Chapter 39 – Studying Abroad
Novel Title: 跨越千万星辰 (Across Thousands of Stars)
Author：御小凡 (Yu Xiaofan)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 泽田纲吉 (Sawada Tsunayoshi -MC), 六道骸 (Rokudo Mukuro -ML)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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In terms of patience, Tsuna thought he had cultivated it to a certain level. However, the relentless rumours these past few days have pushed his patience to an unprecedented height. If the glances from his colleagues before were merely doubtful and disapproving, now they were outright piercing with cruelty.
Oh my goodness… I really am not a person who’s into perverse sexual fantasies or runs some dark underground circle…
Apart from this, he had never imagined he would actually end up in the newspapers during his lifetime. Even though they were all tabloids. Nonetheless, people seemed all too eager to embrace such sensationalist reads. The prestigious position of being Vongola’s heir had elevated the gossip surrounding this news to a whole new level.
To make matters worse, Reborn continued to arrange banquets for him, just as he always did. Did his Spartan-like assistant have no idea that Tsuna had practically become the laughingstock during these events?
Kicking the ground in frustration, Tsuna was well aware that throwing a tantrum was ridiculous. Yet, in his irritation, he refused Reborn’s offer of a ride today. Seemingly unwilling to indulge his tantrums, Reborn replied with a casual, “That’s perfect. I have things to attend to as well.”
Amidst his annoyance, Tsuna found an unexpected scene near the apartment building just a short distance from where he was standing beneath a utility pole.
“Mukuro?! What are you doing?” Taken aback for a few moments, Tsuna quickly approached and grabbed Mukuro, who seemed poised to attack someone. The other man was wearing a duckbill cap. He was being held by the collar and his expression was one of fear.
Not comprehending the situation, Tsuna hurriedly held Mukuro’s arm. “You should let him go…”
Mukuro glanced at Tsuna and loosened his grip. He took the opportunity to snatch the camera from the guy’s hand. Without any hesitation, he smashed it to the ground and then proceeded to stomp on it as if fearing it wouldn’t be thoroughly destroyed.
“My camera!” The man had just shown a look of shock and fear. But the pain of having his camera damaged seemed to have given him the courage to protest. “Do you know how much this costs?! You’re destroying private property! I’ll sue you!”
Stepping away from the camera, Mukuro looked at him coldly. His handsome features were now covered with a layer of frost. “Sure, go ahead. But let me tell you, if I see you around here again, I promise your fate will be the same as this camera.”
The intimidation affected not only the man but also Tsuna.
Mukuro kicked the battered camera aside and grabbed Tsuna’s wrist, dragging him back into the apartment building. Tsuna had also vaguely sensed the man’s identity by now. His eyebrows furrowed with concern. He didn’t even care that his wrist was being held firmly as he asked, “Do you… know what just happened?”
With a simple ‘hmm’, Mukuro fell silent. His eyebrows furrow even more deeply than Tsuna’s.
“Ah, right. This incident has caused quite a stir. It even made it into the tabloids,” Tsuna said with a bitter smile. He was uncertain about his own feelings at the moment. If it weren’t for Mukuro’s involvement, he wouldn’t have encountered such a situation. Yet, if it weren’t for his own position, they wouldn’t have attracted unwanted attention.
“Do you have any… troubles at school?” Tsuna was concerned. If he, as an adult, was having a hard time dealing with things at work, how much worse would it be for this young man at school?
Upon hearing Tsuna’s question, Mukuro managed to force a smile even though his expression remained unchanged. “Don’t worry about me.”
Seeing Tsuna’s worried look, Mukuro clenched his teeth. He knew that what he could do was indeed very limited. It was just as that man had pointed out.
“Muku?”
Startled by the surprised voice, Mukuro realised that he had been gripping Tsuna’s wrist so tightly that it must have been painful. “I’m sorry…”
The elevator chimed, indicating that the doors were opening. However, Mukuro didn’t move. “Tsuna, about after high school…”
Tsuna responded with a puzzled “Huh?” as he wondered why Mukuro was bringing up this topic here and now.
“Are you talking about college?” Tsuna asked in return. With only a few months left before the spring entrance exams, it was indeed a pressing matter. It was frustrating to deal with this kind of situation on top of everything. “Don’t worry. This whole thing should blow over soon. Um… well, the speed at which social news updates looks quite optimistic, right?”
Using the words Reborn had said to comfort himself, Tsuna attempted to console Mukuro only to find that the other’s expression grew even worse. He fell silent and slightly bewildered. The doors were about to close again but Mukuro stopped them with his hand.
“I’ve made up my mind. There’s nothing in Japanese universities that interests me. I want to study abroad in the United States,” Mukuro declared firmly, without room for negotiation. After announcing his decision, he fell silent and stepped out of the elevator just as the doors were about to close again. Tsuna hadn’t fully processed what he had just heard. “Huh? What did you say?!”
Chasing after him, Tsuna grabbed onto Mukuro, who was about to open the door. His expression was full of astonishment. “What are you trying to do now? You’ve never mentioned wanting to study abroad!”
Mukuro let him hold onto him and used his other hand to open the door. “Not mentioning it doesn’t mean that I haven’t thought about it.”
In fact, he hadn’t actually thought about leaving Tsuna behind voluntarily before. Just the thought of it caused a sharp pain in his heart. It was as if something were being forcibly torn apart inside of him.
However, regardless of whatever plans Reborn had, for whatever reasons, Mukuro was acutely aware that maybe he and Tsuna truly needed this blank space to change something.
He had been by Tsuna’s side since the moment he could experience the real world. As he had once said, Tsuna was the starting point of his understanding of the world.
Now he had to strip himself away from this comfortable world.
As the light in the entryway turned on, Mukuro closed his eyes as if he couldn’t adjust to the sudden brightness. Meanwhile, Tsuna stood beside him being utterly dumbfounded. “You’ve always wanted to study abroad?!”
While it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it was still so sudden. Coupled with the events of the past few days, Tsuna’s expression grew uneasy. He couldn’t help but feel that the guy in front of him, who had caused all these incidents, didn’t seem like someone who was planning to study abroad at all.
However, Mukuro’s answers continued to catch him off guard. “Yeah, I’ve already started applying to the university.”
“You already contacted the university?”
Despite having recognized Mukuro’s independence and self-sufficiency long ago, he couldn’t fathom that he would take it to this extent of independence. How could he not even give a hint about this? Did he even consider Tsuna as family?
Tsuna stared at Mukuro and was speechless. After the incident, he had been thinking about how far he wanted this person to go, but he hadn’t expected that Mukuro had already made preparations to leave even before he brought up the topic.
The two of them stood in silence by the doorway.
“Which university?”
“Brown University.”
“Oh… that’s a good university.”
“I think so too.”
After a moment, Tsuna awkwardly asked, “How’s the application process going?”
“I’ll be taking the TOEFL exam at the end of the year.”
“Oh… it’s like that… What major did you apply for?”
“Mathematics.”
“Ah?… Oh…”
With nothing else to say, Tsuna leaned against the shoe cabinet. He watched Mukuro’s shoulders move as he bent down to change his shoes. “I’ll cook tonight. There’s some beef in the fridge.”
Acknowledging with a simple response, Tsuna fell into silence. Whoever got home early usually cooked while waiting for the other person to come back and eat. Sometimes, when someone had to work late, fresh food would be left out on plates.
Six years of such a routine had become a natural part of life.
Was this kind of life really about to end?
***
Vongola had taken legal action against every tabloid that had published rumours about Tsuna, claiming defamation. The impact of this strike was immense. There had never been a case where the subject of such rumours had gone after every single media outlet that had reported on them.
Because the cost was so high.
But Vongola, fueled by its immense financial power, was squeezing every single publishing house, even the mainstream media outlets were starting to pay attention to this turmoil. Vongola was even capitalising on the situation to boost its own publicity. Meanwhile, those accused publishing houses were frantically discovering that their business conditions were deteriorating. It was as if an invisible hand was slowly pushing them out of the industry.
Whether it was conducted openly or in secret, Vongola was sending a clear message to the outside world that it couldn’t be provoked without consequences.
If you touch the scales of the dragon, you will perish.
In the midst of this intense process, Vongola’s ‘White Lover Platinum Series’ was finally launched on the market, receiving a warmer response than anticipated. This eased Tsuna’s constantly tense nerves. He had also helped Mukuro apply for an international credit card early on, which would be useful for exam registration.
Mukuro took a long leave of absence to prepare for the SAT exam. While he wasn’t staying up late to study, Tsuna saw him studying for the first time. He couldn’t help but wonder if this kid truly cared about the opportunity to study abroad. After all, Brown University was part of the Ivy League in the US, known for its liberal academic environment where even mandatory courses were non-existent. It was a university that aroused people’s aspirations.
However, due to the serious studying that he witnessed in front of him, Tsuna remained sceptical about Mukuro’s sudden declaration to study abroad until the very end. If he had truly been considering it as he claimed, he wouldn’t have just started preparing for it now.
But Mukuro seemed unwilling to engage in a deeper discussion with him about this matter. The process no longer mattered. What was important was that the present Mukuro was genuinely preparing for studying abroad.
Tsuna didn’t want to say much about it either. After what had happened, he had come to understand that he couldn’t control Mukuro’s decisions. At least when it came to choices Mukuro had made, he couldn’t influence him.
Anyway, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Having come to terms with Mukuro’s choice, Tsuna began to worry about whether he would succeed. As a former exchange student himself, he had taken similar language exams and it was an experience he didn’t want to go through again. Would it be too much of a strain for this child to take the TOEFL exam in just two months?
As it turned out, Tsuna had worried needlessly. Mukuro’s TOEFL scores were more satisfying than Vongola’s sales figures. He passed the SAT exam with a high score. It wasn’t until February that Mukuro officially received an offer letter from Brown University, which finally put Tsuna at ease. After all, SAT and TOEFL scores weren’t the only factors to successfully apply for prestigious American universities. Getting the offer and securing the study visa weren’t issues either. They were all settled quickly.
With that, Mukuro’s journey to study abroad became a certainty. Tsuna once again helped him prepare his luggage. Despite initially not having a lot, they ended up buying so much that the new luggage couldn’t fit everything. Mukuro couldn’t stand watching him struggle and took matters into his own hands to organise a simplified version. Tsuna, like an old lady, kept nagging about what to bring and what to be cautious of. To put an end to his incessant chatter, Mukuro had to assure him that he could send over whatever was missing after he was settled there. And so, Tsuna’s nagging transformed from what to bring to only what to be aware of.
Squatting down to fasten the luggage, Mukuro turned into a half-crouched posture and looked back at Tsuna sitting on the edge of the bed for quite a while. Tsuna was still giving advice based on his experience as a foreign student.
Mukuro slid a few spaces over to Tsuna, tilting his head to look up at him. His slightly long bangs slid to the side of his ear. The light from the fluorescent lamp cast a glow on his clean forehead, causing Mukuro to squint his eyes slightly. The action inadvertently revealed a desperate expression.
Tsuna stopped talking and looked down at him, saying, “Muku…”
“Don’t say anything.”
Grabbing Tsuna’s hands which were originally placed on his knees, Mukuro leaned his forehead against Tsuna’s legs. “Just let me stay like this for a while. Just a little while.”
Mukuro’s voice sounded gentle. It was as if he was afraid to disturb the tranquillity. Tsuna’s hand was loosely held so he could easily retract it if he wanted. But he didn’t. Instead, he let Mukuro lean against him as if absorbing his warmth.
Silence lingered for a long time.
This was their last night together. The next day, Mukuro would be boarding a plane to the United States. Originally, they had agreed that Tsuna would catch a ride with Reborn to send him off. However, when Tsuna woke up the next morning, Mukuro was already gone. There was a slightly cold breakfast and a note left on the table.
—I’ve left.
Such a simple farewell. It was as if they weren’t about to start their separate lives in different places but merely parting for another morning. Tsuna stared at the sandwich for a long time without saying a word. Eventually, he sat at the table and took a bite. His throat felt as if he had swallowed something hard and it couldn’t go down.
After years, he was going to start living alone again. The house felt like it was missing something. This sensation was so vivid.
Mukuro contacted Tsuna as soon as he arrived in the United States. Based on the feedback Tsuna received from him, he realised that Mukuro was adapting to the new environment without any pressure. He vaguely remembered that this child used to say he had difficulty adapting to new environments, didn’t he?
Haa… I always feel like I’ve been deluded by a lot of things.
Anyway, Mukuro’s studies and life seem to be going well, which has put Tsuna’s mind at ease to some extent. Unexpectedly, even during holidays, Mukuro didn’t come back to see him. This made Tsuna feel a faint sense of disappointment. But fortunately, he was quite busy with work on his end.
This situation continued for three years. And then, Mukuro disappeared without a word.
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*Author’s Note:
【Time for an Explanation – About the Mathematics Department】
Why did Rokudo Mukuro decide to study mathematics?! Reborn, you must have influenced him!
↑ So apart from Tsunayoshi, there might be others who might not understand, right? So, I’ll take the liberty to help Reborn answer. Actually, Reborn did have good intentions to help this little troublemaker think it through properly, XD.
Even though people tend to think of fields like MBA when they hear about studying in the United States, which seems impressive, in reality, the top American universities usually don’t offer popular courses like business administration at the undergraduate level. Among the Ivy League schools, only the University of Chicago possibly has this department [maybe? probably?]. History and English majors are highly favoured at Yale University. Of course, there are also disciplines like mathematics and philosophy, which might make people wonder, “Are you studying to become a teacher?”
A teacher who taught me databases once said that whether it’s physics, chemistry, or computer science, these high-tech fields ultimately revolve around mathematics. In the US, only state universities offer programs in business and related fields for quick success. Most of the elite individuals on Wall Street studied mathematics.
So, students who excel in mathematics! You’re definitely using your brains! High intelligence and talent, right? I definitely won’t tell you that I never passed maths in high school! [Tears streaming, head tilted]
↑ Above all, why did I help Rokudo Mukuro choose the mathematics department? [Because I think it’s really cool!]
P/S: It’s really not that I intended to share this intermittently… but Baidu has been giving me a hard time today for so many times, QQ.
-YXF
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*Translator’s Note: I’m not good at maths either. T.T! -K
Next update: Tomorrow
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