Dioscuri

An LLS Production

2: Giornata

Iemitsu found himself greeted by his wife and a knife, and then Reborn with guns akimbo. Dinner was barely eaten in the middle of surviving, and then now, in the early morning, he'd barged into the twins' shared room only to find them missing.

Snot-bubble popping, Reborn yawned at him from a sitting position. "They'll need some time to get over the ignorance you've put them in, idiota. Don't bother them."

Iemitsu had gone downstairs to the sight of his wife frying sausages, and promptly burst into tears.

"Darling, my little tuna-fishes are avoiding me!"

Nana patted his shoulder consolingly. "Don't worry, dear. I'm sure Tsu-kun and Na-kun miss you in their hearts. They just... don't know how to reach out to you."

"You think so?"

"Yes," Nana smiled. "Besides, today is Tuesday, so they're surely at school for their club."

"Their club?" Iemitsu echoed blankly. "Ah, right, Na- Ietsuna is in the Art Club. So... only Tsuna is avoiding me?!"

"Actually, Na-kun and Tsu-kun joined the Disciplinary Committee," Nana intervened before her husband could burst into tears once more. "Their chairman came to our house to explain matters. It seems like they need our sons for a... design overhaul? I wasn't actually sure about the details..."

From a certain point of view, everything she said was true.

"Mafia babies," Ietsuna was still muttering to himself. "Why babies? It sounds like a bad set-up for a magical girl animé."

"Is that so?" Tsuna scribbled down a few figures and squinted, yawning. "Ah, Hibari-san's going to push all the balance into the Disciplinary Committee. I'm going in later."

"Leave them," Ietsuna waved. "It's not worth your intervention. Were you disturbed last night?"

"There was a series of explosions," Tsuna agreed. "Do you think it's Nakamura-san from down the road?"

"...probably," Ietsuna nodded. "...Are you intending to go home later?"

"I... I don't feel like facing Dad right now," Tsuna confessed.

"I just know that if I face him, I'll probably punch him in the face," Ietsuna admitted, turning his head. "So... Hibari-buchou, we need a place to stay for the night~"

Having only just swept into the Reception Room in a swirl of black sleeves, Hibari snorted. "The little animal can stay here to continue his work. You may find your own place."

"Eh? That's unfair!"

"There is nothing fair about you joining the Disciplinary Committee," Hibari snapped back. "It must be fate that I have found you here. I'll bite you to death."

"Please don't do it here," Tsuna intervened with a steaming handle-less kintsugi cup, which Hibari hid his tonfas to accept quickly. "Welcome back, Hibari-san. I hope that the... hunt went well today."

"Mmm..." Hibari paused. "Not the usual black tea."

"Today is summer, so..." Tsuna fidgeted. "I thought hot mugi-cha* might be more cooling, because Hibari-san does a lot of physical work..."

"...continue with your attentiveness, little animal," Hibari swept towards his desk with only a stray swipe towards Ietsuna.

"Why don't I get barley tea?" Ietsuna complained. "Tsuna, you dote on Hibari-san too much!"

"Sorry, Ie, but I know who's the bigger predator here."

"Hn," came the answering reply from the desk. "You're on patrol rotation until classes start, Sawada Ietsuna."

"Right," Ietsuna stood up. "Let's go, Tsuna."

"The little animal will be helping me with this herbivorous organisation," Hibari stated flatly.

Ietsuna reached down. "I'm going to-"

"Violence is prohibited, Ie," Tsuna pouted. "If the two of you fight here and destroy my work... I'll... I'll..."

Hibari smirked at the bristling little animal who was trying to grow up.

"... I'll feed the both of you tea dust for a month!"

The smirk disappeared. "What did you say, little animal?"

"H- Hiiee..." Tsuna swallowed. "I'll... I'll... tea dust... I..."

"That's... not very effective," Ietsuna pitiably told his twin.

"...Hn," Hibari turned away. "Get lost, Sawada Ietsuna. Little animal, I need the reports for the last two weeks. And, a refill of the barley tea."

"And I'll be off," Ietsuna scoffed. "Tsuna, don't get too cosy with that big-teethed carnivore, Mum wants grandchildren!"

"D- Don't imply that of Hibari-san!" Tsuna yelled as the twin ran off. "Sorry, Hibari-san, Ie likes to make these sorts of jokes..."

"It is understandable," Hibari acknowledged. "Older brothers must look out for the younger ones."

"...Hibari-san, we're twins..."

"So..." The black-haired prefect drawled.

"No, Hibari-san, I will not poison Ie," Tsuna smiled as the plastic tray he had been holding blocked a tonfa. "He's an able partner for sparring, or so you decided that day, right?"

Hibari drew the tonfa back. "If that tray breaks, Kusakabe will be sad."

"It's your fault, Hibari-san!" Both halves collided with the floor. "Hiiee! What do I tell Kusakabe-san?!"

"That I'm bored, and the tray is a casualty," Hibari drawled. "Entertain me, little animal."

"I'm not a performing animal!" Tsuna dodged the tonfa to the ribs and skidded back, loosening his tie. "Are you hunting me now that Ie isn't here?! Being headstrong has a limit too, Hibari-san!"

"Hn."

A green slipper flew in from the open window and smacked the chairman, sending black locks flying. Hibari's back straightened, thunderous as he made for the open window and leapt down towards the amber-eyed prefect. "I'll bite you to death."

One leg lifted to block the oncoming tonfa in a side kick turned hook kick, and rubber soles dug into the sandy as Ietsuna grinned. "As you wish, Hibari-buchou~"

"Ah..." Tsuna closed his mouth, sat back down, and kept scribbling until the bell rang. He then packed up and walked to class, most students giving him a wide berth at the sight of the Disciplinary band on his left arm. The bullies had especially given a wide berth the first time Kusakabe's personal squad turned up.

"It seems like you've settled quite nicely here."

"Reborn-san?" Tsuna cocked his head towards the baby disguised as a hydrangea. "What are you doing?"

"As your tutor, it is my duty to observe your school life," Reborn admitted.

"Well... try not to disturb the peace," Tsuna paused. "Have you spoken with Dad?"

"Your idiot father was supposed to explain it to the two of you, but it looks like you'll be out to avoid him," Reborn observed. "This fate cannot be avoided."

"...I see," Tsuna pensively reflected. "If you'll excuse me, Reborn-san, I'm late for class."

"You crossdressed for promoting the Disciplinary Committee before, yes?" Reborn teased, or tried to.

"Well, if it can give everyone a bit of joy, I don't mind," Tsuna pondered. "Men are all unreliable, after all."

As Tsuna left, Reborn hefted Leon, who had turned into a green and black sniper rifle. Iemitsu had a lot to be responsible for Tsuna's attitude towards the male gender on a whole, but that could be solved well enough. Now was the other twin's surprisingly competent fight against Hibari, who was tremendously skilled for a civilian.

Ietsuna's head snapped back and he scowled, spitting out a bullet. "What the-?"

The bullet fell to the ground as Hibari launched an assault that prompted a boxing straight and scissor kick to defend against. Reborn, though, frowned as the Dying Will Bullet failed to take effect, loading another bullet to shoot.

Ietsuna struggled with a handstand and flipped away from Hibari, shaking his head as he spat out another bullet. "Is this a bullet?"

In response, Reborn shot him again.

"Oi!" Amber eyes turned in his direction as Ietsuna grimaced. "What are you doing?"

Reborn stared at the frozen bullets in his palm. Ietsuna looked down to the palm, and then at Reborn. Honest confusion was writ large on his face. Ietsuna barely noted the bell going off until Hibari's tonfa descended onto his skull with a kiss of steel.

"Ow!"

"After lunch, the roof," Hibari challenged. "I'll bite you all the way to death."

"If I'm dead, I'll haunt you! There's no way I'll let you near Tsuna!" Ietsuna shot back, running off with the bullets, and leaving Reborn to ponder that one of the Sawada twins was immune to Vongola's Dying Will Bullet.

The evidence... Reborn would have to get the bullets back, though. Well, the candidature was clear; that is, if the other twin was able to use the Dying Will...

The red pellets bounced in his palm, half-frozen like dry ice as Ietsuna slumped on the roof. "Bullets...?"

"Bullets?" Tsuna paused, handing Ietsuna one of the three bento boxes next to him. "This is Japan, right...?"

"It's special," Ietsuna barely turned his head to watch Reborn. "That's the Vongola Family's special Dying Will Bullet. Usually, a person who is shot with this bullet will resurrect with the Dying Will after dying. Your Dying Will is based on what you're regretting as you die. I say usually, idiot-Ie, but you showed nothing after being shot three times with the bullet."

"It's your fault!" Ietsuna pouted. "What does Dying Will even mean anyway?"

"Dying Will is a state wherein all safety switches are off," Reborn explained. "So in exchange for risking your life by breaking your limits, you can harness amazing strength."

"But it doesn't work on me?" Ietsuna echoed. "What does that mean?"

Reborn remained silent.

"I see," Ietsuna looked satisfied, amber eyes glittering as he turned back to lunch. "Until you resolve this problem, you can't risk our lives with that bullet. Means that you can't shoot Tsuna."

"I'm an assassin," Reborn stated as Leon transformed into a gun. "We might share a relationship as teacher and students, but we also share the relations of hitman and targets. The sooner you realise that your lives can be snuffed out by me, the sooner you can accept your fates and let me find the next candidate."

Ietsuna smiled, and somehow he ended up in front of Reborn, hand laid directly over the yellow pacifier. The baby hitman eyed him, beady eyes flicking down to the pacifier before glaring at Ietsuna.

The Sawada twin flipped back to his bento, smiling. "We'll keep that in mind... Reborn."

Pacifier dangling with a cold weight, the assassin eyed Ietsuna and Leon shuddered. The smiling amber eyes were colder than winter, it seemed, especially as it proved that one of the twins had no compunctions and a definite ability to instantly terminate anything using Flames. A walking plague of cold...

...which was accepting another kaarage from Tsuna, smiling a genuine smile.

"Ietsuna can't use the Dying Will Flame," Reborn started without even a greeting. Namimori's sun was hanging low in the sky, and it was a sweltering late afternoon tempered only by cool summer breezes that wafted through the town from the oncoming monsoon rains. The yellow pacifier was held by Leon, the chameleon shivering from its proximity to the cooled pacifier.

"...that can't be right," Iemitsu frowned. "Nono and I were about to seal Tsuna's Flames, but Ietsuna barged in on us with a spare gun... and then he used black Flames that sent us to Italy."

"Black Flames?" Reborn echoed. "What colour of Dying Will is that? How did a toddler get a gun? Iemitsu-"

"Yes, that is the question," Iemitsu admitted. "I got the lecture on firearms safety from Nono already."

"Did you know that your son can freeze Dying Will Flames?" Reborn abandoned the subject of firearms safety with a frown on his baby features, sideburns made even more prominent.

"He is?" The blond External Advisor started.

"The Dying Will Bullets froze on contact," Reborn confirmed. "Rather than say that he is immune... I would say that Ietsuna neutralises all Dying Will Flames near him with Vongola Primo's Zero Point Breakthrough."

"How do you know?" Iemitsu demanded.

In answer, Reborn produced the three bullets stolen from Ietsuna. They were cold and heavy in his palm, and Iemitsu hissed as they contacted his skin on the handover.

"Yes..."

"However, he is only capable of that technique," Reborn considered. "If you have changed your mind, Ietsuna would be a rather powerful anti-Mafia fighter."

"Only against Flame-users," Iemitsu pointed out. "I see your point, but Ietsuna is too dangerous to exist. We'll have to use a non-Flame method. Do you... already have something arranged?"

"Yes," a shadow from his fedora hid Reborn's eyes. "Another hitman from Italy."

"Mmm," Iemitsu agreed. "All in a day's work. Anything else?"

"Well, both of them can take care of themselves in a fight," Reborn admitted. "And they're in the Disciplinary Committee under a powerful fighter."

"If you say so, the boy must be ridiculously strong," Iemitsu chuckled. "I wish I could be- Reborn?"

Reborn had disappeared.

"That baby..."

The children were back before Iemitsu, as the chain-bolt proved. Iemitsu rang the bell, and amber eyes greeted him with a severe expression.

"Yo," Ietsuna stated.

"Don't be so cold, Na-kun!" Iemitsu chuckled. "A- Anyway, hurry up and open the door. It's almost dinnertime, and I can't wait to taste Nana's home cooking!"

"So, how old am I?" Ietsuna questioned.

"You're thirteen!"

"And how old is Tsuna?"

"Thirteen- oi, you're twins!" Iemitsu yelled.

"And when is my birthday?"

"It's in July!" Iemitsu declared.

At which he received a slammed door. "Wait, Na-kun!"

"Stupid old man forgot our birthdays," Ietsuna picked up the paint-spattered palette and continued to the rhythm of Iemitsu dancing the hemp fandango on his parenthood. "Tsuna, straighten your legs."

"That's a bit mean, Ie," Tsuna frowned, posing on his back on the living room couch. "He's still our father."

"He missed our birthday by five months."

Tsuna folded his legs, getting up. "Well, I'll be opening the door. You can sit there and wait."

Ietsuna scowled, but waited as the door was unbolted and opened, and Iemitsu squealed to his 'cute son' about the 'mean and cruel' twin.

"I doubt I'm cruel enough, old man," Ietsuna shot back, studying the wet palette he was using.

"You're an artist?" Iemitsu grinned. "Paint me!"

"No."

"Eh?! Why?!"

"A painting takes two days at minimum even alla prima, and you're never around long enough," Ietsuna wiped his palette knife with a rag set aside.

"You can make the time," Tsuna pointed out. "Papa will probably be on the veranda later drinking beer anyway."

"... I'll consider it," Ietsuna noted. "We should help Mum."

Tsuna nodded, walking into the kitchen where the sound of frying dominated. Ietsuna continued cleaning the knife and palette, now just looking at Iemitsu.

"I know you know what you did," Iemitsu gritted his teeth, abandoning the pretence. "It's for Tsuna's sake. You stopped us from sealing Tsuna's Flames for a reason, right?"

"Hmm?" Ietsuna cocked his head, shrugging like the ignorant teenager he was, despite his amber eyes almost glittering at Iemitsu, hypnotising as the few portraits of Vongola Primo around Vongola main headquarters. "I don't understand, Dad."

He's a brat... right. How could he? "I see. It's just an old man's dreaming. You and Tsuna, you've met Reborn, right?"

"You left your family for the Mafia, sending back only money, and laze around when you get back, only to tell us that we're joining it," Ietsuna commented. "I thought they only accepted pure-blooded Italians. I won't pretend to understand your reasons. I won't pretend to care, or expect anything. Wear that stupid grin and laugh and be hated. Just know that, as long as Tsuna needs me, I will be here."

The amber sharpened. Ietsuna left for the stairs, leaving Iemitsu to ruminate at the thought of amber eyes and hovering Flames... and blood.

Between Tsuna, and between Primo, lay the blood of Iemitsu, two Ietsuna – the late grandfather, and the current Ietsuna – one Yoshinobu, Yoshimune, to Ieyasu... the Blood of Vongola was not one person alone, but continuing through time, a distant past that encompassed and surpassed him and bore their own hate and regrets. It hurt, but Iemitsu had resigned himself to know that one child would be dead to the Sawada family, for the other to live.

*barley tea

Yeah, the 1827 interaction is super-domestic, and I promise to give all the details behind the twins joining the DC soon.

Also, I will be moving towards a weekly schedule now so that I have time to work out more details.

Please review!