Aiding Vongola Part Three

The boys made sure to finish their paperwork and their missions as soon as possible...because they wanted to focus on training themselves, and the new abilities their flames can do with Tsunami supervising them. Out of all of them, Lampo was the weakest fighter, being a coward who only fights when he really, REALLY has no say in the matter so she focuses on him more than the others, while dressed as a boy and her hair in a high ponytail.

And so...a month later, the equipment arrived.

She taught them how to use the weighted items, and conditioning training, as well as other methods of training. If they got used to the current weight, Alaude can simply double with his powers until they reached their human limits in strength, speed, agility, flexibility, reflexes and battle instincts. Physical and muscular conditioning, combat training and flame training(to her supernatural standards), making the teens super-busy. Thus she looks after the house and watching out for job requests to be dealt with immediately thus they still had to go on missions...and she feeds them a lot of healthy foods and insist that they eat as much as possible and rest for at least an hour after meals.

'If you're super-strict with yourselves, I give you three years minimum to reach your peak.' she said. 'It took me two years to get to where I am now but I'm still young while you guys are in your prime time period. By the time you hit your early twenties, you guys are strong enough to strengthen and solidify Vongola. For four months, physical and muscular conditioning. Next four is Combat Training by sparring with each other and the final four is Flame Training. Your rest days for full recovery are Saturday and Sunday. And when I'm gone study the notes I left behind...so you guys can handle housekeeping and making housekeeping life easier for yourselves if you still refuse to hire servants.'

'This is harder than I thought it would be!' Lampo gasped as he was under her supervision.

'Its always hard at first. Just like you I used to complain and whine a lot...but when I think of how would I turn out after I endured and passed the training, I just endure, persevere, do my best and think of how many people will be impressed with me and look at me with admiration. Great things come from hard work, Lampo.' Tsunami patted his shoulders. 'Now go over again!'

'Yes!'

xxx

'My first month has ended, and one hour at home passed by.' she mused to herself in the bathroom after taking a serious bath after a day's work when the guys began their training. Being flame users, heating bathing water has been easy as pie, a luxury the seven flame users enjoy. Not only that, the many ways to use their powers also make life enjoyable, but she also makes it a reminder to tell them 'not to get too spoiled' and learn things the old fashioned way too incase they cannot reveal their powers to unknowing company. Besides, its skill and the more skills you know and have, the more impressive and amazing you are in the eyes of others and given how society works, people judge by 'how educated' you are.

That's the thing about this era. Really. Scrutiny and no freedom at all! Humph! After wearing her school uniform as she has yet to laundry and dry all her dresses, hopefully she won't bump into anyone soon, with the boys working in their offices after dinner. She used her senses to locate each guy and yes, they're in their office. And of course, she's the last to bathe since all seven guys paired up to share the bathroom just to get done faster, and carrying new batches of water to fill their bathtubs and buckets.

Heating it to satisfaction is easy of course.

After a nice bath, she went back to the laundry room to go get her clothes that were hung up to drip off water.

With a snap of her fingers, the water evaporated, drying off her dresses and underwear, before going to the next room to iron them all off when...

'Tsunami, I need...GAH!' G yelped as while he was carrying a pile of formal wear, he saw her in her school uniform and her dresses and even underwear hung up on the walls...and saw her legs for the second time.

'Oh, didn't you guys just take a bath? Leaving so soon?' Tsunami blinked, ignoring the older teen's freak-out simply because of her legs.

'Worse...we have to go to a formal party tomorrow.' G grimaced. 'Since we can't leave you home alone since you don't speak italian, Giotto plans that you come as Asari's guest so you have the perfect excuse to stay away from the others under excuse of not knowing Italian.'

'And how will you guys explain away my looks? I'm 1/4 italian remember?' Tsunami pointed out. 'Although my appearance says otherwise...' She definitely did NOT look 1/4.

'Yeah, you look half so we're thinking of another excuse.' G sighed. 'Anyway, I'll dump our formal wear here and you better go get changing, iron later. Giotto's going to take you to a boutique to buy you a formal dress and a spare with matching shoes. After that Daemon will teach you dancing and manners to expect in a party.'

'Now?'

'Now. You gotta go.' and he left, closing the door for her to get changing out of her school uniform and into one of her casual wear.

And so...into the city's most expensive boutique...

'Giotto,' Tsunami forced out a normal voice. 'Does it have to be an expensive boutique?'

'It has to be.' Giotto sighed. 'We can afford it. We get support from people who support us whether funds or information. So we're not exactly shy of money. Besides, we really have to come to events to promote our revolution. Its a tiring journey but we must go on and persevere.'

'Right.' And so, they went into the boutique with Giotto doing most of the talking with the friendly saleslady until he gave her the cue to choose accessories, and two dresses with matching shoes. And she needs gloves, too. If she'd wear a short-sleeved dress, she needs long gloves to compensate.

And she must buy heeled shoes 'as an adult'. She could not wear flats.

Flats are only for children below age 12.

Yet another dumb rule she had to endure. She bought a yellow dress and a green dress. The beautiful ones because first impressions last...and she also has to...

'You need make-up too.' Giotto told her.

'WHAT?!'

xxx

At home...

'OK, we'll begin with manners of dos and don'ts.' said Daemon. 'For gentlemen and ladies.' he said as he has a blackboard on, thankfully in english. 'For never to dos, let's start with the gentlemanly don'ts. In casual manners, gentlemen regardless of age must never Refer to another person by their first name in public, Curse or discuss 'impolite' subjects when ladies are present, Leave a lady you know unattended, except with permission, Use tobacco in any form when ladies are present, Greet a lady in public unless she acknowledges you first, and Eat or drink while wearing gloves. For Ladies' don'ts, never Refer to another adult by his or her first name in public, Grab your hoops or lift your skirts higher than is absolutely necessary to go up stairs, Lift your skirts up onto a chair or stool, etc, Sit with your legs crossed (except at the ankles if necessary for comfort or habit), Lift your skirts up onto the seat of your chair when sitting down (Wait for, or if necessary, ask for assistance when sitting down at a table or on a small light chair), and Speak in a loud, coarse voice. Nobody likes a harpy or a harridan after all.'

'So we refer to each other by our Sir or Lady, Lord and Madame-plus their surnames.' Tsunami nodded. 'Hang on, what're YOUR family names?! The others don't have any!'

'Well, this is where it gets a bit tricky...only Asari, Lampo and I have family names...the others don't, being orphans.' Daemon sighed. 'So they use the name of the organization instead: Vongola. We all agreed on that but for some reason, G never told us his real name. Not even Giotto knows his real name and they're childhood friends.' he said wryly. 'All we know is that he really hates his name a letter is sufficient to address him.' he deadpanned. 'But when referring to one of the others, we use full names to avoid confusion. Our supporters are OK with that.'

'Ah...'

'By the way, what surname will you use in the party?'

'Well, it depends on what story you guys are using.' Tsunami quipped. 'Its impossible for me to be Asari's relative due to my looks. I'm closer to Giotto in looks. Claiming to be a relative is impossible as he's an orphan.'

'Indeed so they're still coming up with something so I suppose that can be last minute. Next is the do's.' Its a long list...so many do's and don'ts indeed it was scary. Then after Dining Room and Ballroom Rules, and how to really sit down properly for ladies, she must always dance. No wallflowers. Period. Otherwise all men will be labelled rude if no man offered the wallflowers a dance!

She was also taught how to dance, too...and how to avoid a man trying to attempt a 'fast one' on her.

Not only that, if ballroom period ends no matter what time of day, she is obliged to join the other ladies in the salon for conversation and exchanging ideas. Not only that, as a guest of the Vongola, all attention will be on her so she must be at her most intellectual. She cannot afford to be speechless.

'A salon is in a way, where young ladies and women get more education by learning from other women.' Daemon told her. 'You'd be hanging out with your age group of course, and your level of education is alright. Just that...its...surprising. And don't mention your P.E. Ever. Nobody can ever imagine a lady doing what you do in your notebooks, or fighting off Alaude. Be a prim and proper lady, a princess, a belle. Its just for one day and night.'

'Very well. Anything else of concern?'

'No. But to triple-check if you learned anything, recite what I taught you before we start with dancing lessons.'

Outside the door, a shadow is watching.

xxx

'How is Tsunami faring?' Giotto asked Lampo who came into his office.

'She quickly learned party, lady and gentlemen etiquette in just a short time.' he said. 'Now he's showing her dancing with his illusions so she would learn.'

'Thank goodness for fast learners...we'll be OK tomorrow after all. Phew!' Giotto sighed in relief while eating jellies. Damn, they're dee-lish. Too bad they needed their powers to make these things as cooling systems aren't invented yet in this era. Tsunami cooled it off using her wave energy and proper temperature control by taking the heat away off the jelly mixture, enabling it to cool off and solidify faster in the night while stored away.

xxx

The next day...

Tsunami woke up extra early to make breakfast, and take a bath before the boys wake up. Its easy to keep meals hot anyway. And they're in for a five hours-long trip, so a heavy breakfast is a must, but no soup this time. Coffee is sufficient as drinks while tea for herself. She never liked Coffee and the chocolate in this era is so bitter one needed a honey overdose...but one mistake and it'll be too sweet so yes, coffee it is indeed. Tea for her as usual.

'Good morning guys.' she greeted, dressed up in her...casual wear when they came, fresh from the bath. She sweatdropped at the theory made fact when they all came at the exact same time fresh from the baths. '...you guys somehow managed to fit in that bathroom?!'

'Ah, Alaude increased the space!' Giotto grinned, causing Tsunami to sweatdrop. 'We really can't be late after all and after breakfast we really have to go, no time to wash the plates even!' he said hastily.

'That would mean dealing with ants when we go back.' said Tsunami wryly. 'Oh well, can't be helped.'

'Tsunami why aren't you in your dress yet? We're leaving right after and you don't even have a hairstyle and make-up on!' G fretted out.

'You'll see later for now just shuddup and eat.'

Silence...

Fine they ate breakfast.

But when they were done, Tsunami was wearing her yellow formal dress, her face in simple make-up that just emphasized her looks, and her hair in a ponytail, dividing her hair into three big ringlets that deceptively made her long hair look shorter than it should, made cuter with a decorative big hairclip, and the strands framing her face curled at the tip. Her jewelry are just a simple pair of earrings and a necklace. 'See? I'm done!' she said, spraying herself with perfume. In a formal dress, hairstyle and make-up, it made her beauty stand out even more.

'How?!' seven jaws dropped.

Tsunami made the 'shh' gesture with a wink.

'Secret~! A secret makes a woman, woman.'

Everyone went ("(OAO)").

How did she DO that without moving from her seat?! They didn't even SEE or HEAR her move to leave and get changing!

And she's not talking anytime soon, just laughing with her fan covering her mouth in a mischievous 'Ohohohohohoho...' laugh.

xxx

The carriage...

The Vongola Mansion has two garages. One small carriage for four people, and one big carriage for as many people as possible. They also have stables where their horses are. However, if only one is leaving for a mission, they use one horse instead.

However, while it was Lampo's job to care for the horses as part of logistics...they ALL take turns cleaning the stables to be fair. But since Tsunami came, she took over one of their most-hated jobs...only while she's here so they're enjoying while it lasted. And right now, all their horses are with them in their Family Carriage. The trip was a silent one...until Tsunami who sat in the middle with a chair puffed out her chest and hunched her back in a way that they could all hear her back go crackle and pop that made them all go green in freak-out.

'Ahhhnnn...that felt great...' and she twisted her waist to the left, more popping. To the right...more popping again! Both accompanied with moans of satisfaction.

'T-Tsunami...is that not unhealthy for your bones?' Knuckle was clinging onto Asari out of fright.

'Oh, I'm just stretching~I do it once in a while when I feel really stiff or weary in the back...I always feel better when I do that after work.' Tsunami shrugged. 'And women here must really love these torture devices they call dress...my era has similar dresses but definitely NOT made out of a torture device! Its softer and more comfortable!' she sighed. 'You boys have it real easy in comfort.'

'Actually, we have more pressure, rules and more education than women as we are to be reliable, not useless. So our life is just as hard.' said Daemon wryly.

'Your clothes are more comfortable than this torture device I have on! If I take this to the future, criminals forced to wear this will weep and sing like a canary by now!'

'Oh come on, its not that bad...my fiancee's not complaining.' Daemon deadpanned. Tsunami raised an eyebrow.

'Are you sure that you don't hear the truth behind her bedroom doors?' she drawled wryly. 'That she'd say, 'Finally, I'm free of torture!' or something?'

'That's a no man's zone until we're married!'

xxx

Soon, at the venue...the boys re-touched their perfumed with Tsunami doing hers separately so their perfumes won't merge in a bad way, and fixed their hair.

'Nee nee Knuckle~can you fix my back? It hurts~!' Tsunami requested.

'Ehhh sure...wait a second...' Knuckle healed her back. 'You OK now?'

'Hai. Thanks~!' Tsunami sighed in bliss.

'Oy Daemon, ask your wife how she felt the first time in her ballroom gown will ya? Just to make sure she's not exaggerating or anything.' G whispered while discreetly pointing at Tsunami. Daemon just sweatdropped.

Tsunami on the other hand, is nervous about her first party in the past.

'So uhm...are the nobles nice?'

'Well, just put on a mask...and just show that you're not affected one bit.' G advised. 'If you show even a moment of emotional and social weakness, they'll pounce on you till you're embarrassed, so watch out. This is also politics. Its more than just dancing and chatting too.'

'Yes...every party we go to, we technically go to war as well.' Lampo added. 'To start revolution, we have to attract more allies by charming our way through, while taking down those who oppose our ideals for change. Its a verbal brutal war.'

'I see...then good luck while I'll try my end as well...I'm to be Miss Tsunami Bromwell since I really don't look Japanese...and I'm a woman asked by my parents to stay with you until they get back from overseas work?'

'Yes. You know the script and we'll be OK. For now, enjoy the party and leave the war to us. But if someone started a mess or a ruckus...try not to stand out too much while you deal with it your way and style, alright?'

'Alright.' with that, they announced their presence and got inside...

xxx

The Party...

Asari used his flames on the people to neutralize certain feelings the nobles possess. Greed, anger, spite, jealousy, budding feelings of contempt and such, even evil intentions leaving them with an atmosphere of peace. It was just lucky that ordinary people can't see flames unless trained to. It was what made deals easier for the famiglia and the rest was up to them in charming their way through.

This enabled Tsunami to be fine on her own. Rule for gentlemen: Never leave a lady alone unless with her permission so its OK.

It wasn't that long before a gentleman came up to her and asked her to be his companion for a while until another comes...if ever.

She put on her game face while acting as usual. With Asari's influence, all negative thoughts are effectively tranquilized off. But only while his flames are on. It was now up to G to erase these very thoughts away with his powers and she could tell the guy was concentrating lest he ends up killing everyone in the place.

The power of Dying Will Flames sure took the saying 'When there's a will there's a way' up to several notches. And they're learning well from her.

Maybe she really is born to teach.

Not bad coming from someone who was once a no-good klutz...although that part wasn't really her fault...some asshat sealed her away, ruining her life if she never met her cousin or get involved with magic.

'Looks like she's doing well.' Giotto mused. 'Its been thirty minutes now since we pulled two steps off.' They watched her dance with a boy her age.

'Yes...but she's still nervous.' said Daemon. 'I know a first-timer when I see one, even with our game face on.' he said while glancing discreetly. 'The others are also worried.'

'Well...she's not exactly from here if you know what I mean. She's doing her best and its what's important.' Giotto smiled. 'Let's trust in her and she's never let us down yet.' the taller man nodded as they parted ways to do their jobs...while G was busy charming women into helping Vongola use family resources to implement his new ideas of education he learned from Tsunami and the reasons why said subjects are there. He compared the current education and Tsunami's education, the pros and cons, and he's aiming for equal rights to education.

Women in this era only needed to learn how to read, write, sewing, embroidery, taking charge of household affairs, manners and etiquette, social studies, dancing, literature, music and art. They could never learn anything beyond advanced mathematics, the realities of life, science and biology, and some subjects in the College of Tsunami's world. Not only that, while the wealthy and the noble women have more education privileges, commoners do not...and he wanted to change the rules. Education is a right to have, not privileged to have.

He managed to convince the ladies into influencing their families to help out in these endeavors as he handed them the pamphlets he worked hard on writing to be utterly convincing and no confusion either.

In fact, he made the pamphlets simple and easy to understand without making the nobles think it was baby-fied for them into insulting levels but some of them can be really thick...and his work had to be triple-checked by Daemon because he knows how nobles think and feel before he gave the OK(this was after twenty times of being told to rewrite this and that part).

And so, he succeeded in his part. Now he just wondered about the others.

Giotto was gathering more support for Vongola, Alaude was gathering support to stamp out corruption of society, Daemon was getting up-to-date with going-ons in the aristocratic circle and catching up with his fiancee, Lampo was watching out for the Economy, Asari was watching out for Security and Knuckle was watching out for Danger and hearing rumors and gossip which could be their very next mission. And as Tsunami is 'their stay-home guest', she must distance herself from them and their activities during the party as to not attract unwanted attention on her.

In fact, she was effortless in getting the attention of many boys in the party with her unique beauty alone. He supposed it came with being of a mixed race. Her mother is pure Japanese, her father is half-Italian, half-Japanese and that made her 3/4 Japanese, 1/4 Italian.

A lot of boys are trying to get her to dance with them now...

But for some reason, it pissed him off.

But he had to lay off due to their missions. They each have a target. An aim.

For now he would have to swallow the bile that she's dancing with other men and not...well...er...

On the other side of the room...

'Giotto.' Daemon approached Giotto. 'Look at G.' he said as they both looked at G...and where he's looking at...and how he looks at what he's looking at. 'When?'

'...no idea when and how it started actually...' said Giotto, scratching his head. 'This will be easier said than its done but she won't be with us for long. I'll talk to him when we get home.'

'Right...'