Hi guys! This was written for the KHR shipping Kink meme on Tumblr where the prompt asked for a Iemitsu-Basil surrogate son relationship. With great thanks to clockworkspider, touzaizora, wargrounds. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and note that this is not how orphans live in Italy. This is not accurete, I repeat, this is not accurate! Many liberties have been taken to make this fic exist!
Fatherhood
Basil never knew his parents, for his earliest memories had no adult figures at all. Perhaps they had been killed, or they had starved to death on the streets. He didn't know, and that wasn't going to fill his stomach. He could recall being lonely, curling up into the ball in the harsh winters, glazing at complete families walking by with envy. On a good day, he could get nice warm bread to eat. On a bad day, he would be digging through the trash for leftovers. He was not alone. There were other homeless boys too. Then he watched them pickpocket for quick money. It was easy to give in to temptation despite the high risks. He did it anyway. The male would realise that if weren't for that, he would have never met his master.
It had been a cold day. The boy walked on the cold concrete with his bare feet, shivering. He watched the blonde man smiling cheerfully like a idiot. He seemed to be a easy one. Boy was he wrong. Just as he was about to pick the wallet, he got lifted off the ground. The man slowly moved out of the crowd and entered into an alley.
"Hey, let go of me!" Basil shouted, trying to kick and punch the man with all his might.
He could not. He had little to no energy to resist.
"He seems to be an orphan. What shall we do with him?" A woman's voice spoke.
The man was not alone, and the boy cursed his luck. He could probably go to jail, or just left back on the streets again. It was always like this.
"Hi, what's your name?" Iemitsu asked, the boy flinching. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." With that, his feet were placed firmly on the ground.
The three adults waited for a response, only for him to shift his feet nervously.
"Sir, I believe he does not know." The female reported, and the boy shied away.
The man smiled. The boy really did remind him of his tunafish. He knelt down to the boy's level and placed his large hands on the boy's shoulders.
"Alright then!" He said loudly, causing the boy to jolt. "Since you have no name, I'll give you one." The man then looked around, and noticed a basil at a nearby cafe.
"Today, you'll be known as Basil. You'll be joining the CEDEF." He declared.
"Are you sure?" The woman asked, uncertain.
"You will have a new family now." He placed a scarf around the shivering boy, who only nodded in response.
The boy began to wonder why he had accepted the invitation. Right after that, he got dragged to buy new clothes, a completely makeover and then ended up sitting in a luxurious restaurant with the very person he tried to rob hours earlier. This had felt…jarring. For as much as Basil did not know much about social norms, he at least knew that inviting someone who tried to rob you to a meal, much less a high class one, was not normal. He nervously held the fork and knife. Oregano, the woman with light hair and pink eyes, sat beside him and taught him how to hold it. Basil looked at the man in front of him carefully. He had brown eyes, and wore a cheery grin on his face. Though this person was old enough to be his father, Basil refrained from calling him anything similar to the word father, despite for his lack of one.
"Uhh, sir." Basil began nervously.
"Just call me Master!" Iemitsu said, patting him on the head.
"Thank you for the meal."
Being in the mafia meant you had to be tough in order to survive. Though the organization dealt with reconnaissance and information, they were still deeply entrenched in the dark world. He had food, fresh clothes and a place to sleep. With it came with harsh training. Basil's routine comprised of etiquette lessons, education and physical training around the clock. He would wake up at 5 in the morning to do a 2 hour jog, then have a sparse breakfast at 6:30AM. Afterwards, it would be lessons with Oregano and Turmeric until lunch, and a combat lesson with Lal Mirch. Language lessons came with Pepper and Spice, another two members of the CEDEF. His day would only end at 11:30PM.
"Master, I can't do this anymore." He panted heavily.
"The Mafia is a dangerous place. You could lose your life at any time. Next time, be faster. Five more laps." Iemitsu ordered coldly.
Basil acquiesced, not wanting to disappoint his benefactor. He did not want to return to the old days on the streets.
His master often confused Basil a lot. He would be strict during lessons and then would become completely cheerful afterwards. It felt awkward. One time, the boy decided to ask his mentor.
"Master, can I ask you something?" Iemitsu turned to face him. "Why do you act like a child sometimes?"
"What do you mean?" The man said with a bewildered expression. "I'm an adult, Basil."
"Well, you are very strict in your lessons, but once lessons are over you just revert back to a very cheerful person. It's so confusing. You are a leader, right? Don't leaders set good examples for their followers? How would I be able to understand you?" The blue eyed child pointed, and then Iemitsu laughed.
That led to further confusion.
"Basil, just remember that people are not one-dimensional. I am strict with you so that you will not be lazy and end up getting killed." His master explained.
"I'm doing just fine!" Basil pouted.
"Hahahahaha! You still got a long way to go before you can even go out in the field! I know you're angry, so you're trying to hit where it hurts right? Don't worry! I'll treat you to a ice cream sundae this Sunday, how about it?" The boy frowned.
His mentor had just changed the topic for no reason. Basil concluded that Iemitsu was a terrible person when it came to empathising with others.
As his master said, it took a while before results would show. Instead of being thin and bony when he was brought in, Basil had became fit and full of energy. After many sessions of missed shots, Basil finally got his first Bullseye at the shooting range.
"You're doing great! I'm proud of you!" Iemitsu said cheerfully, filled with pride
"It is only with your guidance that I was able to make it this far, Master." Basil said, bowing.
"You're really like my boy!" His master said.
"Oh, Master, you have a son?" Basil was surprised.
He didn't seem to be the type to be a father.
"Yep! He's very cute and is very good at being cute!" His master smiled.
Basil wondered about this new revelation. Should he call him Young Master now?
"Master, do you think I will be able to meet your son?" Basil asked, and his mentor shook his head. "Then for this coming vacation, are you going to visit him?"
"Nope! Too busy!" The conversation ended at that.
Perhaps he would know more about this mysterious son at a later date.
"Basil! Let's skip class!" Iemitsu suggested at the end of their daily morning jog.
"But Miss Lal Mirch will be mad..."
"Basil! There are times where you should live life to the fullest! That's why we are now doing things that you won't regret!" He said with a big smile. "This is a reward for being such a good sport!"
He took Basil to an amusement park, took photos with him and took the rides. It felt so fun, though it ended in a disaster. When they got back, Lal Mirch put him through a regime of Spartan training for the next few days. Iemitsu included. Basil then learned to never cross Lal Mirch and never follow his master on a trip of irresponsibleness ever again.
Basil often did missions with the other members of the CEDEF, for reconnaissance. Other times, Iemitsu would drag him along for shopping, or negotiating with a mafia family for information. Today, the CEDEF themselves played host to a meeting. Being a child, Basil remained in the office.
"Excuse me, is papa around?" A child's voice spoke on the other end of the line.
Japanese. Basil had heard his master speak it occasionally when dealing with yakuza clients. The office belonged to his mentor, so it could only mean that the child was looking for Iemitsu. This was the young master he often heard so much about. He considered whether to hang up the phone or not, but Iemitsu pointed that he must have good manners at all times. Thus, he proceeded to answer the boy.
"I'm sorry, he's quite busy at the moment." Basil said politely in Japanese to the best of his ability.
"It's okay. Could you tell him to come back for Christmas this time round? I really miss him." The boy asked.
"I will, don't worry." He then hung up the phone.
After the meeting was over, Basil walked up to Iemitsu.
"There was someone who was looking for you. " He informed his master.
"Who is it?" Iemitsu asked.
"It was a boy speaking in Japanese. He wanted you to go back for Christmas." Basil stated. "Are you going to visit him?"
"Oh dear! I missed a call from my cute tunafish!" With that, Basil cringed as the man began to wept tears. "I'm so busy and swept with work, I can't visit him!" He also resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that comment.
"He was your son?" He nodded. "Master, could you tell me more about your son?" Basil decided to take this opportunity and ask.
"Sure thing! He is a very cute little tunafish…" Iemitsu rambled on and on.
Basil is not sure how a human being could be a tunafish, or how this 'tunafish' had anything in common with him. But at least he knew something.
Iemitsu either did not want to reveal much about his son, or he did not know anything about him. After thinking about it, Basil also realised that his master had spent more time with him than he did with his own son in the past six years.
Working in a corporation is tough. In order to maintain the image of a legitimate business, company members would have free days for leisure. As Basil had no family, he spent all his leisure days with everyone else. The other day, Lal Mirch took him out to look at military garb. Oregano would take him out to eat at a cafe or a restaurant, and Turmeric would take him to explore the city. Today, his master happened to be free. This meant the time spent would be at an amusement park and shopping for things Basil felt he did not need. At this point, the boy wondered if Iemitsu smothered his son to death with many gifts.
"Time flies so fast, Basil! It only felt like it was January yesterday!" Iemitsu commented.
"Of course, Master."
Suddenly, they stopped at an electronics store and noticed a sleek gaming console on display.
"Master, isn't that the latest video game console?" The boy asked.
"Yep. I'm going to buy it as a gift for my son this Christmas." His mentor said proudly.
"That's a wonderful gift! Does this mean you're going back to visit your son that I hear so much about?" Basil said excitedly.
"No." Basil's expression shifted from joy to confusion, expecting an explanation. "It's too dangerous."
"I don't understand, Master. You told me the mafia is a dangerous place and you could lose your life at any time. You also told me to live life to the fullest by doing things you won't regret. Master, are you sure you really want to spend the rest of your life never seeing your son grow up? The mafia will just operate as per normal, but time isn't on your side. Before you know, it, your son would be an adult already. You already said it, time flies so fast. I was only six when you adopted me. I'm already eleven. How much longer are you going to push this 'supposed visit' to your son further?" The boy said in an exasperated tone.
They had stopped in the middle of the street.
"Ahahaha…" Iemitsu laughed sheepishly, scratching his head. "I actually don't think he wants to see me."
"Why so?"
"I was absent for most of his childhood. As you say, the mafia is a dangerous place. I don't want him to get involved. No parent wants that for their children." The man explained. "Besides, I think he doesn't like me anyway. He's probably calling for Nana's sake rather than his." The blonde man said in a solemn tone.
"Well, I disagree. I think he wants more than anything to spend time with you, Master." Iemitsu stared at him incredulously, making Basil hesitate. "Forgive me for saying this Master, but a video game console isn't going to make a good substitute for a father. It's not going to cut it." He said, bowing.
"You are right. It's not a good substitute. But Basil, I'm not a good father. Lal said so, and I think most parents would agree. I pretty much lost my right to be one when I chose the Family over him. Would he even tell me what are his favourite things to do?" The man sighed.
"Sure he will! All he wants is to spend time with you! You could do anything, like baseball, or even play video games with him! You know, Lal often tells me that you only go home to get drunk. That's very mean of you. Drinking is not even a activity a kid could get involved in. Can your son even drink? Master, I just wonder why would you drink at home when you already do plenty of drinking at work?" Iemitsu flinched at that comment.
The man proceeded to shrink further in, but at this point Basil could care less.
"You're his father! He will try to do something with you!" He emphasized.
Still no response. Basil sighed.
"Master, I don't know what being a father means because I didn't have one but I will tell you this. You are the closest person to being my father. There are times you really don't read the atmosphere, and you always would steer the topic in another direction. I don't think everyone becomes a perfect father at first try. It takes time and effort. You were really terrible at the start."
"Am I better now?" This made Iemitsu brighten up.
"No." It deflated his excitement. "So Master, I don't think you haven't lost the right to be a father yet. However, I am very sure that if you continue on like this, you're very well on your way on losing that right. It is not too late." He stated.
His master pondered hard on it on the way back. Basil hoped he managed to get some sense into him.
The next day, Iemitsu took vacation to go see his son. Basil smiled, seeing him off at the airport before returning back to his lessons. Even though Iemitsu did not go back again, at the very least Basil could say that he tried. Many would say that Iemitsu was a terrible father, but Basil would say that his master was just merely misguided in how a father should behave.
He only hoped that the damage was not as bad as it should have been.
If you stare hard enough, you'd notice where I got lazy. The prompt was too tempting to not write. This took me around a day or so to write. This idea would have been good for a Father's Day fic, but since the idea is not mine, and I wanted to fill the prompt so... It ends on a bleak not. I hope you enjoyed it at least!