Chapter Text
Dying was much like falling asleep, but with pain. Not a light difference, of course, though Tsuna was probably biased, considering he had just been killed during a meeting, to save his Rain. Thinking about it, he should have been able to feel the danger sooner, but then…
He was tired.
All his life had been devoted to fixing the inky black world that most thought was Tsuna’s personal kingdom, at that point. Yes, he had made his family’s reality a better place. Yes, he had lived his life to the fullest even though he had never found – or pursued – true love. Yes, his family was happy in the chaos that was their world.
But, yes, he felt tired.
He would say exhausted. His time had become an endless spiral of meetings, paperwork, reigning in his Guardians, trying to coax Reborn out of the shell he’d closed himself in, keeping other Families happy and on a tight leash at the same time, having to deal with Byakuran-related chaos daily… Well, he couldn’t say the white-haired man was completely annoying. His shenanigans did bring a refreshing wind of calmness, though his Guardians paid the price.
However, Tsuna couldn’t find it in himself to have regrets. Maybe he’d even unconsciously predicted this outcome, seeing he had written letters to some of his family members just in case. They were stacked in one of his desk’s drawers. What could he regret? Leaving his family behind? They were strong, most probably stronger than him, they would get through, they would keep up or, he could hope, they would quit, either way was fine as long as they were happy…
Giving up Mafia and what he had built? He’d never wanted the title that had changed his life, rewritten it in stone, walked him along a bloody path. Tsuna was sure his changes had been gradual enough for them to be accepted and integrated, but he had little hope they would have been followed without his iron grip. And, keeping said iron grip on every little thing…
His mother had long left the world of the living, his father had retired and disappeared from his life, his adoptive younger brothers were safe and knew how to defend themselves.
He coughed up blood, sight already gone, hearing felt like a soft whistle. He was sad he would not see them again, but he was… serene. It was fine.
He let his eyes close and attempted a smile. Tsuna wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded. The last thing he felt was wetness falling to his face. The last thing he heard, faint, distant, was Byakuran’s voice wishing him a good journey and a happy new life.
When he woke up, Tsuna took two slow minutes to understand what had just happened. He took three more to curse the existence of Byakuran, then ten to look around and curse his own, prolonged existence. He was in an alley, dressed in the suit he’d worn for the meeting, sitting on the floor, healthy and missing all his gear – and all the blood that had spilled. No rings, no gloves… no Natsu. He pressed for his Intuition first, and it was still there, though it felt… a bit different, because, as soon as he poked it, his Sky Flames came to his hands. Gloveless, gunshot-less, pill-less. Unprompted, too. What…
He took a deep breath, standing and patting the dust off his pants, then tried to organize his thoughts. He was, most definitely considering this was Byakuran’s doing, in another… timeline? His Intuition disagreed, Flames licking his sweaty palms. No, then… Tsuna paled, another universe? He wailed at the confirmation, wanting to bash his head against the nearest wall.
Instead, he calmed down and tested his Flames, that seemed to have merged with his Intuition, somehow. He could guess, new universe, new rules, but why merge the two? It was… It opened to quite a few possibilities that he had to investigate, sooner better than later.
However, he had more pressing matters. Like, where was he? Uh, not the city, just… God, which country? Which kind of universe?
With a metaphorical kick in the rear, Tsuna checked his appearance and stumbled past the entrance of the alley. It was late night, maybe very early in the morning. Streetlamps were lit, shedding light on a clean, wide, empty road. The shops were closed save for a 24/7 one on his left. The sign was in Japanese and he could feel a massive stone drop off his heart, relieved. At least, he had that.
With unsure steps, he walked to the only open shop and hoped to find a turned-on TV or a magazine or something from which he could gather information. He stopped short of entering and swiftly checked his wallet. There was money, Japanese yen, a lot because he frequently got homesick and went to relax a bit back home – though those were very short-lived as someone always managed to kidnap him back to Italy in less than two days –, and a few Euros, too. However, he didn’t know the general prices, the economy, hell he didn’t even know if the same currency was used here.
He pushed the thought aside and went in. The shop was small, dimly lit but well-organized and tidy. His eyes immediately fell to the labels and he released a breath of relief at recognizing yen. A brief check later made him notice the prices were mostly similar to the ones he was accustomed to. There was no sound beside a calm music in the background, but he looked around and found a television turned on in a corner.
Tsuna stopped dead in his tracks, mouth agape and eyes wide. He would have thought they were airing a movie or something, if the late news broadcast had not been so glaringly real. There was a reporter probably describing the madness happening right behind her… Someone was sending blazing flames towards a group of men wielding raised and firing weapons. The reporter was not surprised or scared, she even seemed bored when confronted with the sight of a man using fire with bare hands – not Flames, his Intuition confirmed. Was that… How could that be normal? There were words passing lazily in overlay: “Endeavour captures a minor Yakuza group!”
And then there was another news, a hostage situation where a woman gassed the villains, as such they were called on the overlay, and saved people. Her name was, apparently, Midnight, an emerging new…
Tsuna blinked.
Hero? What the–
He stopped, eyes cast down. Villains, heroes, superpowers. Byakuran had thought this kind of universe would have given Tsuna a happy new life? Seriously?!
Tsuna panicked for a grand total of four minutes. Then imagined kicking the white-haired into a universe of demons – though, maybe he would have liked it – and straightened. He had to roll with this. Roll or die, that was the rule in Mafia, it seemed to be the rule with his life. Though, a timid nudge at his Intuition made him doubt this was all of Byakuran’s plan…
He nodded to himself, took a pack of sweets, paid for it while glancing only once at the young woman with horns on her head and went back out in the road. The sun seemed to be near rising into the new day, but at least he knew what he needed to do.
He was in Japan, or whatever this country was called but it was still Japanese, there were heroes, it was normal, and there were villains, which was an obvious consequence of having superpowers all over the population – which seemed to be the case. Tsuna sighed through his coming headache.
The first thought was how could he help, but he crushed it with vengeance. This was supposedly his second chance at life, right? He had no intention of wasting it. What had he always wanted? A peaceful life, something simple, he had no problem with the perspective of having to make ends meet at the end of the month.
Tsuna looked around, popping the plastic around the sweets and absently taking a bite. They weren’t the best, but would do for the moment. He needed a job.
Eyeing his wallet, pocketed in the jacket, he knew that was wishful thinking. He did not exist in this world. Well, he kind of did, as of… less than one hour prior, but there probably wasn’t any proof of his birth or alike, so how would he get into a contract? With a sigh, his choice fell to following his Intuition, of course. He had no other chances.
Tsuna poked it, training his Flames to stay down while he did that, and silently gasped when a trail of golden, intertwined threads started from his feet, turning left at the end of the street. Blinking, he walked on it. That sure simplified things, a whole lot. He didn’t have to blindly try and try, this was so useful.
With renewed will and a tentative hope for a true second chance, Tsuna munched on the sweets and followed the path.
With his atrocious luck and against his wishful hopes, this was going to be a hellish journey, for sure.