AFTER THE RAIN

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Amano Akira-sensei, arigatou for the wonderful people you've made.

Target Two: The Supportive Present Time Vongola Family

An awkward atmosphere filled the air as the young teens sat on the floor of Tsuna's room, except Reborn who was occupying his no-good student's bed. Gokudera sat next to his Tenth and the young girl sat across the table in front of them, with Natsu taking a nap on the table.

Ciel fiddled her fingers on her lap. A habit she developed whenever she was nervous. She knew she was being shy, and it was making all of them uncomfortable.

If her father and tutor heard of this, she was so dead.

Being a daughter of the boss of the strongest Famiglia, she was trained to be strong and smart. Poker face. Analyze people. Never show weakness. Always be dignified. She learned all of those at a young age however in this case, she couldn't help it.

She was facing her father. Her 14-year-old father!

Even though it wasn't the father she knew, he was still her father, 20 years in the past. It remained the truth.

She tried to calm her nerves.

Okay Ciel, calm down. Just remember what your father told you. Why were you sent in the past?

Oh, yes, her father wanted to protect her.

Her father also said that to come back, these people will help her…

Wait.

How did I know that these were the people her father meant? He didn't even mention a name.

"People from the past will help you. Tell them the truth and they will protect you. Trust them." His eyes glanced at her golden ones. "You'll know when it is time to go back. Until then, take care of yourself and protect the dia. I believe in you."

Yes, however, she had the feeling that the people her father meant were these people. His family, their family from 20 years ago.

I guess I just have to tell them the truth and ask for their help. Yes, that will do. But first….

Composure, girl, composure. You are the daughter of the strongest family's boss. You must act like it, wherever you are.

Yeah.

So she breathed in deeply and out.

Tsuna stared at her and asked, "Erm… are you… alright?"

She let out a small smile. "Yes… I'm alright."

Footsteps from outside the room resounded and the door opened, revealing Yamamoto with a glass of water. He placed it on the table and smiled at the girl as he sat down on Tsuna's left, which made Gokudera on the right side of the young boss to-be.

"Ah… help yourself…" Tsuna said towards her, gesturing the glass of water his friend just served.

The girl stared at him with those big bright golden eyes of hers and Tsuna wondered if she was trying to decipher him by just looking.

Her gaze was… scrutinizing. It was like she was reading him inside. It was… not bad however uncomfortable.

"Um… so… what's your name?" Tsuna asked, clumsily. The girl blinked. Reborn clicked his tongue in his student's no-good tone.

She faced them confidently, to the surprise of the boys and even Reborn. It was like a different person from before. "I apologize for the late introduction. My name is Aria Ciel Sawada. You may call me Ciel."

"Sawada…?" Yamamoto asked, glancing at the frozen brown-haired boy. "Are you related to Tsuna?"

The girl called Ciel, let out a gentle and proud smile. "I am… the 14-year-old daughter of the 10th generation Vongola boss."

All of them had their eyes wide while Reborn's smirk was evident. So no-good Tsuna became the boss, after all.

Gokudera's facial expression went from stiff and shock to sheer happiness, even manifested as tears.

"As expected of the Tenth!" he declared happily, nearing his boss' frame with hands clasped together. Yamamoto grinned. Tsuna sweat dropped. "Hiiieee!"

"What is the Vongola boss' daughter doing here from the future?" Reborn asked, moving from his seating position from Tsuna's bed to his student's hair.

The girl averted her gaze. They all noticed that maybe something happened.

"Did something happen in your future?"

She nodded and faced them.

"I'll tell you everything that happened." The girl took a deep breath and bowed her head lightly as she started her story.

"There is this mafia family who are trying to negotiate to my father regarding the alliance. They want to be part of it, since Vongola is the strongest family. They said that some Mafia groups were after them and killing their subordinates and family members one by one so they want to be protected, thus the alliance. Father didn't agree immediately and asked one of his trusted guardians to investigate. We learned that they were trying to use the Vongola's name to be able to export drugs to other countries and lure all rich sponsors and be rich themselves."

"Father declined their offer and since then, they kept on asking for an appointment, but they were always rejected." Ciel breathed in.

"Until they discover the Dying will gem."

"Dying will gem?" Tsuna wonderingly asked. "What is that?"

"It is said that people have dying will and the gem amplifies it."

"Meaning?"

"It makes a person's dying will flame a million times stronger than its original level."

"Really? I don't know there's something like that in the Vongola." Tsuna stated, surprised. They were always using dying will and they knew it depends on resolve to make it stronger.

"But isn't it a person's resolve that makes a dying will stronger?" Gokudera asked Tsuna's thoughts.

Ciel nodded in agreement. "Yes, I know. However, this gem," she reached her right hand upon her necklace and showed to them the mentioned gem. "…is the origin of dying will. It is true that resolve makes a dying will stronger, but it was discovered two years after my Father officially inherited the Vongola Famiglia, that this gem was given the dying will of the First Generation boss and guardians of the Vongola, that's why it makes dying will flame stronger." She gripped it tightly to her chest. "If this is misused…"

"I see. Someone who doesn't know how to control the dying will flame from that gem may cause catastrophe in the Mafia world." Reborn stated looking at the young girl who nodded at him.

"Yes." She replied. "That is the reason why my father sent me here to protect the gem."

"Knowing Tsuna," Yamamoto chirped with his usual smile. "He also did it to protect you."

Gokudera nodded in agreement. "Yes, no doubt about that if it's the Tenth we're talking about." His proud tone could be heard.

Tsuna couldn't help but feel embarrassed as he stared at the girl in front of him. "Well… I'm not…"

"Yes, he did. He was such a worrywart there's no way that reason wasn't included in this scheme." Ciel brightly smiled at them, and Tsuna saw that resemblance once again, and he couldn't help but ask.

"Ne…"

"Yes?"

"May I ask… who your mother is?"

His friends leaned forward to the girl in curiosity. They were meaning to ask as well, but of course, they felt that it was rude to ask before Tsuna. After all, it was about him.

Reborn was also curious so he kept his silence as they waited for the young girl to answer.

On her part, Ciel was nervous. She wasn't sure if it was fine to tell them. The future might change drastically if she said anything. However, it might be good too, since he would be able to confess to her sooner.

She remembered her mother telling her that she was the one who confessed to him because her father was taking his time. Ciel scolded her father for being a coward that time as her mother softly watched over their banter. Ciel's gaze softened at the memories. She missed them.

"Well…" she innocently blinked her golden eyes. "I think you have the idea already even if I don't say anything." She stated with a shrug. "The Family always say that I resembled Mom a lot."

Tsuna's eyes widened and at the back of his mind, he was happy. He couldn't believe that he was able to be with his first love, and they even had a daughter!

The only downside of it all was that he still became a Mafia Boss.

Gokudera's eyebrows knitted together. The only candidate of being the Tenth's wife were Sasagawa Kyoko and Miura Haru. After all, they were the only females in the family. Staring at the girl, his eyes shone in realization. "Sasagawa?"

Yamamoto's eyes widened. "Right! Sasagawa-imouto!" he exclaimed happily. "She really looks like her."

The young daughter of their boss to-be nodded and grinned. "Yes, my mother is Sasagawa Kyoko." She turned to her father who blushed furiously. He probably couldn't believe he was able to marry his first love. "Mama said she confessed to Papa first."

Tsuna's eyes widened. "Eh?" He felt a pain on his head and found himself on the floor. He barely heard Gokudera's "Tenth!" and Yamamoto's "Tsuna! Are you alright?"

He picked himself up and glared at Reborn. "What? You deserved it. You're a boss, and a man, you should have confessed to her first." He shook his head in disappointment.

The hitman glanced at the young girl and narrowed his eyes. "What have been my future self, teaching your future one?"

Ciel chuckled at that. "Well, Zio Reborn always did his best but... Papa is..."

Reborn sighed.

The girl cleared her throat and changed topic before his tutor could maim him again. "So, Pa—" she stopped herself. After all, this person wasn't her father.

At least not yet.

"Sawada-san? May I ask for your assistance in protecting the gem?"

Tsuna sat properly again and looked at Reborn. The former arcobaleno closed his eyes as his little arms crossed against his chest.

"It's your decision, Tsuna. You are the boss."

The brown-haired boy sighed. "And I told you I don't want to be the boss." He muttered.

However, there was no reason to refuse the girl. She was related to him, even though she was from the future. There was no way he would leave her alone at this time.

"Yeah, if I can be of help…"

Ciel's eyes brightened, making the young boss to-be smiled. Tsuna's friends gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, Ciel-sama! We will protect you!" Gokudera grinned at her, a dynamite in hand proving his point.

Yamamoto nodded in agreement.

"I'm not sure if the Clotilde Famiglia will be able to find me here but it's better to be safe than sorry, so thank you so much. I'm looking forward to your help." she bowed her head a little, before flashing a grateful smile.

Reborn sat on Tsuna's bed once again and faced the young girl. "I'll offer my services as well. Don't worry, I'll make sure you'll be fine here."

"Thank you, Zio Reborn."

Tsuna smiled, despite the circumstances, he was a bit happy to see the girl in good mood. For some reason, he really didn't like seeing her unhappy.

Okay, so he just realized he was acting like her father already.

He stopped the urge to roll his eyes.

"Oh, and we have to enroll you to Namimori Middle school."

Tsuna's eyes widened at his tutor. "Ha? Why?"

"It's better to have her beside you all the time if you're going to protect her and the dying will gem."

The brown-haired young man realized that the ex-arcobaleno had a point. It would also make her productive, and not just stay in the house all day. He knew she would find it boring.

"Is it okay to you though, Ciel?"

The young girl nodded. "Yes, I'm actually looking forward to it."

"Eh? Why?" Yamamoto asked. "Don't you go to school too?"

Ciel shook her head. "I've been attending school in Italy until I'm nine years old. But… something happened so Papa didn't want me going to school. I am home schooled and got tutorials from Zio Hayato and the others."

Tsuna was curious on that reason why she had to stop attending school but he stopped himself. His hyper intuition was telling him not to pry. At least not yet.

"I'm sure you'll like it here, especially if you haven't attended a Japanese school yet." the black haired swordsman commented with a grin.

Ciel smiled. "Yes, I haven't. I was born in Italy. We visit Japan because of Grandma occasionally, but well, I haven't stayed here for so long."

"Hmmm… I see."

"We'll make sure you'll enjoy your time here, Ciel-sama!" Gokudera enthusiastically exclaimed, making the young girl giggle. "Young Gokudera-san sure is energetic."

Yamamoto laughed and agreed, sending the girl a thumbs up. "Right? He's always been like that."

"Well, in my time, he's really calm and serious. But, Yamamoto-san, you haven't changed a bit. You're still like this in the future."

"Hmm?" he blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, my Zio Takeshi always smiles and cheers everyone up with his laugh. Papa said you haven't changed ever since, and I realized that he's right, seeing you right now."

The black-haired boy laughed. "I'm glad then. I like sending good vibes to everyone." A grin was sent to Ciel and she returned it with a smile. Gokudera, noticing this, felt a tick on his forehead. "Oi, Baseball freak, don't you get close with Ciel-sama!"

"Eh? Why? It's fine, isn't it?"

"No! Ciel-sama is Tenth's daughter! There's no way I'll let you get close to her like the Tenth! I'm the right-hand man after all!"

"I'm the left-hand man, though."

"What are you—"

Gokudera didn't finish because of Ciel's laughter filling the room. Tsuna's friends and guardians stared at her and glanced at each other. Gokudera smirked, pleased that his Tenth's daughter was happy, and Yamamoto laughed with her.

Tsuna watched the scene and couldn't help but smile, glad that the girl was having fun.

Reborn, meanwhile, stared at his student, and smiled as well.

"By the way, Tsuna…"

"Hm?"

"I'm pleased to know that you became a responsible Mafia boss in the future, and a Vongola boss to boot."

Tsuna stiffened.

"Well, to lead you to that future, let's increase your training, shall we?"

The brown-eyed boy gasped. "I DON'T WANT TO BE A MAFIA BOSS! NOOOO!"

The sky lion on the table opened one eye, and seeing his master's daughter in good hands, yawned and went back to sleep.

RR. Thanks for dropping by!

#Mari / 6.19.2022