"If we are completely honest with ourselves, everyone has a dark side to their personalities."

- Isabella Rossellini

Chapter 5

The hospital was still buzzing with activity even after the chaotic mess of transferring Tomoko in. It was only a head injury, he remembered thinking bitterly, with a couple of bruises and maybe a cracked rib or two. It should've—could've been worse. Tsuna had panicked at the word use, and even checked the bathroom mirror to see if it was really him and not him in some psychopath's body. At this point, he thought, anything could happen.

Patients wandered around in the halls; more people filtered in complaining about a sore toe or whatever medical excuse they had; doctors and nurses were talking with one another over clipboards and paperwork. Tsuna hated them, the patients. He hated how sick they looked, how pale they were, how some of them had barely any hair, how some smiled. He hated everything about them. And he realized that there was a lot of hate going around in his head, but he was too tired to contradict or filter out the thoughts. He was just tired.

I killed people, he thought. The heavy weight suddenly came back as he realized what he had also done. I killed people. I killed them. Me. Dame-Tsuna. I killed them. I got a gun and I shot.

A shadow suddenly loomed over him. The smell of cigarettes and coffee wafted in his nose. Tsuna tensed. It was a middle-aged man with some semblance of a beard and a worn out suit. There were heavy bags under his eyes but there was an underlying sharpness in his gaze that unnerved Tsuna.

"Are you Sawada Tsunayoshi?" the man asked. "I'm Detective Mochida Ren from the Namimori Police Department."

"Yes," Tsuna said quietly. "Can my mama stay with me?"

The detective glanced at Tomoko's room before nodding. Tsuna quietly opened the door and peeked inside. Tomoko was awake, hugging Nana. Bandages were wrapped around her head while some of her minor injuries were tended to. They sobbed against each other's shoulders and didn't seem to be letting go any sooner. Tsuna gripped the door handle a little tighter before closing the door. His chest ached with words he wanted to say. He thought it was fair to say that he envied the physical contact. But Kami never really listened and he was still stuck with the curse. He didn't even have the time to process the anger or the bitterness as he sat back down on the bench. "She's sleeping," he said. "I don't want to bother her."

Even if the detective heard or not, he didn't press the issue. "You had quite a rough day, Sawada. I just want to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Tsuna stayed silent. If anything, he edged away from the man even further and shoved his hands into his pockets. This time, Ren's voice was much gentler. "Can you tell me what happened before the incident happened, Sawada? Where you were?"

The events felt distant, as if they almost never happened. Tsuna took a deep breath to calm his nerves and focus. "I was at home with Mama. We were about to have dinner when Kasumi came. She was covered in blood and told us that Tomoko was kidnapped."

"Okay. How did you find your sister?"

"I just knew," Tsuna said lamely. "It's kind of a twin thing, I guess. I don't know how to explain it."

Tsuna had to admit though, it was kind of a bad answer. Well, it was technically true, kind of, he guessed. He did find her through intuition. Her location was a one in a million chance sort of thing. But...the detective wouldn't be able to understand that. He'd probably think he was a freak or a psycho kid or even the one who orchestrated the whole thing in the first place. It was practically a perfect scenario, the more that he thought about it. He didn't really like Tomoko—No, he despised her, wanted to—

Oh Kami, not again. Not again. Tsuna gripped the bench. He had to stop. He couldn't go on like this anymore. All this anger, all this hate, all these dirty, dirty—

"I see." Ren looked at him with an unreadable expression. "If you can, can you tell me what happened in there, at the warehouse?"

Tsuna snapped back to reality. "Ah, um, well, there were these people in there. One of them—I think she was the leader—ordered them to kill Tomoko. The events are still blurry, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Take it nice and easy. Do you remember anything else about them? Anything at all? Even the smallest detail can help."

"They—They did mention something about Vongola. I don't know what that is."

A dark look came over Ren's face but he managed to stay composed. "Alright. Thank you, Sawada. If you remember anything else, please don't hesitate to give me a call. I'll come back to get your sister's statement."

Tsuna nodded, hoping the man would just leave already. "Okay."

After the man left, Tsuna slumped in his seat with a heavy sigh. That was something, he thought. I never knew that Mochida's dad worked in the police department. He gazed up at the ceiling. But there's a lot of things I don't know.

His ears perked up when the door opened. Nana smiled gently at him. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she looked exhausted. "Tsuna-kun, Tomoko-chan woke up. Do you want to come in?"

Tsuna stood up and entered the room. Blue eyes met brown.

"Tsuna," Tomoko said. Her voice was small and tired, which was kind of weird because his sister always sounded firm and calm. She looked exhausted too. Her skin was a bit pale but she looked like she'd be fine.

''Hi," Tsuna said weakly. That was stupid. "Are you feeling okay?"

Tomoko didn't answer. A haunted look shadowed her eyes. She looked down at her white sheets.

"I'll be back," Nana said, taking some money from her bag. "Tomoko-chan said she wanted some soda. Do you want anything, Tsuna-kun?"

"Juice," Tsuna automatically said before blushing when Nana laughed.

"Okay. Sit tight."

After she left, an awkward silence passed between the siblings. Tsuna tried to make himself comfortable on a spare chair while avoiding Tomoko's furtive glances. He rarely ever had the chance to actually be alone in a room with his sister. Most of the time either one of them left before the other had the chance to settle in. Mostly they'd say that they had something else to do.

It was a strange relationship but when had his family ever made any sense? Their father was rarely in the picture. Sometimes Tsuna wondered if they'd be so isolated if their father was around. A nagging thought in the back of his head said yes. He didn't really know much about his father aside from the fact that he somehow managed to marry his kind mother. And he highly doubted that his father worked in an oil company. There were a lot of doubts he had about his father and he was pretty happy that the man wasn't around to be honest. He had a feeling that he would be around a lot of bullshit.

"Is Kasumi okay?" Tomoko's quiet voice brought Tsuna back from his swimming thoughts.

"Oh, um, yeah. She's shaken up but she'll be okay. She just left a few hours ago while you were sleeping."

"That's good."

Kasumi had fought tooth and nail to not leave Tomoko's side but her father managed to take her home. It wouldn't be a surprise if she managed to come again tomorrow. Tomorrow was Saturday anyway.

"Are you okay?"

Tsuna blinked. "What?"

Tomoko rolled her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I—I'm—" Tsuna could barely get the words out. What right did Tomoko have to ask if he was okay? Now she cared? Some part of him was just happy, so happy that he could just burst. His sister actually cared about him. She cared for him all this time. All this time...

He clenched his fists. "I'm fine."

Tomoko raised a brow, something she could pull off very well. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Why do you care?" That came out much harsher than Tsuna expected but he couldn't stop. "Do you know what I did to help you? I killed people. I shot them."

Tomoko widened her eyes. Tsuna wanted to stop. He wanted to stop so bad. But this weight... He had to get rid of it. He had to get rid of it.

"I couldn't help it," Tsuna choked out. "There was nothing I could do. This man—He just came behind me. You were down there and I didn't know what to do. I shot people. I shot them. I killed them."

"Oh, Tsuna-kun." Nana's soft voice came from behind him, making him jump from his seat. Tsuna stared wide-eyed at his mother. His heart rapidly thumped against his chest. The weight seemed to get heavier and heavier each second.

"I—" Tsuna didn't know what to say. What could he say? Apologize? No, they were bad people, he rationalized. They were about to kill Tomoko. They would've probably killed more people after. They were gang-affiliated. They had guns. They sought out for blood. But they were people. And he killed them.

"Tsuna-kun," Nana said, taking a step closer. "It's okay, sweetie. You don't have to worry. There was nothing else you could've done. It's okay."

Tears trailed down Tsuna's cheeks. That didn't help. But those words, they seemed to have some effect. Because he was crying. The torrent of upsetting emotions that swirled in his chest was overwhelming, if not, terrifying. He slowly wiped away his tears. "I shouldn't have killed them..."

"Tsuna-kun, please—"

He could smell his mother's sweet fragrance. There was even a hint of soap. If only he could have her hug him, have her hold him. Maybe everything would be okay. But he couldn't. The brutal force of that reality struck him harder than it should have. He took a step back. "I'm okay."

"No, you're not," Tomoko retorted.

"Shut up!" Tsuna snapped. "It's all because of you! It's your fault."

"Tsunayoshi!" Nana exclaimed.

Tomoko looked at him uneasily. "Tsuna, calm down. You're not being rational."

"No, everything is your fault! If you hadn't been taken, I wouldn't be here feeling this—Urgh! I feel like I'm being torn apart and I don't know what to do!"

Tomoko glared at him, which only spurred Tsuna's adrenaline even more. "It wasn't my fault that I was kidnapped and it wasn't your fault that you had to kill those people! I'm sorry that you had to do that, I am, but I shouldn't be the one blamed for what happened. So sit down and shut up or leave."

Tsuna felt like someone slapped him across the face. He raked his hands through his hair before taking deep, shaky breaths. Did he say those things? No, it wasn't him...was it?

"Tsuna-kun, here, drink some juice and sit down." Nana pulled his chair over. "You're just very stressed right now. Take in deep breaths so we can talk about it more. We're here for you, Tsuna-kun. We'll listen."

Tsuna sat down heavily on the chair with his face buried in his hands. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Wait, Tomoko-ch—"

Tsuna flinched when he felt his sister's hand on his shoulder. Red bled into his vision and he fell over on his chair as something cold and firm wrapped around his neck. Hands. Someone was choking him. When he looked up, his blood stopped cold. He saw himself grinning down back at him. No, that wasn't right. Tomoko was being choked and—The assailant was him.

"—ere. Take it, Tsuna-kun!"

Tsuna snatched the pen from his mother's hand and tore away at the sketchbook she managed to bring with her from home. Dark rugged lines. Hands. Tomoko. Everything spilled onto the page before Tsuna leaned back against Tomoko's bed, heaving.

"Tsuna, what was that?" Even Tomoko sounded stricken. Of course, she didn't know.

Tsuna couldn't read the expression on Nana's face but he didn't want to know. He only looked down at his hands and vaguely thought of ways to get rid of them.

Because like hell he would find himself killing his own sister.

Gokudera ignored the odd looks he received. He supposed that it was strange for him to just hang around the outside of the hospital. He didn't really look that welcoming to be honest. More like some punk off the streets. And he was fairly conspicuous with the tattoos that were inked on his arms and face. Well, he couldn't help that. Besides, he liked his tattoos. They deserved some recognition.

"Hayato." The familiar baby voice of the feared hit man came from his right.

The teen smiled airily and raised his hand in a casual greeting. "Yo."

Reborn sat down next to him on the bench. "Where's Lily?"

Gokudera shrugged. "I sent her off to get something from the machine. It won't be long until she gets back." He draped his arm around the bench. "So, do you want a report?"

"I know what happened."

"Yeah, I figured."

"You'll be attending Namimori Middle on Monday. I want you to keep an eye on both of them."

Gokudera raised a brow but his face remained expressionless. It was a useful skill when dealing with thugs and street criminals. Stupid brutes. "Did the turd change his mind?"

"It's not an order from Iemitsu. It's an order from me. I suspect that Tsunayoshi has already awakened his Hyper Intuition along with an uncanny ability. I saw it firsthand when he met Koiso's sister, Haru."

"Kami, don't remind me of that bitch." Gokudera sighed. "I didn't ask to be invited to the party."

"You are part of mafia. No one cares what you want."

"Don't. I don't want to be reminded of my unfortunate roots. Anyway, what ability? Sky Flames already? Some fancy aerial tricks? Are hula-hoops involved?"

"No, but I believe it's connected to his Hyper Intuition. More like an unfortunate mutation. Tsunayoshi can see how people will die if they touch him. The only way for him to stop suffering from his visions is for him to draw what he saw."

Gokudera whistled lowly. "Poor kid. Makes me glad that I'm not part of the fucked up family-fest."

Something smacked him in the back of his head. Gokudera reached out and saw that it was a bag of Doritos. "Hmm, American. Nice."

"What did I tell ya 'bout cursin'?" Lily said, scowling at him.

"Thut up," Gokudera said, munching on handful of chips. "Anyway, keep an eye on the pipsqueaks? I'll do what I can."

"I'll make sure he does what he has to do, Mister Reborn," Lily said, nodding firmly.

Reborn just nodded. He hopped from the bench and walked towards the hospital's main entrance.

"And what are you going to do?" Gokudera asked, finishing his chips.

Reborn paused but didn't turn around. Heh. Cheeky little bastard. "It isn't your concern. Just make sure the brats don't get killed."

Gokudera shrugged. "I'm not a bodyguard. Just an observer."

"You are in the mafia."

"Yeah, no one cares what I want. I got it the first time."

Lily gave him a warning look but Gokudera could care less. He closed his eyes as he leaned back against the bench. Lily sat down next to him with a huff but didn't say anything. There was a moment of silence. Gokudera slowly relaxed, letting out a deep sigh. Suddenly, his head was on something soft. He opened an eye to see Lily blankly stare back at him.

"Yer neck would crack or somethin' if you slept like that," she said casually. "Just get a good shut eye. I'll keep watch."

Gokudera smirked. "Thank you for making me feel like a pedophile. I can finally be at peace."

Lily growled under her breath. "One more crap outta ya and I'll feed you to Tyrone."

"I'm going to sleep now."

Gokudera had a lot shit to deal with. He wasn't keen on having some rabid dog get thrown in the mix.

A/N WAHHH! I'm so sorry for not uploading for such a long time. Thank you for all of your concerns and I apologize for not getting back on some of your PM's. I'm getting ready for college so life has not been kind. OTL

I wanted to post this yesterday as some kind of Christmas gift but my server went down. I hope everyone can forgive me! I'll be honest though. Because I haven't been exposed to the story so much, there's not much motivation in me to write but thankfully the whole plan is still mapped out in my junk of a head and I would never abandon my babies!

The updates will be slow though since school is being a bitch and all. But never fear! I'll make sure this story is finished and completed and laid to rest in peace! NYAHAHA!

Anyways, apologies again. OTL

Merry (belated) Christmas!