Heavy steps pounded down the rain soaked alley, desperately fleeing in the face of a monster. My own footfalls were calm, slowly following the man with little worry. He was a hit-man of sorts, from the little information I had gathered, but that meant nothing now. He didn't know these streets like I did, hadn't survived like I had. The irony struck me, my protection had in the end been her downfall. Now, it was time for my first step toward revenge.
The inevitable stopped the chase, a dead end. The man grit his teeth, turning to face me with the flash of a blade.
"Do you realize who you're fucking with kid?" He yelled over the down pour, not that I gave it any thought. With the flick of my fingers, the burning stub of a cigarette landed in the growing puddles, stomped by my boot for good measure.
He was trying to play himself up, we both knew the burns he had gotten this far were not by chance. I had let him flee this far. Now it was time to end it.
"Shut up." There was finality in my words. He lit a dark purple flame over his weapon. "To ashes with you." I raised my palm, letting loose a blast of orange flames, streaked with blue. His scream lasted a fraction of a second.
I was tired. I wanted it to end. He had gone through enough fear, she wouldn't even want me to take revenge, let alone torture him. "Be glad you killed a wonderful woman." I said over the body, wondering if I should leave a calling card. I took up his knife, now brittle and cracked, and scratched a giant D into the wall. They should know that they came after the wrong family.
Walking out of the alley, it became clear the man was under surveillance. A dozen or so men, all in finely tailored suits, were waiting at the end of the street. Mafioso. The solemn silence fit our dreary landscape, and told me that they were waiting on something. Maybe the leader wasn't here yet? They were armed, they came looking for a fight, whether it was from me or the man I had just killed, I wasn't sure.
"Get out of my way, or I'll make a path through bodies." I was only loud enough to make out over the storm, still, they did not budge. "Your funeral..." The flames licked at my palms, pouring onto the floor in waves. Whoever they were, they had no fear, not so much as flinching as my flames spread past. Smart, they knew these weren't lethal. Dumb, because they underestimated me. They fell to the floor, stuck in place by cement shoes.
"I was hoping this would end without much bloodshed, I'll keep it that way." This was not going according to plan. I had meant to make that hit man fear more, there weren't supposed to be reinforcements, and I wasn't willing to kill them either. Weak.
I started walking the opposite direction of my old home, hoping to find an alley to sleep in tonight, when a slow clap came from behind me. Turning, my flames reignited. "Impressive. I'll have to talk with my men, make sure they understand the powers of the Multi-flames. Seems people forget about the power they possess, rarity I suppose. Still, with Xanxus around you would think..." He paused, tucking his hands into his coat. Everything about him screamed wealth, except his eyes. Burning orange, those spoke of fire and battle.
"Now what surprises me is that a Sky like you would attack someone like this… revenge? That isn't like your type..."
"I'm full of surprises, now let me leave. I rather not kill a families boss, even if I don't have fucking clue who you are."
He smirked, in a way that told me I was stupid to take him lightly. "Oh, but you do know me. Vongola. Sound familiar?" My heart stopped, blood frozen in my veins. If I had just attacked Vongola's men, I was sure to die. Not yet, there was still more to be done. "Don't worry, I won't kill you." My mind raced. He already had me trapped in a web of intuition, there was nothing I could do now.
"I didn't know, I wouldn't ha-" He raised a gloved hand, halting my words as I saw confirmation. Those famous gloves, the ones that had beaten every single one of his enemies into submission, causing blood to run in the streets in the name of Mafia justice. He was a good man, whose wrath was to be feared.
"Takeshi." The name turned command manifested itself, a hand cloaked in Rain flames dragged me to the ground before I could react, and into sleep.
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I did not want to get up. I wanted to lay in that bed forever, to let the world pass by without me. It would all be fine. I sat there for awhile, my mind clearing to recall last nights events. I shook my head around a few times, trying to get rid of the Rain flames. To be taken by Rain flames so completely, disgraceful for one like myself.
Looking around the room, it was clear it was both expensive and lavish, not the cell I was expecting. The door opened, a man with silver hair making his way in. Hayato Gokudera, the Smoking Bomb, Tenth generation Storm Guardian of the Vongola, right hand man to Tsunayoshi Sawada, tenth generation boss of the Vongola. His was a name, that like his peers, was whispered in fear where I was from. People did not cross the Vongola and live.
"Good, your up, get movin' kid." I complied as best as I could, having trouble moving at much more than a snail's pace. He decided to talk as we slowly made our way down the hall. "Let's make this very clear, you listen to the Boss, you step out of line, and I kill you. Got it?"
"Yes sir." I gulped, fearing what was about to happen. I don't know why he even bothered to warn me, it was somewhat -directly- implied. His smirk was pleased as he pushed open a heavy door, revealing a long table that stretched to the far wall. Vongola Decimo sat at its head, between us, a wall of the strongest Mafioso in the world. Kyoya Hibari, Takeshi Yamamoto, Ryohei Sasegawa, Lambo Bovine, and Chrome Dokuro, the Tenth Generation of Vongola Guardians.
Hayato moved past me, taking a seat at the right hand of his boss, sparing me a look of contempt over his shoulder.
"So, your name?" Decimo propped his elbows on the table, hands folded under his chin.
"Celio Dioli." I bit back the smart retort that came to mind, knowing this was not a man to be trifled with. Even if he already knew my name, I would answer the questions put before me.
"Why are we here, Tsunayoshi, I have things to take care of and this herbivore is not worth my time." I gulped wondering whether or not I was about to see one of these guardians put in their place, but no one looked surprised.
"Hibari, be patient. Our young friend here is apart of the plan I told you about, he's important, and hopefully he will become strong." Vongola turned back to me. "Now, to answer the question, simply put, I want you to become a Mafioso. Not a Vongola, though."
"Then what, if not one of your men?"
"I told you, a Mafioso." He paused, rising from his seat with his palms still on the table. "I want you to form a new Famiglia, one that follows the same rules as the Vongola. Another member to the Vongola Alliance, and another set of Guardians in the world." His words meant so much even if there were so few. A new Famiglia? In this day and age? "You are a Sky, just like me, you can do it. So what do you say?" He leaned forward expectantly, smiling. Strangely, I felt like I had options, he wasn't going to force me. But if not this, then what? Free-lancing like I had been? That didn't sound particularly great. I didn't have any skills that didn't involve fighting, what else could I do?
"Very well."
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"Have you ever been to a real school a goddamn day in your life?" Hayato asked over the math pretest in his hands.
"No, not really. I basically only know up to multiplication." I tried to bury my pride, but it hurt knowing how dumb he thought I was.
"I can see that, but you did get everything up to that point right. So, we start at about the end of fourth grade and go from there. Be prepare to learn like your life depends on it!" It wasn't long after that he began to lecture me for several hours about angles, my mind swimming with lines afterword.
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"How's the tutoring going, Cielo?" Tsuna came from behind, placing a hand on the back of my chair to look down at my work. "Yikes, I don't think I remember all this stuff."
"I consider that proof that this isn't necessary." Hayato smacked me on the back of the head with the book he was holding.
"You'll do it because I say you will." The Storm Guardian said as he stubbed his cigarette, flicking my eyes to it, I realized I was craving one. Tsuna wouldn't have it though, I was underage so I wasn't allowed. Gokudera had done it since he was in middle school, but he was allowed. Double standards.
"Hayatooooooooooo." The tone in the voice behind my tutor was anything but happy, a woman with brown hair emerging soon after, with a tick in her jaw. "I do believe we had a conversation about the influence you have on our young guest last night, and as such you needed to do what?"
He rolled his eyes, turning to face her in his chair. I hurriedly started grabbing my papers to dash, this was not going to be pretty. "Haru, leave me alone, I can do what I want." Fuck fuck fuck hurry and stop fumbling. Tsuna was already at the door, waving me out. I charged past with him in my wake, down the hall to a room that was not filled with yelling.
"Those to need to get a goddamn room and get there goddamn sexual tension rung the fuck out." I huffed as I sat down at the kitchen table, Tsuna laughing.
"Well, that's just how those two are." Then there was an explosion, the Decimo sighing as he went to tally the damages.
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"I- I can't breath!" I fell to the ground, panting in exhaustion. It was too much. Is this really what these monsters went through to get to where they are? This wasn't human!
"Get up, Celio, we have five miles back to the mansion!" Ryohei wasn't only still standing, but jogging in place waiting for me.
"I- I ca- can't!" My fist hit the ground, frustration boiling in the pit of my stomach. I had been training with them for over a month, and I still wasn't anywhere close to catching up. My teeth grit, a shadow falling over me.
"Come on, I'll help you up." The Vongola Boxer lifted me by one arm, helping me along as he walked. "Celio, it takes more energy to break down than it does to keep going. If you can fall down and pound the dirt, you can keep running." He paused, looking up the road. "But for now you can take a break."
It took me a few minutes to be able to respond. When I did, I said. "Thanks Ryohei. It hurts to move, I'm just… tired."
"It's our fault kid, we're used to training with one another, so it seems we were getting to extreme!" His voice grew louder at the last word, as it always did when he talked about how 'extreme' things were. "We'll just have to pace it better, take a few days off from your physical training to let your body rest, after that, you should start combat with Hibari, you should be good enough that he doesn't scoff at you anymore."
I sucked in my teeth at the mention of the Cloud Guardian. He was, as far as I was concerned, a heartless bastard. How Tsuna let someone like him into the Vongola, I could never understand. "I will, thanks."
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My head rang, I felt like there was a dent in my skull. Putting a hand where I was struck, blood was flowing freely. I could hear and see finely polished black shoes heading my way, vision beginning to cloud.
"Up, you shouldn't have taken that hit." The kick landed in my ribs, sending me bouncing across the ground, ribs bruised. I heard someone telling him to stop, but that wasn't an option now, I had something to prove.
"Kyoko, I'm fine." Why had that woman come? She was too soft-hearted, and she should've known that Hibari was planning to give me hell. "If that's how you want to do it." Flames lit on my palms as I dashed forward, the Cloud Guardian bringing up his weapons to block. I waited as long as I could before shifting my weight, throwing my body to the side, pivoting myself behind him, elbow poised to land a heavy blow.
The tonfa came from my right, smacking into my head once more. I was out cold before I hit the floor.
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"Damn, Kyoya worked you over good!" Lambo slumped down into the chair next to my infirmary bed, laughing as I flipped him off. "Give it a rest, I came to give you good news. Tsuna says its about time to send you out, get you to work on finding your Guardians."
"Well, that's… welcome news." It took all my conscious will to make the pause seem like it was from grogginess instead of hesitation.
"Hey, get excited! It's your Famiglia your looking for! Hayato wanted to send you to the Varia, but Tsuna is afraid they would kill you so he's giving you some more time. Me and you man, this Spring, we're headed to Japan." The cow boy set his feet on the edge of my bed, reducing to the mindless chatter he usually spouted off.
Leaving. Already. I had only been here for a short time, but I liked the people in the Vongola Mansion. Tsuna and his Guardians, Hibari excluded, were good people, the staff treated me like a human, it was nice to know I wasn't going to wake up with a slit throat, robbed blind.
"Anyway, you have fun recovering, Hayato is going to come down later with some math and science, I-Pin and I are going to train. Catch you at dinner if you manage to get Kyoko to let you out!" The mop of fluffy black hair made his way out of the infirmary, leaving me alone to think.
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"What'cha doing there?" Tsuna came from behind me, clapping his hands on my shoulders and startling me out of my reverie.
"Nothing." I scooted away, a reaction I knew was going to make him suspicious, it happened without my thought.
"Something wrong? You were acting pretty glum at dinner last night too." He sat down on the couch next to me, brow knit in concern. This goddamn Sky was too nice for his own good, and I was in no mood for it.
"Lambo says that you're sending me to Japan." Better to be honest now, instead of him finding out that I lied.
"Well, frankly, we can't keep you schooling you here, we've kept you out of it, but it is stressing several Vongola departments to have us working with you so much, I think its necessary, but a different arrangement is needed." He paused, sighing. "Look Celio, you have a Famiglia out there waiting for you, I'm sure of it. Its time you go find them. We'll set you up with everything you need, your Japanese is coming along nicely, I even got you an interpreter. You'll do fine."
"What if I want this to be my Famiglia?" I asked, turning to glare at the carpet.
"You may feel like you belong here now, a lot of people think they belong with certain people, but you'll meet them and realize this was nothing in comparison. Don't worry, you are a strong Sky." He patted me on the back, leaning forward onto his knees. "Also, I did a little digging into the name of your Flames." He paused, waiting.
"And?"
"The Flames of Sympathy." He murmured before leaving.
Funny, I could use some of that about now.
Well, thanks for getting to the bottom! More to come soon, the story is currently on chapter 19 and unfinished, on its second iteration, but I'm sure it will get finished at this point, so the uploads have started! (Check my bio for policy regarding this).
As for when I'll get around to updating, I haven't set a specific day out of the week yet, and I won't until my new class schedule gets set, until then, probably Wednesdays.
Now, for a little talk about the story. Celio is not a self insert, even if the account name seems to indicate as much. Additionally, the story is OC-centric, as is all of my work, but this one will have quite a lot of the Tenth Generation in it. As for why his Flames lit on his hands, that is explained later, much later. Finally, I mentioned that this story is on its second iteration, because it is. I posted the first two chapters once before, but I decided to rewrite it all. You see, the original New Famiglia Sympathy was written in less than a month, and the quality really showed that, so I redid it, hopefully much better.
Speaking of being much better, remember to follow and review! Thanks for reading, and until next week, goodbye!