Chapter 9 – Birthday 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)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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As soon as it was time, Tsuna clocked out and rushed home with the cake in his hand. Unexpectedly, he reached home ahead of Mukuro. Tsuna put the cake in the refrigerator, turned around and put on an apron. He then began to prepare the night’s dinner.
The child has no specific preference for food but Tsuna found out by himself that he doesn’t like spicy food. So in some dishes where chilli is needed, Tsuna replaced it with sweet pepper instead. This dish has a high vitamin content and is very good for the body.
While Tsuna was making croquettes in full swing, the door of the house was opened.
“You’re home?” Mukuro changed into home slippers and walked to the opposite side of the kitchen counter. He tilted his head to see Tsuna picking up the croquettes in the pot and putting them on the empty plate he had set aside. Tsuna glanced at him and raised his chin as a signal for him to help, “Help bring them to the table.”
Mukuro washed his hands consciously. He then took off his contact lenses before he helped to bring all the dishes over one after another. At the same time, he neatly placed the bowls and chopsticks on both sides of the table. He sat on the chair and watched Tsuna, who was busy in the kitchen.
If the feeling of comfort that seems to be infused with warmness in his chest is called happiness, then there is no doubt that his happiness is brought about by this person.
“It will be ready soon.” Seeing the child staring at him from the side in a daze, Tsuna sped up the movements of his hands. Today’s dinner time is indeed later than usual.
Putting the last dish of broccoli and pork slices on the plate, Tsuna had no time to take off his apron as he brought it to the table, “I’m sorry. I’ve never cooked so many dishes at one time before. It took a while…”
“It’s okay.” Mukuro followed Tsuna’s example and whispered, “Let’s eat.” He inserted a piece of croquette into his mouth. He was very satisfied that there were no tomatoes or peppers in any of the dishes including the salad. The carrot, lettuce, cucumber and tuna were served with the thousand island dressing and salad dressing. They are all Mukuro’s favourite flavours.
“Hey, when else can we have dinner together like this?” Tsuna started to complain while eating. He talked about the company’s affairs and he also asked Mukuro about his experience at school from time to time. There was nothing particularly interesting or important in their conversation. But both Tsuna and Mukuro felt a sense of relaxation and peace of mind that they never had at any other time when they talked. Thus, the two of them unconsciously lengthened the time of this dinner and by the time they realised it, more than half of the usual dinner portion had been eaten by them.
“Ah, it seems that we can put these in our lunchboxes for tomorrow.” There is still a lot leftover. Tsuna shook his head while rubbing his stomach and looking at Mukuro. The kid also had eaten a lot, “There is also cake.”
He stood up immediately, “Move the plate in the middle to the side. I’ll get the cake.”
Because of the low temperature in the refrigerator, the shape of the chocolate cake is perfectly kept in its original shape. There is something written in the middle with white chocolate over the dark chocolate cake. The words are: ‘Happy Birthday to Mukuro’.
Tsuna carefully inserted the number 13 candles on it and lit them one by one. He suddenly glanced at Mukuro guiltily who was silently watching him and coughed twice in embarrassment, “Well… we have to sing a birthday song before blowing out the candles.”
It was obviously embarrassing to sing alone. But, in order to give the child a complete birthday, Tsuna still sang the birthday song while feeling quite embarrassed.
Usually, his voice can’t be heard clearly when he is speaking. But when he sings, Tsuna’s voice is very nice to hear. There was a kind of childishness that is not easy to reveal on any day in the voice. It is more suitable to say that it sounded like a boy’s voice rather than a man’s voice.
The birthday song was sung thoroughly by Tsuna.
“🎵Happy Birthday to Mukuro🎶”
The ending slipped between his lips and teeth. Tsuna let out a long sigh of relief. He felt that he was a little out of tune just now. But despite that, the kid stared at him with serious and focused eyes and he inexplicably felt nervous.
Feeling relieved, Tsuna smiled at Mukuro, “Remember to make a wish.”
“Can I ask for my birthday present now?” The child who hadn’t spoken any words from the beginning to the end suddenly spoke. The candle flickered, casting constant changing light and shadow on the face that showed a strange expression.
“Now?” Tsuna was a little stunned by the question. But he immediately reacted with a nod and a smile, “Of course.”
It seems that this kid attaches great importance to this birthday gift. Tsuna made up his mind that even if Mukuro’s request is a bit too much, he will try his best to fulfil the kid’s first birthday wish.
“What do you wish for?”
What do I wish for? Mukuro wondered.
I wish to be happy like this forever, He confirmed the thought in his head.
“Can you stay with me forever?” Mukuro asked as he stared into Tsuna’s eyes. Perhaps it was because of the candlelight, the red colour in his right eye seemed to be flowing with desire. It was like the turbulent water in a glass of red wine filled with drunken beauty, “I wish you’ll always be with me.”
Tsuna really didn’t expect Mukuro to say this at all. This cannot be classified as a gift, but it is more like asking him for a promise. But to be honest, he is quite fond of this kid.
Oops, my little child is clingy. It really is the cutest~ Tsuna thought to himself amusedly.
“Of course.” Tsuna replied. There was no doubt at all in his answer. Would he throw the child away halfway? No way in hell that would ever happen. “But this can’t be regarded as a gift. I never thought of leaving you anyway. So, you can choose another thing as a present.”
When Tsuna gave an affirmative answer, the light in Mukuro’s eyes seemed to be burning in flames. A smile slowly formed on his face.
It was the first time for Tsuna to see him smiling so brightly. Usually, Mukuro would hang his lips with a small arc even when he smiled. But this time, the child’s smile looked like a beautiful dahlia blooming in front of his eyes. He was so surprised that he widened his eyes and mouth slightly.
With Mukuro’s burning eyes, he emphasised again, “No need. I only wish for this as a gift.”
You have promised this as a Birthday present, so you are already mine. Mukuro confirmed in his heart.
He continued to smile so dazzlingly as he looked at Tsuna and thought, this person is mine.
He is mine.
The next day, Tsuna’s lunchbox was so rich that the entire office was envious of him. Everyone’s mentality has been tortured recently with the hellish field of their work so they are not as reserved as usual. “Please take care of me. Please feed me!” and other noises kept lingering in Tsuna’s ears, making his complexion almost the same colour as the tomatoes in his bowl.
Hurry up and let this damn hellish period end. Boss, look at what you have turned people into? Tsuna complained bitterly in his heart.
However, apart from making complaints about the company’s hellish work, the employees are getting more and more sophisticated. They would do whatever else they needed to do. Tsuna took the time to surf the Internet and looked for a physical gift for Mukuro. He can’t let the kid have nothing to commemorate his first birthday, right?
Iemitsu also called at this time and asked about the situation of his adopted grandson. Tsuna praised Mukuro as much as possible and in exchange, Iemitsu sighed, “This reminds me of myself when I was a child… Fortunately, it was not your own son. Otherwise, he would not be so excellent.”
Dad, are you making fun of my genes or are you making fun of your own genes? Tsuna wondered.
“By the way, do you remember Reborn?” When Iemitsu mentioned the name, Tsuna’s heart shrank suddenly. It has only been more than a year. How could he forget this name? Now when his dad mentions this name, Tsuna had the urge to cry for help.
That guy is horrible!
“He has also joined Vongola’s company. Maybe he will work with you in the future. Aren’t you happy?”
“Isn’t it unreasonable for him to enter Vongola?” No matter what he heard, Tsuna felt that Iemitsu’s tone was full of gloating. He replied with a bitter tone, “Are you asking me if I’m happy because you know I’m afraid of him?…”
Speaking of which, it was because of Iemitsu that the two of them knew each other. Tsuna also doesn’t know what kind of relationship Reborn’s previous generation has with his father but the guy went to the same school as himself because of his father’s words just to ‘educate him’ ← that was the original words spoken by Reborn himself.
Tsuna recalled the scene of their first meeting. It was a rare sunny day in Italy during winter. He had just finished all the formalities and was sitting in a good mood on the iron chair by the square watching the white pigeons. A powerful aura came over and he turned his head subconsciously. The person walked over towards him among the flying pigeons. His steps were firm and slow. His body swayed with a dangerous sense of elegance. From such a distance, Tsuna could feel the sharpness in his eyes which fell on himself.
The man in the black formal suit disturbed the pigeon flock and the white birds flew one by one following his footsteps forward. Tsuna fell in a trance and thought that what was coming towards him was not a person, but a black cheetah.
Captured by the astonishing momentum, Tsuna waited dumbfoundedly until the man came to him. His eyes were like shattered obsidian staring at him under his top hat. He spoke with a silky voice, “My name is Reborn. I will be your tutor.”
The memories stopped there. That guy’s methods were too evil. Well, Tsuna has to admit that in fact, whether it’s academically or in living, Reborn helped him a lot. But those memories were too painful. It was really a song of blood and tears… How could he be so sophisticated in everything when he was obviously only a kid who was the same age as himself?
“Hey, you’ve been living together with him for four years. Even a guy like him would be sad to hear you say such heartless words.” Iemitsu was obviously ridiculing him. Tsuna’s scalp tingles for a moment. He didn’t want to recall Reborn’s high requirements for the sleeping environment and how much torture he suffered because of it. Now, such a quiet sleeping position was forced out of him, “Please don’t talk about us living together like we’re close to each other. We were just dorm roommates.”
“Okay, I heard that your work is quite busy this time. So I call to express my condolences.”
Tsuna gritted his teeth when he heard this. Not only was it difficult, the project was already very big. But meeting those non-stop bastards from the marketing department really made things worse for him.
“But if you work hard, there will be rewards. That is the charm of this work.”
Tsuna agreed weakly, “Now I only hope that this thing will truly be worthy of our suffering after it goes up in the market.”
“Don’t worry. You just do your job properly. You have to believe in yourself and the charm of the product.” Iemitsu’s voice is very affirmative. This is a trait that makes Tsuna envious. No matter how out of tune his father is, his words always sounded as a kind of calming force, “Besides, Dino’s design has always been the top in the trends. How can you be so unconfident in his works?”
“Okay. I didn’t say that I don’t believe in the talent of Vongola’s chief designer but I just want to complain,” Tsuna shrugged, sliding the mouse of his computer with his right hand. He was about to finish his word document, confirming that the format is correct. After ensuring that there was no mistake, he clicked save and then chose to print the document out.
The printer next to him began to spit out paper one by one.
“However, I still want to inform you to be mentally prepared. Your work in the future will be more and more difficult. You are my successor after all.” The voice suddenly became brighter and Iemitsu stopped talking about the topic that would make Tsuna’s stomach hurt. He continued to speak of another topic, “And help me to buy that kid a birthday present. Why didn’t you tell me that his birthday was coming?”
He was so busy all day long and his dad was also so busy all day long. Two people who are so busy are destined to be lacking in necessary communication…
Tsuna tended to Iemitsu’s wishes and bought a PSP as a birthday gift from his grandfather to his grandson. He also described Mukuro’s faint thank you as him being extremely excited and happy for receiving Iemitsu’s gift. The person on the phone was very satisfied.
Muku, please grow up quickly, Tsuna wished.
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*Translator’s Note: That guy’s name is really ‘Reborn’, okay? In the anime, Tsuna was ‘educated’ by Reborn to become the 10th generation leader of the Italian mafia Vongola family. This ‘education’ was very savage, including him using ‘death bomb’ to test him lol. By the way, I will take a break for a while. Sorry. -K
Next update: 2023.–.– (*TBA)
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