Every year, on the same day, Xanxus for once turns a blind eye on Iemitsu's actions.
That day is October 14th. The birthday of the crazy man's one and only son.
(Xanxus can't reign Iemitsu on a regular day.
There is no way that he is going to attempt to talk some sense into his mentor on the day that he actually tries to outdo himself.)
This year, when asked about his plans, Iemitsu proudly declared that he was going to present Tsuna with a puppy.
Xanxus eyed the huge gift-wrapped box on the floor with suspicion. The menacing smiley faces on the wrapping paper stared back at him.
Yeah no. There is no way that was just a 'puppy'.
(Probably a wolf, considering his track record of calling a lion a cat.)
The teenager slowly circled the box several times. There was no movement from whatever was inside.
Which meant that it wasn't a large animal. Which was good. Very good.
It didn't mean that whatever was inside the box wasn't deadly, though.
Xanxus silently pushed his thoughts away and left the room.
(Deadly is fine as long as it is small. Small meant that it could be trained or caged.
Small meant that it could be subjected to Iemitsu's animal brainwashing abilities.)
Of course, when regards to Sawada Iemitsu, Xanxus was usually off the mark when predicting the man's actions.
(Not that it would help if he could guess his mentor 100% of the time anyways.
Few people could stop the Young Lion of Vongola once he has made up his mind.
Xanxus was not one of them.
Prior knowledge would not make a difference with anything other than to give Xanxus some time to brace himself for the inevitable.)
Xanxus let himself ignore the box for the rest of the morning.
…
"Happy birthday Tuna-fishy! Open my present first!" Iemitsu quickly dragged his beloved boy in front of the large box.
Tsuna looked puzzled at the box for a few seconds before he turned to his father. "Thank you, papa."
(Seeing the kid's uncertainty when regarding his present, Xanxus quickly slid next to the boy while Mammon dispelled the invisibility illusion around himself.
Xanxus has long recognized that Tsuna's hyper intuition is nearly prophetic. Uncertainty to him most likely means a future headache to Xanxus.
Watching Tsuna reach for the huge orange ribbon tying the box together, the head of the CEDEF inwardly chanted a prayer to whatever deity would listen to him.
Please let this be a wolf. Please let this be a wolf.
(Xanxus' prayers remained unanswered.
(Un)fortunately.))
Tsuna carefully untied the orange ribbon and tore the smiley faced wrapping paper. Slowly, he lifted the top of the box.
"Hie!"
Inside, sat curled into a ball, was a red-haired boy. The boy lifted his head nervously, revealing his bright red eyes and the orange collar around his neck.
Tsuna frantically tore apart the box (with the help of Xanxus once he regained his bearings).
Iemitsu kneeled down to his son in concern. "Do you not like your new puppy?"
"U-uh." Tsuna stuttered in confusion as his 'puppy' quickly latched on to him. Tsuna hugged him back and turned to Xanxus for help.
Xanxus stood up, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Teacher, come with me. We need to talk."
(Why couldn't it be a wolf?!)
…
(The 'puppy's' name turned out to be Enma.
Iemitsu refused to tell Xanxus where the boy came from.
Tsuna refused to allow Iemitsu call him anything other than Enma.
Enma refused to leave Tsuna's side despite being (or, perhaps, because he was) terrified of the blond man who brought him here.
Mammon refused to help Xanxus bring the boy home, citing that Iemitsu wouldn't just kidnap a boy and there must be a much more complicated backstory as to why the boy was here.
Xanxus refused to be convinced that Mammon genuinely thinks that Iemitsu rescued Enma. He is probably just trying to justify giving Tsuna a human.
Nana refused to believe Iemitsu's story that Enma is a puppy. The boy is clearly Tsuna's long lost twin brother.
Federico refused to put his camera down.)
…
Enma had never gotten along with anyone before that faithful day.
He was born smaller than everyone else, responded slower than everyone else and was clumsier than everyone else.
That was something the entire island knew about.
He remembered how he was teased by all the other children
He remembered how his parents looked at him with soft, pitying eyes.
Then that man invaded his life.
That man had a long conversation with the adults.
(His parents refused to meet him in the eye.)
The next thing he knew, he was taken away.
He was put in a boat.
Then he was put in a box.
(Enma doesn't quite remember when exactly Iemitsu bought and fitted him in the orange dog collar, but it must have happened between the boat and the box.)
The next thing he saw was light.
Tsuna had shrieked when he first saw him, face full of concern, and tried to get him out as quickly as he could.
Tsuna didn't reject him when he crawled forward to latch onto him.
Tsuna hugged him back.
Tsuna was warm, the flame in his veins calling out to Enma.
Enma gladly accepted it with all of his heart and soul.
(No, he didn't have a spiritual awakening like Genkishi did. But it was really damn close.)
He will never forgive Sawada Iemitsu for putting him inside a box.
That doesn't mean that he would stop loving Tsuna though.
(Any normal kid would have probably been traumatized for life after what Iemitsu put him through.
Luckily for Xanxus, Tsuna was special.
The boy had the power to reign in some of his father's destruction.
Unfortunately, it was only some.
Xanxus will patiently wait for the day that Tsuna becomes capable of controlling all of Iemitsu's chaos.)
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Bond #17
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(In a world where Iemitsu rejected the proposal to give his son Enma instead of the island, the two would have met on Shimon island, on two opposite sides of the battlefield.)
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Tsuna and Enma, at the insistence of Iemitsu, began going on walks every morning.
(Despite Iemitsu's best efforts to get his son to use the leash, Tsuna refused on the principle that he'd rather hold Enma's hand.
The moment Xanxus found out, he intervened and burned it to ash.
It's bad enough that Enma was still wearing that collar of his own volition.
He even added a metal tag with Tsuna's name engraved on it.
…Xanxus decided to pretend that Enma was an actual wolf to console himself.)
Sometimes, they would go with Iris, Ken, Chikusa, Basil, Dendro or whoever was free.
On this particular morning, they went alone.
Relatively alone at least, with Genkishi shadowing behind them like an obvious ninja and an invisible Mammon sitting on Tsuna's shoulder.
It was just like any other walk. Nothing eventful save for the fact that Enma tripped and fell at least a dozen times.
Just like every other day.
After one particularly nasty fall, Tsuna led Enma to a nearby bench and began treating his scratched knee.
(Nana gave Tsuna a little first aid kit, which the boy now carries on his person at all times.)
During this uneventful incident on this uneventful walk, Genkishi saw them.
To be more accurate, he saw her, then noticed the unfamiliar face next to her.
Intimately next to her.
Somehow sensing Genkishi's stare, Aria snapped her head to his direction and almost screamed.
"Genkishi?!"
She ran towards him. The young man she was with following behind her.
(Genkishi spared a second to glance towards the two boys but found that they were no longer visible, hidden by Mammon's flames.)
Aria hesitated. "Genkishi? Is that really you? Where were you this whole time? Mother was really worried."
"I found a new master." The swordsman shrugged, absentmindedly, only paying half of his attention to Aria's words. The rest of it was focused on her boyfriend. Brown hair and hazel eyes. Definitely not Giglio Nero. Looks young—
Aria, no doubt noticing Genkishi's gaze, stepped in front of her male companion. "Don't tell my mother about this." She hissed defensively.
The swordsman didn't even blink.
"Don't tell her. In exchange, I won't breathe a word about you either."
Genkishi looked away. "Alright."
(Unbeknownst to them, Mammon watched this entire exchange.
He rolled his eyes.
Luce probably already knows. At the very least, she would know about Aria's 'secret' boyfriend.
She most likely also knows about Tsuna(, (un)fortunately).
Mammon frowned.)
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"It's been a long time, Mammon." Luce gave a serene smile across her tea table.
The chair on the other side remained empty.
"I know that you are still upset that I didn't tell all of you about the curse." She gently put down her cup. "But I knew from the very beginning that you would all live through it."
Luce could feel the air twitch.
A melancholic smile appeared on her face. "I wasn't expecting myself to live through it, though. For that, I must thank you for breaking the curse. You and your little sky."
This time, it was very obvious that someone was at the table with the boss of the Giglio Nero. A bodyguard stepped forward when he felt the strengthening mist flames.
Luce lifted her hand, silently ordering him to back down. "I know that you no longer trust me, but please believe me when I say that I have nothing more to hide. The trinisette has never been this stable. My contemporary feels the same."
Mammon still did not appear at the implication of Checkerface. Rather, he weakened his flames at the reminder of the person he wants away from Tsuna the most.
"Someday, when I once again have your trust, I hope that you would allow me to meet your sky so I can thank him in person."
Mammon frowned, preparing his flames to whisk himself away.
"Before you leave, let me leave you with a warning of sorts. There is a strong force brewing with ill intent towards the little sky. While I am certain that it will pose no threat to the boy, I believe that you would want to be aware of it. Especially considering how close it is to him."
(Mammon left immediately after Luce picked up her cup. Knowing her, she would not give him any more useful information.
He inwardly sighed.
Prophets.
They were so annoying.
Always acting like they knew everything.
If Tsuna had visions like Luce, then he would surely…
Mammon slowly began to smile, his smile rapidly growing larger and larger.
That boy had strong hyper intuition.
Who says that it couldn't be used to substitute visions.
Mammon is the greatest psychic in the world.
He will turn Tsuna into the same.
Tsuna can surpass Luce.)
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(In a world where Mammon wasn't so petty, he would not have gained the motivation to transform Tsuna into the greatest sky in history.
Instead, Tsuna would have become great in his own way, winning one heart at a time.)
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Xanxus was not social by nature.
He appreciated his peace and quiet very much, something that he treasured much more after he started interacting with Iemitsu.
His mentor was not someone he could avoid. The other annoyances in his life, however…
Xanxus glared at the crowd in the room with him.
There was something really irritating at watching the number of kids in the CEDEF grow.
Most of them were quiet and non-destructive.
However, there was a select few that Xanxus would gladly do without. (Specifically Dino and both fanboys. And his brother. He would have much less stress if his brother stayed far away.
(Surprisingly, Xanxus didn't have a problem with Lussuria save for his advances and leers. The sun user did good work.))
Especially right now, when he was trying his best to ignore the noise around him and do his paperwork.
Xanxus had never been patient.
Seconds later, he snapped.
"OI". The External Advisor stood up and gestured all of the kids. "Get out and do something productive for a change."
"Xan-nii?"
"Other than you." Xanxus quickly amended. "You're staying here until Mammon gets back. Enma can stay too." He added at Tsuna's pleading expression.
Iris stood up and crossed her arms at him.
"Yes, I am kicking my fiancé out." Xanxus glared at her. "Why are you even here?"
She glared back. "Because Tsuna is here."
"Let's go on an adventure!" Dino proposed.
Tsuna tilted his head. "What's an 'adventure'?"
"Adventure means, like, when you do great things and go to cool places."
"Oh." The boy nodded thoughtfully. "Like Xan-nii!"
Everyone stopped and stared, wondering how on earth Tsuna linked Xanxus to the word 'adventure'. Even Xanxus did a double take. He doesn't remember doing any great things or going to any cool place. Well, other than going to whatever crazy place Iemitsu had taken Tsuna to practice flying and proceeding to drag the man back home and make him finish his work.
"You're wrong, you're wrong." Dino swatted the idea away. "Nothing like Xanxus. An adventure is more like battles and rescuing and being amazing!"
To Tsuna's childish mind, that still perfectly described Xanxus. But since he was wrong, "so like a fairy… fairy…" The boy lowered his head in deep concentration and pouted. What was that word again? Fairy…
(Un)fortunately, the paper right beneath his gaze happens to be one about the Varia.
Dino's thought process went like this as he followed Tsuna's eyes: Fairy? Fairy… Vary… Varia!
Tsuna's thought process slowly went like this: Fairy… Fairy… tale? Fairy tale? Yes! Fairy tale!
"Like a fairy tale!" The boy looked up, happy that he finally remembered the word. Tsuna blinked, turning to Mammon as he flew into the room. "Where did everyone go?"
The arcobaleno shrugged, laying out various fortune-telling items on the floor. "Don't bother with them."
As for Xanxus, he stretched and eased the tension in his shoulders. Peace at last.
.
(In a world where a different document had been under Tsuna, Dino's adventure would cause them to end up in either the Gesso, Mafia land, Verde's lab, or the Cavallone.)
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Life was once normal for Tyr.
Sure he only had one arm, was the sword emperor and led the Varia, but other than that, everything else was relatively average.
Then a bunch of teenagers crashed into his office.
"We are going to take over the Varia!"
Tyr recognized the boy who was slamming both hands on his desk. The Cavallone don's beloved son. He also recognized the boy who was trying to calm the Cavallone boy down. Lancia was a promising warrior and the Varia already had his sights on him. Also with the two were the third Vongola son, the fourth Vongola son's fiancée. As for the others, Tyr was pretty sure they were all associated with the CEDEF but he didn't know their names.
(This assembly explained how they were able to enter Tyr's personal office without being stopped by his elite assassins.
All Federico would need to is wave and smile at them and they would willingly allow him to pass.)
Tyr decided to ignore the screaming Cavallone boy for now. "Signore Federico, what brings you here?"
Federico smiled, camera pointed directly at Tyr's face. "I'm here to watch the chaos."
"We are here for the Varia!" Dino once again tried to slam the desk but was still held back by Lancia. Genkishi gave a large nod.
(Behind them, Iris, Ken, Chikusa, and Bianchi were admiring the artifacts in the display cases like they were wandering around in a museum.
The only reason why they were here was because Iris was asked by her fiancé to watch over Lancia, who was only here because he was too kind-hearted and actually concerned about Dino's safety. (Bless his soul.)
One of Xanxus' biggest fears was for something to happen to Lancia and Lal going mama-bear over him.)
Tyr looked confounded. "Are you challenging me to a duel for ownership of the Varia?"
Despite Xanxus and Squalo thinking otherwise, Dino did have some sense of self-preservation.
He at least knew enough to not brazenly challenge the leader of the Varia to a duel over the assassination group.
He didn't, however, know that his childish dreams of taking over an organization for his little Tonno-chan would have lasting consequences, especially when he had fully convinced Tsuna's fanboy #1 that defeating the sword emperor was one of the many trials that Genkishi needed to fulfill in the name his god.
Genkishi challenged Tyr without a second thought.
Tyr single-handedly defeated him.
(Pun intended.)
…
Back when he was still with the Giglio Nero, Genkishi was renown for being the best swordsman in his former famiglia.
He had never lost in his entire life.
That was until he challenged Tyr.
"I need to grow stronger." Genkishi kept mumbling under his breath. The teenager had invaded the library and began searching the shelves.
And then he stumbled upon it.
Information about the hell rings.
…
"No." Mammon immediately stated, visibly frowning on Tsuna's shoulder. "Hell rings must be avoided."
Tsuna gave Genkishi a determined frown. "No. Because mama says no."
"But Tonno-heika," Genkishi whined. "I need to get stronger."
(The abdominal nickname was derived from Dino's Tonno-chan, who gladly replaced it with Genkishi's 'respective' version.
There was a rule perpetuated by Iemitsu that everyone was forbidden to address Tsuna by name outside of the inner rooms of the CEDEF.
The only exception to the rule was Nana.
Everyone eventually adopted Tsuna's 'nickname' for the sake of consistency, though there was still a large multitude of variations floating around.)
Tsuna pouted. "Mama says no." Slightly irritated that Genkishi refuses to blindly trust Mammon's words, Tsuna made a show of turning away from his fanboy and continuing his walk down the street, dragging Enma with him.
Unsurprisingly, Enma tripped.
"Hie! Enma!" Tsuna tried his best to rescue his friend from the pavement. His efforts managed to roll them into a nearby bush. "Are you ok?"
"I-I think I am…" Enma examined his hands. "I'm ok. Thank you Tsu-Tonno-heika… Tsu-Tonno-heika?"
Tsuna was staring at something in the bush. He reached inside and took it out. "Mama, what is this?"
Mammon opened his mouth, blinked twice to confirm that it was indeed the Ossa Impressione Hell Ring in his charge's hands, and opened his palm. "Give it to me."
Tsuna obeyed. Or he would have obeyed had Genkishi not recognized the hell ring and graciously accepted (stole) it.
"It must be fate." The fanboy gave Tsuna a glowing smile. "Thank you, Tonno-heika. I will complete my mission."
"W-wait!" Tsuna cried out. He tried to lunge for the ring but the other man was both much larger and faster than Tsuna.
Genkishi dodged the boy and put on the ring.
"Give it back!"
Tsuna watched in horror as Genkishi began to transform into a skeleton. That probably wasn't a good thing.
"Yes! I feel it. The power!" The skeleton breathed. It ran off.
"Hmm… that's troubling." Mammon settled on Tsuna's shoulder. "That is a hell ring. The fact that he turned into a skeleton means that he doesn't have control of it."
"What, what do we do?!"
"Your father and Xanxus are in a meeting," Mammon sighed. "Muu… How troublesome. I'm going to call Iris and the others. He's probably headed for the Varia."
"Mama, where is the Varia?"
…
"Genkishi!" Tsuna cried as he flew down from the sky. He quickly put down Enma and Mammon to the side of Genkishi and Tyr's duel and immediately flew towards them to stop it.
"Tsuna-kun!" Enma tried to follow Tsuna but was held back by Mammon.
"He will be fine."
As if to prove Mammon's point, Tsuna entered what he later learnt was the hyper dying will mode and threw a fiery punch at Genkishi's sword in attempts to dislodge the weapon.
It wasn't very effective, though it did give Tyr to reposition himself.
(He was quite surprised when a flaming skeleton suddenly charged out from the forest while he was taking a morning stroll but managed to defend himself quite well regardless. (In fact, if the skeleton wasn't a skeleton, he would have won the fight a long time ago.)
This boy with sky flamed wings, however, came as more of a surprise.
The upper Vongola echelon should have knowledge on every single sky flame wielder. This boy was most certainly not one of them.
Well, there was one other possibility why Tyr doesn't know about the boy.
He might be a hidden Vongola heir.
He probably is too, considering how much he resembles Vongola Primo.)
"Remove the ring from his hand." Mammon floated over and settled himself on Tsuna's shoulder. "Genkishi will go back to normal if he loses the ring."
Tsuna gave a very determined nod and once again aimed a punch at the skeleton.
By now, everyone else had trickled in, arriving in time to watch Tsuna in all of his glory.
The boy threw another punch to the skeleton.
This time, the skeleton flailed back in attempts to dodge it.
In the process, it (un)fortunately lopped off Tyr's arm.
The arm fell to Tsuna.
Naturally, Tsuna freaked out about the loose limb and flung it away from him in reflex like a hot potato.
Coincidentally, the arm hit the skeleton's hand and somehow managed to dislodge the ring.
The ring fell to the ground.
(Of course, Federico caught it all on tape. That footage ended up in the hands of Iemitsu, who monumented it.)
Both Genkishi and Tyr crumbled to the grown, one knocked out from the hell ring and the other in pain from losing his arm.
(Tyr instantly used his sun flames to prevent himself from bleeding out. He already had experience of losing an arm and knew exactly what to do in this sort of situation.)
Mammon quickly flew over and took the ring. He will try to analyze what has happened later. First, damage control.
"Allow me to remove the hell ring from Tsunayoshi's presence."
Mammon didn't even blink when a black portal opened in mid air and Bermuda stuck his head out of it. Instead, he nonchalantly put the ring in the ex-arcobaleno's palm.
(Sure it was kind of creepy that Bermuda knew the exact moment to appear, but Mammon essentially does the same thing all the time.
And Mammon doesn't have a habit of being the pot calling the kettle black.)
After gaining the Ossa Impressione, Bermuda went back into the black portal and closed it like nothing happened.
Well, that's one issue resolved.
Now for the more difficult one.
Tsuna was still freaking out about the arm.
Mammon floated over to his still screaming charge and pressed his hand on Tsuna's forehead. "Close your eyes."
The child immediately did what he was told.
"Dada's going to put the ring in a safe place. There is nothing to be worried about. This is also enough 'adventure' for today. I've called Xanxus. He's going to come pick us up."
"B-but the arm…"
"What arm?" Mammon let go of Tsuna, dropped to the ground and picked up the arm. He once again placed his palm on the child's forehead. "Open your eyes."
Tsuna opened his eyes. He flinched when he saw what his mama was holding.
"This is a fake arm. Look at him." Tsuna turned his head to look at Tyr.
Tyr looked down as well and suddenly found himself with two arms for the first time in decades.
"See, the man still has his arms. This one is a fake."
To prove his point, Mammon wiggled the arm in his hand. It flopped around like a rubber chicken.
(That was all a lie. A powerful illusion.
In a normal situation, Tsuna would easily see through his illusion using the power of his hyper intuition.
However, he was currently under distress from having witnessed someone lose their limb so he was much more susceptible to illusions.
As added insurance, Mammon placed the illusion directly into his mind.)
And that was the scene that Xanxus stumbled upon when he finally arrived to pick up Tsuna.
He saw Tyr lying next to a pool of blood and Mammon playing with the now armless man's missing appendage.
Xanxus merely blinked. That was not nearly the weirdest thing he has seen (thanks to his beloved mentor).
The other kids were largely reacting the same way (most probably also thanks to his beloved mentor), save for Tsuna.
Tsuna was trembling slightly. He gladly ran towards Xanxus the moment Mammon prompted him to do so, Enma trailing behind him.
(Xanxus was really glad that Tsuna was freaking out.
It meant that he is still pure and hasn't been corrupted by Iemitsu. Or mafia. But mostly Iemitsu.)
The boy quickly buried his head into Xanxus' jacket, dragging Enma inside with him.
Xanxus patted both children on the back and lifted his head to address the leader of the Varia. "Tyr."
"Signore Xanxus." Tyr greeted, still too dazed from the shock to wonder what he was doing here. "Those youngsters seem to wish to take over the Varia and—"
"Yes."
Tyr blinked.
Xanxus covered Tsuna's ears. "Fuck yes. Have them. Have them all."
Federico hummed, putting his camera down for the first time. "Aww, you want to get rid of us that badly, baby brother?"
Xanxus glared at him.
Iris walked to her fiancé, lifted her hand and lowered his chin. They stared at each other for a few seconds.
"A full laboratory." She shifted her eyes to Federico's direction briefly. "Better than his."
Xanxus narrowed his eyes. "…Where?"
Iris paused, considering. "Here."
"Prevent them from doing anything stupid." Them being specifically Ken, Chikusa and Lancia. The people that Xanxus weren't desperately trying to be rid of.
She let go of his chin, patting Tsuna's hair before she took her hand back. "Of course."
Iris turned around to address the rest of her group. "Xanny wants us to… finish our 'adventure' at the Varia. So we will, alright?"
They all nodded except for Federico. Patiently, everyone pressured the Vongola son with a long gaze.
Federico finally gave in and relented with a bright smile. "That's fine, but I am not going to be the boss."
Both Iris and Xanxus gave him a deadpanned look. "You're a sky. You won't take orders from anyone."
"Unless they are also a sky." Federico took a step backward and turned on his camera. "And there happens to be another sky right here."
Iris blinked, took a glance at Dino, then turned to Xanxus.
The External Advisor gave an unwavering stare to the bane of his existence.
(Evidently, he was weighing the potential downfall of the Varia if it was led by Dino compared to his own future wellbeing if Dino (and Federico) stuck around at CEDEF.)
He turned to stare at Tyr.
(The man has always been a background figure in his life, whether it was in the mansion when he still lived with his father or at meetings with the upper echelon of Vongola.
Xanxus never thought badly of the leader of the Varia but…
Sorry Tyr, you aren't important enough to me.
Good luck.
My condolences.)
Xanxus then turned to Mammon.
Mammon stared back. After a while, he frowned.
Xanxus relaxed. "Thanks." With that, he walked away from the Varia, still carrying a very confused Tsuna in his arms and Enma following behind them.
(If he stays any longer, he might regret his decision of sending the Varia and Tyr into the land of no return.)
After Xanxus left with the two boys, Mammon floated forward to start the cleanup.
"Tyr. I have 2 deals for you. First, I'll reattach that," the former mist arcobaleno gestured to the direction of Tyr's fallen limb, "if you forget everything that just happened. You do not know any Tonnos. Tuna is only a fish. Understand?"
Mammon received a nod. He floated down and stuck the arm back to Tyr's body. A quick flick of mist flames later and the arm was sewn back on, skin, tendon, flesh and bone.
The arcobaleno flicked the blood off his hands. "Good. Second," He pointed to the kids (who have remained mostly silent during this whole ordeal since the severing of the limb) "if they are trained to Varia standard before your death or retirement, Dino Cavallone will succeed the Varia."
This time, Tyr gave a long pause before reluctantly nodding.
(It is not a good idea to disagree with Mammon.
Who know what blackmail he might have on him.)
…
"What do you need, Viper?"
"It's Mammon now." The former mist arcobaleno replied, mostly out of habit. "I'm calling up a favour."
The other arcobaleno gave an annoyed sounding grunt. "…Which is?"
Mammon didn't even twitch his lips. "Teaching the next generation."
"…What? Why me?"
"You know Dino Cavallone? Well, circumstances have changed and I need him whipped into Varia quality. He's going to be the next boss of the Varia."
"Again, why me?"
The psychic continued to ignore him. "Train the others too. They are already managing their own training but they could always use some help."
"You should be asking Colonello or Fon instead. I don't teach."
Mammon turned to him. "I'm asking you for a favour, Reborn."
Reborn shadowed his eyes under his fedora. He owes Mammon for a lifetime. All of the arcobaleno do. There is no way he could refuse this request. However… "At least tell me your reasons."
"Colonello and Fon won't be able to train the Cavallone boy. You'll understand when you see him. As for the others, they are too different from the students that those two are familiar with. You are much more versatile. And," Mammon hesitated slightly. "I need you to stop being Vongola Nono's most trusted assassin."
"I see." And indeed he did. Timoteo would not take Reborn ignoring his calls well unless Reborn has a very good reason. Training the Vongola's assassination squad is a very good reason to give Nono while still maintaining his status as a Vongola ally.
(This would also keep him out of Mammon's way.
While Reborn isn't the type to listen to others blindly, there is an implicit trust shared amongst the arcobaleno.
One that was strengthened even more after their curse magically disappeared.
(If he stuck around, he may learn of the story behind that magical moment that the former mist arcobaleno is strangely tight lipped about.)
Besides, tortu— I mean teaching someone Colonnello or Fon won't be able to handle seems fun.
Really fun.
Sadistically fun.)
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(In a world where Dino doesn't kidnap Tsuna, he does not become Reborn's pet student.)
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AN: Well here comes Reborn and Enma. Reborn was expected, Enma was added in part way. That is probably why I ended up with a massive chapter. Sigh. Hopefully, my next chapter isnt as long and as difficult to write. I've recently realized that if my story followed a logical timeline, it doesn't work. So I decided to forget about it. :) Byakuran- I have plans for him. He's going to meet Xanxus someday and it's going to be great. Question: Mukuro first or Chrome first?
Thank you for reading~
Next time: Tsuna accidentally "kills" someone.