Author: Ri-Ryn
Chapter: Un Bicchiere Sguardo (A Glass Gaze)
Word Count: 2,434
Rating: M* (Content suitable for Mature Teens)/ +T
Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano.
Warnings: Severe language.
A/N: Another big thank-you to the new six reviews I received! I was elated to be able to read what you guys think about my story and it gives me the inspiration to keep on writing. With this, it's back on to the story with the fourth installment of Infrazione della Vita. Also, I'm not sure how realistic it is to fight in a bathroom like that, and I'm not gonna' try. Someone else do it and tell me how it works out for ya'. ^^ That reminds me, I'm pretty positive that if they can time travel, they can certainly engineer variously colored roses. I have a question for my readers too, how badly do my fight scenes suck? I mean in general from the few I've written. Their all a chatty bunch in this chapter, I apologize!
Tsuna watched as the sun cast its red glow and illuminated all in its red flame. I was a rather blinding sight considering his window pane was gone again. He had replaced the stupid thing quite a few times these past few days. Bullet proof his ass; he was going to have to talk to Irie and Spanner and work something out.
Rumors were starting to spread and it was becoming a problem. The infamous words were along the lines of, "Vongola Decimo's guardians have abandoned him." As soon as any opposing family caught wind of it, assassins came for him at every opportunity. The rumors were based upon nothing except the illusion that he still had a strong bond with his family.
He felt the presence of one of the manor's multiple butlers in his doorway. There wasn't any point in closing his door if nothing was going to disturb his work anymore.
Tsuna knew what the butler would ask; he knew what he would reply; he knew what the butler would try to counter with, they had run out of choices. Tsuna knew how everything would play out, even what his final reply would be.
And he asked regardless.
Point 1: "Yes Raphael?" Tsuna turned his head to glance at the man over his shoulder.
Point 2: "Dinner has been prepared." Raphael narrowed his eyes for the battle of wills.
Point 3: "I'm not really hungry, but I'll go ahead and eat dinner in my office again."
Point 4: "Well, Master Sawada, everyone wanted you to come down for dinner and eat together with us."
Tsuna continued to hold Raphael's gaze. Yes, and everyone means the mansion's entire staff because you all are worried.
"We really want to be able to talk with you since we haven't in a while, sir. It was always our upmost pleasure."
Ah, so they went with tactic number eleven. They know I still have a weak spot for this kind of reasoning. "Sorry, but I've just been tired recently. I would probably kill the atmosphere," Tsuna declined.
If Raphael had heard the way "kill" was stressed, he didn't show it. He merely reached around the door frame and wheeled in a cart with food.
"Oh yes," Raphael exclaimed, eyes widening, "I almost forgot. Don Cavellone called and said he would be coming for a visit."
Well, this certainly isn't part of the routine. Tsuna's voice remained neutral. "Then I have something to look forward to tomorrow then, don't I?"
As the butler retreated back downstairs, Tsuna swiveled in his chair. His head fell and smacked the desk while he let out a muffled groan. He could already feel the oncoming headache.
Great, now Dino's going to come over. The last thing I need is for an allied family to start getting worried for me. It'll be even worse if there's another assassin sent tomorrow during his visit. What am I going to do, better yet, how can I convince him to not get involved further?
Tsuna let a sigh escape his tired lips as a warm night breeze caressed his skin and brunet hair. He absently turned his chair at an angle and let his head move to its side to feel the air current better. The breeze continued its embrace, streaming inside the window from the moon lit night. It lulled the exhausted young man, who was breaking inside, to sleep. He openly welcomed the black haze of sleeps' relief.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Tsuna felt something faintly prickle at the edge of his mind before feeling the need to cover his ears.
"OH MY GOD! Master Sawada! Did you sleep in here last night, AGAIN!"
Tsuna grimaced; caught red-handed in the act again indeed. Tsuna groggily lifted his head to catch his "nanny's" disapproving eye. Good Lord, what next: a designated nap time? Not that he would mind… "What time is Dino-nii, I mean Don Cavellone arriving?" Tsuna managed to croak out.
"I believe somewhere around eleven forty-five for lunch with you, sir."
"And what time is it now?"
She leisurely twisted her wrist to read her watch's face. "It's eleven forty at this moment."
Tsuna sprang up and out of his chair, and raced around his desk to trip and tangle himself in last night's untouched dinner cart. He carefully disentangled himself from the mess before continuing his race outside the door, "Sorry, but can you clean that up?" He made a sharp right turn outside the door.
The maid heard a splash as her employer hit the cleaning cart and landed in her mop bucked along with what she assumed were a string of Japanese curses. Giggling, she took pity on the disorientated mafia boss, "Your room is in the opposite direction sir!"
Her boss gave a quick thank-you and bolted in the right direction, her pail having become his new shoe. Oh well, it wasn't like she need it right then. Besides, he'd figure out he ran off with it and return it later. Good thing Signor Reborn wasn't home at the present.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Dino's car parked itself in the driveway. As he stepped out, a shadow fell overhead and he looked up to see… a suit flying out of Tsuna's bedroom window? He almost jumped out of his skin when a flame shot out not a second later from the same window, incinerating the offending clothing. Maybe his little brother was having a bit of a bad morning?
He walked inside and was greeted by Andrea who merely glanced at the visiting boss. "Master Sawada and you will be dining on the garden patio behind the manner, princess."
Dino sighed at the girl's razor tongue. Her word lashing didn't bother him; she cut everyone if they weren't Tsuna. He walked towards the back of the house to reach the gardens, eyes glancing around when he saw the table; Tsuna wasn't there yet.
Upstairs in Tsuna's bathroom, he growled. Of all the places to be attacked, this one won the gold trophy hands down. He dodged right as a gloved hand went in for a sharp left hook. Tsuna thrust his right fist for an uppercut, but the assassin caught it and brought a knee up, nailing Tsuna in the lower ribs.
Tsuna hissed in pain. Damn it, this one's good. Tsuna tried following suit. He crouched and sprang off of his right leg, propelling his left knee into the crotch of the enemy. Tsuna watch as he howled in pain before blindly reaching behind himself to grab his shampoo. Tsuna grasped the man's chin before pouring the thick, syrup like liquid down his throat.
The man's arms blindly flailed as he tried to breath. Tsuna punched the center of his stomach and used the opposite hand to grasp the back of the man's head, slamming him unconscious into his tiled shower walls. Tsuna sat him down on the shower base, slumped over the bath's edge to let the shampoo drain from his esophagus.
After Tsuna ensured the man wouldn't be choking to death, he swiftly dried off and donned fresh clothes; fleeing downstairs.
Tsuna panted a little as he entered onto the patio, hair still dripping wet. He spotted the oldest and head butler, the Vongola steward Donatello Machiavelli. "Signore Machiavelli, it seems my shower is stopped up. I do believe the obstruction belongs to the Mantua family. After you unclog it, could you please return it? And on the box write,Just try it one more time." Tsuna smiled sweetly.
"Absolutely Don Vongola, it will be taken care of immediately," Donatello gave an inclined bow in Tsuna and Dino's direction before disappearing into the house.
Tsuna faced Dino now and flashed an apologetic smile before taking his seat at the table. "Sorry for being late. I woke up asleep at my desk five minutes before you arrived, and then that." Tsuna nodded his head to where Donatello had left.
Dino laughed lightly, "Yeah, I understand the feeling of waking up late. By the way," Dino leaned forward with his hands on the table, "Why the heck did your go suit flying through your window this morning before you set it afire in an airborne funeral pyre? I never pictured you so…picky about your clothes. Kind of reminded me of a woman if you ask me."
Tsuna's face flushed till he put a hand over his eyes. "Well, when I woke up, I ran into a food cart in my study and practically bathed in it. Then I ran into a maids' cleaning bucket, filled mind you. Reborn would skin me alive if I tried to clean and place such a disgraced suit back into my 'immaculate repertoire' of clothing."
Dino winced. "I understand that so well it hurts already thinking about it. Speaking of 'hurts thinking about it,' " Dino's eyes narrowed and the playful tone in his voiced dropped like a brick into the cold sea, "What is this I hear about discord with the Vongola Decimo and his guardians?" Dino searched Tsuna's cocoa brown eyes for any nervousness: none.
Tsuna had already predicted this and slipped easily into the lie. The guilt could eat at him later, now wasn't the time with his tight-rope act. "I know what you're talking about. What I don't know is how it got started, its origin. You can imagine what happened to me in the shower wasn't the first time. It was the first time in the shower, but he was part of a growing return list, God knows who's anymore."
The suspicion in Dino grew. "Then where is everyone exactly? I doubt one of your friends would let this continue for this long. Your house is too calm."
Damn Dino, you're not going to let this go, are you? Tsuna rolled his eyes, "Obviously you won't hear anything in the manor. I'm the only one actually present, besides the staff. Everyone is out on important assignments."
Dino raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're trying to tell me seven, consecutive important missions conveniently sprung up?" Dino glared. "You have got to be either joking or lying." The last word came out stressed between his clenched teeth.
Tsuna smacked his forehead with his palm and made an audible 'pop' noise. Think. "Geez Dino-nii, give me some credit. I've been doing this for at least six years now. I wouldn't send out all my guardians at one time."
"Then what happened?"
Tsuna's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm getting there, impatient aren't we?" He sighed, "Gokudera-kun was already in New York, Hibari in France, Onii-san in Japan, and Mukuro in Russia, and they all are on short, long-term assignments. Yamamoto, Chrome, and Lambo were here with me. That's when I received the emergency that required me to dispatch them. There was a bit of trouble brewing between Spain and Germany, England was a whole problem by itself. However; they all equally needed to be dealt with immediately. I sent Yamamoto to Germany and Lambo to Spain while I sent Chrome to England."
Dino almost didn't know what to think as he was hearing this. "I can't believe this, of all the times it could've happened! It just had to be the time these rumors are flitting about! You know what, too?" he stressed, "Why can't Germany and Spain get along for once. Their always bickering, it's no surprise they snapped." He took a breath to calm down. "When do they come back, because I'll stay here if you need me to."
Tsuna chuckled. "Mukuro will be the soonest one back in two days. I can hold out till then." That's not a lie. Mukuro will come back, give a report, and then leave the same day on a new assignment unless he's injured.
The doors from the kitchen opened as an unfamiliar maid rolled out a cart to behind Tsuna. His intuition spiked. It was more than an unfamiliar maid; he had never seen her before.
Tsuna thrust his chair out, hitting her with it. He stood and twisted his back and reached for her arm, yanking her forward to pin her into the table. Tsuna pulled her wrist back, making her release the knife she held in pain. Apparently today was cherry assassin day, bring your freaking' twin. The irony wasn't lost on Tsuna, "I told them, one more time," he muttered under his breath.
Dino was up and walking with his whip bared in hand. "A few attempts, huh?"
The face Tsuna now sported made Dino cringe. "You could say today was a bit unusual," Tsuna replied tersely.
The door to the kitchen opened again, revealing a more familiar maid. "Don Sawada?" She hesitantly called out, observing the situation. Tsuna nodded and Dino beckoned her over. She carried a large floral arrangement in her arms.
"Can you take this?" Tsuna asked, briefly glancing down. Dino nodded and moved to trade places before continuing to pin the woman down.
"Thanks." Tsuna moved over towards the maid and accepted the flowers. There wasn't any card with it.
The maid scrunched up her face, wracking her brain. "They came just now. I want to say it was from a Baldassare Anguissola." Baldassare is a very powerful and influential mafia boss, what does he want?
Tsuna fearfully lowered his eyes to observe the flower choices, head spinning. White clovers meant "I promise" while he chose…Chamaecrperis leaves branches. All members of the Cyprus plant family meant "death, sorrow, mourning, despair." In the center was a cluster of roses: a purple rose, light blue rose, yellow rose, red rose, green rose, and two dark blue roses. The bouquet had a taught black ribbon constricting it.
The message was clear. Anguissola has his family hostage, but how?
Tsuna threw the bouquet on the table, racing out. Why did this have to happen? Was his family already dead?
Dino called out after him confused and curious as to why Tsuna took off running. Sure he had heard Baldassare Anguissola mentioned, but such a quick reaction? Dino stared the offending flowers down for a minute, putting three and seven together. He snapped his head up at the long closed door. "Shit, Tsuna!"
Dino knocked the woman out beneath him, and removed his cell from his coat pocket. Tsuna probably hadn't called any of his own subordinates. He put the phone up to his ear, hearing a click. "Romario? Gather our attack force; the Vongola family is in trouble, Tsuna especially. I'm going to need a lot of men; we're going against the Anguissola family."
Dino looked up at the sky; it would be raining later on. "Hurry please."
Chapter 5:
Frantumando il Cielo
(Shattering the Sky)