New Summary!
Thanks to the lovely lil' PlunnyBreeder, we have a new summary for The Baker's Daughter! She and Hyakuma got together and made the new summary you see before ya (if you're using your laptop view).
So, thank you to them!
In Memory Of The Old Summary
Hm, how to do this? How do I explain the absolute bull-honkey that is my life at the moment? I had no real plan to begin with, I admit, but I assure you that I DID NOT MEAN TO FUDGE IT UP THIS BAD! I'm just the local baker's daughter!...If you ignore the reincarnation part... SI/OC
Word Count: 6,550
|S.T|
"Yamaguchi Daiki was shot, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn uttered, glancing up at the quiet Rain. "He was shot by a bullet meant for you."
…
Tsuna grit his teeth as he curled up on his side, the thin sheets of the Vongola bunker only barely keeping out the chill as he shuddered against the guilt.
Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was dead. Because of his dumb future self!
He heaved a breath and glared down at the Ring in his hand, having known all along that only pain followed the bloody item. God damn it! The Sky slowly let out a breath, bone tired and heavy, but the stirring in his stomach refused him rest, eyes glancing around the dark room, the fluorescent lights having shut off for the night in the bunkers.
Gokudera was beneath him in the lower bunk, deadly quiet, but Tsuna knew that he was far from sleep as well. That didn't stop him, however, from dismounting his bed and landing softly on the ground, knowing that his Storm wouldn't follow him tonight.
The Vongola thinned his lips as he padded down the metal, half-baked hall, pieces still in disarray from the hasty construction. The future Rain was in a separate dorm to them, having excused himself from their company soon after the grim revelation, obviously put out by the mention of his husband's death.
"God," Tsuna breathed, putting his head in his hands. "His husband. His husband is dead."
There was a flicker, and then a border of light flooded from around a doorframe, the metallic thing sliding aside automatically as the Rain stuck his head out, cheeky grin on his face.
"I thought I heard you!" He laughed, singlet hanging off his frame as his night clothes. "What can I help you with?"
Tsuna paused, slowly buffering the situation through his head before cracking a weak smile.
"U-uh...I was wondering if you were...were okay." He managed out, holding a wince as the man's eyes dimmed less than a hue. "It's just that...well...And I also wanted- wanted to know the situation about, um, Yamaguchi-san. If that's not too much."
This made Yamamoto's face fall completely, his expression stilling into one of stone and steel, before he remedied it quickly with a fragile, worn smile.
"Mm, sure, come on in." He sighed, stepping out of the way.
The Sky nodded slowly before ducking into the room, feeling eyes on his back. He glanced around, before going to sit on a little box, sincerely hoping it wouldn't cave in, watching the Rain stride over to his bed, messied, like the person within had been tossing and turning.
"So, what did you want to know exactly?" Yamamoto asked, voice surprisingly soft.
"Firstly, how are you?" Tsuna asked, before glancing down the Rain's knuckles.
The swordsman followed his gaze, before giving sheepish, huffed laughter, wringing his hands slightly.
"Yeah," He coughed, covering the raw, scabbing state of the skin. "I never really got over that habit."
Tsuna swallowed slowly, before cracking the corner of his lip, attempting to inject humour into the situation.
"What- What did Yamaguchi-san do when he saw you doing that to yourself?"
Yamamoto paused at that, turning mocha eyes on the Sky, a flash of something unclear going through them.
"He..." The Rain started, as if tasting the sound. "He would scold me, and kiss my hands. He'd tell me that it scared him to see me do that to myself. I never want Daiki-kun-" There was stress in the suffix. "To be scared. I promised I'd chase away the scary things."
Tsuna blinked. That was a lot of words - but then again, Yamamoto was always a talker.
"How long ago did he get-" He cut himself off wondering if he was going in too bluntly.
"Shot?" Yamamoto finished, like a volley drop.
"Yeah."
"About...About five weeks ago? I don't know, really," He sighed, an attempt at a chuckle coming out. "It's all been kinda blurry."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Tsuna made a noise of distress in the back of his throat, quiet and minute as he tried to figure out a way to continue the conversation, before looking to the tooth necklace that hung from the Rain's neck, swaying in suspension as the man leant on his knees.
"That necklace, where'd you get it?" He asked.
Yamamoto touched at the tooth, the canine threatening to puncture his thumb as he squeezed it in memory.
"It was Daiki-kun's. Mephistopheles, his dog, was caught up in a raid trying to protect Bo-kun. He was shot, just like his master." The older answered slowly, "Daiki-kun was absolutely gone when that happened, he was probably more distraught about Miphy dying than Kaede-san."
"Yamaguchi-san's mother's dead too!?"
"Yeah, he...Daiki-kun chose between saving my father and his mother." Yamamoto breathed, the faintest quiver of a smile coming to his lips as he continued to thumb at the tooth. "He was always so...Dumb like that. Wonderfully, lovingly dumb."
A laugh came out after a moment, the Rain leaning back as he fiddled with the calcium.
"There was a day, where Miphy must have been hit by the Bazooka in your time, and he showed up in the middle of a CEDEF meeting. Daiki-kun was there as a third party witness, and 'poof!' puppy in the room. I don't- I could nearly never replicate the sheer happiness that had showed on his face when he has realised just what had landed on his chest. I don't think, in that whole 5 minutes, he let go of Miphy once."
Tsuna listened quietly, hearing the happy, melancholy sadness dripping from the man's words, eyes growing a dangerous warm as he watched his friend wither with old-happy. There was a definite, loud sniff from the Rain, before he pushed himself back forwards, shaking his head.
"You two were married. Reborn-san wouldn't' have called him your spouse, if you weren't."
"Yeah. Yeah, we were. For four years. Only four years."
Only.
"Funny thing was, Daiki-kun said once, when I refused to get out of bed, that we had all the time in the world. God, I wish I had just woken up, even if it were just spent spending the whole day with him in bed, just as long as I was awake enough to remember it - just-"
A hand came and clutched the breast of his singlet, scabs cracking with the strain.
"God, I don't think you get it, Tsuna-san. Daiki-kun takes up so much of my heart it's like there's barely any room for blood!" Tanned shoulders shuddered. "But- but now he's gone and it's rotting."
"Yamamoto-kun!" Tsuna yelped, grabbing the man's wrist as teeth ground against raw knuckles. "No! Bad things!"
Bad things?! Was he really in such a panic that he couldn't even form a proper sentence!?
Despite how his ears burnt, it seemed to work something on the Rain, as a laugh of amusement left him, loud and clear, though the pale red lines of blood droplets that slunk between his teeth were off putting when seen so close.
"Haha! You know, Tsuna-san, you shouldn't feel so guilty." He giggled, making Tsuna pause. "I think that Daiki-kun knew what was coming. Somehow."
"Huh?" The Sky blinked. "How could he do that?"
Yamamoto smiled.
"In that weird, Daiki-kun way of his."
|S.T|
|G.H|
Everything really has gone to hell.
Gokudera groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose, the headache he had been battling still throbbing strong in his cranium, even as they walked through the area of warehouses, on their way to find that 'Hibird'.
People were dead. People were missing. The Vongola were driven underground. The future Boss had dictated that the Rings be destroyed. And now, here they were, scrambling in the undergrowth and shadows, just trying to scrape together a tangible defence.
He sighed and rubbed his face, before smiling as Tsuna glanced over his shoulder.
"You okay, Gokudera-kun?" The Sky asked, getting a glance from the adult Rain.
A widower.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Tenth." He laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'm just a bit weirded out."
"Hm, same." The younger agreed, slowing his stride until they were side by side.
Gokudera blinked at that, before hiding his smile in his chest, calming at the sense of his Sky beside him. Yamamoto seemed to find this funny, his shoulders jumping with quiet laughter.
"No need to stress, Gokudera-kun!" The Rain cheered, holding his hand in a displaying fist. "I'll train you both like an intensive baseball camp!"
Just as those words were spoken, an almighty 'boom!' rattled the very foundations of the warehouses, the sky going red with fire and smoke as familiar shouts came through and Yamamoto brought his hand to his sword.
"This way!"
"Hurry!"
"Ah! Those voices are-" Tsuna began, but they all already were on the same understanding, having moved onto the figures with I-pin and Lambo.
"Kyoko-nee, Haru-nee, leave this to us!"
"Run!"
The Storm gaped as the forms of the TYL I-pin and Lambo took up small spaces in the cloud of smoke, standing out with their clothes as they guided another through the haze. Before a clear image of the girl could be comprehended, a mass of cement tubing crashed to the ground with an ear-bashing crash, making the Sky give a shout of surprise and direct attention to the previously unseen figures treading air above them.
"What the-" Gokudera began, only to be cut off as the Rain surge forwards with a kind of feral viciousness.
"Millefiore Black Spell!" Yamamoto hissed, spitting out the name like it was acidic to his pallet.
Two men, donned in silver and black, and standing upon exhausts of Storm, loomed in the near horizon, weapons of flaming scythes balanced in their hands. They seemed to add a pressure of tension to the atmosphere, and Gokudera could feel his Flames rise in preparation.
The widowed Rain snarled angrily, before shaking his head and reeling himself back in from whatever craze he had let himself slip into for less than a moment, gesturing to them with his hand over his shoulder.
"You guys, take off the Mammon Chains! Unseal the Rings!"
There was less than a second for both sides to hash out orders before the youngest of the Black Spell Storms dived with a kamikaze confidence, red lit scythe already crashing down by the time he had reached shoulder height. The clash of metal rung out, splitting ear as Yamamoto's sword stood the abuse without so much as a flinch, before sending the youth soaring backwards to a safe stance.
"You know this guy, aniki?" He called out, summoning the attention to the one who dawdled by the rooves nonchalantly.
"He might be on the hit list." Was the thoughtless response, the large man not at all invested in the scene. "How should I remember all the people I've got to kill?"
"True! Just to be safe then!" The young sneered with glee, raising his scythe and landing metallic blows again and again.
Gokudera called his Boss back a couple steps and the Rain responded in kind to his attacker, falling into what the Storm believed to be his 8th offensive, moving around in a manner that made him nigh untouchable. The swordsman clicked his tongue as the Black spell retreated with a wet scream of pain, his shirt blooming red as Yamamoto flicked his sword aside with an arced splash of crimson.
"Too shallow."
"Nasaru, get back!" The one who floating above snapped, Italian requiring no suffix.
"Gah!" The youth cried out, clutching at his chest as he seemed to stumble mid-air.
Shallow?!
Gokudera looked at his old classmate with a mixture of wonder and caution. Yamamoto wasn't pulling any punches here.
At some point, an older version of Haru had joined the Boss' side, but the Storm was too thoroughly distracted to completely notice, registering it in passing as his body bristled in begrudging respect and instinct, his fingers checking the condition of bombs and wicks. The young woman giggled, though her voice was tense, like she was trying to lighten the ash-laced mood.
Yamamoto stood with his back to them, hands bringing forth another one of those boxes, which easily neutralised an attack from the other, before turning to them with a fractured smile.
"You guys remember these, yeah? The Rings give them power." He spoke with a kind of misplace ease, vocals contrasting abruptly with his body language.
Despite how his entirety sang to get the hell out of the Rain's sphere of influence, the Storm took in what he was saying, the enemy stunned and momentarily regrouping to debate the situation. Gokudera thinned his lips and grabbed out his own box, looking between his Ring and the item critically. With a few more words of explanation, he plugged the Ring in place, a gruff surge of pride coming as he heard the click.
Tsuna gave a sound of surprise as no more action came, a hum of annoyance leaving the Storm as he blinked at the inactive device.
"Haha," The Rain snickered good naturedly, "There isn't just blood and oxygen running through the human body, there are other things. Things you can't see with the naked eye."
Gokudera blinked as he listened, before uttering a noise of recognition and blurting his realisation.
"Imagine resolution as fire! Like that fucking giant, Yamaguchi-san, does!"
Mocha eyes flashed, before a reminiscent smile touched Yamamoto's lips.
"Yeah, like Daiki-kun did..."
Both the Sky and Storm cringed a bit at the past tense, but had no time to interject as a swallow burst forth from yet another of the Rain's boxes and slashed past the youth, Nosaru, making the Millefiore agents shout and hiss.
"Ugh, this guy, he's the Vongola Rain Guardian!" Growled the older Millefiore man.
The Yamamoto man smirked something sharp and ordered the Sky after the missing Kyoko, before withdrawing two more boxes, blue in colour and theme.
"This will decide it." He stated, before tossing them into the air-
Poof!
|G.H|
|Y.T|
To: Shujin-kun
Daiki? Please answer!
To: Shujin-kun
I'm scared, please, Daiki.
To: Shujin-kun
Miphy won't stop growling at people, he bit Gokudera cause he tried to grab Lambo.
To: Shujin-kun
I love you.
To: Shujin-kun
I love you so much.
To: Shujin-kun
Good morning, shujin-kun!
To: Shujin-kun
Baseball's got pretty hard now, the guys are getting better at pitching. Nowhere near as good as you though!
To: Shujin-kun
Gah, so much homework! I need you to help meeee!
To: Shujin-kun
Daiki~! You wanna go out soon? There's a movie I wanna watch!
To: Shujin-kun
Please come home.
To: Shujin-kun
It's hurting.
…
Yamamoto Takeshi weighed the baseball bat in his hand absently as he sat on the bench, the sound of metallic collisions bouncing off his ears numbly. His face was flat and void with thought, mind long gone from the field, phone silent beside him.
"Batter out!"
"Hey, Yamamoto-san, you're up!" The coach hollered, making his head snap up.
"U-uh," The Rain started, stowing his device in his bag and donning his helmet. "Coming!"
The Vongola Guardian trotted over to the stand and positioned himself, bat raised as he waited with spry tension. As he gazed on, the ball being retrieved, his thoughts made his eyes glaze over.
Lambo wasn't feeling well today, he ate too much ice cream last night and had puked it all up at the early hours of the morning. It had woken him up from his restless sleep, and he had dashed to the bathroom to help the tearing toddler, holding his de facto son and rubbing his trembling back. The reason he had let the little Lightning consume so much of the sugary treat was to distract him, the boy had asked for Daiki for almost the entire afternoon, and only seemed to fall quiet when he had something in his mouth - and even then, it was usually a loud, mouth sound filled silence.
The result had left Takeshi tenderly rubbing Lambo's stomach as they laid out on his bed, the young boy wanting to stay close to 'daddy', Mephisto curled at their feet.
It still made his heart swell, a kind of paternal seed within him springing up whenever Lambo accepted his affections or referred to him as a father.
It had made Tsuyoshi choke on his drink when he got the label of 'oji-san!', and a stern talking to was drilled into the Rain's ears afterwards.
He loved it nonetheless, and he knew his father was coming around too - though, he seemed to have a little less patience of Lambo's...quirks than either Takeshi or Daiki possessed. Then again, no one could control Lambo like Daiki did, he was a real Papa's Boy, their little Bo-kun.
"Strike one!"
"Oi, wake up! Where's your head!?"
Takeshi blinked and made a noise of surprise as he whipped around, the ball snugly fit into the mitt of the catcher.
"Haha, sorry, sorry!" The Rain laughed sheepishly, letting plastic humour slip out from between his teeth.
"Pay attention!"
"Yes, yes!"
Turning back around, the batsman tightened his stance before letting the ball crack against the metal of his equipment, sending it flying before he bolted, slamming the first and second bases with his feet before screeching to a halt at the third base, dirt spraying as he grinned up at the baseman who bemoaned the late catch.
"Safe!"
"I'll get you one day, Yamamoto-san." He grumbled, throwing the ball back to the pitcher.
As the players assembled, Takeshi shifted on his feet, making sure to keep one stationed on the white pad even as his mind drifted, eyes anchored to the batter as images of Daiki and Lambo scanted around his vision.
Daiki always held their little Lightning in a manner that he couldn't quite emulate, and he could tell that it was perturbing the young boy after so long. Daiki could sing and coo in rich, smooth basses that would make their hairs stand on end pleasantly and calm them like some sort of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response that could only be sourced from the father and husband's voice.
God, how the Rain worried. How he paced around his room, patting the infant's back as he sang in a croaky tone, glancing out his window, in hopes that eyes of amber-earth would peep up over the edge and shine with giggles.
He wanted Daiki back. He wanted his husband safe. He wanted his love hom-
"Move! Move!"
Takeshi yelped as he was shoved from the base and sent toppling, feet automatically finding the ground and leaving him to sprint for the home plate, another batter hot on his heels as the ball was passed from hands to hands. Their feet bashed the home plate just as the white blur whizzed past their heads, making the batter behind the Rain yelp in fear.
"Yamamoto-san!" Roared the coach, bulky form coming up to impose height. "Pull your head in! We can't risk you being so out of it when we have a game coming up!"
The boy thinned his lips, feeling how dry they were.
"I get that you've got a situation going on, but priorities!"
Priorities?
"I'd hate to bench you, but if you can't straighten up and get in gear then-"
Priorities…
"Are you even listening to me?!"
Takeshi's priorities.
"Yamamoto-san!"
"Daiki-kun's gone missing," He began suddenly, making the team cease and quieten. "Bo-kun is sick at home. The others didn't show up to school today. The situation I've got is my priority."
He carefully took off the blue helmet, scratched up but polished lovingly, tucking it under his arm as he nodded his head at the teacher.
"I'll go home early today, coach. Good luck with the rest of practice."
Then he packed up his stuff and booked it home.
Takeshi pushed the door open and was immediately greeted by his little Lambo stumbling up to him, Mary tucked into his pit, arms out for a hug which he gladly dished out as he toed off his shoes. Setting the child on his hip, he kissed the hot forehead with a soft 'hello' before calling out for his father, who stuck his head in from the restaurant extension.
"Eh? You're home early. Did practice get cut short?" Tsuyoshi asked, rubbing his wet hands with a dish towel.
"No, I left halfway through." Takeshi admitted, rubbing Lambo's back as the Lightning cuddled into his chest.
His father blinked.
"Okay, then."
He knew when not to say anything.
There was a resounding bark, before the fluffy blur of white bounded down the hall, Mephistopheles jumping onto his hind legs and balancing against the swordsman's legs as he panted in greeting. The little hitman blinked and lazily reached for the pup, onesie covered hand curling in a grabby motion and Takeshi used his own hand to fill it up, drawing the child back to his chest as the dog dropped and sat with patient tension.
"Lambo-kun's getting better, but I don't think he's going to want to eat much of a dinner tonight. Might be better just to give him a bit of soup and send him to bed." The Yamamoto father recommended, tossing a hand in the boy's direction.
"Papa gives me chicken soup. Lambo-san likes chicken soup." The little Guardian murmured huffily, quieting a little as his cheek was kissed before pressing his nose into the red bonnet of the doll.
"Mhm, chicken soup it is then." The Rain nodded, hiking up his bags. "I'll keep an eye on him until dinner."
The old chef made a gruff noise of understanding before disappearing back into the shop.
Takeshi smiled down at his little Lambo before entering his room, the high pitched tapping of Mephisto following them across the wooden floorboards. The random junk from the Lightning's hammerspace littered the floor alongside his own collection in a rather domestic mess, an empty, circle of a space having been formed beside the door. Mephistopheles' station.
The Rain hummed a rough tune as he dropped his bags and lowered the boy onto the mattress, kicking the emptied bucket beside his bed closer to the frame, before he climbed on and brought Lambo to his chest, rubbing the child's stomach in a soothing motion. The highlander stood in his station for a moment, sniffing the shut door frame nervously, before, hesitantly, he walked over to the bed, leaping up and fitting himself next to the long legs of the athlete.
"Daddy, when's Papa coming back?" His little son grumbled quietly, grabbing the chain that held his rings during baseball practice, Mary safely propped up on the side table, overlooking the interaction.
The Rain paused his petting, and pressed a tense, apologetic kiss to the boy's brow.
"Soon, Bo-kun. Papa will come home soon, just be patient." He shushed, nosing at his crown.
"I miss him."
Takeshi hugged him tighter, feeling how the Lightning's stomach gurgled unsettlingly.
"I miss him too."
Lambo rolled over, before rearing up and pecking him on the cheek, making the Rain blink in surprise. His eyes watered, before he curled around the child, feeling that fire within him step to the Lightning and keep it company.
…
Shrieks of laughter peeled from the Rain's vocals as Daiki fit himself between his legs, keeping them at a restless bay as his hands scanted across the other's stomach and sides, making sun-kissed skin vibrate with hysterical reaction. Takeshi howled in glee as he beat at his shoulders, grabbing at wrists and trying to bind them away, but his defences were weak with laughter, allowing the older to break through easily and descend upon him.
Warm lips pressed against his, firm yet soft, and he wrapped his arms around the grand body of his beloved, feeling a hand cup his jaw as he closed his eyes to enjoy the touch. He crossed his legs over the Sun's thighs, curling around him fully until he could feel every shift of muscle, crooning happily as Daiki allowed it without complaint, cuddling in closer as their mouths moved in a slow, peaceful manner.
Then he was alone.
Takeshi sat up in confusion as the room no longer even resembled that little bedroom in the Yamaguchi house. Though the basic shape was the same, furniture was different and in unnatural orders. The childhood remnants of frog stickers and random piling up of books were gone, and instead a distasteful population of model and toy aeroplanes coloured the space.
Something within him grew tense and fearful, and he shot to his feet and ran to the under stocked desk, grabbing unfamiliar work books and flipping them open with grit teeth. The English handwriting was changed, instead of looping, flowing, natural cursive, there instead stood shaky, printed characters, a beginner's imitation of the Western language.
This wasn't right. No, no, no.
He tossed that book aside with insistence and grabbed at another, reading the swallowed answers and half-hearted notes that would get them no further than perhaps just scraping past. These weren't Daiki's notes.
"W-What the hell!?"
Takeshi snapped around and stared at the teen filling the bedroom doorway. He was short and thin, still clad in his pyjamas and carrying a box of something bought online as he took up the frame that the Rain was so used to seeing the Sun lean up against.
"Who are- You're that Yamamoto-san from school! Why're you in my room!?" He blurted, taking a step back just as the swordsman rose.
"Your room?" Takeshi uttered, looking down at the book in his hand, before dropping it, as if it had suddenly grown a fungus.
"U-uh, Yamamo-"
"Where's Daiki-kun?" He snipped quickly, feeling a tension rise through his spine.
"Huh?" The boy blinked, not registering fast enough for the Rain's liking.
"Yamaguchi Daiki, where is he? This is where he lives!"
"Wha- No, this- this is my room?"
The Rain bared his teeth in frustration and grabbed the rambling boy by his collar, heaving him off the floor as the box clattered on the wooden panels.
"Where is Yamaguchi Daiki?! This is the Yamaguchi bakery, he has to be here!"
"No it isn't!" The boy cried, short legs kicking in free air. "This my mum's nail salon!"
"I've never heard of a Yamaguchi Daiki!"
…
Takeshi lurched awake with a gasp that turned into coughing, throat stinging with the sudden inhalation of saliva. His heaving subsided after a few moments, hand on his chest as he levelled out his breath and sighed.
"Daiki-kun...Shujin-kun." He murmured, before looking up as Mephisto nipped his jaw. "Hey, boy."
The pup whined softly and nosed around his face, worry obvious in the little canine as the Rain curled his arms around him in a comforting hug.
"Your master is so high maintenance." Takeshi huffed, lifting his jaw for the dog to tuck his head under. "I hope he's safe."
Mephisto let out a keen and shuffled as they laid down again, his tail still.
…
"Takeshi-kun, go run to the store for me, we need more vegetables."
"Eh?" The swordsman whined, lifting his head from the pillow, Lambo completely dead to the world in the crook of his arm.
"It's just a quick thing, don't complain." Tsuyoshi huffed, before leaving the door open as he walked away, making the Yamamoto son groan.
Takeshi looked down at the soundly sleeping Lightning for a moment, watching how a little chest rose and fell, how a little, reddened nose twitched. He smiled and leant forwards, pressing a warm kiss to the child's crown.
"Papa and I love you, Bo-kun." He whispered, grabbing a tissue from his side table and wiping the drool from the child's mouth. "We love you will all our hearts."
Mephisto lifted his head as the Rain began organising himself, and growled softly when he reached for the door handle, as the pup had taken to since Daiki's disappearance.
The swordsman hushed him quickly, before sighing and waving as he walked out. A quick change of clothes had left him in a parody of refreshed as he took the shopping list from the kitchen table and stuffed his feet into his shoes.
"Don't take too long, I've got to start dinner."
"Yup, yup." Takeshi yawned, closing the door behind him as he stretched his arms up, letting his bones groan.
Reading over the list, the Rain grimaced at the mention of kale, his feet colliding softly with the pavement as he walked towards the town.
"I'm sorry! I have to!"
Takeshi blinked, before throwing his arms up to cover his face as a plume of smoke swallowed him with a bang. Vertigo over took him as weightlessness registered- then he was on his feet again, the lack of unsteadiness surprising.
"Baseball freak!" Gokudera shouted, making him spin around.
"Gokudera-kun!" He laughed, eyes roaming quickly over the other's body, checking for ailment, but finding none. "Where've you been?"
"Idiot! You have the worst timing!"
'Woof!'
The Rain spun around quickly as a flash of white darted between his legs, mocha immediately focusing in on the form of Mephisto as the pup bared his teeth at the sky scape.
"Miphy!"
Poof!
"What the hell!?" Gokudera roared, making the Rain blink and follow his rage to the other cloud of fading smoke.
"Why is everyone back to their past selves!?"
|Y.T|
|REBORN|
Yamamoto was being unreasonable.
The hitman thinned his lips as the newly arrived members of the Vongola's Tenth Generation stood before him, the Rain Guardian cradling a sleeping Lightning to his chest as he bared his teeth at some unseen enemy.
"What do you mean? Daiki-kun is dead?!" He snapped, getting the girls to flinch as Kyoko bit her lip, eyes watering.
The Yamaguchi's dog snarled, standing fiercely between the group and the Arcobaleno.
"I said that the Yamaguchi Daiki of this time is dead. However, the one you are familiar with is unaccounted for."
The creature in his arms stirred a bit at those words, as if even in sleep, the Lightning could tell something was wrong. Yamamoto quickly calmed him little vocal clicks and cooes, rubbing his back in a practised motion that made Reborn sigh.
"Unaccounted for is better than dead, Yamamoto-san. It allows for hope."
The swordsman glanced away.
"I guess. Yeah."
Reborn narrowed his eyes for a moment. A Rain's job is to wash away the sin and tension of the Family. This Rain is being ineffective.
That Yamaguchi is trouble even when he's absent.
"Moving on," He said, breaking the room out of their thoughts. "Now that you're all caught up to the situation, we should go and check on Dame-Tsuna. He should be awake by now."
Kyoko and Haru both walked out of the room with little hesitance, perhaps hoping Tsuna had answers, perhaps hoping he could merely provide a distraction. Reborn turned his gaze onto the still standing boy, watching quietly as the Lightning Guardian stirred slowly.
"Papa?" The child asked, glancing around at the unfamiliar environment.
"No, Bo-kun, no Papa." Yamamoto sighed.
"I heard people talking about him."
"Mm, I know, we were. Papa's still not found yet. But we'll find him soon."
"Really? Are you sure he's not dead?"
Yamamoto stared. Before he slowly began shaking his head.
"He's not dead, Bo-kun. Don't say that about your father, please."
"Sorry, Daddy."
Reborn watched as they left, locking his eyes to the back of the Rain's head, rather than looking to the green gaze of the Bovino child who nearly glared at him.
|REBORN|
|S.K|
Sasagawa Kyoko scrunched her nose.
"That's a weird way to cook curry."
"Gwah!" Haru exclaimed, shooting up from her corner of produce boxes. "Your way is weirder! Why would you cut the onions so roughly!?"
"They're going to be soft and melted anyway! What's the point?"
"Presentation!" She wailed indignantly.
Kyoko snickered at the response she had gotten and hiked up a box of basic ingredients.
She was denying it. Denying all of it, and she knew that. She wasn't denying denying, but that's didn't mean she was going to accept. Not right now.
She had seen the state they were all in, Yamamoto, Tsuna, Haru, Gokudera. They were all under so much pressure, anything could break them at this point, anything could lead them into a place that they really did not deserve or need to be in right now.
So she grit her teeth and smile, taking some of the pressure off of their shoulders.
Yamamoto would smile back, but she could see the thin lines of blood in his teeth and the shreds of his knuckles. Gokudera would scowl, but she could see how he touched at his pockets. Tsuna would try, but she could see how his shoulders bunched.
Daiki was missing. She couldn't see anything at all.
Lambo streaked past their room with a screech of joy, I-pin chasing him with texta on her face.
"Ah, to be young again." Haru sighed dramatically.
"Must have been so long ago for you, obaa-chan." Kyoko grinned, before dodging an onion.
|S.K|
|Y.T|
They were meant to be cooperating.
As much as the Yamamoto son loved to poke and provoke the bristling Storm, he so wished that Gokudera had the ability to pull his fucking head in when the situation required it. But no, he let his temper and paranoia rule his mind and actions. It made the Rain grit his teeth, wishing he could just punch the logic into the boy's head, maybe hit him repeatedly with the blunt side of his sword, just as long as he finally understood that he was the Right Hand Man.
The Rain thinned his lips as he listened to the other boy get beaten bloody and bruised by the flying, blonde pool player with a stick, the crackle of electricity snapping against his ears and making his hair stand on end with charge.
"I'm surprised you're being so passive, young Rain Guardian." Gamma hummed, giving the poor Storm a moment to pant, fingers spasming with residue currents. "Especially when the Black Spell's responsible for-"
"Hey! Didn't I say that I was your opponent!" Gokudera roared, firing off another of his Storm Arrows, which the Lightning swerved around easily and responded to with another stroke of thunder.
Takeshi narrowed his eyes at the flying man, but tried not to let his mind dabble on the words that had been tossed at him, knowing they were just there to provoke him. His nose twitched minutely as the smell of burnt cloth and hair reached him along with the almighty boom of connection, a soft groan and the shaky hissing the only signs of life from the half-Italian.
He didn't listen as Gamma continued to ramble, but he understood the basic gist of the conversation, a skill from the classroom. Nonetheless, the grip on Kintoki Shigure tightened before he moved, already knowing that Gokudera wasn't going to be able to disengage from the course of those arcs.
"What are yo-"
Takeshi thinned his lips and crashed the bamboo of his sword across the Storm's shoulder, not denying the slight satisfaction he received from the blunt force connection, nor that he may have applied more strength than was completely necessary.
"I've decided to take a note out of Hibari-san's book," He sent a sharp look to the groaning teen. "And beat that rotten attitude out of you."
|Y.T|
|GAMMA|
These were who were to become the revered Vongola Tenth Generation? Gamma had to hold back an untimely guffaw.
These children could barely walk in time, let alone reach the feat of unison that they were so feared for. When Gamma had discovered that he had been met with two of the Guardians, the Rain and Storm no less, he had been ready to charge full voltage and blow them away before that had a chance to find each other.
But then they had stumbled and tripped over their own feet, lashing out at their comrade, even when faced with an immediate enemy.
Gamma had felt the sudden desire to rather promptly facepalm, perhaps if he did it loud enough, they'd shut up and take even a semblance of their future selves.
Oh, it hurt his pride as a Mafia to see the Vongola Guardian quarrelling like children at such a time. The idea of using his pool pole to smack them upside the head until he scrambled their brains back into resettlement, was looking better and better by the moment.
The Lightning sighed and fiddled with the pole as they bickered, absently wondering if he had any gum left in his pocket from Nasaru, before perking when there was silence, and the Rain huffed off to stand in the shade of a tree.
Well...He didn't know whether to be impressed that the Generation had come so far since then, or hang his head to the fact that they were ever seen as gods amongst men.
"This is really embarrassing," He sighed to himself, before announcing a loud: "Did you two just break up?"
From there, God, from there it almost made him feel bad for what he was doing. Dragging the poor kid around by his ears, just watching as he made stupid move after stupid move with underpowered skills. Each strike was met with easy avoidance, though, he did manage a few surprises.
What weird metamorphosis did these children go through to make them into the Vongola Tenth Generation?
The Storm, for no amount of not trying, continued to fail to measure, lashing out at the Rain at every opportunity as if he had some sort of inferiority complex.
He pulled his stick back and prepared to strike, each ball buzzing with lethal currents. The Storm Guardian was in his sights, and floundering as he was, he was still a relatively still target.
It was a shame, really. The Tenth Generation were the greatest examples of Flame Synchrony to have ever been known.
Gamma struck the balls and sent them flying, the familiar thunder crack, and the roasting smell of a human body wafting into the charged air. Then he cast his gaze to the solemnly standing Rain boy, not once had he moved from his station, arms crossed in silent observation.
His lip twitched. The Lightning had seen the Rain Guardian hold the same expression once, hard and blank, but he had seen it crack and flay at the edges when the Yamaguchi had died, shot down in front of his crowd, his Family and family. Oh, that bitch Byakuran had celebrated that day, he had opened a bag of marshmallows and had stuffed himself sick with them, going as far as having his Princess eat one as well, chewing with glazed over eyes.
It was times like those that only reinforced Gamma's belief that Byakuran had done something to her, for Uni was too fond of Yamaguchi to have let that slide. To let the public execution of her friend slide off the table and under the rug.
His eyes went to the Rain again, the to-be widowed Rain. He wondered if he'd be so calm if he knew the gunman bore a black uniform.
|GAMMA|