Verde didn't even ask why Hayato was taking the annoying Bovino kid with him to the Japan area. Hayato might be hot headed, but he also wasn't a complete idiot.
Ryuu and Sora? The Japanese equivalent of Drago and Ciel?
He'd have to be a complete idiot to miss that sort of possible connection. And if this Ryuu really was protective of kids, or at least younger rookies, then they'd show up to check on Lambo.
The kid was such a brat that he had yet to win a single match, save for the rare accident when he got lucky and his dragon killed the enemy and survived. That thing had to be one of the most patient dragons he had ever seen, to put up with the brat.
Most of the other mafia players tended to use Lambo as "free exp" and killed him off as quickly as possible. Hayato wasn't among that number, since he avoided the game when the kid was in.
Probably why Lambo was willing to go with him. That or the fact Gokudera had the sense to bring grape candy with him to pacify the kid. His minders didn't even ask...most of the Bovino would happily see Lambo gone.
"Is that a kid?" asked one girl.
"Looks like it. Can he even play?" asked another.
"He's such a cutie!"
"Ah! It's Ryuu-sama!" said the first.
"Ryuu-sama!"
Hayato didn't smirk. He didn't want to give away the fact he had brought Lambo deliberately to draw out Ryuu.
The masked figure (which fit the same basic picture he had been given of Drago, with a slightly different mask) gave a polite bow before taking their spot next to Lambo.
The kid laughed like the idiot he was, and thanks to the modified helmet was soon launched into the D-Zone.
Like usual, most of the older players had immediately pegged Lambo as a "nuisance", and that he was far too young to know how to control his bull-like dragon "Gyudon" properly. Thus, free exp for the weaker players.
Except... none of them dared to go after the pest first. It confused him until he noticed the masked one flying high above everyone else.
Lambo tried to attack another player, only to fail and start the tell-tale signs of a massive temper tantrum. Hayato, as the kid's minder (and in the hopes of confronting Ryuu discreetly) raced to find the brat, using the navigator to do so.
He only got there in time to see Lambo calming down, with Ryuu letting the kid latch on to him.
The dragon followed to a relatively high area, before laying down. It apparently was fine with the fact that the older player had picked Lambo up and was flying above with the kid.
"Uri, can you get me up there?"
Uri chuffed at him, before growling in a way that Hayato had learned the hard way meant "Screw you".
"I'll force you to deal with the bull brat," threatened Hayato.
Uri almost threw him off.
Hayato growled in frustration.
"Fine! Do what you want then, stupid cat!"
The leopard dragon took off and started going after the stronger dragons for experience. Hayato mostly let the pest do his own thing. Not like he could properly control it.
Outside the D-Zone...
"Stay put while I get something for you to drink, stupid cow!" said Hayato sternly.
Lambo mostly stayed put. Hayato was a lot more patient than most of the people who were supposed to mind him, but he seemed to have a hair trigger temper.
However he was only five...and soon grew bored. It didn't take much for him to get lost.
"Tolerate..." he sniffled. Just as another monumental tantrum was about to erupt, he felt someone pick him up.
"There, there. It's alright," said a voice soothingly, while rubbing his back. "You're a brave little boy for playing in the game at your age."
This feeling, that smell. It was the nice player who had kept the others from attacking Gyudon and was actually kind to him.
He looked up to see a girl with amber-eyes and short caramel colored hair. She felt exactly like "Ryuu-sama", which was what the other big kids called the nice player who held him like his mama used to, before she went away.
Lambo latched his arms around her neck, still sniffling. This place was loud and scary.
"Dammit you stupid cow, where did you disappear to now?!"
She frowned.
"Are you looking for this little guy?" she asked, walking up to the irate Italian.
Hayato turned and looked relieved.
"Wait... you're that girl from before. Kiseki-san, right?"
"Hello, Gokudera-san."
"Hayato-kun is fine," he said grumpily. He eyed Lambo with annoyance. "I thought I told you to stay put?"
"The great Lambo-sama doesn't have to listen to you!" said Lambo, sticking out his tongue. "The great Lambo-sama goes where he wants!"
Before Hayato could start a ridiculous argument with the brat, Kiseki interrupted.
"Now, now Lambo. This place is pretty crowded. Hayato-kun probably didn't want you to accidentally get stepped on by the bigger kids, which is why he told you to stay put. Big boys should be able to listen to their minders," said Kiseki calmly.
Lambo actually looked like a kicked puppy. Hayato stared in amazement.
"How in the hell did you get that brat to listen to you? Even his own family can't get him to behave."
"He's a kid. He's not supposed to behave all the time. The trick is to actually listen to them," she replied.
"Lambo-sama is hungry, nee-san," said the kid. His stomach grumbled as he said that.
Hayato's was soon to follow suit. He hadn't exactly been given a decent amount of Japanese currency, and he had to pay for Lambo now too.
Kiseki looked amused.
"Come on, I'll show you where they sell the food and drinks. If you behave, there might be candy in it for you later," said Kiseki to Lambo.
Seeing the brat with a massive grape sucker and actually behaving, Hayato could only stare. At least he had a full stomach for the night.
The real problem came when it was time to leave.
Lambo refused to be separated from his new "nee-san".
And he made it known in spades.
"I am so sorry about this," said Hayato embarrassed. He hissed at the brat in Italian.
Lambo was practically a limpet on Kiseki's leg. She looked more bemusedly tolerant than annoyed.
"Where are you staying?" she asked. "I'm sure once he wears himself out he'll go straight to sleep."
Hayato winced.
"I was planning to get a hotel room for a while."
"...Exactly how long are you staying in Japan?"
"I have no idea."
A flash of emotion passed through Kiseki's eyes. She carefully liberated Lambo from her leg...before letting him curl back into her arms. Though odds are he'd latch onto her neck if Hayato tried to reclaim him again.
"I suppose you can stay with me until whatever business you're here for is over. If only for Lambo's sake."
"Are you sure? What about your parents?"
"My mother wouldn't have minded even if she was still there. It's not like I'm doing anything with the rooms as it is, though the master and my bedroom are off limits."
Hayato winced.
"Is your mother..."
"She's alive, though as far as I'm concerned my father might as well be dead. The bastard," she said with a flat tone.
Hayato could sympathize with that sentiment so completely that he didn't ask. Clearly her relationship with her father was as nonexistent as his own.
Some time later...
"This is your house?"
"Mama said my father bought it as a honeymoon present. They send money to pay for groceries and all the bills are paid online, but for the most part it's empty. I mostly spend my time either at school or at the Sea Palace."
"Lambo-sama is hungry!"
"You just ate, stupid cow!"
"If you can behave, I'll make you something to eat, Lambo-kun," said Kiseki. She went to the TV and pulled something off the shelf. It was an animated movie.
"What is that?"
"Howl's Moving Castle."
"Is that Disney?" asked Hayato. It looked like it.
Kiseki looked amused.
"Japan's Disney, I suppose. It's a well known Miyazaki movie. I've never liked Disney since I was stuck watching the Lion King repeatedly as a kid. Turned me off lions forever, especially when I found out more about real lion behavior."
"Really? Like what?"
"For example, did you know when a new male lion takes over a pride it's not uncommon for him to kill all the younger cubs to force their mothers back into heat early? Or that the lionesses do most of the hunting?"
Hayato blinked. He took out his phone and had to look that up, only to find out with some surprise she wasn't kidding.
"I did not know that."
"They call lions the 'king' of beasts, but I've always found them to be obnoxious and conceited. I like leopards better. Or maybe tigers."
"So what sort of dragon is Sora-chan?" asked Hayato, unconsciously relaxing.
"A young holy-type dragon. She might not look like much, but when she releases her full power she's very strong. She acts like a playful cub most of the time, always giving me full faced kisses when I visit."
Hayato grinned. He could easily imagine that, and barely realized he was helping her set the table.
Something about Kiseki made him relax without realizing it, following her lead instinctively.
The fact she could get Lambo to behave so easily made Hayato think her name was a bit more literal than one would believe.
He didn't even care that the brat snuck into her room sometime during the night, when he was supposed to be sharing the same guest room as him.
She certainly didn't care.
In fact if he had to put words to why she was so nice, he would have to say she was very lonely.
Her 'father' and he hesitated to use the word to describe the idiot who sired her, had dragged her mother to a year-long around the world cruise without even bothering to consider his daughter except as an afterthought. Considering he spent so little time around his wife, it was little wonder the woman had jumped at the chance for some proper quality time with her husband.
And a little observation over the next few days revealed Kiseki had no friends to speak of and was heavily bullied. He didn't blame her in the least for wearing the boy's uniform, considering how cute she was when she wasn't hiding her gender.
(Which had him hiding a blush, because when did words like "cute" come up when he was thinking of a girl... a civilian at that?)
Kiseki was a kind, gentle girl who had the amazing ability to get anyone to like her. Which made the bullying thing rather baffling, since she never once did anything to actually instigate the crap he saw the idiots put her through. She never once asked him what he was doing in Japan or why he was minding Lambo.
She was just happy to have someone in the house with her, and he had the feeling the home was very lonely indeed with the amount of time he saw logged on the computers. She must have been avoiding her home for as long as possible, to stave off how quiet the house was.
He couldn't even imagine what something like that could do to someone as kind as Kiseki. Never having anyone to welcome her home or say a kind word to her. Losing the one person who even remotely supported her because her sperm donor was an asshole.
Even Lambo looked happier being here.
So when it came time for him to report back to Verde (with or without Lambo) he realized he would rather be staying with Kiseki and even the cow brat than telling the Arcobaleno the lack of any real findings outside of learning that Ryuu-sama never used the same dragon twice and was fond of kids.
He was halfway out of the base when an idea occurred to him. The Bovino barely cared about Lambo outside of their own reputation, and the kid was honestly behaving more around his new "big sister". They were quickly running out of people who were willing to put up with the brat...they had practically dumped him on Hayato the second he even mentioned using the kid as bait.
He'd bet good money they'd be more than happy to pay Kiseki to deal with the kid until he was older and potentially useful, rather than drag him away form someone willing to take him in.
He took out his special mobile and called Kiseki. It took off points to use it like a normal phone (which made it cheaper than regular phone), but this might solve a few problems before they became problems in the first place.
"Hey Kiseki-chan... how would you like to get a permanent babysitting gig so you don't have to depend on your idiot genetic donor for grocery money?" asked Hayato grinning viciously. "You might even be able to afford an apartment with it."
"I'm listening..."
"Lambo's family is having a lot of trouble getting a babysitter who won't get tired of his tantrums and would probably pay you a lot of money to keep him off their hands. If I made it known I found someone who could not only handle him but was willing to let him stay in their home, odds are they'd jump at the chance."
Even if she was a civilian. At this point they couldn't stand the kid.
"Exactly how bad are we talking about here? I'd be happy to take Lambo in, but wouldn't they need to do background checks or something?" she asked nervously.
"They literally handed him over when I asked. The kid is a total brat, and you're the first person I've seen him behave around with any consistency," said Hayato flatly. "Besides, we can't always rely on Ryuu to keep an eye on him when he goes into the D-Zone."
"If you're sure. I don't want Lambo to be hurt by this, though."
"He adores his 'nee-san'. I doubt the cow brat would actually care so long as someone is actually there for him."
Hayato made a stop at the Bovino mansion and explained it to them. It was a sign of how little they cared about the kid that they agreed to the idea without even bothering to look too deeply into Kiseki's living situation when he told them he found someone willing to take the kid in. They happily signed over a monthly stipend once Kiseki sent her bank account information for as long as Lambo was in her care.
They also dumped the usual "care package" on Hayato, unaware that the girl in question was a civilian. He promptly hid them the first chance he had, not wanting to explain to Kiseki why Lambo's family were giving him things like grenades and a bazooka with actual ammo.
(When Lambo found out he was going to become a permanent resident at Kiseki's home, he was openly thrilled. Even a kid like him knew when he wasn't actually wanted and he could tell Kiseki actually cared about him. More than anyone else ever had.)
