Chapter 14 – They Who Seek the Rings
"GIVE ME THE VONGOLA RINGS, YOU BRAT!"
Vongola rings?! What the hell are those?!
The blond teen seemed unfazed by the older, menacing male, and simply gritted his teeth at him. "Never. Thou shan't take these rings with thee." Tsuna mentally questioned the teen's archaic usage of words, but quickly decided that he didn't want to become any part of that conflict in any manner or form, and moved to pull his friends behind a short, nearby wall. The brunet peeked over the wall, and saw flashes of blue and sparks fly as the two newcomers clashed. Any people present immediately evacuated the area, for fear of their own lives. Tsuna hastily sat back down.
"Damn, what the hell is going on there?" he murmured to himself. Looking over at his two friends, he noticed that they too seemed to be thinking the same thing. He peeked over the wall once more, and saw that the blond was steadily losing stamina, and it wasn't long before the boy would collapse.
Vongola rings, huh… He might be an ally or something. It sure looks like it. He clicked his tongue. I should help. Tsuna looked back over to Yamamoto and Gokudera.
"We need to help that guy," Gokudera voiced out everyone's thoughts of the situation.
"And I intend for that to happen." Keeping an eye on the ensuing battle, the brunet continued. "Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto-kun, think you can hold that guy off for a bit? I don't want you to fight him longer than you should, though. Just enough time for me to pull that guy back." He pointed at the blond. "Can you guys do that?"
Gokudera, in turn, nodded and pumped his fist. "Of course, Jyuudaime!"
Yamamoto nodded as well. "You can count on us, Tsuna."
Tsuna smiled gratefully. "Thank you, both of you. Remember, once I pull that guy away safely, you need to run." He looked around a little, and with some finality, picked up a piece of a nearby broken pot. He looked back at the two fighting a few ways away, the blond becoming more disheveled than he already was. Tsuna adjusted his grip on the shard.
"Let's see if I can get this right…" In a quick burst of movement, he made a precise throw at the swordsman. A narrow of gray eyes, and the shard was effortlessly cut in half, made ineffective and fell down harmlessly, and a blade was parried right after. Those same gray eyes widened when they realized that not only had the blade changed, but the person he was fighting had changed as well. Gone was the blond brat, and staring at him now was a much taller raven.
"VOOOIIII! WHAT THE HELL?!" the silver-haired swordsman shouted in ire, but recovered in time to parry the new brat's advances. A few slashes in, and Yamamoto leapt back just as a few sticks of dynamite made their way towards the swordsman. Said swordsman simply cut the fuses with ease, rendering them harmless.
His eyes darted around, and spotted the blond he had been fighting just as he was pulled behind a wall.
"That little-" A sharp movement was registered in his peripheral vision, and there was a clash of blades as he parried the other's strike.
"Isn't it considered rude to ignore the person in front of you?" the raven cheerily said.
"Che!" the man grumbled. He didn't have time for this.
Meanwhile, the blond was still recovering from the shock of suddenly being pulled back from battle. Now behind a short wall, before him was a young brunet.
"You okay?" Tsuna asked.
"Thou hast no reason to fret over mine health. But canst thou enlighten me as to why thou hast decided upon saving me?" the blond said as he rubbed a sore spot.
It took a while for Tsuna to process the archaic level of speech. "Well, you were in trouble. Why wouldn't I want to help?" He peeked over where Gokudera and Yamamoto were fending off the swordsman. He noticed the pair of emerald-green eyes flit over to where he was at. A sharp nod, and the message was passed over to the other before Gokudera threw down several smoke bombs, allowing the two to sprint away from the battle, a little worse for wear. Tsuna grabbed the blond by the wrist, roughly pulling him away.
"Let's go!" he fiercely whispered.
One powerful slash was all it took to dissolve the smoke, and soon the swordsman was making chase, obviously pissed by the turn of events.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS YOU BRATS!" He grew closer and closer, and soon, there was a need for Yamamoto to parry his slashes while he continued on running, no easy feat. "YOU SWING A SWORD LIKE IT'S A BASEBALL BAT!"
Yamamoto flashed an apologetic smile as he attempted to parry another slash. "Sorry. I'm kinda new to this."
"Che! I'll wipe that smile off your face!" Their blades connected once more, but this time pieces of the silver-haired man's sword slid out, and said man jumped back as those pieces hit the ground and exploded. Gokudera and Yamamoto got caught in the explosion and were thrown away by the blast, while the force created caused Tsuna and the blond to stumble. Tsuna looked back to see his two friends worse for wear on the ground.
"Yamamoto-kun! Gokudera-kun!" the brunet cried in horror. He stopped dead in his tracks, and urged the blond to go off on his own as he took out the pair of gloves he received during his fight with Mukuro. He pulled them on and clenched his fist.
I didn't want to have to do this… The swordsman came forth, and Tsuna went into a guarded stance in front of his fallen comrades, in the path facing opposite where the blond was running. The older man tried a stab at the other, but Tsuna quickly pushed the blade to the side with his left hand, and followed up with a kick. This was blocked easily, and faster than Tsuna could register, the man was able to land several hits, and while the brunet was able to block the sword before another blow could be made, already gashes made themselves known on his body. Caramel brown eyes went wide, and his face was contorted in pain as a kick connected to his torso, and sent him flying back.
"Pest," Tsuna heard the man mutter in utter disgust. The brunet struggled to get up, and spotted his two other friends on the floor, attempting to do the same. He grit his teeth, and started to inch forward slowly on his stomach, but the pain was starting to get to him. That man had quite a lot of strength, and Tsuna had gotten the wind knocked out of him. As his vision started to blur, he saw the swordsman catch up to the blond teen, and grab some sort of box from him before leaving.
And so he collapsed.
A sharp kick to the side, and Tsuna awoke with a groan. It wasn't an annoying nostalgic waking up to find himself inside his bed once more – thank goodness – but retracted from his initial impression upon seeing that not only was he laying upon the ground aching beyond words, but staring down upon him right now from below the rim of his fedora was the demon tutor he had come to know as Reborn.
That very same devil gave a smirk. "Wake up, Dame-Tsuna."
Tsuna gave a groan as he sat up. He rubbed his head in disdain. "You didn't have to do that, Reborn. Wait…" He shot up abruptly. "Where's Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun?! And that blond guy?"
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Dame-Tsuna." Said dame student's eye twitched at the comment. "They're at the hospital, getting some well-earned rest. They took quite a beating."
"Then why was I left here on the ground?!" He paused for a brief moment, little Leon on Reborn's fedora flicking his tongue out at him in a neutral greeting. "And what the hell is this about Vongola rings?!"
"I wanted to see how long it would take until you'd recover." He started to walk away, and gestured for Tsuna to follow. "As for your second question, well, we should probably talk about this after checking up on your friends."
The brunet gave a huff. "Fine."
"Ah, Jyuudaime!" The silver-haired bomber quickly tumbled out of bed upon seeing his beloved boss by the door. Tsuna took a few steps back as Gokudera threw himself at the brunet's feet.
"Forgive me for being so foolish, Jyuudaime!" he cried. "I wasn't able to stop that guy from getting whatever that blond kid had on him!"
"U-Uh, it's alright Gokudera-kun, really…" He looked over at Yamamoto, who happened to be in the same room. The baseball player grinned.
"Haha, hey there Tsuna!" he said, waving the guy over, however his laugh seemed to be a little less happy-go-lucky than usual. Tsuna frowned a little at that. He made his way inside the room and sat down on a nearby chair, while Gokudera clambered over to Yamamoto's bed like some freaky possessed-up guy, what with him staying in the freakin' kowtow position and all, and just straight-up got on top of Yamamoto and grabbed his shirt with a growl.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to address Jyuudaime so casually, you Baseball-Idiot!" he raged at the raven, who was acting rather nonchalant towards the outburst.
"Maa, maa Gokudera, don't get yourself so worked up about it. I mean, Tsuna's okay with it, right?" He looked towards said brunet for affirmation. Tsuna smiled awkwardly.
"Ah, Yamamoto-kun's right, Gokudera-kun. I-It's fine…"
Gokudera seemed to hesitate a little. "If Jyuudaime says so…" he loosened his grip on Yamamoto's shirt, only to strengthen his hold once more. Looking right into the baseball player's brown eyes, he growled, "You better not do anything else to disrespect Jyuudaime, you hear?"
"Maa, maa. Don't worry about it. And uh, could you get off of me now?" He tilted his head innocently to the side as he said the last sentence. The bomber merely growled, and slowly got off of Yamamoto and moved to stand beside Tsuna, looking off to the side, his face red, as though rather ashamed of what had happened. To break the awkward silence that Tsuna was sure to ensue, he decided to speak up.
"So, are you guys doing okay?" he asked.
"Don't worry, Jyuudaime! I'm tougher than this!" Gokudera assured.
"Haha, better than ever!" was Yamamoto's reply.
Tsuna gave a sigh. "That's good to hear.
"Oi," Reborn said from his position by the doorframe, "If you guys are done chatting, then perhaps you'd like to check up on that kid you encountered."
"Ah, right!" Tsuna said. "Where is he staying?"
"Follow me."
After a rather short walk, which seemed much longer with Yamamoto and Gokudera's usual one-sided arguments, they finally reached the patient's door.
"A-Ah! Hey, wait!"
The group looked over to the side, only to find that whoever had spoken had found some way to trip on thin air, and was now face-flat upon the floor.
"Um…"
"Oh great…" Reborn mumbled as he pulled his fedora down over his eyes.
"What is it Reborn? Who's that?" Tsuna inquired.
"That's just my other no-good student," he said with some little fondness. The guy who had tripped over grumbled as he pulled himself up, upon hearing the comment.
"Dame-Tsuna, meet Dino Cavallone. The boss of the Chiavarone famiglia, a famiglia allied with the Vongola."
Tsuna looked the man up and down. He had blond hair, somewhat spiked, paired with dark brown eyes, and fair skin. He wore a green, long-sleeved jacket with black fuzz (please excuse my limited fashion vocab, but you all know what it is. You all know.) along the collar with a black T-shirt under, and paired it with light brown pants and brown shoes.
"Boss!" A man in a suit with black hair, a thin black mustache, and a pair of glasses came running up towards the newly-introduced blond. "You shouldn't get ahead of yourself like that."
"Ah, sorry 'bout that Romario," said he.
"He's also useless if his subordinates aren't around," Reborn commented off-handedly.
"That's not very nice, Reborn," Dino complained. He walked up to Tsuna. "So, you're Reborn's new student, huh?" The blond looked Tsuna up and down.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Well then…" he grabbed Tsuna by the shoulders and gave a grin. "…it's nice to finally meet the next boss of Vongola!"
"Um, that's not-"
"Don't worry about it, little bro! I'll be there to help you out, okay? I heard you've already accomplished a lot here!"
"Yeah, I guess, but-"
"We still have to attend to something, in case you two have forgotten," Reborn cut in.
"Ah, yeah." Dino let go of Tsuna's shoulders. "We should get inside."
He seems nice… I guess, Tsuna thought.
They went inside the room, and the blond, who had been conscious, waved over to them.
"Ah, good after noon, Reborn-san, Sawada-dono, Dino-dono," he greeted with that archaic form of speech once more.
"Tsuna, this is Basil. He is a member of CEDEF, a secret intelligence organization independent from Vongola," Reborn introduced.
"Ah, it's nice to meet you."
Everyone took a seat.
"So, about the Vongola rings…" Tsuna started.
"Ah, yes. Perhaps we'll have Pipsqueak Dino explain," Reborn responded as he sipped upon his magical appearing-out-of-nowhere-like-sh*t-where-do-you-come-from mug of espresso. Dino seemed to cringe a little, but managed to suppress it.
"Wait, so you don't know about the Vongola rings yet?" the blond said to Tsuna. The brunet in turn scowled a little.
"No, I'm afraid not."
"Well, then…" Dino crossed both his arms. "Where should I start…"
"The Vongola rings are a set of seven specially-crafted rings created about 400 years ago, during the time of the First boss of Vongola. These rings serve as symbols, representing the power of the Vongola. There are seven in total, one for the boss and each of his Guardians. Many battles have been fought over these rings, much blood shed just to get these into possession." His tone became somewhat solemn as he spoke of these. "They are passed from one generation to another, the successors chosen by the current boss and his external advisor. And if they were brought here to Japan," he looked over at Basil. "…then the next successor must have been chosen. Isn't that right?"
Basil gave a nod. "That is correct. However, there remains a dispute. For once, the Vongola Don and the External Adviser hath chosen different candidates."
"Wait a minute," Gokudera cut in. "I thought only those who were subjected to the Vongola experiment could become the boss of Vongola."
"Well… yes and no," was the Chiavarone boss' answer. "The Vongola famiglia takes in experiments and specially gifted people rather openly, so long as they stay true to the famiglia. Not all of Vongola Primo's Guardians or close friends were experiments, and as such, the lineage didn't necessarily compose of all those experimented on. For some time, it went on bloodline, seeing as the effects of the experiment would often become hereditary. There was a little experimenting for them to qualify, however, their blood was compatible, and made things easier and less painful. By Settimo's time, however, the compatibility became weaker, and thus, he was the weakest boss. Ottavo, however, came from a different bloodline, and thusly had more strength than the previous don. This carried on to Nono, who happened to have four children. Therefore, those four would also qualify to become the boss of Vongola. However, the three of his sons died, leaving behind only two possible successors to the title."
"And that would be Tsuna, and…" the Chiavarone boss trailed off.
"And who?"
"Him."
"Him?"
Onyx eyes were shadowed under the rim of his fedora, and those same onyx eyes went up and were directed towards Tsuna and his friends.
"We'll discuss the rest of this tomorrow," he said firmly, leaving no room for argument. "Basil needs his rest. Gokudera and Yamamoto should be fine, so I suggest you go out the door right now." He eyed the other blond in the room. "You too, Pipsqueak Dino."
Dino huffed a little, and Tsuna could swear he heard both Gokudera and Yamamoto muffle a snicker at the statement.
First, age-old rings that f*ck-knows-what importance it bears that are passed from generation to generation are stolen by an opposing party that sounded none-too friendly, next Tsuna meets a pathetic [I am so sorry Dino(no I'm not)] blond who's apparently boss of a partnering famiglia and Reborn's previous student (which is amazing in itself considering how he hadn't died yet), and now, Gokudera and Yamamoto freakin' snicker at the same thing.
By the gods the world was ending.
As Dino turned to make an annoyed remark at Reborn (an extremely whiny one at that), Tsuna started to dread about the end of the world.
Dammit, I should have made a bunker somewhere. Should've stocked up on non-perishable food and water or something. I regret making fun of all those people on Nat Geo. I totally see where they were going. Oh gods, will my experimental abilities help me survive? I'm pretty sure I'd survive a biochemical apocalypse, at least until I starve to death or some sh*t, but how do I match up against radioactivity? Agh, it's probably gonna be a bunch of earthquakes and fissures and tsunamis. Probably some huge asteroid is gonna wipe us out. I knew I should have applied for NASA or something. Could've stolen a spaceship. And seriously? Where is the closest aircraft base to Namimori? Even if I did make it into space, I'd probably starve to death anyway- A sharp hit to the back of the head sent him flying forward, and soon face met floor.
There was a possibly irritated, possibly amused, possibly some-other-damn-emotion-that-would-piss-off-Tsuna-anyway something, sigh from Reborn as Tsuna picked himself up from the ground, and rubbed his pitiful, horrendously abused face in agony.
"No Tsuna, the world is not going to end," was his statement. The brunet attempted a glare, because dammit that was totally amusement in his voice, and made a mental complaint.
"And as I have said before," the hit man continued as he started walking down the hallway, signaling the other to follow with a casual wave of the hand, "I'm not some mind-reading mutant like Professor Xavier or anything. You're just really easy to read, Dame-Tsuna."
The teen gave a huff, and Dino patted his back pityingly. "You kinda get used to it."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
The older man gave an awkward laugh as he set out as well, his escort Romario following closely behind, but not before sparing Tsuna what could only be described as an apologetic glance.
"You've seen X-Men, Tsuna?" Yamamoto inquired with a quirked-up brow as they started off.
Tsuna smiled a little, and gave a chuckle. "It's the only reason why I bothered to learn English. Marvel does that to you."
"Ah, so you're planning on watching Days of Future Past, Jyuudaime?" the bomber inquired, and thought he was hallucinating for a moment when he saw sparkles in his precious Jyuudaime's eyes.
I have friends to nerd-out to Marvel with me now! Tsuna thought with glee, but snapped out in time to give a curt nod.
"The plot-line seems really interesting, so I'd really like to see it. It's kind of like, a prequel-slash-sequel, yeah?" the brunet went on to, as to reaffirm his statement.
"Haha, if you put it that way, yeah!" Yamamoto gave another one of his genuine trade-mark smiles. "Speaking of X-Men, who's your favorite so far, Tsuna?"
The teen in question hummed a bit, and before his ever-so loyal silver-headed puppy could voice his complaint on how Yamamoto should show his precious Tsuna some respect (despite the earlier conversation), Tsuna smoothly cut in with his answer.
"I kinda like Ice Man," he said finally. "He's a nice guy, I suppose. I'm somewhat fond of the idea of freezing stuff."
The taller raven laughed. "Is that so? I kinda like Mystique. It'd be cool to look like whatever you want. Or maybe Warren. Having huge wings would be pretty awesome."
A somewhat withheld snort came from the silver-haired bomber. "I don't find them tactically sound, if you ask me. While Mystique can change appearance and has pretty good martial arts skills, it doesn't exactly garner a lot of use aside from espionage. And having huge-ass bird wings growing out of your back is kinda like making more flesh for your enemies to stab at. If those wings go out while you're flying, then you go crash burn."
"Haha, I guess that's true." He looked at the silver-haired bomber. "Which character is your favorite then, Gokudera?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He gave a scoff. "I'm gonna go with Wolverine. Seriously, enhanced healing rate, pretty much immortal, super-enhanced senses, not to mention adamantium claws that can cut through anything."
"Yeah, except vibranium," Tsuna said thoughtfully.
"If you guys are done talking about Marvel," Reborn interrupted, because damn yes he can, "I'd suggest you hop in."
Before them was an extremely luxurious, expensive-looking limousine, which Dino had already hopped into. Reborn crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Unless you'd prefer to walk the entire way home, talking about various Marvel labels." Not a second later, the teens made a mad dash for the limo. True, they could just walk the entire way home, but suffice to say that they were pretty exhausted, and just downright lazy. But before Tsuna could hop in with the rest of his friends, a hand roughly grabbed at the back of the collar of his shirt and yanked him backwards. The brunet looked up just as the car door slammed shut, and the windows rolled down the passenger seat to show Reborn lazing back in his chair, looking oh-so-devilish.
"You know what, now that I think about it, a long walk will do good for you, Dame-Tsuna," the bastard said with his Evil I Live to Ruin Thy Life Smirk™. Not to mention his No I Actually Thought of This Earlier Glint™ in his eye. "But don't worry, you'll have some good company." The window rolled up, and the car sped away. Tsuna was just about to call after him and ask what he meant about 'good company', because nothing good came from the man who could possibly be the Devil's father, when he saw Dino squatting on the street with a look on his face that simply screamed 'what the heck can someone tell me what just happened.'
"…Dino-san?"
"I have no idea how in the world this happened."
Tsuna went over and offered a hand, which the blond accepted gratefully. He dusted himself off as soon as he was standing right, and looked over at the road, and then at the sky, hands akimbo.
"It's getting dark. We should probably start walking now." True to Dino's word, the sky was colored with hues of red, orange, and yellow, a spectacular display which most have been ignorant of, or have gotten used to. Tsuna gave a resigned sigh.
"Yeah…"
"The box hast been retrieved, master."
"Hm… I had been hoping we'd have more time before they tried to intervene."
"What dost thou suppose we do?"
"We have about a week at most until they realize that what they have on their hands are fakes. In the meantime, I'll distribute the real ones to the chosen people, and find the appropriate people to prepare them for… what is unfortunately about to come."
"And I?"
"Just sit tight, and get some rest. I'll be meeting you shortly- ah! I need to go now. Make sure they stay safe."
"And you, master?"
"Why, I'm already here."
The line went flat, leaving the teen to contemplate on his master's words.
"Ugghhhh… Finally…" Tsuna gave a relieved sigh as soon as he caught sight of his house. The trip from the hospital to here had been rather long, and the fact that he wasn't given much time to recover from his injuries from the fight with the swordsman (hey, he can't heal that fast) and had slept on the cold hard ground for goodness knows how long had made it harsh on his body. But it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Talking with Dino had been rather nice, and Tsuna found that they have quite a bit in common. However, Dino's pathetic-ness was all-original whereas with Tsuna, it was more of a bad habit.
He stumbled into his house and quite nearly collapsed onto the floor face-first, but managed to shoot a hand out before that could happen. He likes his face the way it is, thank you very much. He struggled through the simple task of taking off his shoes and calling out a greeting to his mother. He placed his shoes down, but eyes narrowed at the pair of large boots placed askew upon the floor. Who else was in his house? Unless…
He quickly became more melancholy than he had previously been, as though such a thing were possible. His lips curled downwards in a grimace.
"In the kitchen!" he could faintly hear his mother call out.
He rushed over immediately, hoping that what he thought was happening was not happening at all. Yet once again, the Fates decide to toy with his ever-diminishing psyche, and so his worst fear hath been realized.
Laughter rang in his ears, but not the kind that Tsuna would like to hear. Before long, the only ringing he could hear was that of his own rage. He grimaced at the man laying sprawled out on the floor of the living room, laughing drunkenly without a care in the world. Before the man could acknowledge the brunet's presence, he promptly fell asleep. Tsuna's mood dampened even further as he looked over the now-unconscious man. He was tall, easily taller than Tsuna himself by about a head. His blond hair was cut short and messy, matching with the structure of his face, along with the stubble on his strong chin. Currently, he looked like he was dressed coming out of a construction site, what with the white tank top and orange pants, orange jacket wrapped around his waist. Just then, Tsuna's mother walked into the room, and gave the man on the floor a once-over before laughing good-naturedly.
"Well, it looks like he's tired from his trip!" she said with a fond smile.
Trying his best to hide his distaste, Tsuna simply gave a forced smile, and said that he would be going up to his room. As soon as he got there, bypassing and silently acknowledging (he was not suicidal, grazie) the hit man he had begrudgingly come to know as his home tutor, he flopped down onto his bed, ignoring the various shouts of the children downstairs.
Brown eyes stared at the ceiling, pondering upon everything that had unexpectedly (and happened in a horribly sequenced manner) that day. First, the long silver-haired swordsman and that blond teen, then that clumsy boss of a sister famiglia of the Vongola, then some rings of sorts that Reborn refuses to explain further upon until the right time, and finally, the arrival of that man.
The man who most undoubtedly led to all the pain in his life, even before the Serum was administered to him, long before he had been experimented on. Ironically, he supposed he owed his existence to this wretched man, though would go on to despise him nonetheless.
That man.
His father.
Floating. Drifting. The young man's mind struggled to grasp a single abstract thought as what seemed to be billions upon billions of questions flooding his mind.
Why does Vongola exist?
How are they connected to the experiments?
How and why did the experiments start?
Why does Reborn keep postponing explanations?
Is he trying to irritate me?
Or is there something that – dare I say it – frightens him?
What could it be?
What is the purpose of that silver-haired swordsman?
What is the purpose of that blond guy who had the rings stolen from him?
Is he here to retrieve them?
Had he stolen them?
Is he here for the wrong reasons?
Is he really who he says he is?
What is it about Reborn's old student that makes him like that?
Is he really the boss of such a large famiglia?
How are these famiglias even formed?
Do they spawn from experiments as well?
Or are they of the Mafia?
And what about those Vongola rings?
Shouldn't that guy be searching for them?
What is that swordsman going to do with them anyway?
Reborn mentioned something about succession… but I don't get it. If there is someone more qualified than myself, then why the division of choices?
Is the other candidate… a bad man?
Reborn made it seem like it…
So they are trying to get it to the other candidate… myself?
But wouldn't that mean going against either of those high authority figures?
Unless, they are divided amongst themselves…
Would this mean dissension in the ranks?
And why did my father come home so suddenly?
He was never there for us before…
…Will the world really not end?
I mean seriously, Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun laughed at the same thing.
It must be the end of the world.
It must be.
By the gods I need to get to safety.
…
I'm pretty sure Reborn would've slapped me upside the head right now.
Come to think of it, Angel's power is pretty much not that useful.
He's like a bird.
No offense.
But seriously, it kinda makes sense.
I just realized I can relate my experience to Captain America.
…
Oh my gosh I'm Captain America.
But I'm not American.
And Captain Japan sounds preposterous.
Captain Vongola is just no.
No.
By the gods no.
Whilst these questions (and some questionable questions) were pondered upon by the teen, the cloud of confusion slowly started to clear up as some really weird thoughts were pushed aside. Once again, Tsuna found himself in that really annoying huge white room. Where he met Decimo.
"Are you done thinking of all the names that you refuse to use?" said the alter ego as he appeared behind Tsuna, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Yes," was Tsuna's decisive answer, turning around to meet the eyes of the other side of himself, the other part of his psyche.
"I can imagine you're full of questions. In fact, I know." Chairs appeared, and the two sat down upon them.
"All I know, all that I'm positive about, is that the world is not ending."
Tsuna raised a brow. "What makes you say that?"
Decimo snorted softly, a hint of fondness present. "Those two are very much alike in very strange ways. So don't be surprised if they end up hooking up."
The teen gave a nonplussed, somewhat disturbed look. "I don't know if I should be supportive or concerned." Why is Decimo considering this anyway?
Decimo shrugged as he leaned back. "Either way, they're an amusing duo, they are. But that is neither here nor there." His expression hardened. "The Vongola rings."
"Yes?"
"I regret to say that I am unfamiliar with them." He bit down on his lower lip, Tsuna perplexed at this side of Decimo. One that seemed so unsure. So unconfident. So unlike the Decimo he had first met with. "However, similarly, it sounds oddly familiar. I haven't the slightest clue as to why. But if these cannot be easily substituted for others, then there's clearly something special to them, otherwise people would be claiming the positions left and right. Not to mention non-corrosive…"
Tsuna crossed his arms. "What are you getting at? What's your point?"
"My point is that these things could be dangerous, somehow," he answered very seriously. "And if these other sinister-sounding people get their hands on them, it may present some problems…"
Tsuna narrowed his eyes. "So, you're saying we should get them back?"
"I'm saying we should do whatever it takes to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands. As much as I regret to say it, you'll have to go with Reborn on whatever he decides on it."
"But you heard them," Tsuna retorted, "This would mean that I would become the boss, wouldn't it? I still don't know enough to be sure on this. How am I to know if the Vongola famiglia isn't the one behind all this experimentation? How am I to know I won't become like them?"
"Well-" He paused abruptly, a faraway look coming over his eyes.
"Decimo?"
The other quickly snapped out of it, bringing a hand to his forehead. He continued, as thought nothing had happened.
"…We don't exactly have a choice quite yet. The best we can do for now is to make it so that nothing like this ever happens again."
The brunet leaned back in the chair with a huff. "Well, that's just brilliant. That's just dandy. Just swell."
"The world might as well end today."
A sharp crack of metal resounded through the room, the anger resonating from the man in question nearly palpable.
A deafening silence echoed throughout the room, those with a sense of self-preservation exiting just a moment before. Those left looked upon their superior, silently asking a singular question all upon their own minds.
"Piece of trash…"
Unfortunately for the young frustrated brunet, he woke up to a world which was very much not upon the brink of total destruction. Which was somewhat disappointing, but there was a good 24 hours left for the world to make it up to him and just die right then and there. Waving off the remaining thoughts of being Captain [insert-preposterous-name-here], he decides to stumble out of bed, sparing the clock a fleeting glance. Surprisingly, he had woken up earlier than he would have liked, meaning he was still feeling sore from all of the events that had occurred the day prior. He gives the window a fleeting glance and sees Lambo suddenly appear, before dropping down, only for I-pin to come to focus, before dropping down to be replaced by Fuuta.
Tsuna rubbed his eyes. Well, he thought disdainfully, It appears Iemitsu is still here. And sure, he calls the man 'dad' whenever speaking aloud, but in the comfort of his mind, he really and truthfully prefers to stay on the first-name basis. The man is, after all, more of a stranger than anything.
He made me fall in a river, was Tsuna's thought as he went to take a shower. He will pay one day.
His thoughts of blackmail and torture (and nope, murder definitely wasn't in there, because death is too good for the bastard) when he notices something in the mirror of the bathroom.
He had taken off his shirt a while ago, and gaze easily bypassing the still-healing bruises from their little squabble with the swordsman, caramel eyes went wide as they processed something on a chain around Tsuna's neck.
Let it be known that the brunet does not wear accessories.
Often.
So upon seeing this, he was very much confused. Shedding the rest of his clothes, he leans against the tiles wall as he takes the item into his hand.
It was a rather curious thing. Quite obviously, it was a ring, but something was off about it. It was ornate, and made from high-quality metals, however, it seemed only to be a half of a whole. Tsuna looked at the ring's main ornament, a half-circle with half a crest, and despite being only half of a ring, he could easily see the beginnings of the name of a familiar famiglia.
A Vongola ring.
Tsuna's face scrunched up in confusion. Didn't that swordsman take the box with all of them in it? After feeling around for the latch of the chain, he took off the necklace and put it aside on top of his other clothing. He made quick work of washing up and changing before going back to retrieve the ring. There wasn't any class today, so he decided that the day would be spent trying to make sense of the whole ordeal. Pulling on a dark orange shirt, socks, and a pair of jeans, keeping mind of the ring now under aforementioned shirt, he headed down the stairs with full intentions of eating his mother's awesome food before the world will (probably)(might) end.
He greeted his mother with a good morning kiss to the cheek, and quickly caught sight of Bianchi already having her breakfast, and promptly greeted her before chowing down.
"Hey, Bianchi-san," he said suddenly, "where's Reborn?"
The pink-haired woman took some time chewing her food before offering a response. "Went out earlier this morning. Said that you should go to the hospital later."
The brunet gave a nod. "Later, then." He finished off his awesome (possibly last) meal before pausing a moment to glare at the blond man in his backyard, playing around with the children. He offered a scowl to the man's back, before turning around to go.
"Ah, hey! Is that my lovely son I hear?"
Oh my gods no I don't want to interact with you please go away. Too late, the blond man had halted his playtime with the children to converse with his only son.
"Hi, dad," Tsuna said, a hesitant smile on his face. "Um, why- welcome back." He quickly corrected himself before asking the question of why the hell have you come back, especially with his mother around hearing range.
His father, as thought oblivious to the mistake, gave a huge grin. "I'm home."
The brunet shifted awkwardly on his feet as his father simply grinned down at him (dammit puberty now would be a good time to appear and give that damnable growth spurt thou hast forsaken this child) and awkwardly started to edge away.
"I'll just… be going now…"
"Alright! Have fun!"
"O…kay?"
He quickly, stiffly went for the door, pausing for a moment to quickly look back and forth between the door and his still (creepily) grinning father before going out with a quick shout to his mother.
That was terrible. And creepy. He gave a quick look back to see that his father still grinning at him through the window.
This is like a horror movie.
The young teen quickly high-tailed it to the hospital, resolutely deciding not to look back, because that always ends up being a good decision in horror movies.
Granted, the whole archaic language thing was somewhat of a challenge, especially considering the fact that he's pretty much speaking the equivalent of Shakespeare in Japanese, two things which people tend to have a hard time with speaking. Hell, a lot of English speakers barely understand Shakespeare's works, what more if it was in Japanese?
But it was so worth watching people's reactions to it.
I mean, sure, he could just speak Japanese normally, and rather fluently, but where's the fun in that? Giving the impression that reading old text to learn a language was the way he went tended to give really amusing reactions. Of course, it's no fun with highly trained people, or people who've seen weirder stuff in their life, but the long sentences still get them.
Still so amusing.
Oh unknowing is the world of this evil side of Basil.
As he lay in bed, he tapped his fingers against the bedside table in a little tune he recalled hearing beforehand. A nice catchy little tune made by a band he was sure was named after a famous type of tree in Japan. And then there was another song he heard further back, also had a pretty nice tune… and he was going off track.
But, did his thoughts have a basis in the first place? It really just felt like a myriad of worries flashes one after another, every single terrible outcome presenting itself in the confines of his mind space. He looked over at the Chiavarone boss, sleeping rather dopily on a nearby couch, the ever-faithful Romario off to get some things for when his boss wakes up. Namely, a nice meal.
The blond on the bed gave a huff, staring at the now-snoring Dino drooling all over the nice pillows of the couch. Despite the reputation he has, the man was still rather childish in nature when it came right down to it. He was, in fact, like an overgrown child with a little brother complex. Or at least, that's what he thinks it's called.
Deciding that if he repeated the song in his head one more time he's end up singing it out loud (he didn't think he'd sound all that good) he grabbed a piece of paper off the desk, crumpled it into a ball, and lobbed it at the sleeping figure. It hit the other blond right on his forehead, but there was no response other than a little mumble and shift of position.
And so he tried again.
Again.
And again.
By the time he had finished up his little stash of stuff he could throw at the sleeping beauty, the couch was littered with the previously lobbed objects, and one mint smack dab in his mouth.
The door slid open to reveal Vongola Nono's hit man Reborn, who looked over the scene with a hint of amusement. Basil felt his face flush at the thought of having been caught lobbing items at a very powerful Mafia boss by Reborn, the spawn of evil himself.
This was going to become blackmail, he was positive of it.
"Please don't tell anyone."
The raven-haired man simply gave a devilish smirk, which foretold of much pain to come, before stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He purposefully strode over towards the couch, shoved the sleeping blond off of it, swept the debris aside, and sat down. Since Dino had not woken up despite the disruption, Reborn took it as an opportunity to use his pathetic old student as a footstool.
"Eh…" Basil decided to speak as Reborn sipped upon his magical mug and how much freakin' coffee does he consume in a day what the hell where does his mug even come from. "How may I be of service to thee, Reborn-san?"
Reborn took a good long sip from his mug before answering. "Just waiting for my current no-good student to arrive with his friends." He looked up at Basil, dark eyes filled with some unreadable expression, just as everything with the man was unreadable.
"I trust you've contacted him?" he said after some time, giving a soft, amused huff at the jump incited from the other boy.
Basil gave a nod. "Master has arrived recently."
"I am aware of this fact," Reborn said nodding. "Which is also why I would like for you to do something for me."
Just before the blond could ask what it was, the door slid open to reveal Tsuna, along with Yamamoto and Gokudera in one of their usual one-sided arguments. The shorter (much to his disdain seriously he's not happy with this) brunet look back and forth between Reborn and Dino who was still being used as a footrest before shaking his head, resigning to the fact that his life would be full of magically-appearing coffee mugs, magician prefects, and Mafia bosses being used as footstools by a hit man who happened to be his home tutor.
He sighed and pulled his two friend inside, and they seated themselves at the other side of Basil's bed.
"Ah, how are you doing Basil-san?" the brunet queried as Gokudera and Yamamoto continued their one-sided argument regardless of the fact they were now within the hospital room.
"I am doing quite well, Sawada-dono. Much better than the day before." Basil emphasized this statement by opening and closing his fingers in front of himself, as though the state of his body could be assessed simply from his ability to clench and unclench his hand without pain.
Tsuna broke out in a smile, and gave a relieved sigh. "That's… that's good. That's good to hear."
He turned his attention over to the Chiavarone boss who was still being used as a footrest. Shaking his head once more, he directed his attention towards Reborn.
"…You have something else you'd like to say, aside from what we were discussing yesterday," Reborn inferred after Tsuna had been staring at him for quite some time, trying to find the correct words.
"Well, yes," he replied with a nod, not even making a snarky comment at the not-mind reader that Reborn always was. He pulled the ring out of the inside of his shirt and showed it to Reborn. At some point, Yamamoto and Gokudera had realized the change in the conversation, and were now looking at the ring Tsuna held intently. Not like they hadn't seen it before.
"I thought that guy with the sword strapped to his wrist got these. Instead, we get what seems to be half of a whole." Yes, 'we' was the young teen meant. He briefly flashed back to the little scene they had downstairs.
"Eh? You guys got rings too?" Tsuna asked, an incredulous look on his face.
Yamamoto and Gokudera showed off the rings worn around their necks in response.
The baseball player gave a laugh, but it seemed to lack the usual mirth. "Ah, weren't these the rings that guy was trying to protect?" Tsuna winced a little at this. He was sure that even someone as happy-go-lucky as Yamamoto would feel a little bitter at the meeting, and his somewhat pained expression just confirmed his theory.
Interrupting his thoughts, Gokudera voiced out his observation: "They're all halves. Baseball Idiot's ring and my ring have similar design – half of a shield or something – but Jyuudaime's is circular."
The brunet took a cursory glance, and indeed, the two rings of his friends were of similar designs – differing only in the halved symbols in the middle. Assuming the design and the symbols were symmetrical, Yamamoto's would have a raindrop as the symbol on his ring, whereas Gokudera's ring would have a tornado of some sort. Only he had a circular ring, bearing what no doubt was the crest and name of the Vongola famiglia.
"So does that mean-"
"- the box that man went off with was the other half of these rings?" Tsuna queried. "How did these halves come into our possession anyway?"
Reborn uncrossed and crossed his feet before answering. "As was mentioned, normally, the boss and his external advisor choose the successor, but chose different ones this time. Usually, half the rings would be given to the chosen heir when they are declared to be the official successor, then given the other half later on. The box that swordsman was trying to get had decoys."
We risked our freakin' lives fighting a guy as dangerous as that over decoys, was Tsuna's first thought on the statement. Well that's just dandy. Just f*ckin' dandy.
Reborn smirked, obviously reading not-mind reading Tsuna's thoughts, and of course he's getting some sadistic pleasure out of it. Regardless, he continued on with his explanation.
"Basil's boss," he spared a glance at the blond, "obviously thought that the other party would try and get the other half of the rings. The half that had not been entrusted to them. And so, he made Basil bring over the decoy, whilst he found a way to sneak in the real halves. And those halves made their way to you," he gestured vaguely towards the trio, "the other successors chosen."
"But why weren't they stopped?" Gokudera cut in. "Or why wasn't he stopped?" The silver-haired bomber gestured towards Basil. "I mean, doesn't Kyuudaime have the authority or power to convince his external advisor on choosing one singular party for the successors? Why the conflict in choices?"
"Nono is currently… of a different mindset," the hit man answered carefully. "The party he had chosen belong to a group associated to the Vongola famiglia, lead by his last living son." He closed his eyes as he took a sip from his mug of espresso. "As you may have gathered, he wasn't exactly a candidate some members of the famiglia were looking forward to serving." He opened his eyes, and his gaze shifted towards Tsuna. "I trust you recall what I've told you about Secondo?"
"'His body was drastically altered, and his mind was affected as well. He gained a great amount of power lust, and wished to make the Vongola stronger,'" he quoted.
"Eidetic memory…?" a voice slurred from the floor. Dino looked up to look at Tsuna, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. "I wish I had that." His face scrunched up when he tried to stand up, belatedly realizing there was a weight set on his back. Sleepy brown eyes squinted up at the blurry black figure which he was entirely sure was Reborn.
"Why," he asked flatly, not really expecting any less than absolute jack-assery.
"You wouldn't wake up."
"I've been here since last night! Of course I'd be tired!"
"Not my fault you decided to look after him and not get enough sleep."
"But that doesn't mean you can push me off the couch and just use me as some footrest!"
"That guy's kinda pathetic for a Mafia don…" Gokudera murmured as Yamamoto gave an amused laugh.
Tsuna watched the scene with some semblance of worried anticipation, and a tinge of acceptance. He almost forgot how Dino was previously in a similar position to the one Tsuna was currently in, and thought that the guy would make for a good confidant. The nice thought, however, was overshadowed by the thought that he would be in a similar position in due time.
He suppressed a shudder, but judging from the brief smirk Reborn had thrown at him, the hit man knew exactly what he was about to do.
Basil, who had been silent the majority of the time, coughed into his hand, a silent urge of 'can we get back on track now' going unsaid.
"Of course." Reborn shifted his feet so his other pathetic student could stand up and continued on. "Well, this man also had a similar experience. Quite simply, this is history repeating itself, unfortunately. Dangerous experiments, lots of power lust, about as fierce as they come. So really, when they come after you, Dame-Tsuna, you're seriously screwed."
"That's real comforting Reborn, thank you." Tsuna ran a hand through his hair. "Come after me you say? For the other halves?" He didn't need to look up to know that Reborn was nodding.
"Isn't there some sort of law or something? I mean, I know it's the Mafia, but…" he trailed off, unsure of how to complete his query.
Dino was the one to answer. "There is some protocol of sorts, made if, by chance, the successors chosen were different from what the other had decided."
"Which is?" Tsuna prodded.
Before Dino could continue, Reborn smoothly cut in. "I'd prefer you find the others in possession of those rings. Remember: the ones taken were decoys. Once they figure them out for what they truly were – they'd probably destroy them or something in a fit of rage – they'll be looking for them. And out of seven, you only know two other people who have the rings."
Tsuna frowned at this information. That would mean that whoever had the other rings would be in quite a bit of danger. He looked over at his watch, and realized that it would be dark in a few hours. He looked back up to Reborn with a sneer.
"You're stalling all of the explanations for a reason, aren't you?"
The hit man offered nothing more than a knowing quirk of the mouth, making the brunet sigh.
"Could you at least give me a clue?"
"People close to you, Dame-Tsuna." Another sip. "The Guardians of the Vongola bosses were often the strong, unique people in their lives."
Mouth in a slant, Tsuna thought of the implications of these words. He didn't really think he had any people like that in his life. But it wouldn't hurt to try.
"Nami-Middle," he said over his shoulder at his two friends, and they nodded. They gave a quick goodbye, and rushed off to find the 4 other bearers of the rings.
"…It's going to be mentioned to them later anyway, isn't it?" Dino glanced over at Reborn and gave a sigh.
The long sip from his espresso served as a 'I don't want to waste my breath,' along with a 'You really should have expected that, and a pinch of 'I like to f*ck around with my students because it's amusing as hell.'
"Right…"
From his position on the bed, Basil muffled a laugh. Just then, Dino opened and closed his mouth experimentally, his tongue feeling around the roof of his mouth.
"Why is my breath all minty fresh?" the blond looked over at the floor where all the previous debris was swept aside. "And why's this all on the floor?"
Basil offered a nonchalant shrug, and Reborn a twinge of amusement in his black eyes.
"So…" Yamamoto had his hands folded behind his head. "Why're we going to school? I mean, no one's there yet, right?"
"Reborn-san said that we should be looking for people who Jyuudaime is close to. But…" he looked over at his beloved boss, who seemed to be deep in thought. "…school is closed Jyuudaime. Are we going to look over student files or something?"
Tsuna's head jolted upwards, broken out of his thoughts. It took some time to register that he was asked a question. He shook his head.
"No. There's someone there I think might have another one of the rings."
"But who stays at school during a weekend?"
"Doesn't Hibari-san prevent any people from staying there when it's not a school day?"
Gokudera stiffened at the raven-haired teen's statement, while Tsuna looked off to the side. He didn't think Gokudera would approve of this…
"There is no way in hell that f*cking bastard would be one of Jyuudaime's Guardians!"
…and he was ultimately right.
"Well, I don't have many friends in school, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna interrupted Gokudera before he could start ranting on about how the prefect was everything he hated in life. "And Hibari-san is a likely candidate, especially because of his reputation…" The man wasn't called the Demon Prefect for nothing.
"But Jyuudaime-"
"EXTREME!"
The sudden loud shout caused all of them to look ahead towards the source of the noise, who happened to be none other than Ryohei, out for a little (and by little, we mean EXTREME) run around the town. Part of his (EXTREME) training regimen, no doubt. Of course, being the president of the Boxing Club, he should always be in good shape-
Wait.
"Nii-san!" Tsuna called out.
"Ah, Tsuna!" the silver-haired boxer ran over to the group in an undershirt and jogging pants, a towel slung over the back of his neck. "It's EXTREMELY-"
"You loud idiot-"
"-nice to see you here!" he continued, ignoring the bomber's complaint.
"It's nice to see you here, too, nii-san." The brunet gave a nod, eyes travelling down to Ryohei's neck, where he could see something glinting from the edge of his shirt.
"Say, nii-san, you wouldn't have happened to receive a ring or something, would you?"
Ryohei seemed a little nonplussed at the question. "As a matter of fact…" he pulled out a chain from under his shirt and displayed his half-ring for the trio to see. "…I did."
"Haha, seems as though sempai qualified to get a ring as well!"
One down. Three more to go.
"Why? What's this EXTREMELY for Tsuna?"
"I'll explain on the way. That is, if you can spare some time to follow us to school? We need to check on someone there."
"Sure!"
Gokudera seemed to resent this, but since it was his beloved Jyuudaime who had extended the offer, he wouldn't voice out the absurdity of the fact that stupid Turf-Top had a ring. Along the way, Tsuna recounted the events that had transpired to Ryohei, from the swordsman to Reborn's words on the matter. By the time they had arrived at the school, Ryohei had already processed all of this information.
"That EXTREMELY is something," he had muttered.
Tsuna looked over the school, feeling around with his mind (or whatever the hell you call sensing for experiments) to see if he could trace Hibari's presence to be somewhere in the building.
"Herbivores."
Oh. Never mind.
"School is closed," the raven-haired teen said as he suddenly appeared form behind like the bad-ass ninja prefect he is, looking as imposing as ever with his usual attire.
This further supports the theory the man is really a magician.
Tsuna motioned for the others to back off and approached the prefect tentatively.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. Remember Tsuna: talk like he's Hibari the Magician Ninja.
"Hibari-san…" Tsuna began carefully, and didn't miss the flash of something in Hibari's eyes, "…have you received anything recently? Like, a ring of sorts?"
The prefect coolly regarded the other teen's face for a moment, before silently pulling out a ring on a chain from his pocket.
Two down.
Tsuna nodded and looked off to the side, licking his lips anxiously. He looked back at Hibari, who had an unreadable expression on his face.
"Just…just keep it safe, okay?" Because Hibari f*cking magician ninja Kyoya can totally handle himself.
Worried at the little bout of silence, Tsuna was about to say something else when Hibari wordlessly slipped it on and tucked it under his shirt.
Of course, was the man's unsaid statement, and he briefly regarded the others behind Tsuna before going off to continue whatever he was doing prior.
Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Tsuna slumped down and caught himself on his knees.
"Okay, so two more people left. But I don't think I know more people." Tsuna frowned. He was pretty sure he didn't. The whole bad habit Dame-Tsuna thing didn't really give him much time to socialize.
He tried to think if there was some kind of trend he was missing. Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Hibari…
Caramel eyes went wide as he was struck with an epiphany, and not a very good one either.
"We need to get home."
Quite frankly, it wasn't very odd that the young pain-in-the-ass Tsuna's come to (somewhat)(somehow) love known as Lambo to wander out by himself on the streets looking for something.
And so, he was just wandering about on his merry way, when all of a sudden, this huge creepy, ugly-ass guy suddenly gets the drops on him, joined by other equally-creepy-looking guys.
First instinct: SCREAM.
"Lambo!"
The quartet had been on their way to their house when a sudden cry pierced the air. Immediately locking on to the child, they rushed over to where the sound had come from. A sudden adrenaline spike warned Tsuna that there was another experiment in the premises, and hardened his resolve to get to the child earlier. He really hoped that he would be wrong on his part, but it seems that he wasn't so lucky this time.
As soon as he caught sight of a set of hands holding up the child, he grabs a random, extremely convenient stone and hurls it straight at the man's eye, right in the middle of his forehead, and quickly catches Lambo in his arms before kicking the guy away. Looking down at the child's absolutely outrageous afro, he saw a glint of metal, and knew it to be one of the rings.
"Jyuudaime!"
Looking up, Tsuna immediately became aware of several men atop the wall beside them. One was a blond, his long bangs making it impossible to see the color of his eyes, a tiara situated askew on his head. His attire consisted of a striped shirt, and a black coat to go with black pants and combat boots. Beside him was a figure in a long dark cloak, upper half of his/her face shrouded under its hood.
"Ushishishi, it's looks as though we don't have to look for the rest of the competition."
OKAY THIS TOOK FOREVER TO MAKE I AM SO SORRY.
And since it took a long time, I decided to make it about 10 k words in here excluding this author's note, which I've decided to put at the end.
First off, thanks for reading, following and favoriting! I didn't expect to get any reception during my hiatus, but apparently I did. So thanks!
Next, I'm afraid that this is what's going to happen from now on. I mean, things in school get harder and harder, and I gain less time to do things. I'm also ADD, so I really apologize if I was reading fanfiction instead of writing this.
Since this was done over a long period of time, the writing style fluctuates here and there since my style depends on my mood.
Big thanks to NaMiKaZe31 for being my awesome beta reader for this chapter, because really long chapters and fluctuating styles makes for hard maintenance.
You may have also noticed that I've updated the chapters. If you want the old ones, complete with extremely shameful A/Ns, I could send them to you.
Also, please check out my profile if you have time.
And for being really patient readers, I would like to extend my thanks to you! Really, I didn't expect to get much for this little labor of love o' mine.
And so, a final word from my beta, and until next time (which is going to be a long time from now), arrivaderci~!
Heyo! NaMiKaZe31 here, I'm not sure if I'll be the permanent beta, but for the short time I'm here, please take care of me! *bows* Please check out Il-chan's other works, and remember! READ & REVIEW!