Iridescence

Warnings: AU, reincarnation!fic, OOC.

Sawada Nana was a wife and a mother and, naturally, has seen a fair share of oddities in her life, and since a long, long time ago, for obscured reasons, she'd found herself pretty much unable to be surprised by any particular occurrence. It seemed obvious to her that whatever happened had already happened, and no matter how ridiculous and unbelievable, it wasn't something to waste time pondering upon, since life isn't meant to be spent on pondering at all and she knew that firsthand.

It was a much easier way to live than if she'd questioned every little thing – like where her husband spent years without contacting her, though she quite frankly didn't want to know – and she was very rarely startled by anything, though she supposed it wasn't very surprising considering that she lived in a rather calm and quiet town and there wasn't much strange around these parts. It was quite peaceful and her neighbors were quiet people and there wasn't much of the criminal element in her region of Namimori or the rest of the city. Everyone knew of the family who lived south to the town though Nana never had the pleasure of personally meeting them.

There were rumors about the Hibari family, and lately, of their only son. Nana didn't really bother to ask more since her neighbors didn't really know much about the boy apart from his astounding attraction to using sharp objects in ways people do not usually like, as well as an affliction to completely disobey what he is told, but really, she guessed it was normal for young growing boys (to some degree at least) and anyways, she was a law-abiding citizen so she wasn't to worry about something like that.

Nevertheless, if there was one thing that she found slightly surprising in her whole life, it was her delightful little son Tsu-kun that brought with him both a sense of strangeness and déjà vu.

(And she knew because that was her little Tsu-chan but that wasn't a story she could really tell anyone—)

Tsunayoshi, how her husband had named their boy since it appeared to be Iemitsu's family tradition to name the Sawada line's male children after shoguns for some reason Nana never got around to ask her darling husband for, was a surprisingly quiet child, and didn't even scream much when he was very little.

In fact, he rarely ever screamed and it would've unnerved any other parent to see a baby with such an oddly blank stare directed at them out of the blue. It did have that effect on the boy's own father Iemitsu – "Oh, let me take a look at my lil' Tsuna-chan over here- uwah! Tsuna-chan, don't scare your papa like that!" – but she was Sawada Nana and Sawada Nana made lemonade from the lemons life ever thought of giving her, not that Tsuna was a lemon.

(Tsuna was a delight really, and a sweetheart, even if he probably didn't remember anything—)

Besides, Tsu-kun was too cute for his own good, with those eyes of his, especially in the – sadly – rare cases when he displayed genuine happiness at something. He got those sparkles around him, the twinkling kind. It was adorable, even if Tsu-kun seemed to glare at being called 'cute'. It looked more like a pout though, but that wasn't the point.

The little boy was such a treasure that it came as a small surprise when Nana, with a slightly painful pang in her chest, realized that something seemed amiss.

She searched for it, for the thing that was wrong. She tried to understand what saddened her when she smiled at Tsu-kun and Tsu-kun didn't look back quite like a child should at a parent – a mother – and it took her more time than she'd think necessary – in bouts of self-criticism, she cursed herself for not being more observant, more understanding – to narrow it down and what was depressing was that she couldn't actually do anything about it.

Tsuna looked at both Iemitsu and Nana in the same distant way.

And Nana couldn't do anything about it.

So Nana let it go, at least for now. She could deal with herself and try again, since she was a mother, Tsu-kun's mother, and he very much deserved at least one parent, if Iemitsu did not think a responsibility of a father was important.

Sawada Nana was nothing if not persistent.

...

(But still, Iemitsu was fine, Tsuna met Iemitsu for the first time, but what about her—)

(But she did know that he probably didn't remember anything so she should've been ready—)

(But if he doesn't, then why doesn't Tsu-kun see them as his parents?)

...

When Tsuna was a year old and they were walking past a playground where the older kids were playing in a small, child-sized court with low hoops and high fences and Nana'd felt the hand holding her's tense, she looked down to see her son slow down in front of the entrance. His eyes were glued to the orange ball bouncing from hand to hand in the other children's hands, thudding against the ground and squeaking in other's grips. Nana had realized that she'd probably never seen her son so lively – a light dancing his eyes, his suddenly narrowed irises darted after the ball as he remained rigidly still, his little fist clenching onto Nana's fingers tighter than ever.

Nana had almost missed it since Tsuna was a quiet child, but she was a mother and it was a blood responsibility of hers to hear whatever Tsu-kun had to say about the world for the first time in his life.

She did – of course she did – and she took in that look on her son's face and she decided then that she knew what she'd give her son for his birthday.

Nana had never been so happy in her life as when she watched Tsuna open his present. She'd learned that Tsu-kun's expressions can light the world in more ways than the sun could.

Nana had also decided that she wanted to make him smile like that more.

...

"...And the kids around here love to play in the court. What a wonderful weather, ne– Tsu-kun?"

"..."

"Tsu-kun?"

"..."

"..."

"B..."

"Ara, Tsu-kun? What did you say?"

"B-basketball..."

...

When Tsuna celaborated his third birthday in the quiet of their house and Nana started bringing him along to people gatherings with other parents or her friends to somehow encourage him interacting with others, it didn't work out quite like she had hoped.

She didn't quite understand why some could be so surprised – though she supposed that was an understatement – when Tsu-kun looked at them in that funny manner without blinking, but neither did she understand why, by the time her son started walking and talking and expressing his thoughts by the age of two, which was quite early by all standards, people would suddenly startle and even yell in surprise when Tsu-kun was standing right in front of them the whole time, as if they only noticed him when he made a noise or spoke up.

And this was the problem – Tsu-kun appeared to be... invisible to other people.

Not literally, of course. But in all honesty?

Tsu-kun could probably rob a bank in broad light and no one would probably know any better.

When Nana brought her child to kindergarten, the staff hadmit appeared to notice him until Nana pointed out with a smile, though didn't particularly question such a reaction as her life position suggested, and had instead joked that the sensei should check her eyesight and so, unintentionally, she prevented her son from going to kindergarten since the teacher was not pleased to hear that and – funny woman; clearly she doesn't understand how to take the right hints at all – instead took offense.

Pointedly, the sensei glared at her and asked Nana to look for another kindergarten.

Just as pointedly, Nana fixed them with a wide smile, commented on their manners, and left, since she didn't want her already delightfully polite son – though she would've been equally as happy if he displayed more emotions – to be influenced by such infantile behavior the grown ups here had.

She'd used a small bit of the Tone so they did pale, as if they were scolded children instead of grown ups. They really should behave more like the adults they are or kindergartens will go bankrupt.

(And Nana knew how to be an adult because she had been an adult for a long time, longer than even the old lady at the grocery shop—)

Tsu-kun wasn't very upset – the opposite actually – and Nana was okay – since Tsu-kun was much more advanced than the other children for his age – and everyone were satisfied – since Nana bought a low hoop for Tsu-kun to play basketball at home – and that was that.

...

Nana thought that decidedly, Tsu-kun's behavior could be considered as a bit.. odd.

It looked rather puzzling how her son could gaze at everything with such a mature face, eat without spilling anything on the table or himself, do everything Nana said without complaint and dress up entirely by himself.

He even helped with chores, which was, by far, one of the least likely things young boys do.

He didn't cry.

He didn't scream.

He didn't whine.

Of course she wasn't complaining – she just didn't think her son would be such a... well-behaved boy. Certainly not with Iemitsu as his father, if genes weren't a myth. She was a bit worried that something might be wrong.

(Of course, she supposed, if she was right, some things don't change, even with time set anew—)

But still, at the same time, no matter how controlled Tsu-kun seemed, there were times when Nana would find him looking at other people in a way she couldn't exactly understand.

She didn't notice it right away. It was just small things – usually, by the time she looked closer, it was gone, but sometimes, she was able to catch them. The gazes directed at people that happened to pass by – gazes filled with emotion that Nana hadn't ever seen in Tsuna's eyes yet.

It was when they were returning from the playground – where the other children just ignored Tsu-kun most of the time and when Tsu-kun alerted them to his presence, they screamed "ghost" and scattered – that Nana could finally put her finger on that look.

Tsu-kun was looking.

...No, not just looking.

He was looking... for.

He was searching.

Nana stilled with the realization and this time, it was Tsuna's turn to stop when he felt Nana's hand tense around his.

She looked up at the sky with a frown.

She shook her head.

And then she'd crouched down to Tsuna's level and he looked at her in the eye in a dull manner and Nana, for once, didn't smile and only looked back. She did not blink, she did not move, she only gazed into light brown eyes with her own dark ones.

She sighed and whispered into the boy's ear.

His eyes widened drastically, the mask he maintained since birth cracking and he looked at her with big, light-filled eyes.

...

"Tetsu-chan..."

"O... o... kaa-san?"

"Mmhhmm, Tsu-chan."

"..."

"..."

"K-kaa-san..."

...

Tsuna was a little lost, and a lot confused, and very shocked and for the first time in (t)his whole life, he voluntarily hugged his mother.

It is needless to say that it in order made Nana very happy when she felt something wet drip down her coat.

It wouldn't do good not to cry a little in a while. Especially, in such a long while.

Reunions are precious things after all.

...

When Tsu-kun was five and it was summer, her husband Sawada Iemitsu brought with him an old man to visit his and Nana's house. The man was Iemitsu's company's boss and he was an energetic man with soft brown eyes and a kindness that must've been buried somewhere very deep inside because while Nana was sometimes a bit 'up in the clouds', she was also very good at reading people.

Good thing Tsu-kun inherited that. It wouldn't be good to be too trusting, even if she always taught her son to be very kind to people and never voice suspicions because it was rude even if true, and Nana was secretly relieved when her son stood slightly behind her when they first greeted the two men at the airport. In fact, while she did wonder why Timoteo didn't even glance down at the child while speaking with Nana, she was sort glad. She didn't want this man to look at Tsu-kun the same way he looked at his phone sometimes when he excused himself and walked a distance away and talked in hushed tones about things Nana was sure she certainly didn't want to know about.

Timoteo-san was polite, knew Japanese customs, had a very small accent, treated Nana with grandfatherly love and respect, and she quickly confirmed that he wasn't able to see Tsu-kun at all. It really was all her dear Iemitsu boasting about how much he loved Tsuna that actually alerted the man to the fact that the boy was really there. It turned out Timoteo thought Tsuna had been in kindergarten because he knew Iemitsu had a son and assumed that if he hadn't been brought along to the airport, then he must've been in kindergarten because where else could he be. Iemitsu was also quite the hypocrite, given that he took strangely little notice of the child and mostly kept missing the boy who might even stand in front of the man and be ignored and – fortunately or unfortunately – Tsu-kun wasn't particularly bothered by that.

Nana wasn't sure if she should be worried or not.

...

"Nana-chan, where's Tsuna-chan?"

"Oh yes, Nana-san, where is little Tsunayoshi? Iemitsu told me all about him. He's a really cute little boy, ne?"

"Ara... What are you talking about? He's right here~!"

"What? Of course he's not, Nana-chan– AH!"

"What– Ts-Tsunayoshi?!"

"Ohayou gozaimasu, otou-san, Timoteo-san."

...

"Anata, could you please bring Tsu-kun over here so we can have dinner together with Timoteo-san?"

"Of course Nana-chan– oi, where's my little tuna fish?"

"I am not a tuna fish, otou-san, I'm a human being. Please stop calling me that."

"Uwahhh! Where did you come from, Tsuna-chan!?"

"Please call me Tsuna, otou-san, or by the name you have given me."

"Wah, so cold!"

"...Iemitsu, dear, you shouldn't be surprised since Tsu-kun doesn't like being called a fish – I don't think anyone would like to be called a fish. I thought you knew that~"

"But Nana-chan-!"

...

"Timoteo-san, would you mind looking for Tsu-kun? We're going for a walk soon so we've got to dress him up!"

"Of course, Nana-san. Just a moment – I can't seem to find him... Do you know where he might be?"

"I'm ready, kaa-san."

"...!"

"Yes, Timoteo-san?"

"Ts-Tsunayoshi-kun! When did you come?!"

"I was here the whole time."

...

Honestly, Nana would think Tsu-kun was enjoying it if she didn't know better.

(Or maybe she didn't. Tsu-kun looked far too amused than usual. Maybe she should stop buying him vanilla ice cream until he started behaving better.

Positively, she should do that.)

...

The only time Tsuna had drawn attention to himself was when he went outside to play with his basketball and a dog somehow managed to get onto their house property and Timoteo-san along with Iemitsu found Tsu-kun playing joyfully with it – which seemed to surprise Iemitsu because for some inexplicable reason, he had been convinced Tsuna was afraid of dogs.

Possibly because he was actually afraid of them himself, as Nana had once witnessed.

The things prejudices can do.

Good thing Tsuna didn't inherit that.

Nana had also seen an odd look on Timoteo-san's face – exactly the one that she did not want to see directed at her son – and so she'd asked if he was tired or needed water or anything and he'd turned to say that he was fine and nothing to worry about and when he turned back to the back yard, he seemed quite lost for some reason, as if he expected to see Tsu-kun playing even though he'd already ran off with the dog into the front yard while the man looked away.

Of course, Tsu-kun didn't stomp like an elephant, which might have been why people including Timoteo kept missing him.

And mildly perplexed, the man had stood up and headed back into the house and Nana followed him and offered some tea and they spent the rest of the day chatting while nothing strange happened and they had a fine time. The man didn't even ask if it was okay to let a five-year-old loose like that with no one to look after him, almost as if he completely forgot about Tsuna, though if he had asked, Nana would've said that Tsu-kun never got into trouble since, thankfully, it seemed to ignore him as of now, but Timoteo hadn't so Nana didn't bring it up.

Tsu-kun had returned later and walked past the kitchen and upstairs and neither Nana's husband or their guest even glanced in his direction. She'd thoughtfully stood in the doorway as she watched her son disappear up the stairs and then shrugged when Iemitsu called her about something.

Nothing eventful happened in those days and Tsu-kun looked quite content with their guest though Nana did take notice of how he sometimes stood a small distance away from Timoteo and watched him with those much too acute brown eyes of his – not that the man even deigned to look over at Tsuna or anything. Honestly, it was as if the man thought Tsuna wasn't there.

She'd go back to the dishes and hum under her breath while Tsu-kun went outside to play his beloved basketball.

Some questions are better left until both the men are asleep.

...

"Tsu-kun, is something the matter with Timoteo-san?"

"...Everything is alright. Please do not worry, kaa-san."

"Ara, is that so?"

"Yes, kaa-san."

"Mou, he doesn't seem to pay any attention to you, Tsu-kun... I wonder why~"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Tsu-chan?"

...

Two days later when it was time for both of the men to depart, Nana and Tsuna waved them goodbye at the gates and Timoteo had looked strangely at Tsu-kun again. He'd crouched down and hesitantly stretched his hand over to Tsu-kun's forehead but then looked back at Nana – she smiled very cheerfully at him; 'the kind man wants to pat Tsu-kun's hair as a goodbye, right?' was something to be read in her eyes – and then he looked back at Tsuna who stared up at him in that both keen and dull manner of his and the man, slightly taken aback for some reason, swiftly withdrew his hand and quickly stood up as the child continued watching him unblinking with impassive eyes.

And then a car pulled by and Iemitsu and Timoteo got in and disappeared down the streets only God knows where and for who knows how much time.

Nana sighed, shook her head, and ushered her son back into the house where they shared dinner and went to bed early.

(And Nana felt as if a piece of the Script has just been thrown to the winds—)

A/N: THAT'S IT

NO MORE WATCHING ANGEL BEATS AT NIGHT

OR KUROBASU

OR REBORN

NONONO THAT'S A BAD COMBINATION

I'LL JUST GO WRITE 'CAT' OR SOMETHING

'M SORRY

I'LL GO TO THE CORNER NOW

(*leaves to the corner, waits for everyone to turn away and continues to write this anyway since I have a whole summary to explain*)

(As a side note – if someone is even reading this, all the subtle things you might've noticed are indeed intentional and if there's something you do not understand, it's part of the plan.)

(I think.)

(I am so going to regret this tomorrow.)