Chapter 11: Italy Arc II Onward
Chaos. That entire manor had been in complete and utter chaos going through every single door, pantry, and closet within the building trying to locate the missing brunet, it had occurred to them not long after Tsuna had not returned from the bathroom that something had been terribly wrong. No one had wasted any time jumping straight into looking for their friend; each of them had been assigned a floor and wing dividing into miniature groups in an attempt to cover more ground in hopes of finding as quickly as possible. The desperate, worried cries echoed audibly within Dino's home; even being heard from the outside as a group of the Italian's staff ventured outside to look for any clues.
In the end all of them had turned up empty as they met back in the living room. Tensions were running high that even in the air had become stiff; none of them were pleased with the current turn of events. They had nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Damn it!" Dino slammed his hands on the table creating cracks to form burying his head in between his arms; the look of positive fury on his face was unspeakable. "How could have I let this happen? How couldn't I even know that there were spies in my own home, what kind of brother am I?!"
"Don't blame yourself, Dino-san. It's not your fault," Haru had been the first to recover placing both hands upon the older male's shoulders smiling sadly. "Tsuna-san wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this. We need to stay strong until we find him," She squeezed reassuringly. "We can't let a little something like not finding any clues stop us from search for him. We'll find him, I know we will."
Dino gave her a grateful smile alongside a short nod.
Timoteo cleared his throat gaining the room's attention. "I think we've all had a bit of a shock today, and as much as it pains me to say this I think all of us should adjourn for the night. My men are already doing everything within their power to locate my grandson; unfortunately, none of us are of much use if we continue to allow ourselves to be high strung and lacking in sleep. The search will continue in the morning, but that time I am certain that we will have something to work on."
"B-But Nono!" Dino protested leaping off of the bed looking scandalize at the proposal only to come at a halt upon staring at the elderly man's face.
The man wore a stoic expression that lined his features while his eyes were filled pain at the decision that he had made. No one was suffering more than him.
"...I hate that I have to say this, but I think Tsuna's grandpa is right about this," Hana expressed softly, averting the gazes from the others. Her dark eyes flickered towards them briefly before returning to the wall avoiding seeing their faces. "We aren't much use if we're running around half-cocked and barely awake. We need to conserve our energy for tomorrow."
"Kurokawa..." Yamamoto stared as his hands rolled into fists, a flash of anger passed through his eyes eventually vanishing quickly as it had appeared. "...I guess we don't have much a choice, huh?"
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose contemplating what Hana and Timoteo had said. Their arguments were sound and not without reason, with the aid of the man's men they would at least have people searching while they slept. There was a chance, a slim one at that, that something could be found in order to locate Tsuna, of course he wasn't going to get his hopes up but at the moment that was all they had. However, why had Tsuna been taken anyway? That was another question. Was it because he was the grandson of Timoteo? Had connections to Dino? Or was he merely a victim of opportunity? Another factor was how long the captors would allow his friend to remain alive until he was disposed of...
The thought of losing his friend made his heart twist painfully at the idea of Tsuna being dead; he just could not imagine it! He refused to imagine it. None of them would let that happen, they would find Tsuna. They had to.
His body began to twitch back alive as his consciousness returned. He was still weak from what had happened. Being able to move again was something at least. Tsuna attempted to push himself off of the worn, cracked ground, coming to a halt upon feeling the floor shake roughly, footsteps echoing through his ears. Whoever the person was, they were not too far off from where he was. He lied back down on the ground, deciding pretending to be asleep was for the best.
That was until his body ascended upwards, warm, somewhat callused hands picking him up and then placing his head down again on something warm.
"He seems to be alive, thank goodness." The unrecognizable male voice sounded relieved. The back of a hand was placed on Tsuna's forehead, which was quite cold to begin with. "He isn't warm, though. But he's breathing properly."
"At least that's one thing," another voice spoke, this time a female's. "Now we just need to get out of here."
The first voice sighed, exasperated. "That's easier said than done. Until we can come up with a plan, I'm afraid we're trapped."
Trapped? So were they prisoners like he was then? Tsuna thought with surprise. So he wasn't the only that had been taken? Frowning, he pondered over his options. Continuing to remain unconscious probably wasn't a good idea, especially if there were others like him. Plus, they didn't sound like bad people from what he was able to tell. Allowing his eyes to squint, he slowly began to open his eyes, using his elbow to prevent the bright light from stinging his eyes. Two silhouettes peered through the lights, looming over him. His vision was still blurry from being shut for however long he had been unconscious. Though not a moment latter the two became very clear to him.
The one that was holding him was a young boy that looked around his age, wearing a relieved expression on his face, with long blonde hair and violet eyes gazing softly at him. His attire was a simple light purple vest, and a white collar peeked out above it. He was also rather tall, around Yamamoto's height, from what Tsuna was able to tell.
The girl was nearly the complete opposite of the boy. The only shared traits were the hair colour and length, though hers was more curly compared to the boy's straight one. She held a stoic expression, eyeing him critically, grey eyes flashing with an unreadable gleam. Her arms were folded against her chest, long hand tapping the side her arm. She was clad in a yellow blouse that hugged her body closely and a black skirt that cascaded down her legs.
"Nice to see that you're awake," the boy commented with a sincere smile on his face. "Are you alright?"
Tsuna blushed, nodding slowly. "Y-yeah thank you."
"Good. Are you able to stand?"
"Y-yes." Tsuna nodded slowly, his head still buzzing, and removed his head from the boy's lap. As he slowly stood up, his body swayed back a bit but he was thankfully caught by the other boy. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment at his clumsiness. Why did his dame-ness have to sow up so quickly? "S-sorry!"
The boy shook his head. "No, it's fine. Rizona and I had a rather difficult time getting back on our feet upon awakening as well. It might take awhile; the drug that was used on us makes it so that we're unable to move."
"Rizona?" Tsuna repeated, his brown eyes wandered towards the blonde girl, who nodded curtly at him. "N-nice to meet you!"
Rizona eyed him stoically. "...A pleasure," she greeted stiffly in return.
"I'm sorry about her. Rizona really doesn't say much I'm afraid," the boy apologized, running a hand through his hair nervously, wearing a tiny smile on his face. "I've known her my entire life. She's always been like this in the beginning so please, don't think about it too much. She'll warm up to you eventually."
Tsuna chuckled nervously. "I-I'll take your word for it... uu-ummm...?"
"My apologies." The blonde smiled much more gently this time, holding out his hand in a friendly manner. "My name is Albito."
"Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna shook the hand, smiling back. "Everyone calls me Tsuna though."
"A pleasure. Though I sincerely wish that we had met under different circumstances, Tsuna," Albito stated, sliding his hands into his pockets as he looked around the jail that they had been placed in. Compared to normal jails, it was rather large. More a cage than a cell, actually. It provided them a lot of space for movement yet lacked the standard beds. The walls looked very old, the paint was worn down, lost to the years, and the floor itself looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages.
"Where are we anyway?" Tsuna enquired, this time spinning around in order to get a good look at their holding cell.
Rizona shrugged her shoulders. "We don't know."
"Rizona and I have been held longer than you have, or at least I think we were. We woke up much earlier and noticed that you were with us," Albito continued, frowning. "Unfortunately, we were unable to see our captors."
The brunet sighed heavily. "You too, huh? I didn't even get a chance to react!"
"Which begs the question as to why we were even brought here anyway,"tThe blonde mused, stroking his chin. "Taking random people doesn't make much sense. There has to be some connection between us that the three of us are missing. But the question is what?"
A connection? While that made sense, Tsuna felt there was more to their kidnappings than what met the eye. He did agree that there was probably a reason they had been captured in the first place; they just needed to find out what it was.
It was odd that he wasn't freaking out like he usually did when this kind of things happened. Yet here he was, taking things rather easily instead of screaming his head off. Maybe it was because of Reborn's training that he had finally began to grow a backbone or become accustomed to the strange and dangerous things in his life now? Though that wasn't to say that he wasn't internally screaming. He was stiff scared. But now wasn't the time to lose it-he needed to remained strong until the others arrived.
In the meantime, he would deal with the problem at hand.
"There has to be away out of here," Tsuna remarked under his breath.
Rizona shook her head. "There isn't."
"We've already looked," Albito added with a frustrated sigh.
Damn. So they really were trapped like mice.
"We have to do something!" Tsuna cried out, eyes narrowing, catching the two by surprise. "Sitting around and doing nothing isn't going to get us anywhere! We need to come up with a plan or something!"
The two blondes blinked rapidly at the sudden outburst. Stunned silence reigned over them for what seemed like forever until a soft smile curled up on Albito's face and he nodded firmly acquiescing Tsuna's words. Not a moment longer, Rizona also nodded her approval.
That was one thing taken care of.
Tsuna had absolutely no idea what he was getting himself into at this point but it was far too late to back out now that he had already opened his mouth. Swallowing his fear, he took a deep breath, feeling his courage gathering within himself.
It was time to plan.
"A...are you two sure that you're going to need that?" Haru enquired stuttering as she watched Yamamoto and Harry gearing up, the taller teen swung his bag holding his bat around his shoulder in unison with Harry whom placed his guns into holsters that Reborn had given him after the challenge. Her brown eyes held nervousness upon being on the receiving end of the pair of eyes, she shifted her body rather uncomfortably.
Harry struggled internally as a part of himself desperately wanted to reassure Haru of the situation and that everything would be alright in the end. However, he didn't believe that she deserved to be lied to. And neither did Hana. They both needed to hear the truth no matter how cold it was.
"It's not that a fight is going to break out we're just bringing these just in case is all!" Yamamoto thankfully answered blinding her with his happy-go lucky smile. "Right Harry?"
"Yeah. Right, Takeshi." Harry replied cocking an eyebrow with a fake smile on his face glancing between the brunet girl and the baseball player. While it was understandable why Takeshi had said it in that fashion he sincerely doubted that there wouldn't be any fight. It just didn't work that way. He knew that well enough now to except one whenever trouble was near. "Everything will be okay, Haru."
"We're coming along too," Hana declared, placing her hands upon her hips staring sternly at them. "I'm not letting you two go off on your own and get yourselves killed!"
Yamamoto frowned, biting down upon his lips a blank expression eroded his features for several seconds before vanishing. "I don't think that's a good idea, Kurokawa. I think it might be a good idea for you and Haru to stay here while the rest of us goes and searches for Tsuna-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence Yamamoto!" The dark haired girl hissed, angrily. Her steps were menacing closing the gap between them as she jabbed a finger into his chest while glaring. "Just because Haru and I are girls doesn't mean that we're useless and weak. We're just as capable of helping out as you men are! We are coming with you and there is nothing you can do to stop us. Understand?" She recomposed herself, the glare remained as if daring the taller teen to challenge her.
Sweating Yamamoto sent him a pleading look for help.
"...I don't want you involved in this." The glare landed on him as Harry held up his hand. "Having more people to widen the search for Tsuna would be helpful but...you two aren't armed like we are."
Hana's glare seemed to wither a bit at his words. "Is that all? Then give us something that we use to defe-"
"I was in gymnastics since I was a little girl before I went into making costumes and cosplaying w-would that be of any use?" Haru whispered quietly shyly looking up at the three.
Harry pressed his lips together. Would that be of use? He really didn't know in all honesty. "Maybe I don't know though. If anything at least you'll be able to get yourself out of the way if a fight does break out," He stated hesitantly thinking it over. "N-not that one will break out!" quickly adding in as a look of fear flashed on her face.
"You certainly have a way with words don't you?" Hana commented her tone laced with sarcasm shaking her head. "I don't have anything fancy like Haru does unfortunately though I was a part of the girl's tennis club and did some dancing."
A sharp snort came from him. It wasn't entirely his fault for not having a way with words, besides consoling girls had never been one of his strong points anyhow. "At least it's something." He said nodding sharply.
Hana eyed him carefully not entirely satisfied with his answer, but knew that there was nothing else that could be done. "If you say so, Haru and I will meet the both of you downstairs." As she turned sharply proceeded through the door, Haru following after her not a moment longer giving them a tiny smile as they disappeared from sight.
"Do you think that was really a good idea?" Yamamoto asked, his eyes narrowed concerned no longer wearing a smile.
His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's just I don't think Tsuna would like the idea of the girls getting into any danger, you know? It's up to us to protect them from all that." Yamamoto stated rubbing the back of his head, casually trying to explain averting his gaze.
It took a moment for Harry to realize what his friend was trying to say finding himself torn between agreeing him with and being angry. It was true that Tsuna probably wouldn't be entirely thrilled with the fact that the two had been dragged along with them in attempts to trying to find him, even getting angry in the process. Frankly, he didn't want to bring the two into danger any less then what they did regardless the fact remained that they needed all the help they could possibly get to find Tsuna. And it wasn't as if they would be alone since it was likely that Timeto along with his bodyguards and Dino would accompany them.
However, that was not that angered him. What got him angry was the fact that Takeshi found it so easily to lie to the girls, why the hell had he thought was a good idea?
"Yeah, well unfortunately Takeshi things don't always work out that way I'm afraid. So we're going to have to deal," Harry informed him briskly, sliding past him with ease not sparing the other boy a look. "I'm going to join the others downstairs."
It probably hadn't been one of his smartest moves to essentially have blown off his friend like that as a stab of guilt decided to make it's self known. After all hadn't he lied to them in the same manner? He was being rather hypocritical about it, but what was done was done. He'd talk with Takeshi later about it. Proceeding to enter the living room where the others were, Dino looked a lot better compared to how he had last night wearing his trademark green jacket and all that as he sat on the couch in a contemplating stance with everyone else huddled around the table as he moved over to join them.
"Morning!" Dino greeted waving his hand, and blinked. "Where's Yamamoto wasn't he coming with you?"
"He's right behind me," Harry answered easily. "Were we able to find anything about Tsuna and his whereabouts?"
This time Ganauche spoke up. "According to what we've been able to find there is a distinct possibility that Tsunayoshi-kun might have been targeted by an enemy of both the Vongola and Chiavarone. We have a pretty good idea of whom is responsible and where one of their hideouts maybe, unfortunately this is where the bad news comes in I'm afraid, the area in it's self is completely surrounded. Getting in is going to be a tad difficult."
"You're saying that as if we're bringing them along with us," Coyote grunted from the sidelines. As the sounds of the doors rang prompting Dino to excuse himself briefly from the room disappearing to the front door as the air had tensed at the older male's words. No ill-offense had be meant merely it had been speculation on the man's part due to his professional probably believing that five would remain in the manor as they carried out the search for Tsuna. Which was highly understandable in hindsight.
Harry blinked at him 'Vongola?' He filed that away for later. "What makes you think we aren't coming along? In case you've forgotten Coyote, Tsuna is our friend. Like hell we're going to stand around and wait for him to be brought back." His attention switched towards Brow. "Do you have a map of the area?"
By no means was Harry any type of strategist usually leaving that type of thing to Ron, during one of their adventures, Hermione provided them with back up with spells, ideas and pieces of information that she acquired during their research periods, as he mainly took on the necessary tasks and ended up facing off on a one on one in the end. It was how things worked between the three of them, a dynamic that they were comfortable using in times of need. But Ron and Hermione weren't here with him right now. It was just him. And he needed to learn how to deal with that; fast. Time was of the essence!
Gokudera, despite his rough and aggressive nature, was also a strategist far beyond that of Ron. Harry wished that the silveret was here to help come up with a plan, in the end the planning fell down to one of them.
Brow unfolded a map of the area onto the table marking the possible locations where Tsuna could be held and encircled various spots indicating where the most protected sectors and the routes they were available to them. Needless to say they had their work cut out for them.
"Splitting up into groups seems like the best idea at this point," Harry murmured, eyes darting along the map his finger tracing on it slowly. His frown deepened, circling on finger near the closet entrance. "If we go through this point here we should be able to gain access allowing us to spread to cover more ground from that point-"
The sound of Yamamoto's laugh echoed happily feeling his weight change as the tall teen dropped an arm on his shoulder. "We don't need a plan! Gokudera, Tsuna, Dino and I took care of Momokyokai Yazkua back in Japan so this should be a piece of cake!"
"We don't know what we're up against," Harry retorted with a frown.
Yamamoto tilted his head, grinning still. "So? As long as we keep our guard up and stick together we do it!"
"You're optimism is frighteningly high Yamamoto," Hana commented exasperated pinching the bridge of her nose sending a visibly irritated stare towards the taller teen. "Not like there's anything else we can do at this point but go with what we have. Besides I bet no one here has a better idea, right?" Her question was directed towards Timoteo and his bodyguards, pressing her lips tightly upon their silence. "What groups are we splitting into?"
That was the real question. Harry had absolutely no idea who should be with whom he didn't know any of their skills that they possessed and for what matter whether or not they'd be able to work together. Tsuna's grandfather's bodyguards already knew and worked together so that was one thing out of the way, however, he wanted to at least make sure that the others were well protected at the same time. That is to say that Harry wasn't stupid enough to disbelief that Reborn hadn't given Yamamoto at least some training before his arrival to Japan noting that the other had always carried around his bat using as if it was some kind of sword, of course he never got a chance to ask believing it was none of his business anyway.
The one thing that Harry was trying to avoid was placing pressure on his new friends just like they were not pressure him in return. They had secrets, rather Tsuna had a secret that was being kept from him and Harry already managed to figure out that Yamamoto, Dino, probably everyone within the room minus perhaps himself, Hana and Haru knew what it was. Not that he personally cared at this point. In fact the only thing that was truly on his mind was finding his friend.
Eventually the sounds from the front had snapped him back to reality as familiar sound had entered his ears. It had taken a moment for him to figure out what it was before realizing the person that Dino was talking to was British.
How odd. Then again it shouldn't surprise him as much since Dino was a businessman after all and thus was required to travel to different countries, thus that let the person at the door to either be a client of his or a friend of his. Regardless, Harry wasn't about go and eavesdrop on the blonde wanting to focus on the task at hand in order to further prepare themselves for the upcoming rescue; an obvious team was Coyote and Timoeto teaming up since they're had not been a single moment that the two had separated from one another upon arriving, keeping them together was bound to be beneficial leaving the rest of the man's bodyguards plus Dino, Romario, Takeshi, himself and the girls equalling to eleven bodies into which in turn allow them to split into four groups at max with the downside of one group consisting of two members and the rest with three.
All in all Harry would rather that group of two being himself and Ganauche. That would allow him to use his magic without fearing exposure and explaining himself to everyone else, with the other's knowledge of magic it would also keep himself from persecution from the Italian Ministry of Magic and the British Ministry of Magic if things went south.
A little insurance never hurt.
Now all that was needed was to place Yamamoto and the girls into groups in a way that they would remain safe and out of harm's way for the most part. Placing the girls with Timoteo's bodyguard's felt like the safest route available with Yamamoto being left with Dino and Romario; since the blonde was a former student of Reborn like much himself and Tsuna, there was no doubt in Harry's mind that Dino knew how to fight and from what he was able to tell from Romario; well, the man definitely had a few tricks up his sleeves.
"I believe that it would be in our best interests for us to splitting in the groups of three or less that way not only will we be able to cover more ground we'll also be able to strength in numbers. Takeshi you're already well acquainted with Dino and Romario, so you'll be with them." Harry began as the taller teen blinked in surprise though eventually smiled. "Haru earlier you said that you knew gymnastics right? I'd be a lot more comfortable with you went with Brow and Broquant, if that's alright you two." As he nodded towards the older males with uncertainty flickering on his face receiving nods in return, nearly making Harry sigh with relief before continuing. "Lastly, Hana I think you're be best suited with Schnitten and Visconti."
The shades wearing man delicately raised an eyebrow. "Now hold on their brat what makes you think that this is for the best and why we should listen to you in the first place?"
"I don't. I'm merely going with what I know from what I've managed to see in the past several hours knowing each other, Visconti. One fact I know is that Coyote and Timoeto are a team for sure, I don't believe for a moment that either one will willingly leave the other behind," Harry stated firmly glancing at the two in question noting the fond smile on one face and a sharp smirk on the other's. "Takeshi has known Dino and Romario for much longer then I have so I feel it makes much more sense for them to work together. I don't know why I placed Haru with Broquant and Brow or why I placed Hana with you and Schnitten, Visconti I'm going with my instincts. And..." Taking a deep breath as his eyes lingered into the older man's. "You're right, you – no all of you, have no reason to go along with what I say. Hell, I'm pretty sure you can come up with a lot better strategy and whatnot than I could. But this is what we got at the moment and none of us can waste any further time. So unless you do have a better idea I'd like to hear it."
The air in the room tensed ending with Visconti and Harry having a stare down with one another. No one dared to say anything at all choosing to watch as the two refused to relent to the other, until a sharp bark of laughter echoed through the room.
"Not bad, brat. No one's ever stood up to me like that before," Visconti praised, a wary smirk manifested on his face reaching over and ruffling his hair. "Alright we'll go along with what you say, for now anyway."
Harry blinked slowly, taking a few moments until the man's words donned on him. "Okay then..."
"I can't believe I'd see that day when big bad wolfie would actually laugh like that," Ganauche commented lazily slouching against the wall. "And here I thought you were just an old bore of a man, maybe it's true what they say. You can teach a dog new trick!"
Visconti shot him a stare flickering over towards Harry. "You may want to keep him on a tight leash kid...or maybe in his case get him a muffler!"
"H-HEY!"
The rounds of laughter exploded in the room as Ganauche chased after Visconti out of the room towards the door eventually the others began to pile out leaving Harry being the last one in the room, letting out a huge sigh of relief. It was rather overwhelming. But had it been for the best?
He wasn't so sure anymore.
Suddenly his weight shifted on one side causing Harry to sharply turn to see Yamamoto standing beside him gripping his shoulders wearing a sorrowful, yet encouraging smile. His own hand moved upwards placing upon the other boy's as he stared into the hazel eyes for several moments, nodding slowly. He got the message loudly and clear. He wasn't the only one that was worried about Tsuna, and there were others that were with him that would do whatever it took to find him. They needed to work together if they were planning on succeeding. None of them could afford to let petty differences deter them from carrying out their plan to rescue their friend.
Still there was something that was bugging him. It was strange at how ease Tsuna had been kidnapped especially in a house like Dino's, given how high the man was on the social hierarchy, not to mention Tsuna's own apparent connection to his grandfather, whom was also on the same level as Dino and had bodyguards with him. None of it made an ike of sense.
He stroked his chin falling into deep thought ignoring the worried gleam that was in Takeshi's eyes. "...This doesn't make sense," Harry murmured under his breath his mind racing madly in search of an answer. "None of it does."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Harry glanced at the taller teen. "Doesn't it seem kind of odd how Tsuna managed to get kidnapped in such a short amount of time and made their way to wherever they had gotten to all in the same night? It seemed like it was planned far in advanced."
"It is weird." Takeshi agreed, his easy-going smile slide off his face replaced by a thin contemplating frown falling into a thinking position. "It's like they knew we were going to come here and where our rooms were. Like they knew when we were going to eat and when we were going to head to bed. Like their eyes were on us or something."
The answer sudden hit Harry like an arrow to a target gapping in absolute horror straight. Emerald eyes locked onto the confused amber before darting past the teen heading straight into the front door seeing the others standing around as he made his way over towards the blonde ignoring the presence of the person that Dino was talking too, a sense of familiarity passed through him upon glancing at the streak of red hair on this man, but ultimately dismissed it. Though while he had not meant show rudeness to him, in his mind this was a bit more important than introductions, once his piece was said he would introduce himself then but at the moment this was more pertinent.
"Dino," Harry began firmly gaining the bewildered blonde's attention. "Have any of your staff been acting out of the ordinary; disappearing for long periods of time, dodging questions or making strange comments and excuses?"
The Italian man blinked rapidly at the semi-on slaughter of questions. Once his brain caught up the older went into deep through frowning thinly. "...Now that you've mentioned it..."His words trailed off a spark of concern appeared briefly on his features before hardening considerable. His teeth clutched tightly together becoming angry in mere seconds turning sharply towards the door. "Damn it! Everyone we need to hurry!"
The redhead that was there frowning. "Dino?" Speaking in Italian it was clear that he did not understand what was going on, however, he seem surprised by Harry's presence but refrained from commenting.
Dino curved at him appearing to hesitant to say anything to him. His eyes darted rapidly from person to person looking as if he was crying out for assistance several moments later upon realizing there was no way out of the situation he was in took the man over to the side and began to explain in a harsh rushed voice, as the more time that they spent standing around doing nothing the less time Tsuna had. Once finished Dino had returned to where the group was looking a tad embarrassed masking it with his trademark clumsiness that he was known for by nearly tripping over the carpet stumbling towards them as he regained his composure upon rejoining them.
"I hope you've taken care of your business Chiaravone," Coyote growled gruffly sending a pointed glare towards the blonde.
The younger man winced, curling his lips in mild annoyance at the callous attitude, forcing a flimsy smile at the other. "You can say that yeah. I explained the situation and he offered to help us find Tsuna despite my protests he refuses to listen to a word I say. I don't want him getting involved in this, his points, were valid. There is strength in numbers after all. And I can't really convince him otherwise."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Visconti barked a laugh sardonically.
Timoteo held his hand features stern. "Visconti!" The shade man stepped back bowing his head in compliance. "I apologize for my bodyguard's words, Dino."
"No Nono. He's right," Dino averted gaze frustrated at himself. "My inability to protect Tsuna has shown how incompetent I am."
"That, my boy, is debatable." The elderly man spoke up firmly showing the charismatic power that he held had increased upon the stance spoke volumes as to the type of person that he was. There was no doubt in the room to just who the boss of the operation was. "You are young. And human, just like everyone else in this room; beating yourself over something like this is pitiful. We are not perfect beings Dino, this is simply one of life's many lessons that we must learn from, which we shall. In the mean time do try to put your attention into your thoughts so that we can find my grandson. Shall we?"
Dino blinked at the man's words spluttering out his response. "Y-yes sir!"
"Good, I am glad that you agree." The smugness that came from Timoteo was oozing from the beaming smile sharply turning towards the door, raising his sceptre into the air. "Come now everyone time is wasting!" He was closely followed behind by his bodyguards the later being followed by the others.
Takeshi folded his arms to the back of his head grinning slightly up at the newest addition to their rag-team of rescuers. "So what's your name?"
Dino's friend in question complimented the blonde in looks and style reminding Harry of those rockers in bands with his long red hair which was tied back in a ponytail and the sharp tooth like earring, strikingly handsome even though it was clear from the smile on his face that he had no idea what Takeshi had just said; meaning that he did not understand Japanese. Which meant one of them would have to translate back and forth, he felt rather sympathetic to the redhead, still there was something about the man that Harry could not help but find familiar yet was unable to place why.
The frown had remained on his face not noticing Dino leaning over to the other male translating what Takeshi had said, and promptly beamed at the question.
"Bill." The redhead, now known as Bill, at least they could call him by his name."Bill Weasley."
Harry nearly froze his jaw seemingly unhinged.
Well shit.
Timoteo eyed the boy meticulously from the back seat of his limousine he had heard much of the child in front of him in Reborn's reports, the information that had been within them had been met with skepticism and bewilderment. Never before had Reborn ever taken on a student on his own whim, nor a secondary one at that, nevertheless that was what the hitman had done. In the beginning he had dismissed the notion of a matter of means in order to train his future heir further into becoming a good decimo, the reports of the boy had increased, except with a minor difference. Tsuna's reports were usually blunt and honest, callous one could say, nevertheless Reborn made sure that all the facts were stated with only the cold hard truths; which why it had been a such for not only Reborn but himself and his guardians to have discovered that there was next to almost nothing about Harry.
At all.
That alone made him wary around him while Tsuna had spoke in high regard of the boy and the sheer desperation to keep Harry away from the mafia, Timoteo could not simply let this matter rest. From what he had seen the boy meant no harm to any of them, expressing a great deal of worry about Tsuna diving straight into making a plan thinking over it carefully before making his thoughts known to them. Not to mention he had courage to stand up against Coyote of all people, that was no small feat.
Until he learned more about the boy Timoteo decided to keep his opinions to himself and leaving the events that would eventually unfold to see just who Harry truly was.
For better or for worse for the Vongola.
The teams had been split accordingly. Each taking a different route planning to meet at the rendezvous point rejoining and finding Tsuna, doing with one team alone was a kin to suicide as far as Harry was concerned. However, he was well aware of the facts that plans changed depending upon the circumstances in battle, Ron had taught him that through chess. His friend had told him again and again his main reason for losing was due to trying to save his pieces from being taken, which was true as painful as Harry had forced himself to admit; perhaps that was the reason why he was so reluctant about splitting everyone into groups? Still travelling in a large group was not a wise decision. Splitting was the lesser of two evils and guaranteed the most success from his perspective.
Whether the teams that he split them in were efficient would reveal themselves in good time. Harry wonder if placing Hana and Haru with two of Tsuna's grandfather's bodyguards was such a good idea, the two girls refused to be left behind and being around two of the older gentlemen at least provided them with some form of protection and reliability. It was not that Harry doubted their abilities, quite the opposite, Hana had a frightening intellect and Haru had mad reactionary skills, he just wanted them to be safe as from what he had seen neither of them were experienced in the same manner as Yamamoto, the others and himself. The rigorous training had seen to that.
Even so Harry had faith in the two they were a part of the strange and mismatched group that Tsuna seemed to gather together.
Pushing that thought out of his mind Harry glanced back towards where his other two members were both glancing backwards subtley sharing a slow, sharp but accepting nod, returning it as he slowly lifted the microphone to his lips.
"This is Delta Team we've managed to secure the desire position. Waiting for confirmation, over!" Harry whispered harshly into the microphone lowering it back down again, eyes narrowed directly towards the men wearing business like outfits. Strangely enough, it was not black, but a rather interesting, as kindly as Harry was able to put it, shade of blue and...w...was that peach? Who the hell were these guys?
Ganauche arched a brow. "What's your looking at?"
"...What kind of idiot wears bright purple and peach together? It's like their waving a flag come and get us we're right here!" Harry said dryly, his brows furrowed mixed with incredulous, mocking and humourless. "Please tell me that these aren't the guys that kidnapped Tsuna."
"Okay then." The teen nearly sighed. "I won't tell you that they are."
"...I..." Harry's focused returned back down below pinching the bridge of his loss trying to comprehend the site that was in front of them. It was like the universe decided to slap them all across the face. This was not what he had been expecting, and they were supposed to take these kidnappers seriously? Then again, his eyes darkened, appearances were very deceiving. First impressions could be mislead easily. Maybe there weren't stupid as they looked.
"They are the Pesca Famiglia. A relatively new family that formed twenty or so years ago, they are not really considered that big of a deal. In fact their utterly laughable in terms of physical might, numbers and even influence in the world. Which isn't all that surprising," Ganauche remarked, his tongue clicked the back of his teeth as he shook his head in mock pity. "Calling yourselves Fishing Peach? Not a good selling point."
Harry did not entirely know what the older male was talking about exactly minus the parts that were important in his mind. Apparently the odds seemed to be tipping into their favour to his surprise and relief, that didn't mean he was going to let his guard down. Not yet anyway.
"Anything else that we should be know before proceeding?" Harry asked, eyes firmly forwards at the harbor.
The man stroked his beard thoughtfully and shook his head grinning cheerfully. "Nope!"
The wizard threw him an unimpressed stare sighing softly afterwards. "I suppose that's good then, still we should at least be cautious once get further into the other side."
"Ya know kiddo," The man's eyes narrowed upon falling on him gauging him closely. "I'm surprised that you haven't at least question of why Tsuna had been kidnapped. I know if I was still your age I probably would have ranted about it."
"Complaining about something as inane is a waste of time. I'm sure there's a good reason to Tsuna's kidnapping, I may not be the most intelligent person in the world Ganauche but I'm not going to pry into other people's secrets; if I want to hear the truth than Tsuna will be the one to tell me." Harry bristled at the older male. At school was an entirely different matter. With all the anomalies were the only reasons that Harry would 'pry'into other's business. The lives of ignorant students were on the line with just Hermione, Ron and himself being the only means of defense as heavens knew that the Professors wouldn't intervene.
Ganauche stroked his beard again thoughtfully. "You're might mature, oddly I'm not surprised."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Harry said offhandedly, emerald eyes darted towards their third member. "Think he's okay with this?"
"Hm?" Throwing his head back to the last member, Bill, whom kept a firm eye behind them while recasting Notice-Me-Notcharms around them. Having the adult wizard around allowed him and Bill to use their magic freely around each other, with Ganauche being a squid, none of them would have to hide their knowledge. It was a win-win. "Seems like to me he did want to come after all!"
His lips pressed thinly together staring at the redhead once again he had dragged another one of Ron's family members into something dangerous. A sharp feeling of guilt twisted painfully in his heart.
"...He should have never become a part of this," Harry murmured under his breath turning away sharply.
The older male hummed. "He came on his own volition. Just like you did."
"Tsuna's my friend...of course I'd come to his aid," Harry expressed under his breath softly.
"In the same way that Bill is Dino's friend." Ganauche retorted not unkindly, nodding slowly.
It was strange that Bill and Dino were close friends; the many adult magical people he had come across were averse venturing into the non-magical side let alone interacting with muggles. Mr. Weasley was the exception, Sirius as well to an extent, his godfather had written many things about the muggle world, besides the two there were no one else. He had gotten glimpse of disapproval of Mr. Weasley's curiosity of things muggle from not just Mrs. Weasley but Percy too. That hardly surprised him due to the older boy's pompous attitude, coming off rather Malfoy-ish, in his words and stature, just the blonde in his hair had been missing and he would have fit right in.
So discovering the two's friendship had been a rather shock to him. He had wanted to ask them further as to how they met and became friends eventually dismissing the idea, it wasn't any of his concern. They were big boys after all.
A noise echoed from the headset capturing his attention. "H-Harry?" The static voice of Dino emerged, broken, but clear enough that it was coherent.
"We're here," Harry replied, hand upon the headset.
"Oh good. We've got confirmation from the other teams, prepare to head in." Dino's voice stated professionally. "Good luck and stay safe."
The ends of his lips tugged lightly snorting into the microphone. "Don't worry I will. You too over, and out!" Harry commented chuckling as the line went dead.
"Time to go then?" Bill questioned, snapping his head towards him tilting in curiosity. On the surface the redhead appeared to be rather calm unfortunately his body told a completely different story, fingers tapping nervously on his arm trying to maintain a cool facade. Not that he could be blamed.
Harry nodded swiftly. "It's about that time, yeah. We have to make this one count guys. We get one and only one shot at this."
It was do or die. There was no other way.
chapter eleven-end
I hope everyone had a great winter holiday! I apologize that for the long wait and the shortness originally I wanted to make it double the size, but honestly I felt that this was a rather good place for it to end in all actuality. And thank you so much for your reviews!
Also for those who are wondering Rizona, Albito and Pesca are NOT OC characters/family; Rizona and Albito are from the KHR: Heat of Fate series while the Pesca familiga had a minor appearance during the Inheritance Arc in the manga. For those who are also wondering about how Bill and Dino met; that will be brought up, just not now, so please be patient.
Now I want to bring something up; which I think is rather important since I've been discussing this with a few people; notably a few readers, my former beta and a friend of mine about the pacing of this fic. Do you think that the pace of this fic is okay, slow or that I should be speeding up? I do want to hear this and on your thoughts on how I'm handling Gokudera, as I said in the previous chapter, I'm trying to avoid bashing as much as possible.
Anyway still looking for a new beta; so make sure state interest in your review or message me via PM!
Until next time everyone! Make sure to leave a detail review and to check out Torn Pages; a compilation of side-stories, scrapped ideas and much, much more!