Hey guys,
I am soooo sorry for skipping last update! Things just got super hectic and stuff so I just had no time whatsoever and by the time I had enough time it was far too late. So I decided to skip that one alltogether. Anyway, I wrote a nice, long update to make up for it. I also wanted to end the Daily Life arc by now, so count this as the last chapter for that. From the next one, the Kokuyo Arc begins!
Now let me keep you no more. Enjoy!
Hibari Kyoya was far from amused to find an unconscious Tsunayoshi lying on the sofa of his office when he returned from his rounds. The sight of a smug-looking Reborn only served to further grow his ire. From the tiny puncture wound on the boy's neck and the aforementioned Hitman's oh-so-smug presence clearly indicated that the latter had drugged the brunet. Probably so as to have his way with one of his sadistic plans. It must have been something pretty extreme too, Tsunayoshi wasn't usually one to argue with his Tutor after all.
"What are you up to?" The Skylark questioned offhandedly as he sat down at his desk, intent on finally getting through that pile of paperwork which Kusakabe had been nagging him about for the past week.
"We're holding a Famiglia Entrance Test for Yamamoto Takeshi, so as to integrate him into Tsuna's Famiglia."
"You know he doesn't want his cousin to have anything to do with the Mafia." Kyoya commented, glaring at a damge report. What the heck were those idiots doing with four dozen candles anyway?
"Which is why we're having it while he naps." He could definitely hear a hint of childish amusement behind the Hitman's words. But that really shouldn't surprise him; physically speaking, The World's Greatest Hitman was a baby.
"Why do you even want him in the Family at all?" He wondered. "He's just a baseball Herbivore."
"Yes. But did you know he is a direct descendant of Asari Ugetsu, the First Generation Vongola Rain Guardian."
"Oh?" Now that was news.
"The boy has great potential. I have him pegged as a swordsman. Once he realizes his talent, he would be a great asset."
"Even so, Tsuna would never willingly go along with it."
"I don't exactly hear him complaining right now."
"That's because you drugged him." An annoyed tick had appeared on his forehead at this point. He did not want to be dealing with this right now.
"Anyway, I have to get going. Gotta check Yamamoto's progress. I wonder if he's made it past Gokudera yet, don't know if it's possible though."
"You put an untrained civilian against an explosives expert?" The Prefect could've sworn he saw a smirk on the Hitman's face. He couldn't be sure though, it was there and gone in a flash.
"Don't be stupid Hibari. Gokudera's got him solving puzzles. Tsuna would go berserk if something happened to Yamamoto."
Okay now that was hilarious. So hilarious he could laugh. Just not yet though, once Reborn was gone. Couldn't have any witnesses.
"There is no way in hell-" He said, tone as casual as he could muster. "-that the Baseball herbivore is ever getting past the Bomber Herbivore."
"You know I never pegged you as the chatty kind Hibari. Either way, you're supposed to be the last defense so keep an eye out." And with that, the baby was gone.
Hibari Kyoya burst out into soft chuckles. Even Reborn's little quip just then wasn't enough to ruin the absurd image of one Gokudera Hayato in his 'genius mode' madly questioning Yamamoto Takeshi about rocket science or something of that level. Yeah, there was no way in hell the Baseball Herbivore would make it to the office.
Turns out he was wrong. The Baseball Herbivore did make it to the office, an hour later. The Bomber Herbivore was trailing a few steps behind him, a frown plastered to his face. Hibari Kyoya was surprised, to say the least. Not because the Baseball Herbivore had made it to the office but because he knew the only way the other could have gotten past Gokudera was if the Bomber had let him. There was no scope for Yamamoto Takeshi to have actually solved the puzzles, it just wasn't possible. So the obvious conclusion was that Gokudera had let him pass. What was less obvious was why he had done so.
"Hn." He said as, without a single warning, he attacked the Baseball Herbivore. The boy, having no experience fighting, simply tried his best to dodge the attacks.
He did sort of well too, while he wasn't able to dodge all the attacks, he did dodge quite a few of them. About fifteen minutes of dodging later, the boy came out far less bruised than he should have. Kyoya supposed that was good enough and let him through into the office. He didn't have any more time to waste, he was almost done with the paperwork and Kusakabe could be here any moment asking for it. Needless to say, the Prefect did not want to hear any more of his right hand's nagging.
Reborn gave him an appreciative look as he congratulated Yamamoto on passing, at which point Tsuna started regaining consciousness. The moment the previously unconscious boy realized what had happened while he was out for the count, Tsunayoshi started vehemently protesting against Reborn's decision. This, as one would expect, resulted in Tsuna's training menu being tripled for a week. Yet, the boy's protests didn't die down.
The Baseball Herbivore remained as clueless as always, laughing and exclaiming something about playing cops and robbers as kids. Gokudera growled at that, looking like he wanted to punch the naivety out of the boy. Kyoya would be lying if he said he didn't like the thought of doing just that. The baseball Herbivore was really annoying, especially with how he was always laughing.
"Stop whining Dame-Tsuna and start running."
And that was how Reborn chased Tsuna out of the office using a hail of bullets and efficiently ending the whole discussion altogether. The next to leave was Yamamoto Takeshi, who would have been followed by Gokudera Hayato were it not for Kyoya's interference.
"Why did you let him pass?" The Skylark said softly, though the Bomber heard it anyway.
"What are you talking about?" Hayato said, freezing in the doorway.
"There is not a single person in all of Namimori naive enough to think that Yamamoto Takeshi has even a glimmer of a chance to solve a puzzle you put up. Yet, he passed the test. Now that should not be possible unless you let him."
"Okay fine I let him pass." The boy confessed, hands frustratedly messing up his silver hair. "But I had good reason to. I know Boss doesn't want the idiot in the Mafia and believe me, neither do I, but he's already connected. I tried to make him understand but he chose not to back down. He's not as oblivious as he may seem to be."
"Hn."
Things were definitely getting more and more tangled up and Kyoya didn't know if he could solve the inevitable mess it would all become in the near future. Now that was a scary thought.
"-She was my fourth lover." The baby hitman said as the rose-haired woman picked him up and started squeezing him in a death grip of a hug. All Tsuna could do was sweat-drop as he witnessed his Tutor being manhandled by the Poison Scorpion.
He has instantly known there would be trouble when he had spotted Poison Scorpion Bianchi riding around on the streets of Namimori. Thank God for Shoichi's intel from last night or he'd have reacted. But he didn't and so his cover was still safe and so was he. For now.
"Tenth! I got you that book you were looking for, seems like I did bring my copy back from Italy." Came an all-too-familiar voice from the hall just outside the kitchen.
Speaking of being safe, it seems his right hand man wasn't going to be for a while. Not if his sister was here. Tsuna was well aware of Hayato's complicated relationship with his older sister and how the childhood trauma resulted in acute stomachaches whenever he laid eyes on his sister's face. He tried to warn Hayato but Bianchi was already out in the hallway by the time he opened his mouth.
"A-A-Aneki!" Hayato's surprised yell was followed by a loud thump and as Tsuna emerged from the kitchen in pursuit of the female assassin, he saw his friend collapse to the ground.
oh boy.
Bianchi, it was decided, would stay a while. At the least until she had satisfied her strange urge to dote on Reborn. It would be an understatement to say that Kyoya hated all the sudden crowding. The dark haired boy much rather preferred the peace and quiet he had been so used to in these past few years. But there wasn't anything he could ever actually do about this so he just made his distaste very clear to Tsunayoshi.
But it was almost like the Fates wanted him to suffer, for soon after came two more additions to their already all-too-large extended family.
It was a pleasantly warm day and he had been out patrolling with Tsunayoshi accompanying him to make sure he didn't kill anyone. They had just turned towards a children's playground when a young boy with pale hair ran straight into him. Tsunayoshi gasped as he caught a little girl tumbling towards them. It looked as if Tsunayoshi, ever the mother hen, was about to chide the duo for running around so rashly when he noticed the kids' apparent attackers.
They were mafiosi, no doubt and from some small-time Family from the looks of it. Neither of the two waited for even a second before launching their attack. The mafiosi were shocked for a moment to see two random boys defend the kids and were all down for the count before they could actually recover from the shock. A minute later, when Tsunayoshi found out that the two children-Fuuta and I-pin- were looking for a safe place to hide out, he immediately invited the two to stay at their home.
Which was how they ended up with two new housemates, and all their 'friends' crowding around the newcomers as the Ranking Prince did his thing.
In all the commotion, no one noticed a certain Hitman sneaking out of the room.
Reborn slipped to the roof, the clouds had started to gather a while back and now it looked to the Hitman like it would rain pretty soon. The baby's eyes glanced carefully around the area before resting on a small silhouette.
"Fon." He greeted, maintaining his distance. His pacifier didn't glow like it should have and that made him curious.
"It's been a while, Reborn." The Storm Arcobaleno greeted, as patient and calm as ever.
"It has. But why don't we cut to the chase and you tell me why you sent your student and the Ranking Prince to Namimori. As much as I'd love to chat, I have a few other matters to deal with."
"Ah, yes. You felt the presence too then? It's a Mist isn't it? But it seems to barely be there at al."
"Hm."
"Well, as for Fuuta and I-pin, we came upon him while on a job in Mongolia. He's been running from the Giagolo's for a while now. I thought this would be a good place for him to lie low, and I-pin too. She is far too young to already be involved in the gruesome matters of the Mafia. I do hope they wont be an inconvenince."
"I doubt it." Reborn said, almost frowning. "And even if they were, that idiot student of mine is far too attached already to actually make them leave. Damn that boy and his soft spot for kids. He even adopted that annoying Bovino kid as a brother."
"I heard. Well, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'll be leaving then. You did say you had things to do after all."
"So it's a hired Hacker then?" Tsuna asked as Hayato explained what Shouichi had found out.
"Yes. He's pretty sure it's Falcon, even though the trace evidence of that is practically non-existent. He has tracked the signal back to a small town in California." Hayto continued. Kyoya looked as uninterested as always, but still made to interject.
"So we should just get rid of Falcon."
"It's not that simple Kyoya. Falcon's been ordered to look for me, which means there's reason to believe he may have already shared info on her. We need a way to find out if she needs to be protected. Shouichi did say Falcon had gotten close to England."
"That's right Boss. Which is why he had a plan." Hayato spoke up again, sensing a tension between Tsuna and the Skylark.
"So what does he propose?" Kyoya asked, glaring at Tsuna. What the hell was going on with those two?
"Oh um. He thinks if he has access to Falcon's computer he could tell us what they know and perhaps even who they are. He suggested we send him in to take Falcon out and then discern the data enough to diffuse the situation. If he finds out they know too much already, we'll bury her info from here. She should be safe enough and we could even ask your father to spare a security detail until the threat has been completely eradicated."
"That sounds like it could work but I don't want Shouichi going in alone. I'd rather he not go at all if we could help it but I guess we can't-"
"-not to mention he volunteered."
"Yes Kyoya, I am aware.
"I don't get why you have to insist on being the only one to take stupid risks. We're all in the Mafia after all."
"I never said that!"
"Like it isn't obvious."
"Kyoya what is-"
"Stop it you two!" Hayato yelled out, frustration clearly laced in his words.
Both Tsuna and Kyoya looked up to stare incredulously at the Bomber. Yeah the boy had a bit of a short temper, but he had never yelled at Tsuna before. Ever.
"Oh um I mean, this is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves." Hayato stuttered, trying to explain himself. What had he just done?
"It's okay Hayato, we're in the wrong to have been arguing like that at such a crucial time. We don't have long before Rebron gets back after all."
"Hn." The Skylark agreed sullenly.
"Oh uh okay..."
"Anyway, as I was saying earlier, I still don't want him going in alone. He has hardly any fighting experience after all. I say we send someone with him. Someone experienced with such stuff, whose also willing to keep quiet about everything."
"You mean Aneki don't you?"
"She has helped us before Hayato, this may be our only shot."
"I get that but, wouldn't this possibly give you away?"
"I'd be surprised if she hadn't figured it out already. As much as you love denying it, your sister really can read you like an open book, Hayato. And since she hasn't said anything to Reborn yet, I'm willing to trust her on this."
"If you say so, Boss."
"Oh Hayato you need my help! How cute that my little brother comes running straight to me when he needs to poison someone!" Bianchi cried happily as Hayato struggled to escape from her crushing hug.
"Urgh leggo of me!"
"But I'm keeping secrets from my dear Reborn for you and you can't even give me a hug." The Poison Scorpion pouted even as she stepped away from the silverette.
Hayato just chose to glare at the woman.
"You know I always wondered why Caelum needed to hide so bad. I figured he was connected to someone important, but to think he was the CEDEF Boss' son, not to mention future Vongola Decimo. I really never would've thought of that."
"How'd you even figure that out anyway?" Hayato grumbled, not wanting to look at his sister. Even with the goggles she had on, he did not want to risk a stomach ache.
"Oh Hayato, you're my baby brother. Did you really think I wouldn't know that there's only one person on the planet you'd ever be loyal to?"
"Che whatever."
"Anyway, tell me more about this Hacker you need gone. And why does the scaredy-cat red-head need to come with?"
It was a week after the meeting. Bianchi had left two days ago, saying she had a high-priority job request. Shouichi had left yesterday, having told his mother he was going to America to meet an online friend who needed his help. Kyoya was still as stingy as he had been all week and Tsuna still didn't know what had him going mad like this.
Reborn too, was acting suspiciously. He seemed to always be on edge, looking around all the time as if he was searching for something or someone. And of course, there was the curious presence of a very well hidden Mist. Tsuna was hoping the last one was just some Assassin come to spy on or kill him. They could deal with that after all.
But If it were something else, if they were somehow connected to the whole thing with Falcon, then they'd have a crisis on hand.
"Tsu-kun can you come here please!" Tsuna's trail of thought broke at his mother's command and he raced down to the kitchen. His mom had sounded pretty worried just then.
"Kaa-san, what's wrong? Did something happen?" He asked as he entered the kitchen, his intuition had spiked just as he'd heard his mother call for him and he just knew something was very wrong.
"Tsu-kun have you seen Fuuta-kun? He's very late coming home today, I'm worried. Do you think he could have gotten lost or something? I mean he is new around here after all."
"Fuuta.."
Ayuzawa Hideki was on his way home from an emergency trip to the departmental store a block away when he first got the feeling that he was being watched. The boy stopped short when he saw a tall, lanky figure leaning against the telephone pole a few steps ahead. The figure itself was creepy as it was, but the thick, loomig mist that seemed to shroud around him made Hideki even more uneasy. Not to mention he could sense some thinly masked killer intent right there.
Now, being a member of the infamous Disciplinary Commitee, he was no stranger to killer intent. While hanging out with the Killing Machine that was Hibari Kyoya, was the last thing he'd ever want to do, it was at times unavoidable. But on the other hand, Hibari Kyoya had never actually killed anyone, that he knew of anyway. This presence on the other hand was malicious enough to be the sort that would take pleasure in gutting people and watching them bleed to death.
So Hideki did the sane thing and, as inconspicuously as possible, turned around and walked away. Yeah, this might be the long way back and yeah he might get scolded for getting home late, but at least he wont end up dead in an alley somewhere. If he was ever gonna end up like that, he'd prefer it be as result of some glorious, Committe-related battle. Instead of him being mugged and/or eviscerated by some Psycho.
"Kufufu."
The laugh was soft, almost a whisper and yet not. The coldness in the tone sent a terrified chill down his spine. Hideki looked around wildly in an attempt to pin-point the person. He stopped short as he spotted the figure from before, only this time he was right in front of him. Dark blue hair and mismatched red and blue eyes were all he could make out before he was distracted by a growl right behind him.
"Target No. 1. Accomplished."
And done! So, what do you think? Does this make up for the skipped update? I do hope it does.
Anyway, last chappie I said I'd write an extra bit to celebrate 400 follows but now it's made it to 100 reviews and 300 favorites as well, not to mention it looks like it'll make it to 500 follows real soon. So I think that I'll put off the celebratory extra chapter till after that happens. How about it?
Let me know what you think of that idea.
Till next time!
-Jahnvi
