Dioscuri

An LLS Production

Prologue : Repoussoir

"Papa, what is this?"

At any other time than in the middle of sealing Tsuna's Flames, Iemitsu would have welcomed the words of the other Sawada son. "Ietsuna, I-"

His throat went dry. "A- Ah-"

"I found this! It makes bang noises and scares chihuahuas away!" Ietsuna chirped. The barrel gleamed in the weak sunlight, and even Don Vongola Nono Timoteo paused, Dying Will Flame gleaming in one hand to watch Sawada Ietsuna hold the gun currently pointed at them.

The old Don's eyes narrowed with unspoken comments about men who regularly left guns around children. "Iemitsu..." his voice was laden with censure.

"Yes," Iemitsu agreed, his face serious. "Na-kun, put the gun down."

"What happened to Tsu-kun?" Ietsuna questioned, brown eyes wide in unknowing innocence. The gun wavered, safety off, and Iemitsu could feel the courses on gun safety that Nono was going to put him through. "What is Grandpa doing?"

"We're... we're... carrying him!" Iemitsu smiled brightly.

"Then why is Grandpa's finger on fire?" Ietsuna narrowed his eyes. The trigger clicked tighter. Neither man wanted to use violence on a child, but it was obvious that options were running low at the moment.

"I'm sorry, bambino," Timoteo put on his best harmless old man smile. Since it was directed at a five-year-old, it also lacked any killing intent. "Your twin fell asleep. We need to put him on a nap. Would you like a nap as well?"

"You're out to kill Tsuna, aren't you?" Ietsuna stated. "I won't let you. I won't let Papa or Maman."

"Na-kun!" Iemitsu grew more concerned. "Put it down! This is dangerous! What are you saying?"

"No! You'll kill us! That flame will burn, like that fire-!"

The Dying Will Flame extinguished itself and cold began to form over the life-giving flame, and Timoteo would have interceded if Tsuna was not struggling to wake up. "...no? Nonno?"

"Tsuna!" Timoteo edged to intercede.

"I hate..." was Ietsuna's whisper as the gun began to crack. "I hate... for him, I hate all of you."

Black fire consumed the gun, causing it to explode and for the kitchen's smoke alarm to ring out loud and clear as the black blaze reigned...

"The dreams of reasons produces monsters, Tsuna."

"Huh?" Tsuna commented, lifting his head from where he'd nearly fallen asleep on the kitchen table to stare at his amber-eyed twin. "Sometimes I don't get what you're saying, Ie."

"Well, I'm sure Satou-sensei doesn't want illustrations to go along with the essay, so you can't let your imagination run fly on wings of fantasy." Ietsuna replied easily, looking straight into Tsuna's caramel eyes. "Otherwise you'll end up like Mamma..."

"Ah," Tsuna grabbed an eraser and set about erasing his doodles. "That's true..."

"You can live your entire life bored like you are right now, or you can live it happily," Sawada Nana was talking in the background, spinning about the kitchen and happy as a clam. "I want you to live feeling 'it's great to be alive!'"

"So, to live happily, I should let my big brother take charge, yes?" Ietsuna asked. "So Tsuna should have gone with Papa."

"You shouldn't choose to play the little brother at your convenience, Ie," Tsuna calmly replied. "

"Actually, Mamma don't know which of you is the eldest," a small pout formed on her lips as Nana waltzed away from the stove bearing toast, eggs and tomatoes with drinks. "There was a fire in the hospital records room on the day of your birth, and then when everything was done, even I forgot! So until we figure that out, none of you can go with Papa to become a star."

"Who would choose to become a star, Mamma? Thanks, itadakimasu." Tsuna questioned, packing away the cleaned essay to scarf down breakfast freshly served by Nana. "If Dad is going to take one of us with him, it'll probably be Ie. He's better academically and at sports."

"No way," Ietsuna retorted, grabbing his own plate. "As long as this bond* between us remains, we're not separating. Itadakimasu."

"Na-kun, this dependence on Tsu-kun can be unhealthy!" Nana admonished. "The two of you may be twins, but you're too dependent on him to be a good big brother!"

"Tsuna's my big brother!" Ietsuna shot back.

"Don't arbitrarily change your family position!" Tsuna sighed, standing up to clear the emptied plates. "Mamma, today the both of us have to stay back because Ie managed to anger Hibari-san, so we're doing extra."

"I just don't want to wear the band on my left arm!" Ietsuna rebutted, resolutely pinning a red armband on his right sleeve to show the Kanji very clearly.

"Hibari-san said that I'm the only one who can wear it on my left arm!" Tsuna protested, pinning his own armband on his left arm. "To start with, you picked a fight with him and dragged me into this! Don't anger him even more, Ie!"

"I'm sure the flower of the Disciplinary Committee would manage to convince him," Ietsuna replied and dodged the slap sent his way, but not the bag bonked onto his brown hair.

"T- That was one time!" Tsuna was puffed up in righteous indignation. "I- It was for the Home Economics Club and Kyoko-chan!"

"...Kusakabe-fukuiinchou took the picture and blew it up, Hibari-san bit half the squads to death, and confiscated the rest of them, and the recruitment poster for the Disciplinary Committee is still being requested for at the door first thing," Ietsuna counted off. "We might share the same looks, but it's not everyday that local demon makes a rule that the Disciplinary Committee general affairs manager must wear his armband on his left arm instead of his right, just to keep him out of fights. Teachers want you in their class as a protective talisman against Hibari."

"Why is it that, when you say that, it sounds like I'm keeping evil spirits gone?" Tsuna complained, never noticing Ietsuna slowing behind him.

Pensively, amber eyes considered the ground, up to the blue skies above their sleepy town of Namimori, to the whitewashed walls of their suburb and the neatly kept houses and roads laid out in grids and squares. This was the fourteenth year of their daily lives; laid out within the town, unheeded by time or space or distance. One might call it a peaceful fate.

"It's great to be alive...? I don't understand."

*This is a pun based on Ietsuna (家綱) and Tsunayoshi (綱吉), which share the Kanji for 'join'. Following the Tokugawa theme of the Sawada guys, Ietsuna is actually Iemitsu's father, and thus the original Tsuna's grandfather. It's highly possible to name kids after dead relatives, after all, and it's also convenient.

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