"Reborn! Reborn!"
"Reborn, this is Desiderio De Fiore from the Current Criminal . Where have you been?"
"Reborn! Are the rumors true?"
"Reborn is that really the Vongola tenth generation?"
Ryohei glances down at the kid to find him smirking, the brim of his fedora pulled down to shadow his eyes.
Magic is a heady presence in the air - and Ryohei sees posters advertising magic shows, and people casually using it all around them.
It makes sense that the Mafia would use their magic freely without the many laws and restrictions that limit magic, and Ryohei had been getting some sense of it with all the training Reborn had put them through, but it's one thing to think that, and another to know it by the buzz of magic in the air.
Reborn stops in front of a building and turns to the reporters who've been crowding around them since they got off the ship.
(Now that he thinks of it, it's probably some minor miracle Hibari Kyoya hasn't gone flying off the handle. It probably helps that there's a couple steps of clear space between them and the crowd, but since there's enough of them to constitute a crowd, Ryohei's rather worried.)
"Kindly fuck off," Reborn says to the reporters with a smile, and they collectively swoon.
"Oh my god! The patented Reborn Fuck Off treatment!"
"We even got a 'kindly'!"
Ryohei watches, bemused, as the reporters scatter, melting into the general crowd of the island.
"Come on inside, the rest of you," Reborn says, and they follow him into the building and up to the receptionist.
Reborn hops up to catch the counter, pulls himself up, shifts his grip, and straightens his arms.
"My reservation," he says to the receptionist, his feet dangling as he holds himself up,
"Of course, Reborn!" she says, looking as awestruck as the reporters had outside. She taps away at the computer, and something prints out a moment later. She pulls the paper from the printer and places it before Reborn. "Please confirm that we've got the reservation correct."
Shifting slightly, Ryohei reads what he can, catching the words 'Vongola style suite', 'combat training', and 'vouch test'.
"That's correct," Reborn says.
"Good!" the receptionist says, taking the paper back. She files it in one of the filing drawers and pulls out a set of key cards. They get swiped on the card reader, and then she holds them out to Reborn, then realizing Reborn's situation, uncertainly to Ryohei.
"I'll be off now," Reborn says, jumping down. He takes the room keys from Ryohei and strolls off in the direction of the elevator.
"Ah, Sawada-san," the receptionist says, calling their attention back to her. "You don't have an invitation or recommendation, so I'm afraid that you need to pass the vouch-safe test."
Tsuna sighs. "Of course. And what is this test to be?"
"Please take this," the receptionist pulls out a briefcase from behind the desk, briefly opening it to show stacks of cash, "and use it to bribe the man behind that door."
"What am I bribing him for?" Tsuna asks, taking the briefcase and opening it himself to look over the money.
"Ah," the receptionist says, looking a little surprised. "I guess . . . you want the city council to reallocate a portion of the budget that had been going to city maintenance so that when you sweep in and do the maintenance, you look like a hero."
"Do we have a prior relationship? Is it a friendly one? Have I, personally met him before? What's his name? And what are his mother's, spouse's, potential childrens' and pets' names?"
Ryohei notes that Reborn has paused in front of the elevator.
"Um," the receptionist says helplessly. She glances at Reborn by the elevators, then squares her shoulders. "You have a friendly prior relationship, but you, personally haven't met him before. His name is Lapo Santini, son of Leda Santini, husband of Raimonda Santini, father of Edvige and Gualtiero Santini, with cats Katysha and Joele."
"Thank you." Tsuna closes the briefcase and heads over to the door the receptionist had indicated earlier.
When the door closes behind him, a section of the wall lifts to reveal what Ryohei assumes is a two way mirror.
"Santini, Santini, Lapo Santini!" Tsuna makes some gesture behind his back as he sits down, and Ryohei feels his ears almost pop as he trails behind the rest of the group, heading to the mirror. "How good it is to finally meet you in person!"
Behind him, Ryohei hears the receptionist mutter, "Italian?"
"Ah, my friend!" the man sitting in the room replies, just as grand. "Indeed, with such a fine working relationship it was a pleasure to receive your invitation."
Given that the receptionist was fairly clearly making everything up on the spot, Ryohei respects the man's dedication to improvisation.
"Tell me how's your family?" Tsuna asks, his confidence looking odd with his obvious youth. "Raimonda and the kids? Are Edvige and Gualtiero getting along or are they having another siblingly spat?"
"Ah," the man says, his shoulders slumping dramatically. "You've caught us in the middle of the Great Dairy War, I'm afraid. Edvige has done an about face and begun insisting that any and all dairy products are disgusting cow juice, while Gualtiero now refuses to eat anything that doesn't have dairy. Raimonda it tearing her hair out in frustration."
"My sympathies," Tsuna says.
The man waves it off. "Now, what might I do fo you my friend?"
"Well," Tsuna says leadingly, "there is one thing."
"Please, do tell me! After all you've done for me, I'm sure we will be able to come to an agreement. And besides, it should make an excellent defense against the next battle of the Great Dairy War of course."
"Of course," Tsuna smiles. "Well, my group has been thinking of expanding out operations in the west side. I know that the council recently set aside some of the municipal maintenance budget for that, but I'm sure you'll find it better spent elsewhere. Certainly, the city always needs more money."
"Ah," the man says, looking more serious now. "We set aside that money since we were getting so many complaints, I'm not sure-"
"No need to worry." Tsuna waves a hand. "I plan to cover the cost of fixing up that side of town, a visible donation like that would go a long way to gain their good will, as I'm sure you're aware."
The man isn't quite frowning now, but his brows are slightly furrowed.
"Still, such a move would damage my own publicity-"
Tsuna sets the briefcase on the table and flicks the latch so that it opens. "This is for you to use as you see fit. A donation of your own, or for a vacation, or for some other charitable cause."
The man's eyes are fixed on the money.
"Of course! I'm sure that we can come to an agreement then."
Tsuna smiles. "I'll leave a man to go over the details with you."
They stand, shake hands, and then Tsuna exits the room, the wall moving back into place.
Ryohei stares at Tsuna as he strolls through the crowd of his guardians and back to the receptionist. "Was that acceptable?"
She stares at him. It takes a couple tries before she manages to speak, her voice squeaking a little. "O-of course! Um. You're in suite number 707, on floor seven. I'm sure that if you knock, uh, Reborn will let you in."
"Thank you," Tsuna says, and turns to walk to the elevators.
It takes the rest of the group a moment before they realize they should be following him, and they all start after him.
Ryohei feels -
Ryohei feels -
Ryohei feels distantly proud and concerned all at once.
Seeing Tsuna just do that, without blinking . . .