Chapter 6
-Reunion and Tears-
Ever since he had met Giotto, Tsunayoshi felt that he could spill his heart to him. Why? He really didn't know. But just then after the two had exchanged their numbers, the man was like a stranger. Something was different, as if the embers in his eyes had been doused out and replaced with a darkness blacker than that of night. There seemed to be an electromagnetic field around him which automatically rejected Tsunayoshi's presence. He couldn't understand why, and the more he thought about it, words in his mind would start baring their fangs, cursing him, shunning him.
It pained him to think about it.
When he was in the prison, it had never occurred to him that pain could be a mental thing. Every day it would be pain from the shackles, pain from the bitter frost in winter, pain from starvation and dehydration. But this pain was different. It made him feel like his heart was being scrunched up like a crumpled ball of paper. It made him feel like the veins in his heart were being cut open to reveal a fountain of blood, like ink being spilled over the ball of paper, so everything would become a mess. A mess he couldn't fix or get rid of.
The car hastily made its way to Primo House as it was now fuelled with urgency, and the scenery painted outside was constantly being smudged. It would be clear one second, a blur the next. Perhaps the engine was playing up or it was the consigliere's way of driving. Either way, it only irritated an already heavy-minded Tsunayoshi. He stopped staring at the sky through the tinted glass and decided to 'entertain' himself by checking out the functions of the vehicle.
Suspension, Transmission, Seals and Gaskets, Sensors, Turbo Supercharger...How do I even know all this?
As Tsunayoshi was analysing the mechanics of the engine, he found that a teardrop of harlequin green caught his eyes. He stopped using his D.C.A. eyes and realized that his gaze was upon the notched lapel of the consigliere's suit. Unlike the monochrome combination of the man's white shirt and black suit and tie, the brooch was a lustrous gold shaped into a camellia and in the centre of the golden petals; there was a single gem: a peridot.
It seemed very odd for the consigliere to wear such a thing. Perhaps it was in the memory of someone? Someone important to him...
"Why do you where that brooch?" The boy asked, hoping that the question wouldn't evoke the memory of someone's death and lead to an awkward silence.
The consigliere's furrowed brows smoothed out and there was a small smile on his lips. "It's a reminder for something...important."
Important…As Tsunayoshi was pondering over the word; something flickered like an electric spark in his mind. He was near.
The boy could see the boss standing beside a black car which was parked in front of the gate of Primo House, complaining to a man who appeared to be the driver.
Giotto was in fact giving his chauffeur a lecture.
"Reborn! I've told you many times about safe driving and THAT back there was no exception!" There was an air of annoyance clouding around Giotto as he crossed his arms; however the chauffeur merely took out a cigar from a packet in his breast pocket and lit it up. The strong-bitter aroma tempted his boss to ask for one, but that would mean he would 'lose' this match.
The lit cigar twirled around the man's fingers before Reborn put it to his mouth, taking a long drag and breathing out writhing smoke. "Seriously stop it boss, you're starting to sound like a dad," as the words left his mouth, a small part of him regretted it. Oh shit, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that...
"Well you're acting like a teenager, driving at quadruple digits." Giotto sighed knowing that they could have any argument for hours. Currently the record was 39 hours in which they argued about what colour the next new car should be.
"Boss, black is way too boring and it makes us look suspicious."
"But to have a colour other than black is a little...odd."
"Well I'll tell you why black cars suck: when you park under a tree, (fucking) birds shit all over it and then you have to drive around a car that looks like it's been splattered with white paint."
"That wouldn't happen as long as you don't park under a tree."
"...black absorbs the sunlight. It would not be cool if I couldn't hold my gun just because I (fucking) burnt my hand on the car."
"Only idiots would do that and certainly everyone other than you would be more careful."
"...(bastard)...boss..."
And this successively continued for another 38 hours 56 mins and 8 seconds. Giotto wondered how they had endlessly attacked with words when there was really nothing in their stomachs.
As he was surfacing from his rant, the man noticed two figures walking towards them. Tsunayoshi looked quite bewildered while the consigliere appeared to not have changed the slightest in colour, seeing as though he had witnessed many of the quarrels and been the one who 90% stopped it from developing into more than just a word argument.
Giotto put a hand on the boy's shoulder with a smile. "Tsunayoshi, thank you again for what you did."
That smile seemed familiar.
"Let's head inside," he remarked, ushering the boy towards the gate as he nodded to the two chauffers, indicating for them to park the cars in the garage. After the click of a key and the engine coming to life, the two cars zoomed off as if they were racing each other to the 'goal.'
With a sigh, Giotto pressed the intercom button and leaned in to the device. "Hello this is Giotto; could someone open the front gate?"
Through the intercom, someone was yelling hysterically making the speakers crackle terribly as if it were about to self-destruct. "COLONNELLO!! I TOLD YOU NOT TO WASH MY UNDERWEAR YOU PERVERT!!!" Sounds of objects being thrown about could be heard; one sound being the painful crash of a vase as it collided ever so mercilessly with the wooden floor.
"I swear I wasn't looking when I put them into the washing machine!! Lal STOP man!! PUT THE EFFING GRANFATHER CLOCK DOWN KORA!!!*...sorry Giotto-san? I'll open the front gate now." As the voice said this, the tall gates shuddered and spread open their black arms, welcoming the two figures in.
"Thanks," Giotto remarked into the intercom, before making his way along the path of white gravel to the front door. There was a matching fountain in the centre much like the one in the flame tree garden and as the two walked around it, for a second the man saw upon the water's surface, a pair of eyes: one red and one blue. He came to a stop, eyeing the reflection with almost hypnotised eyes till an energetic voice filled the air.
"Welcome back Giotto-san!" There was a blonde wearing an army print headband at the door, grinning widely as he ran up to them, 'wagging his tail' as though a dog were welcoming back his master. His eyes gleamed curiously at Tsunayoshi who was almost hiding behind Giotto's 'cape,' slightly alarmed about the cheerful figure.
The man tilted his head to the side, eyeing the small figure with interest. "Who's this little kid here?"
"His name is Tsunayoshi." The moment the name came out of Giotto's mouth, the blonde's brows rose up the slightest in recognition and Tsunayoshi could feel that the atmosphere had changed. The man was cautious, as though he were coming in contact with something 'unpredictable.' Which was quite true since Tsunayoshi was one of them.
Trying to mask his vigilance, the blonde slapped back a smile on his face. "Nice to meet you Tsunayoshi," he said, saluting in a military fashion, "the name's Colonnello."
After the greetings were done, they went inside and Colonnello lead them to the living room where Tsunayoshi recognised the chauffeur with the hat and the consigliere, but also another figure who was in fact a woman. She had her arms crossed with a frown that could have sent the wolves running with their tails between their legs, and the expression changed to an even darker one when the blonde came in.
"Hey Reborn my man!" Colonnello cried, giving his mate a slap on the back.
"Long time no see Colonnello," the man remarked with an obvious smirk and nudged the guy in the ribs, "how's it going with the girl?"
A small, faint blush appeared on the blonde's cheeks as if it were a rose on the verge of blooming, and his grin widened as if the question had just made his day. "We've rolled around the bed a few times and she's slapped me what? 100 times? But it's going good," as he said this, Colonnello flashed a smile towards the woman who was now letting all her roses bloom swiftly across her cheeks. Since Giotto was here, her palm was secured to her side tightly so it wouldn't automatically lash out, but the woman knew her restraints were loosening at a rapid speed.
Reborn put a hand on his love-dovey-friend's shoulder. "Think of the slaps as Lal showing her love to you, in a physical way."
Lal slaps and tries to kill me a lot=she loves me A LOT. His mind had already figured out that 'formula' ages ago.
"I know, but seriously one day she's gonna knock my jaw outta place and then I won't be able to kiss her."
SLAP!
The effect was instantaneous and a blur of blonde and green was sent down to the ground. Towering above a sprawled eagle-like Colonnello was his lover, cracking her knuckles and ready for round 2.
"I love you too Lal," the blonde said dreamily, sending 'heart-marks' to her through his gaze and as her hand was about to claim his life, someone coughed.
It came from the owner of Primo House who couldn't help but smile at the scenery. "Lal, as much as you love him, be a bit more gentle."
Her actions finally sunk in and Lal put down her hand quickly, looking at the floor like a girl being told off of her ill-behaviour.
"Now," Giotto's smile faded as did the joking atmosphere, "assemble everyone in the living room," he commanded to the care-takers, who nodded and quickly took off sensing the stress. After a second of eye contact between the boss and the consigliere, Tsunayoshi with much confusion was taken down the hallway, leaving Giotto and his chauffeur together.
It took a while for the boss to spit out what he had to say.
"Reborn…I need you track down someone."
The chauffeur leaned back on the arm of the sofa. It was rare for his boss to give him such a 'hit-man' like job these days.
"And go bang," Reborn's hand was in the shape of a gun to his head, "to him?"
It was actually a silly question to ask, since the boss hated other people dirtying their hands for his sake.
Giotto shook his head and started making his way to the living room, and as he passed the man, he whispered:
"Rokudo Mukuro."
In contrast with the black gate in the front, the door to the backyard was a white gate. It was fully open and let Tsunayoshi into the world he had forgotten.
A world full of laughter, smiles and light.
The carpet of sunlit, glossy grass rolled out across the vast expanse, while thousands-of-year-old trees dug their roots deeply into the land, becoming an umbrella for those who wanted to enjoy quiet reading out of the sun. Further in the distance, there was a forest ever growing and spreading its borders further to create new homes for the animals, of which some had learned to take care of the younger children. Other older figures played sports freely in the area, chasing the soccer or hockey ball, throwing the cricket ball, while in the fenced baseball area, there were homeruns being hit and sounds of panting as the figures dashed to the next base.
Tsunayoshi saw a figure past the mesh wearing a black helmet and a silver bat in hand. The black head took a clear, accurate swing and the ball seemed to loop in and out of the fielders' reach like that of an escaping bird, and finally came contact with the back fence. It was the right decision to make him the last batter. All those on a base sprinted and each put a triumphant foot on the home base. The last runner came and ran past the goal to a silver haired figure sitting on the bench.
That moment, there were words Tsunayoshi wanted to scream but they wouldn't come out.
Much to the consigliere's surprise, the brown head ran to the fenced area, hurled the door open and with blurry eyes, threw his arms around the two at the bench.
"Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!"
The tears Tsunayoshi thought he would never weep were running down his cheeks endlessly. They were real tears, real tears of happiness.
"Tsuna!" Like a chord that had struck in both of them, the two wrapped their arms around the small figure, finally feeling that their circle of friendship was no longer incomplete. Their hearts pulsed together in robotic unison, constantly reminding them all that it wasn't a dream...
Tsunayoshi broke the embrace and looked at the two with warm eyes. "I thought I would never see you guys again," he remarked, gripping the hands that had once been torn away from him.
Even though the atmosphere was one of joy, Yamamoto had to ask the question that had been hanging like a persistent grey cloud over his head the moment he had seen his friend. "Tsuna, if you're here…you're one of the D.C.A. right?"
A small nod was the reply much to the two boys' disappointment.
"We were so worried when you went missing. Especially your mum," Gokudera said, gripping the hand tighter and wishing that they would never have to part again.
However the brown head's brows became deeply furrowed. "My mum?...why...why would she be worried!?...S-she was the one who sold me for money!!!" Trembling fingers gripped his hair harshly as the memories flew past his eyes, leaving raw gashes in his mind. It made him feel like something was constricting him inside and out. It hurt to think. It hurt to breathe.
A pair of hands grasped the boy's shoulders. "What're you talking about?! Your mum was literally searching for you day and night everywhere! She asked the neighbours, police, even the mafia!" The silver head cried, remembering the times when they had to stop Nana, Tsunayoshi's mother from being so reckless as to search for her son the whole day without resting or eating. It would pain them to see Nana cry continuously when she fell ill and couldn't search for Tsunayoshi herself or times when she heard the school bell ring and would look at the front door, hoping that her son would appear with an "I'm home!"
"But I remember that she sold me!! She was on the phone and everything!!" Tsunayoshi shouted frantically, his mind in a turmoil when a synthesized voice whispered in his ear.
Verified. Proceed to fake memory of Sawada Tsunayoshi.
The confusion and hate shattered like an orchestra of castanets.
Somewhere from reality, a worried voice penetrated his thoughts. "Tsuna? What's wrong?"
A lot of things were wrong right now, but for now one question was answered. "Nothing. I'm just a little tired, since I've had a lot on my mind." Which was true since he had just re-routed the Varia members to a digitally re-created fake mansion.
Tsunayoshi's eyes widened with sudden realisation. How close are they to the fake mansion!? He thought, opening up the grid in his mind, but his worries were erased when he saw the dots still 4 grid squares away from the target. For now he could relax and enjoy the company of his friends, and start filling the empty space of 4 years without them.
"Takeshi! Hayato! Look what I found!" They looked towards the direction of the voice and spotted a boy running to them, holding something in the air excitedly. "It's shiny and silver!" He showed the object to them in a proud manner but seemed disappointed by the reaction of his audience.
It looks...almost like a bullet... The brown head peered at it closer much to the boy's delight. There's inscriptions...'X-S ver. X?'...
"Onii-chan* are you new here?" Tsunayoshi expected two curious, puppy dog like eyes looking up at him, but instead he saw one intelligent blue eye. The other was covered under a white eye-patch.
The boy grinned childishly, giving the brown head a hug as though he were happy to have another join the 'family.' "My name's Fujimori Mitsuru and my number's 69. Nice to meet you!"
He couldn't deny the feeling as much as he wanted to, but there was something foreboding about the number 69. It rang like a distant peal of thunder, clashed like two opposite colours and seemed to darken the sky...
"Tsuna!? TSUNA!? ARE YOU ALRIGHT? SHIT, CONSIGLIERE-SAN!!"
What is this cold, foreign liquid that moves through my veins? I don't know...but now...I can't...think...any...more...
Fire was happy devouring the logs that had been cut up for him since they came from the oak tree. Oak was his favourite because it took a long time to consume and could keep his body satisfied for a while, especially since the master of the house liked to read for hours at night. He would watch his master flick through the (delicious-looking) pages that would always make him salivate, and eventually as hours passed, (delectable) leather bound books would keep piling up beside him. It was the same this night except there was another figure. He appeared to be sleeping on the master's lap and much to fire's glee, his master was in very good mood. Maybe he would toss one of those delicacies into fire's mouth? But the crimson velvet sofa looks just as good. Fire wondered when the time would come when he would 'accidently' let his hunger take over and devour the mansion. That would be very good, but master wouldn't be happy.
From the smallest of cracks in his eyes, Tsunayoshi could see fire waving a 'good-evening' at him but his mind was too drowsy to command his arm to greet back.
This is quite a soft pillow... As he turned to his back, he felt the 'pillow' move underneath him and the boy realised that he was staring at something brown...and moving. Tsunayoshi froze trying to figure out what sort of situation he was in, but the cogwheels in his mind were still on the way to recovering from his 'sleep.' Suddenly the brown thing moved and revealed a spectacled Giotto.
"Welcome back to reality Tsunayoshi," he smiled, putting the book down to his side.
The brown head got up speedily, hoping that fire wouldn't expose the blush on his cheeks. Even though he was facing the other way, Tsunayoshi had a feeling that the boss could see and willed himself to turn pale, if you could even do that.
There was a moment of silence, except the sounds of crackling as fire munched up the crispy parts of the bark.
"I'm glad you were happy meeting your friends," Giotto remarked, putting his glass of red wine in the other hand and swirling it, so the liquid glistened seductively under fire's light.
Something clicked. Giotto was 'hiding' himself again and becoming that stranger. No, becoming somebody else.
Tsunayoshi looked at the poker eyes of the boss intently. "Are you really happy?"
As if cold ice had frosted the man's hands the wine glass stopped moving, creating a calm ocean of red. Giotto then put the glass down onto the table as if nothing had happened but his mouth continued to shut itself, and so Tsunayoshi continued. "Every time you smile, every time you say that your happy for me, is it really true?"
A hand reached out for the boy's head and ruffled Tsunayoshi's brown bangs. "Of course it is," the man grinned, stretching his arms out and relieving the stress built upon his shoulders, "before father died, he told me to be strong and care for those around me."
A smaller hand reached out to the man's arm. "You've done so much for me even though we're strangers." Tsunayoshi peered up at the boss expecting a smile but was horrified to see small clear quartz-like beads fall from Giotto's eyes. The man realised what he was doing and wiped the tears away quickly. The tears were like a far-off memory. He hadn't cried for so many years.
"Sorry...it's nothing," he whispered, then placed his head on Tsunayoshi's shoulder. "Lend me your shoulder for the night."
Giotto knew that he couldn't get everything he wanted. Right now he had to cherish the time with Tsunayoshi, but he still wished...
We aren't strangers Tsunayoshi…we're much more than that…
Notes from Yuhazaki:
I apologize if there are any mistakes with the functions/mechanics of the car:P
Peridot is my birthstone XD
Since I've been busy with school, I will warn you all that I won't be able to update regularly:( But I'll put a lot of effort into each chapter^^
Notes:
*Kora: written as「コラ」and is a phrase that Colonnello often puts at the end of his sentences, meaning sort of like 'hey,' but I don't think there is an accurate translation.
*Onii-chan: written as「お兄ちゃん」and means 'elder brother' but in an informal way. 「ちゃん」is used at the end of names and there is no accurate translation.