Target 11: Marshmallow Addict – How Tsuna met a certain albino once again. He's starting to wonder if he's cursed- how did he end up meeting an old friend the moment he's been left on his own by his father and grandfather?!
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Rikuo pouts, legs kicking back and forth as he sat on the bench; his face scrunching up as if he ate something sour.
His father and grandfather, who was tasked with accompanying him outside to play by his mother, was nowhere to be found. The two men disappeared after they had arrived at the playground, not before leaving an instruction to Rikuo that the young boy shouldn't leave the bench and that they'll come back quickly.
Oji-chan is probably back to his dine and dash ways, the boy thought. "And Otou-chan's taking so looong to buy that strawberry ice-cream." He grouse to himself.
"Marshmallows?" A young voice full of mischief suddenly speaks out as a white marshmallow blocks Rikuo's vision of the children happily playing in the park.
Out of habit from a past life, Rikuo made a face as he shook his head in refusal.
Rikuo freezes as his action finally sunk in. Hieee! What did he just do? Did he actually scored someone- a child's thoughtful sharing of sweets, out of a habit from his past life because of a certain marshmallow addict?
Turning to look at the child with the intention of apologizing, Rikuo's thoughts came into a halt as his jaw drop in surprise at the sight of a younger version of a marshmallow loving Sky.
"Byakuran?" He squeaks out in surprise.
Rikuo couldn't be more thankful that Reborn was already dead and that the man didn't see him squeak.
Somewhere in Kyoto, a teen pauses and looks up to the sky with a sadistic gleam on his dark eyes. What disgraceful thing did Dame-Tsuna do this time? He thought as his senses (developed over years of watching over his student) tingles. He shrugs, deciding to find out later. He turns his attention back to the little five year old girl staring at him in recognition and horror. Oh well, he'll just have to mess with that silly student of his when his path would cross with his- for now, he'll just play with this silly brat until that time comes.
"Ah?" The albino child tilts his head, impish violet eyes staring back. His smile widens as he innocently asks, "How did you know my grandfather's name?"
Watching the other child eat the offered marshmallow, Rikuo made a face; his intuition telling him that the child sitting next to him is someone he is familiar with. Someone he knows. He focuses, feeling out the flames the 'child' gives off with his own inactive flames.
Amber eyes softens upon recognizing that welcoming and playful flames that immediately latches onto his own the moment the two flames came into contact.
The foxy smile on the lips of the albino softens in response to the feel of those familiar accepting flames tentatively reaching out for his own flames. How long had he felt this kind of acceptance? Ever since the death of Uni and Tsuna, (his sister and brother, skies who carried the same responsibility. The two people who understood,) he had never felt this way again.
Rikuo snorts in disdain, "Don't try to deny it- your flames gave you away, Bya-kun." The young boy smiles wryly at the other.
Byakuran laughs out loud in response as he moves to hug the child who used to be his brother in all but blood. "Tsu-chan is so mean~ I haven't seen you for a long time and yet this is what I get~"
Rikuo rolled his eyes in response at the Mare Sky's antics. "My name is Nura Rikuo now, Bya-kun." He murmurs in response, sepia eyes observing the other boy's reaction carefully.
Byakuran stills in his arms, face hidden from Rikuo's view but that didn't stop the Vongola Sky from guessing the albino's reaction.
"Oh." Byakuran responds after a minute of silence. "I see~" His voice was light and airy- seemingly sounding uncaring of what Rikuo declared. Yet, there was something to it that made Rikuo stare at the other party who still has his head buried on Rikuo's shoulders.
"I don't want to go back there, Byakuran." Rikuo grimly speaks up, ignoring the cold (yet, it feels scalding hot on his skin) tears wetting his shirt.
"I'm so tired. Everyone wants something from me- expects something from me. They see me as Vongola Decimo, someone who wants to bring back Vongola to its roots. They see me as that kind selfless saint of a man who would do anything for his friends. They see me as that foolish man who is too kind and good to kill. They see me as that all powerful man, capable of doing impossible feats."
He pauses, letting his friend absorbed what he was trying to say.
"No one sees me as simply Tsuna besides you and the others." He murmurs. "I just want to be Tsuna, you know? Just Tsuna. Tsuna who can make his own choices, Tsuna who can pick his own destiny."
But does Rikuo have that luxury that Tsuna wants? A voice that sounds like his voice back when he was a teen sound in his mind. Doesn't Rikuo have his own destiny waiting for him as well? Doesn't Rikuo have a Family to inherit when he comes of age?
It's different, Tsuna thinks. Because I chose to want that position.
Do you? The voice asks in amusement. And Tsuna finds that he couldn't answer back to that rhetoric.
Instead, the former Mafia don ignores that thought and proceeds to tell his companion: "I don't want to go back- because here I'm just Rikuo and I'm free here. Bya-kun."
Tsuna doesn't want to go back to that world where he was viewed as the second coming of his ancestor. He neither want to be seen in another person's shadow and legacy again nor does he want to be buried in heaps of expectations again.
He just wants to be Tsunayoshi Sawada.
Tsunayoshi Sawada without a title to his name.
He doesn't want to be Tsunayoshi Sawada, Vongola Decimo. The one who made it his goal to burn Vongola to the ground and build it up a new, the one whose hands were stained with the blood of his enemies and carries the death of his allies because of his naïve and foolish dream.
Silence surrounds them, the noise of the playground muting as the two Skies drowns in their own thoughts.
"Is Ri-chan happy here?" A tentative and soft voice broke the silence. Parting from the tender and loving, forever accepting embrace of his brother, Byakuran looks at the younger boy before him.
Rikuo smiles. A breathtaking and delighted smile that threw away Byakuran's doubts and reservations about the other's choice.
"Of course I am, Bya-kun!"
"…That's good."
...…
"Young Master?" Tsurara calls out. She tilts her head in confusion at Rikuo staring in surprise at the sight of a very familiar white haired child standing in the doorsteps of the Nura Household while holding a basket full of fruits.
"What," Rikuo heatedly hissed; ignoring the stunned stares from his Clan members and his parents as he glowers at the obviously amused child before him.
"Are you doing here?" He demands.
"Why," Byakuran starts, his lips tugging up to form a mischievous smile. There's a teasing and playful glint in his violet eyes as he stares at the Vongola Sky innocently. "I am here to say hello and introduce myself as your new neighbor, Ri-chan~"
Tsuna made a face in response to the foxy child's statement, not minding the disapproving looks thrown his way from his mother as well as the amused looks every yōkai has in vicinity as they shamelessly eavesdrop on the two children.
"I can't believe that you choose to move here." His voice was still harsh, yet it was tinted with exasperation and indulgence.
Byakuran grins, "Eh~" He singsong before his playful expression shifts quickly as he stares at his friend in the eye- violet eyes full of solemnity and alight with determination.
"You've made your choice, Ri-chan. And," Pausing a bit to regard his brother, Byakuran smiles teasingly. "I've made mine as well~"
Rikuo stares at Byakuran, analyzing and taking a part all the unsaid and hidden meanings of his words. The usually smiling and playful boy regards the equally playful albino a thoughtful look before his lips tug up into a bright and brilliant smile.
"Then," He starts as he beams at the older child. "I'm glad to see you again, Bya-kun!"
Sometime after Byakuran inadvertently found out about yōkai, the albino took it all into stride and joined Rikuo in pranking everyone in the mansion. Rikuo regrets welcoming the other terribly upon having to avoid the unusual combination of Byakuran and his grandfather working together to catch him off-guard.
His flames, inactive and crippled from the shattered bonds, curls in contentment as a broken bond snaps back into place.