Flame Nexus
A more calculating Iemitsu realizes the inevitability of his daughter, Sawada Tsunami, becoming the future Vongola Decimo. Choosing to be proactive about the matter, he takes steps to ensure that Tsuna will be ready for when the mafia arrives at her doorstep. (Warning: This story has graphic examples of competent parenting). fem!Tsuna, All27
x
There were seventeen headless chickens running around the room, and Iemitsu calculated that only three of them were too invaluable to go through with snapping their necks. Then he remembered that his baby cousin had orchestrated a coup d'état against the Vongola Ninth, and decided that panicked, incompetent subordinates were better than no subordinates at all.
"Lal, I want every Varia members' whereabouts for the last two weeks accounted for, excluding those on missions abroad," the blonde man ordered, "Get someone to recall all CEDEF members on non-critical missions in the country back to headquarters, and initiate Level Two lockdown. Deploy standard procedure on Vongola-controlled territory, copy and delete the footage from the Ninth's cameras, and set up a protection detail around Frederico Vongola."
"Yes, sir!" Beyond the paleness of Lal's skin, there were no indications of the shock and fear that Iemitsu could practically feel emanating from his Cloud Guardian. Her military training had kicked in, and she was every bit the professional and disciplined second-in-command that Lal prided herself on being. "Do you want the Vongola heir moved to the Ninth's mansion?"
"No," Iemitsu hesitated, briefly considering the options before him, "The Ninth is now under CEDEF detail, with contact only to be allowed to his Guardians, Reborn, myself, or you, acting on my behalf."
"Yes, sir. Anything else, sir?" the blue-haired toddler asked, ready to act on his orders.
"Varia doesn't have many medical professionals," Iemitsu mused, "Gather all of the active Suns on personnel, and have them offer healing to the Varia prisoners. Then, call Dr. Shamal, and tell him that I'm cashing in on that favor from his little Storm. He needs to bug as many Varia officers as he can- innocent and guilty- with a short-term, easily traced illness, with violent side-effects. Finally, find me some cryonics expert- civilian, if necessary- and recruit them to CEDEF immediately."
Lal had too much self-control to show the surprise on her face. "Sir?"
"I'll be visiting the Ninth's Mansion now," the Lion of Vongola continued blithely, as though one of the biggest tragedies in Vongola history hadn't occurred mere hours ago, "I trust that you'll have this situation handled by the time I get back."
"Yes, sir. Of course, sir," the former soldier said, pride visibly straightening her frame. "Perhaps I should arrange a guard for you, sir? As a high-profile member of the Vongola, you might be a target for whoever is trying to destabilize the famiglia."
Iemitsu's immediate reaction was to snap that as a fully trained Sky, he didn't need a complement of guards, before his sensible side kicked in, and pointed out how arrogant that reaction would be. Then it reminded him that Lal was only suggesting this out of genuine concern for his safety, and that he would be a complete and utter dick, if he reacted to her concern in that manner.
"Two," the blonde man allowed reluctantly, and a pleased smile crossed Lal's face. She looked towards the group of agents that had been shamelessly eavesdropping on them, and two of them stepped forward. A heavyset, bald man and a delicate, fine-boned woman, that specialized in close-quarters combat and long-distance sharpshooting respectively.
'Oh God, my subordinates have systems set up for this,' Iemitsu thought, inwardly impressed by Lal's initiative. 'Sometimes I think she's just too good of a right-hand.'
"There's a car waiting for you outside, Boss," Pricilla nearly ran in, clearly angling for left-hand.
"I'll send a driver to pick up Basil and Hayato," Turmeric added, proving that even near-catastrophes wouldn't get in the way of office politics.
"You do that," Iemitsu said, wryly, and then stalked outside to the idling black car. The barely-controlled fury inside of him stoked his flames, and an acrid smell began to fill the ground floor as the linoleum floors developed burning imprints of the Sawada's feet. A few deep breaths drew his flames deeper into his body, where Iemitsu mentally coiled it together into one deeply-compressed sphere.
'Why the hell would Xanxus stage a coup against his own father?' Iemitsu seethed, 'Maybe he was a little upset over the adoption issue, but this was a well-executed, planned… dammit, think Sawada! What information do you have? One, Enrico and Massimo Vongola were both murdered. Two, the best evidence collected points to Varia agents as perpetrators. This means one of three things, that Varia agents killed them, that an enemy famiglia killed them and framed Varia agents, or that a Varia agent killed them to frame another Varia agent.'
Iemitsu's fingers began to randomly tap the opening the Mozart's Moonlight Sonata, as the facts ping-ponged through his mind. 'Three, both heirs may not have been killed by the same perpetrator. Xanxus claimed to have killed Massimo, but he's not exactly a trustworthy witness. Not to mention that Massimo's body was… drowned? Lal mentioned internal hemorrhaging, but how deep…?'
"And pop goes the weasel," Iemitsu hummed, ignoring the freaked out look on his guards' faces. The Sawada's blue-grey eyes glittered maliciously, as he unclipped his phone and pressed the first number on speed dial, "Lal? How deep was the lake that Massimo was drowned in?"
At the subsequent answer, Iemitsu smiled. It wasn't one of his normal smiles- the goofy, naïve one that he employed for work, or the wide, cheerful one that he used for his family. This smile was dark and triumphant; it was the same one sixteen-year-old Iemitsu Sawada wore when he tracked down the bastard that put out a hit on his mother.
"Approximating the amount of time Massimo spent underwater, with the addition of transportation to the nearest body of salt water of appropriate depth, and maybe one hour for kidnapping, can you estimate the duration of absence necessary for the crime? Then, cross-reference it with the schedules of the Varia officers preceding and following the date of Massimo's murder, beginning from the top," Iemitsu ordered, "Get me a list of all agents that fit that time span, and then narrow the criteria with high intelligence, noted sadistic tendencies and sharpshooting ability. Have all those suspects tracked under high-priority labels."
'Xanxus, you stupid, reckless, prideful, noble bastard,' Iemitsu thought, forced to acknowledge that the selfish brat of his childhood had grown into a slightly less selfish man of his own power, 'You knew who the traitor was, and did everything you could to paint it out for me. Now, if only you weren't so damned distrustful about everything.'
By the time that Iemitsu had come to his realization, and had moved on to berating himself for ignoring the clues in favor of pushing his daughter's candidacy, the car had arrived. He allowed Agent Adriano to step out before him, falling neatly into the man's behemoth's shadow, and extending his Hyper Intuition into the air around him.
Had Iemitsu not been prepared for it, the feelings of horror, panic, pain, and sorrow would have utterly drowned him in their scope and intensity. As it was, the blonde man had to resist the urge to wrap as many of the suffering people as possible into a comforting cloak of his own flames, and thus, merely extended it to the CEDEF agents following him. Agent Maria's footsteps faltered briefly, as the warm reassurance of Sky Flames enwrapped her anxieties, but the subsequent click-clack of her sensible shoes held a certain confidence that the former walk lacked.
The hallways of the Ninth's Mansion were nearly deserted, and beyond a set of bodyguards stationed at the perimeter, Iemitsu could only sense a gathering of warm bodies in the second conference room. It filled him with a sense of pride to know that CEDEF agents stationed at the Mansion had reacted so quickly to shut all body flows down, even if he found minor holes in the security that should have been patched up.
'I knew having an annual practice run wasn't enough preparation,' Iemitsu mentally griped, 'As soon as I get this matter settled, Vongola-direct agents will be recalled to complete a dozen more run-throughs. Then someone can explain to me why the kitchen isn't being staffed by an agent now.'
Not only was the kitchen a common access point for internal sabotage, but Iemitsu would never feel comfortable accepting a drink from another Vongola branch that hadn't been prepared by his agents. Even if it wasn't sabotaged, he'd probably be stuck with that caffeine-drenched cappuccino a certain hitman preferred.
'Speak of the devil, and his cutesy orange hat and curly sideburns shall appear,' the Head of CEDEF thought, eyes sweeping across the room. Along with the world's deadliest baby, Nono had gathered his Guardians, several Varia agents, and the Department Heads of Vongola Medical, Personnel, Security, and External Liaisons.
"Ah, Iemitsu, I'm glad you're here," Nono greeted, his old age and frail body firmly pushed behind the mantel of a man that led Vongola for almost three decades now, "Please sit down."
"Your guards will have to stand though," Reborn's childish voice piped up, "I'm surprised that you brought them along, Iemitsu."
"I wanted to make sure that you had a playmate available, Reborn," Iemitsu shot back, disregarding the empty seat across from Nono that had been reserved for him, and sitting instead, at the end of the table, "One can keep you company, while the other fetches snacks, toys, blankets, and such."
"You always go to so much effort for me, Iemitsu," Reborn replied, beaming, "I'll have a cappuccino then. Make sure to buy me a good one, or I'll have to shoot the messenger."
"No need," Iemitsu made a sharp gesture with his right hand, "Adriano makes an excellent cappuccino. I'm not particularly fond of the drink myself, but Lal swears by it."
Lal had chosen a good agent, because Adriano's features didn't change at all, as he obediently left the room. Reborn raised a hand to tug at his left sideburn, and Iemitsu casually turned his gaze towards the right side of the table. The long-suffering look on Nono's face suggested that he was done indulging their all-too-often similar antics, and Iemitsu wisely decided not to press the issue.
'Clear, clear, clear, clear, ooh, Glasses must be the messenger,' Iemitsu thought, without enthusiasm. Aloud, he said, "When did Ottabio blow the whistle about the coup d'état?"
The reactions of the rest of the table were immediate. Nono's face was resigned, his Guardians, surprised, but not enough to suggest ignorance of the matter, the Department Heads shocked, and Ottabio, briefly stunned. And Reborn, obviously, exuded the smugness of a well-satisfied cat. It would have been suspicious, if smug was not Reborn's default mood.
"Thank you, Iemitsu," the Ninth said, dryly, "I hadn't gotten around to sharing that piece of intelligence yet, so it's nice to see that CEDEF is doing something right."
'Ouch. Nono really doesn't mince words, does he?' Iemitsu quietly tapped a message on his knee. He had always had restless hands as a child, and his mother's response to that had been to sign him up for piano classes. They were an effective method of torturing a nominally adventurous child, but had the unexpected side effect of being a memory aid.
The Ninth began his debriefing, and the entire, chilling story spilled out. In broad strokes, Xanxus had decided to take control of the Vongola by force- wrongwrongwrong, his Intuition shrieked- and recruited his personal Guardians to do so. They had infiltrated the Vongola Mansion, attacked Nono, and were narrowly defeated when the Ninth employed the Zero Point Breakthrough technique on his adopted son. The Guardians had immediately surrendered thereafter, but the entire operation may have been successful, if not for the timely intervention of Ottabio. Xanxus had been removed to a secluded location, and his disloyalty was not to be spread outside of this room.
'Good luck with that,' Iemitsu inwardly mused, eyeing the look of barely hidden glee on Glasses' face, 'Would be a hypocrite if I blamed him for trying to move up the ranks, but damn, if that incompetence isn't galling.'
Ottabio was an independent assassin, and a good one too, if he had risen to second-in-command of Varia, but he was no covert operations specialist. Nor had he been schooled in backroom politics from a young age, like Iemitsu had, and so, his backstabbing hadn't been as thorough as it should have been.
'Bet he's a dick to the underlings,' Iemitsu sneered, 'They'd be the first to air his dirty laundry, if he couldn't employ a measure of basic decency.'
Now that the blonde thought about it, being rude to the subordinates and the help had never been a problem of Xanxus'. Not that his baby cousin had been particularly respectful of them, but at least he was a jerk to everyone in equal measure. He treated Iemitsu with just as much irreverence and scorn as he did the Varia laundress.
"Does this make Frederico the presumptive heir?" the Department Head of External Liaison blurted out first, causing a blank, yet somehow disapproving, expression to cross the Ninth's face.
"That hasn't been decided yet," Nono replied, forcing Iemitsu to tightly clench his hand to prevent his smile from showing. His Tsu-chan was now officially in the running for Decimo! "Next question."
Iemitsu leaned back, and took a calm sip of the bittersweet green tea that Adriano had brought back. Across from him, Reborn mirrored the gesture with a tall Styrofoam cappuccino, and the Left and Right Hands of the Vongola Ninth exchanged mutually dark smirks. It was times like this that almost made Iemitsu like Reborn. Almost.
The next few questions regarded the security of the building, Vongola's official message to their allied famiglia, Vongola's unofficial message to neutral or enemy famiglia, and what should should be done about the treasonous Varia officers.
"We don't exactly have a lot of Quality assassins available for Vongola," Iemitsu pointed out, ignoring the Medical Head pontificating about making an example out of them, "Oh, shut up, Tomas. You have no idea what you're talking about. I suggest that we have them monitored for the next two years, and, given good behavior, forgive their actions."
"That's barely a punishment!" the Personnel Head exclaimed, astonished, "I would like to remind you, Iemitsu, that they tried to assassinate the Boss!"
"And I would like to remind you, Anna, that you should really be focusing on your areas of expertise, as CEDEF still hasn't gotten their severance packages and dental plans drawn up," the blonde man snarked, "The backlog in your department suggests that mass firings need to be held, but, since that falls under your purview, I doubt it'll get done anytime in this decade."
"Sawada isn't wrong," Reborn added, refusing to link the word 'correct' to the brightly grinning man, "We need assassins, but we can't skip punishment for treasonous acts. How about five years, with the first two years monitored by both CEDEF and Vongola officers, garnished pay, and temporary sealing of flames?"
"Not a chance," Iemitsu immediately responded, "CEDEF refuses to share monitoring duties with another group within the Vongola. That is a precedent will not be set while I'm in office."
Reborn cocked his lime-green gun in an obvious challenge, and Iemitsu's eyes were shuttered in orange discs in response. Between them sprung an atmosphere of such tension, that most of the other Mafioso had to shrink back, lest they catch either one's attention. Then Nono gave a pointed cough, and the oppressive atmosphere suddenly disappeared, leaving an innocently-blinking toddler and a goofily-smiling fool in its place.
The discussion moved forward, and Iemitsu's attention began to wander as the details of Xanxus' Guardians punishments were hashed out. Some of them, he knew, were entirely for show. Everyone who was anyone, meaning at least half the people in this room, had guessed that Mamnon doubled as the Mist Arcoboleno, Viper, and no one wanted to test his loyalty through wage garnishment. Sure, he had proved to be more loyal to Xanxus than to Vongola, but coming in second was fine, when the first was trapped in a prison of ice.
When that question had been thoroughly answered, the subject moved to Frederico's security.
"Are you handling it?" Nono asked Iemitsu bluntly, ignoring the requisite Head's specialty.
"Yes," Iemitsu nodded, knowing that this action had cost him a bit of political goodwill. "I'll have him transferred to Daniel's contingent as soon as I can." The Head of the Security Division nodded to him, and Iemitsu mentally calculated the cost of the wine needed to smooth this faux pas over.
Nono must have been really mad at him, to engage in the sort of petty, underhanded tricks that Reborn and Iemitsu regularly played on one another. The thought of the older man's ire, caused a feeling of discomfort and guilt to press in his belly, which was something that Iemitsu hadn't felt since he had been a teenager.
'I don't want to even think about how bad it'll be when he learns about Ottabio's treachery,' Iemitsu cringed, 'It's not that I don't want to tell him. It's simply that he'll screw everything up if I- oh, damn. I think I'm empathizing with Xanxus now. No amount of sake will ever make that okay.'
When the conversation was done, an exhausted Nono dismissed everyone from the room, and Iemitsu gestured for his guards to follow them. He didn't move from his chair, and neither did Reborn, causing the Ninth to put on spread his thumb and forefinger on his temple, and begin to massage it.
"Out with it," the old man ordered, not bothering to open his eyes.
"Do you have another candidate for Tenth locked away?" Reborn's question was short, blunt, and merciless, and even Iemitsu was momentarily surprised by how quickly the hitman had squirrelled out the truth. The Ninth merely pointed towards the Head of CEDEF, and the baby hitman groaned.
"He has spawn now?" Reborn had the audacity to add a note of horror to his voice, "God help us all."
"Go fuck yourself," Iemitsu cheerfully replied, "What do you plan to do with Xanxus?"
"The punishment will be my own to decide," Nono answered, a brief look of surprise crossing his face at Iemitsu's almost-show of concern, "Good day, gentlemen."
Then, the Ninth determinedly marched out of the room, Reborn's keen black eyes focused on him, and Iemitsu decided that he had best make himself scarce. He had a lot to do after all. There were traitors to be hunted down, agents to be marshalled, and cute little potential Guardians to be sent abroad.
x
Tsuyoshi hands deftly sliced the crisp vegetables on the cutting board, even as his mind wandered the information that he had received today. The news had been intentionally vague; apparently, something difficult had come up at work, and Iemitsu would be unable to travel abroad for at least the next two years. Nana had responded to this news exactly as the sushi chef could have predicted, by cancelling the playdates, clinging to her daughter, and (secretly) crying about her forced separation from her spouse for upwards of two years.
The former assassin had been entirely at a loss on how to deal with the sobbing woman, but did his best to show his support byway of pre-made meals and transporting Tsuna to and from school. He had also done his best to talk the brunette out of some of her more outlandish ideas, like flying to Italy and joining the mafia to be closer to Iemitsu.
Tsuyoshi could acknowledge the unfairness of the woman's position. Nana had been forced into a situation where she was loved by- and deeply in love with- a man who held the second most powerful position in the Vongola Famiglia, completely without her knowledge. Iemitsu was torn between his love for his family and his loyalty to his famiglia, and while the former took precedence in the most desperate of situations, Nana's loneliness wouldn't qualify as such. It would have been different had she known what she was getting into, but when Nana first married the blonde man, she had done so with the understanding that he was a foreign construction worker.
Regardless, the very nature of their marriage, and Tsuyoshi's own understanding of Iemitsu's personality, suggested that Nana was stuck in her position. If she ever asked for a divorce, then Vongola would pull strings for Iemitsu to be awarded full custody of their daughter, because Vongola Primo's bloodline simply couldn't be lost to the civilian gene pool. That was assuming that it would even proceed to a court case, as Skies had an unfortunate tendency of persuading their partners to agree with their opinions. Sawada hadn't struck him as the type to enthrall his wife, and Nana didn't bear the glassy eyes, hazy countenance, or slipshod memory of an enthralled spouse, but love could push a man to desperate means.
Not to mention that CEDEF had a higher body count than Varia, since the former dealt with wholesale massacre of enemy famiglia, while the former dealt with high-profile, difficult-to-secure targets.
That had only been half of Sawada's message though. The other half mentioned that one of his subordinates, his personal apprentice, and a potential Storm Guardian were on a plane heading to Japan, which opened an entirely different can of worms for Tsuyoshi. Previously, he had allowed his son to build up a friendship with Tsunami, free of the expectations and pressures of developing a Guardian bond, and, in response, their friendship and bond had grown remarkably. Now another boy, with knowledge about the process, was travelling to Naminori, and Tsuyoshi would be doing his son a great disservice, if he left him ignorant.
So, Tsuyoshi had been forced to sit his son down, and give him the Talk.
Not the one about dating, sexual intercourse, and sexually-transmitted diseases, that Tsuyoshi would have to give before high school, but the mafia one regarding flames. He had briefly covered the different flame types, the potential to develop Guardian bonds with an unattached Sky, how they were connected to the mafia, and the importance of Omerta.
"Tsuna is a Sky, isn't she?" was Takeshi's immediate response, after the former assassin invited his son to ask any questions.
"Yes, she is," Tsuyoshi nodded. "She's been flame-active since before her fourth birthday."
The dark-haired boy gave a slow, considering nod. "That's why you started to train her?"
"Like I said, her father promised me a payment that I couldn't refuse," Tsuyoshi answered, shrugging.
Takeshi's lips began to droop down. "To be my friend?"
"What? No, not at all!" the older man hurried to assure the distressed child, shaking his head. "Tsuna is your friend because she chooses to be."
"Am I her friend because she's a Sky?" Takeshi asked, a look of insecurity entering her face.
"No," Tsuyoshi answered firmly, "Skies can actively compel other people to be kind to them, but that takes some power and a fine degree of control. Tsuna can't do anything like that, and do you honestly think that she would be the type of girl to do so?"
Takeshi shook his head negative. "No, Tsuna's better than that, but…" he hesitated, "Am I taking advantage of Tsuna because I want her to be my Sky?"
"Takeshi, you didn't even know that flames existed before today," Tsuyoshi answered, "How could you take advantage of Tsuna?"
"Then she's not my Sky?" Takeshi's shoulders drooped down now, and his father briefly wondered how his son managed to make the worst assumption of everything he said.
"Okay, let me try this again," Tsuyoshi muttered, "Tsuna is a Sky, you're a Rain, and the two of you have started forming a Guardian bond. That is a completely natural and wonderful process, in which neither of you took advantage of the other. The Guardian bond happened because you two are such close, genuine friends, and it means is that you'll become even more attuned to one another in the future. There are some other advantages that currently do not apply, because you're too young. Understand?"
His son nodded happily, and then a frown crossed his face. "Why are you telling me this now?"
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto stared at his son blankly. For a moment, he was under the horrible suspicion that the Vongola Hyper Intuition was contagious, before his common sense reasserted itself, and Tsuyoshi was reminded that he simply had a very observant little boy.
"Right, I wanted to do this, so you won't become jealous of someone who'll arrive from Italy soon," Tsuyoshi sighed, "Like you, he is likely to become a Guardian for Tsuna, which means that they'll share a close friendship. The important thing for you to remember is that you will likely form a close friendship with him too. Guardians are permanent, lifetime positions, and, since you'll share a Sky, you'll be forced into each other's company often. While jealousy is natural, you would be better off by making a good impression…"
x
Hibari Aiko's feet nearly danced over the wooden floor of her kitchen, as she busied herself with making dinner for her family. For all of her talents in murder, extortion, blackmail, and torture, she didn't have much of a skilled hand in the kitchen, and thus, dinner consisted of a simple omelette rice and plain tea. It would have been grander if Aiko had acquiesced to her husband's request for a cook, but there were some aspects of civilian life that she had never been able to accustom herself too.
One such custom was that it was the wife's duty to prepare the meals. Aiko had been rather bemused by this, at first, since the least awful chef on the team got saddled with the duty in the Triads, but her mother-in-law was a rather traditional woman. And since Norio was depressingly insistent about not forcing his elderly- and perfectly healthy, Aiko would point out- mother to live alone…
"Aiko, dear, have you completed the dinner?" Isamu Hibari was the type of woman Aiko would have gone to great lengths to avoid, had they not lived in the same home, "I see that you're making a plain omelette again. Honestly, is this what my son deserves to come home to, after a long day at work?"
"Norio loves my omelettes," Aiko informed her, halfheartedly poking the fried egg.
"Even then, he has had the same meal for the last two nights," Isamu sniffed, "Perhaps if you delegated the responsibility to someone else, then Norio wouldn't have to suffer through your attempts at making a proper meal. Why does he indulge your needless whims like this?"
"Sex?" Aiko offered, drawing far more pleasure from the old woman's scandalized gasp then she probably should, "Have you seen Kyoya?"
"Yes, he's practicing those horrid foreign martial arts that you've taught him," Isamu spit back, "I understand that you may have been allowed to live wildly in China, but there are certain standards that you are expected to abide to, in Japan, as the wife of a high-ranking man, such as Norio. You cannot behave so crassly as to publicly mention carnal relations."
The dark-haired woman shrugged, momentarily ignoring her lifetime of instruction in manners, to flash her mother-in-law, an entirely improper grin. "You know the indulgence does go both ways."
'In fact, that's how Norio stopped me from kicking you out after the first night,' Aiko thought.
There was another cringing reaction, before the old woman rallied her spirits. It would have been admirable, if it was directed at literally anyone else. "What would poor Kyoya think if he saw this? He'll choose his bride based on the type of woman his mother is, and, with your example, he'll probably pick some foreign woman of loose morals-"
"I'm not sure about loose morals, but Tsunami Sawada has a half-Italian father," Aiko interjected.
Isamu's eyes bugged out. "The airhead mistress' daughter?"
Aiko nodded with clear satisfaction. "I arranged a playdate for them. I think they'll become good friends, and perhaps Kyoya will want to pursue the bride idea in the future?"
It went without saying that what her Kyo-chan wanted, he would get. Kyoya Hibari had far too much of his mother in him, to accept anything else.
"He most certainly will not!" Isamu nearly shrieked, turning around and practically stomping out of the room, "I'll have a talk with him about this!"
'And neatly push the idea into his head,' Aiko quietly mused, 'Kyo-chan would hate to have his mother matchmake for him, but spiting his grandmother is an entirely different story, isn't it?'
Not that a mere romantic liaison was Hibari Aiko's ultimate goal, though she would not be adverse to a marriage connection between Xianxia and Vongola. No, Aiko wanted something far more valuable and permanent for her cherished only son, and she wanted it for the most fundamental motherly instinct in the world: the desire to protect her child.
The underground criminal organizations consisted of a disproportionately powerful yet relatively tiny portion of the general population, and amongst them, less than a quarter of individuals ever became flame-active. Of that amount, less than 2% were Sky, and only half-again, were powerful enough to form a Guardian Bond. Of them, most could only procure two or three Guardians, because it took an immense quantity of raw power to fuel one bond, and for good reason.
The Dying Will Flames of the Sky were manifestations of one's soul, and, a Guardian Bond, was, in the simplest terms, the closest humans had ever come to finding a soulmate. Without the romantic connotations, they were individuals that were so closely attuned to one another that their bodies, hearts, and minds were said to move in synchronicity during war and peace. They were instinctively able to support and protect one another, secure in the knowledge that someone existed that would be utterly loyal to them, and to whom they could be utterly loyal to in return. They were the very essence of a family, and, for her taciturn and withdrawn son, they could be his saving grace.
At the center of this conflux of souls was the Sky, whom, due to the unique Harmony properties of their flame, were able to balance the convergence of soul flames. A Sky's flames were an amalgam of each of the flame types, and, when properly bonded, they were able to funnel their power through the bonds, and purify their Guardian's flames. This added a significant boost in power to the Guardians, and, in turn, identified separate strands of flames for a Sky. A bonded Lightning Guardian, for example, could receive the full cleansing and power boost of Sky flames, while returning lightning tinted flames to their Sky, to be used independently. Technically, this could be done without a Guardian bond, but the process became exponentially easier when a bond was in place.
Another advantage is that flame traits could travel from one Guardian, to the Sky, to another Guardian. If a non-Sun Guardian was bonded to a Sky with a Sun Guardian, for example, then they could call on the Activation process of the Sun flames to add a boost to their healing. It wouldn't be as concentrated as if the actual Sun Guardian had utilized the flames, but as long as a Sky's flames were filling the bond, then the traits would temporarily pass on.
Yet another advantage lied in the singular characteristic of Sky flames, that prevented a bonded Guardian from being susceptible to another Skies attributes. One could not hold two Guardian bonds at once, which is what Akio was depending on to protect her Kyo-chan from her brother's fate.
There was little known about the infamous Arcobaleno of the mafia world, other than that they were absurdly powerful mafioso that had been reduced to the form of toddlers by some curse. As the sister of the Storm Arcobaleno, Aiko knew a little more their situation. Their curse was fastened on a flame colored pacifier that allowed them to identify each other, and bound the full scope of their powers. They were unable to resume adult form, and, due to the compressive nature of their bodies, the Arcobaleno would have short lives. Her beloved older brother would be lucky if he were able to attend his nephew's wedding.
And when Fon was no longer the Storm Arcobaleno, then who would be pressed to service in his stead?
Aiko knew that her older brother was deliberately selected for his powerful storm flames, and forced into an unnatural Guardian bond with Aria of the Giglio Nero Famiglia. She knew that her son had immensely powerful cloud and mist flames, that the Arcobaleno curse was often subjected to family members, and that her older brother had deliberately chosen to never have a child due to that.
However, Aiko did have a child. She had her beautiful Kyo-chan, and any being that could defeat her immensely powerful older brother, would cut her down like a straw doll in pursuit of Kyoya. Aiko had been quietly dreading the fate that possibly awaited her son, when news had trickled through the retired mafioso grapevine in Namimori.
Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, the retired Swallow Assassin, had taken on a student, for the first time in… ever. Aiko's curiosity had been roused, and the dark-haired woman had proceeded to do a little investigating. When she first saw Iemitsu Sawada lurking outside of TakeSushi, the woman had nearly had a heart attack, and rapidly fled the premises. Sawada wasn't the most powerful Sky she had met, but she would much rather battle two Skies of greater caliber than face off against a man that used cunning and experience to supplement his average flame pools.
Aiko was grateful that she hadn't given into her first instinct, because the discovery that she made had been her Kyo-chan's saving grace. The Young Lion of Vongola had a little girl- only two years, her son's junior- who was a flame-active Sky. A four-year-old girl with flames that burned so brightly, that Aiko, a sensitive Mist, could immediately tell that she could support a Guardian bond. She could support more than one even, since Tsuyoshi- lucky bastard, that he was- had the good sense to throw his unbonded son in the girl's direction.
Finding an unbonded Sky of Tsunami Sawada's caliber- in sleepy little Naminori, even- had been such a massive stroke of luck that Aiko visited the Hibari family shrine the next day, and made an offering that was ten times as generous as her next-greatest one. Then she had squared her shoulders, stalked into TakeSushi, and was again blindsided by Iemitsu's wife- another Sky! With two active Skies for parents, it became easier to understand how Tsunami's flame pools could be so large, and why Iemitsu would marry a foreign civilian waitress.
Nana was unbonded, and, from maintaining an extended period of skin contact, Aiko could tell that their flames would mesh well. It would never be a full bond- Nana's pools weren't particularly large, since she had activated them so late in life, and young, adaptive souls were the ones to quickly form bonds- but Aiko could potentially draw some benefits from them. Besides, the Sawada woman made surprisingly good company, and tutoring her in minor Mist tricks could be a fun hobby.
Nana Sawada, or her dangerous husband, weren't the focus of Aiko's attention though. No, that was Tsunami Sawada, who the dark-haired woman was determined to introduce to Kyo-chan. Iemitsu's 'work emergency' was a temporary setback to her plans, but Aiko was undeterred. Sooner or later, a playdate would be arranged, and Tsunami's brightly burning flames would draw her son into its protective grasp. The little Yamamoto was slotted for the Rain position, but Kyoya had both Cloud and Mist flames, and Aiko was entirely confident that Tsunami's flames would respond to that.
It had to. There was no other way that Hibari Aiko could protect her baby boy, so it simply had to.
x
I just spent five hours straight writing this, because every time I wanted to quit, my muse would hit me over the head and inform me that it wasn't done yet. Anyway, Iemitsu's piece went from the previous estimation of a short POV to nearly dominating the chapter, and I had a lot of fun playing with his personality. As we move along the story, and the kids start growing up, I'll be shifting more scenes into their POVs, but until then, I'm gaining plenty of inspiration from the adults.
As to my previous questions, there were a lot of great suggestions for Takeshi and Hayato's secondary skillsets. It was nearly impossible to choose, but I'll tentatively place it at diplomat and sharpshooter for Takeshi, and tactician and stealth specialist for Hayato. Also, I'm making Kusakabe the operations and financial genius of the Vongola Tenth Generation, because he was simply born for that role.
On to the subject of Nana. Brighter Dreams brought up a good point when he asked why Tsuyoshi and Aiko, both of whom had extensive experience in mafia life and subsequently, were exposed to many Skies, weren't Guardians. That drove my interpretation of Guardian bonds in a far more detailed, exclusive direction, so Nana will not be having a Guardian bond. She'll have close friendships to both Tsuyoshi and Aiko, and possibly a third, rarely used character that I'm not sure if I should bring in, that will have elements of a Sky Bond, but not be a full one.
Next Question: Should Tsuna being involved in the Disciplinary Committee, and, if so, to what extent and in what capacity?
Additional Question: Who should Nagi be paired off with? I'm currently leaning towards either Basil or Fuuta, but I'm open to off-the-wall pairings (that aren't Tsuna's Guardians).
Last, but not least, I have surpassed 200 reviews! *Cheers* You guys are absolutely awesome. Seriously, I've gotten some very helpful, detailed reviews to these chapters, and they are incredibly motivational when it comes to rapidly updating the story. A special thanks to TheNightDreamerZ for being my 200th reviewer!
