Title: Suono Di Violenza
Disclaimer: Not mine. Amano-sensei owns Reborn!
Summary: Following the death of Vongola Nono, Tsuna immediately left his home for Italy, learning more about himself on the way. AU.
Note: Took place 4 years later, particularly on the 1 to 3 days after Vongola Nono's death. Tsuna had yet to control Hyper Dying Will Mode completely. There will be copious amount of Hibari later on. Written for the writing shuffle challenge, so this fic is loosely based on the song "This Is War" by 30 Seconds To Mars.
Acknowledgement: A sincere thank you to rachel-chanx3, who listened to my random ramblings, betad this chapter, and nudged me to write even though she was super busy with work.
Act 1.
QQQ
Tsuna could feel the impact of the Ninth's death before the news even reached his ears.
On the news, the remains of an airplane washed up on Osaka Bay. According to the police, it appeared to be privately owned, but its owner had yet to be found. It was said to be a bad omen, how close it was to Kansai International Airport. The news said that measures would be taken to tighten security.
Tsuna didn't thought much of it, but Reborn was unusually quiet when they watched the TV coverage of the aircraft's pieces being dragged on shore.
QQQ
Tsuna was sitting in class, listening to an analysis of fall as a symbol in poetry when he felt chilly shivers crawling up his spine to his fingers. He dropped his pencil, and it fell with an ominous clack on the floor, but luckily, Gokudera caught it with his foot before it rolled off to oblivion.
Gokudera handed the pencil back to Tsuna. "Are you alright, Tenth? You seem a little pale."
"I'm fine, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna whispered back, not wanting Gokudera to be worried. He turned back to the lesson, but he couldn't focus with the feeling of anxiety curling in his guts.
Outside, fall left a trail of crimson maple leaves in its path. The sky was cloudy, promising rain as the weather forecaster had said. A broken tree branch banged against the glass window, startling the Tsuna, but then a strong wind swept it away.
Tsuna felt restless. He wanted to walk out of class and do…something, even though the weather was bad. Gokudera must have sensed his unease because he asked Tsuna again, "Tenth, are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine," Tsuna insisted, and the teacher shot Tsuna a glare. Tsuna slumped in his seat a little, feeling embarrassed.
However, Gokudera was Gokudera, and he felt no obligation to follow the classroom courtesy when Tsuna's well-being was at stake. "Tenth, you know you could ask anything from me."
"Yes, I know," Tsuna whispered hastily, shooting a nervous glance at the teacher. "Thank you, Gokudera-kun, but I'm fine, really."
Tsuna's hope of keeping this quiet was dashed when Yamamoto, who was within hearing distance, added, "If you're feeling unwell, you could ask to go to the nurse's office."
"Tenth said that he is fine!" Gokudera said irritably, simply for the sake of disagreeing with Yamamoto. Then, "Do you want to go to the nurse's office, Tenth?"
"It's alright; I don't need to," said Tsuna, now aware that the whole class had heard their conversation. His classmates were probably used to Tsuna's life interrupting their lessons, so Gokudera's outburst did not earn a single reaction, for which Tsuna was glad. "I'm fine, really." Gokudera looked like he wanted to protest, so Tsuna added for good measure, "Please let it go. For me?"
Gokudera said nothing after that, and Tsuna returned to what was left of the lesson. After class, Gokudera approached him again, checking to see if Tsuna was fine. Yamamoto asked after him too, but Tsuna reassured both of his friends that he was indeed healthy. Perhaps Tsuna was not the only one feeling restless because of the inactivity in their mafia double life for the past month.
"You look pale, Tsuna," Yamamoto pointed out.
"That's what I said!" Gokudera glared at Yamamoto, as if Yamamoto had stolen his words. "I'll take you to the nurse right away, Tenth!"
"It's okay, really!" Tsuna protested, but Gokudera took him by the arm and dragged him to the nurse's office, Yamamoto following, and, before Tsuna could stop him, Gokudera pushed the door open with a loud bang, demanding someone to take care of Tsuna. He ushered Tsuna to a bed and told the nurse that Tsuna needed to be checked right away.
Suddenly, the curtain separating them from another bed was yanked aside, revealing one very irritated Hibari.
"You interrupted my nap," said Hibari. "I'll bite you to death."
"Hiieeee!" Tsuna jumped, terrible memories from the last time he accidentally woke Hibari from his sleep came back. Today, like every other day, was not his lucky one. Unfortunately, being the Vongola heir did nothing to improve his luck.
However, before Hibari could give Tsuna a thorough beating with his tonfas, Gokudera stopped him. "Don't touch the Tenth!"
"Crowding?" Hibari said darkly, tightening his grip on his tonfas. "I'll bite you all to death."
Gokudera whipped out his dynamite. "I'll protect you, Tenth!"
You're not helping the situation! Tsuna wanted to slap his forehead in exasperation and maybe hide in a hole somewhere so that nothing worse could crawl its way into his life, but then Gokudera started lighting the fuze of all his dynamites.
"No!" Tsuna pushed himself to his feet, intending to stop the two from destroying the nurse's office, but that was when he felt it. His stomach lurched, and he felt a chill stinging the back of his eyes. As if the whole world was put on slow motion, Tsuna watched his feet hover over air, frozen in time. His heart began to race, and Tsuna wondered what was wrong with him because it seemed like his feet would never touch the ground.
Then a sharp clatter pierced through his eardrums, the vibration jolting through his body all the way to his toes. It shocked Tsuna back to regular time, and before he could steady himself, he fell face first on to the ground.
"Ouch!" Tsuna landed on his nose and chin, but luckily, no blood. His hands and elbows were scrapped when he tried to cushion his fall, but other than that, no major injuries.
Something wet on the ground touched his palm.
Water?
Tsuna's eyes trailed up to the shattered vase on the ground. It was on the bedside table only a moment before.
A strange calm settled over him.
Move, his mind commanded. Now.
Suddenly, Tsuna felt his world lurch again as someone yanked him by the arm and tossed him aside, but he was ready this time. Tsuna swung his feet out and they skid across the floor, a hand on the ground planted him firmly in place.
His mind told him before his eyes did that Hibari was the one who did that. Before he could ask Hibari what was going on, Hibari answered for him. "You were in the way, herbivore."
Tsuna instinctively looked at the spot where he was a moment before. A bullet hole punctured the pale white ceramic tile.
A sniper, possibly two or more. He needed to eliminate them as fast as possible. Tsuna quickly checked to see if Gokudera and Yamamoto were fine and was glad to see that they were not hurt. It seemed that they had intuitively duck after they heard the first bullet shattering the vase.
The wind rushed in, and the curtain fluttered, blocking them from sight of the open window. Tsuna immediately took this opportunity to move himself from sniper's viewing range. He examined the position of his family members.
Hibari was crouching behind a cabinet. Gokudera and Yamamoto were on his left, already out of sight of the window. It was likely that the sniper never even saw them in the first place.
Tsuna's body was tense, ready for a fight. Beside him, Gokudera had his dynamite ready, and Yamamoto tightened his grip on his baseball bat.
Eliminate, his mind commanded. He needed to find that sniper and execute him immediately. It would be a difficult find but an easy kill—
Hibari gave him a look. Tsuna wasn't sure what it meant, but he instinctively turned to the window, waiting for another attack. However, as sudden as it had come, the unsettling feeling within his guts disappeared, and a calming peace washed over him. Tsuna felt that the danger had passed.
"They've retreated," Tsuna said, understanding that it was true because his instinct had told him so. "For now."
With the passing danger, fight slowly drained from Tsuna. It wasn't until he felt the familiar warmth of his Dying Will Flame receding away that he realized that he must have naturally drawn it out without knowing.
That was new.
Tsuna could still feel the bitter taste in his tongue as his mind echoed. Eliminate. Eliminate. Eliminate. He clutched his head and rubbed his temples roughly, trying to get the thought to go away because no, he didn't want to kill anyone. That wasn't his thought.
It wasn't.
"They're not going to get away with disrupting the peace of Namimori High School," Hibari said, rising to his feet, and Tsuna was surprised that Hibari trusted Tsuna's intuition even when Tsuna didn't trust himself. Hibari gave him another look, and if Tsuna wasn't too busy being wary of what Hibari was going to do next, he would think that it was a sign of grudging acknowledgement.
Hibari promptly walked out of the office, and Tsuna had no doubt that he was going to gather up the Discipline Committee to search for the snipers.
"Tenth!"
"Tsuna!"
"Are you alright?"
"I'm—I'm fine," said Tsuna, body trembling. Now that the danger had passed temporarily, his mind finally had the chance to embrace fear. It bloomed like spreading ice in his lungs, and Tsuna shivered.
"Tenth?" Tsuna felt a sharp sting on his middle finger that immediately spread and numbed his right hand.
"Oh no."
"What's going on?" Yamamoto asked, and Tsuna didn't know how to answer him because he didn't know either.
"I…I don't know what's going on," Tsuna admitted as he quickly pulled his ring off with shaky fingers, but then his hand slipped and he dropped the ring on the ground with a heavy clank. He picked up his ring, and even though it looked the same as usual, Tsuna sensed that something was wrong.
QQQ
Tsuna still didn't feel completely safe when he got home, in his room, within range of Reborn's reassuring presence. Gokudera and Yamamoto were with him; they had walked Tsuna home in case whoever attempted to kill him was planning an ambush.
Before Tsuna could have a chance to catch his breath and tell Reborn what had happened, Reborn leapt from where he was waiting on Tsuna's bed with crisp words, "We have to move right away."
"What?" Tsuna blinked. "Move?"
"I've just received news that the Ninth was assassinated," said Reborn, the fedora shadowed his eyes from Tsuna's sight. "The Varia is taking care of the situation as best as they could on short notice." Tsuna took this to mean that the assassination team was already on the move to find and eliminate the culprits. "We have to get you to Italy immediately."
Gokudera and Yamamoto looked at each other. Gokudera was the first to speak, "Someone sent snipers after the Tenth this morning at school."
"Wait," Tsuna said, everything happening too fast for him to take it all in. "What about—I can't—"
"Then we have to get you out of Namimori as quickly as possible," said Reborn. "There's a good chance that whoever assassinated the Ninth is coming after you. They'll come back. Staying here is not safe because they probably know you live here."
"I—I," Tsuna clenched his fists. "What about my mom? What about everybody else?"
What about my family?
Gokudera-kun. Yamamoto. Onii-chan….Lambo….I-pin.
Kyoko-chan.
"The longer you stay here, the more danger they will be in," Reborn said. "Pack your essentials. We're going to move before they attack."
"It'll be alright, Tenth! You'll be safe; I'll make sure of it!" Gokudera tried to comfort him, but his comfort wasn't the first thing on his mind right now.
"I'm not going to leave my mother here!" Tsuna declared. "I'm not going to run and leave Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun and everyone else here."
"Your guardians will be leaving with you, but everyone else has to stay here. You can't risk their lives," said Reborn. "The CEDEF will be making a pit stop here before they head to Italy as well."
CEDEF. That meant that Iemitsu was coming.
Tsuna glanced up at Gokudera and Yamamoto. "I don't want to put you guys in danger." I don't want anyone in danger for my sake.
"We'll get through this," said Yamamoto with a big grin. "We've been through rough patches before."
Tsuna turned to Gokudera.
"I'll always be by your side, Tenth," Gokudera said. "Whatever decision you make—I trust you."
Tsuna felt a little reassured with his friends' confidence. They trusted him with their lives, and there was no question that Tsuna returned the sentiment. Reborn was right: he couldn't possibly stay in Namimori.
"How soon can CEDEF get here?" Tsuna asked Reborn.
"There's a good chance that they'll be here by tomorrow morning."
"I will be leaving for Italy with my guardians," said Tsuna. "But only after I talk with the CEDEF."
"But Tenth," Gokudera protested. "Waiting until tomorrow—I'm afraid that's too risky."
"I have something I want to say to them," Tsuna said. He wasn't going to back down from this, not in times like these. It was essential that he met up with the CEDEF. "And I will not leave until I say it."
"You could leave a message with someone else here," said Yamamoto. "Or you could contact them by phone?"
"We have to minimize contact by communication devices," Reborn said, jumping on Tsuna's desk to peek through a gap between the window curtains. "I suspect that there is a leak in our network."
"A mole?" Gokudera sounded angry.
"No," Reborn leapt from Tsuna's desk. "Possibly. Contact to Italy had been blocked for the past few days before and after the Ninth's assassination. That's why we received the news late. However, our enemy might also have been receiving faulty information. You all heard the news of that washed up aircraft, correct?"
"Was it one of ours?" Gokudera asked.
"Ours?" Tsuna and Yamamoto said at the same time. No one ever said anything about them owning an airplane.
"Yes," said Reborn. "The plane that was shot down was one of the Vongola's privately owned aircrafts." Then, to Tsuna and Yamamoto. "The Vongola monopolized a part of Japan's air transportation."
Tsuna did know that the Vongola was powerful, but it had not occurred to him to see them—to see himself—as real mafia, one that could take in the concept of monopoly easily as breathing.
"Why did they shot it down?" Yamamoto asked.
"My guess is that they were aiming for Tsuna," Reborn said. "They might have thought that we would send Tsuna to Italy as soon as we received the news about the Ninth, but our faulty communication network saved us."
A heavy silence fell between them.
"I'll wait until the CEDEF gets here," Tsuna was the first to break it. "I know that I'm being risky, but there is something I have to do."
Reborn gave him a contemplative look. "Do you want to speak to your father, Tsuna?"
Tsuna thought about this for a moment before replying. "No, I want to speak to Sawada Iemitsu."
"I see," Reborn said, and even though most of his face was shadowed by his fedora, Tsuna could see the hint of a smile.
QQQ
It started raining in the evening, pounding heavily on the rooftop. Gokudera and Yamamoto went home to pack, and Tsuna wished that they had accepted his mother's invitation for dinner because the anxiety in the kitchen was choking everyone into silence. Lambo actually behaved, and in turn, I-pin was quiet. Bianchi said nothing. Even Reborn appeared more high-strung than usual.
Tsuna wanted the rain to stop already. He didn't have the best survival instinct, and the heavy rain was making it difficult to keep an ear for any slight disturbance that would signal incoming danger.
A sharp pain exploded on his forehead, enough to leave his ears ringing, and Tsuna realized that Reborn, the jerk, had just kicked him. "Wha-what was that for?" Tsuna rubbed his forehead mournfully. He hadn't done anything yet.
"Stop moping and eat up, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn crossed his arms. "You need all the strength you can get."
"You could have told me without the kicking," Tsuna said. "I would have listened!"
"You can't teach an old dog new trick without drawing blood, as the old saying goes," said Reborn.
"That's not how the saying goes at all!" Tsuna raised his voice, and he wasn't old, nor was he a dog. "You made that up. You just wanted to hit me for fun, didn't you?"
"Shut up and eat, Dame-Tsuna."
"I'm not a dog," Tsuna mumbled, feeling strangely liberated despite the sudden violence. He picked up his chopsticks and resumed his meal, but when he placed a piece of sausage in his bowl, Reborn snatched it from him.
"Hey!" Tsuna protested. Reborn chewed slowly, and, after he swallowed, said, "The early bird catches the worm."
"I got to the sausage first!" Tsuna said. "Hey!" He cried out when he tried to reach for another sausage, but Lambo snatched it before he could.
"Neh neh, Tsuna is too slow," Lambo taunted, and of course with Lambo up and about, I-pin was too.
Tsuna watched in relief as the tension in the room bled away with the return of normalcy. He never thought that he would miss Lambo stealing his food or the children running about making too much noise, but he did. Even Bianchi had a hint of a smile on her lips.
"The mentality of the Boss is the mentality of his Family," said Reborn, who was also watching the kids chasing each other. "When you're afraid and worried, so will your Family. Don't forget that."
"Ah, I understand. I guess," said Tsuna. "Thank you, Reborn."
Having Reborn as a mentor was painful but reassuring; at the same time, however, Tsuna wondered if he was ready to become the Vongola boss if he still had much to learn. He still…He didn't want to be a part of the mafia, even though he had gotten this far. No matter what Dino said about growing into it, Tsuna still couldn't get his mindset into being in the mafia. Dino said that they were similar, and Tsuna had thought so too. They both were no-good fighters who didn't want anything to do with the mafia until Reborn trained them, but Tsuna wasn't Dino; Tsuna still didn't want to be in the mafia, no matter how much training Reborn put him through. But….
Tsuna watched as I-pin tackled Lambo to the ground. For now, Tsuna would do what he could to protect his Family, even if it meant walking down a path that he didn't choose for himself.
He didn't miss the Reborn's contemplative stare, but he didn't point it out either.
"Don't over think things," Reborn said. "You can't afford to be distracted with stray thoughts."
"Right," said Tsuna.
"Also, you need to tell me the details of what happened at school," Reborn pointed out.
"I will," Tsuna said, shooting a nervous glance at his mother, but she showed no signs that she was aware of the current situation. Tsuna wished he could tell her, but he probably shouldn't.
When they were done with dinner, Tsuna helped his mom clean up even though he had never offered to do that before. It was strange when he thought about the fact that for all seventeen years of his life, his mother never told him to do any chores other than the simple ones to take care of himself, like cleaning his room. She didn't seem surprised when he offered; she just smiled and said, "Thank you, Tsu-chan."
Tsuna ended up drying the dishes as his mom washed them, since he didn't know how to wash dishes and would rather not break any rain had trickled down to a stop by now, so his mom had opened the window to let the night air in. They worked in a comfortable silence. The only sounds were the running water, the dishes and bowls clanking against each other, and the soft drip drip of the rain's aftermath outside.
It was a shock when his mom finally broke the silence. "Tsu-chan…is going far away, right?"
Tsuna stopped in his track, holding the wet bowl uncertainly in his hand. He glanced at his mom, who still had her usual easy-going smile on her face. After a moment— "Yes," he finally said, before resuming drying the bowl. "I'm sorry."
"You know," his mom said softly, and Tsuna had never, in his seventeen years, heard how vulnerable his mother's voice could be. She had always sounded happy, hopeful, and optimistic, no matter how often his father had walked out of their lives. "Your father offered to do the dishes too, the night before the first time he left. Even though he insisted, I ask him to dry the dishes while I wash instead."
Tsuna blinked. He didn't know that. There were very little that he knew of his father, and even less of this man's relationship with his mother.
"I know that he was going to leave before he told me," she continued, her voice sad with nostalgia. "And I wanted to treasure as much time as I could by his side."
"Mom—" Tsuna began, but was at a loss of what to say.
"I wanted to tell him to stay," his mom had paused in her work, placing down the plate she was washing back in the sink. "But I knew it wasn't going to make a difference. And now Tsu-chan is leaving too."
"That's not true."
His mother looked at Tsuna in surprise, and Tsuna himself was shock at his own words because deep inside, he knew that she couldn't stop him, just like she couldn't stop his father. This was a force beyond her control.
Tsuna placed the bowl and the rag on the counter. He reached for his mom's hand and squeezed it tightly. When had his mother's hand become so fragile?
"You could ask me to stay, mom," said Tsuna. "I'll listen."
"But you won't stay," she said, and Tsuna was surprised at the confidence in her tone.
"No," he admitted because he knew that it was true. "But-but your words would make a difference because…because…I'll learn how to wash the dishes, and one day I'll actually do it for you!" Up close, Tsuna could see the age lines on his mother's face, ones that he had never noticed before because her smile was always so bright.
"I'll keep you to your promise then," she smiled, but Tsuna saw that this was a different smile. He could see the hope and the optimism, things that the younger Tsuna had no problem finding, but the Tsuna now had grown to see other things as well. Melancholy. Doubt. Fear.
"Believe in me, mom," said Tsuna. "You've been strong for me. I will be strong for you too."
Nana let the sponge fell back into the sink and wrapped her arms around Tsuna's shoulders. She had known before, but it was only now that she saw how tall Tsuna had grown and how wide his shoulders had became. She buried her face in his hair, hoping that she could hold back her tears.
Tsuna returned the embrace. The soapy water was soaking into his shirt, but he didn't care. Mom smelled the same like always, like warmth and home and the last seventeen years of love.
"When have you grown so much?" Nana's voice cracked. "I've always thought that I would at least have a few years left with you."
Tsuna rubbed comforting circles on his mother's back. "It's alright. I'll come back."
"Did you know that I was always afraid of asking you how your day went?" she whispered. "Because I was scared that if you told me, I would be forced to realize how far you had grown away from me."
"I know," Tsuna said, and perhaps that was one of the reasons why he tried to keep the mafia business from her. He would keep doing it if he could, continuing to pretend that he was still a little boy that she could take care of, but the times were different now. "And I know that you've known about…things without me telling you."
"Like father, like son," she said sadly.
"I'll come back," Tsuna promised because he didn't want to be his father. "I'll do it with my Dying Will."
"I'd rather that you return without having to resort to that," Nana tightened her grip around Tsuna. "I'll wait for you, no matter how long it would take."
Tsuna clutched his mother tightly and let his hair soak the tears of his mother's sadness.
Outside, it started raining again.
QQQ
Tsuna knew what he had said, but to actually do it was another matter altogether. Iemitsu and Basil arrived earlier than expected. Tsuna thought that he had to wait until morning, but they arrived at 10 PM, on the dot. His mother was ecstatic, although her smile didn't seem as bright as usual even with the family completed at last.
Tsuna greeted his father and Basil, what he wanted to say to his father clumped in his throat. "Ah, you've grown taller since I last seen you, Tsuna," his father laughed, although Tsuna didn't see any humor in the fact that he had not seen Iemitsu once in the last two years.
"I am turning eighteen soon," Tsuna said.
It was October. His birthday was in a few days.
"Ah!" His mother gasped, and Tsuna could see the realization on her face. It had not occurred to Tsuna before, why his mother had always recall Reborn's birthday but rarely his, but now, he wondered if she did remember, but couldn't bear to see him grow older. It was strange how he could see things that he had not noticed before.
"Almost an adult," Iemitsu said.
"It would be a while until I turn twenty," Tsuna pointed out.
"No, but you will be an adult in Italy," Iemitsu said.
"I'm not Italian," Tsuna said, and perhaps he was angry. Being Japanese had never been his first priority, but he felt like he was being robbed of so many things in so little time that he was willing to cling on to what he could still call his. But perhaps his anger was simpler than that. Perhaps he was just angry with his father.
Besides, just because he was to be Vongola Decimo didn't mean that he was going to move to Italy anytime soon.
"You're going to be," said Iemitsu. "Why are you still here? It's dangerous."
That wasn't Tsuna's father talking. That was the CEDEF leader talking. Even though Tsuna knew that his father had to do his job, it still irritated him. "I wanted to talk to you first," Tsuna replied.
"Why don't we all sit down in the kitchen," Nana suggested. "I'll make tea."
"I'll help you," Tsuna said before Iemitsu could refuse her offer. The last thing Tsuna wanted to do was to deny his mother anything now.
They all filed in to the kitchen. Tsuna didn't know to prepare the tea, but luckily, his mom just asked him to take out the mochi she bought this morning and put them on a plate, which was an easy enough job.
"Where is Reborn?" Iemitsu asked.
"He's upstairs," Tsuna replied, placing the plate of mochi on the kitchen table and taking the seat across from his father. Strange, Reborn must have sensed that Iemitsu was here, yet he did not come downstairs.
"And your guardians?" "I've informed them of the situation this afternoon," said Tsuna. "They'll be here early tomorrow morning." Chrome had nodded in acceptance, taking things in strides without a protest, while Onii-chan ignored the intricate details (as usual) and focused more on the possibility of a fight. Hibari-san didn't say anything when Tsuna told him, but Tsuna suspected that was because Hibari-san didn't want to waste the effort to talk to someone he deemed weak. At least, Hibari-san didn't straight up refuse.
"I see," Iemitsu took the cup of tea gratefully when Nana handed it to him. "Your tea is always delicious."
His mother smiled, but the worried look did not leave her face.
"Thank you," Tsuna said when she placed a cup in front of him.
"I apologize for imposing," Basil was calm, but Tsuna could sense that he wanted to leave the room. "But may I use thine bath?"
"Of course," said his mother. "Let me show you the bathroom. I'll grab you a spare towel as well. Do you need clean clothes?"
"I've packed some, thank thee for thine kindness." And with that, Basil and his mother left the kitchen, leaving Tsuna alone with his father. Not that he didn't appreciate their blatant attempt to excuse themselves, it was not necessary.
"Have you packed your things?" Iemitsu asked after taking a sip of tea.
"Yes," Tsuna said. He'd packed the important stuff—his mittens, the Dying Will pills, clothes, and toiletry. There wasn't much that he was going to take with him.
"Good." Iemitsu took another sip of tea.
Tsuna didn't touch his. He watched the ghostly steam rose from the cup, and considered what he wanted to say. "You're heading to Italy too?"
"Of course," Iemitsu replied. "But I won't be going with you. I have business to take care of in Japan first."
"What do you have to take care of?" Tsuna immediately thought of his mother.
"I have to make sure the airplane incident is closed as quietly as possible," Iemitsu said.
"Oh." Tsuna had known. He had hoped, but deep down, he had understood that his father wouldn't have come without a work-related purpose, not for him or his mother. He wondered if Iemitsu was talking to him now as a son or as the Vongola boss. However, what Tsuna wanted to ask of Iemitsu was not from Vongola Decimo, and Tsuna tried to convince himself that it mattered very little for a long time now, what his father thought of him. However, what he wanted from Iemitsu could only be delivered from his father.
This was not a request from Vongola Decimo. This was Tsunayoshi Sawada. "I have a favor to ask of you."
"What is it?"
"Please take care of mom."
It was all he wanted from his father. Tsuna didn't need protection, not from his father because he had never received it and never needed it. What little he gained from Iemitsu was for Vongola Decimo, and he understood that.
Iemitsu placed his cup of tea back on the saucer.
Tsuna watched him nervously. "I know you have a lot on your hands right now," said Tsuna. "But I want to ask you to stay here in Japan and watch over her. You don't need to go to Italy."
"You have confidence that you can take care of the situation by yourself?" Iemitsu asked skeptically.
"I won't be alone. I have my guardians with me, and the Varia is also there."
"The Varia does not answer to you."
"Neither do you," Tsuna shot back. Iemitsu said nothing at that. It was true.
"What makes you think I will answer to your request now?" Iemitsu sounded curious.
Tsuna remembered telling Reborn that he wanted to talk to Iemitsu Sawada, not his father. But he didn't want to do that. He wouldn't.
"I'm asking as your son," Tsuna said.
There was a strange silence at first, and then, as if Tsuna had said the magic word, Iemitsu's attitude changed immediately as he bore a giant grin on his face, the same one that he wore when he gave Lambo a bit of sake to ease Lambo's pain. (It was Iemitsu's fault in the first place for not being careful when playing with a child.)
Tsuna wondered about the sanity of the people in his life. Himself included.
"What a fine young man you have become!" His father declared. Tsuna didn't expect that he would be able to activate his father's no-good mode that easily. He hoped that Iemitsu wasn't going to say or do anything embarrassing like—
"Man, I still remember like it was yesterday how you used to wet your bed up until fifth grade!"
—that. Embarassing things like that. Things that made Tsuna felt so small. And of course, because Iemitsu didn't earn his name as No-Good Father for nothing, he began picking his nose and wiping his hand shamelessly on his nice suit pants. Tsuna comforted himself with the fact that nose picking wasn't the most embarrassing thing that his father would have done.
It annoyed Tsuna because Iemitsu always did this as if he was trying to avoid the topic at hand, and it was even worse when Tsuna realized that he used to do the same, pretending that he was no-good and not putting in effort so that it wouldn't hurt as much when he failed. Tsuna had done this so often that eventually, he had managed to convince himself that he was no-good. However, Tsuna wasn't going to let himself or his father get away this time."I just want mom to be safe."
Ietmitsu sobered slightly, and Tsuna considered this a victory. "So you want my first priority to be taking care of Nana."
"Yes," Tsuna said hesitantly, now worried that his mother might be in more trouble with his no-good father than without. "She'll be here alone, and there's no telling what the enemy might do to her because of her association with me. She and…a few others." Kyoko-chan. Haru. I-pin. However, unlike his mother, they were not directly related to him, so it was unlikely that they would be targeted. He would have to ask Reborn about this. But his father understood, and his father was strong. Even if he had never protected Tsuna before when it mattered, he could at least protect what they both called home.
"Would you do this for me?" Tsuna whispered, wanting to look away from his father's gaze but didn't dare to.
"I will do what I can," Iemitsu replied, expression unreadable, and Tsuna found himself thanking his father even though it didn't feel like something that he had to ask for in the first place.
It was funny because Tsuna didn't remember the last time he had ask his father for anything, not even for a toy when he was younger because even the five year-old Tsuna quickly learned that nothing ever came out of it, not when he was still weak. Even then he had known that he would not be acknowledged, not even by Father, if who he was wasn't enough.
Tsuna rubbed his right wrist unconsciously, recalling a memory of when he was eight and did something stupid that resulted in a broken wrist. He didn't remember what he did and he didn't remember why, but he did remember a fleeting foolish hope that his father would come home if he heard the news that Tsuna was hurt.
"Hey dad."
"What is it?"
"Do you remember how I broke my wrist when I was eight?"
Iemitsu raised an eyebrow. "No. Did you really? I didn't think you would do anything strenuous to break a bone."
"Never mind," Tsuna shook his head, heart sinking for reasons that he didn't understand.
"I don't remember much about it either."
~To be continued.