Dino's Freedom
Dino got the necessary facts from Reborn about his kohai.
He tried to sift information thoroughly to understand more.
From what he got, because she was sealed, she was dangerously compromised and the bullying must be so bad enough to traumatize her as there are different ways of bullying and she must have gotten the short end of the stick that she resented the town as everyone knew 'No-good Tsunami' and the teachers never helped her, and had the mind to roast whoever sealed her for the misery they caused her when she didn't do a damn to anybody!
When she got unsealed, she worked hard to overcome her stigma and became someone accomplished. In school at least. She also is fully-aware of, and mastered her powers but 'born with other things' as well when she got wind of it...and as a result got deeply involved with the supernatural that she saw having powers as a big burden and responsibility. She's also at her peak physical condition due to karate and parkour and she designed 'several monsters' for CLAMP and she admitted she can't do most of those herself but it can possibly be done in a couple decades of devotion to the art. She estimated 30 years of nothing but training while below 50 years old, and has two apprentices in flames, the supernatural, and only one in Karate. Yamamoto's into swordsmanship.
They talked more, when the doorbell rang.
'...that must be her now.' said Reborn as a big flash later, Tsunami's inside, holding the hands of the boys to tug them along, and already in their socks. 'Okaeri.'
Dino and Romario took a look at the heiress to be, Signora Vongola Decimo. Her beauty is from the best traits of her family lines with blonde hair and an unusual shade of light brown eyes. Tall for her age too with sculpted legs that would be the envy of every woman in the world with dainty feet. Her hair however, is unpractically long!
'Oh!' she gasped out, her eyes falling on Dino. 'He's so young!' she exclaimed in surprise. 'I thought he'd be way older because your words were 'long ago' when you told me about him!' Dino choked while Romario bit back a snicker.
'He's only 22, not that older than you kids.' Reborn snorted. 'You're 14 so that means he's 8 years older than you. But I had to drill boss-hood into him for five years. So what's your feel of him?' Tsunami's eyes turned orange and stared straight into Dino's eyes...and the man swore she was gazing into his soul laid bare before her like a book he was clearly disturbed.
But she found something that clearly angered her and he worried.
Was there something in him she didn't like?
'...Reborn...is there anyone who walks around sealing Skies lately?'
'WHAT?!'
'Me too?!' Dino yelped in shock. He couldn't believe he too is...
'I know how to fix it by now since I learned how to from that guy. And to do it, one must be stronger than the seal itself or a nearby Storm with perfect control.' Tsunami explained. 'At least his mental faculties isn't compromised like mine is!' she scowled as she touched his forehead to use physical contact to channel her flames into his body, and overpower the seal to destroy it, causing Dino to let out his full powers. But since his body is 'just fixed', she has to heal him too.
'You know...I never felt so free and comfortable in my own skin until now...' Dino thought, looking in utter bliss. His flames was also warm in his body...and he's cuddling into his kouhai like a cat! He's practically oblivious to everything else and they can seriously imagine cat ears and tail on him.
'Well, that's what freedom is.' Tsunami told him. 'Its what I felt when I'm freed years ago and what usually follows is anger at who dared to chain us down when we're meant to be free. I'd be happy if I can roast whoever did this to me too.' she said bitterly. 'I wonder who else has to put up with this without knowing?' she wondered, worrying about their fellow skies. 'Its best if Dino and I are left alone at the moment. That one helped me with my anger issues and power outbursts...I have to help Dino too. Because after the bliss of freedom, one hell of a tantrum follows...and so does destruction. We'll be at the craggy outskirts of town for at least, quite some time!'
'But you can call him, right?' Gokudera suggested, referring to Touya.
'He's currently in a Seminar in CLAMP and we only have two minutes before it starts!' Tsunami pointed out. 'He'll be done in a couple hours so until then, we put up with it.'
xxx
The Craggy area...
When Reborn, Romario and the boys got there later in a limousine, it wasn't a good sight as Tsunami teleported away with Dino.
To Romario, this was horrifying.
Dino, his eternally-bright and perpetually-cheerful boss was in Flaming Rage, screaming, roaring and snarling in anger and pain and crying, hurling fire everywhere with bursts of fire coming out of him. His eyes were glowing with Sky Flames and Tsunami was containing his rage by countering with her own flames to prevent too much destruction.
'Well...shiiiit...' Gokudera gawked.
'To think Dino is actually this powerful...I didn't notice...how should I know he was sealed too?' Reborn swore. 'And to think they'll be at this until he gets here?!'
'Tsuna can't possibly last that long even if its her!' Yamamoto fretted worriedly. 'Can't I use my flames to diffuse that mess over there if that guy is unavailable?!' he suggested hastily. Gokudera has a wall of Storm to destroy stray flames at them as a precaution.
'It will end badly even if its Rain flames.' Reborn told him grimly. 'Right now, Dino is in full Sky Rage condition. Rage and Anger because The Sky within him is chained down. All Skies hate being chained down, denied freedom. If some moron sealed them and them a helper removed that seal, the instincts of a Sky will lash out as soon as the seal is gone. Interference will be interpreted as another attempt to chain down the Sky and then cue tunnel-vision of trying to eliminate the threat, so don't.' Yamamoto gulped audibly. 'Only a fellow Sky can help now, especially a Sky who experienced the same pain.' he said as unknown to them, there's a Vindice observer, his presence concealed due to the vast Sky Flames present. 'We'll be watching this until that person is available to help us out. It won't be good if they ran out of flames.'
They waited nervously until that very help came. Touya who came with Yue. Gokudera and Romario STARED as a young man came with an angel.
'Interesting things sure keep happening doesn't it?' Touya sighed, scratching his head as they saw the chaos going on.
'Touya-san!' Yamamoto called out. 'Can you stop those two?!' he cried, looking at the chaos down below. Touya went to observe with his magic at the edge of the rocky platform they were on.
'Well?' Yue asked his lover who sighed.
'We'll have to wait at an open opportunity.' said Touya. 'Right now, the blonde dude's instincts are so pissed that his senses are highly-attuned to any threat and his spatial awareness is currently off the charts he'd know I'm coming before I can even get near him from here to there and be shot before I can jump from here. But once his Sky senses dull and focuses too much on Tsuna, I can jump into the fray to stop his rampage. The gist is I have to get there without him detecting me. He or rather the Sky Instinct must be caught off-guard. And considering the perpetrator isn't here, that idiot cousin of mine is OK with being his rage buffer. Good idea as it helps by half. Leave the other half to me.'
And they waited with Touya ready to lunge. They watched...and waited...
Until he was gone...and appeared behind Dino to place his hands on his shoulders and let his magic work, effectively overpowering Dino.
'He's fast!' Romario exclaimed. 'He got there in a blink!'
'That's Touya-san for you!' Yamamoto gasped out.
And so...
Touya fixed Tsunami's torn clothes and injuries with a wave of his hand. And then...'You. Moron.' he bonked her on the head.
'Ow.' Tsunami chuckled playfully while sticking her tongue at him with Dino unconscious on her lap.
'You should be lucky that your reserves are huge.' Touya griped. 'Had you called me when you're about to run out things would be real bad!' he scolded while taking his attention to Dino. 'And this guy is freshly-unsealed...after letting out that tantrum, no flames for a month! His body is re-adjusting to his full power denied to him since he's a kid so he's healing.' he stated. 'Because he's already an adult it'll take that long. Had he been Tsunami's age years ago when this was discovered, he'd heal quick after a good sleep.'
'I see...you two should really give us your expertise.' Reborn told Touya.
'Well, while we do know a few things, nobody would believe us without proof so I really don't see the point.' Touya snorted, crossing his arms. 'And most of the time, we don't have proof until the very last minute and sometimes, too late with the words 'I told you so' hardly gratifying. It was a royal pain years back, isn't it?' he asked, looking at Tsunami who nodded.
'It is. Especially with our cases back then too. We couldn't nip problems early until it happens.' she griped. The mafioso exchanged looks.
'Well, I have to go back now.' said Touya. 'My next class is in ten minutes. Dad got sick so I'm filling in for him while auntie takes care of him at home.' he said, standing up and dusting dust off his pants. 'He has a lecture about Summerian History goin' on after his last archaeological dig two weeks ago but he caught a bad bug from the west so I offered to sub.'
'Heee...'
'Don't do anything stupid again! Seriously!' Touya sighed. 'I swear brashness is your middle name.'
'Yes yes...aaaanyway...' Tsunami's smile turned mischievous. 'Did you finally get past first and second base now, Touya-niichan? Yue-niisama?' the two high schoolers choked. Touya for obvious reasons and Yue because she's thinking he's part of the family in that way when she called him 'brother' very respectfully. But he has no idea what she meant by her words.
'The what now?' Gokudera asked, confused. Reborn tipped his hat down but he was smirking.
'Baseball terminology in dating.' Tsunami chimed. 'First base is kissing, second base is petting.' Gokudera blushed stark red while Yamamoto understood only the first part but got confused with the second. 'So who pitches and who catches, you two?' Touya now impersonated an apple in his redness in horror. Gokudera appeared to be choking on something. Romario was slack-jawed. The young signora to be is NOT innocent. At all.
'BE QUIET YOU BRAT!' Touya screamed in freakout while this time, Yue looks confused.
'...someone explain?' he asked them while blinking owlishly and its one of these rare times he truly resembled Yukito.
'I'll explain later in our house!' Touya spluttered, embarrassed as he quickly vanished with him.
'Coward.' Tsunami snickered. 'Ahhh I haven't lost my touch! He's so fun to tease!' she giggled naughtily.
'...I don't get it.' Yamamoto pointed out. 'The only thing I understood was the kissing.'
'You sure you wanna know?' Gokudera drawled with a flat stare. 'If we tell you your world and baseball ain't gonna be the same anymore.' he told him warningly.
'...'
Yamamoto felt he'd rather not know if it'll change how he'll see his favorite sport forever but Tsunami likens baseball to stages of dating somehow...
But when he asked Reborn in private what 'petting' meant as they knew and he didn't...
He regretted asking.
xxx
Sawada Residence...
Tsunami cooked dinner. A very late dinner at that while Romario was taking notes when in reality he's watching over her to make sure the food is safe.
It was then that Yamamoto asked Reborn about Petting(and Reborn is brutally-blunt and honest and went for the graphics)...and he was embarrassed and unable to imagine a boy touching a girl THAT way! AND Reborn explained away Sex Ed Baseball Lingo for him.
He was shocked that Tsunami and Gokudera knew when he didn't!
Where'd they learn that?!
'So to cook the ideal meat texture, we have to maintain the temperature between 58 to 68 degrees celsius? Why so calculatively precise?' Romario asked her.
'58 below is where food poisoning bacteria are still active and the temperature when meat and fish start to denature or have meat coagulation and temperature above 68 is when the proteins in the meat and fish start to contract and become tough to eat. The ideal temperature for cooking the best meat or fish calmly without stressing the ingredients but its tricky as fish is more sensitive than livestock meat so a lot of effort is put in trial-and-error perfection. I really appreciate Dino-san buying us meat for tonight!' Tsunami squealed happily. 'We normally can't afford Beef Steaks so I'm going all out in steaks tonight!' she was so happy that each person got a piece of...2 kg steak! Not just any steak...its A5 Wagyu Beef!
'But Sawada-sama, you're of Vongola descent! How can you not?!' Romario asked, perplexed.
'Well, papa never mentioned anything about inheriting a wealthy but a mafia family to us to keep us safe until Vongola needed the last resort and that's me.' Tsunami sighed. 'I never knew until Reborn came to tell me and mama doesn't know a thing. To keep the farce of being an Overseas Worker, he really sends only enough living expenses.' said Tsunami wryly. 'And the awkward questions will begin if he sends more. Everyone in Japan knows how much workers earn in every country and he told her he's a supervisor in an Offshore Oil Rig so he sends just as much.'
'Heee...'
'Seriously, did being born in Vongola made Nono's three sons that inflated in the head and arrogantly let their guard down thinking family name will protect them while strutting around like peacocks? Idiots!' Tsunami sneered. It seems after Giotto, the next few bosses got a tad too inflated. 'They get their dues but what I'm pissed about is the potential target on mother just for being my mother and my father's wife.' she griped. 'So much for normal.' she was going 'Donna Mode' when her mode of speech changes when normally she's very formal in her Japanese. In Donna Mode, she speaks rough japanese as expected of...well...rude people. Its only when her feelings go south.
'Oh, I'll have to make different kinds of sauces...I don't know how italians like their sauce so I'd like your help in taste-testing...'
'You don't have to go through all that trouble...'
'Oh Romario-san, we Japanese give our best hospitality when we have guests over.' Tsunami smiled. 'It would be rude to do anything less!'
'Whoa, what's happening in the kitchen? It smells so...so...' Dino swooned, drooling while sniffing the air.
'That's Juudaime cooking.' said Gokudera. 'Her best abilities lie in sweets and cakes though.' he stated. 'But still, she can cook good food given who her teachers are...and we're just as good.' Gokudera grinned. 'In her own way she teaches us too so we can manage ourselves when she's out or can't cook for us someday. I think she'll make it special since you bought those steaks. Any idea how precious beef is in Japan?'
'Er...no? But I'm aware its the best beef.' Dino blinked. 'Yet hardly any people are buying it and I thought the vendor's just trying to cheat me out of my money!'
Gokudera and Yamamoto exchanged looks.
This guy should have done more research.
And so...
On each plate is a drool-worthy beef steak with sauce over it with garnishings, and still some more sauce in bowls as a just-in-case.
'Well, let's enjoy the steak Dino-san bought us~!' Tsunami chirped happily.
'Buon appetito!'
With a very tender slab of steak with a deliciously savory sauce with a flavor that made them want more combined with the flavor of an A5 Wagyu steak...its a flavor and texture to DIE for.
'That looks really nice...' several eyes widened to see Giotto behind Tsunami, drooling over the steak.
'WHA?!'
'Giotto!' Tsunami gasped out, seeing her great-grandfather.
'I came to drop by and this was my last chance to visit since Timoteo intends on splitting the rings up as per tradition I have created.' said Giotto. 'He has retired as boss. He now just holds the fort until your tutor deems you ready to succeed.' he said.
'Splitting the rings? I can see you followed through your ideas.' Tsunami nodded sagely. 'So when the rings are split, it means you guys can't come out?'
'Well no. We tried every generation and tried to figure a way out of it but something in the ring makes it impossible.' Giotto pouted. 'So one more week till it's splitsville. The half in Vongola and the other half in CEDEF. The others are watching out for who they feel, are their true heirs.'
'Oh my! So the others already have an ideal?' Tsunami gasped out. Would she even meet them?!
'Yes. Daemon found one in Italy, Lampo found nobody unfortunately, and everyone else is checking out some people close by.' said Giotto. 'And Tsunami~ a favor~'
'Hm?'
'Can I have half that steak while possessing your body? I really REAAAAALLY miss your cooking~!' Giotto pleaded. 'And do you have more snacks, too?'
Silence...
Needless to say, Giotto's form washed over Tsunami's body while he enjoyed half the steak, and happily went to her fridge for the rest of the snacks...meant for Dino's stay.
'Er, Reborn...?' Dino croaked out, wide-eyed. 'Is that who I think it is?'
'Aa. Tsunami wound up time-traveling last year on one of her supernatural cases to their era. Its how they met and got to know all seven of them on a personal level.' Reborn told him. 'Must be a kick in the balls when Giotto found out that she's his great-great granddaughter decades later.' he snorted.
'Yep, that's a kick in the balls alright.' two more flames showed up. It was G and Asari. 'Pardon my language.' said the much politer Rain Guardian. 'Tsunami is a great friend to all of us and helped us so much in our younger years...life went incredibly easy too that things are done much faster and more efficiently...and who'd have thought that Rain and Storm are good for poisoning and lethal medical cases?'