Hydrogen chloride.
"Surprises, surprises, what are you doing here, Chief Professor?" Rillianne smiled as she threw the cards she was holding to the bearskin carpet on the floor. The blue-eyed girl had to say that the little brunet looked utterly out of place in Trumps, the hanging spot of the Blackjacks gambler and the most fancy-looking room in Sicilia Scuola Pubblica with the golden coloring and all the expensive stuff within it.
The Chief Professor didn't say anything, but made himself comfortable by sitting on the largest armchair in the room. His two subordinates, Hayato Gokudera and Takeshi Yamamoto moved to his right and left side respectively.
"The club leader Lambo is in the middle of student council work, so I'm the one in charge. Is there something you need from me?" Rilli crossed her legs, revealing her slightly tanned thighs to the boys. "Cover your damn legs, woman!" The silver-head said with a horridly cute tone.
"Ooh you're blushing! How cuuute!" She cooed to the silver-head, who tossed his head immediately. "So, what do you want from me, Chief Professor?" She asked, twirling one of her pigtails playfully. "You want me to gamble for you? Increase your money tenfold? Which is it?" She put her head on the little brunet's lap seductively.
Tsunayoshi Sawada remained unfazed, but petted her head nonetheless. "No, no, I need your other specialty." Rillianne giggled. Not many people knew her other specialty. She was a master of disguise; she had been in and out of the Sicily police force with nobody knowing anything. With her photographic memory, she was the best spy Sicilia Scuola Pubblica had. She even ran some errands for the principal.
"Very well, tell me who you want me to infiltrate and what do you want to know." The brunet smiled in return. "I want you to go within the CEDEF, and find two people named Basil and Oregano. Report their condition to me." Rilli nodded. She knew them; those two were the idiots who got disciplined by the D.C for intruding and damaging the laboratory.
"And my reward?" She stretched her hand. The brunet gave her a purple slip of paper. "Tickets to the Mort Games… but this is October the Thirteenth, the show is tomorrow! AWESOME! You sure know how to strike a deal, Chief!"
Rillianne thought that it was an absolute truth. The Chief Professor is great, because each and every one of his deals involved a nice reward and thrilling situations. And in Rilli's opinion, only those thrills can rival the thrills of gambling.
~A Certain Wimpy Stuntman's Maelstrom~
Tsuna was sleepy, very much so, but he couldn't willingly fall asleep before he checked all of his chemicals. Luckily, Skull-san had bought a new refrigerator only for his chemicals. The stuntman was so generous.
The brunet's ears went pink at the thought. Recently, the admiration he had always had for the wimpy adult who'd saved him from his family had been flaring like crazy. Tsuna had wanted to see more, know more, and touch the stuntman more. The adult was the cutest nerve-wreck he'd ever seen. It was ridiculous, yet intriguing.
The stuntman looked undoubtedly tougher than Tsuna, but he was more... fragile than the brunet was.He snorted to himself.When Tsuna made sure that all of his chemicals were right on their places, he yawned and made his way to his bedroom. But… he heard something from the stuntman's room.
The brunet had never been inside Skull-san's room before. The stuntman slept on the couch practically everyday after all. He stood in front of the door silently, daring himself to venture deeper. "Ughhhh…" He was really worried. What happened to Skull-san? Is he all right? Is he okay? He knew that he just called the stuntman fragile, but that was referring to how much of nerve-wreck he was, not how weak he was.
The chemist took a deep breath and opened the door. As he expected, Skull-san's room was painted purple. There were many posters of motocross, some of them were of him, and the others were from other stuntmen. There was a plasma television and DVD player, along with a complete home theatre. His bed was king-sized, also with purple sheets, and he was lying there face down.
As he had predicted, the stuntman was still using his full attire. But what he didn't predict was the stuntman's whimpers. "Ugh, ahh, sorry… sorry…" Tsuna sat on the edge of the bed, examining his roommate carefully. "Skull-san…?" He chimed. The brunet knew that Skull-san wouldn't wake with only a chime. After all, the man was such a heavy sleeper.
"Medea…" Tsuna's eyes widened.
Why would Skull-san whisper that name? Tsuna knew her; Medea de Mort was in a sense Natsuhiko Sawada in Skull-san's life. But, why would he whisper that name? "Medea… I'm sorry…" Tears leaked from the stuntman's closed eyes. Tsuna trembled. Why would he apologize? Why should he apologize? It really confused him.
Really, even in slumber, Skull-san managed to puzzle him.
Tsuna moved his hand to comfort the stuntman's cowering figure. When he was about to stroke Skull-san's face, he was pulled into a hug instead. "I'm sorry…" He whispered.
Red exploded on Tsuna's face, even more apparent than it was before. He desperately tried to hide it, but he didn't want to leave from the stuntman's embrace. He sighed and opened his eyes, enjoying the closeness of their faces.
Skull-san was so… pretty. He didn't understand why he chose that word, but Skull-san kind of suited it. His face was still smudged by his daily purple makeup, his chain dangled mischievously, even in his sleep. Even though he was asleep, his brows furrowed deeply and there were tears on his face.
Curiosity got the better of him when he decided to touch the stuntman's exotic face with his hand. Tsuna ran a hand on his chain, and eventually he continued to his jaw, his neck and finally stopped on his chest.
He never slept together with people like this. Because he had been sleeping on Iemitsu's study's floor for as long as he could remember. He disliked people's company, and even more so when he actually slept inside his (joint) room, his brother would find it convenient to snuck inside his bed and hug him like he was a bolster. He had complained to Nana about it, but she only said that it was adorable. Adorable or not, it didn't change the fact that he woke up feeling sore because his brother had hug him like he was a comfort pillow.
Suddenly, Skull-san hugged him tighter, actually making Tsuna's face collide with his chest. His face turned even redder as the stuntman snored lightly.
The chemist eventually smiled and snuggled closer to the stuntman's chest, thinking of how lucky he was to have ventured deeper into the stuntman's room.
~A Certain Wimpy Stuntman's Maelstrom~
Tsuna never felt happy in his life. And yes, it was true. When Verde or Uncle Reborn praised him, or when his inventions worked, or when his weapons were nearing perfection, he wasn't happy, he was just proud.
Verde and Uncle Reborn, no matter how close they were, didn't need him. Nobody did. Natsuhiko claimed the otherwise, but Tsuna knew better. How could someone be happy when nobody ever heard what he or she needed to say?
He knew that hate was a strong word, which was why he never used it against anyone. But… happy? Well, to Tsunayoshi Sawada, the word happy was just as strong as the word hate.
He never felt like he did now. His stomach was flipping, and his whole body was shivering, never. He was so... overwhelmed. If these were what the word happy was described with, he would be so willing to be happy all the time.
He dangled his feet as he waited on the sofa. Skull-san had texted him, saying that he'd be home soon and they'll be going to the Lucifer dome to watch his stunts. Tsuna was so excited. He never felt this happy, especially on his birthday, the day when he would desperately try to convince himself that he didn't hate his family.
When the bell rang, Tsuna jumped off of the sofa and opened it. He hoped that Skull-san wouldn't think that he was overdressed with the black jeans, white t-shirt that has purple paint splatter as its motives, and a white leather jacket that has similar cuts with his lab coat.
"Skull-san! Do you want to take shower first before go-"
"T-Tsu-chan,"
Wait, what? Skull-san never called him that. Nobody called him Tsu-chan, besides his... family.
His thought immediately drifted to the day Skull-san ever said anything about his past. Tsuna had been curious and he wanted to know. Skull-san told him about the day his father came to see him after he had left the house.
"I felt really sick, like he just punched me on my stomach. I felt like yelling, but I couldn't. I could only just stand there and stare as he droned about how much he thought that he was wrong and I was actually the best son ever. That he loved Medea and I, and both he and my mother loved me. I couldn't stand it, so I slammed the door on his face, puked my guts out, and cried myself to sleep. Uncool, huh?"
"N-no... No way."
"Well, I hope you get to do it coolly. I sucked so bad, now I really hope I could return to that day, despite all the pain, and tell my dad to go fuck himself."
Fire burned on his chest as he saw a woman with his own coloring standing nervously in front of his current residence, his home.
But he knew that this was it. A chance that Skull-san had wasted, and he can help the stuntman atone his regrets.
He took a deep breath, trying to break the ice. But, his mother beat him to it. "Hi… Tsu-chan…" she said; anxiety was so clear in her eyes that Tsuna had wanted to laugh. She smiled nervously, trying to overcome it. "Am I interrupting something?" She continued.
Be calm, Tsuna, be cool.
"Not really," he said nonchalantly. "But, I must admit that I am expecting someone and you are not him." Tsuna replied as calmly as he could. Though, he was wondering what this was all about. Out of all people, Nana Sawada was the last person in his mind that he expected to confront him directly. Iemitsu? Yes, understandable, since he was his father and he was also the leader of CEDEF. Natsuhiko? Also understandable, since that kid was an asinine moron who thought that the world revolved around him. But Nana? It was out of his prediction since even when Nana was his mother; they didn't have any other relation to tie them.
"I just came by to see how you were, Tsu-chan," she said nervously. "I brought some bentou in case you haven't eaten." She showed him a neatly wrapped three-tiered box with a smile on her face. Tsuna shivered. He didn't want her here, because it made him uncomfortable. But he couldn't throw her out. If he did, he'll lose the chance of ever confronting his family and made it clear that he wasn't unwanted and he had a better family that wanted him.
"In this household, we don't get to eat handmade food a lot," partial truth. Both he and Skull-san can at least cook spaghetti or eggs and made it edible. But if they wanted a great homemade food with hearty and healthy choices of menu, they will go to Luce-san's place. "I suppose I will take it. Please come in." He had kept his tone as neutral and calm as possible.
Nana Sawada entered the house quietly and followed him to the dining table. She put the bentou on top of the table. "Have a seat," Tsuna asked, but his tone was piercing cold that Nana perceived it as an order. She sat down on the seat Tsuna usually used.
Tsuna opened the food-fridge and took two cans of calpico from within. He put one of them in front of his mother before plopping down in Skull-san's seat.
The woman looked generally awkward, as much as he was. But since this was his territory, he felt undeniably better than her.
They both sat in front of each other, and Tsuna noticed that the air around them was shouting the word 'AWKWARD' like it was a chant. The male brunet then took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "I'm not stupid… I know you came here to talk." He drank the calpico to calm himself.
The female brunette flinched, but then opened the can herself. "Tsu-chan… I… please come back home." He knew that this would happen. He had prepared himself mentally for this, but it didn't stop him from seething inwardly when it actually happened. "Na-chan has been worried, and so did Iemitsu and I. We- we noticed that we didn't give you as much attention as we gave Na-chan. But, Na-chan is just a child, surely you understand that he needed more attention than a big child such as yourself, right?"
Tsuna didn't say a thing. He didn't even move. Apparently, Nana took this as he cue to continue. "I know that you feel unwanted, Tsu-chan, I do. That's why I'm here, asking you to return. Just give us one more chance, okay honey? Iemitsu and I know that Tsu-chan is actually a good kid who wanted to be spoiled. You don't actually want to be apart from our family, ne? Please. If you return, we would be the perfect family you always wanted, Tsu-chan, we will."
Tsuna couldn't believe his ears. A perfect family? To be spoiled? He didn't want all those things! It was far too late! Now, in his fifteenth year of age, he had the perfect family. He and Skull-san, and by extensions, the other Arcobaleno! They're the perfect family! His mother figure was Luce, father figure was Reborn, and the others were just as irreplaceable as them, especially Skull-san, his savior.
Did this woman really think that the reason he left their home, slamming the door to their faces was just because he wanted to be spoiled? To be a part of a family that didn't even want or know him?
Tsuna felt tears on his eyes dripped slowly. "Why are you putting words in my mouth, Mom?"
~A Certain Wimpy Stuntman's Maelstrom~
Nana could feel her heart wrenched when she saw tears on his eldest son's face. It wasn't leaking; it was just there, slowly dripping from eyes that were identical to her own brown ones. "T-that's not what I meant, Tsu-chan!" She stated, clearly panicked.
She never felt this panic if little Na-chan was the one crying. Probably because she knew that her little sunshine would be fine as long as she comforted him. The reason she felt really panicked this time… was probably because she'd never seen Tsuna cried before.
"If that's not what you meant, then what is?" The boy, her son, said with shaky voice. "You said it yourself. 'Na-chan has been worried', will you be here had Na-chan didn't worry?" Nana flinched. And Tsuna wiped the tears off of his face. "Could you please leave? As I said earlier, I didn't expect to see you here, especially today. I actually thought I'd be happy today, so could you please not ruin it?" Tsuna stood up, grabbed her wrist and showed her to the door.
"Please, leave." Her heart wrenched in the harshest way possible. Tears made its way to her eyes. "Tsu-chan, it's Na-chan's birthday today." She said, nearly sobbing. "Please come and see him, even just for a bit, Tsu-chan!" She wailed.
She believed that her son would actually listened, but he stopped dead in his tracks instead. "Tsu-chan?" She asked, hope lacing her tiny voice. Color was drained from Tsuna's face, but when they were about to reach the door, someone had opened it from the outside, beating Tsuna to it.
"Oooi dame-Tsuna, happy birthday! Got you a little present before we go to the Lucifer… dome…" Nana recognized this person. His name was Skull de Mort and he was Reborn's acquaintance. But, what surprised her was his sentence…
Birthday…?
"Skull-san!" Tsuna had let go of her hand, a perfect smile on his face, and went to hug the man. "Skull-san… Skull-san…" He had sounded so relieved, he was smiling, he was happy.
Nana couldn't stand the sight that her son found comfort in someone else, and ran away from the spot.
"Um…" She could hear the man said amidst her tears and broken sobs. "Did I do something wrong?"
~A Certain Wimpy Stuntman's Maelstrom~
"I love you so much. I want to marry you." She shook her head, like she always did for the last fifteen (and now sixteen) years. "I'm sorry, Giotto, but no." Nene Minagawa said solemnly. The blond man looked disappointed, like he always did for the last sixteen years. This day, Fourteenth of October, was always the day Giotto proposed to her… to be his wife.
And it was also the day she never accepted his proposal.
"I'm glad I can see you this year too, Giotto." She said calmly. "Me too," the blond replied as he placed his lips on top of her cheek. Honestly, they were both in love. Giotto loved Nene as much as Nene loved Giotto. But… Nene vowed to herself that she would never marry until she found her son.
Nene knew that the dead girl they showed her all those years was not her beloved son. Her son was still very much alive, and she knew it. The Japanese had never been a mother before her supposedly dead child, but she just knew it.
"Thank you for the lunch, it was great." She smiled. Giotto nodded. "Well, here we are. I hope you enjoy this year's Mort Games, Nene." Giotto asked her to close her eyes and kissed her lips. Her smile went even wider and she waved him a goodbye.
Little did Nene Minagawa know that she would found her life-goal here, inside the Mort Games.
~A Certain Wimpy Stuntman's Maelstrom~
"I did it…" Tsuna whispered to the man's chest, clearly excited. "I did it, Skull-san, I did it!" He looked at the stuntman in the eyes. Skull-san was clearly confused, but he smiled nonetheless. "Did what?" He asked. Tsuna held up two fingers and made a peace sign. "I did it coolly!" He grinned.
Skull-san furrowed his eyebrows, but then eventually gasped. "That was your mom, wasn't it?" Tsuna grinned in return. "AWESOME!" The chemist got pulled into a bear hug.
His face went into a darker shade of red. In the name of all atoms, he needed to stop this. He shouldn't burst into red whenever he came in contact with Skull-san! He didn't understand it and it wasn't comfortable. But he didn't feel unhappy because of it.
"As a reward for your awesomeness and everything, I'm giving you your present now." The stuntman said with an impish grin. He took out a small box with purple and orange stripes wrapping. He shivered, clearly excited with having a birthday present given to him directly like this. Usually, his presents were given a day late by posts.
When he opened the wrapping and the metallic box, he gasped happily. "Skull-san! Is this…?" The stuntman grinned as he took out a pair of Jolly Roger (without the actual flag, only the skull and bones) shaped earrings. Its color was silvery gray bordering on metallic-white and it shone brilliantly as the lights hit the skulls. "Verde said you'll like it, I actually bribed him into helping me pick these."
"This is… Titanium…" Tsuna marveled at the substance. Titanium: a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number twenty-two. It has a low density and was a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant (including sea water, aqua regia and chlorine) transition metal with a silver color and it was also said that due to its extremely useful properties, it could be sold even higher than gold.
"I hope you like the Jolly Roger. I think its cool." Skull-san added sheepishly. Tsuna didn't know what to say. He was just so overwhelmed by everything. Happy. He was happy. But why was he crying? "W-whoa! If you don't like it I'll dispose of it, p-please don't cry!" He shook his head fiercely. He loved it! He really really loved it! But he couldn't help but cry.
"I-I don't know why I'm crying, but I'm happy, Skull-san! I really am!" He said with shaky voice. "Or, um, do you hate being pierced? You don't need to wear it if you don't want to." The stuntman murmured. Tsuna shook his head. "N-no, I'll wear it." The chemist examined his roommate's features excitedly. Skull-san had piercings on several parts of his face.
He had one near his right eyebrow, under his lips, and the one on his lips actually had chain to connect with the piercing on his ear. Tsuna was excited to know that he could actually get pierced; he could have something in common with his roommate. "C'mere, I'm great at this." Tsuna sat down on the sofa and Skull-san kneeled in front of him.
The stuntman applied some alcohol to his ears and he cleaned the piercing needles with alcohols. "It's sterile already, but just in case…" Skull-san murmured to himself. He cleaned his hands with disinfectant and put a pebble behind Tsuna's ear. "This will hurt." Tsuna nodded and he braced himself.
Skull-san stuck the piercing needle smoothly through his ear until all the way through. He wiggled the needle, and then kept it bent at an angle. He left the Titanium in Tsuna's ear for at least five minutes with ice. He wiped the little bits with tissue, leaving Tsuna cringe at the pain
"Does it hurt?" He asked sincerely. Tsuna nodded, but he showed a thumb to the stuntman, reassuring him. He repeated the whole process once more with his other ear. "That didn't look too bad." He smiled. Tsuna clenched his fists, utterly curious at his new jewelry. He had never been pierced before, and this was out of his prediction. He never thought that he'd get a piercing.
"Well, we have to go now. I guess I'll just shower in the dome. Let's go, dame-Tsuna." Skull stood up with a grin on his face. His purple eyes flitted to Tsuna's ears, and he looked utterly pleased. Tsuna smiled at the stuntman, gratitude and happiness reflected on his eyes. Only Skull-san would be able to wash out all of his earlier rage towards his mother with few simple gestures.
Skull-san ran around the condo, grabbing his calpico and his helmet. Tsuna stopped in front of the mirror beside the door. He stared at his own reflection, clearly noticing the metallic substance on his still-red ears. Jolly Roger… he wondered if it suited him. But he knew for sure that Titanium suited him.
"It suits you, Tsuna," the stuntman behind him said with a grin. "And I like your outfit, it's cool. Let's go?" Tsuna smiled, clearly didn't regret all those hours he spent in front of the mirror, and took the stuntman's hand. "Let's go!"
~A Certain Wimpy Stuntman's Maelstrom~
Tsuna parted from Skull-san in front of the dome. The stuntman instructed him to go to the VIP seats, and he did. Skull-san said that he'd invited the Arcobaleno, but they won't show up from the first stunt to the finish, they'll come in the middle of the show.
But Tsuna didn't mind. He sat down on the front row of the VIP seats and stared to the arena before him. It was full of dirt and steep grounds. There was a horridly steep soil and under it, there were cars, and about a long distance, a landing spot. Tsuna could feel himself shiver.
He instinctively went to his new Jolly Roger earrings, praying that the giver of it would survive this field.
"Oh, I didn't think someone would come as early as I would." He heard an accented Italian said beside him. "Is this your first time in Mort Games? You look worried, Tsunayoshi Sawada." The lady said calmly.
She was wearing a neat set of skirt and shirt, hidden underneath a lab-coat similar to Tsuna's usual wear. She had long brown hair tied in low side ponytail. She had brown eyes and she wore glasses. Tsuna noticed that she smelled like seventy-percent alcohol.
"Y-yeah, it's my first time." He replied. "How do you know my name?" She giggled. "It's impossible that I don't. I've been in and out your blog, it's actually my homepage." She said with a smile. "W-who are you?" Tsuna asked with squinted eyes. "My name is Nene Minagawa, I work for Millefiore Corporation, research and development department. Worked for Baskerville before."
"Aah! I've seen you in the Discovery Channel. The first female, not to mention Japanese, person who actually held a leading position within Millefiore R&D." She smiled.
Both scientists then proceed into a long conversation about their works, and Tsuna couldn't help but feel a weird familiar sensation with the woman in front of him. Like she was someone he knew from a long long time ago. But he couldn't place his mind on it… who was she really?
"Say, Nene-san-"
"LADIES AAAAND GENTLEMEN! THANK YOU FOR JOINING THIS BANQUET OF DEATH!" Nene shouted, along with thousands other within the fully cramped Lucifer dome. "NOW PLEASE WELCOME, THE IMMORTAL STUNTMAN HATED BY THE GRIM REAPER HIMSELF! SKULL DE MOOOORT!"
The entire stadium blacked out, and all spotlights were focused into a certain stuntman and his bike. "Today, all of you gather here to see my defying of death…" he said to the quiet crowd. "I won't say anything long, just… LET THE MORT GAMES BEGIN!"
"AND MAY THE GRIM REAPER BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR!" The fans, including Nene-san, shouted in reply. The hoops of fire were lit and the all the explosive was active, the cars on the bottom of the pit blared, making the whole stadium shout in euphoria.
"MAY THE GRIM REAPER BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR, SKULL-SAAAAN!" Tsuna shouted as Skull-san started Oodako's engine and made his jump.
Next:
Fifth Stunt: Feelings.
"Kiss me and tell me if I'm gay."
I AM DONE! OH GOD THIS CHAPTER WAS MONSTROSITY AND EXCITEMENT ALL MIXED INTO FOUR THOUSAND+ WORDS!
I had to listen the song Warrior by B.A.P like THE ENTIRE TIME I wrote this chapter. Try listening to it while (re)reading; does it have the same effect as listening to it while writing? (lol)
Next chapter… KISS ME AND TELL ME IF I'M GAY! I'M SOOO EXCITED!
Review reply:
R3iga1004 – It existed! And I know it does, if it doesn't, well, HERE FANDOM CHIRI PRESENTS YOU TO ANOTHER PAIRING CALLED ViperSkull! XD
Yuu3 – Well, since in this fic Reborn is Tsuna's uncle… it'll be much much more awkward than Skull and Tsuna XD Giotto has prepared something alright, but he won't be giving it on time. ONLY SKULL (and the Arcobaleno) HAS THAT PRIVELEGE XDDD
Narutopokefan – Hahaha Skull and Verde talking would be one of the hardest thing I would ever write, if I decide to write it :p
Sylvia-san – I'll think about that! I've never written BelMammon before, but if I think that they fit, I'll give it a try! And Reborn's emails' main purpose wasn't to remind Tsuna of his own birthday; it's actually reminding Tsuna that 14th October is Tsuna's birthday. If it weren't for Reborn, Tsuna would definitely forget that 14th October is his own birthday; seeing that Natsu was the one showered with presents and he was treated like he was air and all XD
Soul Vrazy – No is a no! :p Ooo interesting, let's hear what your project is! Don't bother Ran though, she's currently running to be student council president of her school :p
Chibi'prince-sama – Teheeheee~ Thanks for not expecting! Please enjoy this chapter~
SelfcreatedCharacter – the All27 is hinted and onesided, but Skull27 is definitely out in the open! Since I'm going for more realistic story, I can't write everyone lusting after Tsuna because he drank a pheromone potion XD Aria is already Luce's daughter. She is Luce and Bermuda's daughter. And since Aria is a child in the story, Uni won't be Luce's family. But YOU'LL SEE HER! winks winks Byakuran would appear and Reborn will give Tsuna a present xDD
demons of ragriz – Well I'm glad the last chapter made your day! I hope this chapter made your day too!
Well, I guess that is all!
Please review~
P.S: If you wonder why this chapter is titled Hydrogen chloride, it's to complement with last chapter's Fire theme. Regretted it though. Should have used Titanium TT_TT
