Dioscuri

An LLS Production

A/N: Sayavisitor: J'ai oublié le conditionnel présent, merci !

12: Trompe-l'œil

"I really don't understand."

Hana lifted her head from the translated copy of A Tale of Two Cities. "About what?"

Ietsuna sat with her in the library as they filled out the cards and stamped old books. Ietsuna was currently thumbing through Slaughterhouse-Five. "My mother. She can do so much better and she sticks to the idiot monkey who's never home. Thinking about it with a clear head, feeling such deep emotions towards some other person you don't even know is truly terrifying."

Hana frowned, setting down the book. "What makes you think I know?"

"Mmm... Lancia and you," Ietsuna pointed out.

A blush coloured her cheeks, but Hana did not deny anything. "We're just... getting to know each other! He's... a kind man, but he's not... ready for a relationship. So he said... and... other things. That maturity..."

"Eh," Ietsuna just blinked. "Anyway, I'll be killed by the home tutor for backtalk. But I was totally serious, Kurokawa."

"So you have this side as well..." Hana smiled lightly behind her book. "You're less of a monkey than I thought. Well, you're Sawada's twin, so I guess there was something to all that discipline Hibari harps about. Otherwise you wouldn't be here during the holidays."

"I'm here because Lancia asked," Ietsuna clarified, rifling through the catalogue to stamp a book. "I could leave you here alone."

"Your humour is bad as always," Hana sighed as she caught the book tossed in her direction. "What's this?"

"You've been having nightmares, right?" Ietsuna sneezed as he opened the next book. "If you take out the time travel and toilet-plunger aliens, you got a PTSD story. Might help."

"...thanks," Hana rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "About your mother... it's not my place to say anything, but you might want to go home and talk it out."

"...I like the first chapter," Ietsuna changed the subject. "Quote: 'And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.'"

"Just... that?"

He smiled. "'So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.'"

Hana backed slightly at the sudden-onset chill that descended. "Are you-"

The door opened. "Ietsuna-san," the Regent-style prefect saluted. "Mochida of the Kendo club is challenging Sasagawa again."

"I got it," Ietsuna stood up. "You were saying, Kurokawa?"

"Nothing," Hana dismissed. "I'm just surprised that you came to school and left your darling brother at home."

"Tsuna?" Ietsuna echoed. "I think... I might have pushed him a bit too much. Well, catch you later, Kurokawa."

"Huh," Hana nodded as the prefects left her alone. "I knew it. That bro-con wouldn't feel anything like that for his mother, but for his brother? He'd probably rise from the dead."

Upon just arriving at the school entrance, Tsuna put his face in his hands when the guard prefect on duty told him about Mochida. "Ie is handling it? Oh, no. I thought Mochida-sempai graduated!"

"Tenth?" Gokudera asked while trotting behind Tsuna.

"I love my brother, but he can be very vicious," Tsuna swallowed, already pacing at a jog for the school gymnasium.

There was a minor crowd of boys in Kendo armour, and in the centre of it was Ietsuna studying a shinai in his hand.

"So, the bet's like this," Mochida was explaining. "Right now, you guys say that we're crowding. I say the opposite, especially since I'm an alumnus of the school, and I'm going to Namimori High next year. If I win, you guys let the Kendo club bring outsiders onto school grounds. If you win... well, I guess we leave this matter behind."

"No matter what, the Kendo Club benefits," Ietsuna observed, hefting the shinai. "I'm fine with it."

"Ie!" Tsuna called out. "Permanent injury is not allowed!"

Aside from a slight incline of the head, Ietsuna gave no response.

"Begin!"

Down came the flag, at the same time Ietsuna vaulted and cracked the shinai down. The latéral extérieur was a wet slap that echoed with a pained scream.

"Down... in one hit..." Gokudera stared. "Really brutal..."

"Well?" Amber eyes steadily regarded the shaking referee. "I have to hit him again? You'll have to clean the floor if I do."

"W- Winner is the Disciplinary Committee!" Up went the red flag.

"M- m- monster..." Mochida clutched at his broken leg. "You broke my leg!"

"'Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling, do not understand the process of reasoning, for they would understand at first sight, and are not used to seek for principles'1," Ietsuna scowled. "Pascal is wasted on you, Mochida-sempai. Five weeks in a cast, no permanent injury. Of course, if you'd prefer to retire completely from the Kendo scene, we can oblige you."

"Y- You switched your hands!" Mochida yelled. "I thought you were a boxer!"

"But I don't do Kendo," Ietsuna pointed out, easily hefting the shinai. "I am, however, proficient in Savate. Coincidentally, that includes Canne chausson. Whenever did you think this was a Kendo match? In fact, this has long ceased to be one."

The juniors of the Kendo club, while not as proficient in the ways of the sword like their currently injured senior, knew exactly who held the strings over the Disciplinary Committee's officer slate. "S- Sawada-san, please help us!"

"What happened...?"

"Oi, Mochida! I am going to extremely punch you out for harassing Kyoko-" Sasagawa Ryohei took in the scene mid-holler, and immediately nodded. "Join the Boxing Club, Sawada!"

The shinai dropped with a clatter, and Ryohei's face meshed under a rubber-soled shoe.

"Is this a fight, Tenth's twin?!"

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna freaked.

"What's going on?" the baseball ace pouted. "It looks fun!"

"Yamamoto-kun!" Tsuna spoke as the baseball ace strolled towards them, still in his baseball blues. "Right, it's the March holiday practise... how is your arm?"

"Great! I gotta thank Ietsuna and you," Yamamoto grinned, slapping a hand on Tsuna's shoulder. "We're friends, right?"

"What are you doing so close to the Tenth, Baseball Idiot?!"

"I'll bring him to the hospital."

"Ah, wait! Ie..." Tsuna faltered. "Erm... do you need me to come along?"

"Sorry... leave me alone for a while."

"Oh..." Tsuna paused. "Will you be back for dinner? We can... talk about the trip."

"...fine."

"Thank you, Ie." Tsuna smiled out of gratitude.

Ietsuna just waved. "Gokudera. Yamamoto. I'll leave Tsuna in your care for a bit."

"Yes, Tenth's twin!"

"Leave it to me, Ietsuna!"

There was a snort. "'And others, on the contrary, who are accustomed to reason from principles, do not at all understand matters of feeling, seeking principles, and being unable to see at a glance.'2"

The hospital trip was fairly standard, if it counted Mochida attempting to press charges and being dissuaded only with Hibari's personal confirmation of the right to inflict severe injury while on duty. Ietsuna, though, found himself strolling through the maternity wing as a short-cut to the main entrance after being faced with a faulty sign on the lift doors.

"Oh," one of a pair of older nurses commented as she passed. "It's one of the twins the old man rescued?"

"Which old man?"

"That old man, Sawada Ietsuna, you know. Those truly adorable twins! So sad about one of them..."

"Eh? But both twins survived the fire."

"Ah, was it? Must have been my imagination..."

"Erm..."

"Yes?" the nurse blinked.

"About those twins that survived the fire..." Ietsuna murmured, smiling apologetically. "...could you tell me about it? I'm from the Disciplinary Committee, and we need to update our incident database, you see."

"Ah..." the nurse looked taken aback. "I see, it's for Hibari-sama. Well, there was a fire here at the hospital fourteen years ago. I was in charge of evacuating the babies. The old man took the corp- I mean, the younger twin, from my hand, and the older twin, and risked his life to get them out. I heard that he jumped from the third floor to get them out! I'm so glad to be wrong."

"Hmm?"

"Oh, it's nothing... I just thought SIDS happened to another poor baby. I've never been more glad to be wrong..."3

"Oh..." Ietsuna was not looking at her anymore. "...so it goes. I just remembered something."

It was definitely not the way home, what he recalled; his feet just carried him there. There was a neat walkway leading to the Sawada house. There was nearly kept grass and a small garden within brick walls. There was no bullet hole where he'd shot himself in the head with a gun found in his father's luggage; found by his five-year-old self, in the unpacked luggage, in the laundry room, years ago.

It makes bang noises and scares Chihuahuas away...

"...what the hell..." Ietsuna stood outside of the house, watching the storm clouds overhead crackle and break to release their deluge upon Namimori and him. "What the hell is this fate?"

The spatter of raindrops touched his skin, and no goose pimples rose in response. The water as it flooded his nose and mouth bore no traces or feeling, except annoyance. Only the patter of water on grounds and more water, as puddles formed, and the sight of the lines descending from heaven, made sense as a picture that it was raining. The smell of petrichor was unknown to him. Touch, taste and smell were unknown entities to a being who did not have the senses to taste them; even tears were an unknown touch to him.

Chips of ice broke as they impacted on the stone path from their perch next to amber eyes.

"From the moment we were born... the time we started talking... the time we started school... always together. For meals, for class, for the Committee... we're always together." More ice chips melted under the barrage of raindrops. "Under this dark sky... I thought that we'd die together as well. How am I still here? Why am I still here... how long more? What is up with this world? What's great about being alive?! I don't understand!"

The rain that sluiced down was suddenly blocked, and strong arms carrying heat wrapped around him.

"Ie?" his twin asked, concern apparent in every gesture. "Ie, are you alright? Lancia-san said that you just walked past him. Are you cold? Actually, what are you doing out in the heavy rain?! Gokudera-kun, help me."

"No..."

Fire began to flare and melt the ice, even the frost that stuck to him. "Is this some sick joke of Reborn's?! You could have died of cold!"

"I... not yet... this bond is here..."

"Bond or not, you have to take care of yourself," Tsuna insisted. "Why are you so cold?"

"Tsuna... is warm..." Liquid soaked into Tsuna's jacket vest as it dropped from Ietsuna's face. "Tsuna... I think I've done something bad."

"Well, at least you understand, Ie," Tsuna nodded. "So, why don't we get you dried and warm before we start packing for the trip?"

"That wasn't-" Ietsuna stopped, eyes widening as they ascended the steps to their room. "Oh. Castor and Pollux."

The only reason it did not is because those Flames sustained your corpse-like body to live and grow, harmonising it with the flow of the world. Yes, like the myth about the legendary twins; when Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together for eternity...

"I didn't realise that you could see the stars, though," Tsuna commented as he put a towel on his brother's head.

"Tsuna... dry my hair for me."

"You're not a child."

"Can't a younger brother ask his older brother to dry his hair?"

"Don't change your status so easily," Tsuna chided, but relented as Ietsuna relaxed into the motions. "You've got to apologise to Kaa-san later. Dad might not always be around, but he loves us... probably."

By the sidelines, Gokudera was discreetly wiping away a tear – and part of a nosebleed. "What brotherly love..."

Nana was so happy when Ietsuna walked up to her and said "Sorry" in the most wooden voice Reborn had heard, and he had met talking puppets. She was so happy that the twins were dragged along to the trip. The trip which, as Reborn discovered only ten minutes ago, had the Ninth and his Lightning Guardian onboard as well.

"Buon giorno, Reborn," Timoteo offered to the hitman tutor. "I see you've started the usual chaos."

Dynamite blew up in the distance. All three hitmen – for the Ninth was nearly always accompanied by Ganauche nowadays –

"Nono," Reborn greeted. "Tsuna pretty much meets your expectations. His twin acts needy enough for the both of them, but is the stronger in combat. It's hard to determine which has the aptitude to be the better Boss, since they complement each other."

"Is that so?" Timoteo nodded. "That's nice. Brothers should stand together for the Family."

"But the position of Boss is a different story," Reborn pointed out. "And, about Ietsuna... I have reason to believe that he is-"

"I know."

"...you knew, Nono?" Anyone who had heard it would have fled, for Reborn sounded incensed.

"Not until you told me of the salient facts a month ago, but I had suspicions," Timoteo admitted, staring out across the dark blue of the Pacific Ocean. "There is only one man, whom I called a friend, who has ever ordered me out of his house even after knowing who I was. I missed him even before I found out that we were related by blood. It's a strange fate, but I can't help but feel thankful that his Dying Will lives on to watch over his family. I hope that he can forgive me."

"Ietsuna is drawing on the stern," Reborn pointed.

"Perhaps not now, Reborn, but thank you." Timoteo took a deep breath. "

"Hmph," Reborn looked at the Ninth, and then turned to Ganauche. "Want to have a look at your predecessor?"

"He's still alive?" the Ninth's youngest Guardian frowned. "Visconti said that he died."

"Visconti wishes," Reborn dismissed the Ninth's Cloud Guardian. "Il Magnifico was the strongest Guardian up to the sixties, when he retired and completely disappeared from the Mafia world. The prospective heir is his blood grandson."

"Oh?"

Ganauche's interest peaked, Reborn thus lured the Lightning towards the stern. There was a boy with brown hair there, sketch pad balanced on his lap. The loose collared shirt the boy wore was tugged here and there by the sea winds, belying a wiry build. The boy's back was turned towards them.

Leon transformed into a gun, which Reborn fired without warning. Ganauche was about to yell out when the boy dropped back, legs hooked over the railings to safely dodge the bullets aimed for his head. The piercing amber eyes glared at them.

Then, Ganauche realised that Reborn's gun was in his hand.

"I didn't do it," Reborn's face remained smiling even as he lied swiftly and without remorse. "He made me lead him to you."

"Reborn..." the boy growled, the eyes moving to him. "You're a liar. Is this a test?"

"Yes." The lie collapsed to be replaced with brutal honesty.

"W- Well, what can a shorty like you do?" Ganauche sighed, resigned to a fight since Reborn had willed it so.

"I don't like fighting," His soles screeched as the boy decisively flipped onto the deck. "Whatever happens next... sorry."

Ganauche would have shot. He would have shot, not caring about the consequences. He was unfortunately on a ship, which chose that moment to tilt, and that was when Ietsuna moved.

Savate had been invented by sailors, after all.

A walking stick tapped decisively, and Timoteo's face look like it had been carved in granite as he looked from the small crater at the ship's bow, to the boy who was dropping down from the stern's railings after using them to deliver a vaulted mid-air two-legged stomp kick at the Ninth's Guardian. Reborn, uncaring that his student had just attacked a Vongola Guardian, simply watched.

"Nice kick." Timoteo allowed. "Was that Savate?"

"Er, not really," the boy nodded, staring at him. "Do you need something, Jii-san4?"

"I'm surprised. Youngsters like your type don't usually go for such a martial art."

"Yeah." No further reply.

"As one savateur to another, a ship like this is an ideal practice ground," the Boss offered. "Are you free now, boy?"

"Sorry, Jii-san," Ietsuna considered when incoherent yells of rage filtered into the air. "Looks like my party's in trouble."

"Maybe next time," Timoteo smiled. "Your name?"

"Ietsuna," was the clipped reply. "See you around, Jii-san."

"You could have forced a fight, Nono," Reborn commented once Ietsuna had left.

Timoteo shook his head. "I would rather face him without obstacles or distractions. We are approaching Mafia Land soon. Besides... Ganauche, you need to learn not to underestimate others."

The crater moved, and the young Guardian grimaced, sweeping aside some stray dust on his lapels. There was not a scratch on him, though he still moved rather gingerly. "Yes, Boss."

Somehow, the twins found themselves registering at the hub of Mafia Land. At least, Tsuna was trying to, but his twin was caught up with the centrepiece of the reception hall.

"That's The Adoration5," Ietsuna stood in awe of the very large painting. "Caravaggio's The Nativity with St Francis and St. Lawrence."

To humour his twin, Tsuna regarded the painting. "It looks like everyone staring at a naked baby."

"It is," Ietsuna admitted, pointing to the right and left of the painting. "It shows the birth of Jesus Christ, with two extra figures that historically don't appear at that time; St Francis of Assisi, and St Lawrence of Rome. There's no haloes, or symbols, or veneration, only the angel's presence to show that the Christian saviour is born. The placement is not traditional, there's nothing to venerate. We know that this is a moment that has literally marked the world, but Caravaggio showed it as a family moment. It's very dramatic, isn't it?"

"Ie... your hands are shaking." Tsuna observed.

"This painting was also stolen, possibly by the Mafia, in 1969," Ietsuna breathed. "It's one of the world's most famous unrecovered stolen paintings, with an estimated value of twenty million US dollars."

"T- Twenty-"

"Slightly over twenty-four million yen," Ietsuna corrected. "I forgot you're bad at maths."

"That's a seriously expensive painting!" Tsuna exclaimed. "You know... all those people, they look like something great was delivered to them, but it's a baby. It's so small."

"Great things come in small packages," Ietsuna pointed out. "That's the whole subject of the painting. All of these people – the man, the shepherd, the mother, the saints – they've been waiting for this boy, and he's finally here. It's not real, but it's inspiring and humbling, right?"

"You're right," Tsuna nodded. "I think I'll go register for us. You stay here and look at the famous stolen painting a bit more."

"Huh? Are you sure?" Ietsuna perked up.

"I'm glad you found something to appreciate by coming here, Ie," Tsuna beamed. "You should take the chance to appreciate it."

"But, Tsuna, this is Mafia-"

"I'll be fine, Ie," Tsuna waved, going to the reception counter alone. "See you!"

Glumly, Ietsuna turned back to look at the piece.

"It's beautiful, right?" the old man was back.

Ietsuna was still drinking, his eyes tracing the angel of annunciation carrying the banner of announcement, towards the holy virgin attended to by the saints of Italy. "It is."

"You really do know your art, Ietsuna-kun," the old man chipped in. "I'm sorry, my name is Timoteo."

"Timoteo... -san," Ietsuna nodded. "Sorry for leaving you so suddenly."

"It's alright," Timoteo smiled, looking back to the painting with weary eyes. "The Vongola Ninth commissioned the theft, apparently for a great friend of his."

"Then... what happened?" Ietsuna asked politely.

"Fate intervened," Timoteo reflected. "It was put here in 1980. It should have been left in the church. Instead, it stays here to welcome all who come to Mafia Land. Religious contemplation is, on hindsight, not the activity for an amusement park."

Ietsuna coughed. "Part of it is a joke, you know. The painting."

"A joke?" Timoteo enquired.

"St Lawrence," Ietsuna waved. "Patron saint of cooks and chefs, because he was roasted to death for not handing over church funds to the Roman prefects. His last words were supposedly 'It's cooked – turn and eat'."

"I'm afraid the joke is-" Timoteo's face suddenly lit up. "Oh. That's a terrible joke."

"Biting people?" Ietsuna posed.

"That, and making fun of Catholic saints in general," Timoteo's smile was fond, despite being surrounded by Mafiosi. "That's terrible."

"I think it's accessible," Ietsuna reflected. "Why did the Vongola Ninth choose this painting, anyway?"

"'Ne la natività ritrovato ho lo meo verde, lo meo bel rutilante verde,'" Timoteo quoted. "The colour of the sun on Joseph's green mantle was a reminder of that friend... The beautiful green."

"And... what happened to the friend?"

Timoteo remained gravely silent, and the odd pair contemplated the birth of Christ for a few more moments.

"He's not here..." Ietsuna turned to the absorbed Timoteo. "Sorry, Jii-san. I have to find my brother. See you around!"

Still there was no reply, until the alarms cracked and the invasion of the Carcassa Familgia was announced. It was in an emptied only to the back of Joseph, whose face was turned away, that the admission came in a small voice:

"He died."

Please review!

1 Pascal's Pensées, Chapter 1

2 See Note 1

3 Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), also known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child less than one year of age. It requires that the death remains unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usually occurs during sleep. There is usually no evidence of struggle and no noise produced.

4 Jii-san: can be interpreted as 'old man' or 'uncle'.

5 The Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence (also known as The Adoration) is a painting believed to have been created in 1609 by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. It was stolen on October 18, 1969 from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo, Sicily. The local Sicilian Mafia are generally considered to be the prime culprits in the theft although nobody actually knows who committed the crime.