I'll start by doing something I don't usually do in this story: answer reviews. I'm just answering a few which either raise points I want to discuss or which need some commenting.
Happy Camper27: I'm not sure wether or not I mentioned this before, but I don't speak a word of Italian so it's likely you'll find mistakes (I'm using Google translation). Chances are that I won't correct it. Thanks for pointing it out though; I appreciate the fact that you took the trouble. However, it would take a lot of time after a while to correct every mistake I make so I'll either correct everything at the same time or not at all.
FlowerQT02: Well I can understand the sentiment. I might try and make Ienari a little nicer, but I'm thinking of leaving him as a mostly neutral character. Not nice but not exceptionally mean either. Nari isn't a complete bully though, he's just indifferent. I don't know if I managed to make that show or not.
Next is the vote. I realized that most of you now have an idea of what's going on with Tsuna and Reborn so I decided to start the vote. The possible pairings are: R27, 1827 or No Pairing. I must say that I'm not very enthusiast about R27, so I might not do it at all. I'll say that even if there are nor pairings Reborn and Tsuna will have a very close relationship and Hibari and Tsuna also (kind of like bromance). I have to say I'm currently strongly in favor of No Pairing, but I'll still hear you all out.
Please keep in mind that R27 will most likely not become a reality so concentrate on 1827 or No Pairing. Votes are to be made through reviews.
Namimori Central Hospital, Shamal
Shamal was sitting in front of three computer screens on which white dots appeared and disappeared constantly, with the occasional coloured dot here and there. What he was looking at was the data collected by three of Hibari's subordinates who were carrying a device capable of detecting flames. The colour of the dots corresponded to the type of flame that was detected. Red for storm, blue for rain, purple for cloud, indigo for mist, green for lightning, orange for sky and yellow for sun.
This clever little device had been invented by Verde, a renowned scientist who evolved in the world of the mafia. He was also rumoured to be one of the famous Arcobalenos though nobody knew for sure what those were. Thanks to his relations to Reborn, Shamal knew for a fact that Verde was indeed an Arcobaleno. He had gotten all the confirmation he needed when he had been in contact with the scientist while buying the device. At the time he had clearly seen the green pacifier hanging from the Lilliputian scientist.
Anyway, the point was that Verde was highly intelligent and he had been researching the Dying Will Flames. A few years ago, he had invented this device which he called a Flame Radar. Just as the name indicated the device detected flames in 500 meters radius and their types. However, it didn't indicate the strength of the flame which was why he had sold it for so cheap to Shamal.
At the moment, the doctor didn't care much for the strength of the flame. All he wanted was a sun flame. Unfortunately, it appeared they were pretty rare. First up, not everyone had flames, whether active or dormant. Secondly, sun flames, like sky flames were not as common as storm flames for example. It was maddening how many red dots he had already seen when there hadn't even been one yellow dot appearing on the screen yet.
Trying to refrain from banging his head on the walls he took out his phone, intending to call the Disciplinary Committee members who were assisting him to change locations. He would have them move around town where the crowds were, so that they would have more chance of finding the desired flame. He had to find it; no matter what.
Namimori Streets, Lambo & Shoichi
"Kimi wa dare da? Boku wa Lambo…" sang Lambo joyfully (and loudly) as he and Shoichi walked through the streets towards the address indicated on the paper Tsuna had given the five-year old.
The pink haired teen was busying himself thinking about everything except the obnoxious child walking by his side and the curious stares they were receiving. Everything mostly meaning robotic: his passion. He loved creating machines that could move on their own and do a number of things. He studied hard in order to be able to go to a good university where he could learn all about them. It was difficult to think about it however, when a child wearing a cow suit was singing loud nonsense next to you.
"Hey Lambo, where do you come from?" asked the pink haired boy in an attempt to make the boy stop singing.
He had managed to deduce from their previous conversations (if you could call it that) that Lambo wasn't Japanese.
"Lambo-san used to live in Italy." replied the dark haired boy.
"In Italy? Did you come here with your family, then?" asked the teen curiously.
"No. Lambo-san came on his own. Lambo-san's boss ordered him to kill Reborn. So I followed him to Japan." replied the cow-kid.
"He-Heeeee…."
Shoichi tried not to think about what kind of family would send a small child to assassinate…someone, all the way to Japan from Italy. His instinct told him it wasn't anything good and his stomach was starting to hurt as it did every time he was especially stressed. He rubbed his belly with his free hand trying to ease the pain and forcing his thoughts away from the cow's family.
"Is Tsuna-san part of your family then?" he asked hoping that this Tsuna person wasn't as weird as the rest.
"Tsuna is Lambo-san's subordinate." said Lambo for the second time.
"Um…Yes, but is he also Italian?"
A pair of green eyes looked up at him. The little boy looked stumped by the question.
"Ah! Don't worry about it, it doesn't matter." said Shoichi hurriedly as he saw the five-year old become upset by his lack of knowledge.
They finished their walk in silence. When they came to a stop in front of a modest building, Lambo started bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Ahahaha!" he laughed obnoxiously. "Lambo-san found the way home!"
The teen remained silent, not bothering to point out that he had been the one to find the way back. The cow child let go of his hand and raced up the stairs. Shoichi sighed and followed him up to the second floor. On the last door the nameplate read 'Sawa', which Shoichi supposed was this Tsuna's last name. Hesitantly he rang the doorbell.
From where they stood they could hear the faint sound of the ringing inside the house. They waited for a few minutes but no answer came. The apartment was completely silent as well.
"Ara, ara, is Tsuna sleeping?" said Lambo, ringing the doorbell again repeatedly.
They waited for another minute.
"Maybe he isn't home." suggested Shoichi as they received no reply.
Lambo ignored him and proceeded to open the front door.
"Ah! Lambo! You can't…." protested the pink-haired teen to no avail.
Paying no attention to the elder boy, Lambo opened the door and stepped inside. Shoichi reflexively pushed his glasses up his nose reflecting on why the door was unlocked. Seeing Lambo disappear inside the apartment, he decided to follow him. Hesitantly, he pushed the door more widely open and peeked inside.
"I'm coming in." he murmured stepping inside.
Closing the door behind him, he looked around. He was standing in a kind of living room with a low table in the middle and a kitchen on the side. On the opposite side of the room was a door leading to a passageway. The teen carefully made his way there. Two doors were on either side of the small corridor. He first opened the one the right, revealing a small bathroom. He closed the door and opened the second one.
Lambo was already in the room which seemed to be the bedroom if the bed was any indication. He was the only one there however, and fat tears were rolling down his cheeks.
"Tsuna isn't sleeping." said the boy from where he sat on the bed.
The teen felt a sudden surge of pity for the little boy and he went to pat his head in a comforting manner.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find him." he told the boy.
Suddenly having an idea, he fished out from his pocket the paper Lambo had given him.
"Look, there's a phone number written here. We can try calling it." he said doing his best to sound cheerful.
The child nodded, snot coming out of his nose and his cheeks drenched in tears. Smiling encouragingly, Shoichi took out his cell phone and typed the phone number. He finally pressed the call button and held the phone to his ear.
Never before had a ring tone sounded so stressful and his stomach was starting to hurt again. The only positive point was that no phone was ringing in the apartment which meant that Tsuna, whoever he was, had taken his phone with him. At least, they had a chance of reaching him.
Unfortunately, luck didn't seem to be on their side that day as nobody picked up.
"Th-that's weird. Maybe he didn't pick up fast enough." said Shoichi trying not to show any worry.
Lambo sniffed loudly and fresh tears starting gathering in his eyes. Not wanting the child to start bawling, Shoichi hurriedly started typing the number.
"I-I'll try again." he said quickly.
His stomach was hurting more and more with every minute passing, as the ringtone sounded in his ear. He was immensely relieved when the ringtone was cut off and he heard a deep tired voice saying 'Hello'.
"Ah, hello. Is this Tsuna-san?" asked Shoichi. "I found Lambo a while ago and…"
"I'm sorry but Tsuna is unavailable at the moment. Could you tell me who you are?" said the voice.
"Eh? Ah, of course. My name is Irie Shoichi. Like I said I have Lambo with me…"
"Lambo?" the voice sounded surprised.
"Yes, he was lost so I took him back to the address that was written but there's no one here." explained the teen. "Could you please tell me where I can find Tsuna-san? I need to take Lambo back to him."
The silence stretched and Shoichi started to think that whoever was on the other end had hung up.
"Tsuna can't see anyone at the moment." said the voice at last.
"B-But Lambo told me that Tsuna-san was his only family in Japan!" exclaimed Shoichi his panic starting to show in his voice.
There was silence again, broken a few moments later by a heavy sigh.
"Listen, can you come to the Central Hospital for now? It'll be easier to talk and explain the situation in person."
"I-I understand. Then I'll bring Lambo with me."
"When you get there, ask for Doctor Shamal. That's me."
"Understood. Then I'll see you there."
Shoichi ended the call and turned towards Lambo, trying to hide his worry.
"Lambo, we need to go to the hospital. There's a man there called Doctor Shamal who knows where Tsuna is. Do you understand?"
The cow child nodded.
"Did something happen to Tsuna?" he asked in a small voice, his small hand gripping his suit tightly.
"I…I'm not sure yet." replied Shoichi. "We have to go to the hospital first."
Picking up the child he made his way to the living room. There he hesitated. He couldn't leave the apartment unlocked could he?
"Lambo are there any spare keys inside the house?" he asked.
"With the shoes." said Lambo simply, seemingly too upset to involve himself in any kind of conversation.
Following the boy's instructions, Shoichi went to the shoe cupboard next to the door and looked inside. Sure enough, a set of keys was resting on the shelf. He picked it up and left the apartment, carefully locking the door behind him, before heading towards the hospital, Lambo in tow.