56Sweet Sacrifice
Rated: T+
Summary: "Isn't something missing?" Everyone looked at each other, some in puzzlement, others in nonchalance. "I don't know what you're talking about, Reborn. What are you talking about?" The man only stared blankly at the sunset, looking at the birds passing by them in flocks, and the singular dragonfly that stopped here and there to feed on the grass.
"I'm not sure, Colonello. But it feels like someone is missing." Said missing person only sat there above them on the hidden porch that was located on the very left if the cottage. He frowned sadly at the people he once called his friends.
"Isn't someone missing me?"
An explanation of what occurred in the oneshot from a psychological/fantasy viewpoint, and of course, the sequel to where we left Tsuna: jumping off of a building in hopes that he dies.
A/N: Sorry this thing took me so long to finish! It was a lot longer then I expected. But here it is now; tell me what you guys think of it. Oh! Thank you Otaku908 for being a nice person and helping me with this story. It was long and hard, and I appreciate all the help I can get. XD
Warnings: language, violence, mention of drugs, OOC, dark (very dark)
Disclaimer: I don't own, and again, it is because of the people that have been in my life that has caused me to write such misfortune. Oh, and the name of this sequel is Sweet Sacrifice by Evanescence. Listen to it if you like heavy rock.
"There is a reason behind every act, thought, and feeling."
-Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge About Human Nature (Chapter Nine, Part Three)
The first thing Tsuna recognized was the taste of salt. It wasn't any type of salt, however, it was the salt of blood. It was almost as if he tore his heart out, squeezed the contents in a cup, and drank it. The salt of blood was so rich; it was almost sickening. But if this was one of the cons of dying, then it wasn't much. At least he wasn't dancing naked around an open fire. He heard from someone that when a human dies, he would have to avoid a massive amount of flames, and then he had to kill all of the canker-worms that would possibly fest on his body. Well, Tsuna didn't feel any chewing, so that must mean that there weren't canker-worms in the afterlife. What a liar that person was.
He took a deep breath in and cringed as he felt a sudden prick in his lungs. What was this? Didn't they always say that there wasn't any pain in the afterlife? Then why did he feel that sharp stab, almost as if someone jabbed a hot and searing knife into his body? Was that person lying about pain, too? How horrible. He knew he shouldn't have listened to that man when he was younger.
Tsuna attempted to turn around; he wanted to see what was around him, but he felt resistance on his arms and legs. His head was the only thing that could move freely, but it only moved from side to side. Why was there resistance in the afterlife? Was it some sort of test he must face? Maybe God decided that he died too early, and was giving him sort sort of task to face. Yes, that must be it. That could explain the darkness that was around him, the taste of blood that sickened him, and the resistance in his body.
Finally, the child tried to open up his eyes. Maybe this darkness was only temporary. Yes, he hadn't opened up his eyes, but in the afterlife, Tsuna thought he didn't need to. Surely one can see without the need of eyes, right? But maybe he was wrong. Maybe he did need his eyes in the afterlife. It was strange, but it would be perfectly understandable if God wanted to make him regret the fact that he killed himself by making him use his eyes.
The child took another painful breath and started to open his eyes. The problem with doing this was that his eyes felt like he had ten pounds on each lid, and so opening up his eyes was a strain. But Tsuna was determined to open his eyes, and whenever Tsuna was determined to do something, he usually achieved his goal, whether he liked the results or not. In this case, he would not like the results at all.
The moment the child opened up his eyes, light poured into his pupils like water into a hole, and he slammed his eyes shut as tears began to flow from his lashes. It was so painful, so very painful when he opened up his eyes and saw nothing but this bright light. Maybe it was a bad idea to open up his eyes. Maybe he should have kept them closed for all eternity.
Again, Tsuna tried to move his arms and legs, but it was still restricted. It was almost like something was holding him down in place. But what in the afterlife would do that? He didn't understand. But he didn't need to, he guessed, because the pressure on his eyes was lightening up.
The child smiled and tried one last time to open his eyes. And this time, his eyes opened up just enough to see a machine to his very left. It was silver, and there was a heart shape to the very corner of the bottom. In the middle, he saw a strange green line sway up and down every so often, and he heard a constant beeping sound. When he glanced up, there was icons, a pack of red liquid above him, and some sort of weird plastic wire connecting the pack to some part of his anatomy. He traced the line to where ever it connected to, which happened to be his wrist. All this time, he hadn't noticed that there was a needle stuck in his arm like some sort of splinter. It didn't hurt though, so Tsuna wasn't too worried about it.
But what he was worried about was the fact that he heard voices in the hallway, and saw nurses more frequently than he saw the patients themselves. Since when do nurses exist in the afterlife? He thought there were only angels and demons and, well, God. He didn't think there would be nurses and patients as well. Maybe God allowed it because he liked the hospital so much that he wanted them to keep him company, or something. But that didn't seem likely as one of them entered the room and looked at him. Looked at Tsuna! How rare was that? How rare was it for someone to even look at him-even more rare without a disgusted expression on their face? How rare was it?!
"It looks like you're awake, Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun." The nurse was one with fair hair, a slender body, and a sharp face. She wore a black uniform, almost as if she wanted to amalgamate with the darkness. Her expression was that of cheerfulness, but it didn't quite reach her sea-foam eyes. She seemed upset, and the child didn't know why.
"Do you feel any pain?" Did he feel any pain? Besides the pain of restriction, maybe, no. But why did she care? Wasn't she like the rest of them? Hating and ignoring him? Hell, why was she even talking to him? Was this some sort of test? Or did God want to entertain himself by using these poor people to talk to him, and see what happens? What was it?
"Y-yeah, I-I don't feel a-any pain," Tsuna stuttered out, his voice weak and his throat scratchy. He felt like a thousand pounds were on him; when the kids bullied him at school every once in a blue moon, he didn't feel twice as bad as he did now. That's how bad it was. And why did it feel so bad, anyhow? Wasn't the afterlife supposed to be painless? Wasn't he supposed to be free to do as he wished?
The nurse nodded as she ripped open a new package of needles that were sitting there uselessly on the machine's top. She then connected it to some sort of syringe that was lying there innocently on the side of Tsuna's table. It was around where that colossal looking machine was, and while she was screwing the needle to the syringe, she took a glance a the child's heartbeat.
"That's good. You're lucky you didn't die, Tsunayoshi-kun." Tsuna nodded at first, not trusting his mouth to speak, and then the words that she uttered smacked him right in the nose. The boy's eyes widened. He didn't die? That's impossible! He should have died! He once heard form Gokudera-kun that if a penny fell from a high place, it would greatly damage the person it fell on because of gravity. Using that logic, shouldn't he have been the same? Shouldn't he have went splat! on the ground instead of calmly lying on his back in this bed? What happened? Questions multiplied by questions swam around his head hazardously. Couldn't have there been at least one truth that man had said?
"W-why didn't I die?" The young nurse frowned at him, almost as if he was speaking gibberish at that very moment. She looked at the machine that was above him, and saw that his heart sped it's pace. And then she looked back at the young child, who was at the verge of tears. She quickly placed the syringe down and came to his side. She glanced quickly at his restraints, and thought of taking him out of those horrid things. He was a child, after all. But still, he was a child who tried to commit suicide. She couldn't risk her job and do that.
"Tsunayoshi-kun," she cooed gently, wiping away the tears that started to flow down his plump cheeks, "why do you want to die?"
The child hiccuped softly, cautiously taking in the manner of which she addressed him. This nurse didn't ignore him. This nurse didn't hurt him like everyone else did. The nurse didn't repeat the same old dry words every single day of every single year, like some sort of mantra. She regarded him like a fragile doll that was about to shatter into a million pieces; she regarded him like a jewel. No one has done that for him before. No one. Not even his own mother.
"I..I...wanted to die because..." He sniffled once, twice, before he turned his head to the side and looked at her. No, he peered at her, watching to see what she would do. Would she flinch like Gokudera once did? Would she simply turn her head away in shame? What would she do? What would she do?
"No one liked me. No one payed attention to me. They...all ignored me. Even Mom; she said the same thing every day for as long as I can re-remember...And Dad...never came back home. And my friends...they liked me at one point, but then something happened, and we got into a fight. After that, they ignored me too. They pretended like I was not there. They still do."
"And so you tried to kill yourself, then," a foreign voice inquired. Tsuna didn't even bother to see who that was; he simply agreed with a shake of his head. His former, happy life was gone, so what reason was there to hide anything? If they wanted to question him to death, let them. If they wanted to hurt him, let them. If they wanted to torture him, let them. He was supposed to die in the first place, anyways.
"Let me ask you: why do you think they ignored you?" This time, Tsuna lifted his head upwards at the sound of that same foreign voice. He saw a young man who had alarmingly white hair, and a mark on his cheek. He wore a white uniform, unlike the nurse, and a marshmallow was in his right hand. His eyes were closed, but he still managed to see. He looked pleasant, but Tsuna felt a slither of fear creep into his heart the longer he looked into that young man's face.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Y-yes," he mumbled, darting away from the man's face so fast that his head made a cracking sound that the nurse caught. The fear that was in his heart didn't evaporate at all; in fact, it increased as the man approached him whilst he layed in the bed. This man...this man was scarier than death itself. He would rather die right now than to...
"Hm. So tell me Tsunayoshi-kun. What area are you from? I know that you say that everyone was ignoring you, but I am sure that they are worried sick for you." Tsuna paused for a second, observing the man. Maybe his parents and family were worried. Maybe Reborn and the others remembered him. Maybe Gokudera and Yamamoto forgave him. Maybe...just maybe they did.
"...amimori..." The white-haired man scrunched up his face and leaned an ear towards the child. What the heck was he saying? It sounded like a chant, if he wasn't mistaken. No, really, what was that child saying?
"I can't hear you, Tsunayoshi-kun. Mind speaking a little louder for me so I can hear it?" This time, Tsuna took another painful breath and opened his mouth to raise his voice. He was sure that this man would back away once he got the information so he could start informing his parents where his child was. If that was the case, then so be it. Once he came out of this place, he would kill himself just like the last time. And this time, he won't fail.
"I am from the town of Namimori," Tsuna replied as he looked squarely in the eyes of the young doctor. "Can you let me go now?"
There was complete silence as the young man stared at him for a second, not believing his ears. Namimori? As in Namimori-kai? There was no way that this could be right. But then, looking into the boy's eyes, the auburn eyes that were deprived of hope, deprived of happiness and full of loneliness and shame, it was a possibility. A big one.
The doctor chuckled. No, it started off as a low chuckle until it became louder and louder and louder until he started to cackle maniacally, throwing his head back and almost colliding into the wall. The nurse that was in the same room as him watched in horror as he held his head in his left hand, the hand that Tsuna noticed with curiosity, had a huge scar that ran from his wrist to the very core of his shoulder. And then he stopped laughing slowly, and turned to the young boy with playful mirth in his eyes. To think...to think that this kid really came from that town...
"Please don't be alarmed, Tsunayoshi-kun," he requested, now gazing directly at the child. "I was surprised you came from there, and I...I just couldn't help myself. To tell you the truth, I came from there myself, and I had the same predicament as you did." Tsuna's eyes widened astronomically. He knew what he felt? this total stranger experienced the same thing he did? He felt the loneliness? The shame? The pain? Then...then how could he smile so happily? How could he act like everything was alright? Did he really know what he felt like?
"T-then...then why are you smiling?" Tsuna watched to see his reaction, to see what he would say to the rather doubtful question that he placed out in the open, naked, and holding its privates. He wanted to see the man's witty response to that. He wanted to see...he wanted to see if he was a fake like the others.
"I tried to kill myself," he started slowly, walking towards Tsuna until he unlocked the boy's restraints with a few finger strokes. "and a doctor saved me like how I did you. She was a beautiful woman, and she had the heart of an angel. She wouldn't mind helping everyone, as long as they made sure to visit her sometime. Now that she died from an incurable disease, I took over her job. So when I found you there, trying to kill yourself, I felt a little bit of nostalgia. I am not angry in the least; Yuni has shown me kindness that no one else could or would, and I am able to be myself because of her."
When the nurse came with the syringe and needle ready, he waved her and the syringe off, and she left the room. It was only the two of them alone. And unlike when Tsuna first saw him, he didn't feel a twinge of fear when looking at the man's face. The snow-white haired man opened his eyes to reveal two diamond jewels in his possession that shined brighter than any eyes the child has ever seen. Immediately, he found that he liked this doctor.
"My name is Byakuran Gesso," the doctor introduced himself with the same bright, mirthful smile he had before. "And because you have escaped from your town, Namimori, I would like to tell you what will happen to it's inhabitants and why."
Reborn felt a twinge of guilt hit him in the face. What was it that he was missing? It felt almost like...like hunger now, and he couldn't understand why.
"Reborn?" The Italian man shot a glance down at the woman he was in bed with. Aria. She was a fine woman indeed, pregnant, yes, but fine nonetheless. She had a rather long sea of blue running down her back, her cheeks were plump, and yet her face was sharp. With that sharp face came knowing eyes. Those blue gems stared earnestly into his eyes, and with another pang of guilt smacking him in the face, he had no choice but to look away. He couldn't bare to stare at his lover only for her to see all the dirt in his eyes.
"I'm fine," the man replied quickly as he proceeded to move out of the bed. The faster he got away, the better he would be. He clutched at his heart again, feeling the tug and pull inside of him. This hunger...this unknown hunger became stronger day after day, and he didn't know why. It was almost like he was having withdrawal symptoms...but from what? He ate properly, he drank enough fluids...and it wasn't like he took drugs, so there was nothing for him to crave. Right?
"I'm fine," he repeated, whispering at the end to convince himself. This craving was only temporary. Once he got something to eat, he would be fine. He would be fine. He would be fine...
He walked out of his bedroom-their bedroom, and leisurely strolled into the living room, the room that was right next to the kitchen. He quickly fixed himself something to eat: some egg lifts, bread, and water from the tap. It wasn't anything fancy, but it would do for now.
As soon as he finished his food, Reborn felt another pang in his stomach. He felt like he was craving something again, something crucial. What could he hunger for after his stomach was full? It wasn't lust, it wasn't a physical hunger, it was like something in his core-his soul, perhaps- was craving something that he could not comprehend.
And just like that, Reborn clutched his chest, feeling his organ beat faster and faster until it hurt. Oh why, oh why did this craving even exist in the first place?
Stumbling out of his chair, Reborn entered into the living room, put on his jacket that was spread out unceremoniously on the couch, and headed out. The destination, however, was something that was unknown to him. He just knew that he had to get away from there, from that house, from that comfortable place called home. He needed to escape to the ends of the earth, where the claws of this unknown craving couldn't -no, wouldn't- touch him.
He fumbled with his shoes, and then walked clumsily out of the house, which, to Reborn's chagrin, never happened before since this day. What was so special about this day that he was so careless like this? Had anyone seen him like this at this point, he would have pointed a finger in his general direction and laughed. Thank god he was still in his house.
He opened and closed the door with a definite slam that Maria would know he went out. It wouldn't be long, though; it was so late at night right now. The man checked his watch for the actual time. 1:35 AM is what his watch read. If he stayed longer than fifteen minutes, he was certain that she would get angry at him. Well, not exactly angry, more like worried. But when she got worried, she sometimes became kind of cold. It wasn't a bad type of cold, but more like a cool that brought light shivers down your back.
He passed the local stores, the local bar that was constantly crowded with old men whose breath constantly smelled like a horrid combination of sickly sweet gin and sake, the local convenience store in which the manager always hit on the young women, and finally the local school of Namimori: Namimori-chu. He paused to look at the somewhat run-down building, but then continued on to see how far he would get. He finally stopped walking when he reached a dark alley, a dark alley that had a faint light to the very end of it. Curiosity bit at him, and he approached there cautiously to see what and what was there.
What he found there was a small drug store, probably no bigger than the size of a public bathroom stall. It was dingy; there was mold and dirt everywhere, and there wasn't a single clean looking thing there. But still, Reborn's curiosity breached the ceiling, and he walked inside of the dirty place. Who knows; maybe this place could heal his craving for the unknown.
"What can I help you with?" The owner of the place was a young man who had a hood on his head. His dark magenta hair peeked from his hood and greeted the man, but when Reborn came closer to the man, he found out that his eyes wouldn't do the same. No, it was more than that; his eyes couldn't do the same. He had no eyes. They were only socketless holes.
"Is...is there anything here that could cure a craving?"
"Uh..." The man crawled under a little desk that was supposed to be the store's counter, and when he stuck his head out again, a long yellow paper accompanied him. He looked at the list through and through, and when he was finished, he only sighed in deeply and handed the older man a small bottle of red pills.
"What is this?"
"It...it's Lithium. It won't get rid of your craving, but it calms you. Would you like to try this out? This is the closest thing I have to solving your problem."
Reborn wanted to decline; he wanted to say no to this bottle of pills that he had a feeling was deadly. No matter what the reason, taking drugs were bad, and they would kill him in the long run. So why did he feel himself nod and pocket the bottle of pills that were just on the table? Why did he feel himself reach into his pocket and hand the man a few bills for the drugs? And why oh why did he take one right then and there?
If he only knew, he would tell you.
"Tell me what you think about it in a few weeks," the store owner called out with an emotionless face as Reborn walked out of the alleyway. "I can give you some more if you like it."
In response, Reborn waved his hand as he proceeded to go back home. These pills would remain a secret, he decided as he walked back to the general popularity of Namimori. Even if these pills couldn't help his craving, they would surely calm him. He wouldn't feel so anxious anymore. He could live his life the way he wanted to without this craving bothering him every five seconds. Everything would be a little better now.
That is, if he didn't get addicted to Lithium as well.
"The closer they were to you," Byakuran started with a huge smile, "the more they are affected." The child stared at him with a dumbfounded expression on his face. No one would talk to him, so what did he mean by 'close'? It wasn't like anyone was close to him in the beginning, which is why he tried to kill himself. What was this doctor trying to say?
"What do you mean? No one was close to me in the beginning, Byakuran-san, which is why-"
"Which is why you tried to kill yourself, I know," the doctor finished happily as he stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a bag of marshmallows that was smeared with the residue of blood. Of whose blood that was, Tsuna was uncertain of, but he did think it extremely unsanitary that this doctor, that was supposed to be touching other people, had marshmallows stored in his coat pocket.
"But Tsunayoshi, I don't necessarily mean when you were ignored." He ripped open the package of marshmallows, and after offering one to Tsuna, he continued to talk, although this time, his mouth was full. He licked his lips with contention as he faced Tsunayoshi once more, who was deep in thought.
"During my experience, there was a time which I was accepted by all. Even if they hated me, they still talked to me somewhat. It is that period in which I speak of. The people who are close to you then, and then they 'backslide' on their relationship are those who receive it the hardest. Coincidentally, it is those people who also die the slowest."
He smiled wider as the child froze. Die slower? What did he mean?
"You're...not planning on doing anything, right, Byakuran-san?" The snow-headed man looked puzzled for a split second before bursting out into laughter.
"Oh, you never cease to amuse me, Tsunayoshi-kun. No, I have no intentions on even lifting a finger on your old friends." He almost spat out the word 'friends' before returning to his sweets and popping a bunch of them simultaneously into his mouth.
"You see, I don't have to do a thing for them to be killed in a manner of days. Those stupid people will do it all by myself, which is something Yuni taught me from way back when. If you want the ultimate amount of revenge for how they treated you all of your life, then simply wait. Give it five days. And then return back to your home. You'll be surprised at what interesting things you'll find there..."
"Hayato, how long are you going to do that for?" The silver-headed boy simply shrugged his shoulders at the mostly paralyzed man before continuing on with his ministrations. As far as he was concerned, there was no reason to stop, especially since it felt so good in the first place. The pain was almost like...medicine to him. He has been having this weird craving for a while, and he found out that the best way to solve it is...
"You're going to get blood all over the place, Hayato."
"I don't care," he replied snappily as another few drops of blood fell on the blanket between them like rain. Yes, for a while now, he has had a craving for an unknown object. He thought it was food and tried to eat everything in sight, but that didn't help any. When he assumed it was a sexual craving, he did everything short of having sex with another person to get rid of the craving. All that did was frustrate him further and leave him with an aching body. Finally, he thought it was a craving for his cigarettes, since he hadn't had any since that stupid baseball-freak reprimanded him. But all the cigarettes did was irritate his nose and give him a splitting headache.
It was one morning when he was cooking that he found the solution to his pain. He had pricked his finger with a knife on accident, and as soon as he did, a sharp feeling of pleasure and relief flooded through him faster than any chemicals could. It was at that moment that he realized that cutting his body helped the craving in his soul. And if it would help him get rid of this craving, then he would do it.
At first, it was a few cuts. A little prick here, a little stab there. It was nothing to be afraid of. And in Yamamoto's mind, as long as he didn't go overboard, he could cut himself as he pleased. Well, he did find it strange (and slightly horrifying), but when he tried to point it out to him, Gokudera simply blew up like a balloon and popped his anger at him. The result was a loud sound that wouldn't be resolved between the two of them for weeks. So, after a while, he simply accepted it and stopped trying.
The problem with that was that the rate and time span of which Gokudera cut himself increased and increased, until it became like today, where his hand was baptized in blood from the top to the bottom. And Yamamoto was afraid that Gokudera might die of blood loss.
"Really, Gokudera, stop." He stared pointedly at his best friend, who stared back at him with a glassy expression on his face. It was at that moment that the brunette did a double take. Was it too late already? No, there is no way...
But then when Yamamoto shifted his head down, he saw a literal pool of blood. It was too much for the blanket to even soak up anymore; it was beyond that. It was to the point where the blanket was red, the fiber was red, the pillows were red; hell, he was red. But there was nothing he could do to stop his friend from cutting himself. The half-Italian boy started to cut his skin in a frenzy; it just felt so good to cut over and over and over until he hit that magic bone. And then when he hit it, he would cut that too and then he would know the real meaning of ecstasy. He had never felt so happy in his life.
Gokudera could barely register how his friend almost screamed his name; he could barely register how the pain became more faint with every call. He couldn't register how distorted his arm looked: the bone sticking out in certain places from cutting his skin so deep, the blood on his fingers, entering his mouth. Hell, he didn't even know that his eyes were rolled back into his head with pleasure. He didn't register all of that.
He only registered the face of his best friend crying as he breathed his last breath.
"Is...is there any way to prevent their death?" Byakuran looked shocked at his inquiry-no, it wasn't shock. It was bafflement. The doctor was simply baffled at how merciful this kid was. Pretty much everyone in his life either ignored or bullied him, and he still wants to prevent their death and cause his own? He is either a saint, or a fucking idiot. Yet, as he looked into the child's eyes, he saw nothing but compassion and mercy.
Yep, this kid was a saint. He had the mercy of a saint. No, screw that. He had the mercy of an angel.
"No," he chuckled darkly, quickly shooting his eyes away form the boy so he couldn't see his eyes. Such eyes like that...such honesty, such compassion, such love and devotion...someone like him should have never been born into a cursed town like Namimori. If only he was born into Ikebukuro or Shibuya, where such traditions and unspoken rules didn't apply like how they did in Namimori, Tsuna might have been a happier kid. No, that was a definite. He would have definitely been a happier kid with a few friends. Hell, he may have been able to have met his friend Mukuro. That guy was slicker than snot, and he was witty to boot, but he was loyal to his friends. Extremely loyal to his friends.
"I guarantee that some of your friends are probably already dead now. If you haven't understood what's going on yet, let me tell you: the moment that you left Namimori, the lives of those people will drop like flies. It's only a matter of time until everyone dies. And," he continued as an afterthought, "even your parents." The boy felt his heart clench in his chest as his gut sunk. Why was this happening, and what did he do?
"M-my parents? But why?"
"They're actually the first to die," Byakuran continued with a-matter-of-factly voice. "Because your parents are the primary people in your life who have rejected you, it is only a matter of time before they lose their minds from craving the thing-no, wanting the thing-that they lost. In every parent's heart, there are three things fundamental important to them: family, work, and finances. You, Tsuna, should be one of them. And in the back of their heads, they know that. It is within a part of their unconsciousness. Yet, they reject you when you aren't what they like. The guilt from the rejection and the great burden of craving something causes a shock in their head, a shock that ultimately kills them."
"Yeah," Tsuna argued, getting up out of the bed and facing Byakuran with a pointed look, "but something like that shouldn't kill my parents."
"It will, because Namimori...well...is cursed, Tsunayoshi-kun." He paused midway in putting a marshmallow in his hand, and instead placed it back in the package. He had a frown on his face, almost as if he were contemplating something, and then he sighed tiredly, scratching his head of milk. He took a glimpse in the child's face and had second thoughts about telling him. But then, Byakuran reasoned within himself, how could the child believe him? It was better to start from the beginning.
"I guess I should tell you how it started. There was a man named Bermuda who was one of the first people to inhabit Namimori. He was a child when he had first arrived. By the time he was ten, maybe fifty people inhabited Namimori as their home. The soils were good because Namimori used to be a simple landscape. As people started to come, however, they industrialized it, with a man by the name of Checker-Face as it's head. Most say that he was a wealthy business man who happened to come across that land and conduct it; I don't believe that." The doctor chuckled when he saw the puzzlement flash through the child's face as quick as lightning.
"Yuni's grandmother knew Checker-Face personally. And she never said anything about that...at all. In fact, she would usually say the opposite about him. But anyways, after a while, Namimori, which used to be called Namimori-kai, started to lose it's riches. And Checker-Face, wanting some excitement, said it was because there wasn't a sacrifice. The god of that land needed a sacrifice to continue providing riches to the land. The people of Namimori were used to his great and 'wise' advice," Byakuran hissed sardonically as he crushed the marshmallow that was on the edge of his fingers.
"And so they looked for someone," Tsuna finished softly, zoning out into the distance.
"Yes. They didn't want to use any of their family and friends as a sacrifice, and so they used Bermuda." he grimaced just as bad as he first did when Luce explained the sad story to him. Bermuda. Luce's best friend. Bermuda. The lost child from an unknown land. Bermuda. The sacrifice.
"They cut his flesh and they stoned him until he was black and blue; they raped him until his insides were literally torn into two, and they had their way with him until he could take it no more and left. The problem was that he couldn't go far with his injuries. Bermuda could only make it as far as Ikebukuro, where Luce lived. After he escaped, the people of Namimori became panicked; their only source for riches left them, and they were afraid that they would become poor. They looked for Bermuda until they each died off, one by one, like fleas. The problem is that their children stayed alive, and they carried on the role of the sacrifice. I was the next sacrifice." He laughed dryly as Tsuna cringed; he knew what it was like to be bullied or ignored.
"Thank god I wasn't in Bermuda's position, though; I was simply ignored and beaten with a tree branch every other day by classmates, teachers, store owners, and my father. Yeah. My father beat me with that tree branch and spit in my face and got others to join in on it. At some point, he and the other people decided to dunk my head constantly into straight chemicals and hope that pleases the god of Namimori. Thus, my hair and eyes are in this sorry state." He forced himself to calm down, not to get uselessly angry as he so rarely did, but it was hard. And it wasn't like he could stop. Tsuna needed to hear what happened and why misfortune would fall on the people of Namimori for this generation.
"I, at least, didn't have my face carved by the ones I loved. Bermuda had that, and so even now, he has to wear a bandage over his entire face. I escaped, like he did, and tried to kill myself. It was when I was on the brink of death that I met Yuni. She let me live with her and her grandmother, Luce, and after they died, I took on their job as a doctor. It was a little after that that I decided to visit my hometown again. It was...hah, Tsuna, you would have to see it. I encourage you to see it. See the demise of the people who hurt you."
"There were only the teenagers and the babies left. Everyone else died from a craving of something they couldn't understand. They just...didn't forget like your folks."
"So because they had a craving, they died?"
"It wasn't the craving that did them in," the snow-headed man clarified with a small frown on his face, "it was that they tried to mend the craving by using extreme means. One person tried to solve their craving by constantly having sex with people around him. The funny thing was: he had AIDS. And those AIDS were extreme, and killed everyone who he had relations with in a matter of weeks. Others tried to satisfy their cravings by vomiting to feel the acid crawl back up their throat. But they vomited all the time, and not only did the person lose their voice, but they also died of malnourishment. Seeing that they threw me in chemicals, that is a fitting punishment, no?" He laughed happily as he thought of all the things he saw.
"I think Checker-face did something to them, but I don't know what. I mean, yeah, their own demented psychological mindset was a big factor in this equation, but usually, there is something that sets that behavior off. I think he was the 'something'. After all, nothing happens without a reason."
He got up from the bed, grabbing the chart that was a few ways from the beeping machine that had a heart on the corner of it's screen, and waltzed over to the door. He was happy. Someone else was able to be saved from the fate of a useless death due to some greedy, gullible pests. But he would be happier if Checker-Face, the cause, died. He is the cause of this never-ending circle of unnecessary deaths. It was all because he wanted, no, wants entertainment. Because he is such a horrid, crazy piece of-
"I will leave my number on the back of this door. I have a feeling you will call me after all of this has ended, so after you visit your hometown once more, call me. I will be waiting at the Awakawa Bridge." He gave one last smile to Tsuna before waving cheerfully and headed out of the door.
Now Tsuna had two choices: listen to Byakuran and return back home to see if everyone was really dead like he claimed, or stay here and get admitted to some orphanage.
The brunette slid off the hospital uniform that he hated so and put on his normal clothes that were at the foot of his bed. It wouldn't hurt to look. It wouldn't hurt to see it, to see the people who ignored him in pain.
It wouldn't hurt.
"Oh, are you coming back?" Tsuna turned around only slightly, surprised that the head nurse there didn't try to stop him better than that.
"Yes," he replied back, his voice cracking only a tad. "I will, but I have to visit my hometown first. The doctor gave me permission to do so, since my parents are not aware of my absence as of yet."
The old lady smiled and nodded in consent. Dr. Gesso was pretty good at what he did, so if he wanted this child to visit his home -which was a little strange, but she wouldn't question it- then she wouldn't stop him.
"Alright then, boy. Just come back as quick as possible; I would hate it if something happened to a good child like you." Tsuna only shook his head, waved at her kindly, and then headed out of the door. Since he was here, people talked to him. Talked to him like it was the most normal thing to do. It was a shock to his system at first, but he got used to it with time. He was happy that they talked to him, that they cared, that they trusted him enough to listen to his word. He was happy that she didn't stop him from visiting his home town.
He would wish, though, that she did when he finally was able to visit it.
It was a ghost town.
That was the first thing that he noticed upon entering the boundary within Namimori. There weren't children running around in the dirt, there weren't adults talking and laughing like they usually did every day and night regardless of the time, and there wasn't any teenage kids in groups talking amongst themselves. There was just the wind and him in this area.
Cautiously, as he was alarmed by the silence in the area, he walked through the neighborhood, seeing nothing but black. The windows of the stores were black, the doors were black, and the only thing that remained in front of the toy store that he used to visit frequently was the ripped-off head of a stuffed doll.
He walked into the supermarket that his mother used to love to shop in, and gasped. There, on the ground, was a person. And Tsuna didn't dare turn him over. Dried blood surrounded him, which means he was dead for quite some time, and he gasped when he saw another person a few ways away from this man.
Horror gripped him harder than his fear, and he ran out of the store, holding his mouth. He was about to vomit, but he had to hold it in. Maybe it was only that place. But if it were only that place, why, oh why didn't someone come and report it?
He quickly ran home. If here had death in it, and the supermarket was full of it, what about his house? What about his family? Were his mom and dad really dead like Byakuran said?
He stood in front of his house, and hesitation stopped him from moving any closer. It was night right now, yet not a single peep was heard from inside. Around this time, his mother and his father would talk about pointless things about their day. He knew because he always sat with them, and they never realized that he would listen in, that he was there all along.
He then proceeded to turn the knob; there was no way that the door would be open, yet the knob complied with his wish and opened. And when he took a peek inside, he almost screamed. There, his proud father, was hanging from the roof, with a string hung around his neck. And his mother...no, he didn't even want to know where she was.
He slammed the door shut and started to run. Run anywhere. He would run to Gokudera and Yamamoto's place, but he knew they hated him. Where they even still alive? He didn't want to know. Was anyone still alive? It was a low probability since he saw dead people everywhere and anywhere. There was even a naked man who lied on the street, deep scars along his chest area and his groin area. He was a sad person indeed, but what was sadder were the kids that died. He saw some children who died from starvation, from lack of love from their dead parents, and from thirst.
And then he met Reborn.
Reborn, who was digesting several pills in one shot. The man didn't even realize that everyone was dead around him; he simply kept eating those pills like candy. A crazed, deranged look was in his eyes, and a gun was in his left hand while the pills were in his right. His head was tipped back as to allow several pills to enter his body, and he used the gun to release the safety and shoot his arm with every time he paused.
Tsuna didn't care about all of that though; his best friend, his only friend, was alive. Alive, although from the looks of it, not well.
"Re-Reborn...?" It was almost like a trigger. The older man stopped everything that he was doing and looked at the boy with a hungry eye.
"I know you," he mumbled as he came closer. Tsuna took one step back.
"D-do you? You should."
"Yes, that's right...you...you're familiar..." He walked faster and faster, but Tsuna could walk backwards any faster and eventually, he caught up with the child. With a strong hand, he lifted the boy's chin up.
"I knew you once upon a time," he hissed, digging his nails into Tsuna's flesh, making him wince in pain. "You're...you're...Sawada Tsunayoshi! Yes! I remember you! You were my friend who I loved. I loved you like my own." His eyes gleamed in happiness, and for a moment, Tsuna could only smile. So in the end, Reborn remembered him. He remembered him. Reborn, his best friend in the whole world, remembered him! He could simply jump with joy right now. But there were two things that struck him as odd.
One was the deranged look on his old friend's face, almost like...a person who has lost their mind for good. A nutcase. And the second was the fact that his mouth was becoming wider and wider like he was going to-
"Ngh-AH!" Reborn sunk his teeth into Tsuna, feeling the soft skin part for him, and blood flow into his mouth. He was ecstatic; his craving-this craving- it was finally satisfied. He could now sit back and relax. Yes, that bloodthirsty, hungry feeling from before stopped.
But Tsuna noticed in horror that his heart stopped as well.
A/N: Thanks for all of the support that you guys have given me!~ I hope you guys like this chapter as well. Now, I have a feeling that you guys might want yet another sequel (trilogy) after this one, so if, like before, I gain a request, I will make one. Make sure not to read this at night, okay? This scared me by the the time I was done...*shiver*