COULD HAVE BEEN

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Chapter One

The fall season in Namimori was colder than the years before and Tsunayoshi did not like it one bit. He was running late to school once again and hated the chilled wind cutting against his skin. It hurt a lot. He tugged at his brown wooly scarf thankful that his mom managed to throw it at him before he left the door.

'It's so cold! Why is it so cold?' The 16 year old chanted in his mind. He caught sight of something blue flying past him. His eyes were trapped on the sight and trailed after it slowly facing behind him but tripped along the way. Crashing with a "yelp!" slim Tsuna landed on his stomach, groaning in pain.

'Argh! Even the floor is cold…'

"HIEEEE!" He screamed realizing something important, very important, to his life.

"NOW I'M GOING TO BE COLDER, IN PAIN AND LATTEEEEEEEE!" He screamed stumbling to get off the floor, slipping on some brown leaves before jolting forward not long after turning into the school's gate.

There he came face to face to a twin set of familiar and incredibly famous tonfas.

"Oh no…" 'Please don't let it be…'

"Herbivore…," a deep voice spoke scaring the shit out of Tsuna preparing him for his incoming death.

Edging his head to look at the dark shadow in front of him, Tsuna literally almost cried. He whimpered in his mind. 'No! Not Hibari-san!'

"…you're late and for that…"

'Please don't say it! Please don't say it! God I beg you please stop him from saying it!'

"Kamikurosu."

'GOD WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH!' He cursed crying in his mind letting out his equally famous "HIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Tsuna sighed as he limped home. 'So far…' He grunted when his left thigh throbbed in pain 'I hate today.' The young brunet sighed in frustration.

Seriously! Why couldn't today be a nice day? Was it so hard for it to be pleasant? Tsunayoshi felt dejected. He should have known this was going to be horrible. There were signs everywhere! Even before he left the warmth of his house; first off he woke up late feeling cramped, his alarm didn't seem to feel like working this morning, he tripped more often than usual before reaching the bedroom door, when he opened it he got jumped on by Lambo (a family friend's kid). He tripped in the bathroom almost hitting his head on the toilet sit though his toothbrush fell in the toilet…at least he had a spare. His uniform was missing and found it 10 minutes later in his dad's closet (Why was it even there!). He tripped down the 14 steps of his house banging his head on the wooden flooring, he burned his tongue trying to eat the toast, stumped his toe on the stupid table and bit his tongue at the same time. It was by a miracle that Tsuna finally managed to get out of the house screaming and partially crying. Really… the signs were everywhere.

School wasn't any better. Hibari, Nami-chuu's disciplinary committee chairmen, helped make his day worse. Being dame-Tsuna he was prone to have bullies on him even when it was cold, guess bullying helped the cold bastards at school warm up their ice hearts.

Yeah, Tsuna resented a lot of things and people…and right now? he resented the weather.

'Damn the cold wind!'

He neared his house and noticed a single white moving truck next door. He stopped walking to look at it in wonder. 'New neighbors?' The Sawada's used to be neighbors to a dog women, something similar to a crazy cat women you could say. She wasn't crazy (maybe a little) but she had a lot of dogs (A LOT!). She had moved out just two weeks ago because of an incident with the kids staying at his house that involved almost blowing up her dogs (she claims), maybe that's why people called her crazy and not just because of the overpopulation of dogs. He remembered going into her house one time because of her oldest dog that slept in his room somehow. He was slightly traumatized by the condition of the place. Dogs everywhere and claw marks on the wall, it looked like a warzone. He was glad she was moving out but he felt that no one was going to move in because he didn't see her doing any renovations to the place either (the place really needed it). 'That was fast...'

He stopped staring having gotten bored at the thought of new neighbors and walked into his house.

"Kaa-san! I'm home!"

"Ah! Tsu-kun!"

Tsuna's mother, Nana, hurried out of the kitchen to greet her son. She looked excitedly at him and Tsuna knew she was up to something. Tsuna sighed. 'Arghh…I don't think I'll like this…'

"What happened?"

"We Have A New Neighbor!" Nana exclaimed happily. She giggled as she threw her arms up in the air. "Aren't you excited?"

"Ahaha…not really…?" Tsuna side glanced.

"Oh poo! Don't act like that! Come help mama with dinner alright?" Tsuna looked at his mother in shock. 'Did she just ask me to help make dinner? NANI?' Nana never once let Tsuna cook anything in the kitchen with her consent. The kitchen was her territory: Don't Touch It. The was the simple rule she placed for Tsuna ever since that one day last year Tsuna wanted to surprise his mother with a breakfast…she was surprised alright…let's just say he wasn't made for the kitchen yet. Now he secretly practices in the school's economic class during lunch and breaks.

"Eh? Wait what? Um I don't mind but…is there something happening?"

"Yes! I knew Tsu-kun was smart!" She said proudly.

Tsuna laughed awkwardly not wanting to comment.

"I invited our new neighbor over for…DINNER!" Yeah, she was a bit too excited. Sometimes Tsuna was really worried for his mother.

"Eh! But you don't even kno-"

Cut off by Nana's arm pulling him across the hall and pushing him into the kitchen, Tsuna tumbled trying to keep up with his overly excited mother.

"Now, Tsu-kun let us begin!"

Fifteen minutes had passed,Tsuna had his selves rolled up to his elbows and was washing his hands. He rubbed his hands in the runnng cold water, turning to look at his mother, he sighed at how busy she was working at the stove. He truned off the tap and dried his hands on some paper towels. "Kaa-san, I think that's all the help I can give you…" he threw the wet paper towel in the trash. "So I'm going to go upstairs to do homework" He walked backwards, rolling his selves down and turning towards the door.

"Thank you Tsu-kun, you were very helpful. I'll call you down for dinner when I'm done." She called after him mindlessly. He smiled nervously to his mother as he walked out the kitchen. 'All I did was cut the vegetables…' he sighed. 'yeah she still doesn't trust me to cook' He shook his head in disappointment and ran up the stairs to hopefully complete at least one question of his homework.

Tsuna laid on the floor belly flat as he scribbled on his homework notebook crushing papers under the pressure of his elbows. He sticks the back end of his pen in his mouth, chewing in irritation and furrowing his brows in frustration. Finally, he sighs heavily, dropping his head down touching his forehead to the cool surface of the notebook. "Why is math so darn hard?" he looks back up with defeat written across his brown doe eyes.

The doorbell rung, Tsuna shot his head up at the sound. Right about now his mother would rush to the door and see who was here so he waited for the sound of his Okaa-san walking across the wooden floorboards. Instead his ears were met with silence. He wondered what was up until he heard his Okaa-san call up to him.

"Tsu-kun! Get the door for me, alright?" Nana called to him from downstairs and he deducted she must have still been cooking in the kitchen. He calls out back to her with an "Okay!" standing up lazily walking out of the room and down the stairs. As he neared the front door, a chill ran down his spine spreading throughout his body. His breathing started to slow down and he started to sweat. He was feeling an embedding doom beyond the wooden door and was beginning to feel claustrophobic. He snapped out of his phase when he heard a knock at the door though much louder than before.

"Tsu-kun?" He called back to his mother. "I'm getting it!" He huffed, taking deep breaths and pushing away the warning bells in his head. 'What am I so scared for?' He wrapped his hand hesitantly over the door knob, twisting it open, pulling the door all while feeling gravity pressing harshly down on him. He came face to face with a strange man dressed in black. He stared wide eyed at the stranger 'who the hell is he?' a question that was quickly answered.

"Good evening. I am your new neighbor, Daemon Spade. You must be 'Tsu-kun' Nana-san's adorable son?"

"…"

"Hm?"

"Huh?" 'NANI! KAA-SAN WAS TALKING ABOUT ME TO A COMPLETE STRANGER MORE OR LESS OUR NEW NEIGHBOUR THAT WE DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT! WHAT DID SHE SAY? ADORABLE? WHY ADORABLE?' Tsuna screamed in his mind although his face was frozen, wide eyed and gaping.

"I'm sorry but may I enter your household?" Tsuna snapped out feeling goose bumps and a dangerous chill run down him again, not liking the glint dancing humorously in the other's blue eyes. He had a sickening sweet smile stretched pleasantly across his face…too pleasantly.

"Um…let me ask my Okaa-san" he turned around not before seeing a menacing frown scar the other's beautiful face. He closed the door and walked over to the kitchen, leaning on the door frame.

"Okaa-san is Daemon Spade our new neighbor?" His mother pricked up and smiled happily at her son. "Yes! Oh Tsu-kun! Is spade-san here?" Tsuna nodded uncomfortably. "Did you let him in? Where is he?"

"Um, he's still out-" he got cut off by his mother.

"What? Why? Oh let me!" she rushed past her son and stopped in front of the door, fixing herself up before opening the door wearing a blinding smile. "Spade-san! You made it! Please come inside!" she exclaimed moving the door wide open allowing the much taller man to walk in gracefully smirking dauntingly at Tsuna before smiling sweetly at Nana. "Thank you very much for inviting me inside" he said ending it with a deep chuckle. "Nufufu"

Tsuna did not understand why but he felt that Spade-san was slipping in a double meaning behind that gratitude and the eerie chuckle proved it to Tsuna. 'I don't trust this person' he stared at his mother who was blushing happily and talking fast to the new neighbor as the other nodded and smiled but kept his eyes solely on Tsuna. He frowned. 'Okaa-san, why do you trust him so easily?'

"I just need to finish setting the table. Wait in the living room with Tsu-kun alright Spade-san?" Nana chirped clapping her hands together.

"Of course I do not mind" he smiled at her. She smiled back as she skipped into the kitchen leaving the two males alone in the hall. Tsuna managed to listen to the last part of his mother's conversation and paled. 'I don't want to be around this person at all!' he wailed in his head avoiding the stare of the blue haired man. It was an uncomfortable silence making the ever awkward brunet more nervous.

"Ano…let's go to the living room…" he walked off not waiting for the other's reply. He regretted turning his back to the other when he felt the stares become more intensified a feeling close akin to a predator attacking his prey. He walked inside the room nervously finding a seat far from the other. He sat on the love couch placed in the opposite side of the entrance. As he sat down he jumped in fright as he noticed his neighbor already sitting casually beside him with his legs over lapping over the knees. "S-Spade-san?" he cried out, edging to the end of the couch.

"Yes?" the older man questioned with a tilt of his head clear with pure amusement of curiosity.

"H-how D-did you-u?" he started off but stopped as the smirk on the others face irked him

"A-ano…never mind…" 'It's best not to get to know him' his mind supplied and he agreed. Tsuna looked to his knees and fidgeted his fingers together counting down to his mother's call of dinner.

Something hot ghosted over his neck to his ear, Tsuna froze unsure on what to do when a voice promising of mischief and menace whispered to him.

"Tsunayoshi Sawada."

He pushed back, clasping his hands over his now heated neck and ear facing the other with embarrassement and fear.

"y-yes?" he replied weakly, his voice cracked at the beginning.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, face-to-face like this, yes?"

"Ahh…" Tsuna's mouth was opened but then he closed it. 'How do I answer? The way he talks is weird…is there another double meaning?' as he ended his thoughts his mother walked in announcing dinner ready.

Author Note: I just sort of cleaned this chapter up...