Title: Yield
Summary: Five ways Yamamoto was not Vongola's man and the one way he was.
Rating: T
Pairing: A little bit of 1880 at the end, but mostly N/A
Notes: What it says in the summary, AUs and crossovers abound. More notes at the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. If I did, there would be a lot more Yamamoto in it. Yamamoto of the TYL variety, though the teenage one is plenty cute.
Warnings: character death, misuse of data
Word count: 750+
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i
Reborn is busy scouting other potentials and fails to react in a timely manner. Tsuna in all his clumsiness accidentally pushes Yamamoto off the school rooftop. The other boy dies instantly but it is of little comfort. The future of Vongola Famiglia is taken away into a juvenile detention hall. Four months later, he is killed during community service.
ii
At 18, Yamamoto is scouted by the Yomiuri Giants. He becomes an instant celebrity overnight, his story inspiring a whole new generation of baseball players—the son of a humble sushi chef from a backwoods town. The mafia is something he only reads about in the papers, smiling as he remembers a trio of boys back in grade school and a certain head of the disciplinary committee who ruled over them all with an iron fist.
After going on to win in the Japan series, he signs a three-year contract with the New York Yankees. He never realizes what his presence could have meant when the world falls under Byakuran's thrall.
iii
Their next opponent is big and acts like an overgrown puppy, turning around and demanding scratches behind its ear rather than facing what's on the field. It has fangs the size of steak knives and feet ill-suited for water or any other aquatic activities. His combusken turns around irritably at this unexpected turn of events, looking ready to gouge his eyes out any second. Dumbfounded, Gokudera points a finger at the figure standing on the opposite side of the field and accuses, "Wait, that's cheating! You're supposed to use water pokemon in your battles—it says so in the guide!"
He holds out his tattered training guide as proof. Uri remains unimpressed at his efforts and the gym leader merely scratches his head and laughs sheepishly, "Well... all of my usual pokemon are tired. There was this really strong trainer who went by three-days ago. Haha, I don't think the rest of the town has quite recovered yet." He pets his arcanine fondly and blinks, "so you knew I used water pokemon and sent out a fire-type anyway?"
"Shut up!"
iv
"No!"
Yamamoto denies vehemently, surprising his audience and even his father standing beside him. Only the presence of the commander general stops him from blowing up the entire compound and seeking refuge in his room, or even under the eleventh division barracks. Hibari would have known what to do; Hibari would have never stood for this. "There's got to be another way!"
"Takeshi"
He feels his father's hand, warm and solid, wrap around one shoulder. "It has always been this way. Shigure Kintoki is a sword of ruin. It will accept nothing less."
Desperate, he tries—"Then I renounce my claim."
"Denied" The commander-general interjects coldly and the younger man feels that he has never hated anyone more than he does at that moment, obliged to murder his father for an honor he did not want. He stares down at the sword in its hilt, a weight at his side, already heavy as though exuding guilt down the length of steel. "Fight, or you will both be tried for treason."
"How is it treason to protect one's family?"
The judge furthest from him coughs, "It is the law."
"The laws of Central 46 have no bearing on the four noble houses!"
"Ah," the androgynous number 30 speaks, radiating smugness. "But you two are nobles who are also shinigami and thus fall under our jurisdiction. The laws clearly state that it is forbidden for two shinigami to hold the same zampakuto."
"But...!"
"Takeshi"
"But dad!" Yamamoto turns around.
Tsuyoshi shakes his head, "enough" and Yamamoto falls to one knee, bowing his head.
"Yes father"
As the onmitsukido lead them out, Yamamoto locks eyes with the commander-general.
Timoteo Vongola turns away.
v
"You're terrible sempai."
"He was disturbing the air."
Yamamoto Tsubame heaves out a great sigh as she tucks an arm into her fiance's elbow.
"He was our priest. Now where are we going to find another one before the ceremony?"
vi
"You all seem to have a terrible opinion of me but really, I'm doing this for the greater good."
"Haha," Yamamoto laughs as he gets up, leaning heavily on his shinai. He wipes his chin where a fresh cut overflows and drips down his collar. His box weapon, bereft of flames, lets out a note of despair before disappearing. "Could have fooled me."
"I can bring back your father." Byakuran coaxed, thumbing the skin beneath his right eye. "Just tell me where Vongola is."
"Sorry," the rain guardian grins, "it'd be a shame to switch teams... this late in the game."
The other man smiles back, "so be it".
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Notes: I should be working on other things but the library computer kindly decided that I needed liberation from my prior engagements by eating my files. And thus, deprived of the projects that I've been working on and too afraid to dig through the mountain of loose-sheet papers I have accumulated, I decided to write whatever it was that came to my mind... after listening to soul-wrenching J-pop.
1. What if Yamamoto succeeded in killing himself? Yes, I am aware that it's his own fault that they both ended up falling but it'd be weirdly damning wouldn't it?
2. If Yamamoto hadn't become a member of the mafia, degenerated into joining a local crime syndicate, pursued a career in athletics and succeeded.
3. Pokemon crossover: Jirou as an arcanine. Though Yamamoto's line-up would be more along the lines of Quagsire, Slowking, Lanturn, sorry, I stopped memorizing them after it got past 350+...
4. Bleach crossover: fusion with the Diamond Dust Rebellion plotline.
5. If Yamamoto was born a girl and got engaged to Hibari.
And...
+1. I find it odd that TYL!Yamamoto couldn't synchronize his rain flames with Shigure Soen Ryu. Everyone else seems to be fine more or less, faking deaths, hanging out in an underground prison, grieving over the aforementioned person who faked their death, why cripple Yamamoto?