Chapter 51: absentee tutors
The fact that Tsuna had to train by fighting against Hibari, his strongest guardian and someone who he would never want to fight against in his entire life because he actually wanted to live, was already one reason for Tsuna to want to complain about how unfair his life was, but of course it had to be worse for him. It was always something worse for him when Tsuna and his life were mentioned in the same sentence. If it wasn't bad enough that he had to fight the demon of Nanimori, or even worse than that: the older and stronger version of the demon of Nanimori, he had someone watching him during his training.
Why is she here anyways, Tsuna asked himself as he allowed himself to look at the girl sitting in the corner of the training room. Tsuna didn't mind anyone to watch his training anymore, not after being exposed to Reborn's kind of training, but he did mind the fact that it was Estraneo-Dokuro Chrome who watched him.
Zero's adoptive daughter.
Tsuna just realized that he might feel more for Zero than just friendship- no, that wasn't it. Why was it so complicated? Yes, he like liked Zero, he recently realized that, but that wasn't all of it. He realized that Zero was not only his only sane friend, but also Reborn's sister in a former life.
Reborn's sister.
He was going to die after all this for liking her.
No, not that wasn't it either. Although it did play a huge role in this complicated mess, that wasn't the only reason why the situation was so complicated for Tsuna.
Zero was eleven.
No- wait, that wasn't all of it either… but still. She was eleven which made him almost feel bad about liking her in that way. Almost. Tsuna knew that Zero was Reborn's sister in a former life, which meant that she was actually supposed to be older. Plus, he remembered Reborn's words.
Rather him than Mukuro.
Which must have meant that Mukuro felt the same way and Tsuna was pretty sure that this guy was older than him. Several lifetimes even… and then he remembered. Mukuro was able to take over the body of the girl who was still sitting in the corner of this training room. Meaning that the mist could appear at any time when he showed that he liked Zero in that way and kill him, so he had to get his act together whenever Chrome was in the vicinity.
And Tsuna wasn't ready to face the adoptive daughter of his crush yet, but that was just a detail.
While everyone left for their own training, Chrome didn't leave with a tutor. She didn't even get a tutor to train with so she stayed and focused her only visible eye on his training. It was almost unnerving how observant she looked even though there was a parachute floating around her.
…Right, the parachute.
The parachute which was still floating and twirling around the purple haired girl.
Tsuna knew that it was one of the inventions that had helped them quite a few times already, but he was still wary of any of these floating objects. The voice in his head warned him to look out for these things, as if it would bother him a lot in the future or like it already had bothered his future self a lot…
Or as if especially this specific parachute bothered his future self a lot.
Suddenly, as if the parachute read Tsuna's mind, it stopped its graceful twirling to look at the brunet without real eyes to actually see. Just in time to avoid the invisible gaze of the machine, Tsuna turned his head forwards. Tsuna felt the nonexistent eyes burn in his back and resisted the urge to shiver and cry because of how his life ended up.
What went wrong with his normal life where he didn't have to fight misunderstood villains, travel to the future, handle a crush on someone who was three years younger than him and feel like a deer caught in the headlights at the stare of a machine without eyes?
"Can you really afford to get distracted now?" Hibari asked. Tsuna's eyes widened when he barely avoided the tonfa, only thanks to his instincts and quickly grabbed some of his dying will pills to get into his hyper dying will mode. "I'm going to pry open all of your abilities." The skylark announced.
Tsuna indeed couldn't afford being distracted right now.
…
He took it back. Some distraction is very welcome right now, Tsuna gulped when he stared in the soft orange eyes of his ancestor. He just exploded by saying that he'd rather destroy the Vongola than inherit its sins when suddenly, it turned out that his resolution was accepted by the former Vongola bosses. And while the other bosses disappeared right after saying this, this man stayed behind.
"I've waited a long time to talk to you, Tsunayoshi." The blonde smiled gracefully.
"Y-you have?" Was the only thing what Tsuna managed to ask. What else could he say to his ancestor whose lifework he just declared to destroy?
"I've been watching you through the Vongola ring, like my guardians have watched yours." The older male smiled. "How nostalgic it is to see how much you were like us."
"I-it is?"
"It is."
"…Wait, if you've been watching me from the ring… then… hieee?!"
"If that meant 'I know that you like that girl', then… yes."
"N-no wait! I-I can explain!" Tsuna stuttered. "I-I mean that I- No wait! I'm not a pedophile! I just eh-"
"I know you aren't." Giotto chuckled amused. "You're just three years apart, I've known lovers who had larger age-gaps."
"Really?" Tsuna sighed in relief. "N-no wait! You weren't supposed to know that! No one was supposed to know that! It's already bad enough that Reborn knows!"
"Calm down, Tsunayoshi, it's fine." Giotto laughed. "It is weird to see how much we're alike. I reacted exactly the same when I realized that I-…" The ancestor stopped mid-sentence and looked almost regretfully at the ring of his descendant's hand.
Tsuna stopped hyperventilating when he realized that Primo's pleasant smile had faded to make place for a sadder expression. The teen took a deep breath when he realized how much this expression reminded him of someone, even though he couldn't remember who he was reminded of.
Reborn? True, sometimes he did look like that though that version of this expression was usually hidden behind a smug smirk. No, it was someone else… another hitman maybe?
Bianchi? Shamal? Wait, was it Mukuro? No, not really… though that guy did have this kind of feel hanging around him. It made the pineapple haired teen look older than he actually wa-
Zero, Tsuna realized. The future Decimo took another deep breath at the realization and tried to ignore the lightheaded feeling he suddenly got. He couldn't believe how he forgot that Zero was reborn at some point, which meant that she was supposed to be older than she actually was. How she was supposed to be the sister of a hitman at one time.
The look in his ancestor's eyes, was the look of someone who has seen more than a normal person should have seen. This man, Reborn, the other hitmen he met, Zero, they'd all seen someone they knew die. Possibly in front of them even, or because of them.
"It's… a shame that my tutor is gone and that we never got a chance to meet again, even in afterlife." Giotto whispered, half-confirming Tsuna's theories with the tone hidden behind the whispers. The man looked up into the eyes of Tsuna and nodded slowly. "Do not make the same mistakes as me, Tsunayoshi. Fight for your loved ones, protect them, cherish them… make sure that they're happy. I wish you the best of luck... Now it's time for you to inherit the proof of the Vongola."
…
The parachute twirled slowly around in the air again, a simple action which somehow managed to keep Chrome calm even after seeing it for many times. If it wasn't for this strangely calming object, Chrome was afraid that she would do nothing more than worry about the girl who adopted her.
'I can… and I will.'
The last words she heard from Byakuran still haunted her mind whenever she found herself distracted from the present. Seeing the training of the other's in the base was a welcome distraction for those confusing memories, even though she preferred training herself over watching the training of another. Unfortunately, that was impossible for her because she lacked a tutor and now she didn't have a teacher anymore.
Not in this future.
"I really wonder what happened." She smiled sadly to the floating machine. It responded by speeding up its next twirl, but didn't give a vocal answer like always. Despite that she never got a real answer, Chrome couldn't help the fact that her mouth curved into a smile. She was really grateful for having this strange machine around to calm her down and allow her to stay optimistic.
"Let's go, I heard that we received a call. Maybe it's a clue." Chrome smiled and the parachute dropped in altitude, only to raise up in the air again as if it wanted to nod in agreement.
Yes, Chrome was really thankful for this parachute.
…
'Waah, you are so tiny, Chrome-nee. You're actually smaller than me now… no, wait. You're supposed to be smaller than me anyway.'
Chrome had to try very hard not to stare and gape at the hat of the stranger on the screen, especially since the shape resembled a frog or something like that. A ridiculously huge black frog hat tended to cause that kind of reaction, especially when being worn by a teal haired male whose default face seemed to be as deadpan as humanly possible.
"Who are you?" She asked after she managed to tear her eye away from the hat. The teal eyes of the young man narrowed the teeniest bit at the question before returning to their original state again and looking at the girl without the tiniest hint of a real emotion.
'How sad, Chrome-nee has forgotten me. Sempai, do something about it.'
The green haired male turned to the two fighting men to mock-ask for help, but he only got a knife aimed at his face. The green haired man shrugged, evading the knife at the same time as he shrugged, and returned his attention to the screen again. Acting like all that didn't happen at all and somehow looking as deadpan as before.
'I'm Fran. The old-timer's-'
And then the call ended, leaving Chrome staring at the now black screen in confusion and something akin to disbelieve. Was it supposed to be possible to look emotionless while sounding sad in an almost fake and yet real way at the same time? If not, that boy somehow managed to do that while sounding a bit smug as well.
"That was… strange." Chrome muttered to the parachute which stopped twirling around somewhere during the conversation.
"It was." Reborn agreed though he wasn't really paying attention to the girl at the moment. It seemed that all the guardians were finally together with the arrival of the older version of the sun guardian. Things were finally starting to look brighter.
…
"These are mine?" Chrome asked hesitantly as she accepted the boxes which were given to her from the normally loud man.
"They extremely are." The white haired man nodded, somehow managing to make himself sound less loud than his words normally sounded. He looked around and continued in an equally quiet tone after he had made sure that no one was listening along. "You left these with Fran a while ago, he just asked me to return them."
"He did?" Chrome wondered out loud. From what she gathered about these boxes since she came from the future, they were quite valuable. So her future self had trusted the green haired man enough to entrust these boxes to him, to entrust her own boxes and weapons with him and leave herself practically seen defenseless… What kind of relationship did she actually have with the seemingly emotionless man?
And why was the brother of the Sasagawa she knew, trying to keep his voice quiet?
"He didn't make a good first impression, did he?" Ryohei laughed sheepishly when he noticed how much the quiet the girl from the past was thinking with a confused frown. "But I can guarantee that he is an extreme guy… you just have to see through the extreme layer of unextremeness."
"W-who is Fran, actually?" Chrome asked.
"Fran is… eh, how do I say this without raising misunderstandings? He is the new mist of the Varia and he trained under Mammon, Mukuro, Zero and you yourself." Ryohei tried to explain. "He is also… eh… something like the eh… he seems to have an extremely close relationship with Zero in a way, I guess? But that is a secret!"
"Why is that a secret?"
"You should know that the future you were hunted because of your relationship with Zero and the fact that you could decode the messages of… the parachutes." The sun guardian nodded while gesturing to the nonsuspicious parachute that was still floating around Chrome. "Like that one. Mukuro also disappeared and I suspect that it's because of his close relationship with Zero. If the world knew that Fran's relationship with Zero was close as well…"
"But d-doesn't anyone suspect anything, knowing that Zero trained him?" Chrome asked hesitantly.
"No, everyone think that their relationship is extremely bad." Ryohei laughed. "And no one really knows that Zero trained him, actually, Zero is still a pretty unknown figure in the underworld. She is good at hiding her identity if she's really trying to, so… that's why everyone thinks that Fran is Mammon's, Mukuro's and your apprentice."
"…Really? So that is why he had my boxes." Chrome mused. If he was her apprentice, then it would make sense why her future self entrusted her boxes to him.
"Eh… yes. Also, with this you should be able to train yourself to the extreme." The older Ryohei continued. Chrome looked up at the older man and blinked in confusion.
"How?"
"Fran said that you had everything you needed inside your boxes. He was actually supposed to train you, but he didn't want to come along to do so… But he guaranteed that he extremely prepared every necessary thing for your training!"
Despite trying not to, Chrome decided that her first and second impression of Fran was… not that good.
…
"Basic flame control for dummies…" Chrome read out loud. Half of her mind wanted to laugh at the title of the thin book but the other half wanted to put the thing back and pretend that she never saw it. According to the Sun man, everything she needed to train was inside her boxes and yet, Chrome was starting to doubt his words more and more.
She eyed the orange colored book again, opening it and inspecting it for even the tiniest hint of mist flames, but she failed to find anything. The book was what it was: a book about dying will flames, explained in the easiest way so even children could understand the concept of the flames. Nothing more and nothing less than one of the basic schoolbooks for beginners, mostly used in the mafia schools according to Zero.
Chrome knew everything what was written inside already, she was sure of that because Zero had explained everything inside already.
Chrome sighed and put the practically seen useless object back where it came from before picking another small box to open. Like the first box, it contained a book and Chrome abruptly put it back into the box after she read the title.
Basic illusions part one.
Chrome's third impression of Fran was even worse than her first and second, she decided while absentmindedly lighting up the mist ring again to open another box. When she saw another book, she didn't even bother with being surprised at the title, 'How to be an illusionist, explained in basic steps for everyone', and simply put it down next to the already opened boxes.
"Is he serious about this?" Chrome asked the parachute hesitantly. The object made a nod-like movement and floated around in the air in a steady rhythm. Chrome, who was starting to understand the machine a bit better, approached her boxes and opened them again.
"It's a clue isn't it?" She asked with the books now in her hands.
The parachute made a nodding movement.
"Is it something about those books?"
Another nod.
"…Do I have to read them to figure out?"
A fast twirl.
"No?" Chrome pouted, unsure of what the gesture meant. She was so sure that she was starting to understand the machine better and that she was on the right track. At least she had a clue to her training now. It concerned the books, but she didn't need to read the contents to figure out what the clue to her training was… Was there a connection to those books?
Chrome looked at the schoolbooks on the ground and her whole face lit up when she saw the small connection. "These are the basics of everything… I have to train the basics that I was taught!"
The parachute made an almost proud nod-movement and Chrome nodded back. She knew what to do now.
…
Omake: the situation on the other side
"Fran-chan, weren't you supposed to be in Japan to tutor Chrome-chan?" Lussaria asked the frog hatted male. Fran looked up from the book he was reading, 'dying will flames: the basic history by children, for children', and blinked almost emotionlessly at the mother hen of the Varia.
"Was I supposed to train her?"
"Fran-chan! I told you so many times that yes, you were supposed to train her." Lussaria scolded the youngest member of the Varia. "And you said that you prepared everything already and put it in the poor girl's mist boxes."
"Ah, I now remember." Fran nodded, clapping his hands together as if to emphasize his supposed surprised words which still sounded close to emotionless. "So that was where I put those books, I was already wondering where they went. I was planning on reading those next…"
Hey guys, doubleyy here.
I don't have a lot to say besides: I really love Fran. That guy is awesome and ridiculous at the same time and I can't help but loving him. I love the other characters as well, of course, but Fran is really high on the list of 'favorite KHR character' (just below Mukuro, I guess).
I was actually staring to ship Renata and Fo- I mean the Chinese transfer student too, at one point during writing the omakes, Tsukiyomi-Hio and KiraKiraBluemoon… I'm afraid that this ship was never able to set sail though… maybe someday in an extra chapter where Renata didn't die it will?
I'm glad that you liked the daily life of the Sinclair's, Reaper Senpai, Muito and SakuraLuck. Sometimes I have too much fun writing them ;).
Fake bullets hurt indeed, ADDBaby. An experienced nerf-bullets victim talking here and those aren't even the ones that hurt the most *sighs.
Special mention to damn relevantion! You're the first to point that out :D, congrats! I thought that I made it pretty obvious~
Thanks for the other reviews too! Well… this all aside, it has officially been one year and three days since I started this fic now :D, wow I never expected to last this long! Especially since my attention span is… what was I talking about again? Anyways thanks for reading and please review.
Doubleyy out.
