SHUGO-SHA NO NINGYO

by Yatsu

CHAPTER II: (Storm)

Tsuna sighs tiredly. He blearily looks down on the old tome Reborn sent him. It was a book about how the whole Shugo-sha no Ningyo came about, a more detailed history of the Vongola Family. The brunet was never much of a reading-type of guy. He prefers to just look at the numerous pictures the book has, thankfully, an abundance of.

After finally, going through the pages about Giotto Vongola's birthday, family, blood type, astrological sign, and the many, many theories the author has about the parts no one knew about the Primo's life, Tsuna arrives at a picture of the First Vongola holding his first completed doll.

G.

G. was the first doll Primo with his own hands. He was first completed during the blond's early teen years and was given maintenance and improved as Giotto learned more about the art of doll-making. No one knew what "G" stood for, it was a nickname the doll was partial to. Even Giotto Vongola himself could not divulge the information of what the storm doll's name stood for. According to Cozarto, a fellow doll-maker and childhood friend of the First Vongola, since G. had been with Giotto for so long, he knew enough things about his creator to keep him quiet about the doll's actual name.

Tsuna reads the whole story about the first Shugo-sha no Ningyo with fascination. No matter which angle he thinks about it, it seems like G was blackmailing the Vongola Primo into keeping quiet about his original name. He must have been named something embarrassing, Tsuna thinks and then laughs about it to himself like the dork he is.

Then the bell on the shop's door rings, startling the brunet enough that he falls off his chair. A few dolls on the shelf make concerned noises at him, but most of them just laugh. Tsuna is too busy rubbing his head in embarrassment to shoot them betrayed looks.

"Hello?"

The brunet jumps up and manages to squeak out a greeting at the entering customer, "Hi! Welcome to Hamaguri Antique Toy Shop! We sell the best quality handmade toys in Japan and offer the best toy repair services!" He tries not to trip over his words, he's been practicing saying them in the mirror for past few weeks while the dolls pretended to be customers to help him.

He'd finally moved out of the Vongola Family's Japanese mansion and was given a two-storey house and a store to manage during the weekends, except Sunday afternoon. During the weekdays when he goes to school, someone else handles the store for him (one of the bodyguards the Family hired for him). But after school until 10 pm, he greets guests from the front counter himself. It is a hectic schedule, what with school, managing a business, living alone, trying not to blow his cover, and looking for his Shugo-sha no Ningyo but Reborn likes to make things difficult for him. He claims it was for his own growth or something. His demon tutor really stuck by his Spartan 'teachings'. The only good thing was that he had permission to close the shop whenever he wanted, like if he was tired or had to study for exams or he had go exorcise some dark doll or something.

Tsuna really wants to close the shop today to play a few games he got from his dad as a 'leaving the nest' present, but Reborn would know he'd abused his manager powers and make him regret it.

"Hahi!" A dark-haired girl that looked his age, blinked at him in surprise, "You're the same age as me! Are you a part time worker?"

"Uh…" Tsuna blinks, not expecting his first ever customer to start interrogating him. Should he be wary? Was this girl a spy? "I own the shop?"

The girl gasps, running forward, "You do? That's so amazing! Owning a shop at your age… but," She wrinkles her nose, "An antique toy shop?"

"Family business," Tsuna answers with a squeak because the girl is too close, "Er, is there something you need, miss…?"

The girl blinks again before she finally leans back and exclaims, "Oh! Right!" She rummages through her bag and pulls out a very tattered and stinky doll. They both wrinkled their nose at the smell, "Ugh, sorry. You said this was a repair shop too? For toys?"

Tsuna nods, trying to get a better look at the doll from where he was covering his nose.

"Well, I have a toy to fix for you." She approaches the counter and was about to put the doll down but stops to ask, "May I?"

"Go ahead."

To Tsuna's surprise, she lays the doll down gently on surface. "I found this little one being pulled out of the garbage by one of the stray cats," She brushes the matted hair to the side, "I know I shouldn't be pulling stuff out of the trash, who knows what sort of germs you can get from it but-"

Tsuna blinks down in surprise when she turns the doll over to reveal beautiful green glass eyes. It seems unbelievable that anyone would throw this doll away.

"It's such a pretty thing and I know it's just a doll but… It seemed kind of sad when I saw it being dragged around." The girl whines, "I have a weakness for cute and pretty things and I just couldn't leave this poor thing alone, you know?"

"I-I understand," Tsuna tries a nervous smile, "You did a good job in bringing it to me."

The girl blinks up at him with a hopeful expression, "Really? You think so? My parents are going to scold me when they smell the state of my bag, but hearing you say that makes this all worth it!" She sighs and then straightens, "Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself! I'm Haru Miura! I'd extend a hand but…" She gestures to the dirty doll.

"Tsunayoshi Sawada," Tsuna introduces himself politely, then adds, "I have a washroom in the back?"

"Oh, no need! I have a hand sanitizer somewhere and I'm in a hurry too. I'm on my way home anyway." Haru assures him with a bright smile, "So, about the repairs… can you do a full restoration on the doll?"

Tsuna looks at her in surprise. Full restoration on a doll like this (unglazed porcelain but in very worn condition, broken in some places, cracked in others with plant fiber for the doll's hair) is very expensive. Haru Miura looks to be the same age as Tsuna and she is still in her school uniform- maybe Tsuna could give her an estimate of the costs? Then give her a discount? Just so she knows what she was asking.

"Uhm, I'll give you a cost estimate first," Tsuna takes out a pair of gloves and clumsily puts them on. He looks over the, suspiciously silent doll. In the background he can hear the dolls in display whispering among themselves. He winces with every gentle turn of the doll's body, it would be a lot of work.

He takes off one glove and takes out a calculator to compute. He sighs at the final price and gives a substantial discount. The final estimate still makes him cringe. He shows it to his customer.

To Haru's credit, she doesn't even blink.

"Okay."

Tsuna stares at her, "Okay?"

"It's less expensive than I thought. I researched doll restoration prices on the way here," She explains to Tsuna's befuddlement, "I can pay but it'll be by installment, if it's okay? I have savings and any remaining amount I can pay by the end of this month, no problem!"

"Ah, are you sure?" Tsuna fidgets but Haru just gives him another bright smile.

"Yes! Ah, but for down payment I only have this much…" Haru takes out her wallet and gives him everything inside it.

"D-Don't worry, this is enough," Tsuna smiles, not even bothering to count the money.

"Thank you so much! So you'll do the full restoration then?"

"Yes, I can do that. I can return him to you when you've fully paid," Tsuna assures her.

Haru's eyes widen, "Return- oh no, you don't have to! I was thinking of donating him to your shop actually!"

"Eh?"

"I have little siblings that aren't too careful with new toys. Besides, this little one deserves to be in a place that knows how to take care of him and knows how to fix him if he ever gets broken again," Haru explains, "Your dolls seem to be in good condition, I want that for this doll too."

Tsuna looks down at the doll uncertainly.

"Please take him," Haru begs with wide eyes.

"If this doll has nowhere else to go then," Tsuna sighs and gives her a small smile, "I'll do my best to take care of him."

"Thank you! Thank you!"

"I mean, since you're even giving this doll to me, you don't even have to pay for repairs-"

"Nope, no way. I'm paying for his repairs, I was the one who brought him to you and caused all this trouble, this is the least I can do." Haru makes 'gimme' gestures towards the brunet. It takes Tsuna awhile to understand that she's asking where to sign for the installment payment. He reluctantly pulls out a record book for her credit details which she grabs enthusiastically. "Can I come visit him once in a while?"

"Yeah, of course." Tsuna assures her.

"Great!" When she finishes writing, she softly pats the doll on the head, "Do your best little one! I'll be rooting for you!"

Haru waves at Tsuna before she goes to leave. The bell jingles as the door closes and Tsuna lets out another sigh.

'You did really well, Sawada-dono. Iemitsu-sama would be proud of you,' Basil, a doll his father gave him when he was a kid, tells him from the second shelf.

"Ah, you think so?" Tsuna scratches the back of his head sheepishly, "I still feel guilty that she has to pay for a doll she's giving to me anyway."

'Business is business,' Lancia, a gift from a distant cousin, tells him from where he's perched. 'Just count your blessings and move on.'

"You're right, Lancia-san," Tsuna looks at the still silent doll, "He's really quiet isn't he?" He carefully props up the dirty doll, ignoring the garbage stench and smiles at it, "Hello, my name is Tsunayoshi Sawada, you are?"

No answer.

Tsuna's eyebrows furrow in worry. He closes his eyes and he can clearly feel that there is a soul in this doll. He opens his eyes again and stares into the doll's green eyes. "Hello?" He repeats.

Still no answer.

'Maybe he just needs a bath,' One of the dolls on the upper shelf suggests. 'He'll probably feel good enough to talk if you give him a bath first.'

'Yeah! Oh and don't forget to clean the shop too, it's starting to stink.'

'The doorknob! The doorknob! The girl touched it without sanitizing her hands,' Another doll reminds.

Tsuna exhales, "Yes, yes I'll get right on it." He looks down at the silent doll and gives a hesitant smile, "Let's get you properly clean first, maybe then you'll talk to me."

The brunet first flips the shop's sign to closed before gently taking the fragile doll and heading to the back of the shop to clean him up.

Giotto sits on the wooden porch of his house, looking up at the cloudless night sky. The moon shines down on his small home, giving him more light than the small candles he had around. Suddenly, a loud noise behind him makes him jump and something throws itself on his lap.

"Dear God!" Giotto exclaims in fright. He exhales when he sees Lampo, "Lampo, you scared me!"

'Giotto…' The Lampo doll whines as Giotto reaches for him. He puts the doll on his lap, 'Turn me into a human so I can step on Daemon please.'

'Oi!' The G. doll calls out stomping into view. Giotto imagines he'd be scowling right now if he was human, 'Giotto is still tired from last night! You heard the weird women! Transforming three dolls is a human's limit but Giotto managed to transform six of us! He passed out! He's too tired to turn anyone human right now!'

It's true. Giotto still feels tired and his body feels heavy after what happened last night. He'd think it was all a dream but in the morning, his dolls were piled on top of him and woke him up with their arguing. He'd panic at first, thinking he'd gone crazy but then he'd seen the ring on his finger and remembered what happened the night before: his dolls, human and alive, the strange images the masked women placed in his head to help explain what was happening and why. It helped as well, that he wanted everything that happened to be true.

Lampo whines again, snapping Giotto out of his thoughts, 'But Daemon is being horrible!'

'Ufufufu, I'll curse you if you don't keep quiet Lampo,' Came Daemon's voice from somewhere in the dark. Lampo shivers in his hand.

Maybe he is insane. Maybe all the loneliness finally got to his head and he imagined everything that happened last night, and it broke his mind, and he can hear voices, and see movements from things that weren't supposed to be alive. Or maybe this was all just a dream. A cruel, realistic, lovely dream.

"I'll turn you human, Lampo," Giotto mumbles absently, closing his eyes briefly in exhaustion. If he can see them turn human, it might help calm down his fears about being insane or this being some vivid dream. "Only if you promise not to step on Daemon. I'd rather everyone not fight."

Despite being a doll, Giotto somehow feels the glare G. directs his way when he turns to him. 'Don't be an idiot,' He speaks, 'You can barely stand!'

'G. is ultimately right!' Knuckle exclaims enthusiastically, the next one to come out and dragging an annoyed Alaude with him. Asari is following behind them, 'We have to take ultimate care of the body God has given to us!'

Alaude clicks his tongue in annoyance.

'Giotto,' Asari walks towards the blond and carefully climbs up to his lap. Giotto picks him up with his other arm. Even as a doll, worry shines through Asari's blue eyes when he looks up, 'It is better that you rest. Yesterday took a toll on your body.'

The blond's heart warms at his dolls' worries. G huffs and climbs up his leg, pulling the still whining Lambo next to him. Knuckle pushes Alaude up and Giotto helps the two settle in. Daemon comes out of wherever he was hiding to lean beside him. Asari leans his head on Giotto's arm. The young blond smiles, then his expression falters and he buries his face between his dolls, shoulders trembling slightly.

He didn't know what he would do if this really was all just a dream.

"Very well," He whispers. He straightens and arranges them better around him, pulling at a nearby blanket. He covers himself and his dolls carefully, counting that they are all there. G. huffs again but says nothing and even Lampo quiets down from his earlier complaining. Giotto closes his eyes and imagines the content looks on their faces.

They savor the peace.

Tsuna wakes up confused. It takes a few minutes of looking around his surroundings before he realizes he was at his workshop, surrounded by various expensive tools and a few sleeping dolls in the corner. He stretches and shakes himself into alertness.

He looks down at his table and the green-eyed doll lies there, still silent. He turns to his right, to where he placed Basil to keep guard.

'Good evening, Sawada-dono,' Basil greets him, 'I hope you had a good rest.'

"Sorry I fell asleep Basil-kun," Tsuna scratches his cheek sheepishly, "And I already told you, you can drop the honorifics, you can even call me Tsuna. We've been friends for a long time."

'It's a sign of respect, Sawada-dono.' Basil tells him warmly, 'As Vongola Decimo, you must get used to being called this way.'

Tsuna opens his mouth to answer when a rough voice interrupts them.

'Vongola?'

Tsuna jumps and looks down at the doll. Basil gets up on his small doll legs and approaches. "Hello? How are you feeling?"

The unknown doll ignores his question, 'Are you from Vongola?'

Tsuna hesitates, exchanging looks with Basil. The doll wasn't a dark doll, maybe it was okay to tell him? "Uhm, yes. You've heard of us?"

'Who hasn't?' The doll snaps, 'And I heard you say Vongola Decimo… are you their doll maker heir?'

Tsuna blinks in surprise and Basil says politely, 'We cannot reveal information about our family to strangers. So if you have questions, you must answer ours first. What is your name?'

'Tch.' The doll says nothing for a while. Just when Tsuna and Basil thought he isn't going to answer, the doll whispers, 'Hayato… Gokudera.'

The name sounds familiar for some reason, but the brunet just smiles and introduces himself again, "I'm Tsunayoshi Sawada and the doll beside me is Basil-kun."

'I know,' Gokudera says shortly, 'I heard you the first time. I was also right here when you two were talking earlier.' He reminds sarcastically.

"Right…" Tsuna flounders, "Ah well, then I'm sure you know why you're here? Someone found you and gave you to me for full restoration."

There is silence again. Basil and Tsuna did not break it this time, instinctively knowing that the other doll probably reached his limit in talking already. Basil went back to his initial post and Tsuna went about, gathering the tools needed in fixing the doll. He'd already given him an initial wash to get rid of the smell, the first layer of dirt, and garbage still stuck to him.

Tsuna shines a light on the broken doll, taking notes on his small notebook on what things he needs for repairs. He'll gather everything later and then plan on where to start first. Just as he was inspecting one of the cracks on the arm, Gokudera speaks, 'What's the point?'

Tsuna blinks at the soft words,"The point?"

'You can tell can't you? I was found in the trash. I'm abandoned and broken, I can't bother to feel anything anymore. Is there a point in fixing me?'

Tsuna stops, putting down his pencil. He looks down at the broken doll and purses his lips uncertainly, not knowing what to say.

'What's the point of fixing broken things?' The doll asks. It's the last thing he says for a while, and Tsuna, who doesn't know the answer to such a sad question, keeps quiet.

He doesn't want to say the wrong thing.

"You seem lost in thought," Reborn observes after he sips his coffee.

Tsuna startles, "E-Eh?"

"Normally I'd reward your short attention span with a well deserve kick in the head," The arcobaleno continues, "But I have a feeling this is something more than your usual air-headedness. Does it have something to do with that doll you took in?"

Tsuna straightens, "You know about that?"

Reborn smirks, "I know everything. Like, for example, that his name is Hayato Gokudera and that he was a doll given by Bianchi's father to his mistress."

"Bianchi? As in Poison Scorpion Bianchi of the Tempest Family? The doll maker known for utilizing dolls that use poisons she makes herself?" Tsuna turns green when he remembers meeting Bianchi. The heiress did not like him for always taking up Reborn's time. He remembers her 'homemade poison', which is really just her bad cooking. She is so bad at cooking that even a small lick of anything she makes can send a soul to hell.

Bianchi Tempest is the only heir of the Tempest Family. As the heiress to the doll maker family, she too can talk to and hear dolls. Since she is older than Tsuna, she already received her family's ring years back. She has doll contracts with two dolls: Romeo and Shamal, but she can only turn them human one at a time. She makes up for the lack of power with creativity, reinforcing their doll foundations to be able to withstand her poisons. The female doll maker makes them use her poison during fights and gave each of them highly advanced weapons to control, courtesy of Giannichi.

From what Tsuna heard, the weapons Shamal and Romeo hold were deadly and clever. Thankfully, he'd avoided any direct confrontation with them by running away whenever he caught a glimpse of pink hair.

"Yes, no good Tsuna, that Bianchi." Reborn puts down his cup, "The doll you have now is someone she considers her 'little brother'. Hayato Gokudera was created by the patriarch of the Tempest Family, her father. The Tempest head is the most powerful doll maker of his generation and he created Gokudera with his own hands. This doll can be considered to be the highest of quality in terms of materials. In soul, however, well, I think it's too soon to judge. Who knows, he could be guardian material for you."

Tsuna looks at him in surprise, "Guardian? What? Gokudera-kun? But you just said it yourself, he belongs to the Tempest family! Bianchi may even be looking for him so that she can form a contract with him! He can't be my guardian!"

Reborn shoots him a look and he closes his mouth, "No good Tsuna, I thought you'd know better than anyone… It doesn't matter who creates a doll or what they are created with. A maker is not synonymous with an owner and in our world no one can own a doll, no one can decide which family a doll belongs to, aside from the doll itself. A doll maker offers, the doll chooses to accept or not. Simple."

The brunet groans, "It's not that simple." He argues, "I don't even know Gokudera-kun and by the way, he hates me! He doesn't talk to me at all! I'm pretty sure he only tolerates me because I'm fixing him up! That isn't a good basis for a doll maker-guardian relationship."

"Like I said, it's too soon to tell. And I'm not telling you to ask him right away, build a rapport with him first, then think about it seriously. It's your choice. Vongola heirs have powerful intuitions. You'd know if he's the perfect guardian for you or not, just give it time," Reborn assures him with a knowing look.

Tsuna grows silent, hesitation clear in his eyes.

Reborn gives him a few minutes to sort out his thoughts.

Finally Tsuna sighs, "I'll think about it." He says firmly, "Now tell me why you're here?"

Reborn raises an eyebrow and takes out a folder and places it on the table. The purpose of his visit.

"What is that?"

"An assignment for you."

Tsuna's eyes narrow, "I thought you were giving me time to settle in before we started our classes for Business Education or whatever it was."

Reborn shakes his head, "It's not for that." He pushes the folder to Tsuna's side, "This is a training assignment for a doll maker."

Tsuna's eyes widen and he reaches out warily for it. He flips it open.

"You haven't tried out the ring's powers yet have you? You haven't turned any of your dolls human?" The hitman asks casually.

Tsuna shakes his head, "With opening the shop and getting myself enrolled and settled here, I didn't have the spare energy to be turning anyone."

"The sooner you start, the sooner you'll get used to the energy drain."

Tsuna grumbles and flips the pages, reading through quickly, "Er, is this right? It says here this is a human kidnapping case."

"A witness claims to have seen a doll in the alleyway before his friend was dragged away. He thinks the doll might belong to the kidnapper."

"But you think the kidnapper is the doll itself, don't you?"

"We have dark energy readings coming from the place where the incident happened," Reborn confirms, "The police have handed the case to us and I thought 'what a good opportunity for the up-and-coming Vongola boss'."

Tsuna gives him a half-hearted glare before he slouches in defeat. Great, just great. Exorcism and doll transformations. Anyone who has the blood of Vongola running through their veins can hear dolls. Anyone who can hear dolls are trained for exorcism at a young age. But only the heirs accepted by the family rings can use dolls to do higher levels of exorcisms.

There have been rare exceptions though, of people who did not belong to any doll maker family, but can hear them. An example of that was Xanxus. These exceptions were usually taken in by doll maker families as disciples.

Tsuna sighs, "Will you at least be there to help?"

Reborn raises an eyebrow, "You're not a kid anymore, no good Tsuna. You don't need my help for a simple exorcism."

"That's a no then." Tsuna slumps further into his seat. He yelps when Reborn decides to kick him this time and he rolls to the floor with a pained groan.

"Stop complaining and read over the case tonight. We don't want any more victims so keep your investigations short. The day after tomorrow you're doing the exorcism," Reborn dusts off his shirt and tips his hat in farewell, "I still have things to do, I'll call tomorrow to ask what you found out. Ciao."

Tsuna continues to lie on the floor, groaning at his misfortune. Did he really expect anything else from his Spartan tutor? He covers his face and lets out another sigh.

He'll think about this tomorrow, for tonight, it was time to sleep.

Everything is white and quiet.

Tsuna stands in the middle of nothing, lost and confused.

Where is he? What is he doing here?

'You're looking the wrong way,' Comes a gentle voice. For some reason, Tsuna can detect a smile in his tone. He tries to turn but warm hands on his shoulders make him stay put.

'There.' His eyes follow the direction the person behind was pointing at.

Several feet away, there is a blank piano. Its white and black keys were scattered about on the floor, only a few remain on the keyboard.

'Do you see him?'

See who? Tsuna wants to ask but he finds he could not talk. Instead he looks closer at the broken piano. On top of it was a beautiful doll with green eyes and silver hair. The small doll was carrying the broken keys and trying to put them back in their proper places.

The doll looks familiar but somehow the answer doesn't come to the brunet. He steps forward. He doesn't know anything about pianos or which key belongs where, but he wants to help this doll fix the broken piano. He runs a bit and starts picking up the broken keys.

"Here, I'll help," He is finally able to find his voice. He looks up to smile at the doll, only to come face-to-face with a teen his age.

The teen has silver hair and stormy green eyes. He has a frown on his lips as he looks down at the keys then at Tsuna. He says, "Some of the keys are lost and it's hard putting them in the right order by tone. No matter how much effort you put in, this piano will never be the same. There's no point. It's better to just destroy it and buy a new one."

"What?" Tsuna startles at this sudden change, "But you picked up the keys! You tried putting it back and you're just giving up? We haven't finished yet!"

"It's better to buy a new one. Destroy the old one," The teen continues, not able to see him anymore, "What's the point in fixing broken things anyway?"

Before Tsuna could answer a swarm of red butterflies come out of nowhere to block his view. He gasps and reaches out- "Wait! Gokudera-kun-" He tries to grab on but the butterflies are in the way. In the end, he grasps nothing but air.

Eventually the red butterflies disperse… but there is no one there, nothing is left except the scattered black keys of the broken piano. The brunet stands there, stunned. There is a bad feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach.

Tsuna never notices the single blue butterfly perched on his shoulder.

End of Chapter

Author's notes: Handmade toys have souls. Also, I made the dolls able to move a bit. Haha, imagine the horror potential. Sorry if the chapter was a bit boring guys. I'll do my best to make it more interesting! We still have some pesky information stuff to go through which is why it's like this. Oh and if you have a tumblr, come by mine: emrysblu

Hamaguri the shop's name is sort of the Japanese translation of clams.

Giannichi is not a typo, that's the name of Giannini's father.

What's the point of fixing broken things? Tsuna couldn't answer it because I couldn't answer it when I wrote that question. I stopped and wrote what I was feeling instead when I put myself in Tsuna's shoes. Most people aren't really that articulate in real life, sometimes you have to think about what to say before answering a question. So I gave myself and Tsuna time to think about the answer. (I already have by the end of this chapter but we'll talk about that in future chapters.)