Another Path Part 31 : That tracked down its enemies
A bit of a 'filler' chapter to allow the many recent characters to settle in, so no new character this time.
It is still November here, so it definitely counts as once a month. I didn't break my streak!
They left Kyoya's pile of criminals to the Discipline Committee to deal with (it was in their job description to clean up after their violent founder) and made their way back to the Hibari mansion. Tsuna made it a point to avoid his friends' eyes the whole time, not yet ready to tell them that he had harmonized with not one, but two more people, one of them a civilian.
Not that Skull could honestly be called Mafia either. Speaking with the Arcobaleno made for a great distraction, and was a little less headache inducing than conversation with the newly dubbed 'Ryohei-nii'. Thankfully, when the teen didn't have anything to add, he seemed to know how to stay silent and listen.
(The others had unanimously refused to call him that nickname, even shy little Chrome, probably due to Mukuro's open animosity towards the hyperactive Sun. Tsuna had taken one look at the teen, saw that he wouldn't back down, and decided to take the middle ground by being the only one to give in. He had more important battles to chose, and it was only a nickname.)
It turned out that Skull had been a hundred percent civilian before being turned into an Arcobaleno (he refused to talk about the process, but Tsuna had the feeling that his opinion had never been taken in account. Fon and Verde had given off the same vibe). As such, he had never learned how to fight and had been dumped in the world of criminals headfirst with little to no instruction.
Tsuna felt for the stuntman – or rather former stuntman, given that he couldn't perform with his current size – seeing as the Sky refused to be dragged in that world, no matter what, yet couldn't escape being connected to it. Iemitsu's job in CEDEF, his Flames, the origin of many of his friends, even some of his own contracts (like the long-standing job with Varia or the one favor he could call from the Vindice after the debacle around Mukuro)... all of that made it impossible for him to completely avoid the Mafia.
With Skull being virtually harmless (he might have the most powerful Cloud Flame, but at the time, he had had no idea how to summon it, let alone use it in combat) and being more or less abandoned by his fellow Arcobaleno (Tsuna would have words with Verde and Fon), he had been easy pickings for unscrupulous Famiglie. Even as a former civilian, he had the 'prestige' of being among the strongest seven, and the potential to be a terrifying asset once he learned to fight at full power.
But that was the thing : Skull didn't want to fight. It wasn't in his nature.
It led to the Cloud being 'traded' from Famiglia to Famiglia, finally landing with the Carcassa, who basically abused him and didn't care at all for his well-being. To force him to obediently do their bidding, their had gone so far as to capture Skull's beloved pet, an octopus called Oodako (Tsuna didn't bother thinking about how strange a choice it was).
It just added one more point one Tsuna's long list of things to do while in Namimori : free the kidnapped octopus of his new Cloud.
They reached the mansion as Skull was ranting of how great his pet was (it could apparently grow and shrink depending on the amount of Flames he fed it. Like that made sense) and was interrupted by the so far blissfully silent – and probably a bit in shock – Ryohei-nii screaming. "KYOKO!"
"Onii-san!" Came back from the front door, where Sasagawa-chan, Kurokawa-san and Haru were apparently waiting for them. "You're safe!"
The siblings rushed to embrace each other in a tearful (and loud) reunion. Tsuna and Kurokawa-san had to gently push them both inside to avoid attracting too much attention; it was the middle of the night, but Namimori was still under hostile occupation.
They left the Sasagawas to reunite in peace in what became Ryohei's room, and the two other girls soon left for their own bedroom. They had been unable to rest well with how anxious they had been and were now ready to drop and sleep like the dead. Before they said good night, Haru beamed at them gratefully (and praised Hayato some more) and Kurokawa-san looked at them like she was reassessing their existence.
"We need to talk." Stated Tsuna as soon as the door was shut.
Skull and Chrome seemed a bit confused by the abruptness of his request, but the others didn't even bother to look surprised. They settled in the living room that had been turned into a makeshift headquarter and waited for Tsuna to speak up.
The Sky shifted on his cushion, readjusting the Arcobaleno that had decided to sit on his lap. Skull seemed to enjoy physical contact, and Tsuna was used to carrying Lambo and I-pin, so he didn't mind. "... I should tell you that I've harmonized a few times since we arrived in Namimori." He admitted, head down to avoid judgmental eyes.
He felt Skull stiffen in his arms.
Mukuro sighed, like he knew it would happen all along (he might have, at that). "With Chrome and Skull. Yes, we expected that, Tsunayoshi."
Right, there was also Chrome. She had slotted so smoothly right next to Mukuro's bond that Tsuna had barely noticed. He bit his lip before he replied. "Yeah, there are these two, but... there's also one more."
There was a moment of silence before he heard Hayato inhale sharply. Looking up at last, he saw the Storm's eyes widen in horror. "Lawn-head." He breathed, like he couldn't force himself to say out loud. "You harmonized with that shouting idiot."
Tsuna knew it wasn't an accusation, only a painful realization, but he couldn't help flinching in guilt either.
The problem wasn't only Ryohei-nii's boisterous personality. The teen was a civilian, like Skull had once been, but he had manifested enough Flames to be able to harmonize. There was no way he would be left alone by the Mafia now, even if he had never met Tsuna, especially in a town as closely related to Flames as Namimori. And unlike Spanner, Ryohei had ties to his hometown and a sister to take care of.
"He has Sun Flames." Supplied Tsuna in the painful silence, while his friends took measure of the size of the issue. "And I don't understand how he managed to awaken them. He didn't even seem aware of the little Flames that escaped when he was air-boxing!"
"Anyone with strong Flames can manifest them without training under the right circumstances." Explained Hayato, falling back into his scientist persona and likely drawing from Verde's comprehensive research on the subject. "Life or death situations are known to be able to draw Flames out from civilians as well as mafiosi. It's what happened to you too, isn't it? It's even more common with Suns; their characteristic is Activation, so sometimes, they just... self-activate." He waved his hands as if to make it less ridiculous, and continued, his usual abrasive tone coming back. "At least it explains that moron's 'extremeness': too much Sun Flames and no way to channel it. Even Shoichi became a bit weird in the head that one time he tried to apply his Flames on himself." He smirked in remembrance.
True. During one of his experiments before Verde barged in, Shoichi had wanted to see what happened if he saturated his own body with his Flames. He had bounced around their home like a flea on steroids before deciding to move every piece of furniture in the house and that he didn't like the color of the walls in the basement. The next day, Kyoya had been outraged to see his usual gray training grounds colored a mix of canary yellow and bright purple (in his and Hibird's honor, according to an intoxicated Sun).
Needless to say that the Cloud had dragged an exhausted Shoichi to the closest hardware store and forced him to paint the basement back in tolerable colors. The poor scientist had never tried to force his Flames in his body again after that.
"In any case," Tsuna interrupted their fond remembrances, "we need to convince Sasagawa to at least learn to tone down his Flames. If a passing mafioso saw them, he'll be forced into the mafia and no one wants that. He should know how to avoid flaring them unconsciously."
There was nothing more to add on the topic – they all knew he was right, even Chrome who was still fairly new to it all – so Tsuna moved on to the next subject. "I'm sorry for involving someone else and forcing you to deal with them."
"You did nothing wrong!" Hayato was quick to reassure. "We know you don't chose who you harmonize with! We'll deal with lawn-head! Somehow."
Tsuna flashed him a grateful smile, before he turned to Mukuro and Kyoya, awaiting their judgment.
Mukuro shook his head with a resigned expression. "It's not like I expected anything else when we departed for Japan. We all knew you would return with at least one more stray; hopefully this one will stay in Namimori."
That was as close to forgiveness as Mukuro would allow. Tsuna felt he should be offended that all his friends apparently expected him to bring back people (especially coming from Mukuro, who had been the one to find Chrome), but he had no argument disproving that assessment either.
All eyes turned to Kyoya, the last to give his opinion. The teen scoffed. "If I say I'm angry, would it change anything?" Tsuna shook his head wordlessly. It wouldn't. "Then there's nothing to say. Don't trouble yourself, Omnivore." With that, he left the room, probably to go to sleep. It was getting quite late.
Tsuna felt a fond smile tug at his lips. He really had the best of friends, didn't he? Always willing to deal with the madness that followed him like a shadow (of course, most of said madness was theirs, but still). If only they could learn to say things outright, instead of hiding heir feelings under a prickly attitude...
It was pretty cute, though. In a way. Or maybe Tsuna had taken one too many hits to the head.
Hayato left soon after, saying he would make sure all the pilfered files were put in the right place before going to bed. The Sky was left with Mukuro, Chrome and Skull. He chose to address the only girl in the room first. "So, how do you feel about your first field operation?"
She blushed and fidgeted, unused to being the center of attention. "It went fine, Boss. Almost all of the enemies were with Hibari-san, and Mukuro-sama protected me from the rest. The only real surprise was when we encountered Skull-san."
The Arcobaleno was still ramrod straight on Tsuna's lap and didn't preen at the respectful calling, which seemed very uncharacteristic of him. He would have to talk with him next. "That's good, Chrome. We're happy to have you here, but remember that if you don't want to do something, you can just say 'no'. Nobody will force you or think less of you if it's too much for you; from now on, we have your back. You already did an amazing job by carrying Ryohei out – I don't know much about illusions, but I can tell you already have impressive control over your Mist Flames."
Chrome seemed even more flustered by the compliments, but she also looked glad, which was Tsuna's goal (although he only spoke the truth). She needed all the positive reinforcement they could provide. A quick glance of her single eye towards Mukuro, who nodded in agreement to his Sky's words, made her blush even more.
The older illusionist seemed to have completely adopted the girl, and would take proper care of her. Mukuro could be all sorts of cruel, but he would never let the people under his wings get hurt, mentally or physically.
"You did very well." Affirmed Mukuro with a proud smile. "But today was stressful, and we could use the sleep. Come now, Chrome, I think Tsunayoshi needs to speak with our new guest in private."
So he had noticed as well how silent Skull had been since Tsuna had admitted to having harmonized with him. The two Mists left without another word, Chrome still red to the root of her purple hair, and Mukuro with an arm around her waist and a last look towards Tsuna.
The Sky was left alone with the Arcobaleno, silence hanging over them until Tsuna found the will to begin talking.
"I'm sorry about harmonizing without your consent." He began, talking slowly to weigh every word and to give the fake baby on his lap the time to process them. "I spoke with Fon and Verde, and they told me about your former Sky – I can only promise you that I would never abandon you like she did.
I have no control over who my Flames harmonize with. It is not an excuse, but you have to understand that none of my Elements were bonded to me knowingly. Verde thinks it's because I have too much Flames, and that, combined with my Hyper Intuition, they can decide who to latch on on their own.
I- We would happily welcome you among us if you want to stay, but you can also leave any time you want. Like I said to Chrome, there is no obligation, and we would never force you to do something you don't want. We're not Mafia, as ridiculous as it might sound, and we try to avoid illegal activities, so if you want to go back to an almost civilian life, you have the option. We- sort of have an agreement with Vindice to stay out of criminal life; as one of my Elements, this agreement should include you."
He really wished Skull had removed his helmet before they had this conversation. He also understood that it served at a protection, at least in the stuntman's mind, but it also made it very difficult to gauge his reaction when he was so stiff.
"... You're really not Mafia?" Came the tiny voice from his lap.
Tsuna shook his head emphatically, although Skull was still looking straight ahead and wouldn't see it. "We're not. Some of us come from criminal backgrounds – there are more people back in our home – but we are very careful never to step into illegality. Some of us even actively avoid specific mafiosi for personal reasons."
Even with the helmet, Tsuna could tell that Skull was weighing his options. He waited in silence.
A minute later, the Arcobaleno reached up and removed his headgear. Beneath it was a purple-haired baby, with heavy white and purple makeup, the kind an artist wore in a show, no doubt a remnant habit of his stuntman days.
Skull's eyes were wide and childish, far from the mature look of Verde and Fon and Mammon's dismissive aura. He looked innocent, in a way the three other Arcobaleno Tsuna had met could never manage. Tsuna decided here and then to make sure the diminutive Cloud would never be forced to act against his nature ever again, whether he followed him back in Italy or not.
"And you really didn't mean to force me into a bond?" Even his intonations were boyish now that the helmet was off. "You don't want to use me?"
Tsuna's restraint broke and he hugged the figure on his lap. Skull didn't struggle, which the Sky took as a positive reaction. "Never. I honestly didn't want to force you, but I would be very happy to keep you, as you are, aversion to violence and all. I even have a friend who's a wiz with technology – I bet he could build you a size-appropriate bike. No fighting unless you want to."
"... OK." Replied Skull, through an audibly tight throat, and lowering his face. Tsuna felt tears drop on his thighs, but he said nothing, only hugged the shaking Arcobaleno closer.
They stayed like that for a while – he had no idea how long exactly. Of all of Tsuna's Elements, only Hayato, Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa had been this damaged by the Mafia; the others had either been too young when they left, or had never been part of the criminal world to begin with (Byakuran might be another exception, but he was basically impossible to read, even with his Intuition).
However, Hayato had long sought acceptance in that world, and had lived a relatively sheltered life before running away. Moreover, Mukuro and his two friends had had each other, which didn't lessen the horror of what they experienced, but had given them some measure of support.
Skull must have been pretty young when he was turned into an Arcobaleno, considering how childish he looked compared to the rest, and nobody had reached to him to help him. He was left to wade through the murky waters of the Mafia on his own and with no guidelines; this was likely the first time he had a shoulder to honestly cry on.
Never again.
()()()()()()
Once he finished shedding all the tears he had repressed for years, Skull took to his new harmony like a fish to water.
He liked to stay close to Tsuna, was even a bit clingy at times, but the Sky took it all in stride. He loved being able to provide for his Elements.
The others sent them a few strange looks when Tsuna wandered the Hibari mansion with an Arcobaleno in his arms or in his hair, but even Hayato kept his mouth shut – they could all tell that Tsuna was fine while Skull was thriving on the attention and the care.
The first one to question Skull's clingy attitude was Ryohei-nii, although it was done without malice. "You have an EXTREME baby on your head, Tsuna!" He noted, as though nobody had noticed it before. His sister, Kurokawa-san and Haru sent him a flat look before going back to staring at the unconcerned Arcobaleno.
Tsuna smiled indulgently. "I know. This is Skull – he was alone for a long time, so he decided to stick close for now." Skull waved from his perch in his new Sky's fluffy hair. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you all about."
What followed was a laborious basic explanation of the Mafia, of Flames and of Namimori's current situation. He had pondered with his Elements on whether to include the girls in the briefing or not, but as Ryohei's sister, Kyoko-chan (as she asked to be called) was just as involved as her brother. Most criminals wouldn't hesitate at kidnapping her to coerce Ryohei-nii into obedience.
Kurokawa-san (Kyoko-chan had told them to call her Hana-chan, but the dark look she had thrown behind the strawberry blonde's back kept them addressing her formally) was a known friend of the Sasagawas – they told her everything, and she was almost as much in danger as Kyoko-chan. Haru was not as publicly acquainted with the siblings, but she had investigated the yakuza quite openly and Tsuna didn't want to put her life at risk by letting her go without a proper warning.
They didn't go into detail, but made sure the four got the gist of the situation, which was no small feat.
Kurokawa-san was the first to understand the direness of her position, followed soon by Haru and a little later by Kyoko-chan. Ryohei-nii, though, was a bit slow.
In the end, Kurokawa repeated Tsuna's explanation with terms the older teen seemed to understand better.
Tsuna glossed over the bond he had formed with Ryohei-nii, not mentioning how rare and precious it was for mafiosi; if the teen wanted to acknowledge it, he would do so without pressure. The Sky didn't want to influence him to leave Namimori, his family and his friends like he suspected he had unwittingly done with Kyoya. Not that the Cloud would have left if he didn't want to, or regretted his decision, but Tsuna thought their bond might have pushed his oldest friend to follow him more easily.
After a quick demonstration of Flames and warning Ryohei-nii that he would have to be trained in channeling his properly if he wanted to keep his peaceful life, Tsuna offered to keep them safe in Hibari mansion until they resolved the problem (with Kyoya's authorization). The four civilians asked for a moment to discuss in private.
"I wonder what they want to talk about." Mused Mukuro from the back of the room. He had arrived in time to show off his illusions. "It seems obvious enough that they have to agree to our offer if they don't want another abduction."
"I wouldn't mind if they left." Snorted Hayato. "That Hahi-girl is fucking annoying, and they don't appreciate our work for what it's worth."
"It's a lot to swallow at once, Hayato." Chided Tsuna gently, Skull still in his hair. "You're too used to the Mafia and Flames – it's all new for them. Give them some time to process everything; I'm sure they'll see that their safety is better assured with us than outside."
They busied themselves by going through the many documents gathered from the yakuza hideout, hoping to find leads to the headquarters. Half an hour later, they had discovered nothing, but the four civilians came back.
"We want to help." Stated Kurokawa-san in a tone that brooked no argument. "Only Ryohei can fight, but the rest of us can help parse through those files." She motioned with her head towards the piles of papers. "If we're going to be stuck in here, we might as well be of use."
"And I want to learn more EXTREME fighting!" Added Ryohei-nii with an upward punch.
How could they have argued against that (against Kurokawa-san. She was the kind of person whose opinion you didn't reject out of fear of her reaction)? Moreover, they needed the help perusing the documents and sorting those that might be of interest; it would give them some time to train Ryohei-nii in channeling his Sun Flames.
()()()()()()
Teaching Ryohei-nii was harder than even negotiating with the Vindice. Much harder.
The usual method they applied began with meditation, which implied a measure of calm and focus. The boxing teen had neither of those. Mukuro pretexted having to teach Chrome separately and Kyoya didn't even bother finding an excuse for escaping, leaving a harried Tsuna and Hayato to desperately attempt to teach restraint to a hyperactive boxer. Skull slept on his Sky's head, not even bothered by the teenager's extreme roars.
They gave it up as a bad job – Ryohei-nii would probably never be any good at meditation in his life – even Lambo had been better at it. They had to find another method.
Luckily, Hayato had studied Verde's research, and knew other ways to temper Flames; one of those involved channeling excessive energy through physical activity, something much more up Ryohei-nii's alley.
Even then, results were mixed.
After days of intensive practice, the teen learned how to tone down and channel his Flames in his fists, but the golden sparks were still very much visible whenever he threw a punch, which he did on a regular basis as a reflex. If his control didn't improve soon, he would not be able to stay in Namimori after the Caeruleus members returned to Italy.
Tsuna kept his worries to himself for now, but he could see them reflected in Hayato's eyes easily enough.
Thankfully, they were not hitting a dead-end in all their endeavors. The three girls had tackled the piles of document and extracted plenty of precious information.
Haru mostly kept to accounting books, managing to trace back the yakuza's moves with what they bought and how they spent their money. She was really good with numbers. Kurokawa-san and Kyoko-chan dealt with the rest of the documents with almost as much success. The three of them together made a fearsome team.
Combined with what little information Skull had about the Carcassa (they had never trusted him with much), they quickly discovered most of the Momokyokai and Carcassa bases, although they had yet to discover either of their headquarters – security was much tighter around those.
Kyoya, Mukuro, Chrome and the Discipline Committee raided the bases (teaching Ryohei-nii was a full time job for Hayato and Tsuna, but at least the older boy never complained and enjoyed the exercise) and now that they had discovered that Vongola was no allied of the Carcassa and thus wouldn't get on their case for their retaliation and that they didn't have a hostage to worry about, the three Flame users completely demolished their opponents.
(The more experience she earned, the more Chrome was revealed to be frightfully good at illusions. Kyoya even took the time to teach her a few tricks with her materialized trident. Tsuna thanked his lucky star that she didn't have her mentors' taste for violence or messing with her enemies.)
They cleared Namimori and the neighboring cities of criminal influence, but after almost a month and a half in Japan, they still couldn't find the location of the Momokyokai or the Carcassa's headquarters. They were all growing frustrated again.
However, unlike last time, they were too many in the Hibari mansion to be able to isolate themselves when they wanted a moment of solitude. Ryohei-nii's excited screams could be heard all over the property anyway.
Kyoya was barely holding onto his temper, Hayato snapped at everyone – he even barked at Tsuna once, although he begged for forgiveness immediately after – and Mukuro prowled the grounds, ready to snark at everyone.
All the progress they were doing with Chrome was erased as she withdrew into herself, and even Kurokawa-san was more abrasive than before (Tsuna was surprised that was possible). Kyoko-chan and Haru tried their best to cheer everyone up, but their efforts backfired more often than not. The servants did their best to avoid them as they worked.
They needed a break.
Unfortunately, there were not many places to go in Namimori if you wanted to have fun, and even if they went to those, Tsuna's companions were not the kind to enjoy a crowded arcade or a busy shopping center.
A restaurant, perhaps? A place without too many people where they could unwind some. Japanese food, of course, or Kyoya would throw a fit.
His mind made, Tsuna called the best sushi restaurant in Namimori and booked a room for nine people; it would double as a celebration party for their small victories. Hopefully, their collective mood would improve after a good meal outside.
I'll keep track of last chapter's answers, but who do you think will appear next? *wiggling eyebrows and obnoxious winks* I'm sure the suspense is killing all of you...
More seriously, I've been advised to cross-post my fic to AO3 several times now, and I'd like your opinion. I already have an account, and have posted a few other stories (in other fandoms), but I'm unsure if I should write this fic on two sites at once. Please tell me what you think.