413Merry Christmas everyone! As a special present to you the fans, I'm posting a story I've had on my computer for a while but never bothered to make a proper story! It's a minor Katana-cross where Tsuna doesn't become Decimo if he has any say about it. Have fun and travel safely!
When he was very little, his mama took him to see his grandpa and uncle. They were more than happy to see him, though they didn't like his papa very much.
To be honest, Tsuna didn't like his papa that much either. The man seemed to enjoy tossing him in the air and it always felt like he only caught him as an afterthought.
At first the big house was scary. His uncle was so serious, but his grandfather was nice. And then he ran into him.
Akira, his older cousin. He was playing by himself in a room full of weird people in odd costumes.
"What are you doing?"
Akira jumped, before he registered where the voice was coming from.
"Playing. Are you my cousin Grandpa said was coming?"
"I'm Tsuna!" he said cheerfully.
"Akira," said the other boy, before nervously looking around. "You didn't see anything weird did you?"
Tsuna tilted his head.
"Who are all the people next to you?"
Akira stared.
"You can see them too?"
"They look really funny," said Tsuna.
Akira perked up.
"They do dress funny don't they? But they're all really nice!" said Akira, rather cheerfully. "Want to play with us?"
Tsuna was next to him in an instant.
An hour later Nana came in and saw the two happily playing together and smiled. She knew introducing her son to Akira was a good idea. The poor boy had no friends because the parents were all too paranoid about the swords they kept. She had to deal with her own harassment because her husband was always away on business.
"Did you have fun with Akira-kun?"
"Mama... can I come to play again?" asked Tsuna hopefully.
"I don't see why not. Your grandfather seemed to be really happy having you there," said Nana.
He seemed thrilled, in fact.
"Just be sure to let me know when you go over to play."
The house was a bus ride across town, and her father seemed interested in Tsuna joining the family trade, since Akira wasn't that enthusiastic about it.
Tsuna nodded. He liked playing with Akira.
Tsuna became a regular at the house, much to the delight of Akira. Mostly because none of the other kids wanted to play with him or come to his house. They were too scared of the swords for some weird reason.
Which he never understood, because they were rather nice to him and Tsuna.
When he was five, Tsuna was allowed into the forge where his grandfather and uncle worked. He wasn't allowed near the fire, or the tools, but he was allowed to watch. Seeing them turn a hunk of metal into a blade was like watching art being created. It was magical.
And when he said as much to his grandfather, the old man smiled.
"Would you like to learn?"
"I'm allowed to learn how to make magic?" said Tsuna with wide-eyed wonder.
Seeing the smile widen, Tsuna eagerly watched the two finish the sword.
The next morning, his grandfather started to show him the various tools they used and had him hold each one so he could get familiar with them.
Nana smiled when she heard he was going to join her father in making blades. She was sure her son would have just as much talent as her brother did. It ran in the family after all.
"That reminds me! I got a letter from your papa and he's coming home next week! Isn't that exciting?" said Nana.
Tsuna made a face.
"Can I stay with grandpa when he comes?"
Nana thought about it for a moment. On one hand, it would mean her son wouldn't be able to see his father for however long he was staying. But... if Tsuna stayed with her father and brother, then it meant she would have her husband all to herself and that meant a bit more time together so they could possibly work on having a second child. It had somewhat frustrated her that because Iemitsu was always abroad for work that she only had Tsuna to keep her company and she loved children.
Considering Tsuna was just now getting started on the family trade, it wouldn't hurt to let him stay the week.
"I'll talk with father about letting you spend the week while he's here. Just be sure to behave if he agrees to it," said Nana.
"I will Mama!" said Tsuna happily.
A day before Iemitsu was due to arrive, Tsuna had packed for at least eight days away from home. His grandfather made sure to pick him up so he didn't get lost. He was still getting used to the bus routes, after all.
Iemitsu came home (with two extras, to Nana's disappointment) and looked rather surprised to find out his son wasn't there.
"Honey, where's Tsuna?"
"Oh he's with my father. He was more than happy to let Tsuna stay over for a bit so he could learn the family trade," said Nana.
"Family trade?" repeated Iemitsu.
Nana blinked, before giving him an odd look.
"I thought you knew. You were certainly secretive about what you do in Italy."
Iemitsu stared at her, as did his 'guests'.
"How do you know I work in Italy?"
Nana's look was flat.
"You've left papers on the table before, and I looked up the words. It took me a while to narrow down that they were Italian," she said flatly. "I don't see why you have to keep making up such silly excuses about where you work."
Iemitsu winced.
"Any idea when he'll be home?" asked Iemitsu, changing the subject.
"Oh Tsuna-kun is spending the week with my father and brother. He's really taken with his cousin Akira-kun, and they had such fun playing together," said Nana smiling.
The older gentleman (who Iemitsu introduced as Timoteo, his boss) and the younger one (Bouche) both chuckled. It was pretty obvious why Nana had sent Tsuna off to stay with her father and brother for the week, and it had very little to do with him spending time with his cousin.
Timoteo clapped a hand on Iemitsu's shoulder.
"It sounds to me that you should spend this week with your wife," chuckled Timoteo. "Though I would like to meet little Tsuna before we leave."
"Oh I'm sure my father wouldn't mind sharing embarrassing stories with you later," said Nana smiling. Timoteo laughed in agreement.
Some time later
"That's it, Tsu-kun. You have to put your back into it," said his grandfather Kozen encouragingly.
Tsuna took the hammer and made a perfect arc, striking the metal squarely. The first few times he did it, the hammer nearly slipped out of his hands from the surprise of hearing the loud sound. Now he barely registered it save for when he hit the metal wrong or he heard something that sounded off.
Of course they did have to correct his grip the first few times.
Nearby Akira was sharpening swords under the direction of his father. Unlike Tsuna, he wasn't very good at the 'forging' aspect since he didn't really like how much work it took just to get the metal at the right temperature or how hard it was to hammer it into shape. While most modern swordmakers used power tools to save time, the Narikawa family stuck to the tried and true methods of crafting.
Tsuna wasn't very good at sharpening and 'clearing' the blades, but Akira had a real knack for it. On the other hand, he was quickly getting the hang of using the forge, even if he wasn't quite ready to make his own blades or use it without supervision just yet.
Tsuna cleared his mind and focused entirely on flattening the metal piece before him. It was surprisingly easy, and felt natural.
"I think that's enough for today. Good work, Tsuna," said his uncle.
Tsuna blinked and realized he had flattened the metal to an almost even degree throughout. He hadn't even realized it.
His grandfather patted his head.
"Well done, little Tsuna. You have the makings of a fine swordmaker," he said proudly. Tsuna blushed at the compliment.
None of the teachers ever said something like that to him, and the other children liked to make fun of him because his father was never around. Their mothers all liked to disparage his because that man never came home and used such ridiculous stories.
"In fact I think you are almost ready to help us in the forge," said Kozen. Tsuna perked up.
"Really?"
"It won't be much... you'll mostly be helping us to keep the fire at the right temperature and hammering the initial form into shape."
"What about Akira-nii?"
"I'll stick to sharpening," said Akira grinning. He could relax a bit easier if he knew Tsuna would take over the family business of forging swords. He liked sharpening and cleaning the murkiness more than he did making them.
He liked making the swords shine again, to bring out their true nature after so many years. He wasn't very good at making them come alive.
That being said, there was no denying the gleam that came into Tsuna's eyes the day he started reading a manga about a reincarnated boy who used hidden weapons that he had to forge himself. It reminded him so much of his family heritage that he couldn't help but want to learn how to do the same.
He was not oblivious to the fact his father wasn't as 'nice' as he liked to pretend. Besides, if he ever wanted to survive living in a town that had someone like Hibari Kyouya in it, then he had better have a few surprises up his sleeve!
It probably said far too much about Hibari's habits that his grandfather was all too willing to show Tsuna how to forge smaller weapons first...besides, it gave him and Akira practice for later when they were older and able to handle the swords that came in.
Tsuna was out eating sushi with his cousin and grandfather when he noticed it. A sword spirit that was relatively well maintained, but looked very tired. There was an odd sense of unhappy resignation, as if there was something bad happening to the people who owned it that it couldn't resolve.
Akira shared a look with Tsuna.
"Hey mister, is it true your family come from a long line of samurai?" asked Tsuna brightly, vaguely recalling the slightly older boy in his class mentioning it.
The sushi chef blinked before an amused smile came onto his face.
"And how would you know that, little one?"
"Takeshi-kun mentioned it in class once I think," said Tsuna, scrunching his nose as if he was recalling what Takeshi said. "He said that their family practiced a really old sword style and even had a real katana in their house."
Seeing he had his grandfather's full attention, the chef chuckled.
"We do, Shigure Kintoki has been in our family for generations."
That made his grandfather sit up a bit in excitement.
"Not the same Shigure Kintoki that was used by the famous Asari Ugetsu! The one that goes well with the Shigure Souen Ryuu sword style!"
"You know of it?" said the chef, openly shocked that their grandfather was able to recognize his sword style from the name of the sword alone.
Seeing the wide grin on the face of their grandfather, they listened avidly to the conversation Tsuna deliberately started.
"Our ancestor Kouin forged the Shigure Kintoki and gifted it to the family in thanks for saving his life from an unscrupulous lord. It was later fixed when it was damaged in Italy when Asari Ugetsu used it to help fight for his Lord against a large group of nobles that had been oppressing the peasants at the time. I believe one of our ancestors even married into the line at one point, though I'm not sure when."
Seeing the chef perked up, a wide grin appeared on his face. This was exactly what he needed to take his mind off his wife's illness for a while.
"If you like, I can bring it into one of the private rooms. We've been maintaining it for a while, but having a professional look it over wouldn't be a bad thing," he said.
It didn't take much convincing for Tsuyoshi (the chef) to bring out Shigure Kintoki.
Akira and Tsuna looked it over with fascinated eyes.
"Wow...this sword is in much better shape than the ones we normally get to see!" said Tsuna happily.
"It could use a proper sharpening though... the blade looks a little muddied though it's in excellent condition," said Akira after examining it.
Tsuyoshi looked abashed at that.
"It's been a while since I've needed to pull it out, so the fact it might need a bit of maintenance doesn't surprise me much."
Akira and Tsuna watched as their grandfather bartered the price of a free meal when they returned the sword in exchange for loaning them Shigure Kintoki.
It was with some surprise that Akira was given the responsibility of sharpening it... it was his first big work!
Some time later...
Akira worked carefully, but steadily. He had gotten really good at sharpening thanks to all the practice Tsuna gave him with his smaller daggers, knives and other hidden weapons. While they were just plain practice blades he could tell Tsuna was quickly working up to forging weapons that had an actual soul to them.
Bit by bit, Shigure Kintoki began to brighten and their behavior became much happier.
"It truly is dreadful... the mistress has fallen ill and I was unable to protect her from the worst of it!" cried the sword. "Worse, I fear for young master Takeshi."
Tsuna tilted his head.
"Is it because he smiles when he's not really happy?" asked Tsuna.
The sword looked at him. It nodded sadly.
Tsuna resolved to make Takeshi show his real feelings, since his mama was in the hospital feeling bad. His grandpa let him carry Shigure Kintoki all the way back to the restaurant, freshly sharpened and checked over.
There was a sense of impending sadness and Tsuna really didn't like it at all. Clearly Takeshi's mama was taking a turn for the worse.
Seeing that fake smile on his face, Tsuna didn't even think twice about it.
"Stop that. I know my Mama would rather I smile when I actually felt happy than to see a fake smile when she knows I'm really sad!" said Tsuna sternly.
Takeshi had a rather bewildered look on his face, but the fake smile dropped to something a bit more neutral.
"I don't want to lose her," he admitted, trying not to cry. Tsuna hugged him as the adults talked shop a bit.
"We cleaned up your family sword, want to see it?" asked Tsuna, trying to take Takeshi's mind off his mom's illness.
He couldn't explain what happened next...just that there was a strange surge of warmth and protectiveness as Takeshi carefully pulled Shigure Kintoki out of the sheath to look at it properly. Tsuna could see the sword wake up all at once, before cleaving something he couldn't really see in the air. Takeshi quickly put the sword back, having felt something happen with a bewildered look on his face.
Rather than go back with his grandfather, Tsuna stayed with Takeshi all through the night so he wouldn't be alone when the doctors called back. Tsuyoshi had gone to the hospital, glad his son wouldn't be alone even if they were a bit young.
So it was with some excitement and no little sense of relief that they got the news early in the morning.
"She pulled through!" said Takeshi, putting down the phone in relief. "The doctors can't explain it, but she managed to make it through the worst of the treatment and she might even make a full recovery!"
Tsuna suddenly knew what Shigure Kintoki had 'cut' through when Takeshi took the blade out. It had cut through the misfortune hanging over their family and allowed his mama to make it through whatever made her sick.
On the plus side, he finally had a real friend in school that wasn't scared of his swords. Akira loved it as well, since most of his classmates were all told to avoid his house. It was nice having friends.
