Chapter 54: Truly Disciplined
Tsuyoshi recognized the quiet sounds the minute he entered the shop. He had last heard those sounds coming home from shopping three months after Mako had died. In the dark corner between the stove and the rice cabinets, Takeshi had rolled into a ball and a mess of tears. The sight had broken Tsuyoshi's heart, especially when Takeshi had immediately tried to dry his tears and stop his sobs when he saw Tsuyoshi. A few quiet spoken words and shared tears had remedied the situation, but Tsuyoshi didn't think that would work in the situation, not if those sobs belonged to who he thought they did.
Carefully keeping his steps silent, Tsuyoshi opened the door quietly and peered into the kitchen. A sad smile curled his lips, and he just as silently closed the door. One Yamamoto was all that was needed in that situation, and there were already enough pairs of eyes viewing the scene. The smile still in place, Tsuyoshi headed towards the training room to lug his purchases upstairs that way. Nana was sitting in the doorway as Tsuyoshi entered through the outside door. She gave him a sweet smile that reminded Tsuyoshi of her son's while at the same time seemed all her own.
"Welcome home," said Nana. "Do you need help since the boys are taking up the kitchen?"
"A man should never ask a lady for help carrying something," said Tsuyoshi, his father's words echoing through his head. "It makes him look weak."
A wince flashed through Nana's features, and Tsuyoshi had not trouble interpreting the cause. Iemistu must have said something like that at some point. But before Tsuyoshi could think of anything to say, Nana quickly smiled again.
"You men always have to act so manly," said Nana. "I wonder if Tsu-kun and Tama-chan will say something like that to a girl someday."
"They'd be a step behind my Takeshi," said Tsuyoshi, putting down his purchases. Thankfully none of the purchases needed to be refrigerated immediately. "He told a girl that when he was the first grade."
"Really? Oh my, what a gentleman," said Nana.
"Yes, his mother made sure of that," said Tsuyoshi, debating whether he should finish the story and include the fact that the mother of the little girl came the next day and proposed a marriage contract. Mako had dealt with the women accordingly.
"Why are you coming up this way? Is there something the matter in the kitchen?" asked a voice behind Nana. A frazzled haired girl stood tall at the bottom of the steps, and Tsuyoshi's smile became a grin at the sharp, intelligent expression coming out from under the girl's uncombed hair. "I would offer to help with the packages, but if your son is any indication of your family's code of honor, I would assume you would only refuse my help."
"My son does do a good job of keeping my family's honor intact," said Tsuyoshi. The girl gave him a slightly irritated look that Mako would have approved of before turning to Nana.
"So why haven't you entered the kitchen? Is there a rat running around and making it difficult for you to use it? Because I am certain that Yamamoto-san can take care of that problem quickly," she said before taking a look at the bags around Tsuyoshi's feet. "Though it seems that whatever is going on in there is something that even an experienced swordsman doesn't want to deal with."
"Tsuna and Takeshi are taking care of it," said Nana, and Tsuyoshi grinned at her perceptiveness. It wasn't only her son that could take stock of a situation without fully seeing it.
"So he's back," said the girl, a full blown glare being thrown at the kitchen door. She strode forward. "Good, because I have a few things I have to remind to him."
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait," said Tsuyoshi. He took half a step sideways to block the Kurokawa girl's path. "Takeshi's taking his turn first."
"Fine," said Hana, stopping mid-stride. After giving the door another hard glare, she focused her attention on Nana. "What exactly did you need me to come over for? I assume that he wasn't here yet when you called."
"Oh right. No, Tsu-kun wasn't back yet, and I do apologize for all the trouble my request has caused you," said Nana. "I didn't want to bother you, but I couldn't get it to work."
"Get what to work?" asked Hana-chan.
"The program on the computer," said Nana with her slightly sheepish smile. "I'm not very good with the internet. Tama-kun used to help me with it when I needed to use it. Tsu-kun would try, but he isn't that good with it either."
"Fine," said Hana-chan, fast enough that the shadows wouldn't settle in Nana's eyes. Tsuyoshi could tell the girl had practice with the younger Sawada. "Where is this computer?"
"Upstairs," said Nana. "Tsuyoshi has let us use his."
"It's not like it was doing me much good," said Tsuyoshi. His grin was stretched just wide enough on his face to keep from looking suspicious. He hadn't used the computer in at least a year before Tsuna came. Since it had been a helpful tool for keeping Fon here and Tsuyoshi apprised of the going-ons of the mafia. However, he hadn't been using it since Tsuna and Nana had come to stay. Just because the woman now understood some of the mafia didn't mean that Tsuyoshi wished to increase her knowledge of that world.
The two females walked up the stairs, and Tsuyoshi followed quietly behind, listening to their conversation.
"So what is it that your son asked you to the on the computer you barely used," asked Hana-chan.
"He wanted me to keep in touch with one of his friends. He said her name was Nakimori Nagi. I thought Tama-chan used to play with a girl with that name in the hospital back when I was sick, and Tsu-kun told me she was the same girl. I was so happy to hear that Tsu-kun was talking to her again, and from what I saw in the e-mail, he was talking to her as Tsu-kun and not Tama-kun."
"You knew about that?" said Hana-chan, giving the woman a side-glance. "That Tsu-kun decided to cover for the moronic monkey king when he got sick?"
"Of course. A mother can always tell her sons apart."
The Kurokawa girl grunted but didn't reply. Tsuyoshi admired her restraint. Suddenly, Hana-chan stopped mid-step.
"What exactly did Tsuna tell you to do when he asked you to keep in touch with Nakimori?" asked the girl, her tone clip and her words hard.
"He told me to keep sending her messages until he got back. He made me promise, and so I did my best. But I don't think the messages are getting through. She hasn't replied to a single one of them," said Nana with a bit more cheerfulness that normal.
"He made you promise to keep emailing her until he came back," repeated the Kurokawa girl, her fingers digging into the railing against the wall. Her dark brown eyes smoldered with an anger that Tsuyoshi hadn't seen since Mako. "And what if he didn't come back?"
"Then I would keep sending her messages, I guess," said Nana in her lightest tone as she sent a quick look at the closed kitchen door. The Kurokawa girl turned around to march down the steps, but Tsuyoshi stepped in her way.
"Don't worry," said Tsuyoshi. His grin more of a grim smile. "My Takeshi will take care of it."
She glared at him but mumbled a comment that Tsuyoshi could barely hear about stupid sons and fathers that idolized each other and turned around.
"Let's get this taken care of," said Hana-chan. "I want to be done so that I can have my turn with that idiotically stubborn son you have."
"I wouldn't want you to lose your turn," said Nana. Her brown eyes bore a steel that had Tsuyoshi worrying a little extra for the brown-haired boy in the kitchen. Tsuyoshi would have to make sure to explain to Tsuna why it wasn't a good idea to make women worry.
Soon the computer turned on, and the screen light flickered on. The model wasn't very new or very old, and it ran at a fairly slow speed. Tsuyoshi quickly learned that fewer people were compelled to go through an old man's computer if it took several minutes to obey a command. Hana-chan dealt with it with impressive patience, though her frustration came out in loud, angry sighs and quiet growls. Tsuyoshi considered imputing the command to increase the computer's processing speed, but then he would get a lot of unwanted questions. Unfortunately for Hana-chan, Tsuyoshi wasn't prepared to answer them.
"Finally," the girl muttered as the email account appeared on the screen. She scrolled down the page and inspected the emails. She was silent as she shifted between settings and controls and the different folders, her silence becoming more and more grave as her face grew more serious.
"Well?" said Nana, breaking the heavy silence.
"As far as I can tell, they are being sent, but they are not being opened," said Hana-chan as she leant back and away from the computer. "The last email she sent didn't imply that her mother suspected that she was emailing Tsuna, but then she is too much like your son and might just not have said anything. However nothing in the tone of the email implies that she feels her contact to Tsuna is being threatened."
"So it's not the computer then?" said Nana, staring at the screen with worried eyes.
"No," said Hana-chan, looking back at the woman. The girl stared at Nana before continuing in a harder tone, "But you didn't think it was."
"I wouldn't have known," said Nana with a thin and see-through smile. "I already told you I am bad with computers."
"You think something happened to her," said the Kurokawa girl, "but you don't want to add more problems when there are already enough here. But something about it won't leave you alone."
"Like I said. I'm just no good with computers," said Nana.
"Yes, but you still think there is something more going on with this," said Hana-chan, standing from the chair in front of the computer which she didn't bother to turn off. "I will see what I can find out. This might be another problem, but this is one problem we might be able to take care of before your ridiculously self-blaming son can catch on about it. Between this new weirdo group in town and the whole failure of a plan, he's got enough to make us worry about him. Yamamoto-san, if you would allow me use of your phone, I will begin to find out what is going on with Nakimori."
His grin wide and loose, Tsuyoshi led the girl downstairs to the phone. Between them all, they might just keep Tsuna in one piece.
Reborn waited until his student's sobs silenced. Then he appeared from his corner in front of the born hitman and future right hand of Vongola Decimo. At one time, Reborn had had hopes that Gokudera would become Tsuna's right hand. Smokin' Bomb Hayato already had a reputation in the mafia underworld and an understanding of how it worked. Also, the boy was genius and would have made a wonderful right hand man if properly groomed. But moments like these had cropped up too often for Reborn to ignore in whom Tsuna's trust truly lay. Frowning, Reborn kept his eyes focused on the young swordsman holding Tsuna's limp body upright and not on the figure that appeared right beside him.
"You did well, Takeshi-kun," said Fon, his approval pervading his words. "I believe we can be of assistance in helping you get him to bed."
"It's alright. Tsuna's not very heavy," said Takeshi quietly standing and repositioning Tsuna onto his back. "Hana will want to talk to him though. I guess we'll have to throw the welcome back party later."
"She will have to wait until tomorrow, and the party will have to hold for a few more days," said Reborn. "Our no-good student needs to rest so that he can start training."
"Mom always said a quick punishment leads a person to become slower at doing the wrong thing again," said the young swordsman with a grin. "Dad's going to restart my training tomorrow too."
"I doubt it is punishment in your case," said Fon, and Reborn clenched his teeth. The hitman had always thought that the storm arcobaleno was too open to be part of the mafia.
"No," said Yamamoto as he started up the stairs. "Waiting for Tsuna was."
"Yes, it was," agreed the storm arcobaleno. Reborn didn't verbalize his agreement, and instead focused on exactly how much the future Vongola Decimo was going to ache the following afternoon.
Shoichi stood in front of Takesushi , hoping that this time would be different from the last two visits. Hopefully Tsuna will have reappeared, and they would be able to get started on Plan F. They would get Tsuna's brother back next time. No one wanted to see that blankness in Tsuna's eyes ever again.
"Best to go in and get it over with," said Shamal from beside Shoichi. "He's either there or he's not. And you have quite a lot to go before your sparkles are any match for my mosquitos."
Shoichi let out a sigh, but before he could think of correcting the doctor (they were not "sparkles") a shout echoed from down the street.
"What are you doing here?!"
Shoichi recognized the voice immediately and turned towards it. He hadn't seen the silver-haired genius since the day Tsuna had disappeared, but the red-haired inventor was sure Gokudera must have visited Takesushi several times since then.
"If it isn't little Hayato-kun," said Shamal smirking. "Come to see if your boss has finally stopped resisting the urge to see your adorable face and has reappeared?"
"Shut up, perverted old man. Don't talk about Tsuna-sama like that," said Gokudera. The comment didn't sound as sharp as usual as Gokudera's attention quickly shifted to the shop in front of them. A sudden crash startled them, and Gokudera had his dynamites out in an instant. A blue, brown and orange blur streaked out of the door. It sharpened into focus halfway down the sidewalk.
"Wait! Don't shoot Reborn! Gokudera, Irie-ku—"
Silenced gunfire pinged from the top of a lamppost, and the brown-haired teen let out a high-pitched cry while managing to avoid the bullets barely.
"You have three minutes," said the small figure standing on the lamppost. If Shamal hadn't further explained the basics about the arcobaleno, Shoichi would have boggled at the physics ignored in order to get an infant onto a lamppost without anyone noticing. As it was, Shoichi was doing his best to ignore the impossible baby.
Tsuna hurried towards Shoichi and Gokudera and stopped a few steps in front of them. Gokudera straightened automatically, but the line of Gokudera's shoulders appeared more rigid than firm. Tsuna's hands clutched the orange hems of his sleeves, and his brown eyes settled on the floor. Whether Gokudera's rigidness caused Tsuna's hems to fray or if the opposite was true, Shoichi didn't know. But he did know that his lungs expanded with relief at the natural clearness in Tsuna's eyes, despite their jitteriness.
"Gokudera, Irie-kun, I…I—"
"Two minutes and fifteen seconds," came a second voice from near Gokudera's feet. A second impossible infant stood slightly between them and Tsuna.
"Shishō, not you too," said Tsuna in a quiet wail. His eyes soon raised to look straight into Shoichi and Gokudera's. They did not glow or flicker orange, but Shoichi's breath still stuck in his lungs. "I'm sorry."
"Tsuna-sama doesn't need to apologi—" started Gokudera. Shoichi admired the fact that Gokudera could speak.
"I do," interrupted Tsuna. The paralyzing expression faded under a quivering nervousness. "I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have disappeared. I…I promised I-pin I'd bring back Tama-kun, and I was hoping…Will you help me?"
"Of course, Tsuna-sama," exclaimed Gokudera, his fist pumping in the air and the rigidness gone from his shoulders. "We will follow you wherever you go! Shoichi and I have already been going over plans with the sword freak. If we can get Kawahira-san to find where the moronic imitation is by following the illusionist's flame—"
Tsuna fell face first onto the sidewalk, the first impossible baby on his head.
"Three minutes are up," said Reborn with a wild smile and his gun cocked next to his head. "I would start running."
Fast enough for Shoichi to lose track of the movement, Tsuna sprung up and started running in the direction he had originally been going.
"Our student will appreciate finishing hearing about this further later. We will have him back by nightfall," said Fon.
"In one piece?" Shoichi whispered.
"Hm. Probably," said Fon. He walked after the other two at a calm pace, and Shoichi decided that his training schedule wasn't that bad.
"I hope they don't damage him too much out of their worry," said Shamal, "I don't treat men."
"If Tsuna-sama comes back injured, you will treat him," said Gokudera.
"And if I don't, what are you going to do, little Hayato-kun," said Shamal.
"Send a letter to Madre," said Gokudera. Shamal's easy slouch quivered and almost straightened.
"Threats can only go so far," said Shamal.
"Would you like me to act on it, perverted old man?" asked Gokudera.
"Maybe I will inform your sister that Reborn is currently free of his annoying student," said Shamal. "I haven't seen her in a while. It would be good to see how much she's grown."
Gokudera's face lost all color. The silver-haired genius growled, and Shoichi had heard enough of this conversation.
"Why don't we go inside and see what happened yesterday?" asked Shoichi. "I want to know when Tsuna got back."
"That sword freak has got a lot to answer for," Gokudera continued in his growl, and Shoichi decided to apologize to Yamamoto later. The bomber stormed into the shop. "Sword freak!"
"Yo, Gokudera. Did you see Tsuna?" asked Takeshi, coming from the kitchen. Gokudera took five large steps towards Yamamoto and wrapped his fingers around the swordsman's shirt collar and pushed the swordsman against the counter.
"Why didn't you tell me that Tsuna-sama had returned?" demanded Gokudera.
"Tsuna didn't come back until late yesterday, and then he fell asleep soon after he got here, so I didn't think you needed to bother come over," said Takeshi with a careless grin. Shoichi wondered at his lack of self-preservation instincts. Sure, the swordsman wasn't anywhere near Tsuna's level, but there had to be a less self-destructive way to deal with Gokudera's ire. "I was going to call you this morning, but Fon and the kid took him to training before the sun got up this morning and brought him back to eat breakfast before going back to training."
"You're not the only one annoyed by the situation," said Hana as she walked down the stairs with a brush in her hand and her hair half-styled. "I was hoping to catch him before his teachers resumed his punishment."
"Tsuna said they were training," said Takeshi, his wide grin still perfectly in place as he half-hung over the counter.
"It's the same thing," said Hana. "Hopefully they'll knock some sense into him. Not that that has worked before, but one can hope. Either way when he returns, I will have words with him."
"Tsuna needs to talk to you too," said Takeshi, scratching the back of his head. "He said last night he wants to talk to everyone. Well, he didn't say so much as—"
"Shut up, sword freak," said Gokudera, giving Takeshi a hard shake.
"Let him go," said Hana. Her tone could have frozen a flame. The bomber's glare couldn't compete with that below-zero stare. Gokudera let Takeshi go. "It's not his fault that Tsuna believes the whole world will fall apart if he relies on us. No, it's the fault of two people, and both of them have suffered for it. Or maybe one has or still is. The other's too dead to tell. Either way, it is up to us to break Tsuna of this…habit. I think it's been proven that it will take time, but we have made progress. He at least came back on his own."
"Tsuna's hurt. He lost his dad, and he was scared," said Takeshi. His hazel eyes were serious and sad, and for an instant, he was hard to recognize. Takeshi was always cheerful and sometimes serious, but sad…sad wasn't something recognizable on the swordsman. "He didn't know if he could come to us because we didn't like his dad. And that we were mad that he tried to save Tamaki by taking his place. I don't think Tsuna's very good with people being angry at him."
"He'll have to learn," said Hana.
"You said it will take time" said Shoichi carefully. He didn't want to anger the girl, but he had to help Tsuna. Unlike the others, he wasn't angry at Tsuna. Just disappointed. He wanted to be the same kind of friend to Tsuna that Tsuna was to him.
"Unfortunately, mental wounds take much longer to heal than physical ones," said Shamal. "Which is why I focus on the physical aspect of medicine and don't treat men."
"What are you still doing here?" asked Hana. The doctor's expression went from serious to leering in a remarkable 2.5 seconds.
"To make your wildest dreams come true," said Shamal with a crooked, wide smile. Gokudera growled, but the doctor ignored him. Hana however stepped forward and slapped him. Hard.
"Get your mind out of the gutter. We have serious issues to deal with," said the girl, and the three boys inched away from her. Shamal's smile lessened, but he didn't back away.
"You don't need to be shy. If your heart was already taken, you could have just said so. Which one of these young men can claim to have such a lovely flower's love," said Shamal. To Shoichi's surprise, a light pink dusted the girl's cheeks.
"I don't think a female's rejection of you is any indicator of her interest in someone else," said Hana. She crossed her arms, but the slight blush remained. "Especially if the female is half your age."
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," said Tsuna's mother coming up behind them from the kitchen.
"No. You could never interrupt anything with your beautiful presence, angel," said Shamal. He grabbed Sawada-san's hand and bowed. "If anything, you brighten our day with your presence."
"Oh my, you have such good manners, Dr. Shamal. Tsuna and Reborn left a few minutes ago, but if you need to talk to either of them they should be back for dinner," said Sawada-san, gently pulling her hand away.
"Perhaps I will remain here until they return and appreciate your beauty," said Shamal.
"I'm afraid I don't let people loiter in my restaurant," said Yamamoto-san, appearing behind Sawada-san. How the man's wide grin could look slightly frightening, Shoichi wasn't sure, but he didn't want to test the man's temper and find out. "However you can probably help Hana with her project."
"No thank you. He would probably taint it," said Hana. "If you're free, Irie-kun, I would like your help."
"Good morning," came a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Vongola Ninth standing in the doorway paralleled on either side by a man with long silver hair and a slightly shorter man with blond hair and a tiara. Shoichi wished he could go back to the days where these men would have looked strange. But Shoichi had quickly learned that most people that came around Tsuna were strange.
"Good morning, Nono," said Gokudera with a half-bow. Takeshi glanced at Gokudera before executing a sloppy half-bow of his own. Shoichi hoped his didn't look as sloppy as the redhead followed suit. Out of the corner of his eye, Shoichi could see that Hana and Yamamoto-san also executed small bows, though Yamamoto-san's was straighter than Hana's. Despite not being able to see the doctor, Shoichi assumed he was doing the same. Sawada-san simply bobbed her head and smiled, as if the man were any other standing at the door.
"How are things going, Timoteo-san?" asked Nana.
"The preparations for the funeral are going as well as can be expected," said the Vongola Ninth. "I'm afraid I have some pressing business back home that I have to return to."
"Has news of the incident reached the ears of those in Italy?" asked Hana, her tone less sharp and more serious than earlier. It sounded a lot like the men that Shoichi had to deal with in regards to his Boxes. Very professional and always suspicious of an angle.
"As far as the information gathered shows, no, but there have been some rather worrying incidents that require my presence back in Italy," said the Vongola Ninth. "And so I have called Ganauche to oversee your training."
"Georg Ganauche III?" asked Shamal.
"Yes," said the Vongola Ninth. The old man smiled. "He will be pleased to see you again, Trident Shamal. He should be here in three days at the latest. Bouche will join him a week or so before the planned funeral. Between those two and those already here, they will make sure you are ready for the inheritance ceremony."
"Those already here?" asked Hana.
"Reborn, of course. Fon would be a good asset, and Trident Shamal here too. If I have not grown too old or too senile, then I would venture to guess that you also have the Akai Shigure in your midst, so I am certain that you have enough people to prepare you for what will happen in the inheritance ceremony."
"If it accomplishes its purpose or if we actually have to go through with it?" asked Hana.
"Both," said the Vongola Ninth. A pinched smile that neither looked happy or sad wrinkled his face. "You will certainly make a good steward for the Vongola."
"Steward?" asked Hana.
"Ganauche will explain when he gets here. Until then, I leave you in Reborn's care," said Vongola Ninth.
"And how is he supposed to do that while he trains Tsuna?" asked Hana. The pinched smile widened and softened.
"He is rather attached to the boy, isn't he?" said the Ninth.
"I think it's safe to say that most everyone here is," said Shamal. "Some more than others."
"Are we going to leave sometime today, old man?!" yelled the silver-haired man almost as loud as the boxer that kept reappearing the last few days. "The idiot Nougat wanted you back by today!"
"The prince doesn't think the shark is being smart by disrespecting our boss," said the blond man with the tiara. Shoichi couldn't figure out if the man was delusional or really a prince. "After all, he does pay for the shark's swords."
"Who are you calling a shark?!" yelled the silver-haired man. Shoichi stuck his hand in his pocket to retrieve the earplugs he had fiddled with yesterday and brought along in case the boxer came by the shop while Shoichi was still there. Now was as good as any time to test them out. "And I pay for my own swords with the blood of my enemies!"
The ridiculous line nearly had Shoichi choking on air.
"Isn't that the boy that defeated you yesterday?" asked the empty air on the top of the blond man's head and shocking Shoichi's breathing back to normal. Everyone near Shoichi tensed as a small figure appeared on the blond's head. Shoichi's fingers let go of the earplugs and shifted to grab the thumb-sized box hidden in the pocket's secret fold. He watched as the others readied their own weapons. Of the illusionists they had met, Fran was the only one who had not caused them serious trouble (Shamal didn't count since the doctor's mist flames were focused on diseases and not illusions), so illusionists were to be treated with caution.
"Eh!?" screamed the silver-haired man. A sword flashed from the man's side, and he waved it in the air. "That brat did not defeat me! He ran away!" He pointed the sword at Takeshi, and Shoichi realized that the sword was not in the man's hand. It was the man's hand. Shoichi shuffled backwards as the man yelled at Takeshi, "I DEMAND A REMATCH!"
"Oh, you're the idiot that appeared at my door yesterday," said Hana. She didn't seem the least perturbed by the man's sword hand. "I hope you found the Vongola Ninth without having to threaten anyone else."
"Squalo threatened you," said the Ninth. The frantic waving sword came to stand still. The owner's mouth remained wide open as all sound ceased to come out from it. "I was not aware that the Varia had permission to go around threatening other Vongola members."
"That stupid woman tricked me," yelled Squalo. The sword was waving again, this time in Hana's direction. "She never said she was part of Vongola!"
"You never asked," said Hana. Squalo slashed the sword straight at Hana, but it missed her (probably purposefully or at least Shoichi hoped) by inches. A gleam shone on the sword that suddenly appeared in Takeshi's hand and then reflected on Takeshi's father's knife. Hana didn't flinch. "And considering you were the inquiring party, it was your responsibility to identify yourself first."
"Don't give me lip, woman!" yelled Squalo so loudly that Shoichi shifted his hand back to his earplugs. The sword swung more wildly in their direction, but now even Shoichi didn't flinch. Takeshi and Yamamoto-san would more than be able to take care of any stray swings.
"What are you? Some old chauvinistic monkey from the prehistoric era?"
"WHY YOU—"
"Enough," said Nono, giving both Hana and the silver-haired yeller hard looks. "This is not the time to be arguing amongst ourselves. Kurokawa-san, I am sure your unique verbal skills should not be used on those in the same famiglia. Or rather those who you do not know well. Superbi, I doubt I have to remind you how your supervisor feels when you attack civilians, especially women. The fact that she is an ally makes it worse."
The silver-haired man grit his teeth together in the most obvious manner possible, and Shoichi lost all fear of him. Somehow big dogs didn't look so scary when they were on their master's leash. Shoichi's stomach suddenly dropped to the floor, and the red-headed inventor resolved to spend less time around Byakuran. The albino was obviously messing with Shoichi's brain functions.
"I hoped to meet with the rest of you, but I trust you can pass along my message to the rest," said the Ninth, and they all nodded in unison. For such a diverse group, the action seemed odd, but then no one could help but nod when such a dark, commanding look was leveled in one's direction. "Good. I hope to see you safely in two weeks. Start your training as quickly as Tsuna has started his."
Shoichi gulped and felt suddenly very glad he had already started his.
