Gokudera's eyes widened with shock, as he took a look in the journal and said, "There really is nothing written after that." – he looked up at Vero – "But what if there's another journal after this one?"
"That can't be possible." Vero said, after examining the last shelf and its contents. "The rest of that journal is empty, and the journals before it only have events that preceded my parents' deaths."
"This is quite the conundrum…" Gokudera pondered, before seeing the young Cavallone boss with a disappointed expression on his face. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out."
Vero gazed at the last journal entry silently for a minute, and he said slowly, "It doesn't even say anything about the killer, nor does it say that they even died. I thought this would give me answers, but in the end I still couldn't find anything…"
Gokudera placed his hand on his grieving student's shoulder, about to comfort and encourage him, when they heard a familiar voice from the doorway. It said, "Hey, find anything useful in here?" The two men turned to where the source of the voice was to see Yamamoto leaning against the door frame.
Vero immediately looked away with disappointment in reply to the Rain Guardian's question, while Gokudera sighed with frustration as he scratched the back of his head.
"That bad huh?" Yamamoto continued as he gazed at them with concern. He then walked up to one of the shelves, scanned the spines, and pulled out a journal before flipping through it. When he got to the end, he shook his head and put it back.
"What are you looking for, Yamamoto-san?" Vero asked, watching the man flip through another journal before putting that one back too.
"After she told Tsuna, Rosetta told all of us about what happened to her parents and close family." He answered after he had found the written event in the third journal he pulled off the shelf. "I don't know if it will be any help to you, but Rosetta's description of the event sounded a lot like her and Dino's death."
Vero took the journal Yamamoto handed to him and compared the two entries. Oddly enough, they were pretty much exactly the same.
"But it still doesn't say who did this." The young Cavallone boss said when he was done.
"With this, we can at least assume that the same person is the culprit for both of these events though." Gokudera explained.
"That brings us a little closer to the answer." Yamamoto added. "Did your mother tell you anything about what happened to her family?"
"No, not really. I don't think she wanted to push her burdens on me." Vero replied. "But when I became boss, I found her notes and files on that day she lost her parents. She had many theories but most of them pointed to her brother Nero."
"That seems right." Gokudera stated with thought. "After all, he did endanger our lives after hiding out here in Nanimori and attacking Hibari."
"Then one thing is for sure," the young Cavallone boss said aloud with determination. "Whatever happened to my grandparents and parents, Nero will most likely have all the answers.
"If he's willing to give them." The Storm Guardian added, before a question popped into his mind. "Thanks for making things a little clearer Yamamoto, but why did you come back here in the first place?"
The Rain Guardian was lost in thought for a moment, until he chuckled lightheartedly. "Sorry, I nearly forgot to tell you," he answered once he had finished. "Kyoko-chan told me to find you and tell you that the meal is ready."
"No wonder my stomach feels so empty." Vero said in response with mild surprise.
"Yeah, we've been down here for a while." Gokudera added, as he checked his watch. "I wouldn't be surprised if Ryohei already finished his meal…"
The three men then headed back to the kitchen after locking the Mezzanotte records back up. Vero then realized that he would be late with Hibari and ate as fast as he could. When he finished, he thanked Kyoko for the food, and then proceeded to leave, but Yamamoto took him aside for a moment.
"Hey, if you're worried about Hibari-san, don't sweat it." He told Vero. "Just tell him I held you back and I'll take care of the rest."
The young Cavallone boss nodded, before heading off to his usual training spot. There he inquired about Hibari's encounter with Nero, and the Cloud Guardian told him towards the end of their training session. Upon hearing that Hibari was defeated instantly by Rosetta's brother, Vero now knew that he couldn't take his uncle as lightly as he had been. He would now have to take his training more seriously if he wanted to defeat his uncle Nero once and for all.
Later, during the evening meal, Yamamoto was revealed to be Vero's next tutor, as he told him to come to basement level ten (1) with his sword.
The next day, when he arrived to the level he was told about, he found himself in a Japanese style building, complete with wooden floors and sliding paper doors. There in one of the rooms, he found Yamamoto training in traditional Japanese men's clothing.
Vero watched for a moment as Yamamoto focused on the straw dummy before him and then dashed towards it after saying, "Shigure Soen Ryu Stance One: Shajiku no Ame (2)." The straw dummy was then split in half and the Rain Guardian relaxed, putting his sword away.
It was then that Vero praised his mentor by saying, "That was amazing Yamamoto-san!"
The swordsman turned to him with a surprised expression before he said with a smile, "Oh Vero. I didn't even notice you there."
"You were that focused?" the young Cavallone boss asked. "Wow, I hope to become a great swordsman like you and Uncle Squalo."
"With a lot of practice and focus, I'm sure you will be someday." The Rain Guardian told him with a smile. "You got your sword?"
"Yeah, here it is." Vero answered while drawing it out of its sheath and handing it to his mentor to take a look at it. A few minutes passed before Yamamoto spoke, as he took in every detail and weighed the sword in his hands.
"It's a fine sword. Very well made. And you say its name is Forte Amore – Strong Love?" he finally said, turning to his student who nodded in reply. "It's a little hard to believe that your uncle wielded such a sword."
"Why do you say that?" the young Cavallone boss questioned with curiosity.
In reply, Yamamoto handed the sword back to him and told him, "Focus on the sword's aura and tell me what you feel."
For a moment, Vero closed his eyes and concentrated, then opened his eyes before shooting a confused expression at Yamamoto. "I don't feel anything at all." He said.
"Exactly. You would think that being in the possession of such a man as Nero would result in the sword having a menacing aura." The Rain Guardian explained. "But Forte Amore doesn't have any aura at all, which means either the aura has dissipated over the time it has been in your mother's care or…"
"The sword never really chose my uncle as its wielder in the first place." Vero finished before continuing with thought. "Actually, come to think of it, I think I remember my mom telling Squalo that Nero took the sword as his own when he was younger."
A look of genuine surprise appeared on the Rain Guardian's face as he said, "Really?"
"Yeah, apparently my mom's father had a sword custom-made to be a family heirloom, but when Nero saw it; he kept it despite the scolding he got for stealing it." Vero continued, pausing for a long moment before mentioning something else. "Uncle Squalo and my mom actually came to their own theory about Forte Amore. They think that the sword was actually made for me, that it was probably going to be a gift to me from my grandfather."
"That might just be true." Yamamoto said in response. He then realized that the two of them had spent the past forty-five minutes talking and suggested that they get started.
He couldn't promise that Vero would be using his sword by the end of the week, but they did go over important things that he needed to know and the basics. As he concentrated on going over the sword skills he learned that day, his mind often wandered back to when Squalo had told him of the rough sword duel he had with Nero.
"It definitely wasn't a fair fight." Vero remembered the silver haired swordsman saying; before he went on to describe the duel in detail. "I was almost going to win when he turns around and uses some sort of sorcery to defeat me!"
"Word Conjuring…" Vero said slowly.
"Eh?" Squalo uttered.
"Word Conjuring. That's what my uncle used against you." The young Cavallone boss explained. "He and my mom can use ordinary words as weapons, or pretty much anything against people and things. Although, my mom doesn't use it much."
"So that's the answer…" Squalo continued with thought, as Vero's memory ended there…
Once Vero had gotten all of the basics of swordsmanship, he was then turned over to Ryohei, who had taught the young Cavallone boss a fighting technique that he had learned when he was a youth. This was good, because Hibari was done with sparring in the afternoon, as was requested by Ryohei so he could concentrate.
So he spent the first three days in rest, charging his body to learn the attack, and the remainder of the week refining the attack and training to get ready for his supposed final test with Tsuna.
The day had come, and Vero was more than ready.
He had gone down to the basement level seven possibly for the final time, and stepped out on the floor. There he found all his tutors he had over the past few weeks – even Hibari – standing against the wall and ready to oversee the battle.
And standing in the middle of the room waiting for his opponent was Tsuna with his Vongola gloves on, ready to start. "Are you ready for the final test?" the Vongola boss asked.
"More than ready." Vero replied with determination.
Tsuna smirked in response as he went into Hyper Dying Will Mode with the aid of his pills and stated, "Let's see what you learned then."
The young Cavallone boss followed suit as he got his whip at the ready but then stopped. "Wait," he said, realizing something. "What do I have to do to pass the test?"
"Oh yes, I almost forgot." The Vongola boss said in reply. "To pass, all you have to do is cut me once."
Vero thought that was pretty surprising, seeing as it was a simple way to pass, but he agreed to the conditions nonetheless.
The test then started, as Tsuna shot towards Vero in the blink of an eye, using his flames to propel him forward. He then went to punch Vero with the momentum he had, but Vero stepped out of the way before cracking his whip at him.
It was then Tsuna's turn evade the attack, as he blocked it with the cape he was wearing before stepping it up and using more powerful attacks. Vero responded to this by quickly cracking his whip coated with icy blue and sky flames over and over again to keep Tsuna at bay.
Once he had finished his barrage of attacks, his opponent commented with, "I see that skill you've developed reminds me of your father's Salto Volante Veloce Come Luce (3)."
"Well there's more where that came from." The young Cavallone boss stated in reply with a determined smirk.
The battle went on, and the two bosses were at the same level, as Vero used the skills he learned to equally match Tsuna's, but he never really got any hits on him. That is, until Tsuna resorted to using his X Burner, as he went into position in midair. He didn't have to charge for the attack, because he used his box animal Natsu for Cambio Forma Modo Attacko (4), so Vero had to act fast.
He opened his own box animal, making sure to use his Sun flames to do so. He then combined Ciro with the Maximum Canon that he had learned from Ryohei, shooting the phoenix to take Tsuna's X Burner head on. For a minute Ciro struggled, but he eventually overcame the Sky flames and flew right towards Tsuna. The Vongola boss dodged to the side, but was knocked back a little by the flames and dropped to the ground.
Once everything had died down, and Ciro had flown back to Vero, Tsuna's shirt sleeve split open and a fresh wound appeared. Vero had passed his final test.
"You pass Vero, Congratulations." Tsuna announced with a smirk. "I have been hearing about you for the past few weeks and you have become significantly stronger." – he paused – "Although, I was hoping to see how far you've come with the sword."
"Oh, well I took Yamamoto's words to heart and decided to train a little more until I'm confident in my sword skills." Vero replied. "But I will need to train more to boldly come face-to-face with Nero."
"Of course." Tsuna agreed. "Let's just hope you have enough time before he comes to issue that challenge."
It was serious for the moment, but a celebration then took place, as all of them headed up to have a celebratory meal that was provided by Kyoko. But that was soon crashed, as the guardians that were in China along with Antonio. And they brought news too.
"So how was everything in China?" Vero asked his great uncle once everyone had settled down.
"It's okay now, but it wasn't when I arrived." Antonio replied. "It turns out that Nero took one of his temper tantrums and ravaged the place. Thankfully no one got really hurt, and it helped that these guys were here to help too." As he finished he gave a nod of thanks to his travel companions and to Tsuna for sending them.
"Do you know where he is now?" the young Cavallone boss questioned further with concern.
His great uncle hesitated for a moment before answering with, "We believe that he's caught wind that you're here and he's probably on his way as we speak."
All who heard the news looked on in shock, before Gokudera asked, "When will he arrive?"
"We're not sure, but I believe that we have about a week before he finds the base and infiltrates it." Antonio replied before gazing to an uneasy Vero.
"It looks like you'll be facing your uncle sooner than we thought." Tsuna commented.
"If we've got a week, then I'll be ready for him." Vero stated before turning to Yamamoto. "I'm going to need more sword training."
The Rain Guardian agreed, and Tsuna went on to say, "We'll be ready for him too, to defend our base."
The others were all in too, and continued to enjoy a wonderful meal, but deep down, they were all a little apprehensive and anxious about Nero's arrival, due to happen in a week…
1 – Sorry for the confusion with the floors, as I wrote that Vero was training with Hibari on the tenth floor to begin with. Well, I changed that floor to seven, as I realized the Japanese style floor was the tenth one. It's all fixed now!
2 – Basically the first stance, with the literal translation of "Axle of Rain". A simple move, just a thrust. Just wanted to translate for those of you who didn't know.
3 – TYL Dino's move: Jumping Flying Fast Like Light; used in episode 191 or 192 (if you want to leave a comment to clarify on that, go ahead, but I haven't watched the series in a while. I'm currently watching it at the moment though.
4 – Change Form Attack Mode, where Tsuna uses Natsu in his glove so he doesn't have to charge for an X Burner. Pretty much explained it earlier but decided to add this in.
It's drawing down, with just two more chapters to go! Although, sorry if you're raring to see Vero vs. Nero, but the next chapters going to be another break chapter, with another flashback, then I'll be writing hopefully the most epic battle between uncle and nephew. Hope you stay till the end, cuz it's going to be one heck of a twist!