I LIIIIIIVE!
Disclaimer: I think you all know this by now, but just in case you don't already know I'll say it again. I own nothing but Sachi.
I looked up at the sky; grey clouds from horizon to horizon, blocking out the sun, coloring the world grey. Snow continued to fall, like it had been for the past few days as I walked down the sidewalk.
With a sigh, I returned my attention to earth and looked in the windows of the shops I was passing. I had to find some kind of peace offering if I wanted to make amends with my twin.
I grimaced as I remembered the fight. It was the worst one yet, and totally my fault. I had felt bad as soon as I had stepped out of the house in my rage, but knew she wouldn't have listen to me if I had tried to apologize then. Time and a peace offering was needed for any form of forgiveness to be given.
I buried my hands deeper into my pockets as I continued my search, the fresh snow crunching under my feet. A strand of dark hair fell in front of my face as my eyes darted from one window to the next.
Spotting the perfect offering in the window of a bookstore, I grinned and bolted through the doors. Five minutes later saw me walking out of the store with my new purchase.
It was the next book in the series she was reading, and she had been dying to get her hands on it when it finally came out. Lucky for me, it had just hit the shelves today.
I quickly made my way down the way I had been, more snow crunching under my feet. In the time it had taken me to find the book, buy it, and exit the store, the heavy snow fall had turned into something not far off from a light flurry.
That didn't stop the grin on my face though. I walked down the sidewalk with a purpose, eager to get home out of the cold and to make amends with my twin sister.
As I passed a convenience store, I heard shouting from inside and looked out of the corner of my eye. What I saw made my breath catch in my throat and trip on thin air.
Gun.
The masked man in the store waved the gun in the air in frustration at the man behind the counter. I stood frozen watching the scene in front of me play out, my eyes wide. Something was said and the masked man grew angrier. Maybe it was to prove of point, or maybe he was just a really bad shot, but he took aim and fired.
He missed, the glass behind the clerk shattered into a million pieces as the poor man ducked for cover. People screamed from across the street as I staggered back. I looked down, saw a hole in the front of my coat leaking red, and looked back up to meet the shooter's eyes. He stared back with wide eyes before he dropped the gun and bolted.
Then my legs collapsed underneath me.
I stared up at the sky on my back. The world around me was fading fast. The sound of people screaming and car doors opening and closing seemed miles away. Even the pain, which I know I should be feeling, was just a dull throb in the back of my mind.
My eyes stayed glued on the single patch of clear sky I could see, where the clouds had just started parting to let the blue sky shine through. The more I stared, the more I relaxed and my eye lids grew heavy. Nothing else seemed to matter at that moment. Not the people around me telling me to 'Stay awake, stay with me' or 'the ambulance is coming, help is coming so just hang on'.
The cold didn't even matter, as a warmth like I had never felt before started seeping through my veins and into my figures. I closed my eyes in content, ignoring the fading panicked voices around me as the warmth warmed me from the inside out. I let out a relieved sigh, even as I felt myself slipping away.
The world was cold, but I was oh so warm.
A happy smile graced my lips as I slipped away into the warmth completely, the world around me—besides the cold—fell away. Then as suddenly as I had slipped into the warmth, I jerked back.
The world burned around me and I was suddenly so cold—
Sachi's eyes flew open and she gasped, before her hands flew to cover her mouth. She stayed there, breathing heavily as she stared up at her ceiling. Not thinking. Not feeling. Just breathing.
When her breathing and run-away heartrate returned to normal, she lowered her hands and sighed heavily. She closed her eyes, centering herself, before she opened them and threw the covers off.
Sitting up she glanced at her alarm clock and grimaced. 3:32 AM. With another heavy sigh she turned off her alarm, she wouldn't be getting any more sleep anyways, and rubbed her arms.
She shivered involuntarily. The dream—nightmare, memory—always left her cold. It had haunted her sense her birth, though it had come more frequently in her younger years then it did nowadays. Nana and Tsuna (Iemitsu was hardly ever home, so she doubt he knew) knew about them but don't know the actual contents of the dreams.
Gracefully getting to her feet—or as gracefully as you can get this early in the morning—Sachi made her way to her door and out into the hallway. On silent feet, she moved to her brother's door.
She gently pushed to door open just enough for her to see inside. A fond smile graced her lips as she watched her older twin sleep away, blissfully unaware of the world. Her lips turned down slightly as her gaze flickered to the other sleeping body in the room.
Reborn.
She had known he was coming, had known it since the day she was two and finally put the pieces together of just who her new family was. Had seriously started preparing since the day Nono had showed up on their doorstep as their grandpa. Had gotten past the panic of this is real this is real oh my God when she had witnessed her brother's flames being sealed.
She hadn't tried to stop it, though she had felt hollow for months after Nono's visit. She hadn't tried to stop any of it. Not the bullying, the teasing, naming calling, besides being that one extra pillar of support when he needed it. Ok, she softened the blows, stepped in before anything got too far. Had personally 'taken care of' a few that just wouldn't get the message (though her fighting skills are nothing to be proud of) and had set Hibari loose on others.
But she still let it happen. Maybe it would have been better if she had stepped in more, made sure Tsuna had had the happy childhood that he deserved. But where would they be if she had? The butterfly effect was always at the forefront of her mind whenever she debated stepping in. One small action, one word, and the future would be a much different place.
With her failing memory of the series, she was taking everything that she did remember with a grain of salt. She knew one set of events, ones that weren't even relevant anymore with her there, but they had played out mostly the same so far. When the other shoe final dropped, though…
She had no idea if she would be ready.
She studied the sleeping form of her tutor for a moment longer, though she was sure he was awake and watching her, before backing away and closing the door gently. Enough depressing thoughts so early in the morning, she thought as she ghosted down the hall. Since she was up anyway, might as well do some homework before the demon spawn came after her.
She stopped by the bathroom first and glanced at the mirror after she got over being almost blinded. The image of a taller girl stared back at her, with vivid green eyes and long dark hair that fell over her shoulders in waves. Sachi blinked and the image faded, replaced by one of a short blonde with messy should length hair and tired coffee eyes.
Sachi snorted. If she kept seeing her 'dead' self after each dream, she should really see a specialist, but it's not like they would believe her. When she was done, she turned the light off and made her way back to her room, moving extra slowly to not run into everything and wake the whole neighborhood.
As she settled into her desk chair and turned on her light she decided to just trust her instincts on the matter of unknown and more-than-likely dangerous futures. She would trust her brother and his guardians to be able to make their way through whatever comes at them, and she would trust Reborn.
No, trust was too strong of a word. She didn't trust Reborn—respected, yes, definitely respected, but not trust—yet, and she knew he didn't trust her. She had faith that he would have their backs though, and that was enough for now.
Where she stood on the grand scheme of things, though, only time would tell.
I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late, the mantra continued in his head as he raced down the stairs and into the dining room. Grabbing the closest piece of toast, Tsuna stuffed it into his mouth after he yelled a goodbye to his mother. He turned on his heel—and almost fell over—and ran back to the front door.
He jammed his feet into shoes, and almost bolted out the door when he heard a voice behind him drawl out in greeting.
"Yo, Tsuna."
"HEEEIII!" He jumped a foot in the air as his heart almost stopped. He whirled around and looked at the resident blonde in shock. She was looking at him with one eyebrow slightly raised and a small, half-hidden grin on her face as she pocketed her phone, a popsicle stick in her mouth.
He blinked at his twin. "Sachi?" he said incredibly. "What are you doing here? I thought you had already left."
Sachi gave him a one armed shrugged and pushed off the wall she was leaning against, her normal half-grin in place. "Thought I would actually walk with you today, you know, instead of bolting straight to school in the morning."
Tsuna looked at his sister as she walked past him and out the door, chewing on the last remains of an early morning popsicle. She seemed fine, grinning as if she was amused by the world.
She seemed fine, but something was just… off.
"Hey, Sachi…" he started as he caught up to his sister. She looked back at him, eyes wide and innocent.
"Hmm?"
He remember having the same feeling before, many times in the past. Various times he would wake up and find his sister moving around as normal, but as if her mind was somewhere else.
He shook his head and tried to grin, though he didn't really succeed. "Never mind." Sachi gave him a doubtful look, clearly not buying it, but thankfully let it drop.
They continued on their way to school, walking at an easy pace. Thanks to Reborn waking him up in the morning, Tsuna no longer had to rush to school every single day. Sure, it wasn't as early as when Sachi normally left (what did she actually do with all that extra time? It didn't take that long to get to their school) but it was defiantly better than what he had been doing before.
"So…" Sachi dragged out, bring him out of his musings. She glanced at him, her lips turning up in slight amusement as she glanced at something over his shoulder. "You ready for our English test today?"
He groaned and held his head in his hands. "Sachi," he whined. "Not you too. Reborn wouldn't stop last night until I was practically thinking in English. I even dreamed in it."
She snickered. "Sorry, sorry! But that's the point of learning the language, you know." She grinned at him brightly, not at all sorry in the slightest.
"She's right, and you would do well to remember that."
"Reborn!" Tsuna said in surprise, and turned to look at their tor—tutor. Said hitman turned home tutor walked along the wall beside them. His obsidian eyes gave nothing away as he skillfully jumped from the wall to the top of Tsuna's head.
"You have done decent in that class so far, but I expect you to get full marks on this test." Reborn said has he settled into his seat. Tsuna groaned at his comment and Sachi snickered at him when he sent her a helpless look.
"And for every question you get wrong, you will have to do 100 pushups."
Tsuna spluttered at that and tried to looked at the fedora wearing baby on his head while his sister laughed loudly. "Reborn!"
"That goes for you too, Sachi."
She instantly quieted and Tsuna shot her a smug take-that look. If he was going down, than so was she. That didn't stop him from seeing the determined glint in her eyes or that her half-grin looked more like a smirk.
Looks like he would be the only one doing push-ups tonight.
Damnit.
"Juudaime! Hime-sama!"
Tsuna's head whipped around at the sound of only one possible person. He groaned and prayed to whatever god was listening that his new friend—was someone that threatened you with dynamite one second then worshipped you the next a friend?—wouldn't be like he did the day before. That had been embarrassing.
The silver haired foreigner stood down the street, grinning widely and looking more like a happy puppy dog than a teenage bad boy.
No such luck today, it seemed.
Besides him, Sachi's smirk widened into a strained smile and something dangerous flashed in her eyes. Tsuna sent a wary look between the two other teens. Reborn for his part, showed no outward signs that he had caught the shift in the blonde Sawada's behavior. His fedora casting a shadow over his eyes as he watched the scene play out in front of him.
As the three of them traded greetings (Gokudera's being over the top), Sachi's smile grow wider and gained a dangerous edge to it. Tsuna waited in tense silence for the other shoe to drop as they continued on their way to school. When the school building finally come into view, she spoke.
"Gokudera?" she called in a sickly sweet voice. Gokudera seemed startled at first, but recovered quickly as he brightened and answer, though a little nervously.
"Hai, Hime-sama?"
Sachi's smile grew wider and her eyes hardened with a dangerous glint. "It's Sachi, not 'Hime-sama'" she replied, her smile never wavering for a second. Tsuna edged away nervously, not wanting to get caught in the cross fire.
Gokudera spluttered and moved his hands nervously. "B-but, Hime—"
"Sachi," she said, cutting him off.
He gawked at her and looked at Tsuna for help. He held his hands up and shook his head, his expression saying 'don't look at me'. He looked back at the blonde and shifted his weight uneasily. "But—"
"Sa-chi," she said, purposely saying each syllable clearly.
"B-but that would be to disrespectful, Hi—"Her eyes narrowed and he galped. "… Sachi-san."
Her eyes narrowed farther and she studied him as he shifted nervously. After a moment, her expression cleared and her half-grin returned. "Close enough."
With that she turned away and walked forward. The two teens (plus tutor) stood staring after her. A beat pasted between them before Gokudera spoke up.
"Your sister is scary, Juudaime."
Tsuna, though a little put off by the nickname but didn't dare comment, nodded in agreement.
"Yep."
"If you two don't hurry up," Reborn suddenly spoke up as he jumped of the brunette's head and onto the wall beside them. The two remaining teens turned to look at him questioningly. "You'll both be late."
Tsuna jumped into action when he realized that, yes, he would be late. He shot down the road, closely followed by Gokudera. They reached the gates just as Sachi called a greeting to the local demon perfect.
When Tsuna saw him reaching for his tonfas, he let out a soft 'hei' and grabbed his sister's arm before bodily dragging her away at top speeds. She laughed as she stumbled after him and laughed harder when Gokudera tried to pull dynamite out on Hibari until Tsuna stopped him.
She was still snickering when they made it to the classroom and sat down in their seats. She called a greeting to Yamamoto, who cheerfully replied. Before taking her seat though, she walked up to Gokudera.
"Hey, Gokudera?"
The silver haired sat up straight and grinned at her eagerly. "Hai, Hi-"she smiled widely and he quickly corrected himself. "Sachi-san?"
"Do you think you would be able to teach Tsuna and I Italian?" she said, her smile softening.
He blinked before grinning widely. "Of course! Leave it to me Hi—Sachi-san!"
She smiled brightly and clapped her hands together. "Great! We'll have to talk to Reborn about it, because he'll defiantly want in on it, but thanks anyway!"
He nodded enthusiastically and said he would talk to Reborn as soon as possible. Tsuna shot her a look when she sat down and she smiled at him innocently.
"What?"
"… Why do I have a feeling you're just giving Reborn more reasons to beat me up?"
She rolled her eyes at him and said with a lopsided grin. "Oh come on, Tsuna. We're going to be heads of a mafia family, we should at least know their mother tongue."
"I'm not going to be a mafia boss!"
His twin laughed as the teacher walked in and called the class to order. Tsuna reluctantly turned around and faced the front of the class as he got ready for another painful day of lessons followed by even more painful lessons when he got home.
Oh my God. Finally. A chapter. It's a miracle.
I'm so, so, so sorry for not posting anything in such a long time. First I went on a trip for a week with no internet and no computer, then I had to do my summer work, then my grandma died, I lost my flash drive, and then SCHOOL happened. Writer's block as well but I really should have been writing something at least.
But, on a different note, I had time to actually plan out this story. So I know which minor characters (in the manga and anime) are going to show up more often and the different relationships between some of the characters. Let me tell you, Sachi has her work cut out for her. After she gets over the fact she can't stop the plot from changing, she'll really start changing things.
Just a warning.
Also, because I really did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with her childhood, I'm going to try to give you guys clues and hints in later chapters. Now I know that I really should have but she never came out right when I wrote her as a child.
So, down to business. Good? Bad? Meh? Please leave a review and give me your honest opinion!
((PS: How have you guys been finding this fic anyway? I know it's in communities and all but I haven't updated in months.))
((PSS: Just so you all know, because my friend pointed it out to me, I'm using the manga version of events from now on. The first two chapters where from the anime though.))