Chapter 46
"Vegetable!" Aurelio called out from the halls, speaking behind a squeal that was covered with brand new wallpaper. He was at the mansion that the slave buyer had owned just days ago before his boss utterly destroyed him and Aurelio slaughtered all the guards and enemies with his spear. Many of the children were stunned, even shaking at his bloodied appearance but Aurelio didn't mind. He learned from Isago that it didn't matter what other people thought of him or looked at him. The only thing that mattered was how his family accepted him.
The girl who had her hair draped over her face looked up from her meal, almost brightening up as she stood up from her chair, walking towards the male before asking him what was wrong.
"The interview is tomorrow, Vegetable! You gotta impress Isago! Do you have a plan yet?"
The girl shook her head, but she paused just moments before opening her mouth with hesitation.
"I'm not confident, but if everything else goes wrong, then I'll beg him."
Aurelio sniffed the air with a perturbed look on his face. The children behind Vegetable had looked up from their own food, some biting their lips as they realized that they probably had to prepare for the interview. After all, this so-called Big Boss would be their future employer, perhaps even saviour as long as they could end up like Aurelio. Today, Aurelio Laura purple t-shirt that had a large smiley face plaster right in the middle. The face was yellow, but besides the emoji, there was a hand gesture. The emoji was flipping everyone off. Other than that, he wore casual pants that segued in the colour of beige. The pants stopped right before his ankles, showing his skin along with the famous branded sneakers that the child had bought for himself. Aurelio constantly felt the envious gazes on his body before he puffed up his chest and lifted his chin with a grin. They were admiring him, not that he cared much about it, but he felt good with her eyes on him.
"Aure...lio," Vegetable started, and the Sun Guardian could see a bit of meat stuck in the girl's teeth. He made a face, then squinted at the sliver.
"Ew! Vegetable, your teeth, freaking teeth!"
The girl's face burned with shame before she covered up her mouth with one of her hands, the chipped nails on her finger showing exactly what she had gone through before she came to this mention. The children were being starved despite selling themselves to the slave buyer. Other kids who had a bit of pride refused to cooperate and sell themselves yet they stopped to death on the streets. There was a platter and clatter of utensils that fell on the ground, some kids scraping up the food with their dirty fingers before they even rinsed it in the sink or washed it with soap. Aurelio made a face, promising to himself that he would never go back to that disgusting form of his. Well, there would be no possible way that he would if he followed Isago.
"Never mind that- brown eyes! So you know what Isago is looking for in a person?" Vegetable stomped her foot on the ground to make an impression but her expression flattened the moment Aurelio gave her a dirty look.
"My name-" he seethed out. "Is fucking Aurelio!"
"Yeah, and my name is still Vegetable so shut it, brown eyes!"
He grumbled a bit but Aurelio knew how much he wanted the girl to join his group. She was one of his friends that helped him in the slums before he was picked up by his Savior. Although she was feisty and stubborn, she still had a heart full of gold and accompanied him during the starving nights. Aurelio gave a snort before he started, a couple of kids leaning on the edges of their seats to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"Isago values loyalty the most. He will only accept people who are useful to him, and those who are willing to throw away their lives in order to accomplish his goals. If you betray him, then I will fucking slaughter you all!" Aurelio punched his fist into the air as several children backed away, slightly trembling from his threat. They had seen what the Sun Guardian had done to many of the people that lived in this house, yet none of them could do anything to stop him. He was a monster in human clothing. Yet at the same time, none of them could hate him for what he had done. After all, he had saved them. Although according to the Sun Guardian, it was the orders from his boss.
"Isago is so great! You'll instantly feel that when you see him! He created his family from scratch! Travelled the entire world to gather all his Guardians! Not to mention he won the battle and slaughtered all his enemies like water!" Aurelio puffed out his chest after pounding his fist near his heart while a smug grin appeared on his face. "Everyone else in this world is A tier or lower, but Isago is a fucking S tier!"
Many of the kids around him started gasping in awe.
"If he accepts you, then you'll get to learn! You'll get so much food that you'll never freaking starve! Not to mention if you work hard enough, Isago might give you a super cool weapon! Like me! I'm a chosen one! A super-rare flame who was chosen to be one of the main characters! Ya'll just side characters!"
Some kids had their jaws all the way down to the ground.
"Really?! Really?! We'll get food? How about clothes?! Can we sleep in a bed?!"
All their questions started bombarding the Sun Guardian, and Aurelio sneered at the pitiful children, further basking in his glory.
(・∀・)
Reborn knew for one thing that Vivo was lying to him about the black flame. It concerned Reborn, but he didn't call him outright on the spot. It was only when Isago's guardians had left the room and they were alone with him working on his laptop when Reborn called it out in a casual tone as if they were speaking about the lovely weather this morning.
"Oh, you knew?" Isago replied without looking back at him. There was a moment of typing before Isago pressed the enter button and tore his gaze up from his computer before shutting the laptop down. He was smiling despite the severity of the problem and that made Reborn frown a bit. So bright as usual. That was why Reborn was fascinated with his sky. The sky seemed to be so wide that a person could either be blinded by the vastness or enraptured since it was so tantalizing.
"Vivo," Reborn said carefully before taking Leon off his shoulder and bringing him to his lap. Isago chuckled, watching Reborn with those golden eyes of his, brimming with a mesmerizing shimmer. That gaze of his always made Reborn's heart move. So strong and constantly full of the future. Reborn smiled unconsciously, affected by the boy that he treasured greatly. "That flame is dangerous."
"Si," Isago laughed with melodic chimes as the lamplight shone across his face. He tilted his and gave Reborn a lopsided grin. "It was Byakuran's strongest technique, though it needed hatred to increase the intensity. I was the primary user as his subordinate."
Though Vivo worded it carefully, Reborn could tell that the boy had been Byakuran's partner in both relationship and power in another timeline. The two teens must have ruled the world at some point, sharing their techniques with each other. Reborn's lips pressed down almost instantly. The feeling of his sky merging with another's, Reborn didn't like it; he was getting a bit irked. There was a sudden movement before Reborn blinked, feeling the boy's Eternal flame brush against his own and cuddling with the sun. The rain part grappled the tips of Reborn's flame, rubbing it with a haughty but playful flick.
This boy-
Reborn chuckled, his mood lightening up.
There was a glimmer in the boy's eyes as well as a soft smile that crawled onto Isago's face at the hitman's laugh.
"Jealous, Reborn?" Isago exposed and Reborn snapped back, forming a deliberate quirk of his lips as he eyed the boy with a tempting gaze. Vivo's own eyes widened a bit.
"What can you do about it, Vivo?" he lowered his voice to his original baritone and Vivo's flame froze halfway along with the expression that paused for the slightest moment. His words were suggestive and the information flashed through Isago's eyes. Reborn mused and he knew himself that his eyes were sparkling, before feeling the Eternal flame slide back to its position like he was a reprimanded child with his head down to the ground. For a person who had no problem baiting his enemies with himself, Vivo was extremely inexperienced with love.
Isago cleared his throat, eyes swishing to another place before collecting himself back so smoothly that it made the corner of Reborn's lips curl up with amusement.
"Reborn, I thought you said you would wait."
...So alluring, Vivo.
(・∀・)
The rings would be coming the moment Giglo Nero joined Notte Eterna's base and Isago signed the contract. Isago mulled over his options one by one before telling Adriano all the information he had to finish. The material-gathering was finally finished, Adriano came to Isago's side hours ago with a haggard but victorious grin on his face. He was slouching a bit before Isago told him to take a break while he worked on his lists. Surprisingly, Adriano fell asleep on the spot. Fast forward two hours later, Adriano was back in the game looking refreshed as ever.
"Can you get the lottery tickets ready by tomorrow?" Isago asked Adriano and he accepted the file without hesitation. "I also need you to organize one of our future members to stay in Italy to collect the monthly rent. I'll be purchasing a few more houses when we have the money so please put that on my reminders."
Adriano typed fast on his phone before asking Isago what else. Isago chuckled darkly, loosely dangling his arm over the chair before telling Adriano an overwhelming amount of information he had found in the past few days. Adriano was able to take it without complaining and the only thing he was feeling was awe and respect for Isago to finish all of the preparations in a span of three days. All Reborn's recommendations were flying over by plane and were expected to arrive within the next 48 hours. Isago had to prepare for them too- since an overwhelming number of people wanted to join his family due to Reborn's influence and his skyrocketing popularity from the succession battles.
The world's greatest hitman was really no joke.
Isago was also surprised that the Cevello had copies of the last battle- the cloud, since the two girls had died. It was also after Isago's visit to the Giglio Nero famiglia when they released the last battle out in the black market. Just a few hours ago. Isago's declaration of quitting the Vongola and building his own famiglia had exploded throughout the underworld. Originally the video was only broadcast live with Vongola's allies and Vongola themselves, but once it got onto the black market, a lot of independent criminals started knocking on Isago's emails.
The notice that Notte Eterna existed with the world's strongest hitman harmonized with Isago was already out there. And news of his previous works with Vongola's allies had spread through the biggest groups too. Vongola's allies were not moving against Isago due to his help and fair leadership but sooner or later, Isago knew that he had to prepare for their attacks if Vongola declared him as an enemy.
With Tsuna as boss in training though...Isago smiled slyly.
At first, Isago really wanted to ask why Cevello was helping him, but before he could even ask, Cevello sent a couple of sentences by email stating that they were thankful that he had kept his promise with the Flame Extender and that their girls at Isago's base were very satisfied with their living conditions and how Isago treated them like his true family. Usagi and Thadeka had done a very good job. Other than that, Cervello really knew how to please their future boss. It might have also been because his name was fairly well known with Cervello's members. Connections were indeed a great thing. Other than that, Isago had asked about Cervello's side in things and they said that they had a proper alibi to cover up their tracks from the Vongola.
Isago knew that with the overwhelming waves of people trying to get in, his speed in accepting them would slow down.
That was where Lucas stepped in.
With his mind-reading powers, Isago could easily determine if the person was truly motivated because they wanted to serve in Notte Eterna or not. Lucille was in Verde's lab, learning all the techniques he could from Viper. Things were going so well that Isago momentarily doubted everything that was happening. The power of the internet was fast, but at the same time, it was dangerous.
The good thing was that it was all leaked after Isago's base was created underground. It would serve as a proper shelter, but there were already a few groups targeting them. Aurelio's information gathering had helped a huge lot with collecting the names of a few groups that sent out their men to search out Notte Eterna's base. Aurelio knew his way around the slums and the cities. He knew the code and had no trouble acting as the snobby teenager in front of other people because he was relatively young.
If the enemies found Notte Eterna's base before Isago was ready, his entire group would perish. That was also why all his guardians had thrown themselves into training.
It was a battle with time.
And in this state, Isago really wanted to curse. He really, really wanted to curse. Everything was coming on him too fast- he hadn't even thought of the possibilities that Cevello would lend a helping hand. Yes, it was good that it was out there, but it also turned countless daggers under Isago's neck. One wrong move and everything would go up in flames.
That was why Isago had to fly over to Japan to accept the famous criminals who wanted to join his group. He needed to leave far away from his base and divert their attention from Italy, where his real base was. His hands flew across the keyboard while he told Adriano everything that they needed to do. Adriano was sweating now, but he couldn't complain because he knew that the one who was most affected by this was Isago himself.
This was like betting on a slot machine. Get lucky, and his base would be formed just like that. It may even emerge as one of the strongest bases on the list in the shortest time and make it into history. Unlucky, he would lose everything. But luckily he had Reborn. He had the Mare, which he sacrificed countless timelines to find out which was the best method to get over this. Isago trusted his own power and he knew his deaths in the other timelines would not prove to be useless.
"Aurelio will now be in charge of gathering information. Make sure we form a unit and alert Aurelio about his job. One of Reborn's subordinates will be coming and he will be in charge of teaching Aurelio higher skills in that area. Other than that, we need to build a school system."
"Vivo," Reborn's voice came out from behind the door and Isago hollered a, 'come in' without stopping his words. Reborn didn't say anything as he walked into the room, blinking at Isago's messed up table along with the sweating Adriano who was typing furiously on his laptop.
"My other guardians will continue to train under Reborn, for the time being, tell them to focus on their own jobs- especially Bei Li. Bei Li needs to be in charge of hiring the cooks and tutors on the list if possible. While you're on that, confirm if he's still doing his host job. If he is, then he'll be our second person in gathering information," Isago took a deep breath before the printer beside him started vomiting out papers.
Isago thought of making more allies, but it was impossible in this state. He right now lacked money and the mafia was one word to its core: money. He had no right or anything to offer unless it was the Flame Extender which he refused to sell. He had to come up with faster ways to train his guardians now, and it wasn't that hard after the gravity floor was built. He needed money- he really needed them. Lottery was one thing, but he needed more ways. There was a headache before one of his other timelines started sending information into his head.
He needed to build a structure for his family- and fast.
First was the boss.
Second was the underboss, which meant that they had the job to resolve disputes without involving Isago at all. Isago's eyes flickered to Reborn before returning to his computer. No, they didn't have time for an underboss just yet.
Third were the generals that protected the families and would also have units of their own.
Then was the consigliere that would act as an adviser and only act based on logic. That would easily be for Cevello.
The last was his soldiers who did all the underwork.
The main problem was that Isago's other timeline told Isago to not make his guardians the generals and focus on having them become strong enough guardians to destroy an entire mafia base by themselves. They existed to protect him- not the family. In one of the timelines, Isago had ordered them to become his generals in that timeline, and further, on the course, it proved to be an extremely big problem since no one was protecting him and Isago had no cards up his sleeve when they went into battle.
He stiffened up with the memories of his head being shot by a bullet raging through his mind. He lurched forward, slamming his arm onto the table before dry wheezing. That timeline's Isago had died because his guardians were too weak. No wonder Byakuran didn't have the real funeral wreaths as the leaders of his units.
"Isago?!" Adriano stood up along with Reborn who leaped into action, palm slapped on Isago's face as the sun flames glowed fiercely. There was a battle in both of their eyes before Isago lifted his pale face and coughed. Once he was done coughing, he swallowed thickly.
"Aurelio will be a temporary member in the information unit," Isago spat out and narrowed his eyes, before changing his tone into a more calming one. No, he couldn't panic. He had to keep his cool. Adriano's eyebrows furrowed up as he slowly sat down, a bit unsure.
"I'm fine," Isago rasped out with a confident smile after he cleared his throat. Slinging into his other timeline's head was really not a good thing to do when he was just about to get shot by a rivalling mafia group near his base. "Just died in one of my timelines."
Isago knew, however, that several other timeline deaths would be coming towards him at full speed. In all honesty, if Isago took the time to think about it and ask Reborn how a mafia really worked, he would never have to get to this point of pain. But he had no time. Isago had never been in proper mafia boss training- that was what Tsuna was going through right now. He only knew how to solve smaller things like the workload of a general.
Fucking Byakuran had ten years to get to where he was without any mafia group targeting him. Isago- he had to get it ready within a couple of months and all eyes were on him.
o(￣▽￣)ｄ
Somewhere in the darkness, a man stared at the screen with much amusement. Isago Sawada, huh? Truly, it was a pity not to meet him during the battles. The man watched the last battle on the screen and the silver boy's declaration of his own family. That body was stronger than the Vongola's future successor… there would definitely be a war without him even waging.
"Kufufufu," the creases around the man's eyes increased with the voice that started to sink down to the owner's original volume. His shoulders shook before the mist started to seep out of his body and envelope him. What would it be? Two brothers that fought for the throne were already entertaining enough. The suffering that Tsunayoshi would have would be stretched across his face yet that battle didn't happen.
Mukuro was temporarily disappointed but his toy didn't stay stale for long. Now what they were battling with was the entire Vongola versus the so-called genius's uprising family. It also seemed as if that boy didn't know about his trident powers. Not yet, since he had not fought with Mukuro before. Tsunayoshi was also too dim-witted to mention to his brother that one of his guardians was an evil manipulator who could take over bodies. The smile on Mukuro's face widened.
He would need to wait for him to grow. Wait for both sides to grow until infiltrating Vongola and bringing out a full war. His goal? He was going to destroy the mafia inside out. Let them have a taste of all the pain and suffering he had gone through. Even though Tsunayoshi had persuaded him to not go to war...it was too tempting. The mafia was still full of repulsive bastards who knew nothing but money and power. Mukuro smiled with an apathetic look in his eyes.
He would have to bathe his hands in blood to get rid of the repulsive underworld. When they were at their weakest state, he would strike. Even if he was never released from Vindice Prison, his powers were enough. The body of Tsunayoshi's younger brother…
"Kufufufu...how interesting."
o(￣▽￣)ｄ
They say legends were created under extreme pressure.
Isago didn't know if that was true, but he did know that one was able to completely go insane under pressure. Fucking- Isago had to also create a code of conduct. Isago poured the entire cup of hot coffee down his throat as he breathed, feeling his tongue being burned alive. If Isago could scream, 'kill me!' he would have already done that a thousand times. It was to the point where Bei Li had stomped into Isago's room after receiving the email and seeing the video that went viral on the internet.
"I'll handle the financial problems and materials. Send me all the information, boss."
"On its way, thanks, Bei Li."
"Thank my Asian parents for sending me to business school," Bei Li murmured before placing his own laptop on top of a small desk that Adriano had gotten for him.
Reborn wasn't typing, but he was behind Isago and telling him all the necessary information about the rules in Isago's family. They were the basics, but it was enough for a head start.
Be loyal to the members of the organization, you must not betray nor touch their families.
Protecting the family comes first.
Respect everyone in the family and accept them for who they are.
And on and on and on.
The good thing about Isago was that in his past life, his typing speed was fast. After working on the small assignments from Vongola, his speed had regained back to its prime. Within just minutes, Isago had finished typing all 64 rules that his family would stick on their family's stone or something. Isago also had to find material for that. There were also oaths- Reborn was basically teaching him all the things that he was supposed to learn as a boss, just at a very rapid pace and in Italian. Isago caught up with it quite easily, multitasking and learning all in his flame state.
In his flame state.
His eyes were red not because of his flames- but because he hadn't blinked in a while.
Other than that, Bei Li was in charge of finding ways to make money.
All three of them were furiously working before Isago started calling out his last-ditch effort.
"Adriano, we'll bring Lucille to Japan and create an illusion of Notte Eterna's base. Other than that, call in Usagi and Lukeli."
He nodded, the chair behind him scraping the ground before he rushed out of the room. Isago's fingers moved fast as his other timeline told him a couple of recipes from his past life. There was an overwhelming flood of information. Apparently, Isago had remembered and researched the formula for drugs and alcohol from his world. They would prove quite the use then. He sent all the materials to Bei Li when Usagi arrived, breathless. Her pink hair was all messed up along with Lukeli who scurried in while pushing her glasses up.
Their job was simple. Recreate the drugs and alcohols that were specified by his other self and mass-produce them. The two girls had a knowing glint in their eyes before they dashed outside, eager to produce results with the formula basically already spelled in front of them. Adriano instinctively knew what to do, several telephone calls came out before he started arguing about the price with the owner of the house.
"Don't argue, just extort," Isago's blunt voice cut through the air as Adriano froze, before instantly snapping back to his state and ending the call. That was right- even though Isago was in the mafia, he rarely used illegal ways to buy houses. But Isago was in a rush. He cared no need for morals or legal necessities anymore. He had a blank stare on his face before saying out his next commands.
"Bring Lucas with you. If they don't comply, kill them."
Italy was a messy place, to begin with anyway. There were too many mafia groups in Italy so the police would have no idea which group did what. On top of Notte Eterna's base, there were already three groups that were fighting for dominance. He needed a shop and pronto.
"Choose one that's near us, but don't make it obvious."
Adriano nodded his head and grabbed his coat, rushing outside. Isago trusted that Adriano knew clearly what to do. Other than that- Isago's eyes gleamed at the information that his self sent from tomorrow's inspection. Out of all the children in the slums, there were only twenty children that actually had flames. The rest then…
Mafia seduction.
Isago would create his own red district.
He typed in the words before adding in a 'casino' to his list. The main problem was that if Isago wanted to do everything that he wanted, he needed his own territory. Then in that way, money would be coming into his hands. Once the money was in his grasp, then the allies would come trickling in. Isago had nothing except the knowledge of different timelines and talents by his side. Reborn on Isago's shoulder smiled dangerously at his sky's change before Isago spoke without looking at him.
"I need your adult form as soon as possible so you don't have to laze around and do nothing."
"What are you planning, Vivo?" Reborn's lips curved up.
"Within one year," Isago said with a busy stare. "Notte Eterna will take over Sicily."
Bei Li in the room let out a dramatic choke before Isago stood up from his seat and reached over the world map and pointed at the small corner where Sicily was located at the end of Italy. Isago's eyes flickered to the largest city then at Ragusa, where they were located. They were fairly near the Mediterranean sea, so Isago needed to come up with a plan to take care of Ragusa within a month.
There were around a hundred mafia groups that were located in Ragusa, though they were all small. From Aurelio's reports, the groups that were targeting them came mostly from Turin while Vongola was located in Rome. Other than that, Ragusa's groups were considered weak. However, Isago didn't want to risk a close battle. He needed to demonstrate his family's power so that the other groups would fear them.
"We'll take over Ragusa three months later."
"Heuk! No!" Bei Li whammed himself onto the chair and gave Isago a horrified Li had no idea how strong the groups in this area were, but he knew what Isago was implying. War. They were going to war. But Isago knew himself that it was more like a catfight rather than war itself. Nonetheless, Bei Li gripped the edges of his head, lightning hoops cycling with both fear and excitement. "My face is not ready-"
"It's possible if we have the world's greatest hitman on our side in his real form," Isago searched Reborn's face before curling up his lips. They didn't need three months to completely conquer Ragusa. It took three days at most, but Isago trusted that Reborn knew he wanted his new members to experience the war that a mafia family would engage in. Reborn's expression was completely blank but there was a breathtaking twinkle in his eyes.
Inside Isago's head, 4,000 timelines reported their search for Tethla Young's mother.
"Give me one month. I'll get rid of your curse."
\(￣︶￣*\)) 4,000 timelines for all the countries.
One month was enough. The main problem was he was also busy with collecting members. Isago's flames extended to each child, deeming their worth. Lucas was too busy securing the small shop with Adriano so Isago couldn't call him to help with the selection, though he trusted that he didn't need to do a mind check since Aurelio had given him all the information and background checks for each child. In his hand, there was a profile and history of the child in front of him.
Isago smiled warmly as the child in front of him relaxed their shoulders and gave a sigh of relief. There was still tension in his small hands that were clutching the ends of his clothes. The clothes were stained with dirt and seemed as if it was a bunch of towels badly stitched together to form a thing that he could wear. Of course, even though Isago invited them to stay at the slave trader's mansion, he did not provide them with clothes or good food. He gave them enough to eat and survive on to not go outside and scavenge scraps, but it was a psychological tactic that he used.
Unless the children joined him, they would not have any benefits. He wanted them to remember, and if they thought what they had now was good, they would be bamboozled by how Isago would treat them later on. In this way, they would never even think of leaving Notte Eterna because, in their minds, they've experienced life without Isago as their leader. In order to prevent returning, they would also not risk angering their potential boss.
"Relax, would you like some juice?" Isago offered and the boy's tanned face brightened up several shades. He nodded furiously before standing up himself, Reborn sitting in another seat and staring over the documents. Reborn was reading them as they were interviewing, but Isago prepared beforehand and memorized each and every child's profile already.
The child in front of him was named 'scum' from what the other children called him. He had brown hair that matched the colour of the dark. It was dark and messy, seemingly like tangles had grown in his hair instead of being there because of the lack of brushing. The boy had cleaned himself- though not in the best way possible because there was still dirt in his toenails. His feet were scarred and when the child's eyes trailed towards Isago's shoes, he shamefully twisted his feet behind the chair's legs in order to hide them. There was a small stench coming from the child but it wasn't that bad compared to the grotesque man who eyed Isago as candy.
If Isago was narrow-minded, he would have been disgusted by the child, but he knew that the strongest people came from losing everything or being born with the disadvantages that normal people would not have. Reborn said nothing about it, and Isago was relatively pleased that the hitman- for being full of achievements and money, did not look down on people only based on their form. Well, at least based on a form that was not too bad. Not to mention Isago had mentioned it to him beforehand.
The hitman's flame didn't move back or forward.
Isago placed the glass of orange juice in front of the boy and laughed at the boy's flustered state which consisted of a bunch of 'um's and ah's.'
"Ah- ah, thank you- God!"
Isago blinked, grinning with amusement as the child's cheeks flushed under his scoot-covered face. Even though it seemed like he washed his face, he was really not taught how to correctly do it.
"God? Who told you to call me that?" Isago asked, making sure that his voice was light enough so that the child would not be intimidated by even a hint of negativity coming from Isago. Isago's Flame of Eternity embraced the boy and the child's eyes widened, suddenly replying back with his own lightning flame that was as faint as it could be. Honestly, Isago was lacking men- so it wasn't like he would reject any of the children that came up to him with desperation and pure devotion.
If they didn't have a flame, then he would send them as prostitutes or soldiers of a lower rank. There was really no shame in prostitution, after all, it was a great way to obtain information from the enemies. They would work as manpower who specialized in weapons rather than flames. They would be throwing their lives in like water, but well- manpower was better than none. However, each life was useful and Isago knew that. Instead of placing the flameless in war, he would place them as spies in companies so that they would be able to steal blueprints or learn how to drive. Isago noted to himself that the gravity room would be the best place these flameless kids could train.
If one person could learn skills from the greatest hitman of all time, they may not even need flames.
"A-Aure...o!" The child tried to pronounce it and Isago corrected him with a sweet tone.
"Aurelio?"
The child nodded.
Talking with the child some more, Isago determined that this child's personality suited unit four, which was still building and needed leaders. After Giglio Nero joined his group, Isago would be actively asking Gamma to become one of the tutors for unit four. After all, if they could share resources, Isago was completely able to merge the two families closer. Teaching was one way.
The child brightened up after Isago told him that he was welcomed into the family. All of their previous eyes twinkled with a devotion that Aurelio had hammered into their brains before they came here. If some kids had a bit of disbelief and suspicions, then Isago would chat them up like friends and ask about their lives. When they were comfortable, he would ask them about what they wanted to learn in the future. Yes, they had a future. And when they started dreaming of the future, that was when their childish side would come out. Depending on how the child would act at that stage, Isago would either dismiss them with a bag of coins, telling them good luck or accept them.
So far, there were only a dozen kids that had been dismissed. It wasn't bad considering that they had already gone through three groups. Isago and Reborn took a break after that brown-haired child ran out of the door and smacked his forehead into the doorframe in an attempt to thank Isago with a winsome grin. The accepted children would go to the next door where Thadeka would introduce herself and teach them how to bathe. Ever since Aurelio asked for the interviews, Isago had instructed Adriano to prepare clothes for their incoming members. That was why material collecting took so long for him. Not only that, Isago asked Adriano to supply all their basic necessities.
Today, Adriano's task was to buy all the lottery ticket numbers that Isago had assigned to him after they killed the shop owner and got the rights from them. Usagi and Lukeli's experiments were going well. There were a total of three drugs and twelve different alcohols that they had to create. Around three days would be enough. There was a quiet buzz in Isago's pockets before he picked it up and Bei Li's voice rang out from the speakers.
"Boss, your chefs are here! Fresh with thoroughly checked backgrounds! They have a debt to pay to the shark loans and we paid them back. Should I introduce them around the base?"
"No, bring them to me. I'll harmonize with them first."
"Roger, boss! You better praise my handsomeness for attracting them."
"You are handsome," Isago smirked through the phone and hung up after a while. There was another buzz and Reborn lifted his eyes from the mug as Isago picked it up again to get a full report from Lucas about the shop. Isago was a bit tired but after feeling Reborn's sun flames calling out to him, he stepped closer to the hitman while answering Lucas' questions.
"I told you to give me more work if you're struggling."
"I do need some more information about the smaller mafia groups in Ragusa. Aurelio is already on that. Do you want to join him?"
"You know that I'm a cloud."
"Alright then," Isago stifled a laugh and placed his hand over the table to see Reborn's documents that he was pointing to. "Ragusa has a lot of chapels. Go to any and scout for similar children who are in need of being accepted or hate following the law. After that, I need a list of names and divisions of all the businesses under which mafia group."
"That's all, Isago?"
"That's enough for today, Lucas," Isago could hear his own smile through the phone while Lucas paused on the other side.
"When are you going to Japan?"
"In a couple of days. What do you have in mind?"
"Lucille can maintain numerous illusions at the same time now. Create multiple fake bases to throw them off. I'll keep an eye on those who attack and destroy the fake one then I'll leak the next base. You need time."
"That's not a bad idea," Isago hummed before pausing. "Very well, after our trip to Japan, we'll head towards Arizona for your grandmother."
Reborn shifted his gaze to Isago's face with a curious blink. The Grand Canyon. In a few days, a woman who had the star scar under her left eye would appear there. It honestly took 4,416 versions of him to retrieve the location of that woman. Isago had a very large headache after receiving all the information. Honestly, how was Byakuran only able to take over part of Japan in ten years?
At Isago's speed, taking over the world would take less than ten years. Not that Isago wanted to take over the world. After experiencing the preparation for taking over a single city, Isago backed away from the plan entirely. There was a reason why Vongla only took over Rome along with the other large mafia groups yet maintained the strongest group in history. It was too damn tiring to rule over the entire world and keep everyone in check.
And Byakuran claimed himself to be a god.
He didn't even try taking over the world. Well, in one of the timelines where Isago was his Black King, they did take over half the world in a short timespan. It was like having two rulers who both had the capabilities to rule four countries on the tip of their fingers. Not that Isago could do the same in this timeline. The more ground they conquered, the less powerful potential they would actually have. Quality over quantity.
In fact, Isago decided that Sicily would be their only territory which they would dominate over. If perhaps they had overwhelming manpower and Isago had things perfectly in hand, they would expand. The world was a very large place.
"Bitch's mother," Lucas concluded and Isago chuckled.
"Yes. Our second fake base will be located there. We need to pick her up beforehand, though."
It occurred to Isago that he needed to find Tethla's mother first. There was a possibility that Aria did not know how to break the curse or the existence of the twins. She had no reaction to them only that they would meet in the future. Isago's hyper intuition was onto the fact that by 'meeting' later would be after his talk with Tethla's mother whether she was an ally or not. Other than that, if she actually knew the way to break the curse, then she would have done so after Isago realized her intentions to protect her family.
The part that crucially played into Isago believing that Aria didn't know about the solution to the curse was because of his hyper-intuition. Isago sighed yet the smile played on his lips before he hung up the phone and turned his gaze towards Reborn and strategizing on Unit 3 that was for the flameless kids. Hyper intuition along with the Mare rings was almost overpowered. Yes, it strained the user, but using both, they could take over the world. No wonder the one with the Blood of Vongola was not handed the Mare rings.
Isago had to thank his second favourite character, Giotto for carrying this fact through his descendants.
"Vivo, I am surprised that you're able to take all this in with the amount of time you have," Reborn looked up at his sky without smiling or frowning. It was a blank expression that Isago had to laugh at.
"Cervello basically cornered me in the nicest way possible," Isago shrugged before taking his eyes off of Reborn and glancing outside of the window. This morning, the sky was as clear as ever. White, fluffy clouds floated across the sky and Isago took that as an indicator that everything would go smoothly. It had to. Isago wouldn't allow it to go another direction. "I am your sky, am I not?"
Isago's grin was mischievous as he turned back to Reborn.
"Your standards for people are high."
Reborn smirked, sun flames giddy as they burned near Isago's sky flames as if to rub at him. He lifted his fedora and Leon jumped from his shoulder and onto the table before blinking slowly at Isago. Then his pink tongue flickered out and back in with a single motion as if telling Isago that he would like to be petting. There was a sparkle in Isago's eyes as he glanced at the lizard.
"You know me well, Vivo."
"How can I not?" Isago leaned forward towards Leon and placed a finger in front of Leon's face. Leon blinked faster this time as if awake then lifted his yellow eyes at Isago before flicking out his tongue and licking him. Isago was unconsciously smiling, grinning from ear to ear. Leon's tail had curled up but then wagged a bit like a dog's. Isago laughed, and Leon took a step towards Isago, slowly crawling up his hand like a small, fat worm.
He was surprised because he thought that it would be the other way, Leon being a very agile lizard instead of one that crawled up slowly on someone. Perhaps it was because Leon was tired, maybe it was because it was still early in the morning and they were already working hard to bring in more members. Reborn looked at Isago with shimmering amusement in his eyes as a small and soft smile appeared upon his lips. His fedora tilted upwards as he continued watching the boy play with his partner. Isago wore a white collared shirt like usual, maybe it was because he learned from his tutor, but he preferred one style of clothing, common neat and tidy ones.
"He likes you," Reborn said and chuckled a bit. The morning sun rays landed upon Reborn's shoulder, robbing their light warmly on his black suit. As usual, there was a tie neatly tucked in between the creases of his suit flaps. "You are fairly good with children, Vivo."
Isago lifted his eyes off of Leon, still smiling before he locked eyes with the man. Something sparkled in between them and they were left in a state where all they could do was stare at each other before Isago broke it off by turning towards the door with an air of confidence on his shoulders.
"I'm loved by everyone, Reborn," Isago had a playful tone in his voice before he turned towards the Hitman again, grinning. "Even a certain hitman who is known as the world's best."
Reborn's eyes glinted as a small smirk started growing on his face.
"Vivo, you should know that my feelings for you are real."
"I do-" Isago paused for a minute, having the urge to lean closer to Reborn instinctively because of the sun flames that radiated off of his body. "But let's get back to work."
The next child that entered the room had barely any flame at all, but there was a small flicker of an Earth Flame. Isago didn't show any signs of disappointment on his broad grin, yet in the back of his mind, he had already placed her in the third unit. The girl had long green hair, out of style and messy yet her face was properly cleaned up compared to the last couple of children that entered the room. Isago could see that she spent some time cleaning herself because her feet and hands were cleaned up and it seems like her chipped nails were fixed before coming over. Her eyes were blocked because of her bangs, but there was a certain glimmer in her eyes that told Isago she was one that he had to keep an eye on the future. The girl hesitated, opening her mouth before the words came out of her lips like she had practiced it. Isago's eyes glinted at her prepared speech, listening to her properly before chatting a bit more with her.
She was very prepared. Isago was about to welcome her to his family before she plopped down on her knees, and lowered her head to the ground.
"Please accept me! I'll do anything as long as the words come out of your mouth! I will even give my life to you if you want!"
Strange, it had been a while since anyone had said anything about giving their life to him. Isago quirked on a small smile on his lips before telling her to get up. She didn't move, however, only stayed in her position along with her eyes that squeezed behind her bangs. A stubborn one, wasn't she? A person who was also very prepared and articulate. He wondered where all her vocabulary came from. Although it was the basics, she was quite fluent with the words. Glancing over at her history, she noted that Aurelio placed a small note at the bottom of the page. He laughed when he read the bold 'choose her!' in red.
That explained why she was so fluent.
It wasn't long before Isago realized that he should create tests for the children to go through. Challenges that have mist Guardian would create to scare the children off and let them experience what life in the mafia would be like. Sure, anyone could say they were loyal to something. Isago glanced out of the window before tapping his fingers on top of the beige-coloured table that Adriano had set up a few days before all this was happening. He changed glances with Reborn, seeing the sly smile on the hit man's face told him that the decision was all his.
"I see your name is Vegetable amongst your peers?"
"Yes! But please give me a new name like Aurelio's!"
She was also quite determined.
"Giovanna."
The girl's eyes widened and she instantly jerked her head towards her new boss. Isago stood there, smiling pleasantly at the girl before telling her to stand up. She did, staggering a bit before wiping her hands on her poorly kept clothes. It was all worn out, some strands visible on the end of her pants. The overall cloth was a shade of grey with black blemishes all over the top. Her hands clenched on the middle of her stomach as she boldly lifted her eyes and stared directly at Isago, smiling. She reminded him of Usagi.
"Giovanna," she repeated once and through her thick bangs, Isago could see her yellow eyes. They weren't in a similar shade like his, but they were bright and glowing, full of potential. She grinned, and despite her yellow teeth and bad breath, she clapped her hands like a child that just won the first prize. "Giovanna, Giovanna!"
"Giovanna, do you pledge loyalty to Notte Eterna or me?" Isago questioned with a radiant glimmer of interest in his eyes. He was very interested to see her answer despite knowing that she might give the wrong one. But out of his expectations, Giovanna thudded her knees, bowing her torso at him and smiled widely.
"Isago Sawada. I will give my life to you."
There was a moment of satisfaction that passed through Isago's eyes before Isago walked closer to her and extended out his hand. Giovanna stared at it with confusion then placed her hand before being pulled up by Isago.
"Welcome on board, my secretary."
(*￣3￣)╭
After greeting the chefs and testing if they had enough flames, Isago harmonized with them and took them to their kitchens. Aside from their awe in structure, they thanked him profusely for his graciousness in accepting them. Apparently, the shark loans had taken away their house and they were thrown onto the streets while still owning a couple of cents. Bei Li's trade was simple: Notte Eterna would provide all their living expenses, protect and pay them while they cooked for the entire family. Bei Li was actually good at communicating. Perhaps it was with all the mistakes he had done in the past, his communications skills were almost at Isago's level.
He broke it to the chefs that they were working in the mafia and asked them if they wanted to join. Sure enough, they agreed- happier than Isago had expected. Bei Li had conducted a full search and background check and handed it to Isago, waiting for his boss to confirm his work. Yes, Bei Li had done a very good job. Perhaps in the future, Bei Li could go on Isago's behalf to make deals and connections with the other mafiosos. Bei Li had the potential.
It was also at the point where Isago was pleased with his hard work for going around the world and choosing his guardians. Unlike Tsuna's guardians who couldn't do anything except fight and protect his family, Isago's guardians were all-rounders. If they weren't, then Isago made sure to supply them with tutors and books. Look at all his guardians- all of them knew more than four languages. Bei Li knew how to do business, financial accounting, information gathering, and persuading. He was like a small boss of his own, except he preferred to be lead than lead. He was also quite lazy, so unless Isago pushed him, his talents would be wasted.
Usagi was a genius in chemistry. It was half expected after Isago found out the complexity of her healing potions. She had called Isago down to her laboratory just a few hours ago to see her half-finished new potion while she worked on the drugs that he had assigned. She was also a strategizer and was starting to exceed Isago. Later on, Isago decided to have a chess match with her. He chuckled at the thought of him losing. If he actually lost, then he would be delighted instead of bitter. After coming to terms with more and more people, Isago realized that one person could not excel in everything. Curse his past parents for bringing him up with the mentality that he could perfect everything- no, Isago needed a team to become invincible.
Aurelio was talented at gathering intel since he knew all the alleyways in Italy and how to avoid being caught. Later on, Isago would have him train a bit more since his combat skills were a bit lacking compared to the other guardians who continued their training. Other than that, Aurelio was a bright child who could really take over anything that Isago needed him to do. HIs learning pace was already inhumane since he was considered an actual genius. And since he wasn't well versed in math, then Isago would have him keep a wide knowledge of all mafia groups and codes. He would be their information book when it came to specific groups.
Thadeka was naturally well-lit with children. She would be the teacher for their living ways and hold the entire family together. That was already a large task since Isago and the other members were out there. They needed a person who knew everyone and cared about them personally. Isago never once regretted having Thadeka in his team even though she started off to be more of a background character in the battle of rings succession. She was someone who shone more brightly when her family grew.
The twins were going to be monsters. Did Isago even need to explain?
With Lucas as his cloud, he would become a great asset to the team and Lucille's illusions were going to surpass the world's strongest mist in no time. Isago had faith in him. Together, the twins would easily take the world's most successful assassins.
Isago noted to himself that he should create an assassination unit with the twins being one single assassin unit that the main unit could idolize. Yes, they needed an image and a goal to push themselves to become better. His guardians were going to become legends. Isago could feel it with his hyper intuition pulsing through his blood. His golden eyes gleamed with ambition, an ambition so powerful that it devoured anything in his sight.
He hadn't even mentioned the world's greatest hitman and the strongest lightning flame. Isago's chuckle came out dark like a sweet cello, sipping on the sweetest honey before breaking out into a symphony.
(づ￣ 3￣)づ(づ￣ 3￣)づ
They still had some time before their dinner. Isago walked in the hallways before he stepped onto the elevator and pressed the floor where Usagi and Lukeli were working on their mission. Reborn sat on Isago's shoulder, Leon on the hitman's as the elevator beeped to their floor and they were greeted with the smell of red wine bombarding their noses. It was also at this time when Adriano called Isago and with the smooth movement, Isago picked up the phone and listened to Adriano's reports.
"Thank you, Adriano. There's one more thing I need you to do," Isago added just before Adriano asked what else he needed to complete. "The store that I'm opening will be a liquor house. Style it modern with Sojikei- I'll send him over right now, and the further you go in, there will be a drug station."
"Understood, Isago!"
"If you can't complete it by today, don't worry. Just make sure you have it on day seven."
"Day two should be enough."
"I'll leave you to it then."
After that, he instantly called Sojikei and gave him the coordinates to Adriano's location. Isago closed his phone without signing, but he was definitely mentally strained. Reborn patted him on the shoulder with a small quirk of his lips before flaring up his sun flames at Isago. Isago thanked him, chuckling at the hitman's cute gesture before stepping into the room to see how the drugs were going.
"Boss!" Lukeli greeted before pushing her goggles up. Her dark blue hair was matted all over her neck before she hopped down from the tall ladder that she was sitting on just moments ago. There was a large machine at the front of the room and sprouting fumes at the top. In the corner from the machine, there was a huge metal box that was connected to a large number of cables. There were also mini-robots that were stuck to the panel, beeping and sending out signals before the medium-sized robots started to move and replenish the water in a large tube that was also connected to the box.
The small robots were in the shape of squares. Their small four feet were stuck to the smooth wall of the larger box as if measuring the temperature in the rectangle. The medium bots had half cylindrical-shaped heads, two eyes that did not glow but resemble that of a flashlight's glass. They wore goggles inside their head and before their eyes while they had more of a garbage-shaped body. They had two wheels at the bottom for feet, fully detailed fingers that could carry everything. There was a box at the backside and Isago concluded it was where they were plugged with their charging cables.
What Isago noticed most was the smell of rotting fruit coming from the machine that was releasing a white kind of gas into the air. It resembled yeast- yes, yeast. Isago recognized it from countless experiences from baking. his Fermentation?
"You're really fast," Isago marvelled at her work and her footsteps bounced while she walked towards Isago. There was a chortle that slipped past her mouth before she gestured with her tiny hands at all her inventions. "No wonder you were recommended by Reborn. Did you know? This hitman only calls in the best of the best."
Isago tilted his head to gesture to Reborn who was sitting with an air of arrogance and Lukeli's shoulders instantly lifted up along with her eyebrows that smoothed over and a radiant grin was spread all over her face. She was smiling so badly that it reached all the way up to her cheeks and Isago was momentarily worried that her mouth would break.
"Thank you so much for the compliment, boss!"
No longer was she stuttering, she was the bubbly kind of inventor, and Isago laughed at her change from the first day to now.
"Do you want to look around? I can introduce you to all my inventions!"
"Of course, I wouldn't spare a chance to miss a single thing," Isago said while his eyes glimmered with pure curiosity. In the corner of his eye, he saw Usagi working very hard on her drug before placing the cup onto the table and hurrying to the other side to measure something with a thermometer.
Her flames were in utter solitude and Isago had felt it the moment he stepped in. That was why he didn't want to bother her just yet. Lukeli pushed her glasses up before gesturing to her robots and explaining that they were the carriers for her normal tasks. The mini robots were indeed the temperature tester and inside the humongous metal box-
Lukeli pressed a button and the two doors opened to reveal rows and rows of vineyards inside. There were the medium-sized robots working and picking grapes with their gentle hands without looking back at their inventor. It was like the small space had extended. Isago's mouth dropped a bit before peeking back at the outside of the metal box which only seemed to take 13.6 m width x 2,45 m height 2.45 m. Basically, it had the size of the rectangle found on the back of a truck. But inside- oh gosh. There was a literal courtyard.
"What sorcery," Isago breathed through his nostrils while his expression was flabbergasted like he had just seen a duck do a lap dance in front of him. It didn't do anything except gauge a reaction from both Reborn and Lukeli. The two people laughed, well, one was smirking, the corner of his lips trembling with amusement before he lowered his hat to cover up his small chuckles.
"Lukeli specializes in space- I thought you knew, Vivo?" Reborn turned to Isago and tilted his head. They walked into the vineyard, the smell of sweet and sour grapes filled his senses and overwhelmed him. Isago nodded, commenting that he read it on her profile.
"But I never thought- space meant this-" Isago gestured widely with his hands and Lukeli laughed again, this time clutching her stomach while rubbing her moist eyes with a huge ass grin.
"I specialize in making space from other spaces. The closest thing I have gotten is reaching into different dimensions and creating a time machine. That one is still in the process, but I have made one theory that can act as spatial storage, only that it needs more experiments to be fully released."
Spatial storage?
Isago lifted his eyebrows. What was happening to this world- were there going to be levelling up systems like gamers now?
"Ah, then I have an inventor that you might want to meet," Isago grinned before telling her about the boxed weapons that Verde was going to create. It was like seeing a person realize that they weren't the only human living on this earth.
"Holy shi-" Lukeli started before pushing up her glasses again. Her eyes were sparkling before she grabbed Isago's hands, clutching them tightly while pushing her face into Isago's face. "You must let me meet him! These few days! I will help with the boxed weapons too! I can complete my spatial storage that way! I promise Notte Eterna will gain an extreme advantage with this!"
"On my list," Isago chuckled before feeling Usagi's flame flicker near him. He paused and took his hands out of Lukeli's grasp, leaning closer to her before whispering an extremely important formula for the time machine from Byakuran's experiments. Lukeli's face paled just like that, mouth landing all the way to the ground before opening and closing like a fish.
"Isago?" Usagi peered into the vineyard and her ponytail tipped to the side with the help of gravity. Her hands were behind her back along with the lab coat that she wore over her normal clothes. Pink strands of her hair fell from her ears and she tucked them back with her finger and narrowed her eyes at the group. "What are you all doing?"
"Usagi! We're just talking about my inventions! Do you want to see?" Lukeli cleared her throat but her eyes were still trained hard on Isago then started murmuring the formula that Isago gave her over and over again.
"Nope, sorry about that, Lukeli," Usagi stepped into the space before she reached towards Isago and pulled on his arm. She giggled and greeted Reborn before turning back to Isago. "I need our boss for a quick second!"
Isago mouthed a 'later' to Lukeli before going outside with Usagi and listened to her process of the drug.
"Yeah! I finished most of it. The third batch should be out soon. Lukeli created a machine that would help me mass-produce the drugs. What should their names be?"
Isago followed Usagi to her table, a bunch of documents scattered everywhere along with a whiteboard that had a bunch of chemistry formulas that Isago couldn't understand for the sake of things. His smile was strained as he tried to relate his highest level knowledge to what was scribbled onto the board. The only thing he recognized was O2. Which made his smile harden when Reborn chuckled at his lost expression.
"I have no idea what that means," Isago whispered and Reborn casually started to explain before Usagi turned around and gestured to the few drugs that were on the table. Again, Isago was unable to recognize what is what. Dammit, he was really bad at the sciences. In his other timelines, the drugs that came out had a specific shape which Isago used to tell the difference, but he knew the materials, so- he cleared his throat and in the most, serious tone he could muster, he said, "Usagi, can you tell me what materials are in which ones?"
Usagi blinked before bursting into a fit of giggles. Isago grimaced, coughing twice before turning in the other direction at her laughs. But the only direction was Reborn's direction and the Hitman was also snickering at him with his hat covering his eyes. Dammit, he was cornered.
"Isago, if you don't know, just say you don't know," there were creases on the side of Usagi's eyes before she breathed and calmed herself, poking Isago in the side with her elbow and flashing him a brutally evil grin. "I never imagined my boyfriend would be so-"
She cut herself off, the smile sliding off her face by the second. Reborn at the side only blinked at the girl, but Isago couldn't say that there wasn't a frown on the hitman's face. Both their flames flickered with emotion, one shrinking down with remorse and the other one having pauses while trying to maintain his fairness to both sides.
"Usagi, materials?" Isago smiled without pausing at all. It was as if she had never said the word or just that Isago hadn't heard of it. Usagi gave him a feeble smile but then Isago nudged her back at his own initiative, an infectious grin breaking out. "I thought you were going to lecture me as my chemistry teacher today?"
That cracked a genuine grin onto Usagi's face.
"I'm expecting you to get all A's from my perfect teaching then," she blinked cutely before introducing the types of materials each pill was made out of. "The green one has oobie, resin, skunk…"
"I see," Isago matched it up with his information before naming it. "Cannabis."
Usagi moved on to the second.
"Cocaine."
"Ecstasy."
Usagi looked up at Isago and nodded, writing them all down.
"Other than that, I have some drinks that you can mix into the liquor section," Isago murmured absentmindedly, accepting all the information coming from his other self as the information came flowing into his head like a person reading a recipe. Isago moved onto the whiteboard and chose a very empty space to write the ingredients down again. Ingredients were hard to get, but with each inventor knowing their connections, it proved no big deal. Other than that, Isago needed to speak with Lukeli to create another floor for harvesting all the materials instead of buying them in.
"Heroin, GHB, Fentanyl, Ketamine, Hallucinogen," Isago uttered as he wrote the information like he was possessed. Usagi's pink eyes flashed to all the ingredients and began opening the laptop and writing all the materials out to the person she had gotten the current ingredients from. Reborn sat on Isago's shoulder, not tearing his eyes off of Isago before he forcefully ripped his gaze off of the boy's face. "We can also create synthetic drugs, but I'll leave that for later."
Isago placed the marker slowly onto the metal cup on the side and took a few steps back, making sure he had all the ingredients in the correct place. Once he did, he turned around, eyes clearer than moments ago and gave his guardians his usual, confident smile.
"Usagi, you said you wanted me to see our new healing potion?"
Usagi lifted her head from the laptop before smiling widely. Her ponytail took behind her as she nodded and smoothed down her collar before going to another part of her space and towards a refrigerator. When she opened it, there was a sudden coldness that Isago felt in front of his face. She pulled out a yellowish liquid and introduced her new healing potion.
"You included sun and cloud flames?" Isago said before raising his eyebrows then giving a small laugh, clapping both of his hands together with a broad grin. "You've outdone yourself, Usagi."
She giggled, explaining more about the properties and how it was able to heal broken bones and torn muscles. Isago bobbed his head with amazement, then told her that he would support the mass production of this. The previous potion that Usagi had created was able to heal minor wounds such as the outside part or muscles that were damaged shallowly. This one could heal the bones and the insides of the body while also boosting the immune system. It would be a good prevention for blood loss and possibly poison. Usagi was really growing into a potions maker. Talented, truly. Isago smiled at his storm, but before anything another strand of praises, he paused ever so slightly.
"So if I blasted my fingers off, and the bones disappeared, would the potion recreate the bones?" Isago questioned while lifting his hand and Usagi chewed on her lip, telling him that she had no one but herself as the test subject. Isago eyed the bottle with curiosity and Reborn's gaze jerked towards his sky.
"Vivo, don't you dare-"
Reborn couldn't even finish his sentence before a single bolt of laser shot out from Isago's side, blasting off two of his fingers and making a clean cut while the hand started to spray with intense blood. Usagi shrieked, face pale before yanking the healing potion all over Isago's hand. Reborn too, snapped at Isago before grabbing Isago's hand before he started to pour in the sun flames. Isago however, told Reborn to stop since he wanted to see the results of the potion. There was rage that glared through Reborn's furious eyes as he threw away the hand that he was holding.
"Vivo," he spat out, eyebrows knitted so tightly that they formed a single line. "Masochistic, moronic brat."
"I thank you for the compliment."
Isago smiled smugly, placing his other uninjured finger upon his lips and shushed him and chuckled, turning his gaze back to the injury.
Isago's flesh fizzled before the outside started to slowly heal, but the bones didn't recover back. Usagi's clothes had droplets of blood as she trembled, eyes flashing red from Isago's blood. Her shoulders were quivering before Isago calmly told her to get his fingers for him if she would do so, ever so kindly. She did so, spitting at how reckless Isago was.
"I agree, now let's attach my fingers with the potion," Isago said as she held up two of his bloody fingers and pushed them together after pulling out five bottles of her potion. His face was a bit pale from She poured an insane amount of it like it was water, making sure that his fingers were properly attached. When it was, her eyes closed with relief, feeling Isago's attached bones and squeezing them with her small hands. Even after confirming they were properly restored, she continued to pour her last couple of bottles despite Isago's protest.
"You-" Usagi narrowed her eyes and her eyelashes waved through the air like a knife from her blinks. Her mouth formed a snarl before she hissed out like a violent windstorm. "Do you know how much you mean to me? To this entire group?!"
"I trusted your abilities," Isago had a light shrug and Reborn smacked him on the head, making Isago's skull slam forward in the air. Usagi too, puffed up her cheeks before kicking Isago in the shin and Isago yelped. There was a dull throbbing pain on both his backhead and knee before he winced.
The boy scrunched up his face with hurt, lifting up his head as annoyance pulsed through his temple. Was this how they treated their boss? Isago wasn't being reckless at all! He knew that the potion would work, and they didn't have answers at the moment. The newly formed children were too young and Isago did not want to risk the rest of his members losing a finger permanently if there was no cure. Not to mention, Reborn was beside him, it was a win-win situation.
In all honesty, he wanted to gauge the reactions of his members.
He paused at the situation, looking at the two members who had sulking and dark faces plastered all over before breaking out into a huge laugh.
"Fine, shall we go to dinner?"
Author's note:
Sorry for the late update, but things have been getting quite busy lately. Unfortunately, aside from me being on my writer's block, I am also on my burnout. The chapters will still be coming out, but they might come much more slowly and irregularly.
(〃￣︶￣)人(￣︶￣〃) again, thank you all for your support, and hopefully, your weekend goes well for you!