26
When Tsuna next woke, he was in the hospital.
Dino, noticing Tsuna and Yamamoto's long absence, had found him lying next to the river, and he'd called 911 immediately. The ambulance came and took Tsuna away, but Dino stayed behind, realizing something was amiss. He arrived later, in time to catch Tsuna throwing his sheets off the bed, trying to get out.
"Calm down," Dino said, struggling to keep Tsuna down on the bed. "It's okay now. You're safe."
Tsuna trashed in protest, eyes wide, breaths heavy. "No—no one is—Yamamoto—did you find him?"
Dino's eyes dimmed. "Yes."
The life went out of Tsuna's limbs and he collapsed back onto the bed.
"He was right next to me—and I couldn't do anything. The killer was right next to me, and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't—"
Dino could do nothing but hold him tightly. His heart ached for Tsuna, who was like a little brother to him. He was only twenty-six, and yet so many terrible things had happened to him…
"Some other people are here to see you," Dino said gently when Tsuna seemed to calm down. "I think you'll be glad to see them. I'll come back later, okay? I have to settle some things."
Tsuna nodded. Dino left the room, and almost immediately, an explosion rocked his eardrums as a flurry of red, white, and yellow attacked him.
"Tsunayoshi-kun!"
"Tsuna-kun!"
"Y-You three!"
Accidentally, Spanner clocked him in the eye with a lollipop as his close friends Byakuran and Shouichi crowded the bed.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" Shouichi babbled. "We were so worried! Well, this guy here wasn't so worried, but… I was! So much that I had to take anti-acid for my stomach every hour!"
"I knew Tsunayoshi-kun wouldn't die," Byakuran said almost smugly. Elbows on the bed, he smiled a cat-like grin at Tsuna, purple eyes gleaming. "And now… I'm sure he knows why he won't die until the very end, too."
"What?" Shouichi said.
"It's true…" Tsuna said, avoiding Byakuran's violet eyes. "I understand now… I must have done something very wrong, but the murderer… he wants me to suffer before I die. And the way he's decided to make me suffer is to take all of you guys away from me, one by one."
Silence permeated the room. Spanner scratched the back of his head awkwardly and crunched the lollipop in his mouth.
"Well," Spanner said around the sucker, "rest assured, we'll stick around 'til the very end. Count on us."
Tsuna smiled, but a small part of him thought how long will you last?
Byakuran gave him a wide smile, as if he knew what Tsuna was thinking. He patted him on the head. Tsuna bit his lip, regretting thinking such a thing almost immediately.
"There, there, don't be like that, Tsunayoshi-kun."
Tsuna nodded slowly. "Yeah… I'll trust you guys. And before it's too late—thank you. For everything. You guys mean… mean a lot to me."
Byakuran's eyes crinkled up, and the grin he was giving Tsuna was absolutely blinding. Tsuna couldn't help but smile as well. Byakuran had changed so much after that incident—he radiated such a refreshing, uplifting aura instead of the dark one Tsuna was so accustomed to from ten years ago. That incident from ten years ago had really changed the three of them…
As if he knew what Tsuna was thinking again, Byakuran slapped him on the back, lips curling up as Tsuna glared at him reproachfully.
"We have to go, now. Uni-chan wants to see you. Take care, Tsuna-kun!" Shouichi called, dragging the other two out of the room before they could make trouble.
"Actually, all I wanted to do was introduce you to your new partner," Uni said softly as she entered. "You four could have taken your time."
The breath caught in Tsuna's throat, pain jolting through his heart. New partner? As in, replacing Yamamoto? Wasn't this too soon? Bitterness was rising in Tsuna's mouth, the words 'disrespectful,' 'insensitive,' and 'cruel' on the tip of his tongue. He bit them back, knowing that Uni only meant the best for him. Getting a replacement for Yamamoto was better if it was done as soon as possible.
But still… to replace Yamamoto…
He wasn't something to just be replaced.
"This is Jagger-kun," Uni said. "He was recruited a few years ago, about five years after you entered the force."
"It's good to meet you, Sawada-san."
Jagger was a tall man with long, dark hair. His eyes were pale and gleamed strangely at Tsuna—a spine-chilling gaze.
"It's good to meet you, too," Tsuna finally said through the acid taste lingering on his lips. "Let me stand—"
"You stay where you are," Uni said firmly. "And don't move. I'll leave you two together. I have a few people to meet—Hibari is one of them. Take your time, and get well soon."
As Uni left, Jagger took a seat next to the bed.
"I am sorry to hear what has happened to you," Jagger said in a low, gravelly voice.
"Oh, er… you don't have to be."
Jagger shook his head slowly. "It… You are similar to me. Your story. I heard it from Uni-san in the car, about the deaths of your friends… and your regrets…"
His sibilant voice rested on the last syllable of 'regrets.'
"I have had an experience similar to yours… If you would allow me to tell you?"
"O-Of course," Tsuna said. "Go right ahead."
Jagger nodded. "I apologize for jumping it on you on our first meeting… but since Uni-san told me your story, I figured that it is only fair to let you know of mine."
xXx
There once were two brothers a year apart from each other in age.
Dirt. Filth. Squalor. It was all they had.
Pity. There was none.
On the streets, they'd run from those they had stolen from. They hid in crevices only they knew about. They cackled victoriously on each successful theft, washed each other's backs of blood when they were caught.
They lived like this for seven years.
The two brothers clung to life day after day. Some days were better than others. A can of soda. A half-eaten sandwich. Some days were worse than others. A bone. Nothing.
They took what they got. They took all they could.
Some of their neighbors—they called them neighbors since they lived right down the street—held out cans for coins, or signs for work. No one paid attention. The busy city went on, rumbling, groaning, squeaking, squealing. There was no time to pay any mind to two small homeless boys or their homeless neighbors who were scrabbling for life as the people around them walked on.
Then, he came. The one they called Checker Face.
He rounded up all the homeless people on that street and took them into his organization. It was a dark organization, for darker purposes that the brothers would not find out about for many years. One by one, their neighbors died, until they two were the only ones left. Checker Face congratulated them. Said he'd always known they would make it this far. They were the toughest of the bunch, the ones with the strongest will to live.
Yes, yes, excellent, he said. Wonderful.
It was Italy's biggest mafia group that the two brothers had joined. They worked for the poor and ruined the lives of the rich. The elder brother quickly became a master thief, but he forbade his younger brother ever from following in his footsteps. He instructed him to hide whenever Checker Face sent them out on a raid.
You have a future. Don't get your hands dirty. Leave that to me.
When they were seventeen and sixteen, they escaped during a siege from the Italy police force. With the money he'd stolen, the older brother booked the soonest flight—to Japan.
There they lived. The older brother worked and forced the other to attend school. There was no contest. He continued to steal while the other got his education.
One day, I'll pay you back, the younger brother said. You won't have to do these things anymore.
He entered university.
Then, his brother finally got caught.
While breaking into a small home on the forgotten outskirts of town, the older brother was seen. The police rushed in, and in trying to capture him, they fired a few shots despite the orders of their superior. One bullet found its way into living flesh, taking the soul away. It was the mother of a small, red-headed boy.
The brother was jailed. He confessed to many crimes on his own initiative, and was given more time in prison. Meanwhile, the squad that had killed the mother was suddenly and completely annihilated. The perpetrator was determined to be the husband of the mother, and he was sentenced to death. Their child went to the orphanage the couple had run together, which was succeeded by a close, trusted friend.
When the brother finally got out of prison, almost immediately was he thrust into turmoil again. This time, people called him a murderer. They were sure of it. He was caught and jailed and sentenced to death. His brother came in, and he learned the truth—that his brother had been wrongly convicted.
Nothing he said would convince the jury otherwise. A few weeks later, his brother was dead.
xXx
Tsuna stared up at Jagger then looked quickly away.
"That's why I joined the police force," Jagger said. "To prevent such things from happening again."
"I'm… so sorry."
"He was everything to me, my brother was," Jagger said. "And all I'm left with after his death is regret. Regret that I could never pay him back. He did everything for me, but I never gave him the chance to live differently."
Tsuna closed his eyes. He knew the feeling of regret, of it being too late to do anything. He knew it too well.
"If I had only one more day," Jagger said, "one more day with him, I would make sure he enjoyed himself to the fullest. But I don't have one more day. I don't have anything. I only have my twisted sense of justice that I feel obligated to carry out. I want to stop people who destroy other people's futures at all costs. I want to catch Checker-Face, the root of all the problems that were thrust upon me and my brother. Prevent other people from feeling what I feel. I want my revenge.
"Will you help me, Sawada-san?"
His pale eyes bored into Tsuna's, like pits of white light…
"Of course," Tsuna said, keeping the gaze even. "I… also have experienced that feeling. Of course I want to help you."
Jagger smiled down at him. "Thank you. I will leave now. Please rest well."
Quietly, he left, and Tsuna remained in his hospital bed. He turned his head out the window. Jagger's words brought back memories of the deceased. He missed everyone. He missed everyone so much. If he could somehow bring them back…
If he could somehow turn back time…
Wishful thinking would get him nowhere.
Jagger's words stuck in his mind. If I had only one more day with him, I would make sure he enjoyed himself to the fullest. But I don't have one more day. I don't have anything. I only have my twisted sense of justice that I feel obligated to carry out... I want to stop people who destroy other people's futures at all costs. Prevent other people from feeling what I feel. I want my revenge.
Will you help me, Sawada-san?
Of course Tsuna would help Jagger. Of course he would.
Because he felt the exact same way.
He wanted his revenge. He wanted to catch this man, this man who was picking off his friends one by one as if they were fleas on a dog, as if they were nothing more than pieces of trash. He wanted to catch him, make him suffer, wanted to stop that man who had taken away the dreams of his friends. He wanted one more day with them all, but he wouldn't get one more day… he would never have one more day… instead, all he had was bitterness in his mouth and hot anger in his stomach…
Only thoughts of revenge.
If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge? —William Shakespeare
16
It was a slow day, but finally, school ended. Dino told them that police officers had arrived to take them all home. Enough students were absent that the entire school could be escorted in groups of seven.
Dino stopped Tsuna at the door.
"You're going to Reborn's office, right?"
"H-huh?" Tsuna stammered. "Oh, yeah, right. I am."
"I'll take you there. I've been put on patrol in that area."
"Okay…"
Tsuna waved goodbye to Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Enma, who were being led out the classroom by Romario. Dino put a hand on Tsuna's shoulder and steered him to the parking lot. Tsuna suddenly realized something.
"Dino-sensei, how do you know Reborn?"
Dino looked surprised for a moment before grinning. "He's my mentor! That guy I'm always mentioning, you know?"
"Your mentor?" Tsuna gasped.
Laughing, Dino opened the car doors for Tsuna. "Yep! He taught me everything I know today, though it took him a long time to do that."
Tsuna sputtered like a landed fish. "Wait, but what? I thought he's only a therapist!"
"Oh, is that the story?" Dino said sheepishly. He started up the engine and they zoomed out into the road. "Crap, then I shouldn't have told you. Forget everything I said."
Profoundly confused, Tsuna furrowed his brow, trying to make sense of this new information.
"…how old are you, if I can ask?"
"I'm twenty!"
Tsuna spluttered. "That means Reborn is only three years older than you!"
"Reborn's a seasoned police officer, among other things. He began training when he was about seven, and then rose to the rank of an officer at the age of ten, as ridiculous as it sounds. It shouldn't be illegal, I know! But Reborn somehow… er, blackmailed, I guess you could say, his way into the police force. I was recruited when I was your age, and then when I was eighteen, he came and instructed me for a couple of years. Wait, crap," he cursed. "I wasn't supposed to say anything else on the matter. Don't tell Reborn I told you! He'll beat the crap out of me…"
"Wait, what? What? I'm so confused…"
"Don't make me say more than I already have," Dino groaned. "Get Reborn to explain it to you or something. We're here. Tell him I say hi for me, okay? And call me when you're done; I can drive you home."
Tsuna thanked him and hopped out of the car. He stared up at the tall building for a moment before taking a deep breath. His bag hung from his shoulders, and he opened it, making sure that he had not forgotten to bring the letters.
He wasn't sure he wanted this to be happening. He didn't want to have to explain everything from day 1, from when Yamamoto arrived to when Yamada died, to when the bombs came to his classroom door. But, he knew he had to. Reborn might figure something out; the murders might be stopped.
"Tsuna, good afternoon," Reborn said smoothly as Tsuna opened the door to the office. "How was school?"
"Strange," Tsuna admitted. "A lot of people stayed home, so it was basically empty."
Reborn nodded. "It makes sense."
Tsuna twitched nervously under Reborn's stare.
"H-How are you?"
"Fine, thank you," Reborn said. "Just…" Tsuna could have sworn that there was a hint of a smile dancing on his lips. "Chaos. There's a splendid amount of chaos in my life right now, and it feels good. Now, it has come to my attention that you are in possession of a few strange letters," Reborn said as if he were talking about the weather. "Tell me about them."
"Er," Tsuna said. He took a seat. "Well, where should I begin?"
"The beginning, of course."
"Well, I—" Tsuna paused. Reborn waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts.
"It started a month ago…"
Tsuna told him about the morning one month ago when he received the letter. He moved on to recount his experience with Yamamoto starting from a month ago—the absence, the death of Yamamoto's mother one month ago—and then paused. He was just about to begin the story of Yamada when Reborn's phone went off.
"It's from Dino," Reborn said. "Let me get this. Hello?"
"Reborn! It's terrible; it's chaos down here!"
"Chaos does not help me grasp the situation, Dino," Reborn said flatly.
"I meant that there's been another murder—and it's horrible. I feel like puking, god."
"What happened? Is it tied to the case?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. It's a woman—Miura Chihiro. She's 29 and—"
"I don't care about the name or the age, just give me what she's missing," Reborn said impatiently.
"She's missing—she's missing her—her brain."
Reborn's eyes widened and he snapped his phone shut, tearing out a piece of paper and pencil.
"R-Reborn?"
"Shut up, Tsuna. We'll have to meet another day. Let's say in three days, how does that sound? Take the bus home, don't get killed. Don't stray into isolated areas and die, or else I'll take you from hell and kill you again. Later."
Sputtering, Tsuna was pushed out of the office.
Reborn closed his eyes, words burning in his mind. He ran through them, gears in his head turning furiously.
Eye
Appendix
Radius
Duodenum
Masseter
Ulna
Brain
BEARDUM
BARDUME
BEARDUM
BERADUM
BERAMUD
BERMAUD
BERMUAD
Bermuda
"Bermuda…" Reborn whispered. He had seen that name before—where? His eyes flickered around the office, landing on the neglected, wilted purple flowers that Tsuna's mother had given to him a few days before.
Purple wilted flower—dying flower—where had he seen it before; why were these things connected to Bermuda?
"Ahh, yes… that lady who gave me the list…"
Reborn simply stared down his nose at the slowly wilting lady. Her purple suit made her look even more like a dying flower. Her brown eyes slid to the side; a slight blush came over her face under Reborn's intense stare.
Smirking, Reborn leaned in close. In a deep, mellow voice, he said, "I'll ask again. Will you give me the information you have on slit-throat murders?"
He rubbed a strand of the lady's hair in between his fingers. She almost fell out of her chair in her haste to back away. Red as a tomato, she hurried off to the back of the building. Satisfied, Reborn lounged on the counter, casting a lazy eye over the documents spread across the lady's desk.
He had come all the way from Namimori to Tokyo, where the Vongola Police Headquarters, the main police web of Japan, was located. He wasn't going to leave until he had gleaned all the information he could possibly get.
The files he was looking at listed the names of several convicted criminals. He scanned them quickly, committing them to memory in case he needed to pull out the names on the spot in the future.
Not supposed to be doing this sort of work, he reminded himself. Timoteo assigned me to a therapist post and told me to take a break from this sort of work.
Too bad, the other side of him scoffed. Can't stop me.
Kuroko Haruo
Yukio Jiro
Yamanaka Kaoru
Rokudo Mukuro
Xanxus
"Xanxus got himself into trouble again?" Reborn sighed, readjusting his fedora. "I won't bother asking… last time, it was just a minor assault… threw a steak at a waiter, didn't he?"
Bermuda von Vichtenstein
John Smith
Jerry Guo
Samantha Hiro
"Bermuda von Vichtenstein…"
In a flash, he was at his laptop, hacking into the Vongola Police Department's site of records. His fingers tapped furiously, typing Bermuda von Vichtenstein into the search bar. Immediately, a single log appeared, with the face of the man pasted beside it.
Reborn downloaded the file and opened it up. His eyes furiously scanned the document until he found what he wanted—the crime, date of imprisonment, date of release.
"Broke into Simon Orphanage five years ago… He was caught… confessed to other crimes… was released one month ago…"
One month ago… he'd heard that phrase recently from Tsuna's mouth, something about Yamamoto's mother being killed.
He sighed, rubbing his face. A little investigation wouldn't hurt. As a detective, over the years you found that sometimes the strangest things were connected. He pulled up the boy's file and scanned over it.
Yamamoto Takeshi (age 16)
Birthday: 04/20/XXXX
Relatives:
Father: Yamamoto Tsuyoshi
Mother: Yamamoto Kazue (deceased, age 41)
Address: xxx Number: xxx
"Yamamoto Kazue…"
Death of Yamamoto Kazue: Details:
Date and Time: April 16, 3:44 p.m.
Location: Home
Cause of death: Suicide
Reborn frowned.
With further research, he found that Yamamoto's mother had been a lawyer when she was still alive, all the way up to her death. No—that wasn't quite right. She resigned just a few days before her death—which was a week after her parent's home, Fukushuu Mansion had been burned down, along with all her family and relatives.
Fukushuu Mansion… Revenge Mansion…
People picked such strange names for houses these days, Reborn thought to himself, clicking his tongue. Nevertheless, he filed this bit of information away, knowing for sure now that all these cases were related.
Yamamoto's mother had been involved in the case concerning the Simon Orphanage… it looked complicated. He opened the file up, scanning it quickly, and slowly, his eyes began to widen as things began to click into place.
"Bermuda von Vichtenstein… imprisoned for his many crimes… he was caught while breaking into the Cozart household and during the chaos, one of the people at the scene accidentally shot and killed Cozart's wife. Dear me, dear me… whose squad was on duty then?"
With a few more clicks, Reborn had all the information he needed. His eyebrows twitched as if they wanted to shoot up into his hairline, but he remained poker-face, his eyes and fingers the only parts of him that moved.
"Iemitsu's squad was there… gave orders to not shoot, but still, this incident happened."
That man was always more trouble than he was worth. After that, it seemed that Iemitsu's entire squad was annihilated… by none other than Cozart himself. The child left in the care of a close friend, Cozart was arrested, tried, and found guilty, sentenced quickly to death. Simon Orphanage passed into the hands of a man named Genkishi, who himself had been raised at the orphanage…
So what did this mean? Reborn sighed. Another boring revenge case. He took out his pen and sketched out the events.
Bermuda von Vichtenstein broke into the Cozart household five years ago. Police arrive and accidentally shot and killed Cozart's wife. Bermuda was caught, tried by Yamamoto's mother, and imprisoned for five years. For revenge, Cozart destroyed Iemitsu's squad. He was convicted, tried by Yamamoto's mother, and sentenced to death. Enraged at the time he'd lost, as soon as Bermuda was released, he put together a plan of revenge to make his name known. The day he'd been released—April 9, one week before Yamamoto's mother's death, he went to her parent's home and burned down the mansion—Fukushuu "Revenge" Mansion, thereby stating his purpose. Knowing that in carrying out his plan that he would eventually be caught, he decided to mold his own fate, and decide his own death, so he spelled out his own name with the victims, thereby making it known that he would be the cause of his own death, not the investigators.
"What a petty man," Reborn tsked, throwing down his pen. "And you, Shamal, don't think I don't know you're standing there."
"As sharp as ever, Reborn," Shamal said, stepping out from behind a door.
"What do you want?"
"Just have an update on the Ninth's health."
"How long does he have?"
"I'd say… a month at best. He's losing strength quickly. You might want to hurry up with that boy, Tsuna."
"Enough. I don't need you telling me that, too. That aside, this serial murder case has been resolved."
"Oh? So the pretty ladies I did autopsies on are finally going to have justice be served?"
"The women and the men, yes, will finally have their revenge. The man is Bermuda von Vichtenstein. Send out the notice immediately."
"Hm… you know, this is just a shabby doctor's opinion, but looking over your notes, Reborn…" Shamal said, rubbing the stubble on his chin, "Doesn't this seem just far too simple?"
"Revenge is a simple matter," Reborn said coldly. "And it is a simple man who executes his vengeance."
"Well, I guess you've never been wrong before. By the way, this was in the mailbox at your door—thought you'd like to take a look at it judging by its title. 'Incriminating evidence,' huh?"
In the blink of an eye, the package Shamal was holding disappeared. Reborn tore it open, revealing a slender, scratched CD. He popped it into his laptop, and a poor-quality clip began playing, one belonging to a convenience store surveillance camera, dated April 31.
At first, Reborn had no idea what it was showing. It was pouring outside. People milled about in the store. Then, the doors of the store slid open, and a high-school boy barreled in, laughing as the water dripped off of him in rivulets. Right behind him was a short figure, also grinning, folding up a tangled umbrella. A boy? A small man? Reborn leaned closer to the screen.
"Isn't that… Tsuna's friend… Yamada?" Reborn muttered, squinting at the high-school boy.
"Reborn? Hello? What's going on? What is this?"
"A strip of film from the surveillance camera of a convenience store… from the location, it's one right on the route Yamada took to get home."
There was a third man loitering near the doors, probably waiting for the rain to let out, as he had no umbrella. A few women threw jackets over their heads and ran out into the rain. Yamada and his company remained in the store, walking a little out of sight. They came back out with a pair of new umbrellas, the shorter of the two tucking a wallet into his pocket and refusing coins Yamada was offering him.
The other man turned his face up at the camera for a split second as he laughed, presumably at a joke Yamada had just made. Reborn's eyes widened. The two males left the store—Yamada opened his umbrella first and dashed out into the rain, his laughing face caught by the camera one last time before Bermuda followed him out.
"April 31…" Reborn breathed as the third man in the clip seemed to give up on waiting for the rain to end and walked out. "The day poor Yamada died. Sighted with none other than Bermuda von Vichtenstein himself. I daresay this is the last anyone ever saw of Yamada."
"They looked pretty chummy to me," Shamal drawled, taking a drag from a cigarette. "Oof!"
"Don't smoke here," Reborn snapped, removing his pen from Shamal's arm. "Now, I have more than enough evidence to land Bermuda in jail. All there is now is to catch him."
Reborn sighed and stood from his desk. "That turned out to be a rather boring case, wouldn't you say?"
"Rather than that, I'd say you failed," Shamal said.
"What?"
Shamal smirked and lifted the cigarette from his lips. He tapped the paper. "Right here. You said that Bermuda was deciding his own fate and how he would be caught and condemned, didn't you? In the end, you weren't able to solve the case before he completed his plan. It took every last hint he gave you for you to figure it out. He had to spell his entire name out for you.
"And in the end, how many people died for it? Seven, right? No, six. I saved that cute girl when she was brought in with her eye missing and her kidneys stabbed. Whatever happened to her, anyways? Didn't she escape along with that nasty heterochromatic-eyed boy?"
Reborn tipped his fedora over his eyes.
"Looks like I went too far. Sorry, Reborn. Just saying the honest, blunt truth here."
"Shut it," Reborn said irately. "And leave. I don't need your disgusting presence in my office."
"Sheesh, so snappy," Shamal said, raising his hands. "Alright, I'm out. My duty is done anyways. The Ninth wants to see you soon. I'll get the word out for you that we're looking for a man called Bermuda von Vichtenstein. And if you want to hang out with a couple of babes, I—"
Seeing the pen twirling dangerously in Reborn's fingers, Shamal hastily exited. Sighing imperceptibly, Reborn tossed the instrument on the desk and paced to the window.
Never once in the past 10 years of his career as a detective had Reborn ever been wrong in a case. What had once been fun and mentally stimulating was now just boring, repetitive drivel. How many times had he solved murder cases that were based on revenge? Too many that he could now sniff them out almost immediately.
This was just another one of those boring cases… that had taken him a little longer than usual to solve…
Because he'd just wanted it to be something different. Something smarter. Something more difficult to solve, something that would tax his brain to its limits, so he waited until the last minute before capitulating and accepting the fact that this case was nothing more than a trivial case of vengeance…
But he guessed he'd never get something exciting again. Even Tsuna's letter was rendered obsolete now, since the case was solved. He could guess what the contents were, based on Tsuna's blog. A letter of regret, wanting Tsuna to go back in time and prevent Yamada's death.
Wasn't that all it was?
"What a bore."
It began to rain. The sky turned dark grey as the droplets splattered against the windowpane. The soft, muted light illuminated Reborn's features harshly, putting a gleam into his eyes that spoke of disappointment and immense boredom.
His phone rang, disrupting the silence.
"What is it?"
"This… A man called Bermuda von Frankenstein—"
"It's Vichtenstein."
"Er, Vichtenstein just turned himself into me. That was him speaking."
"Did he now?"
Heat swelled behind Reborn's eyes. That conniving man… he'd turned himself in already. Reborn should have guessed it. To put the cream on the top of the cake, so to say, Bermuda further wrote his own future by turning himself in before anyone could take him by force.
"Yeah… he said… he is the serial killer."
"I thought as much. Very well. The case is closed. Good bye, for now, Dino."
He ended the call. He wondered if Tsuna was home yet, safe and dry, or if he was still caught out under this rain. This unifying rain that was above the entirety of Namimori… washing away the chaos that had once ravaged the town…
"…what a bore…"
[May 10 6:03 p.m.
Wow, did you guys hear? The serial killer has been caught! Apparently it's someone called Bermuda von…von… Viketinstine? Something like that. I only heard his name, so… His picture will be released on the news in a few minutes. I'll be able to see the face of the man who killed Yamada.
Yamada, I know you will never read this… but one last time, I want to say that I'm sorry. I said it. I won't say it again! I'm different now, I guess! I've decided… that instead of apologizing to you, I'll instead live for you! You know, like when Summer Festival comes… I know you had a girl you liked that you wanted to ask out to the Summer Festival. Instead, in your place… I'll ask out the girl I like! Whose name I won't mention, hehehe… I had a conversation with R-san recently, and he told me that I violating privacy or something like that for listing people's names on my blog. I changed it all! So now, it's completely private again.
Anyways…
I won't forget your kindness or your smile, Yamada! Thank you for everything. Please rest in peace knowing that you have been avenged. Your killer is behind bars, now. Justice will be served.
That said, I wonder if I can throw away this letter, now. The future has been changed already, right? There shouldn't be anything else that happens…
I won't look at it, not yet, at least. For now… Y, G-kun, and I are all going to go visit Yamada's grave.
Everyone, take care!
Tsuna]
[May 10 6:15 p.m.
…
I just saw Bermuda on TV… I saw his face…
And suddenly, I got a terrible feeling in my gut… like my instincts were telling me that something was wrong. I still remember that letter from May 7 that told me to trust my instincts… but I don't know what to do! Why do I feel so bad?
I feel… scared… like something's not right! I feel like someone is watching me… but when I turn around no one is there. Of course no one would be there, I'm at home, in my room…
I hope Y and G-kun get here quickly. Mom is out, and so I'm alone. I don't like this feeling. It's telling me I need to do something, but I don't know what…
Y and G-kun are here, thank goodness. I feel a lot better now. Take care, everyone!
Tsuna]
Evil is always devising more corrosive misery through man's restless need to exact revenge out of his hate. —Ralph Steadman
Just as Reborn was about to close up his office, He caught sight of a piece of paper he hadn't noticed before. Eyebrow raising a millimeter, he picked it up. What messy handwriting—handwriting that belonged only to his favorite patient…
An imperceptibly quizzical expression rose onto his face as he brought the paper close. It looked like… part of a letter? Signed Sawada Tsunayoshi, 26…
"Tsuna must have left this here… what a doof."
Nonetheless, curiosity piqued, Reborn scanned the letter.
…That day… I thought everything was done. But it wasn't. It was actually far from over, and the nightmare was only beginning. What started out as a serial murder case turned out to be… well, I can't describe it. The only thing I can tell you is that revenge is a scary force. So frightening, in fact, that I wish it didn't exist. I, too, was once consumed by it… but as I stand here now, on Namimori Bridge, the place where Yamamoto, my best friend, died, I can see how foolish I was.
It took me a few months to complete this letter to you, myself of ten…no, eleven years ago. But it is almost done. I shall be sending this to you, packaged with all my hopes, and all the dreams everyone left to me. There is not much left, since you—I—we stopped our blog after that incident.
And now… it's up to you. Over here, eleven years in the future, I have completed my duty. I have finally ended the cycle of revenge. I only have a few final letters left for you before I, too, disappear from this world…
Reborn frowned. What was this nutcase talking about? Was Tsuna from eleven years in the future mentally unstable? A lunatic? A registered insane person? Reborn sighed. He supposed he shouldn't leave Tsuna to listen to the deranged ramblings of a man who claimed to be Tsuna from the future. He wrote in his mental agenda to email Tsuna to come again…
…That day… I thought everything was done.
I have a question for all of you, regarding the girls! Chrome, Haru, and Kyoko especially… do you want them to appear in the story? As in, have something to add to the plot? And, if so, should I change their characters a bit and make them stronger? They've always sort of pissed me off with their inability to do anything…
I will be including Chrome later on, and she will definitely be stronger than she is cut out to be in the manga.
Also where is the new ORANGE chapter! I'm dying!
Thank you very much for all the reviews (though they seem to have been decreasing recently ._.)! They really make my day :) If there is anything I can do to make this story better (OOCness, etc) let me know, and I will work on it!
Author-san, out!
