Author's Note:
Like many of the OC/SI fics out there, this fic's major plot-line will involve Tsuna and gang's adventures. However, the main characters for this story is the Taguchi family, a fictional family of informants residing in Namimori before the canon plot started. I've always wondered about the dire lack of supporting characters in the story even though they were implied to keep things covered up, so I decided to write them into the fic as main characters instead.
The main focus will be on the Taguchi family's youngest, a pair of twins. I don't have any ideas about shipping or how exactly they'll be involved for now so if anyone has suggestions I'm all ears. For now, please enjoy the build up chapters before we get into the meat. I'm new to ffnet so you miiight see some versions of this fic popping up with weird codes and looking butchered.
Chapter 01. Before the Then
It's just a little past midnight, later than any of them has the need to be awake still, but they are all awake. And most importantly, they're all still here. However dozy, between the warmth of skin-to-skin contact that always feels like something they should know from childhood memories or dreams, to the thick, viscous lull of sleepy sighs, everything was still at such a lukewarm intensity that none of them could fall asleep to just yet.
So they talk.
They talk with faux-laxness that's as chalky as their desperate attempts to make the night last longer, and carefully avoid any topics involving the future, because the future is the journey into the stars with a compass lacking its needle. Because the future is carpet sodden with red and it's never clear enough just what kind of red it is. And because, time goes away forever when it departs. Though the world is a circle, a ship that left a port never returns the same.
So they talk about their past. As always, Takeshi starts them off with silly stories about his time bussing at his father's sushi restaurant, about the one time he stole a coin from his father's change jar at the shop because he had wanted a snack beyond his allowance, and somehow he felt ashamed that he wanted a snack when his father feeds him his love and his cooking daily. Not to be outed, Hayato wasted no time in launching into stories about the times he was a solo hitman for hire, about the missions he had been on, until a quiet -nearly asleep- Lambo points out that he's not really supposed to be talking about past clients. Confidentiality issues, the younger assassin burbles, before a snort bubble appeared from his nose and he starts snoring like his namesake. A moment of silence falls over them. There is no way they would get to hear the others' stories until absolutely everyone has gone first, so they turn to Aki.
Aki, who is nestled comfortably between someone's knee and an overstuffed cushion, blinks and tugged at her messy curls. "There's not much to talk about. Our childhood's pretty plain," she intones, which earned her a disbelieving snort from the silver haired boy whose face is temptingly close to her right foot. "There is no way your childhood was 'plain', you Amazonian," he scoffed, shaking his head. "Tell us about your family or something. You guys are informants. That's got to be a story in itself."
"Only if you want to, Aki," Tsuna quickly amended, because he's Tsuna.
The Taguchi family has a long history, spawning from a now-extinct clan of men and women that wielded blades just as mighty as their pens. History is something that bleeds into the very fabric of a family's tree, and it bleeds into every member's genes. And like any family with a history marked in their blood, the past glory always comes in the form of shackles for the future. Since the early 1800's, the Taguchi have been headed by men bearing names of warriors, and they have always dealt with information. Information is the lifeblood of any society, like a good immune system, good informant families like the Taguchi would know exactly which seed of misinformation they need to weed out so they can sift in only the important things. The vital information. The line between fame and disparity, between life and death. Informants never truly exist only in the underworld. They're the gateway, the lining in between realms, and any informants not worth their salt would not die to have a gravestone with their name on it.
Given all of that, Taguchi Katamori finds it extraordinary- no, miraculous- that the world would bless him with his bride, his own darling Miwa, that is willing to weather the good and the bad (the so very bad) with him.
Katamori shifts his gait just a little, just enough to glance to his left to see his to-be-wife's face as they walked down the stone-trodden path to the shrine. As always, Miwa is a vision of her own rights, even veiled as she is under the ceremonial cotton cap, Katamori has no trouble imagining her expression amidst the sweet autumn leaves. They met in Tokyo, where Miwa was studying for a degree in Art History, and it had been one of the more embarrassing moments of Katamori's career. He supposed that there are always worse ways to meet your future wife, but tumbling out of her best friend's suitcase in desperate need to be smuggled to Hakodata wouldn't be that high up the preferred list either. At least it makes for a great story. Too bad only their family members can actually hear the original version.
Despite the serene, almost mystical somberness of their journey to to the open shrine gates, Katamori couldn't help but chuckle lightly to himself.
She could practically feel the quiet laughter building in him before it came out, and before she can acknowledge the change, her stiff showcase of a smile softens. For all she knows, Katamori could be laughing at how she resembles a large grain of rice in her wedding kimono and cap, but she largely doubts it.
"Ready?" Miwa asks, and in less than half-an-hour she will cease to be a Sakai. She is ready, like always, she was born to be ready. But as always, she will wait until he is too.
Growing up, Miwa Sakai knew to not make any close friends unless she has to. Her family never stops in one place for long, and even when they do, they kept a habit of having a packed bag waiting by the back door just in case. By twelve, she knew how to make fifty-something types of fraudulent documents so authentic looking even machines can't crack them. She could easily pass a polygraph test even under the influence, and she has already successfully conned her first small fortune with her wits alone. Her family are criminals. Or rather, they would be criminals if they aren't so good at what they do. That's what her father always said, bragged, even. 'Criminals are the fishes that get caught by the heron, Miwa,' he would say, his voice always carrying a gruff quality to it as the surface of his drink shimmer in the dim light . 'Us? We're just the crayfish and snails that slither around in the mud. If we're real careful, we can live forever.'
But she didn't really want to stay in the mud of the pond. That's not life for an ambitious young girl in her teens. There is a bigger world out there, a world that she wouldn't -couldn't- experience if she was a Sakai. That was what Miwa thought when she left home for Tokyo University; that was where she learned that the past isn't something she can just wipe clean.
And looking at her almost-husband now, alive and smiling that smile that seems to sizzle the air around him, she doesn't regret knowing how to smuggle human beings and various other things out of the bay. It helps him, and he helps her live the life she has always wanted. In terms of negotiating life itself, Miwa thinks she has a very sweet deal.
He turns to her just as they stepped foot into the threshold of the shrine building. Even now, his smile is a thunderclap amidst the rain. She has to try hard not to smile too widely now.
"Yes."
They both decided to move away from the Taguchi ancestral lands, where it's just too easy for them to be located. Miwa seeks a stable home life she couldn't have as a child, and Katamori is not willing to bring her into unnecessary dangers if he could help it. Both of their goals could be achieved if they moved away, and after extracting a verbal promise that they'll visit at least once a year, Katamori's parents finally let them go.
'Be careful,' Asami pled, watching her husband and son finish unpacking the last of the boxes. Yesterday's setup had finished much faster, but then she supposed that's to be expected with all her four boys working together instead of just one (her husband can insist all he wants, but Asami knows he's really more hindrance than help when it comes to moving heavy things). They're due for the train home this afternoon, and the car has been ready since morning. Her little Kata is all grown up now, wanting to start up a bookstore just like his own grandad had. It brings a tear to her eyes, but oh, she knows the unsavory types that can sometimes show up at her husband's places of 'work'. It worries her to have her son's family where she can't help. She knows that he knows, but Katamori has been an unshakable mountain ever since the bulge on Miwa's belly started showing itself.
Her youngest son smiled at her, and it reminds her so much of her own brother before he left home. 'Don't worry, ma,' Katamori reassures her smoothly, swiftly. 'You know me and Miwa, we like our lives a bit boring.'
He turns his soft gaze to the general area of the car. 'Besides, quiet is good, for family.'
The Taguchi were twins were born at the very end of Summer, when the humidity was finally showing signs of retreating, and sometimes you actually need to bring a light jacket when you go out at night.
For all his time as someone that deals with information, Katamori has never felt so unsure about what to do as when the information of his wife going into labor was delivered unto him. Not through his usual channels of information, gods no, but through the mouth of an overly-excited Watanabe-san who had apparently bolting down the street from his veggie stand straight to Taguchi Bookstore the moment his own wife told him the news.
"Taguchi! Your wife is in labor, come on!" he all but shouted into the small bookstore, the volume of his boom nearly shaking down some piles of used books, and it certainly shook Katamori himself out of his momentary stupor. Racing to close up shop, barely checking if he remembered to turn off the lights in the back room before he's running straight for Namimori hospital. In retrospect, calling a cab would've been a bit more efficient, but Katamori is not a very efficient man when his thoughts are full of nothing but his wife and his family.
His new family- his-
Twins.
Miwa almost cried on the delivery table when the doctor announced that there are two babies. Well, for one, that sure means the pain wasn't ending any time soon, and for two, twins!
A girl and a boy. One of each for them to hold and love.
Katamori has had his suspicions over the months, but both of them agreed that a surprise would be just fine with them. Still, the month before the expected delivery had the couple -mostly Katamori- making rounds around town to bring enough supplies home just in case. When her husband reaches over to hold her hand, she smiles and allows him the moment of 'told you it's better to be prepared' instead of laughing at how panicked his pale face had looked when he arrived to the hospital nearly half a day ago. They held hands in the blinding brightness of the maternity ward, exhausted, and entirely unable to stop smiling at each other.
The nurses brought the two white bundles over shortly after. They were squishy and red looking, wrinkled in a way that looked like they had muscles in the wrong places at the wrong sizes, but to the couple, that might be one of the most beautiful sights they have seen.
Katamori held onto the girl, the firstborn, while the nurse helped Miwa sit up so she can hold her son. Miwa was unsure how to hold her children. Parenting classes she and Katamori signed up for taught them how to hang onto one tiny, frail life, but two?
She hid her tears when she heard her husband speak up. "Hideaki and Mitsuhide, then?" he asked. He always asked her, and he always waited for her as much as she waited for him. Katamori's family has a tradition of naming their children after warriors, samurais, those that lived by the blade. Though it had seemed a little out-of-place given the family 'trade', Miwa loves the idea of family traditions. She never had anything like that growing up, and so she had readily agreed to Katamori's request when she was only two months into her pregnancy.
"Aki and Mitsu," she agreed with a small smile, gently nudging her son's soft -so soft it felt almost fake- hand with one finger. They had discussed the names before, what they would name their children if it turns out to be a boy, or a girl, or twins. Her own mother had wanted something more traditionally feminine than 'Hideaki' if it's a girl, and it was a long while of debating the writing of the name that they finally agreed. But Miwa will always know the origin of their names. They are the lights to hers and Katamori's lives. Even if it looks different on paper, that's the secret she will hold onto. Katamori flashed her a secretive smile like he knew what she was thinking while adjusting her baby girl against her other side tenderly, and she felt her insides melt a bit. Maybe it's the hormones. She did just give birth to twins.
"Welcome home," she mumbled, and didn't let herself feel embarrassed about how cliche and sentimental that was at all even as the nurse took pictures for them.
Namimori is a small town. Some might even call it dull, but it's in its mundanity that secrets and deals are hidden. Since they set up 'shop' in Namimori as its local informant, the Taguchi learned that the little suburban town they have moved into is even more than it seemed. It's no wonder Nobutora -Katamori's father- had so insisted on the town when his son mentioned that he wanted to start his new family in a place that's safer than most. Namimori has a long history with various sectors of the underworld, dating all the way back to the founding of the little township. For some reason, Namimori has always been protected by various unrelated, but entirely continuous lines of families. Away from the strife of the underworld, away from danger. Namimori has always been just a boring little town with 'nothing special'. Or that's the image the Taguchi family will now be supporting too.
The first week they moved in, the couple had been formally visited by Namimori's very own guardian angel. It's better to say the Lord of Namimori, really, if anyone asks Katamori. Fortunately, no one ever knew about the little visit Mayor Hibari had paid the new residents. The branches of Hibari family have been protecting Namimori for several generations, and Kazuo Hibari had just been there to make the routine visit to make sure his newest residents weren't going to bring trouble.
That had been a very dramatic experience, and for a week afterwards Miwa would not stop lamenting about how they didn't have better tea to serve the mayor, because they had just moved in and didn't really unpack yet. (Then two more future visits later, after the twins were born, Miwa finally learned that the quality of tea has nothing to do with the attitude of the town's young mayor. Some things are just personality.)
The Taguchi couple had been pretty sure that nothing more dramatic than a Hibari visitation would happen again, not in a town like this, until one year after their twins were welcome into the world and their second summer in Namimori was just starting to come to an end.
A worrying coded message had arrived for Katamori in his daily shipment of Namimori Times that morning, sending a shiver of unease down his spine, and a rare sharpening of light brown eyes as the man swiftly took the delivery into the shop and changed the shop sign to 'open'.
By lunchtime, the reports were streaming in at alarming frequency, and Katamori asked his wife -who came to deliver his lunch with the twins in tow- to stay with him in the shop. He will close shop early today. Miwa is no fool, and judging from how quickly she moved around the shop to make sure all the windows are latched proved that she too, had observed something amiss with the town. The couple ate lunch in relative quiet, listening only to the disguised frequency on the radio while the twins babbled at each other cheerfully.
Katamori smiled at his children. They will turn one in a week, and Aki is already showing a worrying interest in escaping any and all baby-proofed confines they restrict them in. He was pretty sure he heard Mitsu say 'toto-' the other day, but besides the adorable smile his son gives him daily, he hadn't heard it again. His children are his joys, and his wife- his beautiful Miwa, he would not let them be in danger's way.
The storm hit the Taguchi house just shy of dinner time, or at least, the metaphorical storm did. The twins need to eat every few hours and in turn, the household's dining schedule had adjusted accordingly. Miwa was in the kitchen making some sort of stew when the doorbell rang. The house went quiet as if on cue. Even the kids looked up and grew attentive, or at least as attentive as 12 months old babies can be. Feeling a sense of dread pool in the pit of his stomach, Katamori carefully slipped a harmless looking letter opener into his trouser pocket before going to open the front door. The intercom certainly wasn't telling him he's got the neighborhood circular.
Or not.
The first time Katamori Taguchi met Iemitsu Sawada, the informant realized a few things all at once. 1.) There is no doubt about it, the Young Lion of Vongola being ranked as one of the strongest members of the strongest underworld empires is no bluff. Even in his civilian wear, the way he carried himself marked him as a formidable opponent not just in physical combat, but also in diplomatics. Within a second of opening the front door, Katamori knew that not know did Iemitsu know that he is armed, he is also not fazed by it in the slightest.
The blond man at the door, appearing massive compared to the slender, almost bookish man that had greeted him, only smiled a friendly -dare Katamori say, neighborly?- sort of grin that showed the majority of his teeth, before lifting the bright yellow neighborhood circular for their block in front of him.
"Hey there neighbor! We're the Sawadas just down the block, I'm sure my wife will come tomorrow but she's exhausted from the move. The Itos from next door said you would be the next house in the circular, so I figured I'd come and get your fax number now and say hello." All of this was said in one breath, and Iemitsu Sawada's smile matched that of the happy sun picture on the circular flyer.
2) The information stream was properly decoded: The Sawadas are moving into Namimori. The Young Lion of Vongola, the head of CEDEF himself, has a civilian family.
They exchanged pleasantries and a strong handshake that threw Katamori off a little before he reminded himself, foreigners. If this was just a simple delivery of the community circular there was no reason for Sawada to enter the house, and both men knew it, and Katamori took the fact that the blond man entered his house without a concealed weapon both as a worrisome display of his confidence, but also a sign of goodwill. Of trust. Trust is important when bartering any long-term relationship with an information source, and Katamori assumed that's what Iemitsu must be here for. He dreaded what it entails.
Miwa, bless her beautiful soul, was a perfect facade of politeness mixed with a pinch of disarming airheaded chatter when she welcomed their guest. She showed Iemitsu to his seat and introduced their children in all the ways the gave nothing away at all. If Iemitsu was a lesser man, he would not even have noticed distance she had put between him and their twins, or the unnecessarily high number of available kitchen knives within her reach while she poured him some tea. The good stuff Asami had sent as for o-chugen.
"No need to be tense, Taguchi-san, Miwa-san," Iemitsu smiled, a sort of confidence that bled sincerity as he took the drink of tea without so much as batting an eyelash. "I'm sure someone like you already knew I was coming." And what was there to deny? Katamori nodded gingerly, channeling as much of his wife as he could so he would look less stiff, less constipated.
He slid a look at his twins, before taking a seat at the chair that would block Iemitsu's line of sight. "I'm not sure what you know, but my family isn't like my father's," he explained carefully, because words are dangerous, in open deals or not. "We're not a hub, we don't do our trade with active lines like he does," he sighed, nearly wincing at the blatant cowardice in his phrasing, but Miwa's steadfast smile powers him on. "Miwa and I are involved, but our children are not. We have no plans to become your information source if that's what you have in mind for us," he began, finding his second wind as resolution cements in his clear gaze. Steely brown meets brown, and Katamori continued. "And while assumptions are not the basis of my work, I have a strong feeling that you too, intend to do the same with your family, Sawada-san."
Katamori held his breath, and fervently held onto his father's teachings. 'Call for that internal spring of steel, son. Pull it in tight and keep it like that. We'll spring the trap from the grass if we need to, but not a second before that.' His core is his family, and he hoped- no, speculated (no, prayed) that the man sitting in front of him is no different.
Seconds feels like hours in the mouth of a lion, and if the Taguchi didn't train their sons and daughters so well, Katamori would not have lasted this long. But he did, and Iemitsu eventually laughed after a moment. It wasn't a jeering laugh, but the sort of laugh someone might have while trying to placate a startled herd of particularly agitated elephants. "You are correct in your assumptions, Taguchi-san. And please, call me Iemitsu. We're going to be neighbors after all." Without receiving any acknowledgement, Iemitsu had to go on. "I am not asking your line as the boss of CEDEF so much as my child's father. My wife is due in October and while I cannot promise you that the information I may request in the future will have absolutely nothing to do with Vongola, please understand that my intention will ever only be to keep that particular side of my career away from Namimori." 'From my family,' He doesn't say, but the Taguchi couple heard it just fine.
Miwa left the table to fret over the twins, and that was enough of a message for Katamori. They have known each other for what felt like lifetimes, after all. He can read her as certainly as she can read people, and Miwa's judgement has yet to be proven wrong. "I understand your intentions, now tell me what is it exactly you want from us?"