A/N: So, it's been over a MONTH since I last updated! Sorry, sorry, I'm a horribly inconsistent updater. Well, school has started, and I'm being piled with assignments, homework, extra-curricular activities, projects, blah blah blah. BUT! I have written an extra long chapter! ^^ And it's BETA'ED! (YAAAAAAY) (My beta helped a WHOLE lot - the lyrics idea was hers.) Finally, I explain how the Decimo is selected, and I have made it different from other fanfics! :) It's not Ienashi's that being selected by default~ OH AND! I created a poll for whether there should be any shippings! It's on my profile, please go vote! :) If I decide to have any shippings, it'll only be fluff and it'll probably be 1827... probably... HAHA
ALSO, THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT! I mean, WOW! 60 over followers and 40+ favs! *faints* *promptly leaps back up* AND HERE Y'ALL GO! HOPE YOU LIKE IT :)
Dedication: My awesome beta and bestie (again) ^^ Thanks!
Warnings: Nothing much, I guess. Just Reborn's sadism, and mentions of bloody shooting scenes. (But hey! It's Mafia!)
Disclaimer: Don't own KHR or Human by Christina Perri (I used some lyrics)!
Chapter 4
"The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way." - Samuel Butler
It was barely dawn when the Sawada household came alive, delicious aromas wafting out from the kitchen. Nana was cheerily making a bento for her youngest son, humming a song to herself under her breath. As she arranged the carrots into a likeness of the sun, she idly wondered what to make for breakfast: would Ienashi prefer pancakes or French toast?
Unbeknownst to her, up the short flight of stairs which Tsuna frequently tumbled down, another occupant of the house was up. A green chameleon-turned-phone was held in his hand, and background noises could be heard from the other side of the line ("Flight number SA2035 to Venice, Italy, is ready for boarding.")
"Who do I attack first, Reborn-san?"
"Your choice. Both are candidates."
"Is it true that if I defeat them, I can be the Vongola Decimo?" The voice was tinged with desperation, with a deep longing hidden underneath the layers of roughness.
"It's true; you can."
"It's alright if I kill them in the process, right?" He sounded more eager than he should have with such words coming out of his mouth, but then again, he had spent his entire life in the underworld, and while still a teen, knew far too much about the ugly side of society. It was not surprising.
Reborn was aware of the pain that was eating at the bomber slowly from the inside (though of course, said silverette would never admit it), but he did not survive in the Mafia sparing pity for every whimpering puppy. Thus, he replied with an unwavering voice, "Yes. Go all out."
Lowering the phone, Reborn clicked a button and Leon morphed back into its chameleon form. He lifted his arm and allowed his familiar to crawl back onto the brim of his fedora. An almost satisfied smirk spread across his face.
Finally, everything was back on track again. He'd let Gokudera do an assessment of the twins' physical abilities, and hopefully get recruited by one of them. (Tsuna, pref- No, stop.) He already had the other potential guardians figured out - all except the lightning and mist. But eventually, he was certain, that would fall into place as well.
It all depended on the twins' abilities now; he would train them as best he could (he thought that with an unconcealable sadistic glint in his eyes), but a great teacher could only be successful if the student was willing, or able, to learn.
The brunet was having one of his few pleasant dreams - this time, he was lying on his back in the middle of a grassy field, a light drizzle clearing his mind, cooling but not cold - when his intuition screeched.
His eyes flew open and he rolled to the side, one hand clutching onto his iPod tightly and earphones still plugged into both ears. It was not a moment too soon, for a hammer slammed into his bed where he had been just a millisecond earlier, and sent a cloud of dust flying up.
Unfortunately, his legs tangled up in his blanket and he rolled over the edge of the bed, unable to land properly on his feet. The floor rushed up and he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the impact to reopen old wounds and send a fresh wave of pain washing over him.
But it never came. Instead, he felt fingers dig into his right shoulder, jerking him to a stop, and a sharp pain spread from his arm where Reborn had accidentally grabbed onto one of his not quite healed wounds. Somehow sensing that, the baby hitman immediately loosened his grip, before pulling the brunet upright with impossible strength. Jumping off the bed, he said, "Don't be so careless, Tsuna." Taking a few baby steps, Reborn abruptly added, "Baka-Nashi is in the bathroom now."
The tiny tutor paused; why did he just warn the brunet about that? He had also slowed his hammer just now, enough for the brunet to avoid it. There was nothing he could gain from what he had done, and the world's greatest hitman was not known for doing anything that wasn't beneficial to him in some way or another. (He did make exceptions like Nono and perhaps even Dino, but those were very, very rare.)
And again, that feeling rose up. The one that he somehow understood, but at the same time, couldn't quite understand.
He quickened his pace and, sending a last cursory glance in the direction of his student's hands, exited the unadorned bedroom.
Tsuna's eyes widened a miniscule amount, but Reborn, in his haste, missed it.
Ten minutes later, at seven o'clock sharp, the trio were gathered in Ienashi's bedroom. The twins were seated on opposite ends of the bed, the younger almost unconsciously edging away from the other little by little. Tsuna, on the other hand, was waiting patiently for Reborn to begin.
The sun was up by now, casting a golden ray through the partially-drawn curtains. That single ray landed on the white sheets between the two brothers, as though even nature itself wished to separate them.
A bullet brushed past Ienashi's ear, and he jumped three feet high, a small 'eep' escaping. "Stop moving away from your older brother, Baka-nashi," Reborn ordered.
As the boy nodded fervently, more than willing to please the sadistic tutor, the Arcobaleno saw, from the corners of his eyes, Tsuna fidgeting. Could that be a sign of nervousness? Immediately, he turned to focus on Tsuna's brown orbs, but there was nothing at all within them. His hands continued to fiddle with the hem of his uniform, but his expression was as impassive as ever.
Reborn tugged on the edge of his fedora, pulling it down so that it shadowed his eyes. That boy, Tsunayoshi… How was it possible that he was only thirteen?
Involuntarily, his mind wandered to images of fear and bloodshed, screaming and running and begging for it to stop, for it all to stop, please, surrounding him, but no- gunshots, fires, broken furniture and corpses, red and magenta and scarlet and brown everywhere-
No, no, stop. STOP.
He pulled himself back to the present forcefully, pulling his fedora lower to conceal the panic in his eyes as he took almost imperceptible breaths to calm himself. I'm strong now. I'm the world's best hitman. It doesn't matter anymore. Regaining his composure shakily, he pushed his fedora up to retain a sense of normalcy. Leon crawled back up from his shoulder where it had stood just a moment before, silently comforting its owner.
Purposefully ignoring the watchful gaze of a certain brunet, the baby hitman pulled the trigger. A few strands of brown hair - a shade lighter than Tsuna's chocolate brown - spiralled in the air against the golden backdrop of sunlight. "Stop nodding, or your head will fly off," Reborn ordered. He didn't think he would ever have to order anyone to do that.
Ienashi started to nod again, caught himself, and settled for a meek 'eep' which could or could not have been an agreement. Had Reborn not been Reborn, and Tsuna not been Tsuna, they would have sweatdropped.
Instead, the baby pointed his gun at Ienashi and squeaked, "Read the book I gave you yesterday."
The brunet flew over to a small mountain of rubbish, throwing things all over the room as he dug for 'The Introduction to Mafia'. His older brother calmly produced his copy, silently flipping through the pages. Finally, Ienashi pulled the hardcover out triumphantly, before the cocking of a gun caught his attention.
"Now, recite the first page from heart."
Inwardly, he felt like crying 'then why did I even search for my copy anyway?!", but he gulped and tried to recall the words, "The Mafia Boss… A leader who leads-"
A shot was fired.
"I mean, I mean! Rules a criminal organisation… Able to move a number of trusted members with… with…"
The safety turned on and off threateningly.
The poor boy waved his arms in front of his face wildly, as though to fend off any incoming bullets, and cried, "Wait! Wait! I can remember this! Uh… With…"
Tsuna continued flipping, eyes scanning over the pages.
"Ah! With one hand!"
"Continue," Reborn instructed.
"Okay, okay! Don't shoot me! Um… willing to risk even his life for the family, surrounded by the respect and admiration of all… Seen as a hero by the children of the slums…"
"Oh? Is that right?" The baby hitman asked, an awfully innocent expression pasted onto his face.
Anime tears running down his face, Ienashi nodded, too afraid to protest that Reborn was the one who was forcing him to read the book, and that what would he know about the Mafia?
"By tomorrow morning, I expect you to have memorised the whole book," Reborn announced.
Ienashi flinched.
Reading the expression on the brunet far too easily, the baby hitman continued, "A mafia boss is able to do at least 10 times as much as that."
The poor boy couldn't take anymore. He began screaming.
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A MAFIA BOSS!"
"Oh?" The infant raised an eyebrow - an expression that should not fit a baby but somehow did on his face, "Do you need me to tell you again why either you or Tsuna will become one?"
"Please don't," Ienashi gulped. If Reborn started again, not only would it mean more time with the sadistic tutor (who knows how much longer the brunet could take?), but also that he would be late for school, and thus face the wrath of Namimori's very own Demon prefect.
But Reborn wasn't listening. (Not that he ever did listen to Ienashi anyway.) He was observing Tsuna.
The older brunet had just flipped back to the front of the book, reading it for the second time that morning. And from the way his eyes jumped across the page rapidly, Reborn could tell that he was reading and processing every word of 'The Introduction to Mafia' at an incredible speed.
"Alright then, I will explain again," Reborn said, completely disregarding Ienashi's answer.
As such, he produced the three pictures he had shown the twins the previous day from thin air , commentating in a grave tone about the gruesome deaths of Nono's three sons. Enrico, he recounted, was shot and killed in a gunfight. Massimo, on the other hand, was drowned. Federico was killed through unknown circumstances, for only his bones could be found.
Ienashi was covering his eyes, his face a sickly shade of green from Reborn's entirely too detailed description of the three's brutal deaths. (And probably from envisioning the possibility of himself dying that way too.) Tsuna had looked away politely, as though Reborn was typing a password instead of giving a presentation about a mafia boss's sons' deaths.
At length, the infant tutor moved on to explaining the manner by which the next boss of Vongola would be chosen.
"Vongola Nono is slowly growing old," Reborn stated matter-of-factly in his squeaky voice, but his tone had taken on a more serious note. "Though by no means is he weak or impotent, his body will not be able to hold out for long. A both of you are possible candidates, I was sent to train you to become suitable Mafia bosses."
The tutor saw the pained expression on Ienashi's face, and asked nonchalantly, "Do you have a problem with that?"
Terrified, his student shook his head, beads of cold sweat rolling down his face. Reborn just kicked him in the face.
"What was that for?!" he yelped instinctively, before slamming a hand over his mouth when he realised that he had spoken out loud. He flailed his arms wildly, stuttering, "N-not that I have a problem with it. I m-mean, I do, b-but I don't! I'm not trying to offend you! D-don't shoot me!"
Reborn was growing more annoyed with the brunet by the minute. The boy was so cowardly and jumpy that the tutor had to wonder how he could play baseball. Wouldn't he just run away when he sees a ball coming at breakneck speed?
"Just shut up, baka," the infant succeeded in growling with his high voice, and Ienashi clamped his mouth shut so quickly one would have thought there was an insect about to fly straight in.
Reborn felt his heart leap a little when Tsuna raised his voice just enough to be heard, and asked, "Reborn-san, are both Ienashi and I going to become Mafia bosses?"
The question was just the slightest bit curious, a false curiosity inserted in carefully to make it sound normal, but way too… accepting for someone who had been introduced to the Mafia world as suddenly as the twins had been. He sounded like a student inquiring about any regular school assignment, not at all disbelieving of what the teacher told him.
I can fake a smile
I can force a laugh
I can dance and play the part
If that's what you ask
Reborn moved in a flurry. Clearing his throat professionally, now dressed in a vomit green suit that seemed to scream 'I'M A TEACHER', he began to talk.
"Thank you for the question, Sawada-san," a blackboard and a piece of chalk poofed into existence behind Reborn, "I will now explain how the boss is selected when the candidates are twins."
He turned and began scribbling a child's drawing of a family tree, labelling the father, mother, and two brothers. It was probably the only thing he had done so far that fit his age. "In some Famiglias, the older of the twins is selected by default." Here, he circled one of the brothers.
"However, in the Vongola, we have decided that twins would-" he almost said 'fight', but he had a feeling that it would only discourage Tsuna from trying for the position, "compete for the position as boss. The method for that is simple. The person in charge of training the candidates - in this case, I," in an instant, he reverted to his original appearance, pointed at himself, and changed back to the teacher outfit, "will decide on 6 possible Guardians for the two candidates."
Thankfully for Ienashi, his tutor had already explained about what Guardians were the previous morning, and spared them the long lecture about the boss's role as the Sky, the different flame attributes, and so on and so forth. Ienashi glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. Its hands showed that it was 7.43a.m. Crap! He hadn't even had breakfast!
"Baka-nashi, what did I just say?"
The older twin gulped. "Um… you would decide on 6 Guardians to… uh…?"
A sharp kick was delivered swiftly to his very much abused face. "Pay attention, baka. Tsuna, care to tell your brother what I just explained?"
Ienashi noticed the difference between the way Reborn talked to him and to Tsuna - even his tone changed -, but dared not comment on it. Besides, he knew exactly why the baby respected his older brother more than him, and though he would never admit it, he couldn't help but agree that Tsuna deserved better than he.
When said brunet opened his mouth and began to speak, Ienashi looked anywhere but at him.
"Reborn-san would give us a list of 6 possible Guardians tomorrow morning, one for each flame attribute, and we are to get them to join our Famiglia. Whoever obtains 4 of the 6 first would be the one selected among the two of us. Also, note that the Guardians have to agree to it - forcing, blackmailing, or bribing them to join is not allowed."
"Correct. Understand now, baka-Nashi?"
The boy nodded his head fervently until he recognised the dangerous expression on Reborn's face, and immediately stopped. "I-I understand," he wisely said instead.
Ten minutes later, the twins ran out of the house one after another, Ienashi clutching a bento and Tsuna not.
Panting and gulping down breaths - Ienashi doing much more dramatically than his brother was - the two arrived in their classroom right when the bell rang. Several classmates waved cheerfully at the younger brunet, while the older faded into the background and slipped into his seat, barely attracting any attention at all.
Any relief that Ienashi felt at avoiding the wrath of Hibari Kyoya, however, was gone the moment the teacher entered, followed behind by a silver-haired delinquent, tie loose and jacket unbuttoned, revealing a red dress shirt underneath.
"Class, this is Gokudera Hayato, a new transfer student from Italy. Do take good care of him."
"Tch. Gokudera Hayato. Leave me alone." The boy sent a dark look at the whole class, only succeeding in making the girls swoon over the "bad boy", and the boys groan. And then his glare locked onto first Ienashi, then Tsuna, and it seemed to darken tenfold.
That, combined with the fact that he was from Italy, the homeland of all things Mafia, made Ienashi's breath catch. It was obvious that this Gokudera was one of the Guardian candidates, and for whatever reason, he seemed to hate Ienashi and Tsuna.
No, hate didn't cover it. He wanted to kill them.
Tsuna, on the other hand, simply gazed at the bomber with a golden glint in his brown eyes - a glint that suggested a sense of urgency boxed up somewhere deep within him, the box locked and the key long since thrown away.
It was merely a faint flicker. Not quite there, but somewhere close. Like a robot programmed to feel. A machine taught how to show emotions like a human.
I can turn it on
Be a good machine
I can hold the weight of worlds
If that's what you need
It just wasn't quite right.
He'd been that way for years, and nobody had ever noticed. Nobody had ever bothered to notice.
A/N:
Just some translations...
Honorifics: [that I may have used in the previous chapters, or may use in the future ones xD]
-sensei - teacher
-san - the generic honorific like 'Mr' or 'Ms'
-chan - usually for younger females and children, cutesy and endearing
-kun - usually for younger boys, or tomboyish girls, slightly endearing too (but not as much as -chan)
-sama - for people of a higher "rank" (e.g. Milord) If someone uses it on himself, it is considered very arrogant
baka - idiot