A/N It's here! and I am also here!
And what's here, beside's the chapter, is the mafia fiasco.
I think eventually I write up an Ieyoshi focused chapter just so we can juggle around his character, but for now it'll be a lot of Tsuna and however many reasonable characters I can fit into 2500ish words.
Note: Tsuna doesn't know specifics of the mafia (most of her knowledge is that basic sort that's about 50% accurate) even if she does know key words like 'Vongola'. And Mukuro currently does not link her to the mafia, has no idea actually. But that's not really relevant this chapter :)
~Chapter 9 – Inviting in Danger with Open Arms
'No.' He had told Nono his thoughts on the ridiculous mission very clearly, and yet somehow, he was still on a stupid plane with what he thought were two of the world's most idiotic blonds. He leaned to the side as if their stupidity was contagious, cursing his old friend half-heartedly.
"Can this plane fly faster?" The younger one asked, bouncing in his seat like a toddler instead of acting his proper fifteen years of age.
"Sadly no," His father replied, just about as excited as his son to arrive, "But this will give us time to cover everything I suppose."
"Uhrg," The boy groaned, they had gone over it so many times it was already engraved into his brain.
"Why are we coming back?"
"Your boss gave you a vacation and I've decided to attend high school in Japan." He answered simply.
"And this is because…?"
"Because I missed Mama and Tsuna." He answered, his bright eyes speaking the truth.
"And if we have to leave?"
"Your boss needs you and I want to stay with you." 'Boss' this, 'Boss' that, it really wasn't hard.
"And you?" His father turned to the seated male a few seat away from them, whose handsome-even-whilst-scowling face was hidden in the shadow of an orange-striped fedora.
"I'm his tutor." The man drawled in the same charming voice that had oh so easily seduced their lovely flight attendant.
The knocking was hasty and loud, the sort that didn't belong to any of her usual visitors. "Tsu-chan, can you get the door?" Her mother called from the kitchen, already partway through preparing tonight's dinner. Tsuna nodded, though the gesture went unseen, and hurried to the door, hoping it wasn't another salesman.
"Yes? Can I help you-" She was halfway through her sentence before she had fully opened the door, taken aback by a sudden, strong hug and a blinding flare of orange.
"Ciao, Tsuna!" Her vision came back in spots as it dimmed, and only then was she able to see him. Tsuna hadn't seen him in so long it was almost hard for her to believe, but his warm voice was still the same as always, even if the glow had been new.
"Yoshi?" Tsuna pulled away to get a proper look at her twin. He was taller than her now, his face which used to be so similar to her own, more masculine and angular. They still looked like brother and sister, but had lost the distinct twin-like reflection. Peering past him she saw her smiling father as well as an unknown man that had her instincts on edge. What would have been outshone by Yoshi's brilliance was as clear as day now to her. A new colour, two in one day was a new record for sure, shining with dark splendour, a shade close to burnt gold. "What are you doing back in Japan?" She asked barely able to drag her eyes away. It had been two, maybe three years since his last cancelled visit, and they hadn't heard a work of this surprise arrival.
"I've decided to attend a Japanese high school," He answered flawlessly, blue eyes sparkling in delight, "I missed you and Mama too much." His sister couldn't disagree with him, she could tell he wasn't lying, but doubted that the boy who had gone easily without their yearly meetings would suddenly come back because of that.
"Are you going to let us in, Tsuna-chan?" Iemitsu asked, interrupting his children's touching reunion, just as eager to see his darling wife.
"Ah, of course," She moved out of the way, ushering them in and happened to make eye contact with the unknown stranger. Two sets of eyes widened in surprise as coal-black met amber, neither of them able to break the force in the stare that held them.
"Let me introduce you," Yoshi said, mistaking her look for curiosity, "This is Reborn my tutor. Reborn this is my sister Ietsuna." With his words the spell that held them seemed to break, both dropping their gazes.
"Nice to meet you." She greeted, unsure of the mixed feelings she was dealing with. There was something not quite right with this man. He seemed dangerous and something else...
"The pleasure is mine." The fedora-wearing male said with a devilish smirk. Her eyes had caught him by surprise, and as a frequent visitor to the Vongola mansion, he could easily see who's image she mirrored. It was more enchanting that the acrylic painting that looked down on those that passed by, more powerful, more intense… just more. But most of all, he recognized her aura, a quick peer through the amber windows that led to her soul told him enough, in fact almost too much. She was utterly pure and accepting, resonating with some forgotten part of his own heart. The man caught himself, barely, breathing out an almost wistful sigh. That was the aura of a sky, and he had almost let himself get pulled in.
Iemitsu was an idiot. Reborn had ascertained that one fact many times, and was found with even more evidence as he settled into the civilian household. How the man's wife hadn't left him yet was a mystery, though it was obvious by the small glances, that his daughter held the appropriate amount of suspicion towards her estranged father.
Twins, he thought to himself as Baka-Yoshi chatted excitedly to his sister. That meant a lot of things in the mafia… but at the same time not very much when it boiled down to what mattered. Gender was less of an issue after Daniella's rule, and firstborn hardly mattered when it came down to twins. In the mafia the most important thing was the blood, it was really just as simple as that. But as it was, Iemitsu had made his choice a long time ago, when he had picked his apparent heir.
"Merda!" He found himself smirking as the younger blond stubbed his toe on corner, stumbling and knocking a half-empty cup off a nearby table. Apparently he couldn't be trained out of simple clumsiness, the man mused as he watched until a slim hand caught it, shifting the angle to keep the liquid off the floor.
"Careful Yoshi."
"Language Yoshi."
His sister and father responded in turn, the former placing the cup back on the table. Reborn peered in, noting it was actually more than three quarters full. It was a simple motion, but the fact she had reacted quick enough with that measure of skill, was a bit unexpected for a simple, high school girl.
"Do you do any sports, Tsuna?" He found himself asking, knowing full well that her father was watching him with a sharp eye. Ietsuna had a far stronger pull than her brother, and though soft-spoken, he was sure there were many that would happily fall under her rule. The one thing her brother should have going for him though, was superior combat skills and mafia-related knowledge.
"Tsu-chan does a little bit of martial arts." Nana answered instead, with a beaming smile. He refrained from smiling, it was a start, and better than he honestly expected.
"Really?" Ieyoshi turned to his sister in surprise. He just couldn't see her participating in anything remotely violent.
"It for self-defence." She explained meekly.
"And yet…" Her mother huffed a bit, holding back her words, her mouth smoothing out into a smile after a few thoughts crossed her mind, "I suppose it's fine now. Seeing as you have such fine men around you-"
"Mama!"
"What?!" Iemitsu shot to attention while her brother took a bit longer to process what was just said.
"It's not like that." Tsuna stressed, as Nana hummed to herself happily.
"What's 'not like that', Tsuna?" Yoshi echoed with rising panic.
"Nothing!" She answered hastily, her pretty face flushing red. Her brother was beginning to feel faint, that was exactly the expression he expected from any other love-struck girl. But his sister… he wouldn't have any of that. He was absolutely sure that there was no one in Namimori, maybe in the entire world, that deserved someone like her.
Not yet. Tsuna simply kept on biding her time. She had said she would confront Yoshi about the mafia, choosing him over their father because she didn't believe the man would give her a straight answer, but the timing was difficult. Alone would be best, but it was near impossible with Reborn and her parents hovering around him. So she restrained her words, and in maybe a week after things had settled down, she would ask.
Now she waited patiently, kept on waiting, and would continue to do so. What she failed to realise though, was how little time she actually had.
"Yoshi," Tsuna walked out her room wearing her uniform and a confused expression with an odd reptile in her hand, "Are chameleons native to Japan?"
"No?" Her brother glanced at her sleepily, his toothbrush hanging loosely in his mouth as he failed to find motivation to move his arm. He had slept fitfully, and still had a horrible sense of jetlag.
"He's mine." Reborn voice came from behind her and it took all she had not to jump. She saw his slender hand come over her shoulder as his long fingers picked his partner up, placing the lizard back on the brim of his fedora.
"Reborn, don't hang around too close to Tsuna." Her brother all but whined, sending the man a sharp look.
"You don't have the right to order me around, Baka-Yoshi," To prove his point, the supposed tutor wrapped an arm around the girl, willing to ignore her nervous fidgeting.
"Tsuna!" Her mother called from downstairs, "Takeshi-kun is here."
"Takeshi? Who the hell is Takeshi?" Ieyoshi rinsed out his mouth and carelessly looped the uniform's tie around his neck, hurrying down to follow his sister who had amazingly escaped Reborn's clutches. Partway down the stairs, he managed to catch sight of their mysterious visitor, frowning at the obvious height discrepancy.
"Ah Yoshi good timing, this is my best friend Yamamoto Takeshi," His sister cheerfully introduced, "And Takeshi-kun, this is my twin brother Ieyoshi." 'Takeshi'. The younger twin didn't miss the use of first names, remembering the fact it meant a significant amount in Japan compared to Italy.
"Nice to meet you." The friendly teen stretched out his hand with a warm smile.
"Same here." Ieyoshi tilted his head up to meet the other's eyes, and gave a firm handshake. He was decent looking he supposed, already looking for faults elsewhere.
"So who's that?" Takeshi inclined his head towards the suited man, leisurely making his way down the stairs, "Another relative?"
"Ah no, that's Reborn," Tsuna replied with a small amount of uncertainty, "Yoshi's tutor." Her friend raised a brow, not quite happy with the fact an unrelated man would be living under the same roof as her. He didn't raise his opinion though, and settled for sending the man an inquisitive look. Reborn caught it and sent back his own little smirk, one that told Takeshi that this man seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. He didn't like it. Not one bit.
"Tsuna, we better hurry otherwise Hibari will probably bite us to death…" He explained, eager to leave and have her to himself, however briefly.
"What?" Ieyoshi wasn't sure he had heard that correctly.
"My name is Sawada Ieyoshi, nice to meet you." The transfer student noticed three important things as he made his introduction that morning. One, his sister was in his class. Two, Yamamoto was not. And three, the girl sitting beside Tsuna was probably some sort of angel. She caught his obvious glance and smiled radiantly. It was all he could do to hold down his blush and look as cool as possible.
"Sawada?" Some students chatted noisily amongst themselves.
"Is he related to Dame-Tsuna?" Yoshi blinked in surprise as the unflattering nickname caught his attention. Sure they weren't talking about his sister.
"Shhh!" A nearby boy hissed to his friend, "You better not let Yamamoto hear you call her that."
"Who cares, he's not in this class anyway," The student shrugged casually, "He's not gonna find out."
"Maybe, but I heard you," Ieyoshi walked over to the idiot's desk, making sure to kick it hard when he got there, "And If you ever insult my sister like that again, I'll make you regret it more than Yamamoto ever could." He gave the most withering glare he could muster, the cold glint in his eyes promising nothing but pain.
"Sawada!" He ignored the teacher's call, and moodily sat in the only free seat in the room. He could feel the weight of Tsuna's stare amongst those of his classmates and stubbornly turned away. Was she being bullied? As much as he loathed to admit, Takeshi looked like the popular type. If he and Tsuna were friends, shouldn't she be somewhat higher up the hierarchy? Was there an embarrassing story behind it? His mind spun theory after theory, paying little to no attention to the actual lecture. If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that that would be no more name-calling while he was here.
"-shi…Yoshi!"
"Huh, what?" He hadn't even noticed class had ended. God, thankfully neither his father or Reborn were here to punish him for his inattentiveness. He collected his thoughts and met his sister's concerned gaze with a flashy smile.
"I have to go deliver something to the reception room," Tsuna explained, shifting on her feet, "It'll only take a couple minutes, and then I can show you around the school."
"Alright," How many minutes were 'a few'? "I'll be right here."
After what he deemed to be a few minutes, which was far shorter than normal standards, Ieyoshi gave up waiting. He was becoming increasing paranoid about the safety of his sister and sitting in the near empty classroom was taking a toll on his nerves. What if some bullies had caught her or something? He made it to the reception room, even whilst others seemed reluctant to give him directions, and sighed in relief when he spotted his sister inside. The feeling was short lived though as he saw who exactly she was talking to. He didn't think he had ever seen anyone who fit the 'Japanese delinquent' stereotype so perfectly… And that really didn't seem like a good thing.
"Herbivore, no loitering." Ieyoshi was cut out of his thoughts by the demand, turning to find himself beings stared down by a slightly older teen. He shivered as the sharp grey eyes narrowed further, wondering why exactly the other looked so angry.
"I'm just waiting for someone…" He began, trailing off when it didn't seem like an acceptable answer.
"Are you disobeying me?" He saw the red armband on the uniform sleeve and noted it down for later.
"Disobeying?" It was ridiculous, but somehow he didn't want to antagonize the moody teen any more than he already might have, "Sorry, I was just waiting for my sister-"
"Sister?" He was given a once over, "Sawada Ieyoshi?"
"Yes, that's me." Ieyoshi barely caught the glimpse of silver before his body moved on its own, ducking down to dodge a sudden attack, "Gah! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Oh?" The prefect smiled and he was reminded of all those times Reborn had tortured him in the name of 'training', "Fight me."
"The hell?" He jumped back again as his opponent lunged, though not expecting the second swing, he felt the metal graze his cheek. It was his first day of school and already he was getting into a fight. He let out a huff and firmed up his stance. If he was going to get in trouble, then the least he could do was win-
"Kyoya!" The disciplinary head halted mid swing, his weapon mere moments away from possibly smashing his face in. His sister had walked out to investigate the racket, just in time to save her brother from an unfortunate fate she knew all too well, "Hibari-senpai," She corrected, clearing her throat as she moved between him and her brother, "Lunch will be over if you keep this up." She couldn't exactly pacify him and hoped that the nearing bell would be enough of a reason for him to return to his office.
"Hmph," He turned swiftly on his heels, they were lucky Kusakabe needed him for a meeting, "Try not to cause any more trouble, herbivores."
"Is he insane?" Yoshi asked, whispering even though the prefect was long gone.
"…No," The hesitation in her answer said a lot on its own, "He just…has a lot of pride? Hibari is just Hibari." Ieyoshi prayed they never crossed paths again. Who knew a high schooler could scare him almost as much as Reborn?
"And you know him?" His beloved sister seemed awfully familiar with the dangerous prefect, and even though he looked the type to do what he wanted, he had stopped when she had called. Ieyoshi was shocked when he found out Yamamoto was her only friend in this vast school, but now he found himself pleading to whomever there was up there, that there was nothing between his sister and the vicious disciplinary head.
"Everyone knows him." She waved off, her words and weak smile doing nothing to soothe him.
A/N And thank you for readin'
So Reborn's here, and devilishly handsome as he is, Tsuna ain't gonna resist for long haha. I'm thinking of placing him in a pretty close position, not right-hand man style, but a bit closer than just bodyguard/tutor. Mayhaps a confidant?
Next chapters basically a Reborn chapter anyway.
I hope you look forward to it :)
