"Alright, that should be everyone," Reborn says into the bluetooth-headset-phone combo Leon had transformed into for him, watching Tsuna talk with his group.
"Finally," Talbot says. "We don't have forever."
"Yes," comes Verde's high voice next. "The idea you present was interesting, however-"
"I'm sorry," Reborn says coldly. "I guess neither of you are interested in flame anomalies. I guess I'll just leave you out next time I find something interesting."
There's silence over the conference call.
"Thank you," Reborn says. "Now, while I gave each of you a summary individually, prior to the conference call, I'll go over my information again. Like always, you are bound by my confidentiality contracts not to reveal this information in any way that it could be associated with me or my student."
"Of course, sir," Giannichi says quietly, and the others on the line all mumble their agreement.
"Now, as you are all aware, I took the assignment of tutoring Vongola's next heir, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Timoteo contracted me not only for assistance in removing the seal that he placed upon Tsunayoshi's flames when he was a child and teaching him how to spark his flames, but also for my services in the actual tutoring."
"Of course," Shamal says. "Otherwise you would be back here with me, helping Cristiana clean up Timoteo's mess. Gods, I still don't know what he was thinking. God. I still don't know what he was thinking. Having you shoot your way through the family may have taken longer, but any heirs he might have gotten out of this would have been too traumatized to be trusted. As it is, we're going to need you back for a visit some point soon for the worse off cases."
"We get it," Verde says impatiently. "Boohoo, the Vongola family head is mentally unstable and the Vongola family is suffering as a result. I was promised-"
"Sawada Tsunayoshi exhibited unusual symptoms in response to the Dying Will Bullet," Reborn interrupts Verde again. "Upon his revival, Tsunayoshi skipped right over the Dying Will Mode and straight into Hyper Dying Will Mode. He was able to maintain it for a couple seconds before he reverted to normal and collapsed. Luckily he did not seem to feel the normal strain felt after an initial activation of Hyper Dying Will Mode when he awoke, only the strain usually felt after the usual activation of Dying Will Mode. Due to his initial reaction, I have not shot him with the Dying Will Bullet again. I have upped his physical training in order to compensate."
"That's what you called me for? An adverse reaction to Dying will Bullets?" Shamal asks, and there's a scrambling sound on his end of the call. "Damn it, Reborn, how long ago was this?"
"It was about two weeks ago."
"Why didn't you call me earlier?" Shamal demands.
"Shamal," Giannichi says. "Don't worry about arranging a flight. You can come with me. I'm arranging a flight to Japan for myself. I'll need to check on Leon and the Dying Will bullets to ensure that it wasn't a defective batch of bullets and the Leon wasn't harmed."
"Thank you," Shamal says.
"If you're done worrying," Verde says, "let's get down to theories-"
"Verde," Talbot says. "Remember that the dying Will bullet is the only safe way of activating flames that we are aware of. After the initial activation, we have all different ways to re-spark a flame, but without the initial cushion a Dying Will Bullet provides that protects the user for the true consequences of removing their physical limitations-"
"If you're so interested in seeing what using Dying Will Flames without that cushion is like, then you can come and look!" Shamal says, his voice cold. "Timoteo certainly created a large sample size, and we need as much help as we can get. Cristiana won't turn you down."
"Of course," Reborn says, cutting through the argument again. "Verde, you said you had a theory?"
"Yes. Well, you know Aria's ward Byakuran? I've been working with him on flame theory, and we've been looking into other ways to safely activate flames."
()
"Tsuna," Reborn says, sliding off of Tsuna's back as Tsuna drops his legs to lean forwards and brace himself on his knees panting. "Go run back to town and get me an expresso. Be back in twenty minutes."
Tsuna just sighs as he straightens up. "Just an expresso?"
"If you're offering, there's that french bakery. I want five eclairs and six chocolate macrons." Reborn holds his hand up to his hat, and the green chameleon crawls onto his hand. It transforms into a walet, and Reborn rifles through it for a moment before he produces a credit card. "Here."
"Not just going to give me cash?" Tsuna asks, looking almost amused as he accepts the card.
"That's linked to an expences account set for for me while I'm tutoring you," Reborn says as he allows the chameleon to crawl back onto the brim of his hat. "Technically, that's your money. you can have an extra ten minutes for the pastries."
Tsuna snorts. He glances over at the other boys in the clearing and tips them a lazy nod. "I'll be back, have fun without me."
"Have and extreme run Tsuna!" Ryohei yells as Takeshi waves back.
Lambo can feel Alessandro shrink back behind him as Tsuna leaves. It's not his first Saturday in the clearing, let alone anywhere near the first time he's hung out with the group that Tsuna had gathered, but every time Reborn sends Tsuna off to build up his stamina in a way that's not just running in circles around the clearing while the rest of them do other exercises, Alessandro hides behind Lambo.
Luckily, however, while Tsuna's the only one who seems to be able to draw Alessandro out of his shell consistently, he seems to have found some sort of common ground with Takeshi on music of all things. Sometimes, when Lambo isn't paying attention as Takeshi practices his flute, he'll find that Alessandro has drifted over to Takeshi and is making small comments about the way he plays.
When Tsuna's no longer visible through the trees, Reborn turns around again.
"I've been meaning to ask," Reborn says, watching Takeshi and Ryohei stretch. "Neither of you were fazed when I told Tsuna he had been selected to be a Mafia Boss. You both volunteered to join him with very little prompting."
"Is there an actual question in there? Takeshi asks as Ryohei snorts.
Lambo notes that he looks amused - truly amused, not just the show he puts on for other people.
"Sure," Reborn says easily. "Why?"
"Well, you told me yourself, remember?" Takeshi says. "My father is an assassin. Retired, sure, but he didn't keep it from me."
"That doesn't explain why you volunteered to join Tsuna," Reborn says. "I would think that your father's experience would put you off of a life of crime."
"You extremely don't know much about Namimori, do you?" Ryohei asks.
"I know that the only organized crime group in Namimori is the Momokyokai Yakuza family, a minor branch of a minor branch, not good for much other than being sent off where they can do no harm to the main family."
"And did you never look into why they do so little harm here? You don't exactly see them running rampant through the streets do you?" Ryoehi asks, and Lambo feels a prickle run up his spine.
"There's a reason my joke about Tsuna taking over the town has stuck around despite his protests. There's a reason I keep insisting that he will take over from Hibari Kyoya, even though Hibari Kyoya only controls the schools," Takeshi says.
"This is a retirement town, a relegation town, an extreme town for children," Ryohei continues, "and there's a good reason it's stayed that way. You remember Kurokawa Hana, right?"
"Your little sister's friend."
"Correct. She's a Hibari. I wasn't about to let my little sister join her without being there to protect her."
"Dad always expected me to go back," Takeshi say, shrugging. "Our family has a history. If he'd truly wanted to leave he would have hidden far better."
"And Tsuna?" Reborn asks.
"Everyone knows his father is foreign yakuza," Ryoehi says.
"And it's not like you'll stop," Takeshi says. "And after the incident . . ."
". . . He's been different. So I hear." Reborn looks odd for a moment in Lambo's eyes. Far too young and far too old all at once. "Right."
Hey! I know's it's been a good while, sorry, I was bust with my other fics. I hope you like this!