Sorry for the wait! There's some heavier stuff this chapter so I wanted to pair the back end with some shenanigans to look forward to. I also posted slip away, another Hibari/Tsuna side story. I ended up posting two chapters. The second is NSFW, but you don't need to read it if you just want the first one. I was thinking about posting another side story I have sitting on my laptop, if anyone wanted it. But here's the chapter!
XXXX
When they got to the building, Tsuna got Fuuta set up with some food and water in one of the lounges Hibari had set up in the building. Since it had been turned into a DC stronghold, it had been repaired and redecorated. Currently, Fuuta was sat down on one of the plush couches. Tsuna sat across from him in a chair, Yamamoto leaning against the wall near the door and Gokudera on the other side of the room, arms crossed. While they were relaxing, Hibari stormed in, the door swinging open and hitting the wall. Kusakabe was at his side.
"Tsunayoshi." He said, tapping his foot impatiently. "We have a few guests." The skylark looked irritated. He stepped in and Ietsuna followed.
"Nii-san." Tsuna was surprised. "How did you get here?" Reborn hopped up onto Ietsuna's shoulder. "Ahh." Tsuna said. "I see." Reborn smirked back. Ietsuna sighed.
"Fuuta's in trouble with these guys, right?"
"We're handling it." Tsuna said. They had picked up one of the Marco men and the DC was in the process of setting him up for interrogation. The thought of it made Tsuna wince, but what they really needed right then was information, and the Marco family was a largely unknown entity to them.
Ietsuna sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"I hate to say it..." He took a deep breath. "But I am Vongola Decimo and this should be my responsibility to take care of."
Hibari snorted, loud and sudden.
Ietsuna looked taken aback and Tsuna cringed.
"It's okay nii-san. We have it handled." Tsuna promised him. "The DC is about to start questioning one of the Marco men, and we're gonna go from there." Ietsuna's eyes hardened.
"Fuuta is going under the protection of Vongola. If he is going to remain under our protection, I need to be involved." Ietsuna said. "I'm going to help you."
"The Disciplinary Committee does not require assistance." Hibari said. "Your help is not necessary or wanted." Ietsuna's brow furrowed.
"I'm not going to stop you from doing anything, but I need to know what you know." Ietsuna said. "I'm asking to be in the room." Hibari briefly made eye contact with Tsuna.
"It's okay." Tsuna said. "I can stay here with Fuuta. You can fill me in later."
"I value your skills over that of your brother." Hibari said pointedly.
"I've been in an interrogation before." Ietsuna said. "I can handle this. And I can help you, if you want it." Hibari rolled his eyes. "Tsuna can stay here with Fuuta. He wants to." Really, Tsuna had no desire to be involved in the interrogation. Of course he would prefer to stay with Fuuta, even though he did feel almost an obligation to be involved in the interrogation.
"It's okay." Tsuna said. "I'll hang tight with Fuuta." Hibari looked unhappy with Tsuna's decision but sighed, and turned back to the door.
"Do not speak, or I will bite you to death." Hibari said to Ietsuna. Before he left the room, Tsuna watched Hibari share a brief look with Yamamoto, before the skylark and his brother stepped out of the room. Once the door closed, Tsuna turned to Yamamoto.
"What was that?" Tsuna asked Yamamoto curiously. Yamamoto pulled himself off the wall. His face was unreadable.
"You should be up there." Yamamoto confessed.
"I'm not a mafia boss." Tsuna reminded him. "And I have no intention of being a mafia boss."
"I know you don't like it, but your intuition would be incredibly valuable to them." Yamamoto said. "You can't stay down here forever." Tsuna knew exactly what Yamamoto was saying; but especially in this past year, Tsuna couldn't shake the feeling that he was stepping further and further into something he wouldn't be able to turn back from. Ever since Ietsuna had come back and things really started to heat up.
"I'm not a mafioso." Tsuna said.
"I'm never going to push you to do something you don't want. Where you go, I follow." Yamamoto said. "You know that." Tsuna nodded back. "But no one can do what you do. And you know where you should be."
Yamamoto didn't say it, but Tsuna knew exactly what the taller boy was getting at.
It was falling to him to lead; it had happened naturally, as Tsuna's circle had expanded. After Hibari had put him through rigorous training. After he started to come into his abilities more. And so far, all of it had happened naturally, but Tsuna was pretty aware that the day was coming where he would have to make the conscious decision about what he wanted. About where he was going to lead his friends. His family.
"Hayato?" Tsuna asked, turning to Gokudera. The silver-haired boy met his eyes, but seemed hesitant.
"As much as I hate to say it, I agree with the baseball idiot." Gokudera hesitated, before his eyes glimmered. "You're the boss."
Tsuna glanced back at Fuuta, who was confused at all the words unspoken between them. At some point, it would all have to be said out loud, but Tsuna was going to put off that day as long as he could.
"I'll be back, Fuuta." Tsuna promised. "Just hang tight with Hayato and Takeshi." Tsuna stood up, letting out a breath. He nodded to his friends, and stepped out of the room.
Kusakabe was waiting for him outside the door, a soft smile on his face.
"Tetsuya?" Tsuna asked, surprised.
"He asked me to wait for you." The vice chairman confessed.
"Oh, that bastard." Tetsuya's shoulders shook with laughter as he led Tsuna up to where Hibari was interrogating the Marco hitman. When they arrived, Hibari was waiting outside the door, Ietsuna looking bewildered. When the younger boy approached, Ietsuna's brow furrowed.
"Tsuna, you're supposed to be-," Hibari cut the blonde haired boy off.
"Tsunayoshi." He said with a nod. He looked smug.
"You're an asshole. Why do you never just have a conversation with me about these things?" Hibari shrugged.
"I assume you are intelligent enough to reach these conclusions on your own. Am I mistaken?" Tsuna stuck his tongue out at the older boy. "And while it is typically correct, my opinion does not dictate your actions."
"One day I'm going to hit you with a rock." Somehow, the chairman looked even smugger.
"I don't understand your relationship." Ietsuna said bluntly.
"What, did you think your little brother would be cute and shy and rely on the big bad Demon of Namimori?" Reborn asked with a snort. "Hieee, Hibari-senpai!" Tsuna rolled his eyes.
"I mean, yeah." Ietsuna muttered. His neck was red.
"It's called mutual respect, Stupid Ietsuna."
"If you are done," Hibari said dryly. "Let's get on with it."
XXXX
The Marco hitman was zip-tied to a chair, a black bag over his head. It was the same, secret room Tsuna had been in before. A few DC members were on either side of the Marco hitman, who was visibly sweating. The teens grinned back at Tsuna. Tsuna knew a little about the DC interrogation techniques, and while they bordered on violent on occasion, Tsuna knew they weren't by any means torturing the various hitmen who had showed up on the doorstep of Namimori. Thank God.
But not because Hibari was unwilling to torture those who "disturbed the peace". No, because, as he had informed Tsuna after being pressed for the answer, "torture doesn't work".
Tsuna hadn't been a big fan of that answer, but at least he could rest easy with the knowledge that the primary interrogation tool was fear.
To get the Marco hitman sweating like he was, Tsuna could only imagine what the teens were doing. He knew that Ren had taken to jangling a bag of knives near the ears of their prisoners. The dental drill had also been a big hit with the teens.
Currently, behind the two DC members, there was a third smacking the wall with what Tsuna knew to be a sock filled with bar soap, grinning at the heavy thuds it made that caused the hitman to twitch.
Hibari held up a hand and the DC member in the back halted, the two on either side of the hitman stepping back. He reached forward and pulled the hood off the hitman. An ugly, blood-smeared face appeared, bruises beginning to form on his face from where Hibari had no doubt beaten him into submission. His eyes were beady and frantic. Tsuna swallowed.
"Name." Hibari demanded.
"Alessio." The clipped response came out. "Marco."
"Why are you here?" The hitman hesitated and Hibari stepped forward, planting his foot on the chair between the legs of the hitman. He tilted it up with his foot. Alessio sucked in a breath. "Answer me."
"Who are you?" The hitman demanded shakily. "I thought you were just kids but you're fucking crazy!"
"That's not how this works." Hibari tilted the chair further back. "Why are you here?"
"The fucking kid." Alessio spat out.
"Fuuta?" Tsuna asked. The hitman nodded, setting his jaw.
"If you hand him over right now, maybe the rest of my crew will go easy on you." Hibari pitched the chair forward. It clattered heavily to the ground, shock spreading over the hitman's face when Hibari grabbed him by the throat, eyes narrowing. Tsuna heard Ietsuna breath in next to him.
"You disturbed the peace in Namimori. I will not go easy on you." He snapped. "I want names and locations of where the rest of you pathetic herbivores are staying." Tsuna studied the hitman's face as Hibari's words hit him. The sudden set to the jaw; the flex of his fingers, drawing attention to the Marco family ring. In the same way that Tsuna was certain one of his friends would die before they gave Tsuna up, Tsuna knew in that exact moment that hitman's loyalty to the Marco family was about more than money.
This was the mafia, he supposed.
"I won't tell you. You can do whatever you want to me, but I won't fucking tell you." Hibari leaned back and snapped his fingers. One of the DC members grabbed something out of the corner and set it down heavily next to Alessio. It sloshed around in the container.
Tsuna inhaled sharply.
Gasoline.
There was a flash of terror across Alessio's face.
Hibari bent down and picked up the gasoline canister. Alessio began to shake, biting his lip and trying to hide it, but the looser zip ties allowed them to rattle ever-so-slightly against the metal chair. It was obvious he was terrified.
"Holy shit, Hibari!" Ietsuna finally spoke. "That's it, this is over. You can't do this." Ietsuna took a step forward, but Tsuna shook his head. Ietsuna's mouth fell open. "Tsuna, you cannot let this psycho-," Reborn knocked on Ietsuna's head, shutting him up briefly, but the young don's head whirled around. "Reborn, I don't care. This isn't happening."
"Tetsuya." Hibari said. "Shut him up." Kusakabe nodded, grabbing Ietsuna and covering his mouth. The blonde boy started to struggle, but another DC member stepped in and pinned his arms behind his back. Reborn was still perched on Ietsuna's shoulder, watching Tsuna with great curiosity.
Tsuna turned back to Hibari, who had stepped forward and was pouring gasoline on Alessio. Alessio choked as the fumes hit him, the gasoline soaking through his hair and his shirt in seconds. He spluttered, shaking his head. He was shaking violently now. Tsuna winced. Hibari ignored the terrified figure underneath him and dumped the rest of the canister onto the hitman. He wrinkled his nose at the smell, stepping back. Some of it had splashed back onto him, so he distanced himself from the man in the chair.
Alessio was sitting there, soaking wet and trembling in the chair. The terror in his eyes was unlike anything Tsuna had ever seen. Tsuna suddenly reached out and grabbed Hibari's arm.
"Kyoya." Hibari blinked back at Tsuna. "Just...let me talk to him. For a second." Hibari tilted his head and Tsuna nodded back. "Please."
"Tsuna-," Ietsuna began to speak, but Hibari shot a look at him.
"Speaking." Was all Hibari said, and Ietsuna's mouth closed suddenly.
"Can you grab me another chair?" Tsuna asked softly. One of the DC members left to grab one. Tsuna took a step closer to Alessio. He could see where the zip ties were cutting into his skin. "And some more zip ties?" Hibari was watching Tsuna curiously, but complied, handing some over to Tsuna. Tsuna bent down and redid them around Alessio's wrists, tight enough that he couldn't get out, but much looser than the previous ones. "Anyone have a pocket knife?" A DC member handed his to Tsuna, and Tsuna snipped the tighter ones off.
"What are you doing?" Alessio demanded, voice still trembling. The fumes coming off of him were pungent.
"Can I have a minute?" Tsuna asked. "To speak with him alone?" Hibari's face was unreadable, but he nodded.
"I'm not gonna fall for this good cop bad cop shtick." Alessio snarled. "I've been interrogated before."
"I'm not trying to pull anything on you. I don't want to see him hurt you if we can avoid it." Tsuna confessed honestly, watching Alessio carefully. It was true, Tsuna didn't have any kind of plan here. He was operating purely on intuition.
"Tsunayoshi." Hibari said.
"I'll be fine, Kyoya. Please, if we can just have the room for a minute." Hibari grabbed Ietsuna by the back of his shirt and yanked him out of the room. Ietsuna squeaked and started to protest, but was quickly blocked from view by the DC members who followed out of the room, all eyeing Tsuna carefully. One last member entered to put a chair down for Tsuna, before nodding at him and leaving again.
Tsuna pulled the chair a little closer, taking a seat in front of the hitman.
"You're fuckin Vongola Decimo." The hitman said. "That's why they're all deferring to you. That's why fucking Reborn is here."
"I'm not going to answer that." Tsuna said.
"I've seen the portrait of Primo. You look like you could be his fucking kid." Alessio said. "No wonder that goddamn kid was so well guarded. I'd heard Decimo was in Japan, but I didn't realize it was...here. In this little shit-ass town."
"Alessio-san, I just want to talk to you about Fuuta." Alessio blinked.
"The Ranking Prince?" Tsuna nodded.
"Fuuta isn't going anywhere; he's under my protection. I know why you all want him, why you're here. But I need you to know that isn't going to happen." Alessio groaned, head thumping back on the chair. Tsuna didn't feel comfortable telling an outright lie, but implying that Fuuta was officially under Vongola protection wasn't going to hurt anyone. "Alessio-san, please, do not hurt yourself."
"I don't fucking get you." He said. "If you didn't look like the spitting image of Primo and if all these bastards weren't acting like you're the boss, I never would have guessed."
"Alessio-san, I am not in charge of the Disciplinary Committee. They are certainly friendly towards me and my family, but any kind of deference you see is respect, not obedience." Tsuna said. "Which is why I think you should tell Hibari what he wants to know."
"You're asking me to betray my family." Alessio said. "I will never." He was still trembling though, unsettled by the gasoline poured onto him.
"Alessio-san, I have no control over what they do to you. I would rather not see you get hurt. In fact, I would rather the Marco family not get hurt. I believe that if you were to willingly give us names and locations, I could convince the DC to simply arrange for your family to be arrested, rather than injured or killed." Tsuna said. And Tsuna was pretty certain the Marco family could get all its members back to Italy. "They won't receive the same treatment you did, I can assure you that."
The Marco hitman stilled, quiet for a moment as gasoline dripped off of him onto the ground.
"You aren't betraying them; you're protecting them." Tsuna said. "I'm sure you can understand at this point, especially with Vongola involved-," Not a lie, technically. Even if Tsuna wasn't who Alessio thought he was. "-, that you will never get your hands on Fuuta. And Hibari is very good at getting the information he wants. Whether or not you tell him won't stop him from finding them." Tsuna said softly. Not that he would legitimately allow Hibari to kill this man; he would step in first, no matter how much it pissed the skylark off.
But something about Tsuna's soft tone and the undeniable truth of his words was beginning to shake Alessio; he could tell, from the way he licked his lips, from the way his fingers were trembling.
"Hibari controls all of Namimori and all of the yakuza for miles. You brought a large group of men into this country; they can't hide forever and Hibari is tenacious. He will find them, sooner or later, and when he does, it will end in bloodshed. I'm asking you to prevent that, Alessio-san." Tsuna tilted his head. "Please."
The hitman's eyes had been watering, presumably from the fumes. But Tsuna watched a real, legitimate tear roll down his cheek.
"Alessio-san, please. You can save your friends." Tsuna pleaded with him.
"The Vongola specialize in fire, don't they?" Alessio asked hesitantly, shivering. Tsuna nodded. Tsuna cupped his hands, a small flame appearing in them. He angled the warm, orange flicker towards Alessio, so he could see.
Alessio's eyes widened, the flames dancing in the reflection of them, seemingly very aware that he was covered in gasoline.
"Do you even need gasoline?" He whispered.
"No." Tsuna said. "I don't. But I'm not the one in charge here." He could see how scared the Marco hitman was. Tsuna extinguished the flame in his hand and reached out, setting his hand on Alessio's. The hitman flinched, but settled down. "All we're asking for is names and where they're currently staying. That's all, and then they'll be arrested."
Alessio exhaled heavily.
"O-okay. I'll tell you."
XXXX
Once the DC members had dragged Alessio off to hose him down, Hibari turned back to Tsuna, who blinked back owlishly.
The chairman's face broke into a grin.
And then Tsuna was being shoved to the side violently, eyes wide, as Ietsuna's fist collided with Hibari's jaw, his older brother roaring in anger. It was far more violent than Tsuna had ever pictured his brother capable of, enough strength behind it to knock Hibari back a few feet.
"Don't you ever fucking use my brother like that again." Ietsuna hissed, furious. Hibari turned back, tonfas out, and ready to fight.
"Nii-san-," Tsuna was horrified at the unbridled rage in his brother. He had never seen anything like that. His brother's face was contorted in anger, lips curled in a snarl. He pulled something out of his jacket, flicking it out so that it unfolded. It looked like...a warhammer.
"Do not." His brother responded. He tossed back what looked like a pill to Tsuna and then it happened.
It didn't happen like it did with Tsuna; he watched Ietsuna's eyes change, warmer, more like a flame than before, but not like Tsuna's did when he changed. But from Ietsuna's hands, the hammer began to glow, traveling down the shaft and to the head of the hammer. It lit up in the same, warm, orange flames that Tsuna had seen in his own hands, but it seemed to be emanating from the hammer itself, the flame hot enough that Tsuna could feel it from where he was standing.
Ietsuna hefted it with an ease that was unexpected, despite how heavy it looked to be. He flicked it around and Tsuna could read in his movements how skilled Ietsuna was in wielding this.
"I'm not fucking playing around. I've let plenty slide so far." Ietsuna ground out, taking another step forward towards Hibari threateningly. Tsuna became very, very aware that Hibari was covered in gasoline. Hibari seemed aware of the same, because he was hanging back from Ietsuna, even though he looked livid.
Ietsuna gestured with the hammer.
"But what I just saw can never happen again." His voice was almost commanding. The person in front of Tsuna was not the Ietsuna he knew, but certainly the one that had been molded by Iemitsu and Nono. Tsuna could see how his older brother would have made a commanding figure as Decimo; against the glow emanating from his warhammer, he appeared powerful.
"Your brother got us a list of hitmen, names and their locations. They can and will be arrested with very little bloodshed and removed from Namimori. All of this was achieved without a single drop of blood from the man we interrogated." Hibari snapped back. "He is unharmed."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ietsuna screeched. "You poured gasoline on him. You had Tsuna participate."
"I was never going to set him on fire, nii-san. And I certainly was not going to let Kyoya do that." Tsuna said. Ietsuna twisted his head to look at Tsuna, brow furrowing even deeper.
"Don't you get it?" Ietsuna demanded. "You would never have even been in a position to do that! You never should have had to lead a fucking interrogation!" He took a step towards Hibari. "I should fucking kill you."
"Ietsuna-nii." Tsuna begged. "Please, calm down."
"I wasn't going to set the man on fire." Hibari barked out, crossing his arms. "Your brother was never going to hurt him. It was a lie, you idiot. To get him to tell us some very important information. Information, that will save a 10 year old boy."
"You don't care about that." Ietsuna snapped.
"They were disturbing the peace in Namimori." Hibari countered. "And your brother cares about that. And I care about Tsunayoshi, whether you believe it or not."
"Ietsuna-nii, please. Put away the hammer." Tsuna took a step forward. Ietsuna bent his head down, shaking his head.
"You can't go down this path, Tsuna." He said. "Because then you'll be me."
"We can talk about this. But not while you're threatening Kyoya." Tsuna said. "Please."
"Ietsuna." Reborn's voice cut through the air. "It's time to put the hammer away. If you set his boyfriend on fire, I'm pretty sure your little brother will never speak to you again." Ietsuna glared at Hibari one more time, before extinguishing the hammer. As soon as it was out, Hibari lunged forward, but Tsuna leapt in front of his brother, holding his hands up. Hibari halted abruptly.
"Please, don't." Tsuna begged. "Let's talk about this." He could tell how furious the skylark was, but he stayed in place, practically vibrating with the desire to hurt Ietsuna. Tsuna gently placed a hand on Hibari's chest, who stilled. Tsuna's eyes were pleading with him.
"Will you defend him?" Hibari asked.
"I will." Tsuna didn't particularly want to get into a physical altercation with his boyfriend, but given the scenario, it seemed like it may be necessary to prevent him from killing his brother.
"He's your responsibility now." Hibari said shortly, with a sharp nodded. Tsuna exhaled, and dropped his hand.
"Thank you." He said softly.
By the time they exited the fume-filled room, Tsuna's hands were shaking. He tried to hide them in his pockets.
"Go back down to your friends and the ranking prince." Hibari said. "The little prince will be safe within the next few hours." Tsuna peered up at Hibari, who was still receiving angry glares from Ietsuna.
"Can I trust you two not to kill each other?" Tsuna wished he was joking.
"Fine." Ietsuna spat. Hibari nodded his head in response.
XXXX
"You are not completely helpless." Hibari remarked, tilting his head at Ietsuna. Ietsuna could not believe the audacity of the chairman.
"You're fucking unbelievable." Ietsuna shook his head, letting out a breath.
"You clearly have the capability to wield a weapon, and yet have refused to be involved in any efforts to protect your brother or any of his charges." It was a miracle that statement didn't send Ietsuna off into a rage.
"I have been-," He spluttered.
"You've done absolutely nothing." Hibari said calmly. "You have refused to legitimately fight at any point, when your skills would have been useful."
"Because I'm trying to keep Tsuna from getting involved! Not that you respect that in any way."
"Refusing to engage has done nothing so far." Hibari pointed out.
"What, you think I should give the okay to all this ridiculousness? That I should let him keep bringing people like this into his life?" He demanded.
"You should help him." Hibari said stoically. Ietsuna snorted.
"Like you would call me first and not him. Like you would let me fight." Ietsuna snapped back.
"You've demonstrated you're capable." Hibari said with a shrug. "I am not averse to you taking a more active role. That is between you and Tsunayoshi." Hibari turned on his heel to walk away, but before he did, he looked back at Ietsuna. There was something deeply predatory in the way Hibari held himself, eyes narrowing. "The only thing protecting you is that you are Tsunayoshi's brother and he will physically defend you from me. Take care not to lose that protection."
A bloodthirsty grin cracked across Hibari's face.
"Or don't." The chairman walked away with that, leaving Ietsuna and Reborn alone in the room.
"I'd call what just happened a huge tactical mistake." Reborn said. Ietsuna could feel a headache coming on. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't threaten Hibari again; he's the prickliest, most territorial Cloud I've ever seen. He'll kill you next time you pull that."
Ietsuna knew he had made a mistake, now that rush of anger was gone. That he would have probably had more success trying to talk to Tsuna about it instead of pulling out his weapon. But he had been so angry. He couldn't believe what he was watching his little brother participate in.
Ietsuna had been in the mafia long enough to know how important intelligence gathering was; that was the purpose of CEDEF after all. Even though they had moved further away from the intelligence gathering portion since Iemitsu took control. They were more of a strike force now, but still served the same general purpose. Ietsuna knew how crucial what had happened in that room was, but that didn't mean he had to like that his brother was involved. To him, watching Tsuna participate in this was like watching him take one big step further into the mafia world. The world that he wanted to keep the younger boy out of.
He just felt so stupid. But it was hard not to react so violently at the thought of what just happened. Of seeing gasoline poured onto that hitman; Tsuna's brow had furrowed, his mouth had twitched. Ietsuna had seen the concern in his eyes; but he didn't stop Hibari. Maybe it was because he trusted Hibari more than Ietsuna did, but it was still unbelievable. And he knew nothing violent had gone on while he was out of the room, but coming back in to see his little brother sitting in front of the sobbing hitman, quietly holding his hand while he listed off all the names and locations of his comrades shook Ietsuna.
He couldn't help but wonder about the ultimate truth. Sure, Tsuna was his adorable little brother. He felt deep empathy for those around him and held nearly everyone in his life close to his heart. But there was something deeper - a willingness to do the hard thing, to take on a fight even when he didn't want to, to face the difficult truths. It was unyielding, without hesitation. He wasn't a badass at first glance, really. In fact, he spent almost all his time handling his crazy friends and the children that followed him around like ducklings. But every single time it mattered, Tsuna stepped up.
Was that who Tsuna was, or who Ietsuna and his father had forced him to be?
And the unspoken question; should Tsuna have been chosen to be Decimo in the first place? The answer was obvious who would be the better Decimo now, really, with the sorry state Ietsuna knew he was in. But that didn't necessarily mean Ietsuna had always been the wrong choice. Was Tsuna always like this?
Ietsuna would never know, and it hurt his heart to think about it.
He exhaled heavily.
"I know. I know. I'm so stupid."
"You care about your brother, Stupid Ietsuna, and I'm not going to fault you for that." Reborn responded, hopping down from his shoulder. "But I would consider using your head every once in a while. Just a thought." Ietsuna scrubbed his hands over his face.
"I'll be better." He promised. "I have to be better."
XXXX
Tsuna was going to kill Reborn.
Not that Tsuna was on great terms with his brother lately; since he had threatened Hibari, there had been an odd tension in the house. Tsuna wasn't trying to avoid his older brother, but there was this looming idea that a conversation needed to be had, about how Tsuna wasn't a kid and it wasn't Ietsuna's place to threaten violence to his friends over Tsuna's own decisions.
But it was a little hard to broach the topic, and neither of them were enthusiastic about doing so.
But regardless, Tsuna wasn't happy with Reborn apparently trying to get Ietsuna killed.
It had been some dumb incident; as always, Reborn was tormenting Ietsuna, and shot him with a Dying Will bullet. Tsuna was pretty sure that Ietsuna could handle it without being put into Dying Will Mode; especially after seeing him flick that hammer out with such ease.
"It's about humiliation." Reborn had said cheerfully to Tsuna on the matter. Tsuna had cringed. "What, you got a problem Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn responded.
"Uh, maybe a little..." Leon crawled down Reborn's arm, quickly transforming into the green pistol Tsuna had become so familiar with. He pointed it at Tsuna.
"Die." Tsuna shrieked in response.
But when Ietsuna had woken up the next day screaming, Tsuna was pretty sure it was Reborn's fault. On one hand, the constant torment was a little funny, even if Tsuna felt very badly for his older brother. But on the other, if Ietsuna were to actually get hurt or killed by the hoops Reborn put him through, Tsuna was going to react poorly.
Tsuna knocked on the door, hearing Ietsuna shouting from inside the room.
"Nii-san?" Tsuna asked. "May I come in?"
"No!" Came the strangled yell.
"Is everything alright?" Tsuna asked. The door suddenly creaked open.
"Reborn!" Ietsuna shrieked.
"Come on in, Dame-Tsuna." Tsuna didn't want to violate his brother's privacy, but from the frantic voice coming from inside the room, Tsuna was worried something was seriously wrong.
Tsuna slowly crept into the room. His brother was sitting shirtless on the ground, in front of his mirror. He was wearing a pair of pajama pants and his hair was wild, like he had been gripping it.
But what Tsuna really noticed was that there was a skull on his arm, with a speech bubble that said, "I'm very bad at speaking Italian."
"Um..." Tsuna didn't know what to say.
"It's called Skullitis." Reborn said cheerfully.
"What did you do?" Tsuna demanded of Reborn.
"Why do you think it was me?"
"It was him!" Ietsuna cried out from in front of the mirror. "And now it's gonna kill me!"
"What?" Tsuna almost shouted. Reborn bounced up onto the bed.
"It's Skullitis. It happens after you get shot with a Dying Will Bullet 10 times. Skulls appear on your body and reveal your deepest secrets until you die."
Tsuna didn't believe that for a second.
"This isn't a funny joke, Reborn." He said, crossing his arms. He was trying to frown, but had been told it mostly looked like he was pouting.
"He's being serious." Ietsuna groaned. He suddenly slammed his hand to his chest. "Can you pass me a shirt?" He asked.
"No." Reborn answered. Tsuna tentatively reached over and picked up a shirt from the bed, handing it to his brother, who was refusing to uncover his chest. He quickly yanked it on over his head.
"What do we do?" Tsuna asked, brow furrowing. "Should we take him to the hospital?"
"No, there's no cure." Reborn said. "Ietsuna's just going to die."
"Reborn, no jokes. I mean it. What do we do?" Tsuna said sternly. Reborn tilted his hat slowly.
"I may...know of someone who can help."
"Call them." Tsuna said immediately. Another skull appeared on Ietsuna's collarbone, the black edge of it poking out from his shirt. His older brother groaned.
XXXX
Despite the impending possibility of death, Reborn sent Ietsuna to school anyways, insisting that a mafia boss had to remain calm in the face of imminent demise.
Tsuna was pretty sure that this was all a part of an elaborate plot based in humiliation. And he still kinda didn't believe that Skullitis was real. It seemed so ridiculous.
But nevertheless, there had been skulls popping up on Ietsuna's body all day, so even though the weather wasn't particularly cold, he was wearing a jacket and a pair of gloves, trying to cover as much of his body as possible. Tsuna tried not to peak on the walk to school, but Gokudera wasn't as tactful.
"What are you trying to hide?" Gokudera demanded. "They only tell secrets you don't want other people to know! So what are you trying to hide from your brother?" Ietsuna burned red.
"Hayato, maybe we shouldn't push him." Tsuna suggested quietly. "Reborn said he could die."
"Reborn isn't going to let me die." Ietsuna muttered. "He just wants to humiliate me a little bit."
"After threatening your brother and Hibari like that, maybe you deserve it." Gokudera fired back, arms crossed. He had been irate when Tsuna told Yamamoto and Gokudera what happened, no matter how much he tried to calm him down. The silver-haired boy would not be calmed though.
Currently, Tsuna reached out and set a hand on Gokudera's arm as they walked, trying to sooth the stormy younger boy. He had never taken to Ietsuna; Gokudera held a lot of anger towards the older boy still on Tsuna's behalf. The Italian boy pulled a drink out of the side of his bag, angrily lifting it to his lips as they walked, grumbling.
"He's just gonna call Shamal." Ietsuna let out a loud exhale. "I think. He works with Vongola."
Gokudera spat his drink out in a fine mist, let out a garbled noise as he did.
"Trident Shamal?"
"Uh, yeah." Ietsuna said, rubbing the back of his neck. The static from his gloves caused his hair to stand up. "Why, you know him?"
"Yeah I fuckin-," Gokudera cut himself off, looking shocked. "I lived with the freak!" Ietsuna stared at him.
"Hayato? Who is Shamal?" Tsuna asked.
"He's...a doctor. And a pervert!" Gokudera said quickly. "He's a bad influence!"
"He's a notorious assassin and doctor who treats mafiosos. Well, female mafiosos." Ietsuna said with a shrug. "I've seen him at parties, I guess. He is kind of a creep, but really good at what he does."
"How is he going to treat you then?" Yamamoto wondered out loud. "If you said he treats female mafiosos."
"I'm sure Reborn has something on him." Ietsuna said. "Just some more tiered torment." Tsuna glanced over at Gokudera, who looked like he was going through a variety of emotions, all of them playing out on his face simultaneously.
"Hayato?" Tsuna asked tentatively. The silver-haired boy's head snapped up. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah! Of course!" He said quickly. So the answer was no, Tsuna decided.
"Do you not want to see Shamal?" Tsuna was getting the feeling that despite Gokudera bad-mouthing the man, they had some kind of special relationship that the teen wasn't willing to share.
"I don't know." Gokudera said. "I haven't talked to him in a while." Tsuna had never really gotten the full story of Gokudera coming to Japan out of the boy. He had picked up that there was a complicated family history, especially with his father, based on a few things his friend had said. But he did wonder what kind of life Gokudera had that he could drop it and come to Japan so easily.
"I'll support you, no matter what." Tsuna assured him, gently bumping his shoulder against Gokudera's. Gokudera looked at Tsuna, stunned. "What?" Tsuna asked.
"Every time I think I know how kind you are, you surprise me."
XXXX
Tsuna had no fucking idea why Shamal just showed up in the Nami Middle infirmary. Ietsuna did not go to Nami Middle and Shamal obviously knew how old the young Decimo was supposed to be. And Shamal never told anyone where he was going.
The only reason Tsuna discovered that Shamal had arrived in Namimori is because he slipped and scraped his knee during gym. He was alright, but it was bleeding a little bit and he figured he should go clean it out and put a band-aid on it. He had informed his instructor, who had eyed him hesitantly.
"Are you sure you need to go?" The instructor asked. Tsuna glanced down at his scraped knee, which was dripping some blood down his leg.
"I just wanted to go clean it out." Also, Tsuna didn't really like gym that much. "I don't want it to get infected or anything." The instructor sighed.
"Fine, just hurry back." Tsuna nodded and turned to walk away. "Wait." He turned back, tilting his head. "You're Dame-Tsuna, right?" Tsuna blinked.
"Uh, yeah?"
"You know the DC chairman, right?" The incident with Nezu the year prior had not been forgotten any time soon by the staff and Tsuna supposed he had been seen a lot with Hibari and various members of the DC. He didn't really think about it much, but it had not gone unnoticed.
"Yeah." Tsuna said. He wasn't about to volunteer the information that he was dating Hibari.
"Don't come back. Just-, just stay at the nurse's office." The instructor said, somewhat nervously. "Don't want you bleeding around the track."
"Um, sensei, Kyoya doesn't go here anymore." Tsuna said, trying to ease the anxiety appearing in his teacher's eyes. That comment didn't help; his instructor's eyes widened.
"Hibari Kyoya?" Tsuna cringed, realizing he had spoken very familiarly of his boyfriend. "Christ, just go." Tsuna wasted no time, nodding and thanking his instructor before he darted inside, waving goodbye to his friends. Yamamoto waved back cheerfully, but Tsuna saw Gokudera elbow him, yelling at him. The infirmary was close to where they held gym, on the first floor of the building. It was a short walk.
Tsuna poked his head into the pristine, white room. There were a few beds, with curtains open around them and a desk set off to the side with cabinets full of medical supplies. The chair was pulled away, and he could see a shadow of a girl sitting on one of the beds and what looked like a man on the chair in front of the bed. He sniffed.
Was that cigarette smoke?
"What do you mean take off my shirt?!" Came the shrill voice. It was clearly coming from the girl sitting on the bed. "I twisted my ankle!"
"How old are you again?" The gravelly voice was coming from the man in the chair in front of the bed.
"I'm 13, you pervert!" The girl yelled, hopping off the bed, and running out of the room, barreling past Tsuna. "Go to hell!" Tsuna was stunned.
The chair rolled back out from the curtain, and Tsuna got a good look at the smoking figure in front of him. He had dark hair that almost touched his shoulders. He was older, maybe in his mid-30s. He was handsome, with dark hair and dark eyes, looking very European and very much out of place in the Nami Middle infirmary. There was a cigarette sticking out of his mouth, smoking curling up from the end and Tsuna was instantly reminded of Gokudera, who still tried to smoke in secret.
He looked Tsuna up and down as he pulled his chair to his desk, crossing his legs.
"I'm Dr. Shamal. I'll be filling in for your nurse today." He said. He eyed Tsuna. "I don't treat men."
"Oh my god." Tsuna said. He had no idea what to say. This was Shamal?
"Though, you're so cute and petite I could make an exception." He said, hand reaching out and groping Tsuna's thigh. Tsuna squeaked in shock. "Yeah, it's soft enough. I could probably close my eyes and pretend you're a girl." He decided out loud.
Tsuna slapped his hand away abruptly. Shamal withdrew his hand, barely fazed by it.
"Kyoya is going to try and bash your head in." Tsuna said out loud.
"Kyoya?" Shamal looked mildly interested. "I don't know a Kyoya."
"He's the Disciplinary Committee chairman." Tsuna responded. He felt like he was in a daze, he was just so shocked. "You're Trident Shamal?"
Shamal's face dropped.
"Who are you?" His demeanor changed, sharpening. He uncrossed his legs, eyes narrowing.
"I'm the other Sawada brother." Tsuna said quickly before the man went for a weapon or anything like that. "Reborn called you here for Ietsuna. I'm Tsuna."
"Hmm." Shamal had relaxed again. "Seems like a weird name. Ietsuna and Tsuna. Sound so close."
"It's short for Tsunayoshi." Tsuna said indignantly. "It isn't weird. We're named for Tokugawa shoguns." Shamal blinked.
"Hmm. I remember something like that." Tsuna was getting the impression that Shamal knew a lot more than he was saying. He had to be at Nami Middle for Gokudera; there was no other explanation. "Didn't Tokugawa Iemitsu refuse to train Tsunayoshi as a warrior because he thought he would usurp his older brother?" The words themselves were calm and collected, but the meaning behind them cut to the bone.
"Uh, yeah." Tsuna stammered. "You know your Japanese history."
"And then Tokugawa Ietsuna died and Tsunayoshi became shogun anyways."
"You know exactly who I am." Tsuna said, changing the subject. "Why did you pretend not to?" Shamal shrugged. He tossed Tsuna an alcohol pad for his knee.
"Just didn't recognize you. Didn't expect you to be so cute and girlish." Tsuna was getting irritated with him, but didn't want to start a fight for Gokudera's sake.
"How do you know about me?" He asked curiously, as he opened the alcohol pad and wiped up his knee, wincing at the pain. He had also realized this might be his only opportunity to learn something about the mafia world and his place in it; something more than what Reborn and Ietsuna wanted him to know.
"Your name has been passed around a lot, lately. Dino Cavallone came back singing your praises. The prodigious youngest son. Everyone's been asking a lot of questions, little Vongola."
"I'm not Vongola." Tsuna said. Shamal yawned, stretching out in his chair.
"That's what your old man says. Let's see how long that lasts." He slid his chair forward, and reached out, shutting his eyes. His hands grabbed Tsuna's ass and pulled him forward. He felt himself get groped as he quite literally fell on top of the older man. "Yeah, if I close my eyes, feels just like a girl. A flat-chested girl, but a girl."
Tsuna let out a shriek.
XXXX
When Gokudera burst into the room, Yamamoto close behind him, Tsuna was on the ground, face bright red and pointing a trembling finger at Shamal. Shamal, who was stretched out in his chair, shrugging and completely shameless.
"You're a pervert!" Tsuna shrieked. He twisted to see his friends. Yamamoto relaxed a little bit, his eyes softening once he saw Tsuna was okay, but Gokudera was even more fired up. He had wheeled around to his former mentor and started screaming.
"You put your hands on Tsuna, you fucking pervert!" He yelled. Shamal blinked, realizing it was his former charge that had entered the room. "Don't EVER put your hands on him again! I'll shove this dynamite up your ass! You shouldn't even be in Japan, you sex offender! You're a public health hazard! And I hope Hibari beats you to death if I don't kill you first!"
Yamamoto helped Tsuna up from the ground as Gokudera went on his tirade. Tsuna was thoroughly embarrassed that he hadn't learned his lesson after Shamal groped him the first time, face burning red. He was tempted to hide behind his friends from the perverted older man who just peered past Gokudera and grinned at Tsuna. Tsuna squeaked.
"Are you done yet?" Shamal asked Gokudera, who was practically spitting fire.
"I swear-," He ripped a stick of dynamite out from nowhere and Tsuna yelped and rushed over, grabbing Gokudera's arm.
"Not in the school!" Tsuna hissed. "And we still need him!"
"It's been a long time, Hayato." Shamal said, rubbing his jaw. "You just disappeared."
"Don't pretend like you weren't keeping tabs on me." Gokudera shot back. Shamal grinned back.
"So, you're the Storm Guardian then." Gokudera looked taken aback. Tsuna was confused as to what Shamal meant exactly. He knew that the Vongola bosses had Guardians, but didn't know what Shamal was trying to say.
"I'm not anything." Gokudera snapped back. "I'm here because of Tsuna."
"Seems like a big move for someone who is just a friend." Shamal said dismissively. Gokudera's fists were clenched at his sides, face red.
"I feel safe with him!" He snapped. "I like being here!" Shamal raised an eyebrow, still smoking lazily.
"Hmm."
"Leave him alone." Tsuna said, stepping in between them. "You shouldn't be here. You should be at Nami High."
"Oh, the Skullitis?" Shamal said dismissively. "I don't treat men, like I already said. And your brother isn't nearly cute enough for me to pretend he's a girl." Tsuna's jaw dropped.
"Won't he...die?" Shamal shrugged.
"Probably." Tsuna narrowed his eyes.
"You're going to treat him." He said. Shamal spun around in his chair, waving his hand.
"Nah. Get out. I'm sick of looking at three teenage boys." Tsuna was starting to get angry. He glanced back at Yamamoto and Gokudera.
"Is there any way we could convince you?" Tsuna asked. Shamal twisted around, looking at Tsuna, up and down. Tsuna's face was already going red. He was regretting asking that question, not sure what nonsense was about to come out of the older man's mouth, but knowing it was going to be bad.
"Take off your clothes and let me get a look-," Gokudera punched Shamal in the face. The doctor blinked, rubbing his jaw. His cigarette had been knocked out of his mouth and onto the ground. He looked surprised.
"Shut up." Gokudera growled out. Yamamoto snickered behind Tsuna. "You're going to help Stupid Ietsuna." He ordered.
"Or what?"
"Or you'll regret it." He hissed back. Shamal held up his hands and slowly stood up from his chair.
"Fine, fine." Yamamoto slid cleanly in between Tsuna and the older man, Tsuna peeking out from behind him.
"Shamal-san, you really should keep your hands off of Tsuna." He said cheerfully. "Or you might lose them." Shamal tilted his head.
"You're a scary kid." The baseball player just laughed.
"Oh, me? I'm not scary!"
XXXX
Ietsuna is kind of...annoying, but he's going to start trying harder. He's trying to be better, he just doesn't know how. Also, all the stuff about the Tokugawa shoguns is real. It's why I named Tsuna's older brother Ietsuna in the first place. I don't intend to kill Ietsuna off, just so you all know, but I thought it was a very interesting parallel.
There is more light-hearted Shamal content in the next chapter and then we're digging into the Mukuro arc. Also, I do on a Varia Arc, with some interim stuff of course. I probably will end this before a Future Arc because there's a lot to get into there that wouldn't fit at all with what I have going on. I may take some elements from the Future Arc and implement them further. Still, that's a long way off right now.
Again, check out my side story slip away for some Hibari/Tsuna content if you like that sort of thing and let me know if you want the other one.
