Familiarity was a terrible curse to have. It often prevented even the simplest of accomplishments.
From the metal traps sparking a deep rooted fear to an old face preventing a full investigation, Ran Yakumo was not unfamiliar to the taste of old memories. It was something her master had worked hard on to keep leashed, and something she prided herself in.
She was not just some stray fox anymore. She was the shikigami of one of the most influential yokai in Gensokyo. Even if she had her glitches, even if Yukari didn't trust her with everything, she was undoubtedly a fox that didn't need to hide her tails.
No matter what small-fry said, that fact simply displayed how above it all she was. So, pardon her pride, but Ran wasn't looking for Tsukasa when she arrived at Moriya Shrine. She had assumed the kuda-gitsune would have been run off.
She was surprised to find the her there, then, side-by-side with the shrine maiden.
Not revealing herself right away, she gathered as much information she could about the situation. And what she learned was...
Familiar.
The shrine maiden, Sanae, didn't seem too bothered by the fox's attempts to be slick and get something out of her. In fact, she almost seemed happy to let the kuda-gitsune stay.
And Tsukasa... just... kept trying. Kept pushing for attention, kept trying to get on the upper-hand when she was clearly failing.
Ran's eyes narrowed at the energetic tail behind the kuda-gitsune, noting its new shine.
Fighting off a heavy sigh, she rubbed her eyes.
A fox tamed so easily with the promise of care. How quaint.
Watching the two banter for a moment longer, she tried to process her own reaction. After all, it wasn't like her to fail completely at such a task. Hell, gathering the information necessary would be easier with Tsukasa there.
However.
Seeing her with Sanae...
... Why did the shikigami envy her?
She was stronger than Tsukasa, smarter too. She was in a better, long-standing position and wasn't treading a line of uncertainty. She was a fox that could show her tails proudly.
Yet... She felt a strange emptyness.
Ran was... nostalgic.
But for what? For the friend she fought? For the distant master? She hadn't needed attention, she didn't need attention. She was fine to be left on her own.
She was Ran Yakumo.
And somehow, she never felt emptier.
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There's no way that Tsunae is an exclusive relationship, either. Sanae would be like, "I just want you to be happy, Tsukasa!" in the middle of a monologue on Dunsparce if it were ever to come up and Tsukasa would spontaneously revert to a test tube, rolling around helplessly on the floor, and neither of them would ever sit down and have an adult conversation about the boundaries of the relationship and yet, to the shock and disgust of everyone around them,
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Tsuna is kind. Tsuna is compassionate. Tsuna, unlike many bosses, does not see himself as more than simply because of his station.
The only people who are capable of bringing out the entitled, spoiled, possessive Mafia Prince - the tiny piece of Tsuna's heart that is a stereotypically behaved Vongolian Sky - are his closest family. And even then, they can only manage it in very specific circumstances.
Allow me to clarify:
Imagine Tsuna, in a café filled with rubble and smoke, looking down at Hayato's fallen form. He stares at the blood seeping out from Hayato's chest - the chest that was torn open when Hayato jumped in front of a bullet meant for Tsuna.
(The assassin's corpse is cooling on the other side of the room, dead too late at the edge of Takeshi's blade.)
Tsuna keeps his eyes locked on Hayato. Hayato, who lies limp and motionless, no matter how much sun flame Ryouhei pumps in to him.
It feels like a dream. It feels fake. He feels detached from it all, like he's watching the world from far above and emotions can only reach him after traveling through a mile of cotton.
"Move," he tells his sun, his dying will flaring in the midst of his strange numbness.
His sun yanks his hands back, as instantaneously as if he were following a reflex instead of words.
Tsuna surveys the scene for another second, still through that mile of cotton, and then decides, "No. No, I refuse."
And, after all, does he not have a right to? He, the holder of the Vongola Sky Ring, the Guard of the Vertical Axis, the Sky of Skies. Is it not his birthright to seize hold of, to command, the threads of time?
He reaches out, burning, and undoes it.
An orange glow erupts around the two of them - his Hayato, and the assassin.
And then there is the assassin, alive again, aiming at a spot Tsuna is no longer at.
And there is Hayato, alive again, throwing himself to protect where Tsuna once stood.
Tsuna already has an arm raised, and sends a blast of power at the assassin. The assassin crumples. And then Tsuna is turning around, spinning towards Hayato, and he feels, within him, a hot, violent rage swell up. How dare he. How dare he.
He stalks over to his Right Hand, hands shaking with anger, and he spits, "You."
His Right Hand looks at him, all wide-eyed and taken off guard. As if he's not a fucking thief.
Tsuna snarls up at him, right up in his space, "Sit."
His Right Hand's knees fold. He just barely manages to catch himself against the table directly behind him, and it's not so much sitting as propping himself up, but Tsuna doesn't fucking care.
Tsuna's fists clench, and he stares directly into those green, green eyes. "You," he seethes, "took an oath, Gokudera Hayato." He feels himself burning, dying will an inferno on his skin. "You swore yourself to me, yes? Your life is mine. You do not have the right to take it from me."
His Right Hand, his storm, his Hayato, says nothing, eyes wide and face pale and lips parted ever so slightly in shock.
Tsuna feels incandescent with rage. "You dare-"
And then he finds himself losing the words, swaying in place as exhaustion slams down across him.
The last thing he feels is Hayato's arms coming up around him, warm and alive and oh so gentle, and the last thing he hears is Takeshi, saying - absolutely delighted, Tsuna knows that tone - "Oh, he is going to be so embarrassed when he wakes up."
And then darkness.
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