AN: Everyone, please end a thank you to my awesome beta SailorDyingWill over on AO3. Without her, you'd be gettign something filled with more mistakes than you can shake a stick at.
Disclaimer: I don't own Katekiyo Hitman Reborn. I am not making any money off of this work. Enjoy.
Tsuna leaned back in her chair and mentally cursed her progenitor. The Bastard was mafia. That really wasn't a surprise. That he was Vongola was. Reborn looked far too amused with her reaction.
" How am I even considered for the position?" she asked.
Reborn grinned and pulled a family tree out of nowhere. She accepted it and laid it on the table. He pointed out the first name. "You are a direct descendant of Giotto, the First head of Vongola. He escaped to Japan after his cousin Ricardo overthrew him and turned the Vongola from a vigilante organization to a mafia one."
" What happened to the Ninth's children? I'm assuming he had some and that the Vongola are smart enough not to rely on a foreigner with only the barest blood ties to be the primary heir."
" Enrico died in a gunfight. Massimo drowned and all we found of Federico were charred bones. You're the only heir left, Tsunami."
Her lips pressed into a tight line as her jaw clenched and teeth gnashed together. She reached out and pointed to a specific name just above hers in the family tree. "What about the bastard? From this, Iemitsu should inherit before me and he's even involved with you already. A much better heir than me, wouldn't you say?"
" Iemitsu is the leader of the Consulenza Esterna Della Famiglia, the CEDEF, that act as external advisors for the family. He is therefore ineligible to become the next boss."
" Could he quit his job as CEDEF and take over?"
A grim smile crossed Reborn's lips. "No. The laws of the Vongola family do not allow for such a thing except when the only possible heir is the head of the CEDEF. With you alive, there is another heir and Iemitsu cannot inherit."
" Crap." She fell back in her chair with a loud sigh. Arms crossed over her chest and a scowl formed on her face. She bit her lip and looked up at the baby. "I have no choice in this matter, do I?"
" I don't fail missions." In other words, yes, she had no choice. Her head tilted back and eyes slid shut. She could work with this. It wasn't the first time a criminal organization had fallen into her lap.
" Look, there's something you need to know," she began but had to stop when a knock came at the door. "Enter!"
A young man in a suit stepped in and looked at the baby before turning his attention to the teen. Reborn took note of the tattoos peeking out from behind the dark fabric. "Boss, Yamamoto is here. Do you want him to come in or should he go help Himura?"
" Send him in. I'm going to need him."
" Yes, boss."
The door shut and Reborn turned an amused look on her. "Boss?"
" I was 10 when I inadvertently took over the Akatora-Kai. Turns out they have a rule that if you kill the head you become the head." She shrugged. "The fact I burned him and most of his commanders alive when they tried to kill me just cemented the fact that I am Boss in the minds of the lower ranks."
Reborn blinked. Well, he hadn't expected that exactly. "I see. So you already have some experience in running a family."
She nodded happily. "We control roughly 80% of the sex trade in Namimori. I also keep other yakuza groups out. That took making a deal with the demon Hibari, but it was worth it."
" Oh?" The baby seemed interested. That smile promised something Tsuna wasn't sure she wanted to know about. The door opening caught both their attention. A young man with a shinai strapped to his back stepped in. He nodded to Tsuna and walked around to take up position behind her, a bodyguard.
" Yamamoto Takeshi, Reborn, my tutor sent by the Ninth head of Vongola. Reborn, Yamamoto Takeshi, my bodyguard for the past 3 years."
" Nice to meet you." Yamamoto chirped with a smile on his face. It was the smile that made even the most stoic of enemies shiver in fear and her allies nervous all at once.
" I see." the baby hitman eyed the boy. He had an aura that was only too familiar to the Italian. He smirked. So the little Tenth had managed to find a natural assassin to be her bodyguard. A specialist in the way of the sword would be a good close-quarters bodyguard for a boss. His new student had more talent than no-good Dino did. Now it was just a matter of seeing if she could physically get up to snuff and learn the traditions that the Vongola held so dear. Oh, and access her flames at will. She had such bright, pure Sky Flames. The boy behind her would end up as a Guardian for the boss to be. He likely already was and they just didn't know it.
" I'm guessing you saw the show this afternoon, Yamamoto?" She was grinning up at her bodyguard.
" I was surprised you were wearing pink."
Her cheeks burned. "That wasn't what I was talking about and it's laundry day anyway."
The swordsman placed a hand behind his head and laughed. "It was still surprising. Wasn't that the set Rumiko gave you for your birthday?"
Tsuna rubbed her face in an effort to hide the blush. Why did Yamamoto always make her blush like this? He always seemed to be able to make her cheeks burn and body flush with just a few words. "Forget my underwear. Did you see what happened to Mochida? I was kind of out of it after my clothes went poof."
" Ah," the swordsman nodded. "You hit him, hard. It just took one strike and he was down. Nothing really spectacular, but the fire on your head was interesting. How did you do that, Tsuna? It looked kind of like what the others say you did to kill those old guys."
" That was Sky Flame," Reborn spoke up and grinned at the two. "I take it you consider him to be a part of your Family, Tsunami?"
" My life is Tsuna's," Yamamoto interjected. His tone changed from happiness to serious. He even went so far as to send a small glare at the baby hitman. "I belong to her."
The hitman grinned. "I didn't realize it was like that. Well done on gaining such a good looking, talented husband, Tsunami."
The girl sputtered, her mouth opening and closing rapidly as she tried to formulate and answer. "Hiiieee! He didn't mean it like that. Don't take it the wrong way!"
Reborn chuckled, glad to finally get a rise out of the girl that had something in common with the report Iemitsu had sent. That little scream of hers was cute. He lifted both eyebrows as the girl squirmed in her chair. His eyes drifted upward and noticed the faint blush on her bodyguard's face. So maybe he wasn't that far off in his theory. The bodyguard was eying his boss with something a bit deeper than protectiveness. That could either be very good or a disaster in the making.
Yamamoto coughed lightly, bringing his boss's attention to him. "Speaking of Rumiko, I saw her when I was coming in. She said she needs to talk to you. One of the girls is getting married and wants to know if they can borrow some of the men to help clean out her apartment."
" I'll get one of the boys to help her out. I can't spare anymore than that though. Reports from Kusakabe show the possibility of a new group trying to encroach on our territory," she nodded and turned her attention back to Reborn who's smirk had grown with every word she said. "So, explain this flame thing to me. I know I've called up bright orange fire before, when I was in danger of dying. It's part of the reason why I'm so feared by outside yakuza families."
Reborn frowned. "Only when you're in danger?"
" Three times to my memory, not including earlier if Yamamoto saw right."
" Explain, in detail. There were no notes in Iemitsu's reports."
She snorted. "I doubt there was a lot in that report that was true. The first was when I got sold to the Akatora and I panicked and the fire killed off the boss and all of his under-bosses. The next two involved assassins from two separate families. That ended the same, me panicking and my opponents ending up burned to a crisp. Made it easy for my boys to clean up at least."
The baby gave the girl a deadpanned look. "You were sold to the Akatora?"
She nodded as did Yamamoto. He had heard the story from what few older members had survived the purge when Tsuna had taken over. "Mom doesn't exactly see the world the same way as normal people. I don't think she even realized why the man in the dark suit was offering to pay her for my time. Mom told me to go with him and I, in my naivete, went with him. It wasn't until we were in the warehouse that I started to realize something was wrong. I don't remember much after the old boss tried to touch me. I just remember the urge to get away and fire and screams."
Reborn hummed and nodded his head. So his student had broken through Nono's seal in her panic. Truly remarkable. He smirked. Well, this should be easier than his last tutoring job. His new student had much more potential and already had some on the job training, as it were.
Yamamoto's eye slid shut as he nodded. "Some of the older members who were there say Tsunami-hime sprouted fire on her hands and forehead and everything started to burn. The old boss burned up quick and his lieutenants followed when they tried to grab her as she escaped. The fire spread from them to the rest of the warehouse and the weapons they were smuggling in at the time exploded. That killed off over a third of the active members."
" They've been following me ever since." She nodded and gave a weary smile. "No matter how much I tried to get rid of them, the kept coming and bowing and scraping and I just gave up on stopping them."
" Are you still running weapons then? Drugs? Human trafficking?" Reborn stared at her. His eyes had gone calculating. Those were the three big things that could get her banned from Mafia Land, not something Nono wanted. He could push her to stop if she was. He wasn't the best for nothing.
" No. I stopped those as soon as I took over." She shook her head and frowned. Her brow knit together as she thought about how much of a hassle that had been. There had been more than a few assassination attempts by her own people and she hadn't had Yamamoto to protect her back then. She glanced down at her hands. So much blood had stained her delicate looking hands. Death walked with her and she with him.
" It didn't go over well I take it?"
" No. A few attempts on my life and I learned rather quick how to shoot and where to stab to put a person down. I learned to use my environment, to use my fists to break bones and trusted my instincts to figure out who I could trust. The members that remained after that are loyal to me. I stopped the drug trade here. No one, even the bigger groups, sell drugs in Namimori." Her frown turned into a feral grin. "I'm known for having a no tolerance policy on certain things like drugs and human trafficking. All of my girls are working in the industry by choice. It may be a stressed choice brought on by economic factors, but still, they have the option to leave if they so choose."
The hitman nodded, pleased at her moral stance. Yes, Sawada Tsunami would make a very good Tenth. Just add some polish to her rough edges and find her a full complement of Guardians. The grin on his face could only be described as unholy. Tsuna had the sudden feeling she was going to regret this, regret ever meeting the baby hitman. One more thing to lay at the Bastard's feet.
Tsuna watched as Reborn left her office. They had talked for a few hours, hashed out a training regimen she could deal with on top of her work, and got a basic explanation of how Vongola was set up. The Varia were well known, even in Japan. More than a few of her men looked up to the assassination squad in awe. The swordsman, Squalor or something or other, had a fan club. Yamamoto was a member, much to her amusement. The other divisions weren't nearly as famous and required a bit more of an explanation. After two hours of talking, she'd asked the hitman to leave so she could get to work on things for the Akatora. The hitman, surprisingly, had agreed and congratulated her for taking care of her famiglia. Then the hitman had left, leaving only Yamamoto and her in the office.
" So, what's the plan, Tsuna?" Takeshi asked. The light tension that had been in his body since he entered the room smoothed away. The hitman baby put him on edge. No surprise there. Like tended to recognize like. He leaned over the back of Tsuna's chair, rested his hands on the top, and stared down at the top of her head.
" We go along with this," she sighed and tilted her head forward. "I can't see a way out of this. Damn that Bastard."
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. He smiled at the sigh that escaped her lips. The line of her shoulders relaxed and she leaned back against the chair. She worked too hard, worried about too many things. If this was what he could do to help her relax, he'd gladly do it. "Then we deal. I promised to stay by your side. I owe you my life."
" Takeshi…" She breathed deeply and looked up at him. He smiled down at her.
" Don't argue with me on this, Tsuna. I've made my choice. Dad agrees with me."
" Tsuyoshi wanted to kill me when you told him you wanted to learn the sword to protect me."
" No, he wanted to kill you because you were dragging me into the yakuza. When he realized you tried everything short of killing me to get rid of me, he decided you weren't the worst option." He paused and grinned down at her. "I think he's expecting grandkids, though."
" Considering the example he made for you, I don't doubt it. At least the others wouldn't speak up against it like what happened to him if it happens. They love you almost as much as they love me."
She laughed and reached up for her bodyguard with one hand. He leaned down and brushed his lips against her own. Her hand traveled through his hair and mussed up the dark spikes. A faint blush formed on both their cheeks at the feel of the other's lips pressed against their own. This wasn't something Tsuna was willing to give up, no matter what the Vongola wanted. Takeshi's absolute loyalty made her giddy inside and calmed the undulating inferno buried deep in her soul. After Reborn's explanation of Dying Will Flames, it made sense. Obviously the swordsman had been claimed by her Sky Flame as a Guardian.
The two separated as the door opened and one of the lower members of the group entered with a stack of paperwork. Tsuna groaned and lowered her forehead to the top of the desk. Takeshi laughed. She hated paperwork. Paperwork, her greatest enemy.
Tsuna sorted through the Discipline Committee's files. There had been a small stack waiting for her when she arrived that morning. Hibari-senpai had greeted her with a tonfa to the head that she dodged automatically. Her instinct, Hyper Intuition according to Reborn, made avoiding the demon prefect easy. He huffed as she waved her fingers at him and went to work.
" Do you still want to spar Friday, Hibari-senpai?" she asked as she closed one of the filing cabinet drawers. It let out a shaking bang as it clicked shut. That drawer always stuck. She'd have to see if someone could fix that.
" Hn."
" At five then? That should give us both enough time to get our rounds done?"
" Hn." He nodded and exited the Committee's room to hunt down rule breakers and other assorted herbivores in need of biting. She let out a soft sigh. That boy drove her crazy. Did he really have no idea how normal people interacted? At least she knew how to blend in with the normal people despite her being raised by a yakuza organization for almost seven years.
" Mujona-Tsuna." The baby's voice came from the ventilation at the top of the room. She looked up and raised an eyebrow at the flash of orange, black, and green. The grate popped off and the baby jumped down without making a sound. Leon looked up at her from his customary place on the hitman's hat. She swore the lizard was smiling at her.
" Just Tsuna, Reborn. No need to call me heartless if you haven't seen how heartless I can be." She smiled down at him. He stared back. She dropped the grin and sighed. "What do you want, Reborn? I'm a bit busy at the moment."
" A boss is never too busy to talk a subordinate, Mujona-Tsuna."
" Well, it's a good thing you aren't my subordinate then, eh?"
The fedora tilted over the tutor's eyes and her intuition blared out a warning. "You know what I meant, Mujona-Tsuna."
" Ah, maybe, but seriously, what are you doing here, Reborn?"
" Be careful. I've gotten word from my sources that someone may be coming to take you out, Mujona-Tsuna."
She snorted. "Tell me something new, ...but I promise I'll be on the lookout for anyone suspicious."
" Good. Warn your swordsman as well."
She smiled at the baby. "He's always watching out for me."
" A good quality in a Guardian."
She shook her head slightly and leaned against the side of the filing cabinet. "Have you figured out what Flame he is? We know I'm a Sky, but what about him?"
" I'm thinking he's a Rain. He shows all the classic signs and his father was a well known one."
" Yamamoto Tsuyoshi still has quite the reputation among the yakuza. Half my men are terrified of him. The other half worship the ground he walks on. I think they spend most of their earnings at Takesushi just to catch a glimpse of the man holding a knife."
"… Your subordinates are strange, Mujona-Tsuna."
" Tell me about it."
The baby allowed her to finish her morning duties with only the slightest bit of interference. Really, being shot at wasn't the worst thing he could have done. Watching Kusakabe, who had come in after the hitman put away his gun in favor of trying to brain her with a mallet, twitch at every noise made her laugh. She finished her job with an ease that Reborn made a mental note of. He'd have to see if she could handle a bit of a different pressure at a later date. Now was the time to get his plan underway. Tsuna smiled beatifically at the hitman as he put away the mallet and headed off to class.
The teacher stood at the front and looked over her students sitting in their desks. "We have a new student joining us from Italy. I hope you all will be willing to help him as he adjusts to life here in Japan." She motioned to the hall and a teen entered.
Tsuna's instincts warned her about the danger the boy posed. He may not have looked like much with shoulder length silver hair, pale skin that definitely marked him as a foreigner, and bright eyes. Still something about him, the scowl most likely, set her off immediately. Her female classmate squealed over the boy's looks. Tsuna and her two female friends weren't among the lot. Hana and Kyoko had noticed the subtle movements from their friend and became wary of the new boy. Tsuna always was a good judge of character.
" This is Gokudera Hayato. Gokudera, you can sit in the empty seat."
The silveret glanced at the teacher before stalking forward. The teacher tried to gain his attention as he approached Tsuna's desk. Her stomach dropped. She glanced over at Yamamoto and bit back a curse. The swordsman had gone tense. He too noticed where the silveret was stalking toward. Tsuna waved her hand low and motioned for him to hold his ground. This silveret had to have been brought in by Reborn. Probably someone with deep mafia ties. She did not need to be starting a war with the mafia.
Gokudera stopped at her desk. She looked up at him. She wouldn't look away. The boy moved fast and with a deft motion had flung her desk over. She still didn't break eye contact. He snorted and sneer down at her as he walked on by to his desk. Their classmates watched the interaction with wide eyes. No one was quite sure what happened but more than a few were worried for the new guy. Tsuna didn't get the nickname 'heartless' for nothing.
Lunchtime arrived in no time and the class was still on edge from the actions of the silveret and the many potential reactions Tsuna could take for the offense. Yamamoto stuck close to his boss's side and stared the other teen down, daring him to come near the girl again. Gokudera smirked at him and returned his stare with a heated glare. Tsuna ignored the posturing of the males as she talked to her two female friends. Kyoko was obviously concerned with what had happened but could tell Tsuna was keeping her mouth shut about it. Obviously she knew why the Italian had issues with her. Hana on the other hand wasn't nearly as willing to let the topic go. The acerbic girl kept asking questions until Tsuna got tired of it and left the classroom. She'd get some silence in the Discipline Committee's room. She just had to avoid annoying Hibari-senpai.
" Sawada Tsunami." Well, there went that hope. She sighed and turned around to face Gokudera Hayato.
" Gokudera."
He looked her up and down from head to toe and sneered. "You aren't fit to be Vongola Decimo."
" Tell that to the Ninth and Reborn. I don't exactly have a choice in the matter." She smirked at him. "So what is a mafia man doing here? Did a certain pacifier wearing toddler ask you to come?"
The silveret tensed for a moment. "Che. I was told if I killed you, I'll be in line to become heir."
" I take it you want a fight then?" He nodded and went to pull out what she thought was a weapon. "Not here. We can fight after school in the woods just outside of Namimori. I may be a member of the Disciplinary Committee, but I am not risking pissing off Hibari-senpai. The man has no problem beating us half to death if we annoy him."
" Coward."
" Realist, I'm a realist. Now go. Shoo. You have the time and place of your challenge. Ask Reborn if you want to know more. He obviously planned this." She turned around to walk away and froze. "Oh, and don't stay anywhere with Yamamoto Takeshi alone. He'll probably try to gut you."
" Who?" The silveret was confused. This was not how he thought this meeting was going to go.
She grinned at him. It wasn't a nice one. "A swordsman sworn to myself. Reborn says he's a natural born hitman, so there is that. Just, try not to be left alone with him. He tends to be a bit overprotective and would take initiative to take you out before you can hurt me."
" He's your right hand then?" The Italian sneered. So that position was already taken. Impressive for someone as new to the mafia as the Vongola heir was rumored to be.
" I hate paperwork," Yamamoto spoke up from behind Gokudera. The silveret let out an unmanly yelp and spun around to face him. Swears poured out of his lips as he tried to figure out just how the smiling teen managed to sneak up on him. "I'm just a bodyguard. The position of her second is open, if you want it Gokudera."
" Like I said, bodyguard and natural hitman. Now you'd better get back to the classroom. I've got to warn Kusakabe-senpai that I'll be needing to leave early. And Yamamoto, don't hurt him. I want a fair fight. Give him directions to the training ground."
" Sure thing, Tsuna." He nodded with a wide smile on his face. Gokudera looked over at him and gulped at the steely glint forming in the other teen's eyes. That look promised something the Italian wasn't looking forward to.
" Don't scare him off either. Reborn brought him here for a reason," Tsuna commanded as she smiled at her bodyguard. Yamamoto stared at her for a moment in utter innocence. She shifted her weight, placed her had on her hip, and gave the boy a look she had learned from her mother. The swordsman winced before sighing and nodded his acquiescence. She beamed at him and ignored the blush that crossed both boys' faces. She waved them off back to the classroom and walked down the hall despite wanting to skip. Skipping down the halls was against the rules, after all.
" Kusakabe-senpai?" Tsuna called out as she opened the door to the Committee's claimed room. She looked around and frowned at the emptiness. Now where had he gone?
" Herbivore." And there explained why no one was in. Tsuna swore her heart stopped. She spun around and caught herself before she fell face first into the demon prefect himself, Hibari Kyouya.
" Hibari-senpai."
The prefect deigned not to answer and stared at the only girl in his Discipline Committee. She made a good secretary and didn't crowd. She also wasn't quite a herbivore. He had seen her show her fangs whenever the streetwalkers that looked to her for protection were hurt. The sight of the small teen taking down a handful of adult men looked amazing and had made his blood race just a bit. No, this girl was not a herbivore but wasn't quite at the level of a carnivore. Now this oddity of a person was standing before him nervous and shifting from foot to foot.
" My father's sins have come home to roost." She spat out her words. The girl was known for having a dislike, and that was the gentle term, of her father. Her eyes lit up in aggression. The prefect felt that familiar rush of blood that appeared whenever she revealed her fangs and claws.
" Explain."
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "The new boy, the Italian, he's been sent to test me for taking over the family business. I've also been sent someone who is like the man you refuse to acknowledge as blood."
His eyes widened. "A baby in a black suit?"
" You've seen him then. His name's Reborn and he's supposed to be teaching me what I need to know to take over the family back in Italy."
So the mafia was involved, the prefect thought to himself and felt a smirk come over his face. He watched as she shivered at the look. The possibility of new opponents, stronger opponents, made his heart beat faster.
" I'm answering Gokudera's challenge in the woods outside the city after school and need leave of my duties."
The prefect frowned before shrugging. She was taking the fight out of his city and there was the matter of the agreement between them. "Keep the fighting away from Namimori proper."
" Yes, sir." She bowed to the prefect and hurried out the room. Hibari's coldness always made her nervous. There was little she could do if the boy wanted to stop her from fighting or wanted to fight her himself. Those tonfa hurt.
" A boss shouldn't run away from an encounter like a dog with its tail between its legs," Reborn's voice came from nearby. She stopped and glanced upward. How did he get on her head without her noticing? That took some skill. To be expected of the world's greatest hitman, though.
" Hibari-senpai and I have an agreement. I keep my business from damaging Namimori and he doesn't bite my people to death. I consider it courtesy to treat him like a sleeping tiger protecting his territory."
Reborn hummed and jumped to the ground in front of her. "So you warned him about your fight?"
" I let him know I'm not going to be available for my duties this afternoon. Also a good idea to let him know that there may be people coming after me in the future."
" And he would be concerned about assassins going after you? I didn't realize you had two men wrapped around your fingers, Mujona-Tsuna."
Her face flushed and she brought up her hands as if to wave off an attack. "Oh no, no no no no no. Hibari-senpai and I are not like that. He's more concerned with any assassin that may be coming after me getting the citizens of Namimori involved or causing damage to his precious city or school."
The hitman simply smiled up at her. She had a feeling he wasn't buying her words. That or he was planning something that would be humiliating, like his stunt with the bullet during Mochida's fight. She was getting leers from her male classmates when they thought she wasn't looking. At least they were properly terrified of her, so she didn't need to worry about them approaching her with offers. Had anyone gotten any bright ideas, she would have demonstrated just what her girls had taught her, or let Takeshi have them. That would have been amusing.
" Look, I know you're planning something, Reborn, but I need to get back to class and make sure Yamamoto hasn't disregarded my request." She stepped around the baby-sized hitman and hurried down the hall. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. She froze mid step and turned to face him once again.
" What was that bit about someone like me, Mujona-Tsuna?"
She sucked in a soft breath. "I've met Fon."
" Oh?" Reborn definitely wanted more information.
" He's Hibari-senpai's uncle through his mother. As you can guess from your eavesdropping, Hibari-senpai doesn't recognize him as a relation. I met him when the Triads tried to push their business into Namimori and nearly took out a few of my businesses. The Hibari family weren't very happy with the Triads daring to enter their territory and Hibari-senpai's mother called in her brother." A tiny smile bloomed on her face at the memory of the infant sized martial artist. "That man is poetry in motion even as a baby."
" Is that so?"
The warning bell rang. She looked up and gave the hitman a nod before heading back toward the classroom. The hitman just watched her go, a thoughtful look on his face. Yes, Sawada Tsunami wasn't anything like he expected. That wasn't a bad thing. No, not a bad thing at all.
A breeze blew through the trees. It was a musical sound to Tsuna as she walked toward the place she had told Gokudera about. Beside her, quiet and smiling like he usually was, walked Takeshi. He had both eyes closed and his arms crossed behind his head. He knew exactly where they were going. There was a little clearing just off the beaten path that Tsuna and a few other members of the Akatora-Kai used for training. A few minutes after they stepped off the path that became obvious. Bark had been torn from trees in spots. Slashes marred the trunks of several trees. Those were from her knife lessons with Yasuhara. The young man, new to the Akatora, had a way with knives that was magic and had been charged with teaching her in case she needed to use a weapon besides her fists. She had two knives strapped to her legs and one at the small of her back at the moment.
" Took your time. What's he doing here?" Gokudera sneered at the duo as they entered the clearing. He was smoking a cigarette and messing with a lighter in one of his hands. The other rested in a pocket, more than likely ready to pull out a weapon.
" He's here to witness. You're lucky he was able to convince the others he was good enough." She frowned and looked around the clearing. Her eyes narrowed as she peered into the trees. A sigh escaped her mouth. "At least that's what I was told. Everyone, this is an official challenge! So stay the fuck out of my fight!"
" But boss…" The whine came from the handful of her men from their hiding spots. She rolled her eyes toward the heavens, asking whatever kami would listen for patience from her unruly subordinates.
" No buts. You're welcome to watch, but no one is to interfere. Yamamoto will be enforcing this."
The swordsman blinked and smiled at his boss. From years of being around the boy, she could tell he did not like this. He had wanted to stay close and was planning on sneaking up behind the Italian to take him out while she distracted him. Too bad his boss knew him so well.
Tsuna smiled as her men muttered and complained loudly. She knew they wouldn't interfere now that she'd ordered them not to. Her grin turned sharp as she noticed the unnerved look on her opponent's face, but he at least had the wherewithal to not look around like an idiot in the hopes of spotting her men. His hands remained steady even as she noticed a slight sheen of sweat form on his forehead.
Gokudera was having a mild panic attack. He had not noticed anyone surrounding him, but sure enough, he had become surrounded by people who called the willowy girl in front of him boss. They weren't Vongola. Reborn would have warned him if anyone had come to assist the Decimo candidate. The hitman respected his mentor, the perverted doctor, enough not to send him into an ambush. So these people had to be already loyal to the girl. The fact that the dark haired boy, Yama-something, didn't look happy with the order to stay out of the fight just made the Italian more nervous. There was something about the smiling Japanese boy that just made Gokudera want to back away slowly and look for escape routes. Of course, if these men were here, if they had been here since he'd arrived, it also meant that the explosives he'd planted around the area were most likely defused. Damn.
" So, are we going to do this or not, Gokudera Hayato?"
" Yeah. We are." He moved. Yamamoto jumped back as Tsuna surged forward and dodged out of the way of something that had been thrown. The following explosion made her stomach drop. She glanced back and winced at the charred earth where she had just been standing. Looking back, she cursed as she recognized what was in the silveret's hands. Explosives. He was a damn explosives expert.
" Fuck." She managed to dance out of the way of another explosive. This wouldn't do.
" You're not fit to become the Juudaime." He threw two explosives this time.
She shrugged and leapt to the side. Her body fell into a roll. She popped up and was forced to keep moving. More explosives followed in her wake. Jumping behind a tree, she took a moment to plan. The Italian was saying something but words were not important at the time. He was keeping her too busy to think. She leapt out of her hiding spot as she heard the hissing of a bevy of explosives. The tree exploded. Wooden shrapnel filled the air. Absently she listened to the words her men were calling out. They were simultaneously impressed and disdaining the Italian's fighting style.
She looked over at the silveret. That's when the light went on in her head. He was trying to keep her away. Every time she got close he backed up and tried to keep her at a distance. A good tactic for a long-to-mid range fighter, but one that blared out to her senses. A shark like grin crossed her face and he began to sweat. That look promised nothing but pain. Still, she hadn't even had a chance to get close enough to hit him.
She now had a basic idea of his fighting style. Time to move in and see how his close-quarter skills was. Feet flew over the ground as she got close to him. Then came the plethora of bombs. She cursed and jumped back. How the hell was he lighting those damn things so quickly? Her hands blurred as she snuffed out the few sticks that had landed next to her. The fire burned, of course, but she was used to worse.
" Pathetic," the Italian teen sneered at her. She bared her teeth as another explosion rocked the wooded area. He smirked at her and brought out an armload of dynamite. "I can't believe that the Ninth is really planning on handing over the Vongola to you. Best to take care of you now rather than let some other assassin do it later. Triple bomb."
Later, Tsuna would wonder just what had happened, and Hayato would refuse to tell her, his face flushing as he stuttered out denials and nonsensical words as he tried to escape the questions on just what the hell happened to make him drop that many sticks of dynamite.
Takeshi would swear to his dying day it was a combination of the fact the silveret realized he could see down Tsuna's shirt and that his boss had chosen to wear another of Rumiko's gifts, a rather risque lacy piece masquerading as a bra.
Tsuna stared at the lit dynamite as Gokudera tried to scramble away. "Oh, fuck." There would be no avoiding that blast. She and her opponent were going to die.
Click.
She turned her head and met the end of Reborn's gun. He smiled at her. "Act as if your life depends on it."
Bang! "Reborn! Put out the fuses with my Dying Will!"
Everything went fuzzy for a bit. Her memories after getting shot in the head were always like that it seemed. She came back to herself and looked down at the unlit dynamite. Surrounded by the dynamite, knelt Gokudera Hayato. The boy stared up at her with wide eyes before he bowed low, his forehead nearly touching the ground.
" I apologize." He bowed again. "You are worthy of being the Juudaime."
Tsuna sighed and knelt before the silveret. She tilted his head up and smile at him. "I forgive you, Gokudera Hayato."
" Um, Tsuna?" Takeshi called. His voice sounded unusually strained. She turned to look at her bodyguard and got a jacket thrown in her face. "You may want to put that on before he passes out from all the blood rushing to his face."
She blinked before her eyes widened. She looked down and cursed. Her clothing, the bullet. She was going to kill Reborn. Some way, some how, she was going to get even with the demonic toddler if it was the last thing she did. She turned back to the silveret and frowned as he toppled over to the side with the brightest flush she had even seen on his face.
" Someone, gather him up please." She sighed and stood up. The jacket was wrapped around her body and hid her undergarments. "Take him back to the office. And can someone find me some clothing, please?"
15
