Beneath A Darker Sky
Title: Beneath A Darker Sky
Author: Pain au Chocolat
Language: English, a sprinkle of Italian and Japanese.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters used in this fiction. Everything belongs to Akira Amano.
Rating & Warnings: NC-17. OOC is a given in this fic. Characters won’t probably act exactly the same way they act in canon, but let’s blame the different circumstances. AU so expect anything. You’ll also be faced with shonen ai, yaoi, gore, violence, insanity, angst, bad humour, lots of recipes and alcohol, not to mention a sprinkle of lyrics, creative cursing, inhumane behaviour and what not. :D You’re reading this at your own responsibility. I refuse to be blamed for burned eyes, horrified parents, traumatized siblings, shocked friends or anything of the like. Tarnish your reputation via your own deeds, thank you. Keep innocent people - such as myself - out of it. I was threatened to write this, you know. I’m totally the victim here. Truly.
Summary:A few months before Reborn appeared in his life, Tsuna got into an accident, that led to him undergoing a heart transplant surgery.
Pairing: Not sure yet, but most probably Xanxus x Tsuna (pined after a X27 fic forever, but then decided to write one myself. Darn it. This pairing needs more support!!! PLEASE!! *points at the fic exchange in a hysterical manner* COME OOONNNN!!! Someone write me X27 oneshot and I’ll write them freaking ANYTHING!!!)
CHAPTER 1
It had been a day like any other. Waking up too late, hurrying to school, making a fool out of himself and stealing glances at Kyoko whenever he could do so secretly. No, he hadn’t done his homework, yes, he had almost failed the math, history and English exams and yep definitely, the swollen black eye was a gift from three upperclassmen who wanted his lunch and money.
Sawada Tsunayoshi wasn’t depressed, no. Nor was he angry or vengeful. He was just… tired. So tired of what was going on at school, tired of his non-existing social life, tired of the way his mother thought - rightfully so - so little of him, tired of himself; the pathetic, weak boy he could see in the mirror every time he bothered to look. Regardless, he didn’t have the courage to change. The summer holiday would be starting in two weeks, so it would be too late anway.
’In a nutshell,’ Tsuna thought. ’My life sucks. Big time.’
“Tsu-kun,” his mother called from the kitchen. “Rice or pasta today, which would you prefer?”
“Rice,” Tsuna replied, and wondered half-heartedly whether or not he should at least attempt finishing his homework. It wouldn’t matter after all - everything would be incorrect anyway and he’d be made fool of. And if by chance he got something right, someone was bound to accuse him of cheating. With a heavy sigh, he opted to stay true to his nature and ignore the boring school books for now.
“Need help, mom?” he asked, walking to the kitchen.
“That would be lovely,” Sawada Nana said cheerfully just as the phone started ringing. “Start the vegetable stir fry while I answer the phone, alright?” To her, it truly was a pity that Tsuna hadn’t been born a girl. Even though her son looked like any other young teenager who was yet to hit puberty, his skills weren’t in fields such sports, studies or martial arts - definitely not. Instead he could cook and sew almost as well as his mother. Then again, considering how much time he spent in his mother’s company due to his lack of friends, it was no surprise that he had become so much like her.
’We don’t have any tofu left,’ Tsuna thought while rummaging through the fridge. ’Oh well, I’ll go later buy some.’
“Mom, where did you put the mushrooms?” he the asked then, hoping for Nana to pause the chatter on the phone to give him an answer.
“There aren’t any left! Can you go and buy some, Tsu-kun?” she replied, before resuming her call.
’I guess I’ll buy the tofu too, while I’m at it,’ Tsuna thought and grabbed some cash from his mother’s purse. ’If I hurry I’ll be back here before mom finishes her gossip session.’ Because if something, Tsuna knew how to value the peaceful moments he got while he cooked - since it was one of the very, very few things he was confident doing, and actually enjoyed.
“I’m off!” he shouted before slamming the door shut. ’Let’s just hope that I won’t meet anyone I know. That would be unpleasant.’ With some luck, he wouldn’t have to see any of his classmates after these two weeks. Since high school would be starting in a few months, all of his classmates would be scattering around.
’But knowing that almost everyone lives around here, I’m bound to end up in the same class with someone who hates me. Then again, maybe Kyoko-chan will be there too…’ Sasagawa Kyoko was a… well, she was the pretties, nicest, kindest girl in the whole town, if anyone asked Tsuna’s opinion. She was cute, sweet and smart. It was a wonder how she had a beast for a best friend - Kurokawa Hana was like a dark queen, Snow White’s step mother who could crush any opposition with a single, poisonous glare. The nightmare that kept away any guy who’d want to ask Kyoko out.
Not that Tsuna would ever have the guts to do something like that.
Asking Kyoko out was plain ridiculous. Most Popular Girls do not date Loser Guys, and most especially not Dame-Tsuna.
’So why am I even thinking about her?’ the brunet thought miserably, and entered the supermarket deciding to focus on the task at hand and daydream later about his crush. ’Mushrooms and tofu, was it? I don’t think we have black olives either. Mom likes the green ones and forgets that I eat only the black ones. Geez…’
“Ara? Dame-Tsuna!!” a familiar voice exclaimed, and Tsuna looked up from the tofu boxes he was comparing.
“K-kurokawa!?” he gasped. Why not Kyoko, damn it!? Why the beast instead of the beauty!? “H-h-hello.”
“Tsch. I never knew that you have a stutter-problem going on,” Hana said nonchalantly. “I should have guessed.”
’How cruel!’ Tsuna wailed inwardly, and stuttered something incoherent before putting both of the different tofu-boxes back into their places and hurrying towards where he knew the mushrooms would be. ’She’s so mean. That was totally uncalled for.’
“I know I’m a loser,” he muttered quietly, biting his lip to keep the tears down. With a sigh he picked a box of mushrooms before reaching for the olives.
“Hey,” Kurokawa’s voice startled him again, and with a fearful face he turned to the dark-haired girl. She was holding a tofu-box with a sullen expression. “You dropped this.”
’Wha…?’ He wanted to thank her, but she was gone already, and all that remained to assure him that he hadn’t been hallucinating was the box of tofu in the basket.
“…”
Maybe she wasn’t a demon after all.
Few minutes later Tsuna exited the store, whistling happily and thinking about the vegetable stir-fry he’d soon be eating. Also, if his mother had agreed to meet whoever had called her, Tsuna would get the chance to look at her so called ‘housewife magazines’, where all those nifty sewing and knitting designs were. While the boy knew that his mother was very aware of his less than manly hobby, he still didn’t feel comfortable about it around her.
’I understand that she’d like for me to pick something like football as a hobby, but I just can’t,’ the boy thought miserably. ’I prefer safe hobbies. There’s no way I’d risk my life for the sake of a game.’ With a sigh, Tsuna looked up just in time to see a car speeding dangerously closer, and it didn’t seem like the driver was exactly sober. With a screech, the car bolted toward the doorway of the store, from where Kurokawa was just stepping out.
It seemed to happen in slow motion.
Tsuna dropped the bag he was holding a he could so clearly see the horror in the girl’s face, and his body moved on its own - speed of years and years running away from bullies aiding him now - and he pushed the brunette away. The impact of car hitting him made his ribs snap like twigs, and Tsuna flew against the glass doors. They broke and bit on his skin, and by the time something pierced through is back scraping the heart, he was already unconscious.
The last thing he saw being the vast sky above him.
’How I wish to be the sky… so free of everything.’
How long had he been unconscious? His limbs were stiff and his chest ached oddly. What had happened again? Tsuna’s eyes hurt as he opened them - the room wasn’t bright but it still felt so. A few minutes of blinking and grimacing were all he needed to finally see clearly again.
’This is no doubt… a hospital…,’ the brunet thought, sitting up.
“Tsu…kun?” a hesitant, weak voice said from the doorway, and Tsuna turned to look at his mother who was standing there. In a moment he was being hugged, and he felt her shaking as sobs racked her body. “My baby, my baby… Thank God you’re alright… Oh thank God you’re alive…” Tsuna gasped as he remembered what he had done - ever so foolishly risked his life to save Kurokawa. Then again, he was alright now, right? So there’s nothing to regret or to be worried about.
Except this fatigue he was feeling.
“Mom?” he asked hesitantly, as his mother didn’t let go even after many minutes passed. He flushed with embarrassment as the door opened again. Who’d see him now?
“Sawada,” Kurokawa muttered, entering the room.
“Ah, hello,” Tsuna replied. “You’re okay, right? I didn’t hurt you when I - ” Wonders never seemed to cease, as suddenly the Beast, as Tsuna liked to call this girl, held him in an embrace similar to his mother’s. Heck, she was crying too, apologizing and thanking him.
’I think I hit my head,’ the boy decided. ’Maybe an extra nap will help me back to reality.’
“Tsunayoshi-san.” Tsuna looked up to see a man and a woman, whom he guessed to be Kurokawa’s parents. “I’m Kurokawa Hisaki, and this is my wife Nuriko, the owners and the founders of Kurokawa Private Hospital, wherein you are right now. I have also assigned myself to be your doctor from now on. We’d both like to thank you for saving our daughter’s life. We’ll forever be indebted to you.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it!” Tsuna exclaimed, feeling awkward at seeing two respected adults bowing to him. “Nothing bad happened, right?” At his words, both his mother and Kurokawa burst out crying again, while Kurokawa’s mother paled to an almost ghostly shade of white.
“About that, Tsunayoshi,” Kurokawa’s father said. “This is a bit difficult to explain, but… when the car hit you, three of your rib bones were broken, and a long shard of glass pierced through the skin and flesh of your back, hitting your heart and damaging it fatally. You were dying.”
’I was… what? But I’m 13! I’m too young to die! No, wait. I’m alive now, aren’t I?’
“We contacted your mother and had you undergo a heart transplant surgery.”
“A what?” Tsuna asked, with a voice that didn’t quite sound like his. His heart - if it was his anymore - sounded like thunder and he feared for it to break again the ribs that were healing.
“Heart transplantation is a surgical procedure to remove a damaged or diseased heart and replace it with a healthy donor heart,” Kurokawa’s father explained. “It’s one of the most common transplant operations performed in the USA, for example. A healthy heart is obtained from a donor who is brain dead but on life support. The healthy heart is put into a special solution that preserves the organ. The patient is put into a deep sleep with general anesthesia, and a cut is made through the breast bone. The patient's blood is circulated through a heart-lung bypass machine to keep the blood oxygen-rich. The patient's diseased heart is removed and the donor heart is stitched in place. The heart-lung machine is disconnected. Blood flows through the transplanted heart.”
To Tsuna, what the man had just said sounded like a new language. Regardless he just nodded, and didn’t say anything, letting him continue. He wasn’t quite believing the situation anyway - this had to be some sort of nightmare.
“Naturally, like any other surgery, this too has several risks. Bleeding, infection, problems with breathing, reactions to medications. Heart transplants carry major risks. There is a greater risk of infection because of the drugs that must be taken to prevent transplant rejection.” The soothing voice couldn’t take away or even soften the impact those words had on Tsuna. The sudden fear that gripped him, as he felt his life crack like glass and break away. The aftermath of his one action of selflessness will forever shadow his life.
But had I not done it… she would be dead now,’ Tsuna thought, glancing at the dark-haired girl. ’I pulled through the surgery, I’ll have to pull through this too. Mom doesn’t need another reason to grieve - I’m sure she still misses father.’
“Heart transplant prolongs the life of a patient who would otherwise die. About 80% of heart transplants are alive 2 years after the operation. The main problem, as with other transplants, is graft rejection. If rejection can be controlled, the patient's survival can be increased to over 10 years. You’ll have to take drugs that prevent transplant rejection for the rest of your life, but you can resume otherwise your normal life, as soon as you feel well enough and get a clearance from a doctor - in this case from me personally. However, vigorous physical activities should be avoided.”
’Drugs? Medication for the rest of my life?’ The idea didn’t sound appealing. At all.
“Fighting rejection is an ongoing process. The body's immune system considers the transplanted organ an infection and fights it. For this reason, organ transplant patients such as yourself must take drugs such as cyclosporine and corticosteroids that suppress the body's immune response. The downside of these drugs is that they weaken the body's natural defense against infection,” the doctor was saying, and while Tsuna could hear and somewhat understand, it was as if something was dulling his emotions. Panic was stemming somewhere, just as were many tears and screams and curses and regrets… but right now he felt as if he was an outsider in his own body… just watching from the sidelines.
“The recovery period is about 6 weeks. You must move the legs often to reduce the risk of deep venous thrombosis. The stitches or clips are removed about 1 week after surgery, and in four weeks you can go home. Meanwhile you’ll have to stay here. We’ll take good care of you.”
“How long have I been unconscious?” Tsuna asked softly, and could clearly see pity in the man’s eyes.
“For four days. This is the fifth.” How Tsuna longed to go back to sleep and wake up to how things used to be. This whole thing had happened too quickly, he wasn’t quite sure if this was reality or the most horrible nightmare he had ever had - possibly both. Kurokawa wasn’t acting like her mean, sadistic self, and his mother hadn’t let go of his arm at all.
Was it possible that the heart he could feel steadily thumping, didn’t belong to him? It wasn’t his?
Absurd.
It just didn’t feel real.
Tsuna didn’t react in any way as the others left the room, even as his mother hugged him and kissed him once more. He was trying to understand the situation he was in, but he just couldn’t. To wake up only to be faced with all this… no one could blame him for the disbelief and denial he was caught in right now.
’Why can’t I wake up from this nightmare?’
Weeks passed slowly, and to Tsuna his life had divided into two parts. Before and after the surgery. Due to the accident, he had been absent for the remaining of the school and the summer holiday had already begun. Luckily since the exams had been almost finished, he passed. Barely, but did so anyway. Kurokawa - well, he had begun calling her ‘Hana’ now - visited him often, and Tsuna could say he has gotten used to her snarky personality.
’I even like her sense of humour and snappy comments… as long as they’re not aimed at me.’
“After this check up you can finally go home, how does that sound?” Mr. Kurokawa said, and Tsuna shrugged. He still wasn’t quite comfortable with the heart he had gotten. Not in physical sense - it beat with no difference. But having a heart that belonged to someone else…
“There are many important things you’ll need to know,” the doctor said. “To determine whether your body is rejecting the new heart, you'll have frequent heart biopsies. In this procedure, a tube is inserted into a vein in your neck or groin and directed to your heart. A biopsy device is run through the tube to extract a tiny sample of heart tissue, which is examined in a lab. Since rejection is most likely to occur in the early weeks and months after heart transplantation, the frequency of heart biopsies is highest during this early period. I’ll give you your schedule regarding those visits.”
“I see… thank you.”
“Your new drug regimen after the transplant will include immunosuppressants - medications that suppress the activity of your immune system to prevent it from attacking your donated heart. Because your immune system will most likely never get used to the new organ, you'll take some of these medications for the rest of your life. Don’t worry, though. As soon as you’ll start taking the medicine orally instead of through injection, everything will be easier.”
’For the rest of my life…’
“These medications may cause noticeable side effects. With some post-transplant drugs, such as corticosteroids, your face may become round and full, and you may gain weight, develop acne or facial hair, or experience stomach problems - however I doubt that you’ll suffer from anything like that. Instead, you should know that sometimes the effects might lead to a notable increase of oestrogen in your body. Oestrogen hormone is a known female sex hormone, and while you will not develop a body of a female, it will affect your structural appearance in regards of height and you might experience mood swings, gain some feminine features and such. Some of the effects are more pronounced when you first start the drug regimen but decrease in severity later on.”
’Suicide never sounded so good before… Is that a round handed way of telling me that I’ll never be a real man?’
“Because immunosuppressants make your body more vulnerable to infection, I’ll also prescribe antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal medications. Some drugs could worsen - or raise your risk of developing - conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer or diabetes, so we’ll have to be extremely careful. Over time as the risk of rejection is reduced, the doses and number of anti-rejection drugs can be reduced, but you will need some level of immunosuppressive therapy indefinitely.”
“Kurokawa-san,” Tsuna suddenly said. “C-can you tell me… this heart… how will it change my life?” The man paused and looked up at the boy with a serious expression, before sighing.
“Tsunayoshi,” he said. “In a physical sense you can resume your life as long as you don’t stress too much and remember to take you medication. However… the heart is much more than just a muscle. There has been a recent discovery in medicine regarding these heart transplant surgeries, the receiving end has more often than not started to display characteristics that the donor used to have.”
“So… it affects my personality?” Tsuna asked, feeling chaotic and resisting the urge to scream. He had become notably more subdued after the accident, and Nana had expressed her worry regarding his lack of reactions anymore.
“Adds to it,” the doctors said kindly. “But you’re still you. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“Whose heart do I have?” Tsuna muttered, not sure of whether or not he’d want to hear the answer.
“Her name was Oda Sayoko. She died three hours before your surgery, after being pulled off life support. She had been braindead for eight years,” Dr. Kurokawa said. “If you wish, I can contact her family, and ask for the permission to give you their address, in case you’d want to know more of her.”
“Yes,” Tsuna said. “Thank you.” ’Because for some reason… I have a feeling that that’s something I need to do.’
“Also, contact me immediately if there are any signs of infection, such as redness, drainage, fever or if there’s a general worsening of health. I’ll be giving you this folder - there’s a lot here, but it’s all important. Please read everything carefully.”
“Yes…”
“Don’t play with your life, Tsunayoshi. Your heart might not be able to keep up.”
’I know that,’ the boy thought bitterly, as he sat in the taxi next to his mother, who was beaming with happiness. ’I know that I messed up my life for good, there’s no need to keep on reminding me!’
“I’m so glad to have you back, Tsu-kun,” Nana said and Tsuna smiled, leaning on her shoulder.
“Sorry for worrying you,” he muttered, and the woman sighed contently.
“It’s alright now. We’ll go home and I’ll prepare your favourite dish. Hana-chan said that she’ll drop by later on. I’m so happy that you got a friend now.”
“At what price?” the words escaped him, and immediately he felt a burn of shame. Nana gripped his shoulders, and looked into his eyes sternly.
“Listen, Tsu-kun,” she said. “You’re alive. She’s alive. You saved her life with what you did, and mama has never been so proud of anything this much before. What you did was an act of a hero and you shouldn’t regret it.”
“But…”
“Live a day at a time and face problems when they come, darling,” Nana said warmly. “Live your life with no regrets.”
’Mom…’ Tsuna smiled, feeling a tinge of hope brightening the pitch black future he had imagined to himself already. “Thank you, mom.”
Maybe his life wasn’t totally over after all.
This accident didn’t get much publicity - actually it didn’t get more than a mentioning in a magazine as a regular hit-and-run incident, so no one beside the parties involved knew about it anyway. Tsuna got accepted into Namimori High, and everything seemed to go normally for a few more weeks. Sure, he had to visit the hospital frequently for half dozen different reasons, but soon he got used to that too.
’It’s not like my life was that important anyway,’ he thought bitterly, as he watched Dr. Kurokawa writing something down, before biting his lip and looking up at Tsuna.
“The grandparents of Oda Sayoko, the donor of your heart, have sent a request for a meeting,” he said, and the brunet blinked, before paling and feeling nervousness washing over him.
“Her grandparents?”
“Apparently they were her only remaining relatives. They wish to meet you.” It wasn’t as if Tsuna hadn’t expected meeting the donor’s relatives - heck, he had wanted to meet them… but…
“Being nervous is normal,” Dr. Kurokawa said kindly. “Here, this is their address. Please pay them a visit as soon as you can. It’d mean a lot to them, Tsunayoshi.”
“Yes,” Tsuna muttered. He’d love to pay them a visit, but when he’d get the chance to? Or well, it wasn’t about waiting for a chance anymore, as much as simply gathering the courage. ’What if they dislike me and think that the heart was wasted on a loser such as myself?’ He left the hospital, still deep in thought. He should, but could he?
When he finally reached his home, it was empty. It seemed like his mother had left to meet some of her friends. Wondering whether or not Hana was busy, Tsuna dialled her number, thinking of a proper way to convince her to go with him to see Oda Sayoko’s grandparents.
“Hana,” a familiar, bold voice said, and Tsuna cringed - even as a friend, she was scary.
“It’s me Tsuna,” he began. “Your dad told me that the donor’s family want to meet me, but I don’t want to go alone…”
“I’ll go with you,” the girl said immediately. “When?”
“When do you have the time?”
“Right away. I’ll come over and we’ll go together. Ten minutes and I’ll be there.”
Even though Tsuna wasn’t ready to admit it aloud, the best change that had occurred due to the accident was his odd friendship with Hana. The tall girl was scary, brash and cruel on many occasions, but she was also a great support, and very fun to hang out with. And while she had offered to introduce Tsuna to Kyoko, the boy had refused.
“I want her to see me as myself. To notice me on her own.” Those were the words he had told Hana back then. She had smiled approvingly - almost proudly - and said that regardless of his appearance he just might be a real man after all.
’I can’t help looking girly,’ Tsuna thought. During these past months, due to the increased amount of the oestrogen in his body, Tsuna’s could see differences in his appearance. Even Hana had noticed it and pointed out. Thick eyelashes curved upwards, soft and smooth skin that many girls could only dream of, soft hair, slim build… not to mention that his mother had convinced him to let his hair grow, and it could be held in a tiny ponytail now.
Hana said he looked better. ‘Prettier’ was the word she used. But in the end, a loser was always a loser. No matter how much his style would change, Dame-Tsuna would always be Dame-Tsuna.
’Let’s just hope that Sayoko-san’s grandparents won’t hate me for it…’ The brunet shook his head and put his shoes on. He grabbed his phone, keys and wallet just in time as the doorbell rang.
“I’m ready,” he told Hana, who nodded.
“If we hurry, we can catch the bus,” the girl said. She was dressed in a knee-length green skirt and a white shirt, and her hair was tied back into a ponytail. She looked pretty and Tsuna told her so.
“I don’t want compliments from you,” Hana grumbled. “I want a tall, dark and handsome man compliment me! You’re too cute for that!”
“I’m not cute,” Tsuna scowled. “Kyoko-chan is cute, you’re pretty… I’m…”
“You’re what?” Hana smirked. “A tough guy? Not likely, Tsu-chan.”
“Hana!” the scandalized gasp escaped him, and the girl laughed. In a matter of few short minutes the two were standing n front of an old-fashioned, Japanese house. The garden looked well-tended to, the area was clean and peaceful, and overall it was a pretty sight.
’As if I’m looking at a painting,’ Tsuna thought.
“You sure this is the right place?” Tsuna whispered, gripping Hana’s arm. The girl snorted, brushing away a dark curl.
“Of course,” she said. “Just ring the doorbell.”
“Yes, yes.”
“How can I help you?” The door had opened, and an old woman, actually a bit shorter than Tsuna, was standing there with a tired smile.
“I’m Kurokawa Hana,” the girl introduced herself. “And this is Sawada Tsunayoshi.”
There had been lots of fussing, hugging, crying and more hugging. Then they drank tea. Oda Sayoko’s grandparents, Sakuno and Eiichiro as they wanted to be called,
“This is amazing,” Oda Sakuno was saying. “I feel as if I have been reunited with Sayoko. It’s truly…” her voice broke and Tsuna cringed when he saw her eyes filled with tears.
“We’re here to get to know what kind of person Sayoko-san was,” Hana said. “We’d like to honor her with remembrance.”
“Thank you,” Eiichiro’s tone was serious when he spoke. “We appreciate that more than anyone can imagine.”
“I owe her my life,” Tsuna muttered with an embarrassed flush, and Hana nodded, feeling the nowadays familiar tinge of guilt. If it hadn’t been for her…
“I’d love to tell you about Sayoko,” the grandmother said kindly. “But first, would you like some tea?”
3rd of July, twenty-seven years ago, Oda Sayoko was born. Her mother had died during childbirth and she had been raised by her father, a rich businessman who had too many lovers to count. She grew in a world where people practically treated her like a princess - whatever wish she had, got fulfilled. She was a quiet, confident and extremely polite.
Sayoko had been average-looking, which drove her to pay attention to beauty on an early stage. Hair-care, manicures, pedicures and what not ever since she was in middle-school. She kept her hair long, make-up elegant, clothes stylish… and had especially paid attention to her nails. Quickly she had become very popular, since the way she always dolled herself up made her simply gorgeous. After graduating high school, she had left Japan to enter the prestigious social circles of Europe and America.
“She wasn’t a bad girl,” Sakuno said. “But the people around her were of bad influence.” She looked grim for a moment, before continuing and telling him about Sayoko’s addiction to cocktails. It turned out that that trait had been in her since the first time she tasted a cocktail during middle-school, and it only became more apparent after the continuous partying.
At the age of nineteen, eight years ago, she came to Japan to meet her grandparents at long last with her father. Unfortunately the taxi they had been in was hit by a truck. Oda Hattori had died instantly, while his daughter had become brain-dead.
“As if losing my son wasn’t enough,” Sakuno cried. “When Sayoko fell into a coma, we still had hope. We believed that one day she’ll wake up and ask for cocktails and chocolate and for the nail-care set we bought for her as a present.”
“Two years ago the doctors said that she would never wake up, due to the damage her brain had taken, that simply couldn’t be repaired anymore,” Eiichiro continued, patting his wife’s back. “Not naturally, not surgically - they had tried everything and anything. You may call us fools, but we still hoped… Using her inheritance that had been given to us, we put her in the best care. But the money run out soon after paying some of the debts and bills that had been left, and… well… You know the rest. After pulling her off life-support, her heart was given to you, and now we can’t help but think of you as a part of our family, Sawada-san.”
“Please call me Tsuna,” the boy sniffed, and Hana sweat-dropped.
’He’s too kind if a story like that makes him cry,’ the girl thought with fondness.
“Dr. Kurokawa said that often the receiver of a donor heart will gain some of the donor’s traits,” Tsuna said quietly, and the grandparents of Sakuno looked at him with amazement, before Sakuno moved to hug him again.
“That makes me really happy,” she sobbed, and Tsuna smiled tiredly. Somehow this meeting had turned out to be emotionally straining, and all this serious talk wasn’t really his thing.
’But they’re nice people,’ he thought. ’I feel sorry for them for losing their son and granddaughter in such a manner…’
“Tsunayoshi,” Sakuno said as Hana and Tsuna were leaving. “Please visit us again.”
“Sure,” the boy replied, fully intending on getting to know these kind people better. “I’d love to.”
And on he way back home, Tsuna cannot help but think that maybe the unfortunate accident had upsides to it too. After all, he lead the calm and peaceful, patented Loser’s Life™ with no stress or heart-stopping adventures.
Or so he thought.
_______________________________________________________________
END CHAPTER 1
A/N:
Yes, erm, first chap is more like a prologue, really. Cropped, chopped, rushed and taped together but hope someone likes it anyway. I’m yet to decide a pairing… let’s just develop the plot and the characters first. If you still want to suggest a pairing, then go ahead.
Does anyone feel like reading this fic? I have the next chapter almost ready, so if you like that mess so far, then I’ll go ahead and post it… This will be a long fic, probably. ^_^
Also, it's not beta-read because I don't get along with betas... *apologetic smile* I have a horrid personality. *sweatdrop*
Author: Pain au Chocolat
Language: English, a sprinkle of Italian and Japanese.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters used in this fiction. Everything belongs to Akira Amano.
Rating & Warnings: NC-17. OOC is a given in this fic. Characters won’t probably act exactly the same way they act in canon, but let’s blame the different circumstances. AU so expect anything. You’ll also be faced with shonen ai, yaoi, gore, violence, insanity, angst, bad humour, lots of recipes and alcohol, not to mention a sprinkle of lyrics, creative cursing, inhumane behaviour and what not. :D You’re reading this at your own responsibility. I refuse to be blamed for burned eyes, horrified parents, traumatized siblings, shocked friends or anything of the like. Tarnish your reputation via your own deeds, thank you. Keep innocent people - such as myself - out of it. I was threatened to write this, you know. I’m totally the victim here. Truly.
Summary:A few months before Reborn appeared in his life, Tsuna got into an accident, that led to him undergoing a heart transplant surgery.
Pairing: Not sure yet, but most probably Xanxus x Tsuna (pined after a X27 fic forever, but then decided to write one myself. Darn it. This pairing needs more support!!! PLEASE!! *points at the fic exchange in a hysterical manner* COME OOONNNN!!! Someone write me X27 oneshot and I’ll write them freaking ANYTHING!!!)
CHAPTER 1
It had been a day like any other. Waking up too late, hurrying to school, making a fool out of himself and stealing glances at Kyoko whenever he could do so secretly. No, he hadn’t done his homework, yes, he had almost failed the math, history and English exams and yep definitely, the swollen black eye was a gift from three upperclassmen who wanted his lunch and money.
Sawada Tsunayoshi wasn’t depressed, no. Nor was he angry or vengeful. He was just… tired. So tired of what was going on at school, tired of his non-existing social life, tired of the way his mother thought - rightfully so - so little of him, tired of himself; the pathetic, weak boy he could see in the mirror every time he bothered to look. Regardless, he didn’t have the courage to change. The summer holiday would be starting in two weeks, so it would be too late anway.
’In a nutshell,’ Tsuna thought. ’My life sucks. Big time.’
“Tsu-kun,” his mother called from the kitchen. “Rice or pasta today, which would you prefer?”
“Rice,” Tsuna replied, and wondered half-heartedly whether or not he should at least attempt finishing his homework. It wouldn’t matter after all - everything would be incorrect anyway and he’d be made fool of. And if by chance he got something right, someone was bound to accuse him of cheating. With a heavy sigh, he opted to stay true to his nature and ignore the boring school books for now.
“Need help, mom?” he asked, walking to the kitchen.
“That would be lovely,” Sawada Nana said cheerfully just as the phone started ringing. “Start the vegetable stir fry while I answer the phone, alright?” To her, it truly was a pity that Tsuna hadn’t been born a girl. Even though her son looked like any other young teenager who was yet to hit puberty, his skills weren’t in fields such sports, studies or martial arts - definitely not. Instead he could cook and sew almost as well as his mother. Then again, considering how much time he spent in his mother’s company due to his lack of friends, it was no surprise that he had become so much like her.
’We don’t have any tofu left,’ Tsuna thought while rummaging through the fridge. ’Oh well, I’ll go later buy some.’
“Mom, where did you put the mushrooms?” he the asked then, hoping for Nana to pause the chatter on the phone to give him an answer.
“There aren’t any left! Can you go and buy some, Tsu-kun?” she replied, before resuming her call.
’I guess I’ll buy the tofu too, while I’m at it,’ Tsuna thought and grabbed some cash from his mother’s purse. ’If I hurry I’ll be back here before mom finishes her gossip session.’ Because if something, Tsuna knew how to value the peaceful moments he got while he cooked - since it was one of the very, very few things he was confident doing, and actually enjoyed.
“I’m off!” he shouted before slamming the door shut. ’Let’s just hope that I won’t meet anyone I know. That would be unpleasant.’ With some luck, he wouldn’t have to see any of his classmates after these two weeks. Since high school would be starting in a few months, all of his classmates would be scattering around.
’But knowing that almost everyone lives around here, I’m bound to end up in the same class with someone who hates me. Then again, maybe Kyoko-chan will be there too…’ Sasagawa Kyoko was a… well, she was the pretties, nicest, kindest girl in the whole town, if anyone asked Tsuna’s opinion. She was cute, sweet and smart. It was a wonder how she had a beast for a best friend - Kurokawa Hana was like a dark queen, Snow White’s step mother who could crush any opposition with a single, poisonous glare. The nightmare that kept away any guy who’d want to ask Kyoko out.
Not that Tsuna would ever have the guts to do something like that.
Asking Kyoko out was plain ridiculous. Most Popular Girls do not date Loser Guys, and most especially not Dame-Tsuna.
’So why am I even thinking about her?’ the brunet thought miserably, and entered the supermarket deciding to focus on the task at hand and daydream later about his crush. ’Mushrooms and tofu, was it? I don’t think we have black olives either. Mom likes the green ones and forgets that I eat only the black ones. Geez…’
“Ara? Dame-Tsuna!!” a familiar voice exclaimed, and Tsuna looked up from the tofu boxes he was comparing.
“K-kurokawa!?” he gasped. Why not Kyoko, damn it!? Why the beast instead of the beauty!? “H-h-hello.”
“Tsch. I never knew that you have a stutter-problem going on,” Hana said nonchalantly. “I should have guessed.”
’How cruel!’ Tsuna wailed inwardly, and stuttered something incoherent before putting both of the different tofu-boxes back into their places and hurrying towards where he knew the mushrooms would be. ’She’s so mean. That was totally uncalled for.’
“I know I’m a loser,” he muttered quietly, biting his lip to keep the tears down. With a sigh he picked a box of mushrooms before reaching for the olives.
“Hey,” Kurokawa’s voice startled him again, and with a fearful face he turned to the dark-haired girl. She was holding a tofu-box with a sullen expression. “You dropped this.”
’Wha…?’ He wanted to thank her, but she was gone already, and all that remained to assure him that he hadn’t been hallucinating was the box of tofu in the basket.
“…”
Maybe she wasn’t a demon after all.
Few minutes later Tsuna exited the store, whistling happily and thinking about the vegetable stir-fry he’d soon be eating. Also, if his mother had agreed to meet whoever had called her, Tsuna would get the chance to look at her so called ‘housewife magazines’, where all those nifty sewing and knitting designs were. While the boy knew that his mother was very aware of his less than manly hobby, he still didn’t feel comfortable about it around her.
’I understand that she’d like for me to pick something like football as a hobby, but I just can’t,’ the boy thought miserably. ’I prefer safe hobbies. There’s no way I’d risk my life for the sake of a game.’ With a sigh, Tsuna looked up just in time to see a car speeding dangerously closer, and it didn’t seem like the driver was exactly sober. With a screech, the car bolted toward the doorway of the store, from where Kurokawa was just stepping out.
It seemed to happen in slow motion.
Tsuna dropped the bag he was holding a he could so clearly see the horror in the girl’s face, and his body moved on its own - speed of years and years running away from bullies aiding him now - and he pushed the brunette away. The impact of car hitting him made his ribs snap like twigs, and Tsuna flew against the glass doors. They broke and bit on his skin, and by the time something pierced through is back scraping the heart, he was already unconscious.
The last thing he saw being the vast sky above him.
’How I wish to be the sky… so free of everything.’
How long had he been unconscious? His limbs were stiff and his chest ached oddly. What had happened again? Tsuna’s eyes hurt as he opened them - the room wasn’t bright but it still felt so. A few minutes of blinking and grimacing were all he needed to finally see clearly again.
’This is no doubt… a hospital…,’ the brunet thought, sitting up.
“Tsu…kun?” a hesitant, weak voice said from the doorway, and Tsuna turned to look at his mother who was standing there. In a moment he was being hugged, and he felt her shaking as sobs racked her body. “My baby, my baby… Thank God you’re alright… Oh thank God you’re alive…” Tsuna gasped as he remembered what he had done - ever so foolishly risked his life to save Kurokawa. Then again, he was alright now, right? So there’s nothing to regret or to be worried about.
Except this fatigue he was feeling.
“Mom?” he asked hesitantly, as his mother didn’t let go even after many minutes passed. He flushed with embarrassment as the door opened again. Who’d see him now?
“Sawada,” Kurokawa muttered, entering the room.
“Ah, hello,” Tsuna replied. “You’re okay, right? I didn’t hurt you when I - ” Wonders never seemed to cease, as suddenly the Beast, as Tsuna liked to call this girl, held him in an embrace similar to his mother’s. Heck, she was crying too, apologizing and thanking him.
’I think I hit my head,’ the boy decided. ’Maybe an extra nap will help me back to reality.’
“Tsunayoshi-san.” Tsuna looked up to see a man and a woman, whom he guessed to be Kurokawa’s parents. “I’m Kurokawa Hisaki, and this is my wife Nuriko, the owners and the founders of Kurokawa Private Hospital, wherein you are right now. I have also assigned myself to be your doctor from now on. We’d both like to thank you for saving our daughter’s life. We’ll forever be indebted to you.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it!” Tsuna exclaimed, feeling awkward at seeing two respected adults bowing to him. “Nothing bad happened, right?” At his words, both his mother and Kurokawa burst out crying again, while Kurokawa’s mother paled to an almost ghostly shade of white.
“About that, Tsunayoshi,” Kurokawa’s father said. “This is a bit difficult to explain, but… when the car hit you, three of your rib bones were broken, and a long shard of glass pierced through the skin and flesh of your back, hitting your heart and damaging it fatally. You were dying.”
’I was… what? But I’m 13! I’m too young to die! No, wait. I’m alive now, aren’t I?’
“We contacted your mother and had you undergo a heart transplant surgery.”
“A what?” Tsuna asked, with a voice that didn’t quite sound like his. His heart - if it was his anymore - sounded like thunder and he feared for it to break again the ribs that were healing.
“Heart transplantation is a surgical procedure to remove a damaged or diseased heart and replace it with a healthy donor heart,” Kurokawa’s father explained. “It’s one of the most common transplant operations performed in the USA, for example. A healthy heart is obtained from a donor who is brain dead but on life support. The healthy heart is put into a special solution that preserves the organ. The patient is put into a deep sleep with general anesthesia, and a cut is made through the breast bone. The patient's blood is circulated through a heart-lung bypass machine to keep the blood oxygen-rich. The patient's diseased heart is removed and the donor heart is stitched in place. The heart-lung machine is disconnected. Blood flows through the transplanted heart.”
To Tsuna, what the man had just said sounded like a new language. Regardless he just nodded, and didn’t say anything, letting him continue. He wasn’t quite believing the situation anyway - this had to be some sort of nightmare.
“Naturally, like any other surgery, this too has several risks. Bleeding, infection, problems with breathing, reactions to medications. Heart transplants carry major risks. There is a greater risk of infection because of the drugs that must be taken to prevent transplant rejection.” The soothing voice couldn’t take away or even soften the impact those words had on Tsuna. The sudden fear that gripped him, as he felt his life crack like glass and break away. The aftermath of his one action of selflessness will forever shadow his life.
But had I not done it… she would be dead now,’ Tsuna thought, glancing at the dark-haired girl. ’I pulled through the surgery, I’ll have to pull through this too. Mom doesn’t need another reason to grieve - I’m sure she still misses father.’
“Heart transplant prolongs the life of a patient who would otherwise die. About 80% of heart transplants are alive 2 years after the operation. The main problem, as with other transplants, is graft rejection. If rejection can be controlled, the patient's survival can be increased to over 10 years. You’ll have to take drugs that prevent transplant rejection for the rest of your life, but you can resume otherwise your normal life, as soon as you feel well enough and get a clearance from a doctor - in this case from me personally. However, vigorous physical activities should be avoided.”
’Drugs? Medication for the rest of my life?’ The idea didn’t sound appealing. At all.
“Fighting rejection is an ongoing process. The body's immune system considers the transplanted organ an infection and fights it. For this reason, organ transplant patients such as yourself must take drugs such as cyclosporine and corticosteroids that suppress the body's immune response. The downside of these drugs is that they weaken the body's natural defense against infection,” the doctor was saying, and while Tsuna could hear and somewhat understand, it was as if something was dulling his emotions. Panic was stemming somewhere, just as were many tears and screams and curses and regrets… but right now he felt as if he was an outsider in his own body… just watching from the sidelines.
“The recovery period is about 6 weeks. You must move the legs often to reduce the risk of deep venous thrombosis. The stitches or clips are removed about 1 week after surgery, and in four weeks you can go home. Meanwhile you’ll have to stay here. We’ll take good care of you.”
“How long have I been unconscious?” Tsuna asked softly, and could clearly see pity in the man’s eyes.
“For four days. This is the fifth.” How Tsuna longed to go back to sleep and wake up to how things used to be. This whole thing had happened too quickly, he wasn’t quite sure if this was reality or the most horrible nightmare he had ever had - possibly both. Kurokawa wasn’t acting like her mean, sadistic self, and his mother hadn’t let go of his arm at all.
Was it possible that the heart he could feel steadily thumping, didn’t belong to him? It wasn’t his?
Absurd.
It just didn’t feel real.
Tsuna didn’t react in any way as the others left the room, even as his mother hugged him and kissed him once more. He was trying to understand the situation he was in, but he just couldn’t. To wake up only to be faced with all this… no one could blame him for the disbelief and denial he was caught in right now.
’Why can’t I wake up from this nightmare?’
Weeks passed slowly, and to Tsuna his life had divided into two parts. Before and after the surgery. Due to the accident, he had been absent for the remaining of the school and the summer holiday had already begun. Luckily since the exams had been almost finished, he passed. Barely, but did so anyway. Kurokawa - well, he had begun calling her ‘Hana’ now - visited him often, and Tsuna could say he has gotten used to her snarky personality.
’I even like her sense of humour and snappy comments… as long as they’re not aimed at me.’
“After this check up you can finally go home, how does that sound?” Mr. Kurokawa said, and Tsuna shrugged. He still wasn’t quite comfortable with the heart he had gotten. Not in physical sense - it beat with no difference. But having a heart that belonged to someone else…
“There are many important things you’ll need to know,” the doctor said. “To determine whether your body is rejecting the new heart, you'll have frequent heart biopsies. In this procedure, a tube is inserted into a vein in your neck or groin and directed to your heart. A biopsy device is run through the tube to extract a tiny sample of heart tissue, which is examined in a lab. Since rejection is most likely to occur in the early weeks and months after heart transplantation, the frequency of heart biopsies is highest during this early period. I’ll give you your schedule regarding those visits.”
“I see… thank you.”
“Your new drug regimen after the transplant will include immunosuppressants - medications that suppress the activity of your immune system to prevent it from attacking your donated heart. Because your immune system will most likely never get used to the new organ, you'll take some of these medications for the rest of your life. Don’t worry, though. As soon as you’ll start taking the medicine orally instead of through injection, everything will be easier.”
’For the rest of my life…’
“These medications may cause noticeable side effects. With some post-transplant drugs, such as corticosteroids, your face may become round and full, and you may gain weight, develop acne or facial hair, or experience stomach problems - however I doubt that you’ll suffer from anything like that. Instead, you should know that sometimes the effects might lead to a notable increase of oestrogen in your body. Oestrogen hormone is a known female sex hormone, and while you will not develop a body of a female, it will affect your structural appearance in regards of height and you might experience mood swings, gain some feminine features and such. Some of the effects are more pronounced when you first start the drug regimen but decrease in severity later on.”
’Suicide never sounded so good before… Is that a round handed way of telling me that I’ll never be a real man?’
“Because immunosuppressants make your body more vulnerable to infection, I’ll also prescribe antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal medications. Some drugs could worsen - or raise your risk of developing - conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer or diabetes, so we’ll have to be extremely careful. Over time as the risk of rejection is reduced, the doses and number of anti-rejection drugs can be reduced, but you will need some level of immunosuppressive therapy indefinitely.”
“Kurokawa-san,” Tsuna suddenly said. “C-can you tell me… this heart… how will it change my life?” The man paused and looked up at the boy with a serious expression, before sighing.
“Tsunayoshi,” he said. “In a physical sense you can resume your life as long as you don’t stress too much and remember to take you medication. However… the heart is much more than just a muscle. There has been a recent discovery in medicine regarding these heart transplant surgeries, the receiving end has more often than not started to display characteristics that the donor used to have.”
“So… it affects my personality?” Tsuna asked, feeling chaotic and resisting the urge to scream. He had become notably more subdued after the accident, and Nana had expressed her worry regarding his lack of reactions anymore.
“Adds to it,” the doctors said kindly. “But you’re still you. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“Whose heart do I have?” Tsuna muttered, not sure of whether or not he’d want to hear the answer.
“Her name was Oda Sayoko. She died three hours before your surgery, after being pulled off life support. She had been braindead for eight years,” Dr. Kurokawa said. “If you wish, I can contact her family, and ask for the permission to give you their address, in case you’d want to know more of her.”
“Yes,” Tsuna said. “Thank you.” ’Because for some reason… I have a feeling that that’s something I need to do.’
“Also, contact me immediately if there are any signs of infection, such as redness, drainage, fever or if there’s a general worsening of health. I’ll be giving you this folder - there’s a lot here, but it’s all important. Please read everything carefully.”
“Yes…”
“Don’t play with your life, Tsunayoshi. Your heart might not be able to keep up.”
’I know that,’ the boy thought bitterly, as he sat in the taxi next to his mother, who was beaming with happiness. ’I know that I messed up my life for good, there’s no need to keep on reminding me!’
“I’m so glad to have you back, Tsu-kun,” Nana said and Tsuna smiled, leaning on her shoulder.
“Sorry for worrying you,” he muttered, and the woman sighed contently.
“It’s alright now. We’ll go home and I’ll prepare your favourite dish. Hana-chan said that she’ll drop by later on. I’m so happy that you got a friend now.”
“At what price?” the words escaped him, and immediately he felt a burn of shame. Nana gripped his shoulders, and looked into his eyes sternly.
“Listen, Tsu-kun,” she said. “You’re alive. She’s alive. You saved her life with what you did, and mama has never been so proud of anything this much before. What you did was an act of a hero and you shouldn’t regret it.”
“But…”
“Live a day at a time and face problems when they come, darling,” Nana said warmly. “Live your life with no regrets.”
’Mom…’ Tsuna smiled, feeling a tinge of hope brightening the pitch black future he had imagined to himself already. “Thank you, mom.”
Maybe his life wasn’t totally over after all.
This accident didn’t get much publicity - actually it didn’t get more than a mentioning in a magazine as a regular hit-and-run incident, so no one beside the parties involved knew about it anyway. Tsuna got accepted into Namimori High, and everything seemed to go normally for a few more weeks. Sure, he had to visit the hospital frequently for half dozen different reasons, but soon he got used to that too.
’It’s not like my life was that important anyway,’ he thought bitterly, as he watched Dr. Kurokawa writing something down, before biting his lip and looking up at Tsuna.
“The grandparents of Oda Sayoko, the donor of your heart, have sent a request for a meeting,” he said, and the brunet blinked, before paling and feeling nervousness washing over him.
“Her grandparents?”
“Apparently they were her only remaining relatives. They wish to meet you.” It wasn’t as if Tsuna hadn’t expected meeting the donor’s relatives - heck, he had wanted to meet them… but…
“Being nervous is normal,” Dr. Kurokawa said kindly. “Here, this is their address. Please pay them a visit as soon as you can. It’d mean a lot to them, Tsunayoshi.”
“Yes,” Tsuna muttered. He’d love to pay them a visit, but when he’d get the chance to? Or well, it wasn’t about waiting for a chance anymore, as much as simply gathering the courage. ’What if they dislike me and think that the heart was wasted on a loser such as myself?’ He left the hospital, still deep in thought. He should, but could he?
When he finally reached his home, it was empty. It seemed like his mother had left to meet some of her friends. Wondering whether or not Hana was busy, Tsuna dialled her number, thinking of a proper way to convince her to go with him to see Oda Sayoko’s grandparents.
“Hana,” a familiar, bold voice said, and Tsuna cringed - even as a friend, she was scary.
“It’s me Tsuna,” he began. “Your dad told me that the donor’s family want to meet me, but I don’t want to go alone…”
“I’ll go with you,” the girl said immediately. “When?”
“When do you have the time?”
“Right away. I’ll come over and we’ll go together. Ten minutes and I’ll be there.”
Even though Tsuna wasn’t ready to admit it aloud, the best change that had occurred due to the accident was his odd friendship with Hana. The tall girl was scary, brash and cruel on many occasions, but she was also a great support, and very fun to hang out with. And while she had offered to introduce Tsuna to Kyoko, the boy had refused.
“I want her to see me as myself. To notice me on her own.” Those were the words he had told Hana back then. She had smiled approvingly - almost proudly - and said that regardless of his appearance he just might be a real man after all.
’I can’t help looking girly,’ Tsuna thought. During these past months, due to the increased amount of the oestrogen in his body, Tsuna’s could see differences in his appearance. Even Hana had noticed it and pointed out. Thick eyelashes curved upwards, soft and smooth skin that many girls could only dream of, soft hair, slim build… not to mention that his mother had convinced him to let his hair grow, and it could be held in a tiny ponytail now.
Hana said he looked better. ‘Prettier’ was the word she used. But in the end, a loser was always a loser. No matter how much his style would change, Dame-Tsuna would always be Dame-Tsuna.
’Let’s just hope that Sayoko-san’s grandparents won’t hate me for it…’ The brunet shook his head and put his shoes on. He grabbed his phone, keys and wallet just in time as the doorbell rang.
“I’m ready,” he told Hana, who nodded.
“If we hurry, we can catch the bus,” the girl said. She was dressed in a knee-length green skirt and a white shirt, and her hair was tied back into a ponytail. She looked pretty and Tsuna told her so.
“I don’t want compliments from you,” Hana grumbled. “I want a tall, dark and handsome man compliment me! You’re too cute for that!”
“I’m not cute,” Tsuna scowled. “Kyoko-chan is cute, you’re pretty… I’m…”
“You’re what?” Hana smirked. “A tough guy? Not likely, Tsu-chan.”
“Hana!” the scandalized gasp escaped him, and the girl laughed. In a matter of few short minutes the two were standing n front of an old-fashioned, Japanese house. The garden looked well-tended to, the area was clean and peaceful, and overall it was a pretty sight.
’As if I’m looking at a painting,’ Tsuna thought.
“You sure this is the right place?” Tsuna whispered, gripping Hana’s arm. The girl snorted, brushing away a dark curl.
“Of course,” she said. “Just ring the doorbell.”
“Yes, yes.”
“How can I help you?” The door had opened, and an old woman, actually a bit shorter than Tsuna, was standing there with a tired smile.
“I’m Kurokawa Hana,” the girl introduced herself. “And this is Sawada Tsunayoshi.”
There had been lots of fussing, hugging, crying and more hugging. Then they drank tea. Oda Sayoko’s grandparents, Sakuno and Eiichiro as they wanted to be called,
“This is amazing,” Oda Sakuno was saying. “I feel as if I have been reunited with Sayoko. It’s truly…” her voice broke and Tsuna cringed when he saw her eyes filled with tears.
“We’re here to get to know what kind of person Sayoko-san was,” Hana said. “We’d like to honor her with remembrance.”
“Thank you,” Eiichiro’s tone was serious when he spoke. “We appreciate that more than anyone can imagine.”
“I owe her my life,” Tsuna muttered with an embarrassed flush, and Hana nodded, feeling the nowadays familiar tinge of guilt. If it hadn’t been for her…
“I’d love to tell you about Sayoko,” the grandmother said kindly. “But first, would you like some tea?”
3rd of July, twenty-seven years ago, Oda Sayoko was born. Her mother had died during childbirth and she had been raised by her father, a rich businessman who had too many lovers to count. She grew in a world where people practically treated her like a princess - whatever wish she had, got fulfilled. She was a quiet, confident and extremely polite.
Sayoko had been average-looking, which drove her to pay attention to beauty on an early stage. Hair-care, manicures, pedicures and what not ever since she was in middle-school. She kept her hair long, make-up elegant, clothes stylish… and had especially paid attention to her nails. Quickly she had become very popular, since the way she always dolled herself up made her simply gorgeous. After graduating high school, she had left Japan to enter the prestigious social circles of Europe and America.
“She wasn’t a bad girl,” Sakuno said. “But the people around her were of bad influence.” She looked grim for a moment, before continuing and telling him about Sayoko’s addiction to cocktails. It turned out that that trait had been in her since the first time she tasted a cocktail during middle-school, and it only became more apparent after the continuous partying.
At the age of nineteen, eight years ago, she came to Japan to meet her grandparents at long last with her father. Unfortunately the taxi they had been in was hit by a truck. Oda Hattori had died instantly, while his daughter had become brain-dead.
“As if losing my son wasn’t enough,” Sakuno cried. “When Sayoko fell into a coma, we still had hope. We believed that one day she’ll wake up and ask for cocktails and chocolate and for the nail-care set we bought for her as a present.”
“Two years ago the doctors said that she would never wake up, due to the damage her brain had taken, that simply couldn’t be repaired anymore,” Eiichiro continued, patting his wife’s back. “Not naturally, not surgically - they had tried everything and anything. You may call us fools, but we still hoped… Using her inheritance that had been given to us, we put her in the best care. But the money run out soon after paying some of the debts and bills that had been left, and… well… You know the rest. After pulling her off life-support, her heart was given to you, and now we can’t help but think of you as a part of our family, Sawada-san.”
“Please call me Tsuna,” the boy sniffed, and Hana sweat-dropped.
’He’s too kind if a story like that makes him cry,’ the girl thought with fondness.
“Dr. Kurokawa said that often the receiver of a donor heart will gain some of the donor’s traits,” Tsuna said quietly, and the grandparents of Sakuno looked at him with amazement, before Sakuno moved to hug him again.
“That makes me really happy,” she sobbed, and Tsuna smiled tiredly. Somehow this meeting had turned out to be emotionally straining, and all this serious talk wasn’t really his thing.
’But they’re nice people,’ he thought. ’I feel sorry for them for losing their son and granddaughter in such a manner…’
“Tsunayoshi,” Sakuno said as Hana and Tsuna were leaving. “Please visit us again.”
“Sure,” the boy replied, fully intending on getting to know these kind people better. “I’d love to.”
And on he way back home, Tsuna cannot help but think that maybe the unfortunate accident had upsides to it too. After all, he lead the calm and peaceful, patented Loser’s Life™ with no stress or heart-stopping adventures.
Or so he thought.
_______________________________________________________________
END CHAPTER 1
A/N:
Yes, erm, first chap is more like a prologue, really. Cropped, chopped, rushed and taped together but hope someone likes it anyway. I’m yet to decide a pairing… let’s just develop the plot and the characters first. If you still want to suggest a pairing, then go ahead.
Does anyone feel like reading this fic? I have the next chapter almost ready, so if you like that mess so far, then I’ll go ahead and post it… This will be a long fic, probably. ^_^
Also, it's not beta-read because I don't get along with betas... *apologetic smile* I have a horrid personality. *sweatdrop*