Title: A Snuffed Candlelight

Author: Ofphenwa

Summary: Reborn was not sent to Japan to tutor Tsuna 10 years ago. Now, with an usurper in the Vongola throne and with the Sky Ring in his pocket, Reborn journeys to Japan to Tsuna and helps him to fulfill his true destiny.

A/N: This is a revamped edit of "The Vongola Throne".

A Snuffed Candlelight

Deep within the huge Vongola mansion, there was a small dark room with only the light of a single candle for illumination. There was a bed and on it, a wizened old man lay, his laboured breath rattling through his chest. His eyes were dim with sorrow and regret. A quiet click of the door latch alerted the elderly man to the presence of another. It was not a human being, but an Acrobaleno. He whispered, "I fear that I will not live through this night...I have a final command, will you obey for the last time?"

"Yes." A steadfast reply reassured him. Summoning the last vestiges of his dying strength with a sigh, he sat up and pointed at the envelope on the bedside table.

"Take this with you and travel to Japan. Find the true heir to the Vongola throne and train him so he will be just, fair and gentle. Do this mission with utmost secrecy and caution...for the Varia have eyes and ears everywhere." He breathed deeply as he watched a gloved hand reach out from the shadows and delicately plucked the cream envelope from the table. Both the hand and envelope vanished back into the deep shadows.

"One last thing. Come here." The Acrobaleno moved forward and knelt beside his bed. The old man stretched out his gnarled hands and placed them on his shoulders. Intense heat flooded the Acrobaleno as the old man's eyes lit up with the remnants of his Dying Will. The sacred knowledge and power of the 9th Vongola flowed into him and along with it a flash of an innocent child's smile. Then the 9th Vongola's will was done. The old man's head gently dipped forward until his chin met his chest and his eyes slowly shut. He was smiling.

"Don Vongola..." The Acrobaleno touched the cooling hand of the greatest man he'd known and briefly touched the ring he wore with his lips; a final tribute. He gently removed the ring and kept it in a small box; the upsurper would not find out till it was too late. As the door shut behind him, the solitary candelight flickered out, casting the whole room into the darkest shadows.

Sawada Tsunayoshi, informally known as Tsuna, was a perfectly ordinary young man. He had a dull job in administrative section of some small company. His pay was sufficient and he had a nice little flat with a fantastic view of the Tokyo Bay. Every weekend, he would religiously go and visit his mother in Namimori for lunch. All in all, he would say that he led a decent life even if it was a bit boring…

That Monday morning was overcast with grey clouds. Sipping from a styrofoam cup of hot coffee, Tsuna hurried past the bustling traffic onto the train. He elbowed his way through the crowd with muttered apologies and finally spotted a free seat in the center of the train-car. Strangely, no one seemed to see it nor made any attempt to claim it as Tsuna briskly walked over to the seat.

"Strange...There wouldn't be any free seats at all by the time I got on the train." He mused. But he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. Tsuna leant back, closing his eyes for a few moments of rest. Unfortunately, his wish wasn't going to be granted any time soon.

"Mi scusi." A foreign voice spoke. It was deep and commanding. Tsuna unconsciously straightened up as he looked up at the stranger standing before him. He didn't see anyone.

"Look down here." Tsuna blinked as he turned his head down. He was...younger than his voice made him out to be. The stranger was actually a smartly dressed ten-year old kid. The wide brim of the black fedora hat blocked his view of the boy's face. He was almost tempted to reach out and flick the ridiculously large hat off but something about him warned him not to do so at his risk. For a few seconds he stared before Tsuna finally replied, "Yes?"

"You are Sawada Tsunayoshi, aren't you?" It was very clearly a rhetorical question when the Boy looked up and into his eyes as he firmly spoke. His obsidian eyes were steady and his confident adult smirk wasn't out of place on his childish handsome face as he introduced himself.

"Well met, 10th Don Vongola. I am Reborn." Before Tsuna could react, Reborn had clambered up onto his lap and sat down heavily.

"...Hey! You're heavy!" Tsuna was winded by the weight of the tiny boy. He was heavier than he should be! He tried to push him off his lap but Reborn. Just. Would. Not. Move. If anything else, that little brat actually seemed to get heavier and heavier until Tsuna finally couldn't take the load. He gave up and knocked his head back on the plastic wall behind him with a noisy exhalation. He sarcastically said, "Oh fine, you can use my lap as a seat."

"Grazie mille." Reborn was smugly smirking at him. Just then, the announcement for his stop came on, "Shin-Nihombashi Stop."

"That's my stop. Can you please get off my lap so I can disembark?" Tsuna politely asked. Reborn simply looked at him and slowly shook his head.

"Seriously, I HAVE to go to work and I can't do that if you're on my lap!" Tsuna attempted to push him off again but his wrist was caught in the surprisingly strong grasp of the boy before his fingertips even grazed his clothes. He bit off a curse as the grip grew tighter around his wrist; any tighter, he would be getting a bruise bracelet. Reborn moved in closer until their noses were almost touching. He furiously whispered, "An assassin is waiting for you at this station. You cannot leave now."

"What assassin? I think you've been watching too many cartoons."

"Maledizione! I am not joking! Do you see that man in a black suit over by the pillar? He carries a gun with a silencer. Your death would not be noticed in this morning crowd till someone notices something amiss."

Tsuna looked carefully in the direction Reborn indicated. He didn't see the person. Annoyed, he replied, "Well, I don't see anyone you described just now."

But Reborn wasn't listening.

"Cazzo!" Reborn slid off Tsuna's lap and pulled him out of his seat and briskly walked past the doors that slid shut the next moment. ("...ellow line. Doors closing. Please stand away...") Relieved that he wouldn't be late for work, Tsuna started walking away...until Reborn jerked him back and walked in the opposite direction of where his office was.

"HEY! My job's THAT way!" Try as he might, he simply could not escape from Reborn's grip. It was most alarming and embarrassing for a twenty-one year old adult to be dragged around like a toy by a kid less than half his size. Reborn simply walked faster until they were almost running. Reborn muttered, "Don't look back or you'll alert him."

In reflex, Tsuna did the opposite and saw a man in a black suit with a suspicious bulge under his arm. As if aware of his gaze, the man looked in their direction and started running. He put his hand under his jacket and the glint of metal informed Tsuna that yes, it was a very dangerous GUN he was holding.

"...Holy shit."

That was all he could think of as he started running with Reborn in earnest. Reborn glanced at his panicked expression with exasperation and said, "You looked back, didn't you?"

"How the hell was i supposed to know that you were telling the TRUTH? And what was up with calling me the 10th Don Vongola? How do you know my name? And why is there a MAN with a GUN after ME?" Tsuna ranted in horror.

"I can't answer that now." Reborn curtly replied and led them out into the streets above the train station and started weaving through the crowd. Reborn cast a quick look into the reflection on the windows of the shops and saw that the assassin was still trailing them. He glanced around, taking in his surroundings of bright neon signboards, the tall buildings and the flow of the crowd.

"Ah...there." He finally made a decision. He pulled Tsuna into an empty alley.

Seeing his target move into the alley with a small kid, the assassin sped up and turned round the corner with his gun out in hopes of catching them in a dead-end. The end of the alley was a dead-end alright. But his target was gone.

"Where did the-"

*Pop*

A small red dot appeared in between his eyes. Startled, he reached up to feel his forehead and his hand came away with blood. In the next moment, the back of his head exploded in a gory shower of brains and blood. The assassin fell forward onto his knees with a small thump, a shocked expression still pasted on his face and he crumpled onto the dirty ground. His gun skidded away from him with a metallic screech. No one else could be seen...until a few seconds later.

The air in front of the fallen corpse rippled. Reborn pointed his gun that still had smoke trailing from the tip at the dead enemy before him. Behind him, Tsuna had fallen backward and was ashen with nausea and shock at the ruthless deed performed by a young child, no less!

"My god. Who, what are you?" Tsuna questioned as he watched the blood drain from the body in front of him with morbid fascination. (Who would have thought that a human could bleed so much?) Reborn locked the safety of his gun and placed it back into his jacket. Grimly, he turned around to face his charge and asked, "...Do you know of a safe place where I can answer your questions?"

Fin

Glossary

Mi scusi - excuse me

Grazie Mille - Thank you very much.

Maledizione - Damn it

Cazzo - fuck