Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.
Summary: When Tsuna's pride - his family - shattered, there really weren't anymore reasons for him to be the all-encompassing Sky. But when he was given another chance, to protect them once more, he didn't hesitate - even if it's in another parallel world where he is no longer Vongola Decimo but his twin brother, his Elements no longer his but his brother's... and Vongola is falling (quite literally in terms of ranks).
Enma arrived just in time to see this picture. Other that a twitch of his lips that threatened to curve into an smile, his expression was kept neutral (with great effort) as he made his way to Tsuna while Jager was dragging one Rokudo Mukuro down, trails of water at the semi-conscious teen's wake.
He noticed that his companion seemed to be more melancholic than before he had came down to the core level. He thought for a moment in silent, his eyes discreetly moved around to survey the surrounding until - oh.
He wasn't Tsuna's best friend for nothing. He knew what was going through that head of Tsuna's, because if he put himself in the other's shoe, he might've been even worse off - because he drove them down that path that time as he waited for Tsuna to come fight with him.
Adjusting his mentality, Enma heaved a soundless sigh. One person feeling down was enough, there was no need for another one. Besides, the way the pine - he meant Rokudo, was taken out distracted both of them from the forlorn atmosphere from moments prior.
Again, Enma was deserving of being called Tsuna's best friend. Because the exact same ludicrous image had ran across his mind, which was really unsuitable for the situation right now - but he couldn't help it! Mukuro had always been self-conscious about his hairstyle, even though he could've changed it (the last time someone suggested that Mukuro should change his hairstyle didn't have a very good ending), so most people tried their best to keep it to themselves. (Tsuna and his family and friends not included.)
"Tsuna?"
"Hm?" The brunet blinked, the strange look on his face disappeared as he realized that Enma had finished throwing the criminals back into jail and was now next to him. He spared the other's suppressed snickering face a glance before inhaling a deep breath, "I often wonder why he has that hairstyle. Is it natural like that?"
"Beats me," Enma shrugged nonchalantly before clicking his tongue in pity. "Wish I have a camera. Reborn would frame this and hang it on the most noticeable wall in Vongola Mansion."
Tsuna's mouth twitched. He would never voice his agreement with Enma. Never.
The conversation had fortunately (or unfortunately) ended there because Jagger had came back down, tossing the still unconscious illusionist onto the steel hard floor.
Tsuna and Enma had, subconsciously, moved away when remnants of the unknown liquid that had been in the tank had almost splashed onto them when Rokudo was thrown on the floor.
Jagger rather not comment on how they seemed to be avoiding the now-free convict like a plague when they were the one that wanted the convict freed.
"Our OCD is getting worse." Enma commented, staring at the pool of strangely glowing liquid pooling around Rokudo but didn't have any notion of wanting to get near.
"I blame Reborn," Tsuna grumbled before forcibly ignoring his conditioned mysophobia (courtesy of you know who) and walking towards Rokudo. He reach out his hand with the intention to check if the illusionist was okay when the latter sudden twitched.
Tsuna, his Intuition being alert as it was, moved his outstretched hand away from Rokudo's sudden grasping one - an instinctive reaction, Tsuna knew, towards unknown presences. His face fixed into a boy-ish grin towards the now awake Rokudo. "Not fast enough, Rokudo-san."
"You..." Rokudo stared widely at the sight of one Sawada Tsunayoshi in Vendicare. That shouldn't be - wasn't the brunet still in Japan? Although he may know that Sawada Tsunayoshi was not who he seemed to be, Rokudo still didn't think much of the brunet's capabilities.
Enma clicked his tongue - and thereby announcing his presence as well - at Rokudo. "No wonder you were easily dealt with."
"..." Jagger wanted to point out that Rokudo Mukuro was one of the more dangerous criminals they've caught - which meant he should not, in any way, be easily dealt with.
"Since you're awake," Tsuna ignored the glare that Rokudo gave his best friend. "Then you should get up. We're getting you out of here."
"Kufufu..." Rokudo chuckled almost sarcastically but got up as told nonetheless. "And how do you think we're going to escape Vendicare?"
Enma raised a brow and nudged his head towards Jagger, grinning. "Because we're buddies~!"
Jagger whipped his head around so suddenly towards Enma that he almost got a whiplash, but he didn't care about that. He was looking at the teen incredulously - as Rokudo was too - when redhead had dropped an unprecedented bomb. Jagger didn't think anyone sane enough would personally announce their apparent 'friendship' with the Vindince - Rokudo even more so.
"... Am I missing something here?" The illusionist, for once, forgone his creepy laugh and had, instead, took on a blank expression.
Tsuna sweatdropped, but he quickly shook his head helplessly at Enma's sudden impulse to mess with Rokudo's - and consequently, Jagger's - head. Honestly, the brunet opined that Enma had been more affected by Reborn than he did. (If Enma were to know Tsuna's current thoughts, he would've rolled his eyes and shout denounced: 'hypocrite!')
"Oh, you missed a lot of things," Enma chirped, looking all too gladly to tell the tale.
"Enma, save story time for later." Of course, Tsuna wouldn't let him continue messing around or they would never get anywhere. "We have a to-do list to finish."
"... we do?" Enma faltered and gave the brunet a blank look. "Since when?"
"Since we have silently agreed to have one in our head." Tsuna rolled his eyes and tapped his head mockingly.
"The hell? I don't remember that!"
"As long as I'm able to remember," Tsuna spared the complaining Enma a glance. "Then it exists."
"..." Where's the logic in that?
Tsuna then tossed another sentence that the other had said to him only a while ago - just to strike Enma when he was down. "That's what best friends are for, right?"
"... We should just go back to being birds." Enma solemnly suggested with his arms folded across his chest.
Jagger and Rokudo felt lost within the conversation that Tsuna and Enma was engaging in - rather, they felt that it was pure nonsense. Particularly Rokudo.
The Mist stared between the two teens - who were supposed to be younger than himself - and got the feeling that they knew each other longer than the time they had told everyone. His brows furrowed, thoughts wandering back to that time he had intruded into Sawada Tsunayoshi's mindscape. He then connected point A to point B and an absurd thought made him shudder in cold sweat.
Finding how similar the two teenagers were, perhaps Kozato Enma was the same as Sawada Tsunayoshi - a man in a teen's body...?
That conclusion seemed ludicrous, to be honest, but Rokudo wasn't prone to deny any possibilities when it came to anything that revolves around Sawada Tsunayoshi.
His brows furrowed when that particular thought flickered through his mind. He wasn't familiar with the brunet per se, so why would he have this certainty (as if it was a given) that nothing goes right whenever Tsuna was involved? It wasn't the first time as well, because there was something tugging at -
"For Christ's sake, Enma," Tsuna's exasperation snapped Rokudo out of his wandering thoughts. "Lions belong in the Savannah! Not the Amazon!" He paused and added, "That is... if someone didn't just suddenly felt like relocating their habitats..."
"We all know who would do that," The redhead rolled his eyes but then came to an abrupt halt. "Hold on a minute, how did we get from the Vendicare to lions for all things?"
"..."
That was something Rokudo and Jagger wanted to know too.
Tsuna facepalmed and Rokudo heard him mumbling something along the lines of 'why can't we ever stay on one single topic?'
"Gao~!" A ball of furry orange flames bounced through the room and landed on Tsuna's shoulder. In the next moment, the flames disperse and Natsu appeared wagging his tail. "Gao Gao!"
Hearing his animal partner's report, Tsuna scratched the latter on the head with a smile. "Good job Natsu."
"..." Rokudo just stared, because that obviously wasn't helmet-wearing lion cub with a mane that was made of Sky flames. Even if it was a lion, what the hell was with the 'gao'? Where was the roar that signifies the King of Beasts' might and prestige?!
Noticing Rokudo's incredulity, Tsuna chuckled. "This is Natsu, Rokudo-san. He's my animal companion."
"... That's a cat, right?" Rokudo couldn't help but ask.
Natsu's ear twitched and his tail told on ends as a show of indignation. "Gao!"
"Lion." Tsuna corrected, soothing an irked lion cub by stroking his head. "There's not a big difference, Natsu. A Lion is just a really large cat."
"Gao..." Natsu was still not quelled, but Tsuna didn't bother further with his animal partner's identity-complex.
"If that's how you console your pet, I love to see how you scold friends." Enma retorted out of habit.
"You've seen how I have done that." Tsuna coolly replied, frowning. "Setting all of these unrelated topics aside, Jagger has promised to free you Rokudo-san." His sunset-orange eyes shifted towards the illusionist. That gaze of his effectively forced whatever doubts Rokudo had back down his throat. "You don't need to know what were the terms to your release, it's not something you should be involved in."
Hearing that last sentence, Rokudo had the sudden urge to defy it (as Mukuro would when someone - especially Tsuna and Kyouya - told him he couldn't do something). He could only reason that feeling as indignation because Tsuna seemed to be underestimating his abilities. "Kufufu, do you think -"
"I'm not looking down on you - or any of Vongola's guardians." Tsuna cut in, knowing what the Mist was thinking with but a glance at the latter's indignant gaze. His sunset-orange gaze glinted with a certain light as he stared hard at Rokudo. "But overestimating your owncapabilities cause more harm than not. Do you really think you even have the right to negotiate with the Vindice, much less making a deal with them, with how you are now?"
Rokudo grimaced at the harshness of Tsuna's words, but he refused to back down. "And what makes you have any rights to do so?"
"What rights do I have?" Tsuna raised a brow, lips curled into a sarcastic smile as if he found something laughable. "More than you think, Rokudo Mukuro."
"Now, now," Enma, who had only been an audience until now, chuckled as he stepped forward and giving Tsuna a whack upside the head. "Shouldn't we cut the chitchat for latter."
"That was so not appreciated, Enma." The brunet glared at his best friend. I'm trying to get him to learn a bit of self-awareness here!
I doubt he'll be learning that anytime soon. Enma rolled his eyes. "Please, I don't think anyone listens to you, Tsuna."
"..." Tsuna fell into momentary silence after getting the underlying message. He then shot a glance at the still obstinate Mist and relented in defeat. He hated to admit it, but his words would go in one ear and out the other most of the time whenever he tried to scold his guardians. He supposed that was something that couldn't be changed even when they were in another world and time.
"You're all still so stubborn." He finally concluded and closed his eyes, readjusting the complicated emotions within before opening them back up. "Well, time is ticking. We should get you back to Vongola Mansion before the Inheritance Ceremony -" He shot a look at Rokduo, who was about to open his mouth again. " - and I don't care for your renouncement of not being part of Vongola after getting your freedom. I'm the one who freed you in the first place so you're coming with us and that's final."
"If you're oh-so unwilling, we're more than happy to tied you up and drag you through the sky while we fly!" Enma, being the great helper that he was, supplemented. "I'm sure Jagger has some anti-flame chains that we can borrow." He turned, grinning at said Vindice. "Right, Vice-Head of Vendicare?"
"..." Jagger unconsciously tightened his grip of his precious chains.
"We're in the Italian Alps just so you know," Tsuna added in monotone as if Enma's threat wasn't being clear enough. "And we can also fly ourselves... but would you be preferred to be dragged by us or..."
"Or..." Enma's ear-splitting grin wouldn't be more wider as Tsuna was just one button away to speed-dialing Byakuran. "... be dragged by a high-tech jet that's probably in need of a test-flight in high altitudes after receiving upgraded engines by two teenage engineers - or so I've heard."
"Don't worry," Tsuna patted very sympathetically on Mukuro's shoulder... but why doesn't the latter feel comforted at all?! "Even if it does explode midway, we'll be sure to keep your corpse intact."
"..." Mukuro no longer denied seeing the devil's pointed tails twirling behind the two teens who were voicing each other's thoughts like twins.
Revenge was a dish best served cold, wasn't it?
.
.
.
As the Hyper-Duo left with a reluctant Rokudo Mukuro in toll, they didn't realized they had timely missed the head of CEDEF with his two trusted subordinates coming in demand of the exact person they had just took.
Jagger stared at one Sawada Ietmitsu and his subordinates, Oregano and Turmeric. His gazed remained on the man for several long seconds (enough to give the Vongola members the chills, wondering if they had done something to offend the Vice-Head without knowing) while making cross comparisons in his head.
His conclusion?
There was conspiracy in there! Sawada Tsunayoshi must have been adopted and there was another Vongola Primo line somewhere out the in the world, maybe hidden in the mountains or on an island - like the Simons.
The more he thought about it, the more Jagger was convinced of his own theory. He was about to subconscious nod to his thoughts when he caught himself in the act - he refused to admit that he was lost in his thoughts while dealing a transaction with mafiosi (that wouldn't give the Vindice a good image and if Bermuda finds out, he was going to be skinned alive - or dead, however one wanted to see it).
He glanced - glared at the trio that clearly warned 'if you say one word about this, I'm going to confine you in Vendicare for life.'
"..." Iemitsu and his subordinates very much wanted to say that they were innocent.
"Ahem," Jagger cleared his thought, getting the attention the CEDEF members. "The person you're looking for is no longer in Vendicare, hence, the deal you made with us is hereby null and void."
.
.
.
"WHAT?!"
The Inheritance Ceremony will be in full swing in half a week, therefore, everyone within Vongola Mansion was bustling about, preparing for it. Ienari had been pulled left and right because with Vongola Nono currently unable to get out of bed, he was to make the decision for the various arrangements around the HQ.
One especially important one was the seating arrangements. Because even though the Families that they invited were allied with Vongola and a few who were neutral but in good relationships with Vongola, it didn't mean they would get along with those who weren't Vongola. Hence, Ienari was currently getting a 101 in which Family gets along with whom and which would be a good mediator to those who would be at each other's throat upon sight (Preferably, Reborn suggested, Vongola should be spread out in the seating arrangements because since they were the alliance head, Vongola was the best mediator.)While making the seating chart, he also had to take into consideration the guests' personality and their preferences and who should be closer to the main table and - and it was driving Ienari nuts.
However, as much as he wanted to flip the table, he couldn't. Not in front of so many of mafiosi. He had lived in Italy for a short period of time in his childhood, after all, and he had been trained to keep his emotions in check for the better part of the day when in front of his subordinates.
In their eyes, he was Sawada Ienari, the one who was going to inherit all of Vongola and rebuilt it back from ground up. He felt pressured - again and again and again (whywhywhy?) - but he had to be professional, be better at any and everything, be a boss, or they'll all look down-
Whack!
- "The f*** Reborn..." Ienari grumbled, used to the throbbing aches on his head by now.
Said infant hitman merely gave his student a fleeting glance before looking down at the mess of crisscrossing lines between the Vongola-Allied Giegue, Nuevo, Beccio Famiglia, and the neutral Bertesca Famiglia
If he hadn't known any better, he would've thought his student was trying to solve a crime with all those random jotted notes, posits, and photos.
He restrained from sighing, he wasn't going to do Ienari's work for him. The teen needed to learn how to use that brain of his in the field. However... what he noticed of the tenth generation was the tension that was starting to built up again when they arrived at the mansion, and it was getting worse the closer it was to the ceremony.
He was just glad that their mentality was not affected much other than longing for home in Namimori.
Reborn knew the source of these kids problems were Vongola itself, but he couldn't just tell them to quit. 'Quitting' was not in his dictionary, but more important, that goddamned contract he had with Nono. (Reborn would be lying if he didn't feel any connections with these teenagers. The hitman had poured his blood and sweat into these guys for more than two years, and he wasn't going to let all of his effort go to waste.)
"Nari, don't regress."
"... huh?" Ienari blinked, obviously not in the same wavelength as the hitman.
Reborn wasn't one to say things twice, hence, he turned and pointed at the door. "Go see how the others are doing."
"What could they be -"
"You may be their boss," Reborn pushed his fedora up and shot Ienari a sharp look. "But your guardians' roles are no less important than yours. Remember, they're your pillars."
"..." Ienari stared at his tutor for several long seconds before inhaling a deep breath and releasing some stress he was feeling while massaging his temple with one hand. "I - sorry - I know. I won't forget."
Reborn looked at his student impassively, not a trace of emotion passing through his beady black eyes. He clicked his tongue after a short moment. "And you better not forget what Tsuna told you either."
"... I would never." Ienari mumbled softly, but it didn't go unheard through Reborn's sharp hearing. The latter couldn't help the curling of his lips. Tsuna may have helped throw Ienari and his guardians back on the right track, but now they seemed a bit... well, too reliant on the brunet.
Letting out an unnoticeable sigh, Reborn made a mental note to discuss this with Tsuna in the near future.
"Your father is making a deal with the Vindice to free your Mist so only Basil and La Mirch is taking care the CEDEF HQ if you need to something from them," Reborn reported to change the topic.
Ienari straightened his spine instantly in alert. "Wait, Mukuro's going to -"
"And the Caracassa is still pending for the official admittance in the alliance." Reborn, of course, didn't care for what his student has to say.
"You guys never explained to me why Caracassa had the sudden change -"
"One more thing, Xanxus wants to see you in two hours."
"..." Ienari was petrified. If there was anyone he feared dealing other than Reborn, Hibari, and Rokudo, then it would be Vongola Xanxus. Sure, Xanxus was his uncle-not-by-blood but he hadn't forgotten the conflict two years back, when the man had wanted to murder him - and was the first one to almost succeed too. Xanxus may have held his temper better now (not much better though), but they relationship was... well, there were no familial bond between them. At all.
Xanxus never had - and he vowed he never will - acknowledge Ienari as the sole heir to Vongola. One of the most worrying thoughts he had with this upcoming ceremony was the possibility of Xanxus rallying up another coup d'état. (Xanxus wouldn't do that when it wouldn't benefit Vongola in any way during this critical period so it was very obvious that Ienari was working himself over nothing, but the blonde didn't know that.)
He doubted very much he could beat Xanxus. He hadn't been able to before - and had only won the right to the Vongola Sky ring because Xanxus was related to the Vongola line by blood.
Thinking back, he had, rather, been quite arrogant and confident that he could win. However, failure after failure crushed that confidence of his to the ground till what it had been before Tsuna socked him in the head.
"What..." Ienari pursed his lips, he didn't like where this was going. "What does he want...?"
"To fight." At the flabbergasted, but paling look Reborn received, he added, "If he likes what he sees, then he won't say a thing during the ceremony - his words, not mine."
"..." Ienari sighed in defeat, shoulders slumped as he submit to his fate.
Reborn watched as Ienari moped in the corner. His student was really hopeless, wasn't he? As he was thinking of what kind of methods he should get his student out of his brooding, Leon crawl down from his perch and transformed in a phone.
There were two incoming calls. One was from Iemitsu, on his open channel while the other one was on his private one.
Reborn narrowed his eyes darkly. There weren't that many people who knew of his private line - the list could probably be couldn't on two hands - and of those who knew, they should all be aware of his policy for calling through the private channel. They wouldn't call through the private channel unless it was the end of the world or that his favorite brand of coffee beans was discontinued.
Also, as he was updated with his colleagues situations just recently, none of them should be having any kind of world-ending crisis at the moment. So, who was this unknown caller flashing through the screen?
Knowingly, a sense of unease made its way into his heart. He had been feeling unsettled as of late, and it was mostly having to do with being an Arcobaleno and having the ability to sense the recent increasingly unstable Laws. Adding to this call, that sensation heightened tenfold.
Reborn shook his head, mentally berating himself for dawdling unfounded hypotheses. If he wanted the answers, he would get them by answering the phone.
"Nari, I expect that chart at least readable by the end of two hours," Reborn gave his student one stubborn student one last glance before leaving the office of the future Decimo as he answered the one calling on private first, putting Iemitsu on hold.
"Who is this?"
Byakuran played with his phone, a heavy atmosphere weighing around him as he blinked and stared off into the distance, his eyelids slitting open to reveal slightly glowing violet orbs as if he had entered into his own world and no one but him would known what he was seeing. The tightness that was a constant presence in his chest constricted even more, but his face betrayed none of his inner turmoil emotions.
Although he could sense the presence of Laws as the other parts of the Trinisette, but as the Sky Mare of the horizontal axis, he was the only one who could sense the stability of parallel worlds as if it was right under his feet. (It was a completely different concept to when he needed to enter a comatose state to come into contact with his parallel selves, because that would've been a breach in the fundamental laws governing the horizontal axis. Hence, why it had required so much energy.)
It wasn't, by any means, in a good condition. He felt that with just a twist and a turn, the world was going to flip upside down. Then again, Byakuran mulled, there was a good reason why he had fallen the first time - which he only found out after he and his infinitely many parallel selves analysed it bit by bit.
The horizontal axis was, by no means, perfect in the first place.
He pushed the thoughts away, bringing his attention up towards the helicopter that was going to land at his mansion's in-built landing pad. He saw the emblem of Giglio Nero on its body, knowing that his best friend had returned.
He saw the young girl waving through the window as the helicopter descended, and a curve of a smile made its onto his lips as he waved back. But at another thought of the uncertain future, he paused, his smile immediately retracted back as his bangs blocked his eyes.
In contrast to his carefree attitude, he also have things to protect. If the enemy dared to harm a harm on those he viewed important, he wouldn't mind chasing them until the ends of parallel worlds for all of eternity if he had to.
"Byakuran!"
When he looked back up at his descending companion, he was the bright and cheerful Byakuran once more. "Yuni-chan! Tsu-chan called and said he and En-chan will be at Venice soon so we should hurry!"
"Thank you so much for the ride!" Tsuna spoke to the nice truck driver that had been willing to give the three of them a lift at the base of the Italian Alps (with the excuse that the three of them were touring with their family at Venice but had found themselves five or six hours away from said city after losing their one and only map).
"No problem kiddo!" The man grinned from the driver's seat, but when changed into that of worry after looking at the setting sun. "But do you need help findin' your family? Night time ain't particularly safe 'ere in Venice."
Tsuna and Enma a quick glance at each other before the former reassured, "We'll be fine Signor, we know where they are."
The man hesitated, but relented in the end and started back his truck's engine. "Then have enjoy your stay in Italy kids."
Tsuna and Enma waved until the truck was no longer within sight. Rokudo had been silent for the entire durance like the obedient boy that he was. He had learned that it was best not to try to toy with the two eccentric teens if he didn't want trouble coming his way. Besides, he still respected Tsuna because of that time, so he wasn't going to cause a fuss when it was unnecessary.
"I'm exhausted..."
However... Rokudo eyed the supposed-Japanese brunet who claimed to be a civilian. Since when did he learn to speak Italian so fluently? And it was to the point that he needed no pause when he switched between Italian and Japanese to boot!
"Who wouldn't after suffering from a jet lag but continue to stay awake for two days and two nights straight beating two mafia families, climbed the Alps, made a tunnel through the Alps, dealt with the Vindice -" Enma paused in his grumbling for a moment before continuing. "- and if we're planning another overnighter, that would be three and in counting... I wonder how we're still alive..." (Of course, that last part was mumbled under his breath)
Rokudo stared at the duo as if they each grew two heads. "What did you just say?"
Enma looked at the Mist strangely. "How we're still alive?"
"No, the other one!"
"Planning an overnighter?"
"No, before that one!"
"... Which one?" Enma's eyes rolled around for a moment as he counted off with his hand. "Vindice, tunnel, Alps, mafia, or the jet lag?"
Rokudo's eye twitched. He was getting the feeling that he was getting played here. He was being played, wasn't he? Definitely. "Mafia."
"Oh," Enma blinked innocently. "What about it?"
Rokudo was this close to take out his trident and stab the redhead in the face.
"Ahem," Tsuna pressed down a laugh with a cough. "Enough messing around -" Rokudo shot the brunet a look of grievance (did it look like he was messing around? The other was obviously the one messing with him!) " - and if we could find a place to stay for the night, then we won't have to be night owls for much longer."
"I propose we sneak into Vongola." Enma suggested with a very serious tone. "It'll be a piece of cake!"
"..." Rokudo admit that Vongola's security wasn't what it used to be, but does the redhead had to be this open about it?
"Enma," Tsuna couldn't help but blurted in a helpless manner. "There are doors, y'know. Since when did you hop into the bandwagon and not use them?"
"..." A very good question indeed. Enma genuinely took time to ponder about that one while Rokudo was wondering if doors were really the problem here. Wasn't trespassing into Vongola territory without permission a huge problem in and of itself?
... The illusionist decided that he could not wrap his head around the minds of the mental.
"You're not any better yourself," Tsuna rolled his eyes at Rokudo when he saw the other's expression. He paused, looking rather offended. "And we're not insane!"
"What -"
"Your face."
"..." He was getting insulted wasn't he? Wasn't he?!
"No, I'm advising you to keep your expressions in check," Tsuna voiced Rokudo's thoughts again before throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. "I have told you people so many times about that flaw and getting tired of bothering with it! Start learning to hide your emotions better for pete's sake!"
"I got it!" Enma exclaimed all of a sudden, gaining the attention of the other two. "Doors are mostly constructed out of wood, so they don't even provide a good enpugh protection in the first place - Hell, you blasted through Vendicare's iron door like it was paper! It's also a waste of time to use them because you have to first knock or ring the door bell, then wait for however long and there might not even be anyone there to open it in the first place. Do you know what we could do in that waiting time? Even if it was just a few seconds? I could read a page of report in that time, y'know! Besides, doors are made for normal people to use, hence, we deign to use them."
Tsuna: "..."
Rokudo: "..."
Tsuna really didn't want to admit he kind of saw the logic in Enma's epiphany, because he would then feel like an idiot for spending part of the budget on a door that people kept destroying for all those years.
Rokudo shot the brunet a mocking look. If you dare say you guys are still not insane, then I'll walk the path of Christianity and go around the world preaching the Holy Bible from the bottom of my heart.
The former Vongola Decimo pretended not to see the illusionist's silent ridicule, because what else could he say? Just the fact that they had stayed awake accomplishing all of that was a test of their mentality. Granted, they had countless experience of sleepless nights back in their world because of the state of warfare, which could explain how they're still holding up and operating (even if they were solely relying on the adrenaline from the adrenal medulla of their adrenal glands) despite being sleep-deprived.
Looking at his two companions' expressions, Enma suddenly felt he spoke at the wrong time. "What's wrong?"
"... nothing," Just that you just openly confirmed that we have a few screw loose. Tsuna sighed and massaged his temple wit one of his hands. Why does he get the feeling that the longer they didn't get a good night's rest, the more twisted their mentality was going to become?
Understanding Tsuna's underlying messaging, Enma sweatdropped and laughed awkwardly. But he didn't want to admit that the real reason was because he was actually getting addicted to busting down doors after the last few times - he was starting to understanding why his and Tsuna's guardians were so keen on destroying doors. (Upon that thought, a rational part of Enma now agreed with Tsuna. They needed rest, or they'll really loose that last shred of sanity that they have left.)
"Well..." Enma very tactfully changed the topic. "Since infiltrating is out of the question, then don't we have Reborn's number? He can probably get someone to pick us up."
Tsuna was about to reply when something caught his eyes, and it made his lips arced up into a grin. "There's someone even more convenient nearby."
"Eh?" Enma followed his line of sight, eyes lighting up when he also saw the too-familiar mess of blonde hair. "Great idea!"
Rokudo had also followed their gazes across the street and his suspicion rose another level. Since when were they on familiar terms of Chiavarone Dino?
In the next moment, the illusionist felt two pairs of eyes on his body. He shivered as he met their gazes, unconsciously taking a step back. "What?"
"Well," Tsuna started. "Dino doesn't know us, but since he's the former student of Reborn..."
"... While Ienari is the current student, they should know each other," Enma continued. "Which means, Dino knows Ienari's guardians as well."
"So you two want me to go as him get us into Vongola mansion?" Rokudo summarized in a deadpan. Did he overthink it? These two didn't seem to be familiar the Chiavarone Don. Those information they spoke of should've came from Reborn himself? Seeing how the Sun Arcobaleno trusted them and all.
However... Rokudo pointed at said Don who was conducting some kind of business inside an expensive looking restaurant but negotiation seems to be failing by the looks of it. "Can't you tell he's busy?"
"Negotiating with the Serpentine Familgia?" It may have been a question but with just a glance, Tsuna was able to confirm which Family the Chiavarone Don was dealing with.
Tsuna narrowed his eyes, his mind flipping through all the information he had known of the Serpentine Family from his previous world - be it through reports or through personal experience. Like it's name, sinister and tricky to deal with. On the surface, it should be a neutral family but they were only waiting for the right moment to strike. They cooperate based solely on benefits and once those benefits were used up, they would either swallow the other party or leave them to slowly deteriorate.
They had once tried to worm their way into Vongola once, but Tsuna wouldn't have none of it. He wasn't going to let a poisonous snake loose in his territory if he could help it.
"It's better if that negotiation fails," Tsuna remarked calmly as he picked up a small pebble from the road. "The Serpentines were never a good candidate of an ally to begin with."
"What are you -" Before Rokudo could finish, Tsuna had already pulled his arm back behind his head then - with a concentrated amount of Sun flames in that arm - he thrust it forward and - Crack!
There was now a hole in the glass window of the restaurant with a web of cracks around it. Behind the window was one stunned Chiavarone Dino and his men facing a knocked out Right-Hand of the Serpentine Don who - if Tsuna was correctly - was about to get physical.
"Nice pitch," Enma applaud nonchalantly while the mafiosi were snapping out of their daze and now looking towards them. "You have been practicing?"
"Not as good as Takeshi unfortunately," Tsuna sighed with a sake of his head, ignoring the screeches of cars as the men in black approached them. "Had to rely on extra help."
Rokudo sweatdropped at how casual the conversation seemed to be. "Do you not realize what you just did?" And did they not realize that there'll be leads in their heads any moment now?
"Un," Tsuna nodded, keeping attention to the incoming mafiosi from the corner of his eyes. Heck, he wasn't even fazed at the warning shot that almost grazed his cheek as it flew into the wall behind him. "Helping Dino to deal with nasty pest problem. Do you know what's the best way of exterminate snakes?"
"..." Rokudo decided wisely that he should shut up or this conversation would make a one-eighty turn to something completely unrelated.
Tsuna, knowing what the other was thinking, chuckled and answered his own question with a boyish grin."It's pull out their fangs so they'll as harmless as flies."
"Brats, which one of you shot that?" One of the mafiosi demanded when they came close.
"Shot?" Enma raised a brow. "We didn't shoot that."
"You're a hundred years too early to think you can get away with lying to us." Another spoke, his finger tightening on the trigger of his pistol. "You hit our Boss's -"
"Seriously, we didn't shoot it," Enma cut the mafioso off with scorn. "We threw it."
"..."
"Also, what do you mean why a hundred years too early?" Enma looked the man up and down as he questioned almost sarcastically. "You're not actually over a century old right, sir - or should I call you grandpa?"
"You...!" The mafioso was rendered completely speechless and steaming with anger.
"Yes, I'm me." Enma nodded very sincerely,knowing full well that he was igniting the other's anger. "How did you know?"
"Hey, hey," The man was just about to pull the trigger when a whip wrapped around the pistol and pulled it out of his hands. They all looked in the direction of the whip and saw Dino at the other end. "They're just ki - Murkuro?!"
Dino stared in shock as the men moved back enough for him to see the illusionist. He quickly crossed the street with his men in tow, arriving in front of Rokudo within seconds. "You - I know that Iemitsu went to make a deal with the Vindice for your release but I didn't expect it to be successful!"
"..." Rokudo raised a brow and subconscious shifted his gaze towards Tsuna as if silently asking if he should reveal the truth.
"Eh~" Tsuna hummed, gaining the blonde's attention. "So we just missed him?"
Dino blinked, wondering if he was imagining things - because why the hell does the kid in front of him looked so much like the portrait of Vongola Primo hanging in Vongola Mansion's drawing room? "You -"
"Don Chiavarone," Interrupted a deep alto with an underlying menace to it. The owner of that voice slowly walked across the street towards them. He was a bit pale compared to most people, as if he didn't go out into the sun too often. Slick black hair that seemed to have been overdosed with gel by how shiny it was. His physique was rather slim, but his sharp eyes made up for his unhealthy appearance. "Are you suppose to give me an explanation?"
"Explain - oh!" DIno slapped himself on the forehead and laughed. "Sorry Don Serpentine, about what happened earlier, I didn't expect someone to knock out one of your men-"
"Which one of them did it?" The Serpentine Don narrowed his eyes at Tsuna's group of three.
Serpentine Dante, Tsuna noted, was better composed than the ex-Carcassa boss that he dealt with. A firm back, calm composer despite the assault earlier, and a natural flair. Of course, when it came to these kind of things and more, Tsuna and Enma wouldn't lose out.
"Signor, you're going to have to specify which action you want us to confirm." Tsuna threw back, still smiling like the harmless teenager that he appeared to be. However, he didn't seemed the least bit affected the chilling atmosphere that settled the moment the Serpentine Don arrived. "As well as the time, because for all we know, you might want us to admit something that we did last week - which, by the way, is considered stalking. Very creepy if you don't mind me saying."
"Don't play games with me, kid," An unpleasant smile curled his lips. "Do you know who we are?"
"Ha ha," Dino chose this time to intercept with the intention to shield Tsuna with no other reason other than the fact that he resembled Vongola Primo and seemed to be friends with Rokudo. "Kids these days, y'know? How about we go back to our discussion -"
"Do you think I'm still in the mood for discussion?" Dante shot back icily. "If this group of brats are related to Vongola, then I demand an explanation as to why Vongola had injured one of its allied members."
Beads of sweat ran down Dino's temple as his mind raced for a possible solution to this situation. The Serpentine don, he knew, was difficult to deal with, but for the sake of trying to strengthen Vongola and its alliance, he had to tolerate that attitude of his. However, just as he was about to speak, Tsuna beat him to it.
"Signor, did you just say you're allied with Vongola?" Tsuna was still smiling, but there was danger lurking in his sunset-orange eyes. Then without waiting for a response, his gaze swept towards Dino and Rokudo. "Answer. Now."
Dino blinked blankly at the sudden flair of aura that was no less than that of boss - heck, it might even overtake him in demeanor! Was the kid related to someone in the higher echelon of the mafia? "Um..."
"Yes," Rokudo's answer was blunt. "For two years now."
"... Murkuro?" Dino gave saidd boy a strange look. Why did the latter seemed so... obedient?
"Oh, I see," Tsuna nodded to himself, his smile slowly disappearing from sight. "It seems I was unable to prevent the pests from smuggling themselves in."
Enma clicked his tongue. "Who was the idiot that allowed that anyways?"
"... Iemitsu." Rokduo deadpanned. "He thought it might be a good idea for a relationship with the Serpentines."
"..." The redhead turned towards his best friend. "What did I tell ya?"
"..." Tsuna massaged him temple, preventing the throbbing vein from bulging any further. Sleep-deprived and in dire need of a good long rest, Tsuna's patience with these things were wearing thin."Enma, I'm tired." Please, let's just finish this quickly.
"Alright," Enma heard his best friend's request. His gaze went back to the baffled group of mafiosi as a grin widened on his face, showing his set of white teeth. In the next moment, the was a certain hum which was then promptly followed by the members of the Serpentines feeling a pressure on top of them, catching them unprepared as they dropped straight down on the ground, unable to get back up.
"If you don't want your bones crushed, I suggest you don't try to get up," Enma lowered his raised hand, his eyes indifferent as he stared at the mafiosi littering the ground.
"What the - !" Dino and his men were flabbergasted at the sudden change of events. They were all wondering what Enma had done to make all of Serpentine lying flat on the ground.
"What did you do?!" Dante demanded with a grunt. "If you don't release me right now, then forget about the Serpentine ever helping -"
"Help?" Tsuna cut in, his voice one of disdain. He walked forward step by step, with a certain rhythm of lethal grace in his gait, until he stood in front of the falling don and looking down from his lofty peak. "Do you think I'll believe a word that you say, Dante Serpentine? I don't even need my Hyper Intuition to know that you're lying."
"Hyper Intuition - wait, wait, wait," Dino turned towards Rokudo while pointing at Tsuna. "Did I hear that right?"
"Loud and clear, Dino," Enma was the one who responded as he tucked his hands into his pant pockets. "Why else do you think he looks like Vongola Primo?"
"Wha - how do you -"
"Kozato Enma," The redhead decided that it was about time for an introduction. "Direct line of Simon Primo. And my friend over there dealing with the pest is Sawada Tsunayoshi, older twin of Sawada Ienari. I don't think there's a need to say any more on his ancestry, no?"
"Twin." Dino reiterated, his jaws couldn't drop any further or it would dislocate. "Twin?! Since when did Nari have a twin?!"
"Do you want to official version, or the inside version?"
"... What?" There were different versions?!
"Enma." Tsuna gave the other a look. "Does it look like it's the right time for chit chat?"
"No," Enma looked up at the night sky. "It looks like the right time to crash in Dino's place." Enma paused, realizing a technical detail as he turned to a now rather dumbstruck Dino. "We need a place to sleep, Dino. Can we crash at your place tonight?"
Ignoring the conversation in the back, Tsuna turned his attention back to the man lying in front of him. His eyes glowing an eerie-orange that was especially prominent during the night with only the street lamps as the light source - and subconsciously, fear crawled under Dante's skin when he made eye-contact.
Tsuna's voice was freezing cold while his aura was threatening enough to make the street lamp flicker. "All that things you've swallowed from Vongola and its allies, I want you to spit them back out one by one. Understand?"
"Who do you think -"
"Don't make me repeat myself," Tsuna broke him off with narrowed eyes. The sense of danger that teenager gave Dante effectively caused the next part of his sentence to be stuck in in his throat. However, when he gain back his sense in the next second, he found it unbelievable that he had been frightened by such a scrawny kid had!
"You have until tomorrow," Tsuna knew that giving more time than that wouldn't give him any result. It was better to put pressure than to be lenient towards people like Dante. His gaze then moved from Dante to his men."And I won't be releasing you until your men satisfy my demand."
The brunet gave quick glance at Enma, who, in turn, cancelled the his gravity effect on the Serpentine.
Just as Dante regained his movement, he was assaulted by a sudden wave of drowsiness that made his muscles go numb yet he couldn't go to sleep.
Tsuna's usage of Rain Flames caught Dino completely off-guard once more, but what was even more was that the teen had just taken the Serpentine Don hostage!
"Don't try any funny business," The brunet warned the men who were itching to pull out their weapons. "Your boss's life is on the line here."
"Um... what-was-it - oh right, Tsunayoshi!" Dino started, stumbling in his speech as he tried to mediate the situation. Although he wasn't familiar with the boy, but just from Enma's introduction earlier and Tsuna's demand seconds prior, he knew that the brunet meant no harm to Vongola. "Shouldn't we talk about this...?"
"There's nothing to talk about," Tsuna replied, his voice no longer cold and commanding as it was when talking to Dante - but there was still a tension to it. A frown marred his face as he glanced back at a numbed Dante. "Well? Aren't you going to start telling your subordinates what they're supposed to be doing right now?"
"You..." Dante gritted his teeth in unwillingness. "Vongola will regret this."
"Regret?" A cold glint flashed through Tsuna's sunset-orange orbs. "How laughable for you to threaten Vongola with your meager power."
Tsuna slanted his head to the side in an uncaring fashion, his hands in his pocket while his aura spiraled and sharpened against Dante in an overbearing might. "If you dare to cross my bottom line, I wouldn't mind taking your Family down a notch like I did to the Trabia andCaracassa Famiglia."
I am alive! I am so sorry for not updating for more than a month, but I was busy from morning till night for the past few weeks since school started, and I've just failed my very first interview - actually, I just failed in society in general (つ﹏)･ﾟ｡ (I just want to crawl in a hole and hide for the rest of my life...)
Moving on from my rant about my socially-challenged problem, this chapter... I'm not really too sure what I actually did there lol. I couldn't really handle too many characters in one scene as you can see towards the very end when Dino (Yes! They have met Dino!)
It has also been awhile since I wrote, so there might be some deviation in the writing compared to the past(?)
There wasn't much action (aka fighting) in there either, but well... I was running out of ideas in the end and I thought: since Tsuna and Enma haven't been getting some shut eyes, then it would make sense for them to end things as fast as they could right? So it resulted it Tsuna and Enma 'harassing' yet another famiglia in the middle of the night LOL (Oh dear, I think I have been too harsh of these two.)
Thanks to DragonClanMaster, Arthur Moon, DXPotatoXD, Yui Yutikaishi, QueenAmore, secondnina, chelsss1, Anonymonymous, Lulumo, Shulki, ScareletRoofs, Nadeshiko666. Jessicamathews65, Yuki, Pineapple queen, KK, Staryna, D C JoKeR H S, PhantomCielo27, Natsuyuuki, T'hy'laReborn, TechGirl143, shirokonyan, croixisdaddy, wildcat114, MayaHikari, Lunapok, Little Ms. Pumpkin, SakuraKoi, Seablue eyes 9311, Jupiter27, Allykrau, minerbbi, thor94, YokaiAngel, loonygoody, SaoriK, Meiyo12, yola1996acuario , TheSilverHunt3r, WildRosa13474 for reviewing!
Happy reading! ~ヾ(＾∇＾)