The Traditional Boss

Gokudera Hayato never dreamed he would be picked to be a subordinate for Vongola Decimo, a girl his age.

However, that came with many setbacks.

Surviving a murder attempt by cruel, bullying classmates for what was not her fault - she was naturally clumsy and a poor performer in class that she was bullied horribly - losing all her memories - and living with a man who may possibly be among the last few ninjas of Japan, and a Blacksmith at a young age, plus an armed ninjutsu practitioner...who's education was very limited she really HAS to be taught! And too innocent of the world outside her very limited knowledge!

Only, this current Takako isn't clumsy anymore, considering Reborn watched her activities before showing himself.

He would be living with Takako, her elder disciple sister and brother who would be training her and helping her finish her many orders to get paid, so they could move to Tokyo.

For now, he'll live in a place that has no electricity. Literally.

This would be the start of his adventure.

And getting to the Hermitage if you're physically poor...was hell on him.

He heaved and huffed hard for air, his pants and shirt torn up and his shoes caked with soft soil, they reached the hermitage by sundown.

'We're here.' said Reborn to the nearly-dying boy who was so exhausted his chest was on fire, and his pale skin showed how red-faced he was.

Its a walled residence with no gate. Well, hardly anyone will be here...

And the house is an honest-to-goodness traditional make.

He and Reborn took off their filthy shoes before going inside in socks.

'W-where is everybody?' Gokudera croaked out.

'They're all in the smithy.' said Reborn. 'Takako's gotten a lot of work before I found her.'

'Ah...how much does she earn anyway?'

'For a small dagger alone, its 30 million yen.'

'WHAT?!'

'Her skills were worth that, that she could make live blades of incredible quality worth a treasure in an auction. But due to her occupation, she cannot be on one side even if she wanted to. A neutral entity. For in the world of martial arts and not that sports association thing, there are two factions. Satsujinken and Katsujinken. She has forged and repaired many weapons for warriors who kill, and warriors who don't kill in pursuit of skill and victory in armed martial arts. By sparring with guests before doing her job, she knows who among her customers kills and who doesn't. I guess we take a bath in the furo for now. Can't show up looking like a caveman.'

Gokudera twitched.

Reborn may be sweating but he's very clean while that insult was understandably, at him.

xxx

Somewhere in the residence, was Nono and his Guardians who were exploring to know how Takako lived her entire childhood.

In the backyard, were various training tools and equipment. And were trying to deduce how they were used.

And in the meantime, Takako made dinner.

Since the town is within 'walking distance' of three hours for a martial artist like herself, she could go grocery shopping.

Shopping for rice, miso paste, root vegetables, tubers, spices and herbs. The rest, she does alternates. Hunting and Buying them when food is not in season thus making a living by hunting real hard. It was why she began charging money for her work...when summer ends. On winter, she charges money and somehow, they agree to her prices without question she put up a price list by outside her gate.

So she's incredibly wealthy in a short time.

Her pantry is rich in goodies. Vegetables fruit and fish by summer, meat and eggs in winter.

Since it's summer, seasonal food is good!

But what not even papa knows...is that she has another type of ki, which she uses to burn away unwanted parts.

She calls it 'Hi Ki'. Hi for 'fire'.

Unknown to her, her family and Reborn felt that...

"?!"

That got the gentlemen going to the kitchen while Reborn could not, being butt naked.

'Takako-chan?' Timoteo called out.

'Ah, ojisan dinner will be ready in an hour.' said Takako with a smile, but they noted remains of a presence of 'it' on the fish...

"She's active and can use it!" they all thought. But, why on eel she clearly did not roast with her powers?

'Er, sure. It's been a long day.' Timoteo said in forced cheer. 'One hour, is it?'

'Hai~!'

'Alright dear, if you say so...' and they left.

'Nono...' Visconti fretted, 'You think her near-death did it?'

'...most likely...and then figured things out on her own from there.'

xxx

In the mountains where there's no electricity, the sources of light, are oil lamps in well-made lanterns they may as well have actual light bulbs in the house. And for summer, it's shockingly cool inside Akisame had to explain how the walls are made that makes traditional houses well-insulated using natural resources that Takako enjoys warmth in winter, and cool comfort in summer without electric fans or even natural winds. She's way used to living without modern comforts, living with nature.

Dinner was very luxurious.

'Wow Takako-chan, you're living luxuriously!' Akisame exclaimed as dinner was grilled VERY FAT eels. Her tea is the expensive kind. And her dining ware is so cute! Though the bowls are a bit...larger than normal...and the pickles are of kyuri, takuan and shiso varieties and the soups are stuff they know not, but very aromatic in a savory way.

'Ah, I have eel traps in all places in rivers.' Takako beamed brightly. 'I could have all eels I want every summer papa was very happy to have a lot too! Why buy when I can get them for free? That's crazy.'

'Muu. Share.' Shigure pouted.

'Ahaha, OK, I got way too much anyway so I keep them alive, feed them some more before I cook them. I like them fresh the best.'

'...how is Capitone luxurious?' Gokudera asked, puzzled. 'It's not that pricy in Italy...'

'Well, its a very deliciously-nutritious treat here but expensive.' Akisame cried comical tears. 'Hardly anyone can afford enough for a full stomach you know!'

'Its expensive here...weird...' Gokudera looked utterly baffled.

'Well, its how things are here.' Takako chuckled wryly. 'Only families with a monthly income of 500k can afford it for a daily meal. With my money I can buy it but the market will raise eyebrows so I set up fish traps.'

And when they ate her cooking...

...all of them are thunder-struck.

"DELICIOUS!" but deliciously...invigorating and stimulating they could eat everything till it's all gone.

'Man that felt great!' Brow Nie cried in bliss. 'You're a talented cook ojouchan!'

'Oh, is it that good for you guys? I can't tell since I'm eating it everyday...I can't tell the difference.' she earned gobsmacked expressions for that.

'WHAAAAT?!' near-everyone yelled.

'Well, now you know.' Reborn grinned. Living with her will be luxuriously...adventurous for sure.

'I guess so?' Takako tilted her head sideways childishly. 'At least I know papa likes my cooking now. He always just smiles when we eat when I started cooking fish. The most he allows me was rice and soup when I was short. I prepare, he cooks after I tell him how I want it done.'

'Ah, I'll wash them for you.' Gokudera offered.

'Oh really? Thank you!' Takako lit up. 'I have work to do with neesan and with deadlines so every second counts for me!' and she ran off while Shigure not far behind.

'Well, I have work too.' Akisame mused as he got up. 'I have to make training tools. Takako clearly outgrew the ones in the backyard and I'll have to test the boy's ability before I make him tools. What about you guys?'

'Well, we have to go back to our hotel.' said Timoteo.

'Huh? But its dangerous here at night!' Akisame cried in protest.

'Don't worry my boy, we have our own, elder-friendly route. But Reborn will be staying here.' said Timoteo, lacing his voice with his charisma, forcing Akisame to reluctantly agree. 'I have enemies who may steal important files from me, we can't be away for too long.' and they left.

'...are they really going to be OK...' Akisame wondered, scratching the back of his head.

'They will be. Old two of them may be but capable.' Reborn reassured confidently. 'But for now, I'm interested in how you'll train the kids.'

'Sou ne...I specialize in pink muscles, you see.' Akisame grinned.

'...what?'

xxx

After washing the dishes...

"For a very traditional place, I'm glad she has some very-much-needed parts modern." Gokudera thought wryly.

The baths and sink have a homemade water pump so he could use the wooden taps like faucets, she actually has dishwashing soap and scrubs, and bathing necessities.

After doing the chore, he wanted to watch her at work as he wants to see with his own eyes that women can do what men can do. Blacksmithing!

Listening with his ears, he could hear metallurgy at work after walking around.

'Ah, Gokudera-kun its a bit rough in here unless you're used to it!' Takako gasped out as Gokudera suffered severe nosebleeding with good reason. 'Its very hot!'

Headscarf aside to keep hair away, they wore just an uwagi but baring too much cleavage, just a fundoshi with their legs open while at work...he saw too much!

'H-HAI!' and he ran away, red-faced.

'...I think he got a different kind of heat...' Shigure muttered, going pink herself.

'Huh? Did you say something?'

'Nuh-uh.' Takako knowing stuff like that can wait...

xxx

Mid-July...the work is completed.

The move began...the move for Ryouzanpaku.

Takako's very generous with many things for Shigure.

Takako is so wealthy she can freely give Shigure 200 million yen while keeping the rest for herself and even then it's still huge. That, and they have to bring home all the eels she has in secure, wooden barrels while Takako deactivated her traps. She also has expensive things on her they had to hire a truck. Literally. That, and Reborn had to 'do a lot of things' just to put the rest of Takako's fortune in a bank.

'We're home!' Akisame called out as they unloaded everything. 'We need a hand here, we have a lot of stuff!'

'Ohh? Souvenirs?' Reborn's eyes widened and Gokudera gawked as literal muscled giants came out.

'W-what the heeeell?!' Gokudera freaked out.

'Wow! That's a lot!' the lone blonde teenager gasped out at the wooden boxes of...well...everything... 'What on earth are in those?!'

'Furniture...weapons...tools...' Shigure said.

'Well, we'd best bring those in.' said the blonde elder.

And so...

What's in the crates(some of which Shigure took), was expensive futons, kitchenware, diningware, food, among other things...

'H-hey, we're in the red, we can't go and buy all that...' Ma Kensei sputtered out.

'Oh, I gave them all to neesan who gave them to the dojo.' said Takako. 'I bought them since some of my customers tends to sleep over but now they won't need it anymore. My house is fully-stripped bare and I left a note on the walls.'

'W-wow, what kind of life do you live exactly?' Furinji Miu choked out, that a girl younger than her lived luxuriously.

'I charge money for my work.'

'Heee...' "But what kind of work?!"

Thus the dojo has three temporary tenants only in the summer...because they would go to Namimori when summer ends.

Until then...

Gokudera screams...due to eccentric training methods.

'Now now, if Takako and Miu can do this as kids, so can you.' said Ma Kensei who took charge of his muscular training. 'Akisame had me be your trainer because he's busy with Takako's old house.'

In the meantime, Reborn watches as Shigure trains Takako using live blades! Their spars are very...hair-raising.

"Welp, I'll learn a lot here for sure." Reborn thought.

He cannot teach Takako anything without revealing the Mafia to these guys...or risk being jailed by Vindice, so he passes off lessons by use of Business. He teaches the business aspects and Leadership lessons until her training is over. That, and general education too so she can go to school. Then he can move to the Mafia aspects when Akisame and Shigure are done and far from earshot.

These people...

...are all dangerous.

Even if he claims to be the World's Strongest, hell, Shigure alone proves him wrong and she's the weakest of these bunch of overpowered adults. The only one weaker is naturally, the granddaughter Miu who's more experienced than Takako.

She was a perfect existence. Beautiful in face and body, very intelligent and has incredible physical prowess. Capable of feats with just muscle alone. But he could tell a lot of work went into that girl because she was too surreal. Then he learned from Takako about their 'wonder diet'.

'A diet?'

'Yes...the arts aside, Masters studied the body well too for the sake of training and efficiency.' Takako explained in their room in the Disciple's Quarters. 'And of course, marriage prospects.'

'Hooo?'

'Men eat certain things, and so do we girls. Miu-san's looks are a result of that diet aside from how her parents looks. Papa told me to follow too so someday, I'll be a beautiful rose too.' Takako smiled.

'Heee...' and roses have thorns, so martial artist ladies are raised to conformity since training begins at childhood eh? They seem to be aware of how hormones work even though most of them live in such a primitive manner...and Takako grew up beautiful indeed, so it works. And also for not too much muscles to develop, he supposed.

In the meantime...

Gokudera was very shy and avoids looking at Miu whenever possible.

A teenager wearing a spandex biketard with nothing underneath, yeah, he has every reason to be shy due to his upbringing and teenager in question is very shapely and well-endowed. And Takako is well on her way there herself, being fourteen in a couple months.

Miu eventually got the picture and wears an apron over her outfits that finally got Gokudera relaxing. She's shockingly shy despite what she wears.

'His upbringing is very formal and strictly polite.' Reborn explained away his shyness around...nearly-nude girls. But still, they have no sense of modesty whatsoever that really worries him.

He once asked the elder about it as he worries for Takako's future as Nono's heir.

'About that huh? We all grew up like that. We care more for beauty of one's skill than one's modesty.' he would say. 'Your prowess as a warrior is foremost important rule in fights. Even women see us at our barest if fights are destructive enough to destroy clothes. But of course, there are lines we must not cross.'

'...understandable. Sucks to be for Gokudera though.'

'Hohoho! He'll have to get used to it!'

When its three days before school starts...

'Thanks for everything.' Takako and Gokudera bowed before the denizens outside the gate.

'Its a long journey for you home Takako.' said the elder. 'But things will get better eventually.'

'I hope so...I was just told to go home and that's it, but I'm still worried.' said Takako fretfully.

'Well, what will be will be, and then move on afterward.' said Kensei. 'Go for the future and don't be stuck behind.'

xxx

Namimori, Sawada Residence...

'Well, this is your home, Takako.' Reborn told Takako. 'But for your sake as your name is still famous and not in a good way, I enrolled you as Kosaka Houko. I even changed the nameplate of your house to be safe.'

'Where are my parents?'

'...Italy. Facilities here are not good enough. We have competent mental doctors over there.'

'Not good enough huh?' Akisame mused, scratching his cheek. 'Must be some high-class place but the mind is tricky.'

'Aa. We can't tell what will happen with maman for sure.' said Reborn. 'Its not like the body where a few months of rehab its all good. Should maman regain her sanity and she sees your father, she'll be understandably angry divorce isn't far off a reality for lying to her for years and not being there when she needs him most. By lying to such a level...we don't know which parent will legally have you as both have powerful pulls and the court must judge appropriately. And sadly, Takako is in the thick of it.'

'...I don't know...' Takako said gloomily. 'I don't know them at all. I only know of neesan because papa tells stories. But I know nothing about them at all.'

'For now, let your fool of a father repent for his crimes. And focus on your future.' and they went inside the house. 'For one, I have no sliver of sympathy for men like him.'

'Neither do I.' said Akisame stiffly. 'Losing you was tragic enough for your mother, what he's done...no sane person will forgive that. Oh yes, when I came here to make stuff, I noticed an underground Forge plus ventilation and water. But that's weird, digging activities would be very obvious yet nobody has a clue?'

'Meh, we're that skilled.' Reborn smirked. 'Building hideaways is our forte if we have the right skill.'

'Ah...oh well, but its a very well-made place, Takako-chan can continue business as usual.'

'So...business as usual?' Gokudera sweated buckets as Akisame cheerfully nodded, quickly noting his nervousness.

'Mm mm! Business as usual indeed, Hayato-kuuun!'

Gokudera whimpered. For the sake of art, these guys are utter nutjobs. His body still cries to this day! But alas, things he must do to become a Right-Hand Man!

Besides, Juudaime is a very kind person, no other boss is like her he'd be fool to pass this up.

Next hurdle, is school.

Juudaime spent all summer studying and training. He tutors her with Reborn in the morning, and hellish training after that, so she can go to school again.

But still, going to a place of trauma will be a big hurdle and she's still a blank.

What if her memories all came back at the wrong time?

Well...that's his job. Being a Right-Hand Man can wait, his job will be to be her Pillar of Support.

Emotional Support.

His boss is pure-hearted, but scarred. And she looks at family photos with wonder in her eyes. In the photos, she was a very cheerful child and doted on. And she has a very Japanese face in her photos...until her diet happened.

Martial Artists have specific diet plans based on the theory of Yin and Yang. Takako had followed the Yin diet so she can train all she likes, without worries of ruining her future as a bride.

But he has a plan he needs approval on. But waitaminit, speaking of diet...

'Juudaime?' he asked.

'Hai?'

'About our meals...what was I eating lately?'

'Well, you're eating what I eat.' Takako explained. 'A true man's diet begins when a Disciple learns how to be calm and patient because training can never be rushed. Most boys like yourself are so impatient, hot-headed and troublesome to deal with, wanting super-skills right off the bat when the foundations of Basics must be strongly-built first. There was once a Master Conference about that, complaining about their boys, some even abandoning said boys since the Masters got fed up with their attitudes and took in girls...' Gokudera gawked. 'Somebody suggested 'a diet that calms' but its also the diet for women like us...so they took in new Disciples, and it works, combined with a formal upbringing.'

'Ah...'

'Besides, it worked on you too.' Takako giggled. 'For Katsujinken Practitioners, we emphasize on basics oh-so-much that even simple, so-called weak techniques Satsujinken look down on are powerful but well-polished in our hands. Until you're at least, 18, you'll be calm for a couple more years wherein by then, you have become fully-mature in mind and heart in terms of patience and calm.'

'Oh...'

'Basics are always underappreciated but the most essential. Having weak Basics means weak foundations that performing will become difficult as the years go by.' Takako told him. 'So Disciples are often started young, and actually start learning techniques based on the maturity a student displays. I only started learning actual techniques last year when papa honed my body for weapons for years and shows me how to work in a forge.' Gokudera looked thoughtful. 'But then I started doing my own thing in the forge...'

'So that's how it is huh? I've...always been hot-headed for years but my stay here is shockingly quiet...'

Reborn listened to the kids talk from outside the kitchen.

Suddenly, Takako threw a paring knife she just washed(and still has soap suds) out the window and somebody squeaked.

'Who's there?!' Gokudera snarled as the two teens jumped out of the window...and he threw up on the sight of a young woman with wine-red hair with a deep cheek wound she was clutching. 'A-aneki...' he doubled over in belly-aching...

'Gokudera-kun?!'

'Y-you cut my face!' the woman choked out.

'Well you're the dummy intruder in my house, its basics to expect retaliation.' said Takako coldly. 'Now what have you done with my Guardian? Speak or be permanently silenced!' she bit out harshly, cradling Gokudera in her arms. On Gokudera's end, his boss cut his sister without knowing her identity, clearly could care less as she cares for him more than someone she doesn't know, even willing to kill her for his sake. He's not sure how to feel about Bianchi's incoming death or the fact that a boss actually cares for him for once, he's had mixed feelings he wasn't sure how to react.

'Bianchi.' Reborn's stern voice called out. 'We will talk. Now. Far away from this residence.' he said. 'You're lucky Akisame or Shigure didn't catch you or you'll get worse than a cheek gash. Let's move it.' and they left.

'Are you OK?' Takako fretted.

'...aneki's a really nasty cook.' Gokudera choked out in pain. 'And sadly in my younger years, she just doesn't get it and insists I'm her test dummy for her cooking...but its just so bad that looking at her makes my stomach hurt every time I see her...and it got worse when during my piano recitals, she makes me eat her nasty cookies as good luck and in Italy, you don't turn down a woman if they cooked for you, that's extremely rude...I had no escape from manners and a severe faux pas, so I ran away from home. It's all I got without offending anybody.'

'Oh dear...is this what they call PTSD?' Takako wondered as she picked him up. 'I'll carry you to your room...'