AN: Next chapter is here! Hope you guys like it and please review and comment. Thanks for all the reviews you guys have given me so far. New goal: 100 reviews by chapter 15. I'm averaging about 6-7 reviews per chapter so it should be do able.
AN2: I'm trying to draw out the memory glimpses from Tsuna's childhood and how he got his Ombranera Guardians. Ju Long will be the last Guardian introduced and I want to know if you guys want me to post little adventures that Tsuna and the Ombranera's have been on. If not, I'll just stop with the XX Years Ago parts and just write in the present time.
Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or anything related to it.
All dialogue will be in Japanese unless otherwise specificated.
"Speaking"
'thinking'
Previously
The boy looked up and stared at them with dark brown eyes that almost looked black. He gave them a nod and said a brief "Name's Yang Ju Long." and went back to staring at the ground.
-5 Years Ago-
Yang Qing visibly frowned at his grandson's short introduction. "Ju Long! What did I tell you about being polite?" he scolded before turning to face Tsuna and his friends again. "I'm sorry about his attitude. His parents recently-"
He was cut off by Ju Long's voice, "Don't talk about them! It's family business; leave these outsiders out of it!"
The aged healer looked like he was about to scold the boy again. But, Tsuna, trying to ease the tension spoke out instead. "Yang Shifu, why don't we head out to the limo? You must be tired from the long plane ride. Is that all the luggage you have? Why don't we get that for you?"
It looked like the pair didn't traveled light. Ju Long had a small backpack, a large blue hand held bag, and a moderate sized luggage with wheels with him, while Yang Qing had a large box and an old satchel. Without being prompted, the limo driver reached for the heavier looking box while Sung Ha went for the satchel.
"Why thank you." the aged man said with a smile and then continued when he saw the limo driver grimace at the weight of the box. "We try to be prepared for everything."
Tsuna goggled when he saw that. 'Just how much does that box weigh? How did Yang Shifu even carry something so heavy?'
Thinking that Ju Long might also want help, Tsuna signaled Dexter and both of them went towards the boy who was busy glaring at them for reasons unknown to Tsuna.
"Hey, errrr… do you want help with those bags?" Tsuna tentatively asked.
"I don't need any help! Mind your own business!" the boy growled out before walking towards the exit.
Tsuna and Dexter just stood there for a moment, stunned. "What did I ever do to him?"
Dexter just shrugged.
The walk to the limo was short and Tsuna spent that time talking to the Chinese healer. It wasn't until they were actually in the car that the topic of the conversation drifted towards Misaki and her disability.
It was then that Yang Qing dropped a bombshell on the young group of kids.
"1 million dollars. If I decide to treat the girl, I will require 1 million dollars, or if you prefer, 76.9112444 million yen." he announced as soon as the topic was breached.
Everyone's jaws dropped at the amount, even Ju Long's. If the situation wasn't so serious, Tsuna would have laughed at how precise the conversion from US dollars to yen was. But at the moment, he was too busy trying to remember how much money they had available.
Tsuna nudged Dexter and whispered, "Dex! Please tell me we have 1 million dollars in our account."
Dexter pulled out his laptop and started typing away. After a few seconds he frowned and whispered back, "Even if we add this month's bank interest, we only have around 950,000 dollars!"
The brown haired boy paled at the words. They were short 50,000 dollars! That wasn't by any means chump change. That was a lot of money! He quickly ran through his options. The only one that still had money was Sung Ha and even if he did pour in the rest of his money, they would still be short. Dexter and Alexandra couldn't touch their inheritance until they are legal adults. No bank would loan a 10 year old any money. Asking his parents was out of the question.
Tsuna was stumped and didn't know what to do. As he continued to think, he felt a chill go down his spine: as if someone were intensely staring at him. He snapped his head up and followed the feeling. His eyes landed on non-other than Yang Qing, the blind healer. Even though the man was blind and wearing sunglasses, Tsuna still felt the intensity of the stare. He could faintly see the old man's eyes behind his shades and they were trained on him. Observing his reactions and judging them. But, that was preposterous! Blind men's eyes wouldn't do that!
As if sensing that Tsuna was staring back at him, Yang Qing smiled. "That won't be a problem, will it?" he drawled out.
Tsuna grimaced at the tone. 'Of course it'll be a problem! Children don't just randomly have a million dollars lying around the house to use!' he thought privately.
Instead of voicing his thoughts, Tsuna took a deep breath and smiled back. "Of course not, Yang Shifu. As long as you help my friend, payment won't be an issue."
He would figure out something later.
-Present time-
Tsuna smiled as he watched his friends devour the food his mom had made. Well, at least the food was being used for its original purpose: to feed his Guardians.
10 minutes later, when they were all 'fed and watered,'* Tsuna started the meeting. He knew that his friends were all very curious and he wouldn't deny them their answers. So, he opened the floor with "What do you guys want to know?"
His Guardians looked at one another before Yanagi Hiroshi spoke up. They had plenty of time to think of what to ask and it seemed fitting that the right hand man start.
"How was the mission? Don't think I didn't notice that you seemed a little down when you came in." the teen said.
Tsuna smiled at his long-time friend; his first friend; his best friend; his right hand man. He couldn't have asked for a better friend. "As far as the mission is concerned, everything went great. We had no casualties and major injuries. We captured everyone that had to be captured and killed everyone that had to be killed."
He saw some of his Guardians grimace when he said the last part. They knew his views on killing.
They were members of the Mafia, and not just any members either; they were the founders of the Ombranera Family. Tsuna's Ombranera Guardians, unlike their sheltered Vongola counterparts, knew exactly what it meant to be in the Mafia. They knew that just words and money wouldn't make a Family. There were no non-violent Families because they wouldn't be able to survive. And sometimes, killing someone just had to be done. A person not killed today could come back tomorrow with stronger allies. A traitor left alive could lead to valuable secrets getting to a rival Family.
It's not that Tsuna encouraged or even liked killing. But, like Reborn said on the morning of his graduation, the Familigia was more important than anything else. If killing one person could save the lives of his Family members, Tsuna would do it in a heart-beat.
The Ombranera understood that and from the looks on their faces, Tsuna could tell that they still accepted him. Out of the 7 people in the room, now including Tsuna, 4 have already killed.
"So why are you sad, Tsu?" Alexandra asked, "It isn't completely about the killing, is it?"
"As smart as ever, Alex. You're right." He replied. He paused for a moment, not sure of how to continue. "Instead of telling you guys what happened, why don't I show you instead?"
It was standard Ombranera Family gear to have. Every single Guardian and a majority of the other members had to have a small camera somewhere on their bodies. It took the form of a headband, watch, glasses, or pretty much anything. This invention by the Gram siblings had 3 uses. The first was to have a hands free way of recording something. It also emitted a signal to every Ombranera Base so that tracking members would be easy. And, it had a voice activated SOS function.
Tsuna had his in the form of simple helix* earring. The mini camera had been turned on because his Guardians had wanted to watch the Nanimori Middle School Graduation. But, they couldn't show up for obvious reason. So, they asked Tsuna to use the mini camera. Since Hiroshi's last name is Yanagi, he wouldn't have had a good enough view because his seat was in the back.
So, for the next 2 hours, the group watched what Tsuna did after graduation. They listened to Tsuna's conversation with Nono in the limo and heard his orders. They watched as the Vongola tenth generation planned out their attack. They watched as Tsuna confronted the Genovesse Family's top brass. They heard Alberto Genovesse beg for death. They saw the looks on the Vongola's faces when they entered the meeting room. They listened as the Vongola blew off Tsuna on the jet ride home. And, they watched as the Vongola abandoned Tsuna outside the airport.
Tsuna observed his Guardians as they examined the video. And to his immense joy, not one of them looked disappointed, afraid of, or angry at him. There were hints of sadness on their faces, but he knew that they were unhappy about Nono's orders.
When the video was done, Tsuna waited for them to start talking first. It didn't take long for them to finish processing what they had seen into their brains and begin.
"The bastard Tomatoe actually made you torture someone?" were the first words out of Emilia's mouth.
Tsuna couldn't help but laugh when he heard his Sun Guardian's words. "It's Timoteo, Lia, not Tomatoe."
"Whatever. I don't remember people who aren't important." she replied.
"Emilia's right, dude. I can't believe he ordered a 15 year old to do such an extensive torture session and kill 8 people!" Dexter yelled out next.
"Well, technically, he ordered: a 6 year old, four 15 year olds, and two 16 year old." Tsuna said, trying to make his grandfather figure look better. But all it did was make everyone glare at him.
"Rigghhhttttt." Dexter said with sarcasm while drawing out the word, "that makes it sooooo much better."
"Plus it doesn't matter even if he did. He should've known that you were too softhearted to let you Guardians kill anyone. Why didn't he send any back up?" Sung Ha asked.
"Dad said that we had to show the Mafia world what the Tenth Generation Leaders could do. He said that we have to show that we aren't being babied or anything." was the answer the teen gave.
"Che. What if they actually had people who could fight? Sending kids in with no back up. What were they thinking! You guys were just lucky that they didn't have any 'Flame' users in that Family." Hiroshi bit out.
"Speaking of 'Flames,' are you sure that the Genovesse Family had no knowledge of it at all?" Tsuna asked as he remembered his talk with Nono.
"Yeah, I double checked after Hiro told us about your mission. That Family was a middle class Family. Only the top Familigias know about the 'Flames.' The Genovesse, being a business type Family, didn't have info on weapons like that. Why?" Dexter replied.
"Grandpa told me that Frederico was repeatedly tortured and beaten during his captivity. Frederico said that he was beaten 6 days ago but I knew that he was at one of our Bases in Italy." Tsuna started but was interrupted by Emilia who voiced her displeasure. "What a lying Son of a B****! I'll show him torture!"
Ignoring Emilia's rants and insults, Tsuna continued. "So, I asked grandpa why Frederico had no major physical wounds when he arrived at the Vongoal safehouse. He told me that Frederico was healed by one of the Genovesse's 'Sun Flame' users."
"Well, it's obviously a lie." Ju Long pointed out.
"I know that now, but I don't understand why Frederico would lie like that. I guess he could have been delusional after his captivity. He probably had a mix up with the facts." Tsuna mused out loud.
"Dude! You've gotta stop trying to see the nice in everyone. Frederico is clearly trying to pull something here. The question is what? What does he gain by lying like that?" Dexter pondered.
"What I want to know is why those Vongola b******* walked out on Tsuna at the airport! Even they should know that you never abandon your Boss!" Sung Ha growled out.
"That's right! What kind of Guardians are they! What if there was an assassin lurking around! Tsu coulda been hurt!" Emilia agreed.
"Hey! I'm not that weak!" Tsuna complained with a huff.
"It doesn't matter! The point is that at least one of them should have been with you!" Sung Ha retorted.
"Well, you can't blame them too much I guess. They did just see me torture and kill. It's normal for them to be a little different." Tsuna reasoned.
"Yeah, but what was that on the plane? They all just pretty much ignored you and didn't let you talk!" Emilia pointed out.
"Um. They were tired?" Tsuna responded.
"Sure they were. Stop defending them Tsu! Just face it! Those sheltered brats aren't worth it!" Emilia continued to argue.
"Brats? I would hardly call people the same age as us brats." Ju Long said with a smirk.
"Oh shut it Ju Long, you know what I mean." Emilia snapped back. "Those Vongola bit-"
"Don't insult them Lia. They're still my friends" Tsuna cut in.
"Fine. Those Vongola Guardians don't fully understand what it means to be a Guardian in a Family!" she corrected.
"They're still new at this. I'm sure that they'll understand if we give them some time." Tsuna replied unsurely.
"We can talk about that later. Right now, we have to talk about something more important." Hiroshi cut in before the discussion could continue.
"What? The torture thing?" Tsuna asked confused. "Are you mad about it?"
"No. We all know that you had to do it. You don't have to make any excuses for us. It doesn't matter to us what you did. You are still our Boss." Hiroshi stated as everyone nodded their agreement.
"Then what?"
"How do you feel about all of this?" Hiroshi asked as he gestured to the screen where the video had been paused.
That answer was complicated to many degrees. Tsuna closed his eyes briefly to gather his thoughts. Was he mad that he had to take this mission? Was he frustrated that Frederico's lies eventually led to his Vongola Guardians distrusting him? Was he sad that said Guardians wouldn't even listen to him explain anymore? How did he feel?
*Can you guess which book that's from?
*For those of you that don't know, a helix earring is basically a cartilage earring ring that is placed on the upper ear where the cartilage is.
Character Profiles (cont. from chapter 1)
Update
Sawada Tsunayoshi - Sky; Spiky brown hair that goes straight up with brown eyes
Kim Sung Ha - Storm; Short black hair with red eyes
Yang Ju Long - Mist; Semi long black hair with dark brown eyes (looks black but apparently people can't have black eyes)
Emilia Conti - Sun; Dark red hair with red eyes
Alexandra Gram - Rain; Long blond hair with blue eyes
Dexter Gram - Lightning; Short messy blond hair with blue eyes
Yanagi Hiroshi - Cloud; Spiky black hair with green eyes that glow