Edited: 03/29/18

"Aki-kun! Tsunayoshi! We have a guest!" Nana shouted cheerfully. The aforementioned twins ran down the stairs. Tsunayoshi, walking in front of Akihito, was shoved down with a mutter of, "You're in my way, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna tumbled down the rest of the steps, landing in front of his mother. Akihito, after reaching the halfway point, jumped off of the steps towards Nana. His mother caught him, spinning him around a bit, before lowering him onto the ground with a giggle. She stepped around Tsuna, giving him a slightly concerned glance when she noticed he had yet to get up. Akihito was still at the base of the stairs, so she was sure he'd help his younger brother up.

As Nana headed into the kitchen, Akihito walked over to the fallen brunet on the floor. He squatted down next to the fallen boy.

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna?" Aki whispered menacingly, "I might step on you if you stay there too long." he threatened, standing from the crouching position he was in. When Tsuna scrambled to get onto his feet, Aki grinned and stomped on his hand, foot in pressing the fingers and palm to the floor and grinding them in. He giggled in glee when he heard a light crunch, along with the wince from Tsuna.

Tsuna whimpered, "W-Why?" Akihito paused, a minute widening of his eyes visible for but a moment, before he closed them and turned away, arms bent upwards to cup the back of his head in a lax manner.

"You took too long."

Tsuna's eyes caught a glimpse of something swirling in his brother's eyes. He felt inexplicably saddened.

The pain in his hand drew in his attention from his twin as the older strolled into the kitchen after their mother.

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When Tsuna hobbled over to the dining room table, he noticed an old man sitting in one of the unused chairs.

The man was in a friendly conversation with Akihito, at that moment. But when the old man gave him a quick glance, he felt a little apprehensive. Tsuna flinched when the man suddenly took interest in starting a conversation with him, gaining a glare from Aki. (Yet Akihito's shoulders slumped a little in relief, inexplicably.)

"So, you are the Tsunayoshi that I have heard about. Your father tells me all about you two in Italy. I am Timoteo, but both of you can call me Grandpa." The old man said, his voice gentle and the smile curling his mouth and moustache upwards calming.

"Okay, Grandpa!" Aki shouted, clinging onto Timoteo's back. Timoteo chuckled good-naturedly.

"È un piacere conoscerti, Timoteo-san." Tsuna said quietly. His face was downwards, yet his eyes peered up nervously, afraid he'd mispronounced a word.

("It's a pleasure to meet you, Timoteo-san.")

"Il piacere è tutto mio, Tsunayoshi-kun." Tsuna blinked, before going into a full-blown conversation with Timoteo in Italian.

("The pleasure is all mine, Tsunayoshi-kun.")

And so, Tsuna and Timoteo conversed slowly, Tsuna doing his best to say things properly, and Timoteo patiently correcting him. Tsuna did his best to ignore the malicious glare sent his way by Aki, knowing fully well that he was going to get hurt either way.

Akihito appeared distraught within his anger, Tsuna picked up absently.

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"Hey, hey, Dame-Tsuna!" Aki called manically, his eyes glazed and pupils so wide their blue was practically swallowed up. He moved around like a puppet with loose strings.

His head lolled to the side, his grin just as crooked.

"You need to stop trying to get attention! You should know by now—nobody loves you!" Venom seeped into his words as he stomped on his younger brother's back, missing his spine and instead bruising the ribs that were being pressed harshly against the concrete below.

Tsuna's following wheeze made him freeze for a moment, his expression faltering, eyes clearing. He shook his head, the expression a bit more frenzied when he looked back down to the brunet.

"Augh!" Tsuna cried out feebly in agony, as his brother added a few kicks to his side, as well, further injuring his ribs.

"You know, Dame-Tsuna," Aki started, staring at the painfully writhing older brother of his with worryingly eager eyes, "—you should really just shut up." he finished, wrapping his hand around the weaker brunette's throat. He lifted the boy effortlessly, crushing the boy's windpipe with sheer brutal force. "Forever."

Suddenly, he paused, his hands shaking as though he was fighting against his arm, reaching into his pocket for a matchbox.

Dropping Tsunayoshi onto the ground, Akihito lit a single match, before opening Tsuna's mouth.

"Good luck being multi-lingual without a voice. Oh, who am I kidding?—Good luck surviving, this time!" and the younger twin let out a horrifying cackle, shoving the lit match into the small brunette's throat. His grin was shaking.

Akihito started to leave, his walk strained. His face was suddenly so expressive, his eyes blown wide and his eyebrows creasing yet his mouth realeasing puffs of air reminiscent of laughter.

[Tsunayoshi is silent now. He's silent. He won't tell anyone what happened. You won't get in trouble, Akihito. Tsunayoshi was in the way. He's not a problem anymore. Don't worry. You'll be okay, little one.]

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Tsuna wanted to scream, but no sound came out; his insides were on fire, his throat constricted painfully, his lungs felt heavy, dots clouded his vision. He can't see, he can't breathe, but he can feel—why does he have to feel?! It hurts, so, so bad...!

He felt the burning sensation grow as he coughed out blood onto the concrete below him. He couldn't stand, couldn't call for help—who would come for him anyway? His brother's actions proved that even his family didn't care for him.

He was only glad that the drizzle from when his brother was there sped into a heavy downpour. He took a greedy gulp from a forming puddle next to his head—hygiene be damned. He was on the cusp of falling unconscious, and from there, perhaps he would have died.

He didn't realize that there was an orange flame on his head, nor the fact that he was trudging out of the alleyway with his remaining energy. As the flame diminished, black clouded his vision, and he was yet unable to notice that he was caught by a nearby shopkeeper with a hat.

He could certainly say that this was one of the worst days of his life so far, if he wasn't more concerned with survival amongst dreams of fire.