful."
Hibari frowned. "What do you want me to do, herbivore?"
Tsuna was the one who replied. "We want to bring the guardians in the past to the future, which is now. In other words, time travel."
"What?"
Ietsu smiled. "I believe they will be able to defeat Byakuran, and they will bring their Vongola Rings with them."
"What do I have to do?" Hibari questioned.
"I'll need you to train the Vongola Decimo of ten years ago." Ietsu answered.
Hibari sighed. "Why me?"
"For one, you are the strongest." Tsuna said. "Secondly, you are the least emotionally attached, given that Ietsu is going to die."
"The herbivore is going to die?"
"Well, if everything is going according to plan. Of course, we'll make a special bullet so it'll seem like he's dead, but we'll revive him after Byakuran is defeated. It's still risky though."
Hibari agreed to the plan reluctantly. "What are you going to do then, omnivore?"
"Me?" Tsuna tilted his head, not exactly expecting the question from Hibari. "What can I do? I'm not as affected by the Tri-ni-set radiation as the other Arcobaleno, so I won't die anytime soon. Byakuran has most of the pacifiers, and I have to make sure that I can get my hands to them so I can revive the Arcobaleno for our plan to work in the end."
A tick mark appeared on Hibari's forehead. "You're going to find him? When you can't use flames or box weapons? You won't stand a chance against him."
Tsuna smiled. "I know."
"Omnivore, you..."
"I'm not trying to throw my life away, if that's what you're worried about. I know I can't die before I revive the Arcobaleno. I know that Byakuran is not going to harm me at the moment, and I'll escape after I get all the pacifiers."
Hibari remained silent.
Tsuna knew that he could never tell Hibari how he was going to help save the world.
Before Hibari could say anything else, however, Tsuna told him, "Trust me, Kyoya."
---
— A month after Ietsu's death
"Kyoya." Tsuna greeted Hibari as he entered the room like months ago.
"Omnivore." Hibari was preparing a cup of tea as Tsuna came in.
Hibari looked up and noticed that Tsuna wasn't looking very well. Then again, Tsuna never did look well after all the infants died.
Tsuna sat down. "I came to say goodbye. Help take care of the rest of Vongola, okay?"
"Hn." Hibari couldn't be bothered to answer that request which was said in such a patronizing tone.
Tsuna smiled, used to Hibari's nonchalant attitude, and reached out his hand to ruffle Hibari's hair fondly. "You've grown so much, Kyoya."
"I'll bite you to death." Hibari pushed Tsuna's hand away, irritated at how Tsuna was treating him like a kid.
Tsuna removed his hand from Hibari's head and laughed, but turned serious after a few seconds. "I'm proud of you."
Hibari stared at Tsuna.
"I mean," Tsuna looked away with a tinge of awkwardness, "If anything does happen, I trust that you can take care of it properly."
"..."
"I... I need to go now. Go according to the plan, alright?"
Tsuna grabbed his things as he prepared to stand up.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" Hibari suddenly asked, and Tsuna stopped in the middle of pushing himself up.
"Huh?" Tsuna blinked, slightly unsure of what to reply as the question was too unexpected, and sat back down. "What? Tea? Oh no, it's fine, I ate a lot before coming." After all, he was going to Italy, and he will be missing the Japanese food, so he had stuffed himself before he left.
"Is there anything else you want to say?" Tsuna questioned after a few minutes of silence between them after that random question, and Hibari did not respond. "If not, I'll be going."
Once again, Tsuna prepared to stand.
"Omnivore." Hibari grabbed Tsuna's hand as he stood up.
Tsuna turned his attention to Hibari. "Yes?"
"Do you really want to go?"
Tsuna looked down at Hibari's hand, then gazed into Hibari's eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be back."
Hibari stared at him for a moment. Finally, Tsuna's hand slipped out of Hibari's as Hibari's grip loosened. Hibari turned back to sipping the cup of tea in front of him while Tsuna continued to walk toward the door and slid it open.
Tsuna paused and looked back to smile at him. "Take care, Kyoya. Everything's going to be alright."
That was the last Hibari saw of him.
---
— Melone Base
Time was ticking.
Or at least, Hibari was counting down.
In this Reverse Needle Sphere, where oxygen was running out, and where his tonfa were being sliced shorter and shorter by Genkishi.
Hibari smiled while dodging Genkishi's attacks. "You are the one who will be bitten to death."
"I'll make it so that you can't smile anymore." Genkishi gritted out as he readied his swords.
Hibari stared at Genkishi as he moved forward to swing his sword. "I'm so jealous." Hibari's smile was unwavering.
To Genkishi's astonishment, Hibari's eyes showed no fear as he inched closer.
It's all up to you now.
As Hibari felt Genkishi's sword thrust into his chest, he wondered if he will see the omnivore again.