Chapter 2 – Rokudo Mukuro
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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Ryo-nii took Tsuna to the archive room of Namimori Police Station. Because of many different types of media, the archive room also has a video room other than just the old data room. “These are classified as confidential. But since you will be one of the adopters, you have the right to know about what happened to the children. But I hope you won’t disclose it to the media.”
Tsuna complained silently in his heart that he never said anything about wanting to adopt anyone.
“It’s called adoption, but that’s not entirely the case. Their household registration can be independent. Of course, it’s okay if they want to adopt the adopter’s household registration. The government can accommodate up to this point.” Ryo-nii turned on the TV and the DVD player. He took out one of the CDs that were stacked vertically on the cabinet while making a supplementary explanation to Tsuna, “It’s just that minors must have guardians. After the adopted person becomes an adult, the government will subsidise a sum of money to the adopters.”
The government is paying people to take care of the children? Tsuna complained again.
His internal complaints were interrupted by a scream. To say that it was a scream was an understatement. That voice sounded like the limit of human vocal cords could be broken. Before this, Tsuna had never known that human beings could scream up to that point.
“These are the video records found from the Millefiore Research Institute, probably for the convenience of their future research.” Ryo-nii’s tone sounded almost monotonous. It was as if he had to stiffen himself to suppress the raging anger inside of him from what he had seen in the video. He appeared to try his best to even press ‘play’. Tsuna swallowed a mouthful of saliva and stared at the screen.
This is not a medical experiment, he thought. This is torture.
The kid on the screen was injected with a large number of medicines on various body parts. The intense chemical reactions produced by those medicines made them look like beasts on the verge of death. One kid couldn’t close his eyes anymore after losing his eyelids just so that the doctors could see how his eyeballs would be damaged and sunken. Then, the eye sockets would swell out bit by bit. The kid gradually mutated in front of the camera for a long time. The skin became darker until it was completely black and blisters started to appear. Those blisters gradually became bigger and bigger and finally burst. A colourful pus flowed out from the wound. Then, the doctors took samples of the pus and let the kid’s whole body be covered with blisters without an inch of clear skin at all. The kid then just lied there like a corpse.
No matter what torture… these are still kids.
Tsuna’s throat became dry. And there was a burning sensation in his stomach.
What really happened could not be compared with the facts written on the news reports. It was too subtle and even concealing matters to restore peace. However, it is better for the public not to know what really happened. No one can accept that such cruel things are going on in a modern civilised society. It could cause a great panic.
The world is of course not as safe as it is advertised.
“The kid I’m talking about is called Rokudo Mukuro.” Ryo-nii turned off the power of the screen and spoke to the pale-faced Tsuna, “He has been in that institute ever since he can remember. Based on his bone age, he should be 12 years old.”
“His eyes turned into different colours because of the experiment, which is a bit… scary-looking. The previous adopter rejected him because of this.”
“I was just thinking… these kids must have seen hell.”
“As adults, we should be really ashamed.”
After coming out of the police station, Tsuna had been thinking about what Ryo-nii had said.
It is true that he himself wasn’t the one who committed such a heinous crime on the kids. In fact, it has nothing to do with him at all. But the person who committed the crime is also another human being and also an adult. Every time he thought of this, he felt deeply shocked in his heart. How could a human being do this to another human being? What’s more, the other human being was a child who was still innocent and knew nothing about the world.
There was a difference between knowing and not knowing. Also, there was a difference between seeing and not seeing.
When Tsuna recovered from his trance, he realised that he had passed the station he was supposed to stop at. He shook his head with a wry smile and went to the opposite side to continue waiting for another train. Ryo-nii was right. He was capable of raising a child. As the son of a shareholder of Vongola Company, there was no doubt about it. Back then, he categorically refused and he never thought of this possibility.
But thinking about it now, it doesn’t seem so difficult to adopt a kid. The other party is already 12 years old, so it shouldn’t cause any trouble… right?
Even though this is really not in line with the normal style…
With a long sigh, Tsuna took out his mobile phone and called Sawada Iemitsu’s number. It’s better to report such things beforehand.
“Dad, I have something to tell you. … You’re about to have a grandson. … Huh? How many months?… Oh, he’s 12 years old.”
Sawada Iemitsu was both neutral and friendly to the decision made by Tsuna. This is also his consistent policy of educating Tsuna. He could decide things on his own but he must be responsible for his decision. Iemitsu’s life experience was rich so he knew that whatever happened depends on the decision you made in your life.
Ryo-nii already expected that Tsuna would agree. Although Tsuna’s conditions were above average, since he is unmarried, it took a bit of trouble for him to complete the formalities. It took a week for everything to be completed. What happened after that was that the name of Rokudo Mukuro on the household registration has not changed to Sawada. If he changed the other party to his own surname, Tsuna felt that could make things really awkward.
“Ryo-nii, I’m a little nervous.”
Rokudo Mukuro was living in Ryo-nii’s house for the time being. He shared a bed with the one adopted by Ryo-nii. Considering Ryo-nii’s busy working life as a police officer, the two children were supposed to be worry-free. But they lacked common sense.
After hearing Ryo-nii’s evaluation, Tsuna found that he knew almost nothing about Rokudo Mukuro. They were two people who would live together for a long time soon and this was the first time they would meet. Tsuna wanted to make a good impression on Rokudo Mukuro. The kid is, after all, only 12 years old. Tsuna didn’tt know what gifts to buy for him so in the end, he bought nothing.
“Don’t worry, I don’t think that kid will care about that.” The extremely confident Ryo-nii made Tsunay feel a little bit better. He got out of Ryo-nii’s small Honda and followed him to the lobby of the apartment building. The tension gradually increased as the elevator got up floor by floor. When Ryo-nii took out his keys to open the door, Tsuna grabbed his hand.
“What’s the matter?” Ryo-nii looked at him suspiciously and Tsuna only smiled awkwardly, “It’s nothing. I just want to take it easy.”
Ryo-nii respected his decision very much so he accompanied him to stand at the door of his house for 5 more minutes before he finally heard Tsuna say, “Let’s go.”
There were two people sitting in the living room. As soon as the door opened, they all looked at the people standing at the door. Tsuna shuddered but the tension subsided instantly when he was met by a pair of strange-coloured eyes.
The reason why he could still see the colour of the other person’s eyes clearly from a certain distance was because the colour was so bright. Tsuna suddenly fell under the illusion that the boy’s red eye was emitting a faint red light.
Ryo-nii might have told the boy beforehand, so Rokudo Mukuro came over automatically. He stood half a metre away from Tsuna and did not move after that.
Looking at his eyes from a close distance, the red colour looks even more gorgeous. The eyes were coupled with that fair and delicate face. The boy looks like a doll from a foreign country.
Tsuna’s first thought was; the boy is so beautiful.
The second thought was; how much torture would it take to make his eyes look like this?
Rokudo Mukuro didn’t talk. He looked as if he wasn’t even breathing. Tsuna looked at Ryo-nii for help and Ryo-nii shrugged as if he didn’t know what to do as well, “He doesn’t like to talk.”
Well, I’m an adult, so I should act mature, Tsuna thought.
After repeating this sentence several times in his head, Tsuna bent slightly and asked with a smile, “Are you Rokudo Mukuro?”
The other party did not answer. He only looked straight at Tsuna.
“Can I call you Muku?”
The other party still didn’t answer. He didn’t even blink.
It is probably embarrassing enough to watch Tsuna and it is not good for Ryo-nii to stand by and watch like this. So he quickly patted Tsuna on the shoulder, “It’s getting late. Why don’t you take him home first?”
Tsuna nodded immediately, hesitating on how to communicate with Mukuro again. When Ryo-nii started leaving, Mukuro had already followed Ryo-nii out of the door, so Tsuna could only follow them quickly as well.
Rokudo Mukuro is very obedient.
Rokudo Mukuro is also very quiet.
Ryo-nii drove them all the way to the lobby of Tsuna’s apartment. He punched in the password in one smooth action. He couldn’t help but to worry about a lot of things but he couldn’t say a word about it. The kid was only 12 years old so was it possible that he couldn’t understand what he was talking about?
Maybe he didn’t understand anything?
Those eyes were like a pair of glazed glass. It was beautiful. But also lifeless. It was not cold but rather, it was emotionless.
Thinking of what the kid might have experienced at the research institute, Tsuna was still feeling uncomfortable. He opened the door to let Mukuro in but the kid stood at the entrance, not going in. He looked around without emotion and then he looked up at Tsuna, who was bowing his head to the side to change into his home slippers. He spoke in front of Tsuna for the first time, with a hoarse, juvenile voice.
“Am I your possession now?”
Tsuna was so surprised that he almost knocked his own head on the shoe cabinet. He turned to look at Mukuro in horror, thinking of the reasons why the kid talked like that. First of all, who would call themselves a ‘possession’? A ‘thing’?
But in the next moment, he replaces his emotions with deep sadness. He couldn’t imagine what kind of life this child had lived before. How could the idea of human rights be taught to these experimental subjects? In the eyes of those monstrous doctors, they are consumables. Once they are worn out, there are other ‘things’ that can replace them.
The hand hanging by his side clenched into a fist at first. But then, he relaxed. He stretched out his hand and flicked Mukuro’s forehead with his fingers, “You’ve said something wrong. This is punishment.”
Mukuro had his eyes widened in surprise slightly after being flicked on his forehead. He finally showed some emotion on his emotionless face. He moved his hand, as if he really wanted to touch his forehead, but he was very confused that he couldn’t even do that.
“Listen carefully.” Tsuna smiled at him, “You are still called Rokudo Mukuro. You didn’t have to adopt my surname. Moreover, even if you adopt my surname, I do not ‘own’ you.”
Tsuna hesitated for a second but he still reached out his hand to pat on Mukuro’s head resolutely and righteously. He then repeated to Mukuro the words that Iemitsu taught him before, “No matter what name you are given and what kind of identity you are given, only you can own yourself.”
“Don’t forget the first lesson I taught you, Muku.” He smoothed Mukuro’s messy bang on his forehead, “You belong to yourself.”
For the first time, there were waves of emotions in those eyes that were lifeless before.
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*Author’s Note: How was my first update? There were lots of words. I am very kind, right? Hahaha -YXF
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*Translator’s Note: You’ve met our seme in the story now. Let’s wait for him to grow up and harbour feelings for this kind hearted uke. Hehe. -K
Next update: 2023.04.18
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