Beauty and the Beasts

Summary: Sawada Tsunako is just a young girl on an errand. So, how did she end up the savior of the Beasts?? Fem!Tsuna. Pairings inside.

Pairings: All27, one-sided D27 in the beginning. There will eventually be something-27, but we'll see as the story goes.

Disclaimer: Sadly, KHR belongs to me as much as apples are similar to broccoli. As in, not at all.

1: Introducing the Beauty

"Tsuuu-chaaannn~~"

A rather energetic brown haired woman burst into the small room that belonged to her daughter, seeing the lump in the bed and the few strands of dark brown hair that peered out from underneath the homemade covers. She crossed the messy room, where plush animals lay abandoned on the floor, and books lay with their spines facing the ceiling, thrown into the corners or on the bed, or under the bed. The woman made her way skillfully through this labyrinth and reached down to shake the girl in the covers once again.

"Come on, Tsu-chan, Uncle Reborn wants you to run some errands again. Oh, and breakfast is ready. Lambo and I-Pin are over for breakfast again so if you want something to eat, you better hurry~" Sawada Nana smiled, before firmly shaking her daughter once again and then picking her way out of the room.

Sawada Tsunako, called Tsuna by everybody, blearily blinked open her soft chocolate brown eyes, her lips forming an O as she yawned, stretching her slender arms above her head and stretching out her full five foot frame in the soft bed. She rolled over, misjudging, once again, the distance she had to the end of the mattress.

With a loud thump and a squeal of pain, Tsuna landed on the floor, wincing as she rubbed the back of her head. With a sigh, the clumsy fifteen year old stood up, her nightgown brushing her knees as she padded, barefoot, to the pale orange dress draped over the back of a simple wooden chair that faced a loom with a half-finished piece of cloth on it.

Tsuna touched the thin fabric with her delicate fingers, running a hand through her hair with her free hand. Glancing quickly at her reflection in the bucket of water that stood under the leak in her roof, she tied back the long parts that draped over her shoulder with a ribbon, making the spiky parts in the front behave with said collected rain water.

After pulling on the pale orange dress, which was a favorite of hers, and a white apron with a smudge in the corner, Tsuna headed for the kitchen, still rather tired.

From all the way down the hall, she could hear the banging of wooden bowls on the table, as the shrieking voice of the child that lived not too far down the road called for more food. This shrieking voice was followed by a higher-pitched, but reprimanding, "Lambo, bad!"

Tsuna smiled tiredly. A girl's work was never done. Turning the corner into the kitchen, she spotted her mother stirring a pot over the fire, as Lambo shouted once again and fell forward onto the table as I-Pin smacked him with her hand. The child, with a thick head of black hair and golden cow horns, began to cry.

Despising the noise the child was making, Tsuna rushed over, trying to calm down the young five year old. Glancing up, she saw her uncle watching her with an amused eye.

"At least help," Tsuna muttered, patting the top of Lambo's afro rather awkwardly. I-Pin, who sat patiently, got to her feet, the top of her head barely breaching the table, even on the chair.

"Tsuna-chan is nice. Lambo and I will go play," I-Pin announced, grabbing the hand of the other child and leaping off her chair, dragging the other with her. Various items fell out of Lambo's hair and Tsuna grimaced. She sat down at the table, putting her head on her arms.

Suddenly, Reborn threw a rock-hard raisin at Tsuna. "I need you to go to town and buy these from Dino's shop," Reborn said, throwing a list tied with a thin yellow ribbon in Tsuna's direction. It landed in front of the girl, after doing several tricks in the air. Reborn watched with an expressionless face as Tsuna read the entire list. "Oh, and I need you to deliver them to Collonello."

"You can do it right, Tsu-chan?" Nana smiled as she placed a bowl and a plate in front of her daughter.

Tsuna sighed. This was going to take her the entire day. Reborn's best friend, Collonello, lived way far deep in the woods. "Yeah, I can do it," she muttered, knowing full-well what was going to happen if she didn't. Eating the food her mother had made her in silence, Tsuna quickly scanned the list again.

This is a lot of stuff...She worried. How am I going to carry it all?

"Oh," Reborn spoke up again, his eyes watching his niece as he gauged her reaction. Sometimes, Tsuna believed, Reborn enjoyed watching her suffer. Yet Nana refused to believe a word of it. "And don't you dare peek at what I'm about to give you. Or you know what's going to happen." Reborn smirked and Tsuna shuddered delicately as she accepted the small box her uncle gave her.

Tsuna smiled warily as she pulled on her cloak and slipped the list and package into the pockets. "Jaa, ittekimasu(1)." She said as she stood up.

"Itterasshai(2)!" Nana called out. A few moments of silence passed after the door shut behind Tsuna, silence Nana filled with gentle humming. Reborn stood up then, stretching his long limbs.

"I'm headed out as well," he said. "I might not be back for dinner." The lean man's eyes shone rather mischievously as he left the house. Nana, however, shrugged it off and returned to preparing lunch. Lambo and I-Pin would be hungry.

In town now, Tsuna slowed down her pace, enjoying the sounds of the busy morning, as vendors displayed brightly colored fruits and delicious smelling pies. However, she knew it was just stalling. She didn't enjoy going to Dino's shop very often, mainly because the shop owner seemed to have what some might call a crush on the young Tsunako. Dino, a tall, handsome blue-eyed blond, was always offering Tsuna discounts and flirting lightly with her every time she stepped into the store.

Dino was the small village's sweetheart, the heartthrob of every girl in the town. It was because of this affection the blond felt towards Tsuna that had made the fifteen year old girl the center of sharp remarks and jeers as she passed through the streets, attempting to remain undetected.

Like always, she was unsuccessful.

"Oh look, it's Dame Tsuna(3)!"

"Going to fall into the fountain again, Dame Tsuna?"

"You're so mean, blowing off poor Dino-sama…"

Tsuna flinched, knowing full well that those words were always true. Wasn't it just two days ago that she had tripped over a chicken and fallen into the fountain? If that hadn't been bad enough, the last time she had seen Dino, he had thrown an arm over her shoulder and she had blushed such a deep red and become so flustered that she had nothing better to do than run away.

With another depressed sigh, Tsuna entered the shop that belonged to Dino. The blond, seated behind the counter reading a book, looked up the moment the small bell tinkled.

"Ah, it's Tsu-chan~" Dino grinned, stepping off his stool and promptly tripping and landing on the top of the wooden counter. One of his workers, Romario, ran out of the back room, shaking his head slightly when he saw what had happened to his boss.

"Ah, ohayou gozaimasu(4), Tsunako-san," Romario bowed quickly, before he took a seat in a chair not far away from Dino. Smiling sheepishly, the taller blond turned his attention onto the young fifteen year old.

"What can I do for you today, Tsu-chan?" Dino said, ignoring his other customers.

"I-I just need everything on this list," Tsuna stammered, handing over the slip of paper. Dino scanned it and smiled slightly.

"It's all for Reborn, isn't it," he stated matter-of-factly. "You just wait right there. I'll be back with everything you need, for one low price of ten silver pieces."

"N-No, please don't do that, Dino-san!" Tsuna protested, holding her hands in front of her, her fingers shaking.

Tsuna sighed, knowing her protests were useless. Just then, the bell tinkled once again and a young boy entered, a hat over his blue-gray-green hair, said hair covering one of his light blue eyes. He was dressed rather strangely, with a long pale brown cloak that had frayed edges. The edges dragged along the dusty floor of the shop as the boy, a little shorter than Tsuna, walked over to Romario.

"The usual," he said with a rather strange accent. Romario, noticing the boy, smiled.

"You got it, Basil," the employee stood up and followed his boss to the back room. All the other customers had left already, knowing that their needs were not going to be fulfilled as long as Tsuna was in the shop, so it was now just Tsuna and the boy.

Basil, as Tsuna guessed was the name of said boy, looked rather calm, standing with his hands clasped on something inside of his cloak and his eyes never straying from the closed door that led to the back room.

"U-Um," Tsuna spoke up slightly and the boy turned around, eyes widening. "Are you new to town?" Tsuna said quickly, before she lost her courage.

Basil grinned briefly. "Nope," Basil said brightly. "I live in the woods, with my mentor. Name's Basil by the way," he held out his hand and Tsuna took it. The door opened again, this time by a huge wind that blew through the center of the village, scattering fruits and vegetables and Basil's cloak lifted up. Quickly though, he managed to get it back under control, but not before Tsuna spotted what seemed to be a fluffy white tail underneath the cloak.

Perplexed, because she knew about animal-people from Reborn, Tsuna wondered why Basil was hiding it. Then, she remembered. They were called Beasts, a race different from humans. They were cursed beings, forced to live, secluded from humans, with animal traits that made it difficult for them to fit into society. Tsuna knew that they originated from a man named Giotto, who was rumored to have done something to displease a witch of the past. She had cursed him, and all his friends (who had been with him at the time) and now, the race had grown.

Except yet, at the same time, they were rarely seen. They were a secretive people, tending to keep to themselves and those they considered their friends. But, it was also rumored that anybody that wondered too far into the woods, and into their territory, would get kidnapped and never returned until a specific thing was accomplished. Usually, the Beasts never even told anybody what the specific thing was.

Basil, now realizing what Tsuna had seen, and seeming to recognize the young girl as something much more than just a girl, grabbed Tsuna's hand. "Sorry Romario!" he called over his shoulder just as the black-haired mustached man appeared once again. "I have to do something!"

Tsuna, stumbling behind the fast running rabbit Beast, felt a few moments of panic rush through her head before she was pulled into the woods. Her feet couldn't keep up with the speed of Basil's rabbit-like legs, and she tripped over a root, flying head over heels down a ravine as Basil just simply sledded down, his cloak flapping in the wind behind him. His hat flew off and light brown rabbit ears were revealed to the world.

Tsuna's fall was stopped by a bush, and she lay there for a few moments, spitting out leaves, dirt and pebbles as she sat up slowly, brushing off dirt from her dress. "What was that for?" she demanded.

Basil seemed to ignore her however, answering only with a simple, "Please forgive me. But this is important." He fished a whistle out of his cloak and blew into it, a shrill bird-like call.

And then, they waited.

While they waited, Basil explained the current situation.

Because Tsuna had seen that Basil was a Beast, it was his duty that he made sure she never told anybody there was a group of them living in the woods just outside the village. Tsuna frowned, wondering why they had to go to such extreme measures to make sure she stayed silent. Basil didn't bother to explain that, only saying that it was because something similar had happened last time and it hadn't ended so well for the Beasts.

Tsuna sighed, rubbing her bruised arm. Her apron was beyond saving, as it was now stained with dirt and as brown as her hair, which had as many things sticking out of it as Lambo did.

She didn't try to run away though, because she already knew how fast Basil could go. And besides, her knees stung and the ravine was steep.

She hugged her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth slightly. Suddenly, Basil's ears perked up and he stared at one specific spot between two trees.

Two boys appeared, one a silverette, the other black-haired. The silverette surveyed Basil with wary eyes as the other approached cautiously, black dog-like ears pressed back against his head.

He sniffed the air and then relaxed. "It's alright," he said cheerfully, directing the statement at the still obviously tense silverette. "It's just Basil and the human. There's nobody following them and we weren't followed either."

"She's a human," the silverette muttered, tearing off viciously what seemed to be a rather strange piece of bamboo. The stick he was eating from was red, after all. As far as Tsuna could remember, bamboo was green.

"Basil, are you sure it's her this time?" the black-haired one asked. "You've brought us nine others and none of them have been right."

Basil grinned. "I'm positive this time," he said. "She talked to me first."

"Don't you just usually grab the first girl you see wearing an orange dress?" the silverette accused, shaking his head as some of his silver hair got into his face.

"No!" Basil retorted, sticking out his tongue.

"Maa, maa, futari doumo(5)…" the black-haired one chuckled quietly. "Let's give off a good first impression!"

Good first impression? It's too late for that!! Tsuna thought-shouted, panicking on the inside. Maybe…since they were all distracted…she could just sneak away…

The silverette rolled his eyes, before pulling a stick of orange bamboo out of the bag he wore on his back. His olive green eyes surveyed the human with animosity and Tsuna froze. There was something about this guy's glare that kept her rooted to the spot.

The silverette lifted his hand and Tsuna winced, not knowing what to expect. However, he dropped his hand and a piece of orange bamboo landed lightly in her lap. Tsuna looked down, a little perplexed. What was she supposed to do with this piece of orange bamboo? It wasn't like she was going to eat raw bamboo!

"Eat it," the silverette seemed to be capable of reading Tsuna's mind, telling her to do exactly what she did not want to do.

Tsuna blinked. "Eh?" she said, very, very confused. The silverette crossed his arms, bushy ringed tail fluffing out behind him, rounded red-brown ears twitching in annoyance.

"Eat it," he repeated.

Tsuna, really worried now, although knowing she had nothing else she could do, did as she was bid, biting down onto the tip of the bamboo. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting something horrible to happen. However, nothing did. The only thing that did happen was a burst of energy through her body.

She took another bite, rather enjoying the feeling.

"She's the one, alright," the black-haired boy grinned broadly. "I'm Yamamoto, by the way,"

Tsuna nodded slowly, when she suddenly felt herself being pulled to her feet by a rather warm hand. The previously animistic boy was grinning at her now, his olive eyes alight with a new fire. "Gokudera at your service, Tenth," he said with a big grin.

"G-Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna smiled uncertainly, now completely confused, lost, and rather frightful. There was something feral in the dark green eyes that bored holes in her forehead.

Yamamoto appeared behind Gokudera then, gripping the other boy's shoulder with his hand, while laughing. He cast Gokudera a warning eye when he thought the girl wasn't looking, and Gokudera growled low under his breath. "What's your name, by the way?" Yamamoto chuckled, pulling back Gokudera.

"T-Tsunako…" the girl stammered. "What's happening?" she squeaked in fright, as Yamamoto pulled her onto his back.

"We'll be taking care of you from now on," Yamamoto announced. "Thanks for all the hard work, Basil," he nodded at Gokudera and the silverette rolled his eyes, tossing five sticks of blue bamboo tied together by a red ribbon at Basil. The rabbit caught them easily and nodded before darting away into the forest.

"W-Where are we going?" Tsuna stammered as Yamamoto began to run. She thought he had left the silverette behind, when she spotted the bright silver hair in the trees, keeping pace with them. "And what do you want with me??"

"All will be explained, Tsunako," Yamamoto's voice was rather ominous.

So…What's going to happen to poor Tsunako-chan? Who knows? XD

Oh, and this was originally going to be a really cracky crack-fic, but it might actually be somewhat serious, haha. Anyhow, it's kinda cracky. Cause I'm pretty sure some of the characters are really OOC.

I'm sorry!! *slams head into ground repeatedly*

Hibari: *appears randomly* Flamers will be bitten to death, because flamers are just herbivores that need to be punished.

Mukuro: Kufufu~ So violent, Hiba-pii~~

Gokudera: ..... Oi! What are you doing here???

Akai: Huuu... I was about to ask you guys the same thing. =.=

Yamamoto: Remember to review! Haha!

Japanese-English glossary:

(1): Jaa, ittekimasu – Then, I'm leaving

(2): Itterasshai – See you!

(3): Dame Tsuna – No good Tsuna

(4): Ohayou gozaimasu – Good morning

(5): Maa, maa futari doumo… – Now, now, you two…