Ranking shooting stars
Before he met the teen known as Sawada Tsunayoshi, Fuuta only knew him as a number, ranking low (and more often than not, dead last) in what he liked to describe as the “better and nicer” categories (seeing as his clients sang praises when he read their names off those lists).
Fuuta would flip through his book, seeing if this Tsunayoshi ranked high anywhere, feeling small pangs of pity for the boss in training. The boy frowned when the few high rankings Tsunayoshi had weren’t exactly “good” ones (who would be happy with “highest chance of getting their food stolen? ”).
Between him and the Ranking Planet, Fuuta imagined Tsuna to be a rather pathetic and pitiable person, believing that the future Vongola boss would be someone who lived without ambition and simply drifted through life.
(Looking back, years after he met Tsuna and long after the other had become a much loved and respected Decimo, Fuuta can’t help but laugh at how wrong his first impressions of Tsuna were.)
After countless days of sifting through lists and pages upon pages of rankings, Fuuta finally found Tsunayoshi’s name placed high on lists that were better than the ones from before: “Hard time refusing requests from those in need” and “Person most likely to forgive a killer and accept them into his family”.
Something in Fuuta felt a bit relieved to see that this Tsunayoshi wasn’t completely dead last in everything (a small part of him prayed for the Decimo, because honestly, only a complete moron or killer themselves would accept those with bloodied hands into their families).
Then, Fuuta met the brunet and Sawada Tsunayoshi was no longer just a number.
Admittedly, when Fuuta first encountered the other, he didn’t give off much of a presence, or at least not a desirable presence for those in the Mafia.
(Fuuta laughed when he remembers thinking that his nine year old self, with the smallest of combat experience, could have easily knocked down the other.)
And for the first time in Fuuta’s life, despite having years of accurate rankings (except on rainy days), his lists and numbers meant nothing before the boy with a fire on his head.
A small part of Fuuta was happy, excited even. No one had ever proven his rankings wrong.
(An even smaller, childish part of him wondered if this meant he could go back to his days before ranking, listening to his mother’s lullabies on the rainy evenings in Italy).
And then Mukuro came, throwing him back into the reality of how the world worked, ripping away the hope that Tsuna gave him in their brief time together.
When Mukuro and his gang were quiet, not asking (demanding) him for rankings, Fuuta would sit in one of the room’s dusty corners, holding his Book of Rankings tightly to his chest as if it would protect him. Fuuta found it funny, considering the book was the reason he was here in the first place.
When the others turned in for the night or wandered off to God knows where, Fuuta closed his eyes, trying to find comfort in his mind (the fact that Mukuro now had the ability to possess him was something he tried not to think about).
"When you lose hope, just wish on the shooting stars,” his papa had told him once long ago.
But there weren’t any shooting stars in this torn room to wish on. Even though he knew that wishing on stars was something adults made up, he wanted to cry. He just wanted a symbol of hope, something he could go to in times like these.
He thought of Tsuna with his bright flames, proving his rankings wrong.
Quietly, Fuuta opened his book to the page titled with “Hard time refusing requests from those in need” and wished silently on the name Sawada Tsunayoshi.
(He remembers the Decimo fighting, flame shining brightly for that brief moment. It’s no wonder that Fuuta confused Tsuna with a shooting star.)
When Tsuna comes for him, he didn’t get angry or blame him for hurting his family (their family). He gave Fuuta a bright smile, telling him that everything was going to be okay.
He felt a few tears leave his eyes before he passes out, exhaustion finally taking over.
That night, he dreams of unwavering flames and Tsuna fighting with his hands in prayer, shining with more ferocity than any shooting star he had ever seen.
Later, when Fuuta finds he has trouble connecting with the Ranking Planet, he wished again on the star called Tsuna-nii, asking for a sign of reassurance that he won’t be tossed to the side if he loses his ability.
His star didn’t disappoint, granting him his wish.
Any last remaining threads of doubt he had in his mind were burned away when Tsuna-nii smiles at him, telling him that as long as he was fine with not ranking anymore, that everything will be okay.
“You won’t have to worry about those scary guys chasing you anymore…” Tsuna shivered, probably remembering Mukuro. “Besides, you’ll always have a place here, Fuuta.” He nodded before running out of the room when the sound of explosions went off downstairs, the house shaking.
(For the first time in a long while, Fuuta cries from relief and joy.)
Hearing the sounds of explosions move further away, Fuuta figures that the Decimo won’t be back for a good while. He went down, a request in mind for mama.
Had he been any older, he probably would have been too embarrassed to ask her to sew him the charm that he had in mind.
(“Oh my, how cute!” She smiled, already gathering the material to make his custom good luck charm.)
Fuuta slept peacefully, clutching the charm in his hand.
“Hey, Fuuta…” Fuuta put down his reports, wondering what the teen wanted to ask him. Lambo looked hesitant, walking so that he sat on the other end of the conference table. After a few moments, Lambo pointed to his briefcase.
“That,” He was pointing to the charm mama had made for him all those years ago. Fuuta held it up, slightly amazed that despite never parting with it, the charm was still in near mint condition. “Can...Can I hold it?”
Giving him a nod, Lambo gently took it from him, his eyes glossing as he looked over the charm. He laughed, his smile a ghost of what it used to be.
“Did it work? Whenever you wished on it?” Lambo didn’t realize that he was crying. “Do you think...that if I were to wish him back…?” Lambo made a fist, taking care not to damage the image of Tsuna on the charm.
“Do you think he'd come back if I wished it?”
(It had been months and Fuuta still couldn’t get the image out of his head; Tsuna, lying in a casket, not a sign of life coming from his star.
“Shooting stars can only do so much before they fade away.” He was told this long ago, and here he was, denying the reality.)
Lambo looked up when Fuuta placed a hand on his shoulder. If Fuuta hadn’t promised himself months back to hold a strong front, he probably would’ve been in worse condition than Lambo.
“Of course,” Fuuta felt his throat closing up, his voice cracking slightly as a few tears strayed from his eyes. “Tsuna's always pulled through, hasn’t he?”
(Because Sawada Tsunayoshi was more than a shooting star and more than a ranking.
He was a never ending flame, shining brightly and scaring away Fuuta’s fears and doubts.
He was Fuuta's shooting star that led him out of the dark in dire times.)