I love everyone who has reviewed, I do, but please, enough about the Eighth Vongola, I have admitted my mistake and lack of knowledge on that front, however, since it is such a large part of the story I am using THIS (artistic Licence) in order to keep things going. Thank you to all those lovely people who patiently and /kindly/ corrected my lack of information, also to that wonderful individual who reminded me that Gokudera and Bianchi have a different last names due to issues he has with his own father and also pointed out the original translation error of Nono vs Noveno – the real Italian for Ninth – and the fact that nonno in Japanese can be translated as Grandpa, usually in Katakana, making the error very likely.
Also, for those perturbed by Tsuna's behaviour, we've only seen the business face thus far, we'll be seeing a lot more of the real Tsuna in this chapter.
CHAPTER THREE
Shuddering a little, the brunette released the child, swiftly backing away and sitting heavily on her bed as she realised just what she'd done, burying her face in her hands. Shame and guilt warring with anger and bitter betrayal inside of her, a battle of the heavy cold and the heady burning.
Her mother told her the last time her father left that he had become a star, a euphemism for dying and going to heaven but she was hardly stupid. Has he really died, her mother would have been distraught rather than look so starry eyed, that look she got when her husband was doing something she thought was 'cool', his belongings were still in the house, he didn't even have a Wake or a ceremony, he was obviously still alive and Tsunayuki didn't believe for a single moment that he was a Traffic co-ordinator at construction sites. That sort of job did not take you overseas. The joking speculation she once had with Kyoko-chan – the only person in the world she could speak of about her father and not end up so furious she would burst into tears – about what his real job had ranged from being a high-class Okama or a high-up member of a Criminal Syndicate and everything in between.
Listening to the Strange Infant who was clearly a whole lot more than anything Tsunayuki had ever encountered set alarm bells ringing in her head, in the beginning she thought it was some child-prodigy getting his jollies off duping her mother and lording his superior brain power over her but then he showed up, quieter than a fucking cat, picking the lock on her bedroom door and revealing that he was packing a freaking Heckler and Koch PSG-1 long range semi-automatic sniper rifle. A real one, not a toy and those were not only illegal when assembled but accessible only by those who worked in the Namimori Prefecture Police Special Assault Team, she had only seen one of those before – Hibari-senpai's uncle worked the Gun cage at the Police Station.
Then he started talking about the Mafia, how she was the last blood connection – meaning that one of her parents had ties to the Mafia. And suddenly that joking speculation about her father being high up in the food chain of some Crime Family wasn't so funny or ridiculous as it had seemed at the time. Hearing that someone had decided, without even speaking to her or knowing her, to turn her into someone's Little Woman made things worse then to find out that her father had actually been giving these people information – no doubt the incorrect information that led to her being chosen as said Little Woman just...
Everything went hot and her ears started ringing, she couldn't remember the fight, just that the child had attempted to shoot her with that Sniper Rifle, the one he shouldn't even be able to lift given its weight and length.
She shuddered as the shame and guilt eventually won out, making all the hairs on her arms stand on end as her eyes started to prickle, Christ, she'd just gone off on a kid who didn't even know any better, she could have broken his bones! Maybe even killed him! She remembered that in Health Class that if you shook a baby too hard it would kill them through brain damage – did kicking them into a wall like a deflated football do less damage then?
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... to hurt you," she managed to get out, peering from between her fingers to assess whether the child was alright. He was, unnaturally so, but then again, so was his fighting ability. Now that she wasn't consumed with the need to reinforce her desire for silence in regards to her father, she frowned slightly, rethinking herself from earlier, the Sniper Rifle weighed just over 8 kilograms, it was quite unwieldy for even most adults given the length of just under forty-eight inches, hell, she wouldn't have been able to handle that. It hit her then, this child was unnatural. Not just a genius but physically unnatural, stronger, faster, infinitely more capable. The only reason she had even been able to land a hit on him during their exchange earlier was because she had taken him by surprise and he was attempting to manoeuvre the gun, defend himself and not harm her in the process, he allowed her to pin him!
A cold chill ran up her arms as she realised that for the first time in her life, she had come up against someone that she was hopelessly outmatched against and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
"You didn't," the Strange Child told her simply, dusting himself off and straightening his little suit, "It would take a lot more than a temper tantrum, or you in actual fact, to harm me," he told her dismissively, as if he didn't notice her revelation and the consequential shiver that wracked her body.
"So, He really is in the Mafia," she murmured, eyeing the child as he nodded.
"Yes, head of CEDEF, standing for Consulenza Esterna Della Famiglia the External Advisers of the Family. They don't have much power in times of peace but when things get interesting the Head of CEDEF becomes the second in command in the Famiglia. They also have equal say in who becomes the next Heir and inherits the right to become the next head of the Famiglia," the Strange Child explained as he hopped up onto her table and sat himself down in front of her, gun forgotten on the floor. "Based on the information they provided, it was decided that you would become the wife of the Vongola Decimo as a blood connection was essential to maintain the hierarchy. However, your Tutor decided to observe you a while and came to the conclusion that you were more capable to succeed as the Decimo than the man you had been intended to marry. Hence my presence, I am to decide whether or not you are worthy of the Title and train you to fulfil it if you are."
She took a deep breath, still half hoping that this was just a bad joke, "Can you prove this whole Mafia business?" she asked, lowering her hands and sitting up straighter.
"Yes," Reborn assured her bluntly, thoroughly dashing her hopes of just turning him out of the house and telling him to play his head-games elsewhere.
"What are my options then?" she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"As I listed before, you have only two, possibly three if you felt so inclined. The most favourable to you is to become the tenth head of the Vongola, it will be hard work, I do not abide slackers and once your name and role become public you will have more than a few people with grudges against the family targeting you as a scapegoat for their anger and hurt. However, it does afford you the protection of the Vongola and their allied families as well as securing your future indefinitely. Your other option is to submit to the training that was planned for you to begin with, becoming the wife of the Vongola Decimo." The Strange Child shifted slightly, pulling on the rim of his hat, "I shall not lie, the man that was intended for you to marry is... not pleasant. He is ruthless, violent and the exact opposite of what the Vongola stood for when it was founded over four-hundred years ago, however, he is strong and that has earned him support amidst the Famiglia. Were you to go down this route, you would spend the majority of your time protecting yourself from him and then turning around and pretending you were happy with the situation. Your last option, again, if you feel so inclined, would be suicide. It would do little to help you and while it would spite the Vongola, your loss would not be crippling. The ill will of the head of CEDEF may be more damaging though."
Lead, Marry or Die.
Such fantastic options.
"I cannot just refuse to have anything to do with the Vongola?" she asked weakly, frowning slightly and sighing as the Strange Child shook his head.
"Before now your family has been able to escape notice due to the fact you were unknown to the main branch. Your line is descended directly from the Vongola Primo, in essence, it is 'pure'. Now that it has been discovered... you are Vongola whether you want to be or not," he explained coolly.
This was too much, she needed to... she couldn't handle this.
"I'm just going to... I need to think about this," she managed to get out before getting to her feet and leaving the room, her pace quickening as she made her way down the stairs and to the porch, ignoring her mother's chirping inquiry about what she had been talking about with Reborn-chan upstairs as she slipped on her trainers and left the house. She had to get away.
The girl ran down the street, pushing herself as hard as she could go, flinching only slightly when the dog that gave her so much trouble barked at her passing, kicking up a fuss now that she was long out of reach and sight. It was foolish, a hold-over from her days as No-Good-Tsuna three years ago, the desire and habit of just running when things became overwhelming, having to leave when she couldn't handle things any longer. When she didn't want to handle things anymore. When she joined the Disciplinary Committee they noticed how she was the best runner out of all of them, some of the older members – now left, moving onto Higher Education – had taught her what they knew of Parkour. When she combined that with the Gymnastics and Dance that the girls did, she became quite adept at it, to the point where she often felt more comfortable with the wind in her face or with her feet no longer glued to the ground.
Her worries fell away as she revelled in the feeling of her body powering her through the streets, vaulting over railings and down flights of stairs, eventually she came to a stop, panting, her cheeks flushed and her hair escaping its neat ponytail as she leaned against the fencing surrounding the play park. She sat heavily on one of the benches, watching the children playing with envy as little boys dug around in the sandbox, showing off their trucks and robots, making cities that were then destroyed in epic Mecha show-downs, just like in the animes. Girls doing handstands and jumping off swings, shrieking when their dresses flew up and gave passers-by eyefuls that they didn't want of prepubescent children.
She didn't know why, but... her mind cast back to the days when it would be her and Him in the sandpit, he would have one of the mecha and a samurai figurine, she would have a barbie and there would be grand adventures as the Samurai tried to rescue the cute barbie Princess from the evil mecha robot. Back when things were simple and sweet, back before she knew enough to be angry, back before she began to notice how the other kids had both their parents all the time and not just occasionally. Back when his visits were fun because she didn't feel abandoned when he left again, feeding her one stupid lie after another until the happiness tasted like ash in her mouth and her eyes burned hearing more untruthes from his mouth.
And now, she had basically been sold to his criminal family, on his recommendation!
"Sawada-hime?"
She looked up sharply, Tetsuya-kun frowning at her with little Yume-chan perched in his arms, chubby little hands latched onto the collar of his shirt and blinking down at her with large blue-grey eyes, her thick shiny black hair pulled back into a neat little french-plait with a pink ribbon. Tsunayuki quickly swallowed back the tears of frustration, hopelessness and betrayal back, Yume looked up to her as her Oneechan, the one who wasn't scared of her Oniichan, the brave unbreakable one. She couldn't see her upset, it would scare her.
"Tetsuya-kun, Yume-chan, hello, I didn't expect to see you today," she admitted sheepishly, getting to her feet quickly as Yume smiled brightly at her, displaying her wobbly front teeth as she lifted her pudgy arms, begging to be picked up. It boggled the mind to think that such a doll was the little sister of perpetual thunder-cloud Hibari Kyouya but that was the thing, Hibari's seeming one man war against thugs and bullies Tsuna could only assume was out of a desire to ensure that his little sister would never be bullied because there were none left, and no one would risk getting bitten to death (That was just idle speculation on her part, she doubted it was in any way the case and even laughed at her own naivety for just thinking it). There was also the fact that he liked fighting entirely too much and the morals his police officer Uncle drummed into him wouldn't allow him to go for 'innocents' so instead he targeted the rule breakers and wrong doers – like batman Yume had once chirped excitedly when Tsuna explained why her Niichan often came back with blood on his clothes. She still got the feeling that Hibari must have been sleeping when the lessons about 'Police Brutality' were brought up.
She smiled and gathered the little girl up, "And how have you been?" she asked, ignoring the concerned look that was still etched on Tetsuya's face as she rubbed noses with the little girl.
She listened with half an ear as the girl told her of school and Yuuta-chan being naughty while she began to walk along with Tetsuya-kun to Hibari-senpai's home, she didn't often walk Yume-chan back, only when Tetsuya was unable to as Hibari was uneasy about having the little girl publicly associated with him, just in case some idiot got it into their heads to use her against him. Which Tsuna thought was rather a bit petty, yes he beat them and put them in hospital but they healed, nothing permanent was done to them, if anything, she was more concerned about what revenge someone may concoct on her. She gave warnings, true, five maximum along with detentions but when things were truly severe, she would unload on a punishment that made her entirely too many enemies. Such as the incident in the girl's bathroom with taking their underwear and leaving them with clothes she'd dumped in the toilets, those girls were well known for taking boys into quiet places, forcing them to strip, drawing all over their bodies, taking pictures and then blackmailing them. One had even attempted to get a teacher charged as a Paedophile when he refused to doctor her grades in exchange for sexual favours, Tsuna quite liked that teacher, he was reasonable and didn't get angry with her when she asked for help with her homework because she was so busy with the DC that she missed out on the relevant class material.
She tried to be fair but some people just wouldn't take the hint, so she had to play hardball and get nasty.
"Oniichan!" Yume shrilled, bringing Tsuna out of her thoughts rather painfully as she flinched, cringing over the piercing shriek right next to her ear. It amazed her that she still had functioning ears after spending so much time with the little girl and at the Sasagawa house with Ryohei-kun training in the back-garden.
They were practically in the back-garden of the Hibari residence, the little girl squirming for freedom when she spotted her beloved older brother sat on the porch idly sitting in the garden with one of his text books out and finishing some last minute homework. Letting the little girl down, Tsuna smiled slightly as she immediately rushed over to her brother who didn't so much as blink as her tiny weight slammed into his side and rapidly attempted to shimmy itself into his lap, he just lifted the papers he had been writing on and used her back as a make-shift desk much to her noisy amusement as his pen tickled her through the paper.
"Kusakabe, Sawada," he greeted, pausing only briefly to ruffle the little girl's hair, making several strands stick up like a rather mutant mohawk.
"Kyo-san," Tetsuya greeted, sitting himself opposite his 'boss'. "Your parents are away again?" he asked, noting how the boy was working outside and his parents' car was no where to be seen, the garage door closed and locked.
He hummed in confirmation before frowning slightly and looking up at Tsuna, a scowl slowly beginning to darken his face as his eyes roamed over her, "What happened, Omnivore?" he demanded, carefully setting aside his papers so he couldn't crush them with the force of his grip.
Brown eyes widened, "Wha-what do you mean, Senpai?" she asked, inwardly she was telling herself that she really should have expected him to notice that something was off about her right now, even Tetsuya-kun had noticed, the only one who had yet to realise that she was a little out of it was Yume-chan and she was only six. Grey-blue eyes narrowed even further as he gently righted his younger sister and set her on her feet.
"Yume, go and take your shoes off and make a start on your homework," the sixteen year old ordered, the little girl pouted but knew better than to argue.
"Alright, is Neechan staying for dinner?" she asked, looking over at Tsuna who shook her head.
"Yes," Hibari over-ruled and the little girl squealed in delight, racing into the traditional Japanese style house, ignoring the spluttered objections of the brunette in her wake. In the silence that followed after the little girl had left, the short haired male turned to his – and he would never, ever say this out loud – friend and folded his arms, scowling expectantly and waiting for her to explain. She may have changed from her old ways, unsheathed hidden fangs and claws, but she was still part Herbivore, all he had to do was wait and she would spill her guts, with or without getting Bitten to provide encouragement.
Tsuna was beginning to feel boxed in again, Tetsuya had moved, taking a position beside the gate to prevent her from leaving and it wasn't like she was physically capable of defeating Hibari-senpai, she could give him a good fight, they would both limp away from it bruised and bloody but it would be his victory without question. Save that one time she got him in a place that no man likes to be kicked with steel-toe capped boots.
"Please, Tsunayuki, we are here for you," Tetsuya told her gently. Perhaps it was the realisation that yes, they were there for her, in their own ways, all the boys in the Disciplinary Committee would stand beside her regardless of what the future held, or maybe it was the fact that he actually called her by her name, without honorifics, no teasing, no joking, for the first time in their lives. He was being serious.
She bit her lip and sighed, sitting down and picking at the grass and wandering how to explain this, "..." she opened her mouth to speak only to close it, licking her lips as the words stuck in her throat, the two boys, her bestfriends, waiting silently for her to gather herself and tell them what was wrong. Kami-sama, she wished Kyoko-chan were here.
"My father is a criminal," she finally burst out, "He's – he gave me to his Crime Family! They decided that, from what he told them, I wasn't, that I had to marry some complete stranger who's supposed to be some angry abusive bastard only now that someone's actually come here and met me they say that I've either gotta marry this bastard, commit suicide or actually lead them myself!" she summed up, now practically hysterical as it all sank in regardless of her attempt to run away from the truth earlier. She could feel the thick knot of raw emotions rising up her throat, something red and thick and alive that threatened to choke her as her eyes burned and her nose clogged, forcing her to sniffle to breathe as she clamped a hand over her mouth – she felt like she was going to throw up, scream, burst into tears, maybe all of the above.
"Lead, marry or die," Hibari summed up flatly, looking neither surprised nor angry at her outburst, he looked completely unaffected and that more than anything helped her to calm down, Tetsuya was frowning only a little as he contemplated her words but in the grand scheme of things, neither of them had started freaking out. Their lack of reaction brought her back down with a bit of a bump, feeling embarrassment beginning to crawl through her body as the hysterical emotions of before dropped back down into her stomach and relaxed, no longer feeling so tight and painful.
Tetsuya nodded, "You'll just have to lead them then, won't you?" he suggested, making the girl look over at him and her Senpai nod in agreement.
"To mate with a Herbivore would be a waste of your potential, even more so than ending your life due to the whims of one," the black haired male told her coolly, picking up his books, the matter apparently closed in his opinion, leaving Tsunayuki to begin hyperventilating again as it wasn't closed, not in the slightest!
"I don't want to lead them! They're criminals!" she exclaimed in a mix of revulsion and horror.
At this, Tetsuya started to laugh and Hibari smirked, "Yuki-san, the Disciplinary Committee would be considered a criminal organisation by the rest of the world if they knew half of what we got up to," the regent-hair styled teenager pointed out, chuckling under his breath at the confused and somewhat indignant look on the younger girl's face, "You're a good girl, we made a collective decision to keep you out of that darker side, that's the part that I manage. You handle the light, make us look good to the Law Abiders, the teachers, keep everything organised and maintain everything as well as keep the girls that we, as men, can't punish."
"Omnivore, you will lead that pack of Herbivores," Hibari told her, narrowing his eyes as he looked up from his homework, "Or I shall bite you to death for not keeping them in line," he promised darkly.
Tsuna flinched back out of habit for a split second before his words actually sank in, 'keep them in line', if she did take control of this criminal family, she would be calling the shots, she would be able to prevent them from dabbling in things like drugs or human trafficking, if that was what they dealt in. She could drive out all other cruel criminal groups from her area, make sure it was safe for regular people, no one would have to worry about getting mugged or being bullied, it would be like the Disciplinary Committee but on an almost city wide scale, probably bigger!
"If you ever need any help, just ask, Hime," Tetsuya told her, smiling broadly when he noticed the tense wild edge to the young girl beginning to relax as she began to think, instead of how to get away from her problem, how to make the best of it.
Brown eyes looked up and she smiled, climbing to her feet, "Thanks Tetsuya-kun," she told him, making her way towards the gate.
"You're staying for dinner," Hibari reminded her without looking up from his books as he wrote.
"I wouldn't want to crowd you Senpai," she told him.
"Yume will cry and disturb the peace," he grumbled surlily, glowering up at her, "You – are – staying – for dinner," he repeated slowly and with great force as Tetsuya chuckled under his breath, Tsuna holding her hands, palm up in the universal gesture of surrender. Some things never changed, Hibari's desire for space and silence were sadly always ignored by his younger sister, in moments like that he would take silence over space and allow her whatever she wanted, as long as it kept her quiet.
000
On a rooftop opposite the Hibari residence, Reborn hummed, leaning against Bianchi's knee.
"What are your thoughts on Hibari Kyoya?" he asked curiously.
The rosette haired woman smiled, "Almost the reincarnation of Alaude from the First Generation if the Primo's journals are accurate, he would make a fine Cloud Guardian, he already has the beginnings of his own CEDEF in the Disciplinary Committee."
The Sun Arcobaleno hummed, true, he did like Hibari as Tsunayuki's Cloud Guardian, but the relationship between the two teenagers was very complicated, also, he had seen a side of Tsunayuki that was more reminiscent of Iemitsu's accounting than what he had seen before now. The way she was practically on the verge of a break down when explaining what she had been told, and he was going to have to have a talk to her about 'Need to Know' when next they spoke, a break down that calmed and then nearly became hysterical before calming again. Her temperment was most mercurial when she stopped displaying that serious side of herself that Reborn had come to associate with Iemitsu when he was serious and stopped goofing off.
"What do you think of her, love?" Bianchi asked, her strawberry and cherry blossom scented hair falling around him as she shifted forward to lean over him.
"She has a great deal of potential, she will be fun to train," he admitted honestly, "But first, a few tests, to see how she takes to the Vongola methods."
The rosette haired woman hummed, her nose wrinkling, "Remember love, girls don't like to be stripped, it would probably be for the best if you didn't use any of the Dying Will Bullets in a public place," she advised.
"I'll bare that in mind, but no promises."
000
I hope you guys liked this chapter, I tried to show you the other side of Tsuna, the one that she only let's very select people see of her, the one hiding behind the shield that the Disciplinary Committee provides. If people were wondering about how she was even able to land a hit on Reborn in the last chapter, this explains it, he let her, all the while juggling a sniper rifle that probably weighed more than he did.
Introducing Yume, the reason why Hibari likes cute things and has a soft-spot for I-pin. Small children and animals, if he weren't such a badass I'm fairly sure people would call him a tree hugging pussy. XDDD
Ah yes, someone has very kindly donated some fanart for this, please check my DeviantART favourites for it, I'll also be posting some pictures but for now they are waiting in my sketch book because its midnight and I have an early start tomorrow. Ergo, I shall be posting this immediately and then heading to bed.