nakamura1miu: ksksksks im happy you love it! sorry for the delay :DD

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il dolce far niente.

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Something that people should know about the Sawada twins is that while they look everything like their mother with their brown hair and flickering eyes, they act nothing like her. Adults cannot help but coo at them during their childhood—intertwined fingers and mirroring one another, your twins are adorable, Sawada-san! In the small and idle town of Namimori, everyone knows everybody and while the neighbors whisper about the airhead Nana (pretty in her own right with her Yamato Nadeshiko-like appearance and mannerisms) and her estranged foreigner of a husband, while the neighbors are wary of the strange visitors coming every now and then whenever the blond eccentricity comes back from a questionable job—does Sawada-san really believe that? Shh, we're not supposed to talk about it!—the neighbors absolutely love the twins.

Little Tsunayoshi who is quiet and hides behind her mother's skirt but never letting go of his twin sister, Tokuhime, the more confident and upbeat one, yet still secluded and huddled to the corner with her brother. Everybody likes to think that they know Tsunayoshi and Tokuhime like the back of their hands; Tsunayoshi dislikes the color orange, Tokuhime grimaces at cheese, Tsunayoshi does not have friends and rumor has it that he dislikes the sweet Kyoko-chan (Kyoko-chan out of all children out there; Kyoko-chan is the sweetest!), Tokuhime dislikes sports and always avoids the baseball team, which is odd since Japan takes most pride on their baseball team but maybe it's because of her foreign genes—she looks like her father the most after all, and of course, one of the most basic of facts, Tokuhime is nearby when Tsunayoshi is there, and vice versa.

And maybe it is a little sad, too sad. As twins, they can never be in the same class, always separated but for given reasons, they always find each other during breaks, something their schoolmates always see, from elementary school to their current middle school.

"It's really hard to approach Sawada," fidgeting fingers and averting eyes, "it's just that they seem like they're in a completely different world, you know?"

"Sawada twins? Well, I don't know much. They just talk when they're talked to—and not many talk to them."

Vibrant eyes and small smiles. "Them! I heard they're father's a foreigner! They're half, right?"

"No! No! Their dad is half too so that makes them—a quarter? Their surname is Sawada, you know, that's Japanese."

"I heard their mom eloped with their dad, since her parents didn't like that she was marrying a foreigner."

Reborn personally thinks this case is complicated. Too complicated for his liking. The reports that the CEDEF sent him had been facts but Reborn squinted and caught tints and hints of bias. They say that Sawada Iemitsu loves his family above all else, but Reborn learns to believe only himself, not trusting even the world's greatest informants in form of the CEDEF during missions. Iemitsu is a man even Reborn finds hard to predict, sometimes prioritizing the famiglia—he offers his son to the Nono and the aged man frowns—and sometimes, putting his own family first. Iemitsu must be one of the most selfish men that Reborn has encountered and he has met thousands upon thousands. He has this sick way of showing everyone how selfless he is, convincing and pleading everyone of how he is a good man and would do anything for his fami(glia)ly when at the very end, all the benefits point back to himself. Iemitsu's way of becoming selfish, of proving his love and adoration, is the most dangerous form of it.

(Reborn hears about the Sawada Twins—he squints his eyes at the thought that the Young Lion of Vongola actually procreated—three years after they are born. Information Headquarters of Vongola or not, Reborn is still one of the Strongest Seven, and Vongola Security is not enough to stop him from knowing a thing or two about one of the most feared men in the underworld.

Sawada Tsunayoshi and Sawada Tokuhime, with Iemitsu choosing to maintain the tradition of how ninety percent of the members of the Sawada Family takes their name from the Tokugawa Clan, who were more known as the succeeding daimyou in history. Tokuhime, as a female, obviously had not inherited this daimyou tradition and instead, received the name of a member of the Oda Clan who married into the Tokugawa Clan for political reasons. Reborn knows Mafia Traditions and he knows a purposeful name when he sees one. Iemitsu is basically saying that he will be marrying off his daughter some time soon but another thing about the mysterious Tokuhime who married into the Tokugawa Clan instead of staying within the confines of an equally great Clan, is how her mechanizations to bring down her mother-in-law ended up with her beloved husband getting killed as well. It makes Reborn think what exactly is Iemitsu thinking.

Why did he give such a tragic and horrible name to his daughter?

And then there is the male counterpart, the better heir for the throne all because of having been born with male reproductive organs—previous Donna or not, the Mafia cannot help but prefer males over the much meeker women. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi had not been an impressive daimyou; after a monk had told him that his past life was a dog, he punished everyone who had dared harm the animals, hence his nickname as The Dog Daimyou which was a distasteful reputation for a powerful man. Once again, Reborn did not understand why Iemitsu chose such odd names. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was never known as a powerful daimyou, only a foolish and animal-prioritizing one, and Tokuhime is no better.)

Reborn knows more about the twins, of course—it is expected of him to know them from the moon and back to be able to understand what kind of leaders they are going to be—more Tsunayoshi than Tokuhime but it does not hurt to be prepared. What if Tsunayoshi is mysteriously assassinated as well? Reborn remembers how dark Iemitsu's eyes had been when the throne of Vongola Decimo now belonged to either one of his beloved twins, his beloved twins with the same Sky Flames that are supposedly the most powerful and rarest of all flames. And yet he volunteered his children. Iemitsu is unpredictable, dangerous, and too reckless. And yet, Iemitsu is known as a genius by many, known as one of the most powerful members of the mafia to walk this land, especially with his CEDEF and his powerful Sky Flames. His deep association with Vongola and being the second most powerful man in the aforementioned famiglia only puts emphasis on his power.

Tsunayoshi and Tokuhime are not Flame Active (sealed by Nono himself), a shame since Reborn will have to go through the hassle of activating those flames himself (Reborn can only imagine the feeling of getting robbed by your flames, the identity that defines a person; disgusting lonely empty he would go mad). They are also, apparently, very smart with their grades always around the top rankings. Their reputation in their school are not ideal; children whisper about how creepy they are—the mysterious facade they have and the almost unreachable feel they exude. They do not have friends, barely any connections with their peers. Always together, the reports say, barely seen without one another. Another report says how much of a miracle it had been to separate them to different classes once upon a time and the anger that both of them had when the word 'far' is uttered will always be remembered.

Reliant, Reborn notes. Very much so.

He has to fix that.

The Sawada twins inherit more from their mother than from their father which is good if they choose to lead a civilian life, and will probably help with their survival in the Mafia World but as bosses? Reborn prefers seeing the sharp angles of Iemitsu behind the desk rather than seeing the soft-hearted silhouette of their annoyingly civilian mother. But he sees their growth, slowly leaning closer to Iemitsu. Slowly but surely.

Reborn still has many things to fix.

But seeing them in real life turns out to be more anti-climatic than Reborn had expected but what exactly did Reborn expect? Perhaps this, perhaps something else. The mother though, Sawada Nana, is irritatingly predictable. Should he fix that? He ends up deciding not to. Iemitsu had been firm on the fact that Nana was going to be left out of the loop for as long as he lived. Reborn thought that was stupid, both on Iemitsu and Nana's side. If he had been Nana, he would have had left Iemitsu the moment he had a chance but really, if he had been Iemitsu too, he would never have had settled down with such an airhead of a wife. He never liked people like those two—driven by emotions; one by the need to have company, and the other drunk in a relationship she likes to think as love.

When he had first seen Nana, he decided that he had never seen one as drunk in Sky Flames as Nana had been, despite having similar flames. She had been so high in the flames of Iemitsu, too much that it looked pitiful. Her soul had slowly become clouded by everything she does not see, too clouded by the beautiful Sky Flames digging deep in her bones and refusing to be let go.

And not to mention, the children. Tsunayoshi and Tokuhime look exactly like the pictures told him; slightly on the smaller side, skinny despite all the food Nana prepares for them every morning, eyes flickering from brown to a paler shade to a deeper shade depending on the lighting of the sun, sticking too close to each other for comfort.

"Ciaossu!"

This family is pathetic.

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Tsunayoshi feels like he has been waiting for this to happen for most of his life, despite his fading memories and the concerned glances he receives from his twin sister. (Just because he does not remember his own name, the name of his twin sister, a handful of happenings from the past, does not mean that he is going to completely forget; he will never forget, he will never leave Tokuhime alone so stop accusing him.) Reborn is here. Reborn is exactly as the Anime and Manga say he is; infant-looking with a particularly dangerous demeanor that the back of his head is screaming at, his consciousness tugging him away from the greatest hitman in the world, the Arcobaleno of the Sun, his home tutor that will be bringing a whole band of misfortune to him just because of his father and the blood in his veins.

He feels Tokuhime's sealed flames tickling against his own—would you die with me—almost fearfully and that makes him feel even more fearful. Tokuhime has always been the one most excited for this world between the two of them but he understands the fear; what if Reborn finds out? What if they get separated again because he cannot handle being alone with her please don't let them get separated he will do anything so please—would you die with me? I have a favor—anything, anything, anything for you.

Reborn's casualness towards the whole situation irks him, how easily he told the twins they were both the heirs to a Mafia organization but—"Tsunayoshi automatically gets to be the next Decimo," his small voice does not help and as if sensing Tokuhime's impending question, he tilts his head, and despite their feet of differences in terms of height, Tsunayoshi feels small when Reborn met Tokuhime's frown, "Tokuhime needs to learn too. Who knows when Tsunayoshi might be assassinated?"

Tsunayoshi does not fail to notice how Tokuhime's fists clench in annoyance. They both do not fail to notice the underlying comment. You're just the second option, the last option. And one thing that Tsunayoshi knows about Tokuhime is how she treasures her pride as if it is her lifeline; little Tokuhime is selfish, attention-seeking, and everything that a brat represents (but even then, I will always love you, even then) and Reborn seems to know that. He is picking up on every bit of her habits, her small flinches, and her immediate reactions. He remembers hearing Tokuhime say how much she adored Reborn's character but with the way she is frowning at the moment, he doubts that thought still remains.

Reborn easily targets Tokuhime's greatest weaknesses; her brother and her pride.

Tsunayoshi decides to interrupt. He knows, they both know, it will be better for them if they do not end up in Reborn's bad side but knowing Tokuhime and distaste towards everyone but themselves, this will go very badly. "Reborn—"

"How cute!"

The sudden appearance of Sasagawa Kyoko causes Tokuhime's frown to deepen even more. Tsunayoshi watches his sister clench her fists around the strap of her bag tightly. They have always been using the other way in order to avoid bumping into people that are not supposed to be encountered, and Kyoko is one of them, and yet, now, the very day that Reborn shows up, Kyoko choses the route they usually use. The world must be against them, forcing them to go to where it is supposed to be going. There is no escape, the world seems to say, you will always be Tsuna—and he hates it. He knows what it means when he truly becomes Tsuna and he prefers not to become that pathetic boy. If he has any say in it, he will rather leave the country and never come back, and of course, Tokuhime will be there. They will be huddled together and never leave one another because hello, hello, the Mafia will be separating them and they are terrified of that.

He meets Kyoko's eyes for a moment and his first instinct is to avoid her gaze. I don't want anything to do with you, he chants to himself, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you—

"Tsuna," Reborn calls to him the moment Kyoko finally leaves. The Mafioso does not fail to notice the odd silence that Tokuhime is sporting. He feels smug. "You want to talk to the girl, right?"

"It's not Tsuna," Tokuhime immediately fires back, her face turning red in annoyance. Everything is disappearing. Everything is breaking down all because of the appearance of Reborn. "He's called Tsunayoshi, not Tsuna."

"I don't recall asking you."

Tokuhime feels her temper rise and rise and rise and rise—she hates Reborn.

Tsunayoshi frowns. "I don't want anything to do with her," he grumbles to Reborn and begins on walking, not wanting to have this conversation so early in the morning and judging by how Tokuhime is beginning to be more aggressive with her words, neither does she. He has no mood for dealing with this annoying thing.

Reborn remains stoic as he jumps on Tokuhime's head. The girl immediately attempts to swat him off her head but fails. "Are you convincing me, or are you convincing yourself?" The toddler asks as his hand reaches for the chameleon on his hat with Tsunayoshi's back turned. "Tsuna, you should really learn to stop lying."

Annoyed, Tsunayoshi turns around. "Look, I'm not—"

"Tell Sasagawa Kyoko what you feel," Reborn says (this looks so familiar where had he seen this before what does that gun mean again he forgets he does not remember why can he not remember why why why can he not remember) and lifts his gun. He jumps up when he feels Tokuhime attempting to stop him, pale hands reaching for his form, "with your Dying Will."

(bang)

Sawada Tsunayoshi is in middle school when he dies. The last thing he sees is the look of dread in his twin sister's eyes; Tokuhime has always been a selfish child, wanting everything for herself despite the fact that Tsunayoshi has given everything for her. He has a sister? He does not remember having a sister. He wants to apologize for leaving so early, for leaving her alone, and he knows she will never ever, ever forgive him for that. The itch on the corner of his eyes suddenly appears, almost as if wanting to cry. Reborn is still perched on Tokuhime's shoulders.

He can protect Tokuhime, right?

But—tell Sasagawa Kyoko what you feel—there is that too. He has always been cruel to Sasagawa Kyoko, the kind girl looking too much like his own mother, all because of the unnatural kindness she has. He has always hated the caramel scent of her appearance, always spat on her existence because isn't she too good to be true? She is too kind to be real—too pure and untainted to be even considered human; unblemished appearance, pearly white teeth, kindness rolling off her tongue as if it is a foreign language and he used to hate that so much wait used to when did he stop when did he stop hating her when when when I don't understand you like her now you don't hate her now—

He—

He wants to apologize.

He wished he apologized to Kyoko before dying.

What a waste—

Sawada Tsunayoshi is in middle school when he dies.

It does not take long for him to be reborn.

"Apologize to Sasagawa Kyoko with my Dying Will!"

(Tokuhime weeps as her chest burns.)

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Her throat burns with the suddenness of the flavor but she does not speak to complain. Most days, she will complain and complain until she has nothing to complain about but most days is different from today, and today is different from most days. She hates it; this day ruins everything for her and if she can make a choice, if she has any say to what the world has to do, if she has a tad bit of more power, then she will want this day to disappear. It comes too early, too suddenly, and she hates it. She does not expect this to happen and nobody gives her a warning but it happens and she watches it happen before her eyes and she hates and hates and hates more than she can care to admit. Tokuhime is a woman made of envy, greed, wrath, and the seven deadly sins choke her throat like a barb wire digging through her skin and she hates. Is this all she can do? Is this all she can be? Is she really just all about hate and hate and a little more hate because there is no such thing as hating too much.

She has been hating even before she knew how to love. Is that how it is supposed to work? Does hate come before love? Because did you know, you will not know hate unless you know love, you will not know love unless you know hate? Did you know that?

It's just that—her hands let go of the chopsticks between her fingers as if she has forgotten how to use them. She has always been more comfortable with spoons, and forks, knives, and not chopsticks. The chopsticks hit the soup and she does not flinch when the heat tickles her hands, does not move when her skin reddens with the sudden touch. She does not know when she cries but she already is. The scent of ramen disappears before she can register it, the pain going along with it. Her hard seat fades, wood succumbing to cotton and silk. She tilts her head, already knowing where the change is coming from. When did she feel the most comfort with black eyes? When did she prefer abyssal gazes over the orange red orange yellow orange sunset against the kiss of skies? When did she long for the abyss to stare at her, take her, and never give her back to wherever she has come from?

She does not recall much of their encounter, but she knows it involves tears, so much of it because Tokuhime is a crybaby and that will never change since she is still crying up until now. Poor, little Tokuhime, but she thinks it is okay. The non-existent heat of the mist flames engulfs her and comforts her in more ways than one. She always feels so dirty after meeting the touch of these flames but for now, since it is not most days for today is not most days and most days is not today, she lets herself relax. "Reborn-kun must be looking for you, you know," the man's voice is cool and soothing, too fake for her liking but she supposes it is okay.

"He's not," she answers after a couple of beats. She leans forward, digging her face against the pillow that is presented before her. "He's too busy with Tsuna."

Kawahira perks up in curiosity and slumps on the seat beside her. His dark eyes twinkle in amusement and that is exactly when Tokuhime realizes he is far from amused about this. Kawahira is not normally a happy man; he is a Mist and Mists are the masters of deceit. Kawahira is no better than the next Mist, and it is no surprise that he may be a lot worse than your average Mist, perhaps worse than the future Mist Guardian of her twin brother. She hates it. "Oh?" He hums. "Tsuna? Correct me if I am wrong but did the little miss just call her beloved, her oh-so beloved, twin brother Tsuna? Could it be that a Mist has taken Toku-chan's face? You see, the first time I met the little miss was when she was beating me with her tiny, tiny, tiny fists, insisting that her Tsunayoshi is different from Tsuna! She fought me for calling her brother with a nickname, can you imagine that? So the little miss over here is probably—either a fake, or someone who finally accepts that her beloved brother is—"

"No," Tokuhime manages to croak out in annoyance, her voice cracking from the wailing she did not too long ago, "you don't understand. Tsunayoshi is not supposed to be Tsuna. I did everything so he doesn't have to be Tsuna but Reborn—Reborn just pulled his fucking gun and—it was supposed to be alright! It was supposed to be! It wasn't supposed to happen and Tsunayoshi hates Kyoko—he hates her! His Dying Will was supposed to be us. We're twins. We're siblings. We're twins! It was supposed to be us. We promised! You know what his Dying Will was? Do you know? Do you know the feeling of giving everything, of believing that everything was going to be alright—we were just us, it has always been us!—he apologized to Kyoko! His Dying Will was Kyoko! It wasn't supposed to be like that. I thought—I thought that it would be something related to us. It was supposed to be about us! I did everything for him. I—" She sobs.

If it had been her—if it had been her—her Dying Will would have been to apologize. She would have had apologized for leaving, for abandoning him, tell him that she loves him with all her heart.

"He's going to leave me," she mumbles, "he's going to become Tsuna. It isn't fair. It's not fair."

She does not move even when a palm meets her head, even when her hair—she fixes it every morning, wakes up too early to fix the curls and the twists—becomes messy with the comforting touch of the abyss. Even then, she continues to cry. "Tokuhime," Kawahira says and his tone is completely different from their topic, "you know, I was wondering who will be the next Sky Arcobaleno after Aria. I thought it would be great if it was you; passionate, greedy, a unique variation of a Sky—but, sadly, I don't have any use for broken Skies. Much less, fake Skies." He taps her chest and she winces at the remains of the burns.

Tokuhime looks at him in disbelief. "Are you—are you going to leave me too?" She asks pleadingly and Kawahira wants to frown at the pathetic display she is showing but he does not. At the end, this child is still a child.

"No, no, of course not," Kawahira shakes his head, "Tsunayoshi won't be leaving you anytime soon too. You can still be needed, Toku-chan. Just wait until the seal is completely removed. It might be a little painful but you want to be with Tsunayoshi-kun, right? You want Tsunayoshi-kun to keep on remembering, right?"

She nods helplessly, "yes."

"Then—"

Don't worry, little crybaby.

"—you just have to keep on waiting."

Save your tears.

It's just the beginning.

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(1) tokuhime isn't a yandere, nor is she romantically in love with tsunayoshi. i told you all, there are no incest that is going to happen here. this is purely the highest peak of sibling love. tokuhime and tsunayoshi have been together, even before they ended up in khr and as twins too, and have been through so much which only strengthened their bond. what happened with kyoko is just the beginning of this fic, woah! it revealed that while tsunayoshi holds dislike towards kyoko, he feels guilty about this too, and if you squint, even through the handful of times tokuhime was mentioned in his pre-dying will, he still ended up apologizing to kyoko, as his dying will and made tokuhime feel betrayed. she felt forgotten. i don't think reborn's orders affect the dying will mode, only the heavy thoughts of whoever is going to be in dying will mode, and tokuhime knew this and felt so utterly betrayed.

(2) tokuhime is, overall, a huge child. she's so afraid of being alone that it affects the way she perceives things. tsunayoshi is slowly becoming tsuna despite everything that tokuhime has done to prevent it (the things she did will be explained throughout the story) and how the hell did toku meet kawahira? well, we'll find out, ya'll.

(3) reborn and tokuhime currently dislike each other but their relationship will improve through time. reborn likes tsunayoshi because he's more reasonable than tokuhime, while he thinks tokuhime is a huge brat. he hopes tsunayoshi doesn't die because he doesn't find it ideal for tokuhime to become the decimo. reborn likes riling up tokuhime though, especially when he thinks she's predictable and just your normal brat. kawahira is a different story though. his relationship with toku is hard to explain but izzokay, it'll be explained.

(4) thank you for waiting for this chapter! i would love to hear your reviews about this, thank you very much!