Chapter 1 – Christmas Present
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)
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The whole street was filled with the brainwashing Christmas songs. In the West, today is the New Year’s holiday. In Japan, however, it becomes like a second Valentine’s Day. Even though the cold wind couldn’t blow out the lights on the Christmas tree, with such an exaggeration of festivities portrayed by the atmosphere, it is not impossible for people to confess to someone they have had a crush on for a long time. Nonetheless, those aunties who are not among those young people in love would still love this time of the year due to the discounts given in major shopping malls.
It’s easier said that this is a festival loved by everyone from all over the country.
That is except for one particular kind of people, which is the workers who are paid to work overtime.
It was almost 10p.m. when Sawada Tsunayoshi managed to send the revised plan to the boss. He stretched his waist greatly. A terrifying sound of clicking in his spine could be heard. The empty biscuit tins on his table were swept into the trash. At this time, he took out his handphone from his pocket to check for any notifications. Sure enough, there were a lot of text messages wishing him a happy holiday. Tsuna replied to the messages one by one. Although this kind of thing is quite meaningless, if he didn’t do it, some people might feel offended.
But there is a text message that caught his interest. The sender is Sasagawa Ryohei. He is the elder brother of Tsuna’s junior high school classmate. He used to take care of him a lot back then. At that time, Tsuna usually called him Ryo-nii and the relationship between them was very good. However, the content of this text message is not that of a holiday greeting. It is a short appointment time, expressing that there is something important to discuss with Tsuna.
It’s really strange. Is there anything so serious that he needed to talk to me face to face? He wondered.
It was already past 10.30p.m. when all the text messages were replied. Since it was still relatively early, Tsuna was not in a hurry to rush home. So, he simply opened the main page of MSN, with one hand propping his chin and the other moving the mouse. He browsed to see the news casually.
Among the festive titles, there is a hyperlink of “Millefiore’s Incident” that really interested Tsuna. Not long ago, he had a project about the pharmaceutical industry. So, he is interested in one of the best companies who has done a lot of research in the area, which is Millefiore. As a well-known company with an age of only less than 20 years, several new drugs developed by Millefiore have not only set off huge waves in the market, but also caused huge waves in the field of pharmaceutical sciences. It was shocking that the company completely turned to be at the forefront of drug research and development. In fact, the company has the momentum to become the Napoleon of the drug industry.
Is it possible that some incredible new weapon has been developed?
Tsuna’s casual state gradually faded after clicking on the link. It was now replaced by the feeling of disbelief, “Using children as human experiment?”
The pictures on the news are very subtle. They were just a few photos that should be taken from the research institute. The news said that the police cracked a series of kidnapping cases of children not long ago. The years-long investigation finally pointed to the company Millefiore. The researchers of Millefiore obtained a lot of precious data by conducting various unimaginable experiments on children, which undoubtedly played an important role in their groundbreaking development of new drugs.
The new president, Byakuran Gesso, did not show any looks of panic or guilt during the investigation. Instead, he believed that society was too naive. According to him, the lives saved by their company’s new drugs were far greater than the number of victims used in the process. Some sacrifices are necessary.
It’s a statement that people can’t refute but also can’t agree with, Tsuna thought. He closed the page.
Tsuna’s phone rang when he stepped on the last step of stairs in the company’s front hall. The monotonous ringtone echoed in the open space. When he saw who the caller was, Tsuna was in a good mood. He put the phone close to his ear, “Dad, Merry Christmas to you.”
On the other line of the phone call, a hearty uncle’s voice could be heard. The voice is transmitted by a signal from a place with a few hours of time difference.
“I didn’t prepare a christmas present for you,” he said with a little smile. Tsuna listened as he walked, “Speaking of which, you should bring me a present, right? Where did you go on the business trip this time?”
He gradually reached the noisy street as he walked. Everyone was enthusiastic about the holiday at this time so they were loud. Tsuna was unable to hear what Sawada Iemitsu said on the other line. Hence, he had to hang up hastily.
The only advantage of working overtime is that he could get a seat on the subway train. Although Tsuna has enough money in his savings to buy a car, it is a pity that he himself didn’t know how to drive until now.
This fact has always annoyed his father, Iemitsu.
It is easy for him to doze off on the gently shaking subway. In order to avoid falling asleep, Tsuna has been thinking about the possible questions about today’s proposal. This is simply because there is no perfect plan in this world no matter how thorough the plan is. All the work had been put to a stop but there’s still someone who would evaluate the work soon enough.
Fortunately, he himself didn’t have to face the client. Tsuna sighed since there is really nothing he can do about it.
The next day, during the lunch break at noon, Tsuna called Ryo-nii to make sure that they both had free time to meet. Due to the limited lunch hour, the location was set at a coffee shop not far from Tsuna’s company. When he arrived, Ryo-nii snapped his fingers to call him over when he saw Tsuna coming in.
Tsuna felt a little strange as he looked at him. There’s dark circles under Ryo-nii’s eyes and he looked dejected. It was extremely rare for him to look like that. He would usually face any case with a strong will.
The waiter stepped forward and Tsuna ordered a cup of milk tea. There was already a glass of lemonade in front of him on the table.
“Ryo-nii, why are you looking so serious?” There were still Christmas decorations in the coffee shop while the familiar tune of Für Elise was playing in the background. Tsuna deliberately started the conversation with a relaxed tone.
Ryo-nii seemed to be struggling to say something for a while before opening his mouth, “Have you… heard anything about Millefiore?”
“I just read the news.” Tsuna was surprised by the sudden mention of that company. He quickly replayed the report he saw last night in his mind. With a flash of curiosity, he blurted out a question, “Was your police station involved in the investigation?”
Ryo-nii nodded and said, “It’s not just our police station. After all, this case is a lot to take in. Just because it happens to be in this city, our police station turned out to be the main force.”
After pausing for a while, he looked at Tsuna with some embarrassment. This kind of look in his eyes was combined with his overly masculine face. Therefore, it really made Tsuna feel a little overwhelmed. So, he couldn’t help continuing the topic, “Uh, isn’t it worth celebrating that the incident is resolved? Is it not? Ryo-nii, why are you-…”
He hesitated and then asked seriously, “Is there anything that I can do for you?”
“There is something indeed.” It seemed that after the beginning of the conversation, Ryo-nii’s narrative immediately became smoother, “But it also depends on your agreement. Since you have read the news, you should also know that the victims this time are children.”
“Yeah…it’s really unspeakable.” Tsuna’s tone became heavy unconsciously. Seeing him reacting like that, there was a little hope in Ryo-nii’s voice, “Many children died during the experiment, but there are also children who have survived. Now, apart from the procuratorate’s search for evidence from the Millefiore Company, the most important issue is how to deal with these children.”
“Can’t we send them back to their original home?” Tsuna leaned back so that the waiter could put his milk tea on the table. The milky fragrance gradually spread out, filling his senses with such a warm scent.
“The ones that their original home can be found have been sent back. But some children have been kidnapped for too long. They may even have been kidnapped when they were babies. They have been growing up in the research institute and they don’t know anything about the outside world.” Ryo-nii sipped on his drink depressingly. He then acted a little rudely when he put the cup down, displaying his emotions, “It is children like these that are difficult to handle. Some are even in their teens. So, they can’t be sent to the orphanage anymore. Also, because of years of drug accumulation, their appearance has become a bit… different. Even for those with ordinary looks, orphanages are not willing to accept them. They are still minors. So, the government feels very conflicted regarding these children.”
It’s so pitiful that these children were born to suffer this kind of crime.
Tsuna heard Ryo-nii continue to explain, “If there is no guardian to go through the adoption procedures, these kids will not even be able to apply for household registration. All the capable people in the police station will adopt one. I will also adopt one myself.”
“Kyoko didn’t object, huh?”
Ryo-nii’s younger sister, Sasagawa Kyoko was Tsuna’s junior high school classmate. She is beautiful and has a good personality. Many people have a crush on her, even Tsuna himself was one of them.
Because of his relationship with her and some coincidences, Tsuna met Ryo-nii. And because of Ryo-nii, the relationship between him and Kyoko improved a lot and they didn’t cut off contact.
“She really has no objection. But adopting a child is not like adopting a pet. The government will also examine the conditions of the adopter. In my case, I can only adopt one.” Ryo-nii paused, scratching his cheek as if he didn’t know how to say his next words, “We all took one at a time. But I didn’t notice that one guy had left the office so there’s an extra child.”
This was already quite obvious, Tsuna suppressed the guessing in his heart, but still slightly twitched the corner of his mouth, “How can I help with this?”
Ryo-nii gave Tsuna a very sincere smile, almost showing even all of his row of teeth, “Tsuna, please adopt one.”
For real!, Tsuna thought.
Tsuna, who has never even had a serious girlfriend, is an old virgin. As an old virgin, there is a strong resistance when it comes to raising a child. This proposal is really too sudden! Shouldn’t the normal process of this kind of life event be for him to be introduced to a girlfriend first? But this time he had to skip directly to having a child. This reality is too much to deal with!
“Among the people I know around me, you have the most reliable qualifications.” Ryo-nii knew Tsuna well. Tsuna was the best candidate in terms of economic situation and also personality.
“Ryo-nii, it’s not that I don’t want to help. But I’m very busy with work.” The best candidate is now trying to refuse, “Otherwise, why don’t I help you find a suitable candidate? There must be someone more suitable than me.”
Ryo-nii looked at Tsuna without saying a word. His refusal was also within his expectations. In fact, adopting a child is a matter of one sentence, but the responsibilities and burdens it represents are immeasurable. But, the reason why he and most of his colleagues made such a quick decision to adopt was because they had seen the condition of the children.
No one could be indifferent after seeing that kind of thing.
After being silent for a while, Ryo-nii waved his hand to pay the bill. He then said to the frowning Tsuna, “I’ll show him to you first.”
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*Translator’s Note: This story’s setting is in Japan. Hence, the characters’ names were originally in Japanese. This story was written as an alternate universe fanfiction by the author for the anime ‘Katekyo Hitman Reborn!’. I was really conflicted on whether to use the Chinese or the Japanese names for my translation but I chose to use the Japanese names. Correction for any mistakes in my translation is welcomed. Thanks. I will try to update weekly. -K
★ If you missed reading this in the description, do note that the chapter title with (M) at the beginning means it’s a mature/smut chapter.
*GLOSSARY:
- Ryo-nii = ‘nii’ [兄 / にい] is from ‘onii-san’ [お兄さん] which means ‘(older) brother’. Of course the author used ‘gē’ [哥] instead but I changed it to the Japanese version since if I wrote Ryo Ge, it might cause some confusion.
- MSN = MicroSoft Network. (MicroSoft Network) A general-purpose Web portal from Microsoft that includes news, sports and entertainment as well as the Bing search engine (www.msn.com). Integration with Windows Live, Facebook and Twitter is also provided.
- Für Elise = Beethoven’s piano composition
Next update: 2023.04.11
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