And I am so sorry! I'm so late and behind schedule here it's not even funny. God dammit, there are tests and exams pilling up at my door and I'm here trying to get a few hours of peace and quiet to update CRT. So so sorry guys.
Hopefully I can end Part I before Golden Week of tests starts. That and school trips... Whoever thought to send kids into a bus for two hours and then into a theater house deserves to trip and fall in a puddle.
It's not entertaining and, honestly, unnecessary. And headache inducing...
Anyways, let's quickly wrap this up and start with the reviews and story!
A/n - If any of you ask, let's just skip May and start right now in June. May is not an eventful month in this story (for now) though I'm kind of sad we have to skip my birthday month due to time cuts.
Chapter's left until Part I Finale - One chapter remaining!
Onwards to the reviews!
MukuroLeonheart -"After all...I am simply one hell of a butler. I can't get that out of my head."
"yaoiyaoiyaoiayoaiyaoiyaoiyaoiyaoiyaoiyaoiyaoi- ahem, ignore me please."
"the yaoi, i can Taste it. It's so close"
"The constant cutting off of Natsu's past name is starting to piss me off. But in a good-you-got-hooked kinda way.
The longer chapters are making my life awesome. Kyoyaaaaaa you chibi-cute skylarkkkkkkk argh if only i could hug you.
Yes, Now see your point on that, but i still think unless i lived it i truly won't be able to grasp the idea clearly that they are people and not characters."
My response: I know where that sentence is from and I spend all of five minutes laughing as I imagined Natsu as Ciel and Chiyo as Sebastian. Omg, it brought me to tears.
The last two comments made me grin. Sorry guys, yes it most likely will be coming... In Part III and only in the future. Natsu will be 11 when Part III starts. Way too young to be having any kind of romantic relationship.
Aah~ Natsu's past name is going to be revealed in the Finale, so just hang in there a while longer. Kyoya would surely bite you to death if you tried to do that. No one can really see what the characters actually feel like because we are not in the same position, and Natsu really has none memories of KHR being an anime/manga, and such concept is currently impossible. Maybe in the future... I just have to have hope in the Otaku Humanity.
Madness-Is-Insanity - "yay i am so happy each time i read your updates.
Natsu finally found out Hibari's name. The outing they had reminds me of when i was was younger. Keep up the great work."
My response: Thank you! Yes, he finally did (about time he did it too) and I got to ask: You crawled under the school fence and went around town lazying and worrying the people supposed to look after you? If so, I applaud your bravery. My mom would skin me alive if I attempted that, and she freaks out whenever I tell her I went for a stroll around the block with my classmates.
I'll keep up my good work as long as I am still alive to keep doing it! And I don't intend on kicking the boot any time soon, too much anime to still be seen and I am hoping for an anime continuation of the last two arcs of KHR.
GraceHeart27 -"Instead of calling it ice-storm, why don't you just say blizzard? Like how you called the other flame hurricane?"
My response: Thank you for your review! I didn't call it Blizzard because a. It is already taken and b. Blizzard and Ice-Storms are different. And I changed the names between two flames, so if I had named Taro's Blizzard flames I'd have to name the other flame Ice-Storm. And Blizzard fits better for the other guy.
RyuuenXKai -"...O.O oh. God. Now that I reread my messages, I realize that I put pretty much a lot of kill. XD but what innocent are you talking about? O.O I got no innocent. Yes, I'm a little naive but innocent? Nah, pass to far. Btw, sorry if the messages was a little rude. XD"
My response: It's always funny to reread our reviews, don't worry it wasn't rude at all. And I was referring to Natsu's innocence, in my reply. Hope you're enjoying the story so far!
Prince -"Aw, the sweet little scene between Giotto and Isaia(cute) was adorable. Also, a total set up for heartbreak when everything goes to shit. I can just imagine the two of them screaming at each other and then Isaia takes his group and goes 'PEACE OUT FATHERFUCKER, U AIN'T MY DAD' and shatters Giotto's heart. That'd be wonderful. Heehee.
And YESS THE DELINQUENCY HAS BEGUN. CHIYO WILL BE THE FINEST DELINQUENT IN ALL THE LAND!"
My response: Thank you for your review. Well, things certainly go to shit, but it's not because of a fallout between Giotto and Isaia. And Giotto's heart is broken due to a different reason. Oh, Kyoya will have his hands full of Chiyo's deliquency, and that's before we add Purple and Natsu to the mix.
HaPPy2901 -"Alright im completely confused who the hell is that voice! She's making my head hurts! The hell she was her daughter and she was gone that was so confusing. Anyway nice chapter!"
My response: Thank you and I hope you're enjoying the story so far!
That voice are Natsu's past memories. The mother asks where her daughter got that dress and the daughter tells the mother it was her grandmother who gave it to her, because the daughter looks like the grandmother's late daughter. Since the daughter didn't understood why it made the grandmother sad, the mother said that the grandmother's daughter is gone, and won't be coming back ever again.
Hope that clarifies things!
Agent A910 -"I just found this story and am now caught up, and I have to say that it is an absolutely amazing story. I am also extremely confused as to what the hell is going on. Anyways, good job on this, keep up on the good work, and I look forward to what comes next. Also, might be too late to argue for it, and they are still tiny kids, but I completely ship Natsu and Chiyo. They are just too cute together. Whatever happens though, this is an amazing story."
My response: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you've taken a liking to my story. The story is very confusing, I'll admit to that, and yes, it's too late. Not that I would've made it Chiyo x Natsu, they have too much of a brother/sister relationship it would be weird for me to write them as a couple.
Future Thorn -"Okay, so just a few questions.
One, doesn't Gokudera have a storm flame in canon? I'm finding that you have very different storm flames in your fic, but if you have clarification on what exactly the difference is, that'd be great.
Two, couldn't Taro's Ice-Storm also be called a Blizzard flame instead. I get that you're trying to keep with the "Storm" theme, but hurricane doesn't fit the theme to the letter either.
Other than that: I love your fic! It is beautiful and I can't wait for the next update!"
My response: Thank you for your review! I'll start with no. 2. No, Taro's flame can't be named Blizzard due to the reasons already answered above. And where I'm from, Hurricanes are considerate really big storms, so it fits the bill to me. Not sure about other countries, though...
Gokudera has storm flames, belonging to the sky flames (sky, sun, storm, rain, etc), the red flames seen in the last chapter are not storm flames. Storms have flames composed of flames that mix together, and they all have the core element of Cloud.
So, Natsu has Temporale flames (Cloud, Rain and Lightning), Chiyo has Tempesta di Sabbia (or just Sabbia) flames (Cloud and Mist), Elias has Uragano flames (Cloud and Sun) while Taro has Tempesta di ghiaccio (or just Ghiaccio) flames (Cloud and Rain).
The closest non-Storm flame to the Storms flames is Xanxus Wrath flame (composed of Sky and Storm). Canon flames remain the same, I haven't touched on any canon character's power... yet.
PBComplexion -"I was reading though your replies to reviews when I saw this, 'Yes, slightly AU. Like Kyoko by Discoabc. It's only slight AU.' I just smirked and my mind went 'Riiiiiiighttt...' sarcastically. Slightly AU is it? With that reference and mention to Kyoko, I doubt it'll be just slightly. Although it'll be a nice troll :p
Great chapter once again! Ohhh is that recognition I see with Kyoya calling Natsu a carnivore? I can see it now, Natsu and Kyoya trusting each other to have the other's back and fighting together years down the road. Well maybe or maybe not. Its Kyoya after all and there are other reasons. I finally just realized it. As- is most likely referring to Natsu's name before he got reincarnated into a boy. Either that or one of his predecessors but I leaning more to the former. Giotto's and Isaia's father and son moment is so cute! :3
Keep up the good work and looking forward to the next chapter!"
My response: Who knows? Maybe I am or maybe I am not. Muahahaha!
I guess it's recognition that Natsu has potential, though Natsu and Kyoya will take a while before their even thinking of grouping up. Yes, you are correct it's Natsu's past name. And yes, Giotto and Isaia's moment made me tear up. But that might be because I will be the one responsible for screwing their lives up.
The cruel reality for being the author...
Taro, Chiyo and I were sitting at our usual table while eating a small snack and listening to Kuma-onna ramble on about the importance of sharing to two kids who had thought it was clever to fight over a biscuit.
Idiots...
Taro had brought one of his robot toy he and his oldest brother had made together. Shintaro (Taro's oldest brother) was already in fourth grade, but unlike his other brother and his sister Shintaro actually liked to play with Taro.
Though Chiyo and I had fought back laughter when he told us their names.
Apparently his family had a very weird and way too old tradition to name all of their children with the suffix of -Taro. So, we had (in chronological order) Shintaro, Kotaro, Hotaru and Rentaro.
His sister being the only one that ended in -Taru, his mother's excuse was because she was a girl and had to be different than the boys.
Oh, and Rentaro told us what his parents planned on naming the little brother that was coming along.
Rintaro.
That was another reason as to why he had asked us to call him Taro, most would think you'd get tired of hearing. But in their family, to avoid confusion, they all were called by their preffix, so Taro was called Ren at home.
And his siblings were Shin, Ko and Ho to the rest of the family.
Chiyo had asked from which side of the family this tradition came from, Taro answered with simply:
"My dad's name is Yasotaro."
We winced.
Anyway, let's backtrack. So, Shintaro helped Taro build all this cool robots that did crazy things like walking when told or that could pick up stuff (like an eraser) but most importantly, Shintaro gave Taro the remains of the process of building the robots and even the spare tools he had due to his parents buying him new ones.
And, though Taro liked to keep them, he had decided to gift some to me.
So now, I had in my backpack a box filled with wrenches and nuts and bolts. Even a small screwdriver that had a seashell drawing on the handle.
Why people thought of giving little kids tools that could easily make them break stuff, I'll never know. Do I want them to stop?
Not really...
The three of us had been having a blast recently, causing trouble left and right to Kuma-onna. She had received a warning to watch us constantly but the three of us weren't going to stand still in a corner and behave if we could do otherwise, and Taro's tools now opened a new door to us. Quite literally too!
Did you know our preschool had a ventilation system? Whose entry points were on ground level? And whose entries were only locked by a metal plaque that was embarrassingly easy to take off with the help of said screwdriver?
Oh, you didn't?
Too bad... We did.
So now we had the whole building to explore and several exits we could use to escape from preschool. We had been outside another two times (and we were always caught by Kyoya, that kid must have a sensor of some sort because he always finds us) and we were promptly placed in timeout for it. It was becoming a nervous tick of Kuma-onna to count all the kids inside the room at random times to make sure we hadn't made a run for it.
Not that it helped her, we could always escape her counting's with Chiyo's interference.
If Seth circled around us and Chiyo focused enough, we could honestly be invisible to the whole class. Though we couldn't speak or the 'trick' as we called it, would fade out.
Taro was looking to see if he could find any way to make this inconvenience disappear but so far he had come up empty. Not that I blame him or that I'm surprised, not only are we kids but the Storms power are not actually that well known and researched. Mainly because we are so rare and secondly because most Storms are kept as secret weapons or are killed off way too soon to actually find the limits of their powers.
Even Father had only seen Natsume use his powers in battle and he had only attested that Natsume could bring a massive thunderstorm down on the enemies heads before releasing lightning bolts to fry them all up.
Basically, what I had seen Isaia do to the men down in the basement Chiara was in.
Which led me to question if I could do that too. And if I needed to watch out before I fried someone on accident. But that was another point that I was confused about. My power, the Temporale flames, seemed to be the most observed or recorded. I had not seen any of the other Storms ever using their powers.
Weird...
"Now that is sorted, let's turn this way everyone! I have a great surprise to you all!" Kuma-onna said as she smiled widely down at us.
"At this point in time, I'm too scared to even try to guess what it is." Chiyo muttered.
"Don't, you'd lose all of your sanity." I whispered back.
"Or what's left of it..." Taro huffed.
Chiyo smiled 'sweetly' towards Taro before replying.
"And let's see if you don't lose your head, neh, Taro-chan~"
"I never said a word." Taro answered back quickly.
I rolled my eyes at the two of them.
Even though Chiyo could be sometimes hard to deal with, Taro had found some kind of rivalry with her and would antagonize her with a few muttered jibes, though he always lost these 'confrontations'. I had asked them about it but both asked me what I was referring to and that I had probably imagined things.
I decided to ignore them for now. It didn't get in the way of the usual workings and our outings so why bother?
"The director decided that our school should go to the grand opening of the new amusement park that will open next Tuesday in the neighboring town. Ain't this exciting?" Kuma-onna reveals.
The whole classroom cheers, all while three wide eyed pairs of eyes gaze at each other before two of them turn into a more mischievous gaze coupled with twin grins of trouble in the making, the last pair of eyes shifted into a flat stare and gave a huff.
"What are you two planning?" Taro asked.
"Sure you want to know?" Chiyo grinned, her eyes were sparkling.
"Forget I asked, I'd rather keep myself out of unnecessary trouble." Taro answered.
"Oh, Taro... You're already a part of our plans. Don't worry, it's nothing tooo bad~!" I grin back at him.
"You are crazy, Natsu. I don't know which one of you is worse." Taro says while face-palming.
"What can I say, Chiyo had rubbed off on me." I shrugged my shoulders," Anyway, don't worry we'll rub off on you someday too."
"We already have. Taro has given you tools to get us out of this forsaken place, why would he do that unless he also has a sense of adventure?" Chiyo said.
"What you guys have is not called a 'sense of adventure' it's called Insanity, with a capital I." Taro groans.
We only grin down on him in response.
Mama was fussing over us as usual.
Takeshi seemed bummed out that he didn't get to visit Kokuyo Land with us but I for once was hoping we could hurry the hell up and leave the house (something that never happens when we have to go to preschool) but today was different. I had snuck inside my backpack a few tools that would help us in our mission today.
'Have Fun'.
Chiyo was getting her hair brushed, I was finishing putting on my shoes and getting my jacket on, Takeshi was already ready to go along with Father but Mama still needed to put on her jacket and shoes.
I was wearing a pair of dark shorts and a light green tee with a blue jacket and a new pair of sneakers Father had bought for me. Chiyo was wearing a skort with a purple sweater and a blue/purple-ish jacket and white sneakers that looked a bit worn.
We had fought over socks again, so we matched (blue and pink/pink and blue) on our respective feet.
Taro had witnessed one of our fights over clothes and he had been honestly astonished on how we hadn't brought the house down yet. Hilariously enough we had told him that instead of finding it surprising Elias had actually encouraged these fights.
He gave us a flat stare before looking at Elias and mouthing 'Why?' to her. To which she responded with a shrug of shoulders.
Chiyo and I laughed at his expression as he face-palmed.
Finally, the two of us were ready to go and we all but raced all the way to the preschool, and just as I was going to cross the road, Mama grabs me quite harshly and pulls me back in the nick of time from avoiding a car that zoomed past us.
"What's the first rule about crossing the road, Natsushi?" Mama asks with a stern voice.
"Always look both ways before crossing?" I answer.
"See if the light is green first." Mama corrected with a frown," You could've been hit! What were you thinking?"
I look down on my feet, the weight of guilt in my conscience was itchy and made me feel ten times worse.
"Sorry, Mama..." I say truthfully.
She sighs before grabbing both mine and Chiyo's hands before crossing the road and leading us to the front entrance, Kuma-onna was already there checking the students that arrived and talking/chit-chatting with the mothers that gave her the time to talk their ears off. Mama only said a few words to us before ushering us inside, though I flinched when I heard a rude comment coming from one of the mothers about me and Chiyo having different fathers and how filthy it made us.
Chiyo hunched her shoulders but I gave her a bright smile and took her hand before dragging her off to search for Taro.
Truth be told, those comments were nothing more that mere rumors regarding the fact that Chiyo lived with us and yet did not look like any of us, and also counting the fact that Chiyo's parents were apparently erased from the people's minds. Yes, they only appeared at night to come pick her up and they never wore clothes that made them stand out in a crowd (and even I had never met Chiyo's father) but even then it was amazing as to how people believed Chiyo had simply popped up from thin air.
It also didn't help that Chiyo had started arriving at the restaurant when we were only a few months old (and that we got out of the hospital around the same time), I did question on how Chiyo had a birth record we could use to register her in school with.
It showed all her information and her real data but no one ever though to question about where Mr. and Mrs. Ritsushima were in all this.
Not that it matters. They left, Chiyo is family with us now. And I will not let anyone harm my family.
Taro was actually waiting for us, sitting by the bushes with a backpack of his own, though his was filled with other things than tools and trinkets. His had snacks and water bottles, he had also brought with him a few caps from his brothers and a purple one with butterflies on it from his sister before he finally handed to me what I had asked specifically for.
A pair of walkie-talkies. Two of them, actually.
One pair would be used between Chiyo and I while one from the other pair would be used by Taro, under the same frequency, to make it a three-way walkie-talkie. Sure, they had a small area of working but it would help us moving between crowds in case we got lost or had to pass information quickly.
Shintaro had noticed they were gone (and I am absolutely certain Taro looked guilty when his brother asked him about it) but he had only smirked at Taro ruffled his hair and said 'Leave nothing untouched', before continuing like he hadn't seen anything amiss.
We had to applaud his brother's guts, telling a trio of three year olds to mess around an amusement park filled to the brim with people and possible dangers that ranged from malfunctions to creepy stalkers.
Taro only huffed and said his brother loved trouble and that he liked building robots because it gave him the chance to blast things up.
We applauded louder at this, which led Taro to toss a shoe at us.
As we goofed around and chased after one another, Kuma-onna decided that it was time to go and gave a big old yell to make us sprint towards the buses. Too bad that it only made the three of us fall to the ground laughing at how shrilly her voice really was. It was like nails scrapping on a chalkboard and there was that tilt in her voice that made us think she was trying to imitate a snobby little girl.
After laughing a bit more at that thought we finally join the mess of limbs and high-pitched voices as everyone tried to get on the bus.
At the same time.
Safe to say, the three of us placed our bags on the compartment below and entered though the back door, sitting together in the seats down in the back of the bus. After a few more delays (kids going to the bathroom in their underwear, a few kids feeling sick from being on an over crowded bus, and a whole lot of scream-galore) we finally reached Kokuyo Land.
And guess what.
I had to have Chiyo and Taro wake me up because I fell asleep soon after the bus took off. How I feel asleep amidst that mayhem it's a mystery to me, but I felt refreshed and ready to bring havoc to this amusement park. Or so I thought.
As soon as my eyes fell on the park I felt something really wrong was going on here.
First off, the park looked very, very, very familiar (which was impossible because this place had just opened up after being under construction for four years, aka longer than I have been alive) secondly, I kept questioning myself as to why everything looked so new and clean when it was perfectly understandable as to why it looked like it did.
But still... I kept thinking, deep inside me, that this park was supposed to be abandoned and destroyed.
"Natsu, you coming?" Chiyo asks while stuffing things from Taro's backpack into her empty one, they would be sharing the weight of the food while I carried the more 'handy' objects.
"Yeah." I answered.
I honestly should have been expecting something bad to come out of this situation.
Chiyo and Taro were nowhere to be seen after the three of us had to split up to escape the clutches of the security guards that had come after us due to Taro unintentionally activating the alarms of the backstage of the theater.
And all that noise because of a plastic glove belonging to the costume of one of the main characters of the kids' story.
Hoped it was worth it for Taro.
Okay, let me explain this whole situation.
We left the group and Kuma-onna behind like five minutes into this whole trip, and since Kuma-onna noticed us gone immediately we had to stay hidden from the security personnel (the other visitors not so much) when they passed us by. On one such occasion we discovered a back door leading to the staff rooms of the theater. And from then on out we just entered each and every empty room, looked around before leaving again, unfortunately Taro found his dream possession that we just had to have and took it with him.
And when they noticed it gone (ten or so minutes after we had left and were trying to find the exit to the theater) they started chasing after us.
Which then lead to us three splitting up to escape faster, and now I lost the two of them and I'm out of range for their walkie-talkies to work.
Just great... Now what?
I sigh as I look around. I'm currently walking around in circles near this petting zoo place, the children's noise and excited cries make me want to stay far away from the place. Lazily, I raise my hand and scratch the back of my head, tussling my hair and making its strand perk up a bit. While not as messy as Taro's my hair surely wasn't straight as Mama's or spiky like Papa and Takeshi's.
What to do?
Guess I could go see what the whole fuss with the farm animals is about, though I don't really like being in the middle of that crowd made of squeaky kids. But there's not really anything else to do, the exotic garden was only fun the first two times I walked across it, and the arcade was way overcrowded. And the theater was just off limits.
And I believe Kuma-onna was in the kiddy zone so not a chance of me going there (since I didn't know if Chiyo or Taro were there as well).
Without anything else to do I walked slowly up to the wooden fences that kept the animals inside.
There weren't many in there, and all the animals were common farm animals. Two sheep, a goat and a pig, there were three chickens as well, and a duck staring suspiciously at me.
There's a box outside of the fences with vegetables for guests to feed the animals, and since I was already here I might as well do it. I grabbed a carrot from the box and turned back to the fence to see a sheep already waiting for the carrot. Gleaming eyes and a 'meh' sound trying to convey the message of 'feed me'.
I hold the carrot out to the sheep and she/he? takes it while munching slowly.
She was kind of cool... and she looked soft.
"Hey, Mama! Are they made of cotton?" A little girl asks her mother on my far right.
I had to cough to cover up for the snort that escaped me. That mother gave me a look before smiling at her child.
"No, Kyoko, they are made of wool. Cotton comes from flowers." The mother explained.
"Aah~ But they look like big cotton balls!" The girl, Kyoko, replies.
That they do, I thought as I fed the sheep another carrot.
I didn't pay anymore attention to the other kids around me and was quite content with just standing there having a staring contest with the munching sheep when someone stops right beside me and lifts up a kid over the fence and right on the face of the goat (who had come over to me and sheep-san after he had grown bored if the kids pointing at him).
I gapped as the kid burst into screams and tears while his father just laughed.
Speaking of which...
The kid, all fluffy brown hair and a head to big for his body, looked very familiar. Though he felt...
Empty.
My eyes widened as I recognized him. He was the kid who had his flame erased, the kid that had sprung up that beautiful orange flame. And the one holding him... was the guy working for Vongola.
...
There was a Vongola personnel right beside me.
There was a Vongola right beside me.
There was a Vongola right beside me.
I felt myself frozen in place as this cold and unyielding fear overruled all of my senses. The logical part of my brain that told me I could just walk away without him noticing me was drowned out by the terrified and young part of my mind that knew exactly what would happen of he recognized me.
"PAPA PUT ME DOWN! NOOO! GO AWAY!" The little kids' shrieks sounded somewhat muffled in my head.
"Don't be afraid, Tsuna! He's not going to hurt my little Tuna-fish!" The man's laughter was echoing loudly and mockingly inside me.
My heart sped up and I felt my legs and arms lock into place as my breathing slowed to a stop.
I was panicking, I knew, but I couldn't do anything as I inwardly had a panic attack. My head was lowered and I was not showing any visible signs of distress so no one noticed. In my haste and pleading to the high heavens for the man to not noticed my presence I had inadvertently caused myself to suffer this ordeal alone.
It hurt to breathe.
Closing my eyes I tried to picture different scenes to calm me down, Father had said that it worked to calm people down, but I kept failing as my mind just wouldn't cooperate with me. Instead of calm and quiet situations it kept tapping into the whole 'horror movie' type of scenario that I imagined would happen to me if I was found out.
I kept replaying back and forth the different scenarios, always terrified that they would learn about Chiyo, Elias and Taro.
What would they do to them?
They would certainly harm them.
They would try to make them into mindless weapons.
No! I can't let them find them! I need to protect them!
My eyes snapped open and I turned around and took off running away from the petting zoo area, I didn't care about the curious stares that passerby gave me and instead focused on just running.
In my defense, I was already pretty disoriented so I didn't actually realize where I was going until it actually came tumbling down in a mess of massive proportions. Quite literally too.
"Watch out!" A voice calls out.
I something push me from behind before I hear the 'zoom' sound made my a car that I had just narrowly avoided getting hit by. The car owner stopped as soon as I fell to the ground and he came out looking very worried before starting fussing over me and causing a crowd to form around me.
But I ignored every one of those people. Instead I focused on one particular individual that was standing a bit further away but still in my line of sight.
It was a cloaked figure, only the lower part of it's face could be seen, that looked exactly like the man that haunted my dreams. One major difference, though...
This one was completely covered in white.
"What were you thinking! You could've been hurt!" Taro continued his rant while passing in front of me.
"T-Taro... Ca-Can we talk about this later? I-I'm busy being cho-choked by Chiyo here." I managed to gasp out from the choke hold Chiyo had on me.
Jesus was this girl strong. I was taller than her and yet I was left completely helpless when she kicked my chins and grabbed a hold of my neck.
Worse, I was left without a way to cover my ears while Kuma-onna shrieked about what I had done and caused, and I was also currently enduring the now ten-minute rant about safety I was getting from Taro.
It was not like it was my fault. I panicked.
"How did you even managed to not get hit by that car?! For real, your luck is going to run dry if you keep using it left and right!" Taro said with exasperation.
"I was pushed out of the way." I answered.
"By whom and did you at least say 'thank you for saving my sorry behind'?" Taro asked.
"I don't know and he left before I could." I admitted.
"He just left?" Chiyo raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." I answered.
"Liar. No one would leave after saving a kid from getting hit by a car." Chiyo said before tightening her hold on me.
I squirmed a bit more in her arms before giving up any attempts of getting her off me. I didn't even try to refute her accusation of me lying about the guy. It was partially true, I didn't actually know him.
And it was kind of like he wasn't here at all since I was the only one able to see him sitting at the edge of couch in the room we were in, staring at me with a chagrined smile plastered on his face.
It was getting hard to not stare back on him, but I didn't want to make the other two aware that I could see a fourth person in this room.
We were inside of one of the office rooms the park had just in case they needed to hold meetings with the staff members. The walls and furniture were simple and just a bit decorated, the coloring was of light tones and a bit of browns. It was highly professional but not very emotive, I didn't really like it.
Chiyo, having gotten bored of being acquaintance with my neck, let go of me and I fell with a thud to the ground. Groaning as I sat up and rubbed my sore neck.
"Mama will kill you when she finds out you almost got hit by a car. Twice today, actually." Chiyo said, adding the last part as an afterthought.
"Jeez, tell me something I haven't figured out already." I muttered.
"It's your fault you're in this mess, so you don't really have a right to be sulking." Chiyo retorted.
"I sulk if I want to!" I said, before blinking at her grinning face and slightly raised eyebrow," Not that I am sulking." I added.
"Yeah, right... And I own a mansion." Chiyo snorts.
"That mansion would probably a pile of rubble if you ever entered it." Taro comments.
"Oh, Taro-chan~ Why would that be?" Chiyo asks with a sweet tone of voice.
"Because you're not exactly the most careful of people." Taro answers.
"Can you two please stop for once?" I groan, my mind was not up to hear this two trade jabs at each other while I waited for my impending doom.
They do stop, adopting a more calm and cool expressions and they stare at my spread out figure as I moped (not that I would admit it to them) on the floor.
"I'm sure Mama won't be too harsh. If you explain what happen carefully..." Chiyo tried to reassure me.
"Chiyo, we left the group despite warnings not to, we got into trouble and we split up, something no one should do unless you knew the territory you know where exactly you are, and after we lost communication the right thing to do should've been to return to where the group would most likely be." I listed of with my fingers.
"Worse, I placed you and myself in danger. We had no idea of who could be in this park, our joking around could've landed us in serious danger." I sighed," There was a Vongola man in here, if he had found you... I would've never forgiven myself." I said, my throat closing up as the terrifying images of 'what ifs' started filling my mind.
Taro and Chiyo exchanged a look before sitting beside me on the floor.
"Natsu, don't worry. Nothing happened." Chiyo said with a calm voice as she brushed a few strands of hair out of my face.
"Yeah, you had no idea that there could be any Vongola around here. How could you? You're just a kid like us." Taro told me with honesty.
I looked at him and sighed.
"And they would have not cared one bit about that. I'm a kid but to them I am... no, we are weapons." I told them," And I need to keep you safe. I can't let them find you... I don't want you to be in danger, to be hurt..."
I wanted to say more to them. To explain what happened better. To try and reassure them that we were safe right now. That they didn't need to worry.
But I failed miserably at that. Because after those words I couldn't say anything more. My throat closed up once more and sobs unexpectedly broke out of me. Tears spilling from my eyes as I gave in to the fear of letting them be found.
The flashback at what those people almost did to Chiara... The crying and shaking form of the little girl with red, red flames lapping all around her, while surrounded by the still smoking forms of her attackers.
The streets bathed in red as the shouts and screams echoed through the alleys.
'It was not always like that, little Temporale.' The shrouded white figure spoke for the first time.
Although I couldn't answer to it, shaking with sobs and buried underneath the dog pile Chiyo and Taro had immediately sprung on me, I could watch it through bleary eyes. Standing just beside them while kneeling down to our level.
It was smiling. But unlike the other, it was not a cold or cruel smile, it looked honestly gentle and caring.
I wanted to ask who he was, or what he meant, but I just couldn't say a word.
Not that I needed to anyway.
'Long ago, before all this started, there was a time of peace. Did you know that the Storms were considerate royalty once?' It asked.
Royalty?
'A very wise and powerful man once turned to the Storms and said that they were never meant to be like what they were seen as.' The figure said,' The man said that they were all meant to be queens and kings, lords of everything. But that they were misplaced due to an accident.' The figure said quietly.
An accident?
'Storms are very powerful, little Temporale, though they are also very weak, in a sense. They do not have what most take for granted.' The figure continued on sadly,' They do not possess bonds.'
Bonds? Like... connections?
'Storms are very feared but not very known. When they do come to light, fear overrules the realization that maybe they do not want to destroy or harm anything. That's why Storms hide from the eyes of society, living under the shadows and never out and about in the light.'
So, Chiyo, Taro and Elias can never have a normal life? Am I bound to fail in keeping them safe?
'No, little Temporale, for there have been others before you that did. Like I said, it was not always like this.' The figure laughed a bit.
So why did it change?
'Because people don't live forever, little one.' The figure smiled,' But don't be sad, do not cry... I'm sure that if you really wish for it, if you find the resolve to keep them safe, then fate will work to make sure that it happens.' The figure finished.
I want to keep them safe. I'll never let anything harm them!
The figure smiled.
'You are so alike... Though it does not come as a surprise. You are, after all, him.' The figure sighed.
I am who? My name is Natsushi... not any one else.
The figure gave me a mysterious smile.
'And my name is Remiel, little Temporale. Whenever you fear that you might stumble and fall... don't ever forget this: "You do not stand alone. For a single flame cannot burn away the darkness of the night". Farewell, little one.' The figure said as it vanished.
I didn't actually realize he was fading away until he completely vanished. His words echoed inside of me.
You do not stand alone. For a single flame cannot burn away the darkness of the night...
What a strange sentence. It felt almost nostalgic to hear it... Like someone had told me it before, but that was impossible.
"Are you okay now, Natsu?" Chiyo asked, loosening the tight embrace she had on my midsection.
"Y-yeah... Thanks guys." I smiled a bit shakily at them.
They slowly let go of me completely, though I didn't sit back up from the ground. I felt something shimmer out of the corner of my eye and turned my head to the right.
There was an metal plate with slits that blew cold air into the room, down on the floor, slightly hidden from sight by one of the arm chairs. It was not very big, but we three could still fit through it. And from between the slits I could see something glowing.
It was just shimmering a bit. It was barely visible and very faint, but even so I though I felt a slight pulse from it.
Like a pull that called out to me and said 'Follow me'.
Rolling over and crawling closer to the vent I see the glowing thing inch further away from me, not far enough for it to become completely invisible but enough for me to not be able to get a good look at it either.
"Natsu what's wrong?" Taro asked, confused.
"Can't you see? There's something there!" I said.
"No there's not." Chiyo huffs crouching beside me.
"Yes there is! Right there, shimmering a bit!" I said, pointing to the shimmering thing through the slits.
"Maybe only you can see it, Natsu." Taro said," He did see it from his right point of view." Taro added.
I blinked up at him when I realized he might be right. Closing my left eye I stared back at the shimmering thingy.
It was no longer faint, instead it was solid and bright. Sparkling with giddy energy made of blue rippling flames, it hovered a bit over the ground and emitted what sounded like a low echo of drops of water hitting the ground.
Like rain.
The glowing orb fluttered further away, pulsing stronger than ever. Pulling me to reach out and follow it.
"Taro, bring me my backpack, please. I need to open this thing up." I say, opening my other eye and staring at the screws holding the plate in place.
"You're going to get into more trouble if you leave this room, Natsu." Taro warned.
"If they say anything against you, tell them that you tried to keep me in here but couldn't and followed after me to keep me out of trouble." I smile at him over my shoulder.
He stands there staring at me, rather intensively into my eyes, before huffing and grabbing my bag from the couch.
Taking the screwdriver out of the bag I start working on loosening the plate. Chiyo goes near the door keeping an open ear to see if no one disturbs us as we get out of here. It look me about two minutes before I pushed the plate out of the way and turned back. Chiyo and Taro had already made a file behind me, with Chiyo taking point and Taro was in the middle of the two of us.
Nodding, I turned back into the vent and closed my left eye, since it made seeing the orb easier. I knew Chiyo would close the vent after she entered, though we couldn't replace the screws, and that Taro was keeping tabs on her behind him in order to not leave her behind by accident.
The vent circulation was like a maze, much larger than the one back at the preschool, and if it was not for the orb guiding me (or me following it around) we could've gotten lost inside of it. As it was, we took about three minutes before we found the exit, and thankfully the exit opened outwards like a pet door. Though I scratched the top of my forehead when I bumped it against the metal. Ouch...
The glowing orb remained in place until the three were out of the vent before slowly turning and started fluttering away, I signaled Taro and Chiyo to remain close to me and started following the orb again. It led us through crowds (and I bumped against several people who came out of my blind side) before stopping in front of one particular attraction.
I looked up and saw the monochromatic ferry wheel that was tall as a skyscraper, before I opened my left eye and the colors returned to the world. Where once was grey, white and black turned into blues and golden's, pink and bright green.
It looked like a carnival. We hadn't been here before, so it was either a part of the park that we missed or the part where the school group was staying in while we 'explored'. Either way, we were here now and the line for the ferris wheel wasn't that long, so we might as well go for it.
We were approached by the mechanic that asked us where our parents were but we just pointed to a random couple and said that they let us go up alone.
It was laughable that it worked with no questions asked. Really what were people thinking these days?
We got into one of the ferris wheels boxes. It was round and with slightly cushioned seats, and a round turning thing that made it spin (the attendant told us while he helped us inside) and there were windows all around, lower enough that we could see everything if we stood on our knees.
After five minutes of waiting, the ferris wheel started going round and round. Ever so slowly we watched as the ground become further and further away from us, the people becoming small dots on the ground and the park as a whole became visible.
It was still early, maybe it was almost two or three in the afternoon, but the sky had a kind of orange twinge to it. But that might've been just me who saw it.
Taro and Chiyo were loving the ferris wheel, wide smiles and astonished gazes while we reached the top of the wheel.
I smiled at them, resting my head on my crossed arms as I saw the blue twinged orange sky above the colorful/non-colorful park. My eyes became somewhat hazy, and tired.
Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a while...
I woke up with a start, a muffled scream to my far left. It was night and the air was really cold, snow fell from the sky and frost was growing over the wooden structure above my head. Wait... wooden?
Another scream but this time it was more of a whimper. Turning my head to see what was going on I see something that made my blood freeze in my veins.
A looming dark figure stood over a nicely dressed woman, the moonlight made the few jewels she wore shine, and it also allowed me to see the big hands pinning the woman to the wall. Her tears created wet tracks on her cheeks as she tried to get away from the man.
For only a man could give that leering and dangerous expression. That smile that made my skin crawl, the way his eyes dimmed the light and made me feel scared.
I saw the man's face get closer to the struggling woman and I was just about to shout at him to stop when a hand closed around my mouth while an arm circled around me, pulling me close.
"Non fare un suono! Non riesci di fargli sapere che siamo qui."A voice whispered to me, right behind my ear. (Don't make a sound! You can't let him know we are here.)
I struggled against the hands that held me but stilled when I hear the woman scream when the man ripped off the top of her dress.
The hand that held me close suddenly turned me around and covered my ears, letting go of my mouth and hugging me against his chest.
Because I could now see who it was that holding me. He looked about six or seven years younger than from my other memories but the eyes were the same.
The electrifying green eyes that made my struggles disappear and my chest tighten.
"Shh, non ti preoccupare. Egli non sa che siamo qui." he smiled, though it was strained and I could not hear his voice very well with his hands covering my ears. (Shh, don't worry. He won't know we are here.)
"Appena riaddormentarsi, Isaia. Mi dispiace. Non possiamo aiutarla." He whispered as he held me tighter," (Just go back to sleep, Isaia. I'm sorry. We can't help her.)
His words felt heavy. The wetness of tears falling on my neck and the warmth of his body against the cold night was all that I tried to think about while I tried to block out the echoing screams.
My eyes looked straight into the stone wall that was behind his back, my eyes imagining symbols carved into it. Glowing runes from fairy tales that kept the good guys safe from the bad guys.
'But...' the though popped up inside my mind just before I closed my eyes again,'Aren't fairy tales just make-believe? Will they never come true?'
Whenever you fear that you might stumble and fall... don't ever forget this... You do not stand alone. For a single flame cannot burn away the darkness of the night...
Then who do we stand with?
A flash of light temporarily blinds me, forcing me to blink away the dots and disorientation for a moment. Before I stand straight again and look around me.
It was no longer the alley we were in. It was a rooftop from a brown stone building, a busy street right beneath me and the afternoon warm sky above me. Clouds lazily passing by and the wind caressed my face softly, ruffling my hair and making my long bangs fall over my eyes.
Using my hands to pull them behind my ears I look to my side to see three boys and a little girl sitting together on top of a bunch of bags and thin blankets, two of them playing cards while another one was just scribbled on a paper sheet.
The girl was looking over the boy's shoulder to see his scribbles, a small smile on her face.
The sun made her hair lighter, the raven black hair and caramel brown eyes sparkled, she was wearing simple clothes, a rather ratty dress and a pair of sandals. The boy she was leaning over had slightly long hair, tied in a pony tail and his green eyes smiled with mischief has he continued to scribble. His clothes consisted of a plain white shirt with a pair of dark blue trousers, he was barefoot, though there was a pair of sandals beside him.
The boys playing cards were familiar, one more than the other, both wore light shirts and darker pants and boots. The black haired, red eyed boy wore a orange bandanna around his head and it made his hair stick up on top. By the look on his face it was clear that he was losing the card game. The white haired and green eyed boy was just smiling through the corner of his mouth and shooting the black haired one looks of barely contained laughter.
"Nero, Nico, penso di uscire per un po." I say before beginning to turn around. (Nero, Nico, I think I'm going out for a bit.)
"Non fare niente che non farebbe." The black haired one said in a gruff voice. (Don't do anything we wouldn't do.)
The white haired boy, who I knew to be Nico, smiled before nodding to me.
The girl, Gracia, turned suddenly to me with wide eyes and shook her head, running to me and grabbing hold of my shirt. Her frown and shaky expression startled me.
"Non andare! Non lasciare!" She said in a loud tone of voice. (Don't go! Don't leave!)
"Sto solo andando a fare una passeggiata, Gracia. Qual è la cosa peggiore che potrebbe succedere?" I told her with a smile. (I'm just going for a walk, Gracia. What is the worst that could happen?)
Gracia didn't look all that convinced because she turned back to the brown haired boy and gave him a pointed look.
He stares back at her before releasing a puff of laughter and getting up.
"Sì, sì, io tenerlo fuori dai guai." He smiles. (Yeah, yeah, I'll keep him out of trouble.)
She lets go of my shirt and goes back to sit with the other two boys, who are snickering at my expense.
I glare, without much heat, at the boy that grins at me before turning back again and jumping down to the next rooftop in front of us. I start running across the length of houses that go in all directions. The sound of footsteps and the warm presence near my right lets me know that the boy is keeping up with me.
Not that it surprises me.
Pace has always had a way to keep himself at the same level as me. Perhaps it's because we have been together for a long time.
The summer weather made running against the wind a relief, the sun burned my skin. My eyes gazed at the view before me, the city where we lived from the point of view that most did not know of. To the city inhabitants, it was just a maze of narrow and dark alleys, with only a few spacious streets were markets were built in and where in every dark corner there was a thief or a thug ready to take all your money or life.
But I saw something completely different.
To my eyes I saw a huge story book. Every step I gave had a purpose, every wall and stone had a history behind it, the people who lived in this city all had mysteries to their names and challenges they would one day face. It was what helped me detach the cruel life on the streets from the life I wanted to have, to show and give to others.
So, even if I had to lie to myself, I would believe the stories that my mind created.
It was better than the alternative, anyway...
"Prendere che Vongola spazzatura!" A voice shouts, the sound coming from a narrow street just a little ways in front of us. (Catch that Vongola trash!)
I pause in my running and look curiously to where the sound came from.
Should I or should I not?
"Isaia..." Pace moans.
"Dai, Pace, potrà essere interessante!" I laugh, taking off again. (Come on, Pace, it might be interesting!)
I hear a few grumbles and hissed swearwords before the sound of footsteps match mine. I grin over my shoulder at his disgruntled expression.
We quickly reach to where the sound came from and quietly look down on the street below to see what was happening. There were about six thugs and a bigger guy surrounding the knelled figure of a teenager (maybe fourteen to fifteen years old) who wore a white shirt and blue pants. His messy curly hair was light green but I couldn't see the color of his eyes.
His clothes were dirty and I could see red blood coming from wounds that littered his body.
"Dicci dove il bastardo bionda è!" The big guy shouts to the teens' face. (Tell us where the blonde bastard is!)
The teen, who had his head lowered, lifted it. While allowing me to see his eyes, of a sharp blue color, it also allowed me to see his lips perfectly. Which meant that i was not wrong to understand the words he spoke to the big guy.
"Perché dovrei dirtelo? Figlio di puttana." He says with a mocking expression on his face. (Why should I tell you? You son of a bitch.)
The big guy's face turns an interesting shade of red as he roars in anger and lifts his fist to the teens' face. Punching him and making his head loll as he staggers a bit.
"Oof, che era un diavolo di un pugno!" I wince. (Oof, that was one heck of a punch!)
Pace makes an agreement sound from the back of his throat.
"Che ne dici di dare quel ragazzo dai capelli verdi una mano amica?" I ask Pace with a sad smile. (How about we give that green haired guy a helping hand?)
"Avete intenzione di aiutarlo in ogni modo ..." Pace mutters before nodding reluctantly. (You are going to help him either way...)
I smile widely at him.
"Tu mi conosci troppo bene, Pace." I laugh. (You know me too well, Pace.)
My laughter must've caught the attention of the men below because they gazed upwards at us.
"Andate via, voi ratti!" The bigger man shouts at us, shaking his fist at us. (Go away, you rats!)
I smile down at the man, reaching out with my hand and focusing on my fingers. They sparkled with green strings of lightning which made the men below turn an unhealthy shade of white.
Dark clouds quickly formed above us, Pace helping in coordinating where they should go and in focusing the power in the lightning.
I see the bigger man reach out for a gun but his shaky hands are too slow compared to me.
The men around him stare wide eyed at me, a few muttering prayers and disbelief at what they were seeing. And I had to admit, as my point of view changed from first person to observer, that I was a terrifying sight.
Where once was the smiling young boy, who looked like he had just turned ten or something, was not what could be mistaken for a demon. Dark hair fanned out around his face with piercing glowing sea blue eyes and a crown of lightning caressing his head. Slightly behind him, to his right, stood another demon. With cold green eyes that sent shills down their spines, and green waves of electricity ran up and down his whole body.
With one last smile to the men below, I prepared to snap my fingers.
"Scottare!" I called out as I snapped them. (Sear!)
Blinding green energy descended from the dark clouds above and into the narrow street, the shock wave that followed raised a cloud of dust and made the hairs of the back of my neck stand on end. When I returned to Isaia's point of view, I saw him jump down to the street, ignoring rather easily the charred bodies all around the shocked figure of the green haired teen.
"Buon pomeriggio a te! Ho pensato che potrebbe avere bisogno di una mano." I said with a bit of glee. (Good afternoon to you! Thought you might need a hand.)
The green haired teen looked startled at me. His eyes wide and unbelieving, I don't think he even noticed that Pace had cut the ropes that had been tying his hands.
"T-t-tu ch-chi s-sei?" He shakily asked. (Who are you?)
Isaia blinked before laughing at his expression.
"Ahh~ Mio nome?" Isaia asked. (Aah~ My name?)
Isaia looked at Pace who shook his head.
"Credo che tu può chiamare me ... Temporale." Isaia answers, blue eyes flashing like lightning ready to strike. (I guess you can call me... Temporale.)
And that is it for this chapter!
Over done! Finally!
I am so late in my updates guys, so sorry once again. Life outside anime and writing has been hectic and I feel so bad for having to leave you guys without updates for a while.
Hope you enjoy this chapter for now, I made it extra long so it can somehow make it up to you.
Next chapter, I'll have Chiyo's birthday (or not, I'm still deciding), the Summer festival and Kyoya funny scenes and Natsu's birthday. And then we will have reached Part I Finale!
Hurray!
Okay, serious talk now. If you think the story somehow took a turn in the mood, you'll be right. Call it setting the stage for the big event that's coming up, though sorry if it seems out of context for now.
The other mothers talking about Chiyo and Natsu's family behind their back. Guys, people are cruel and housewives like to gossip, don't pay much mind to it.
If you're wondering why Isaia suddenly took a level in evilness/coldness, he didn't. You guys just never saw him in an battle where he had to face the opponents by himself (though he has Pace here) nor have you seen him when he's in a rage.
Mildly upset and a tiny bit furious/disgusted, yes. How he looks in an all out battle where someone he cares for is hurt? No, you guys have not.
Do ponder on what Remiel told Natsu. It will be important later on when/if we reach the Arcobaleno trials/future arc down the line.
And Natsu has met Tsuna once again, and Kyoko as well. Though the latter he only identifies way in the future, and the former only gets actually confronted in the beginning of Part III.
Natsu, Taro and Chiyo are acting a bit older than before, and if the change in interactions seems a bit more developed, I did skip a month of narration. I'll let you guys imagine how they got to that stage in their relationship/partnership.
Alright, I think that's it for this chapter. Please review, follow and favorite. You can also nag me through PM's I don't mind.
So, I'll see you guys later, bye bye!