Open Sky Yet Not [KHR Fanfic]

Target 47: Reality Check

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Sawada Tsunayoshi is—it's everywhere redredredblood e V E r Y w h e R E —dead.

Registering the cold, harsh reality that made his blood turn cold, Ienari's mind went blank. All of the commotion and noises shut out, leaving only a silent ring in his ears and an odd hum in the back of his mind as he kneeled unmovingly in front of a pool of blood oozing—this is not real - oh god why is there so much - make it stop stop STOP!— from under the broken chandelier—The very same blood that had pooled around his big brother's body seven-goddamn-years ago and—and... this was the second time.

The second - damn - time he helplessly watched his brother leave—

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"Nari-kun—"

"Ienari—"

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Why whywhywhywhy W h Y?! —

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"—live."

"—Breathe."

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As if on cue, Ienari gasped sharply, one hand moving to clutch his chest as his lungs struggled for air.

It wasn't working—

Onii-san, is that you?

—More air was exhaled than inhaled, his head pounding in tune with his heartbeat—

You're still here right, Onii-san?

—Black dots invaded his vision as he strained to keep himself steady—

What... was that about... breathing... again... Onii?

—He crumbled to the ground, a numbing pain coursing through his body that only worsen his throbbing head and left him to succumb to darkness.

"Nari!"

"Juuydaime!"

"Nari, hang in there!"

No one seemed to notice the flickering light of the Vongola ring.

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Reborn clicked his tongue in mild annoyance as he tried to bore a hole into his now unconscious student. Reborn had never seen his student experience a full-on panic attack before despite it being on his medical records—the condition was diagnosed with the boy (along with the selective memory lapses) after the kidnap-turned-assassination incident. There were a couple of times Reborn, being the sadist that he was, tried to trigger it as part of the training regime, but to no avail. It was as though Ienari never had it in the first place... or rather, the boy simply forgot he had such a condition in the first place (just like how he forgot he had a twin in the first place).

That was, until a couple of months ago during that little mishap of the mafia invading the Namimori High. It seemed harmless at that time because Tsuna had calmed the blonde down when the symptoms first showed up. (It was then Reborn learned that it stemmed from Tsunayoshi.) Then again, the fact that Tsuna was still alive and breathing at that time might've also had a factor in how easily Ienari had recovered the last time around.

Thinking up to this point, Reborn refrained from the urge of hammering Byakuran because this was not the time and place for it. But mark his words, he will hammer the child when the time comes (and don't go blaming him for child abuse either, because he is physically a child himself). Byakuran just had to flesh out the doppelganger to that extent, didn't he?