Breakfast at Tsuna's
Summary: This year, the Vongola Day of Honor has a very special guest!
Author's Notes: I wasn't in such a rush to write this one as I was with "At a Picnic" and "In a Fight" so it's much more detailed than the previous two. There are still plenty more that I'm working on and will post, so look forward to those!
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Not long after Tsuna had become Decimo, he'd dedicated a week to wading through the rather lengthy list of Vongola Family Traditions and whittling it down to something much more manageable.
He'd removed the traditions deemed too cruel or violent – he was trying to reform the Mafia here, not encourage pointless bloodshed – as well as the ones that were out of date or too "What the hell?", including the tradition where, on the fifth of May in years ending with an odd number, you were only allowed to eat fruit and only if you were able to cut up said fruit while juggling it and a pair of knives without cutting yourself.
(He was already risking his sanity by being in the Mafia, he wasn't going to add to his own burden.)
But, he'd also ended up adding a tradition or two.
One, known only as "The Vongola Day of Honor," was originally a day set aside each year meant for honoring the parents of the Tenth Generation, but it quickly grew to include everyone's parents. The Tenth Generation would take the day off and focus their attention on the people who had raised them into the people they were today.
When it had first started, it was a relatively small gathering, with only the parents and immediate family of the Tenth Generation gathering and spending the day together. After it had grown, though, Tsuna had decided that the afternoon (and the extensive Vongola gardens) would be open to any and all who wanted to show their appreciation for their parents and would culminate in a five-star dinner paid for by the Vongola.
Breakfast and lunch was still reserved for Tsuna's family and the family of his Guardians and closest friends.
And though they were not his guardians, nor did many of them have living family left, the Arcobaleno were always invited.
.
Off the top of his head, Skull could easily name a dozen different times in his life where he'd been doubtful of getting out of a sticky situation alive only for the stars to align just right in order for him to make it out by the skin of his teeth. Others had commented on this strange aptitude for making it out of bad situations relatively unscathed, swearing that he had the devil's own luck and, without even meaning to, adding to the legend around 'The Immortal Stuntman'.
Even the Arcobaleno had mentioned it in the past, though it was quickly followed by Reborn or Collonello pointing out that he had to have something going for him considering how useless he was at everything else.
Skull would always just grin and say that he'd gotten his luck from his mother.
Given his recent streak of good luck, the universe had apparently decided enough was enough and that it was time to remind him that there was a flipside to his mother's good luck.
And the universe had clearly recruited help.
.
In previous years, when the calendar had rolled around to the time of year where Vongola held its annual "Day of Honor", Skull would vanish and return only a week after the predicted event date. The majority of the Arcobaleno didn't question this, continuing on with their everyday life without pause; Yuni and Fon, though, couldn't help but notice and wonder why, and though they asked, they could never get an answer from the surprisingly evasive Cloud.
This year would be the same, they could already tell.
That day, Yuni had decided to visit the Vongola Mansion; she wanted to spend time with Reborn, Tsuna, and Tsuna's guardians, having been unable to see them for the past week after catching a cold. She'd insisted Skull go with her, wanting to spend time with him before he vanished to wherever he did at this time of year, and for lack of anything better to do, Fon had followed along as well. He could always amuse himself by bothering Kyouya, he'd reasoned.
The day had been pleasant, even with the surprise visit by Byakuran much to Tsuna's exasperation, and they had all just sat down to lunch when the ex-Mare ring holder had asked Tsuna how the planning for the Day of Honor was going.
Suspicious of the wicked gleam in Byakuran's eye, Tsuna had been slow to answer, but had finally said that everything was coming together well and was there a reason to Byakuran asking?
"You should plan for an extra person at breakfast and lunch, Tsunayoshi-kun," the white-haired man had smiled.
"Are you bringing someone, Byakuran?" Tsuna had asked curiously.
A Rock of Foreboding appeared in Tsuna's stomach when the vulpine smile on Byakuran's face grew until only a sliver of the man's lavender eyes could be seen as they turned towards Skull, who sat tensely three chairs down the table, the hold on his fork tightening as he narrowed his own purple eyes.
"Skull-kun, you haven't told them your mother is still alive?" he asked, tone reprimanding. Unholy glee appeared on Byakuran's face even as he dove beneath the table, dodging the fork that was now stuck firmly in the back of his chair.
"Your mother is still alive, Skull?" Fon questioned, looking at the Cloud who, having been given another fork, had continued eating as if nothing had happened.
"Oi, Lackey. Fon asked you a question." Reborn's eyebrow twitched in annoyance when Skull ignored him, angling his body away from everyone else at the table. When Reborn prepared to hit the Lackey – and the Lackey was aware of it, if the way he'd hunched into himself said anything – Yuni shook her head. With a 'che' of annoyance, Leon returned to his normal form and Reborn continued on with his meal.
Skull remained that way for the rest of lunch, refusing to look or respond to any attempts at conversation. It was only when coffee and dessert was brought out that Reborn – fed up with the way Skull continued to ignore Fon's steady gaze, Byakuran's teasing words, and even Yuni's quiet concern – said something that finally got a reaction from the stuntman.
"Don't bother. The Lackey's mother is probably as useless as he is."
Skull's head whipped around and Reborn's momentary feeling of triumph at getting a reaction faded when, rather than the loud vocal defense he'd been expecting, he got only purple eyes glowing in anger.
"Skull-nii's mama must be a wonderful woman," Yuni refuted, the calm confidence of her words cutting through the tension. Skull's glare faded as his attention turned toward the younger teenager, the purple glow fading from his eyes. His expression twisted, looking torn between wanting to boast of his mother and wanting to remain quiet to protect her.
(Not even Reborn would admit the sliver of hurt he felt at the thought that, despite all the Arcobaleno had been through together, Skull did not trust them with the secret of his mother.)
"She is," he agreed finally, the words clipped and his lips pressing together as soon as he was finished speaking, as if he had to physically stop himself from saying more.
"I would love to meet her," Yuni smiled, her words half-statement and half-plead.
"Skull, your mother is more than welcome to attend," Tsuna broke in quietly.
The violet-haired teen grimaced. "I'll ask."
.
Much to Skull's dismay, when he brought up the event and Tsuna's invitation to his mother the next time he talked to her, she jumped on the chance.
He'd hoped that she would want (need) to remain in England, that she wouldn't feel up to traveling to Italy in the middle of the school year.
Of course, of course, she would go out of her way to prove him wrong.
.
For Tsuna, the Day of Honor started early. You simply couldn't gather all of his Guardians, closest friends, the Arcobaleno and all their respective families in one place and NOT have it result in Chaos!
So, in the middle of frantically running around doing damage control while also ensuring that breakfast would be ready on time, the polite knock-knock-knock on the door was a welcome but unexpected distraction. Frowning because he was sure that all of the guests had either all arrived last night or earlier this morning, Tsuna pretended that Collonello hadn't just finally succeeded in dragging Skull into a fight; that Lambo wasn't literally and figuratively pulling I-pin's pigtails; that Gokudera was not on the verge of throwing dynamite in the house again; that the only thing that stopped him was seeing his sister's unobscured face; that his mother wasn't just giggling happily over all of this, and opened the door.
The woman standing on the doorstep wore a friendly smile and looked younger than his intuition insisted she was. She was pretty, though, with black hair that fell to below her shoulders in a riot of curls, pale skin marred only by a faded scar shaped like a lightning bolt on her forehead, and bright, almost unnaturally bright, green eyes behind a pair of rectangular frames that made her seem a little like a librarian. Beneath her dark grey pea coat, she wore a burgundy sweater that looked hand knit and a pair of black pants tucked into a pair of heeled boots.
She looked blessedly normal, even if his Intuition was screaming that she was anything but.
"Morning," she greeted happily, ignoring the chaos behind Tsuna with enviable ease (even he flinched at what sounded like a vase shattering). "I'm here for the breakfast thing? I was told to arrive at half past eight, but I was excited. It's rare that my son wants me to meet his friends, you know?" she explained, the more she spoke, the more noticeable the hint of a British accent in her Italian became.
An awkward silence ensued as Tsuna could only stare at the woman in disbelief; she barely looked older than the recently cured Arcobaleno, how could she have a son!?
"Who are you?" Tsuna asked hesitantly, cringing with guilt when the woman's smile faltered then faded completely when she realized he was serious. Disappointment filled her face and Tsuna wanted to squirm with guilt; it was like being back in the principal's office, or Hibari's. He hadn't done anything but he still felt guilty, hieeee!
"He didn't tell you I was coming?"
Tsuna mutely shook his head.
"Oh. Well, this is awkward," the woman winced. She bit her lip, looking almost lost; then, she seemed to gather herself and shrugged half-heartedly. "Hi there, I'm Holly. I'm Skull's mum," she introduced.
There was a sudden unnerving silence from within the house.
(Tsuna didn't need the famed Vongola Intuition to know that the Arcobaleno were now crowding in the doorway behind him.)
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As I was finishing typing this one up, I was struck with a sudden sense of dread as I realized: I'm going to end up adding "Part Two" to some of these, without a doubt.
Damn.
-D.