Sadly this is another filler chapter. However, I promise the next chapter will actually have plot! (Unfortunatly this will only be possible once I have time to actually sit down and watch a few crucial episodes of Reborn! so I know what's actually going on).
By the time Alex and Cammie made their way home at the end of the day the boy was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He had not expected this cover to be so hard. Boarding school in French had been relatively simple; training on Malagosto, the majority of which had taken place in Italian, had been more challenging, but possible. But schooling in Japanese was something else. It required him to twist his thinking into entirely new shapes, and he wasn't quite sure he was up to it. When he confessed his problem to Cammie she shrugged in condolences, but didn't have much advice to offer. She'd spoken Japanese since second grade, and had grown up adapting to hundreds of different languages and dialects. Eventually he decided he'd just have to learn the language more quickly. He couldn't let a barrier like this either blow his cover or keep him from going home as soon as possible.
Waiting for them on the kitchen table were steaming bowls of ramen and more stacks of files. Alex had to bite back a sigh when he saw them. Was it too much to ask for a short break every once in a while. At least all the labels were in English.
Without waiting for instruction the teenage spies deposited their bags on the floor and began to systematically go through the folders.
Unlike the last series of files they'd looked at, these were lists, not of foreign mafioso, but of prominent powers in Japan and Namimori themselves. The most prevalent files, Alex noted, seemed to be on members of the Yakuza.
They spent hours memorizing names and faces, passing folders back and forth in companionable silence. The ramen grew cold as they ignored it, too caught up in their studies to care. They didn't realize how late it had gotten until the overhead light was flipped on, throwing the gradually darkening room into harsh relief.
"You know," said the laughing voice of their host from the doorway, "studying works better when you can actually see the page."
The kids looked up, blinking at the sudden brightness.
"What are you working on?" he asked, moving to put on the kettle.
Cammie held up one of the files, stifling a yawn as she realized just how tired the day had left her. "Just going through the files you left us," she said, quickly covering another yawn.
Walker gave them a puzzled look, abandoning the stove to look at what they were holding. "I didn't leave you anything," he muttered, flipping through the files.
Alex lifted an eyebrow at Cammie, and she couldn't help but smile as he mouthed, "Scatter-brained." She nodded, examining Walker as he continued to shuffle through the folders.
"Ah," he finally said, looking up at them. "I remember. I was looking at these before I went out. I am sorry. I didn't mean for you to concern yourself with the locals. It's just something I like to keep an eye on, especially now."
Cammie smiled at Alex's quickly hidden disgruntled expression as they helped him clear the table. "It's alright, Mr. Walker, we don't mind. It's good to be familiar with the locals. Right, Alex?"
The boy nodded reluctantly, his hair flopping over his forehead. "It's not unlikely that we'll have something to do with them anyway."
Walked 'hummed' his understanding as he left the room, arms full of documents. When he came back it was to find Alex and Cammie now with their schoolwork in front of them. Smiling at their diligence he started to work on dinner.
"How did everything go today?" he asked, filling the rice cooker.
"It went well," Cammie said instantly, turning away from her homework as she snapped into report mode. "Adam has made contact with Sawada Tsunayoshi and Hayato Gokudera, as well as some of their friends."
Walker turned to Alex at this and he decided it was a good time to abandon his maths. Not that he was really complaining. "Sawada's a less than average student. His scores in class are low and his performance in sports is generally considered abysmal. Many of the other students call him Loser Tsuna, and to all appearances he fits the name rather well."
"But?" asked Walker.
"But his friends are insanely loyal," inserted Cammie. "We spoke with a boy today, Sasagawa Ryohei, who's in my class. He said he recently participated in a sumo-wrestling competition with Tsuna and Hayato. He said that Tsuna is, and I quote, 'the most extreme man I have ever met,' and that he, Tsuna, is incredibly powerful and the best boxer Ryohei has ever met."
"Sumo-wrestling? Boxing?" Walker asked in confusion. "That has to be cover for something else."
"Our thoughts exactly. Especially when he mentioned friends of Reborn helping him train." Alex went ahead and let Cammie take over the debriefing. She seemed to have more experience in it, and it gave him time to study Walker's reactions.
"A friend of Reborn trained him? A middle school student?" Walker didn't even try to hide his surprise.
Cammie nodded. "It was a Master Colonello. He also mentioned a Master Pao-Pao."
"Colonello?" Walker's reaction by now had passes surprised and proceeded straight to pure shock.
"That's what he said," confirmed Cammie, feeling like they were missing something. "Why? Do you know him?"
"What do you know?" asked Alex when Walker did nothing but frown.
The man got up and left the room, returning shortly with yet another sketch. It was another toddler, this one dressed in full army uniform, a number one stuck to the side of his helmet. Clutched in his little fist was something that looked suspiciously like a sniper rifle.
"This is the child called Colonello, an ally to the Vongola, suspected associate of Reborn, and yes, another baby in the mafia."
Alex raised an eyebrow at Cammie. "Is it just me or do half the blokes in these mafia families seem to be kids."
Cammie nodded, mentally reviewing those they had gone over the day before. "I would think it would be a weakness for them."
"It might be," Walker conceded, "but you have to remember; no one suspects a child." He gave Alex a significant look. "And age is no indication of power." Here he looked at Cammie.
"Why didn't you show us this before?" asked Alex, taking the sketch back from Cammie. "If he is an associate of Reborn then we should have known about him."
His dark eyes were accusatory and Mr. Walker had to stop himself shifting in discomfort. "You have to understand. The information we get is spotty at best. Italy isn't like England, or even America*. The power isn't from the government. The criminals hold the power. Criminals like the mafia, or SCORPIA. And they control the information flow. People like Reborn and Colonello- they're myths, ghosts. They have no history, no records. For all intents and purposes, they don't exist. And no one can infiltrate the Vongola to find out any different."
Alex nodded in thought. "Have you heard anything about this other one? Master Pao-Pao?"
"No." Walker's head shake was emphatic. "I've never heard the name, but I'll ask around. See if I can unearth anything." When he saw they didn't have any other questions he asked, "Did you find out anything else?"
Cammie shook her head in denial, but Alex nodded thoughtfully. "Something Gokudera kept saying. He never called Sawada by his name. Everyone else calls him Tsuna, or Loser Tsuna. Even the professors call him Sawada. But Gokudera calls him Juudaime."
"Juudaime? Tenth?" asked Cammie, quickly translating in confusion. "Why would he call him that? What does it mean?"
Walker, however, caught on immediately. "He means the tenth boss of the Vongola."
"What?"
"Think about it," said Alex, laying out what he'd been thinking about all day. "Timoteo, the current Vongola boss, is called Vongola Nono, which is ninth in Italian. Why else would so many powerful members of the Vongola family come to Japan, and hover around such an inconsequential kid as Sawada, if they weren't assessing their future boss? Or maybe showing him their support? Why else would he be called Juudaime by a member of the Vongola?"
"But why Tsuna?" Cammie asked the question they were all wondering. "Like you said he's insignificant. Besides Ryohei I didn't really meet anyone who thought much of him today. Like you said, he's notorious for being lame. So why would they chose him as their next boss?"
"What do you think Gramps?" Alex asked, turning to Mr. Walker.
The older man frowned thoughtfully. "The idea of him being in line to be the tenth Vongola Boss makes sense. As for why they chose Sawada, I don't know. I'll dig around, see if I can find anything on his past. If he's met Timoteo, or maybe his father has, it could explain something. I'll get in touch with MI6 tonight and see what they can get. But I feel like we're missing something. Something important."
Alex and Cammie could only nod in agreement.
*I have nothing against Italy, and this is not actually how I feel. I just needed it to fit the story, and going from the fact that all of these super power criminal organizations seem to be based in Italy, that is what fit.