Chapter Thirty-Seven
(Ten o'clock; Morning)
"I've always wanted to pursue accountancy." Watusei answered sincerely, hands clasped together loosely on his laps. "I like Math a lot. Numbers never lie. They are always definite and give the absolute result as long as the method to be used is set, or we can freely use any ways."
"... I cannot. They are part of the family regardless of what happened. They were the ones who nurtured us and helped us greatly."
(One o'clock; Afternoon)
"I wanted to be a teacher." Seina answered, gaze was far away. "I wanted to teach children, but I never thought of going away from Kurogane."
"... I will. They never believed I can be the boss. They even speculated of marrying me off so the power of Kurogane will get stronger."
(Three o'clock; Afternoon)
Kanna took seconds longer to respond. "When Mom noticed how I sometimes watch the Snake tinker around electronics and machines, she asked if I wanted to do the same." Her lips quirked to a small smile, nostalgic and passionate. "I mean I was fascinated. I like how complicated they are and how fulfilling it is to assemble them, rearrange them for my taste. I like how the frustration seems to build up when things don't work out with the technology in front of me, and yet we can't just let go. But I mean, I wanted to be a Snake since then. So, I was really thankful that you put me there."
"... I never really trusted my relatives. As much as I'm indifferent with them, they are to me too. Among the five of us, me and Seina are their least favorites. It's because we are girls, and girls can't lead. We accepted that. But it doesn't mean we cannot be of help, right? Mom had said once that behind every man's victory is a woman's passion. If me and Seina aren't here, the three boys could've already pulled out their swords and fought each other until two die and one sits on the position. I think that's what our relatives want too. They want us to fight one another, so the five of us get scattered before they can take the position for themselves. And I don't want that to happen."
(Eight o'clock; Evening)
"Now that you've asked, I wanted to be a lot of people, but I've decided to be a doctor once. It was when Okaa-sama died." Kaen answered in his usual git. "In case you didn't know, Okaa-sama died because of colon cancer, stage four. Back when I heard them talking about it, I went on research on what it was, how is it formed, what caused it, what is its symptoms and how to cure it. I wanted to help. But it only helped me be ready for the inevitable. Then back then, I swore I'll never let one of my family die. Well, given our state, it became a knot."
"... If Suoh-nii-sama says I get rid of them, I will. I've never wanted the position. I just wanted Otou-sama to notice me sometimes."
(One-thirty; Midnight)
He nodded before eyeing the man again. "How important to you your relatives?"
The man stared at him.
"If I offer to step down and give you the position, will you get rid of your relatives?" He asked again, smiling a little.
"If one apple gets rotten, it has to be removed from the rest so the whole basket won't get spoiled." Suoh answered and sighed. "Our relatives aren't much of a thorn in the family. There are good ones, bad ones and neutral. Most of the neutral ones give us advice regarding the good ones and bad ones. The good ones mostly take care of us, not even asking about the family's political affair. The bad ones, however, are the ones we needed to check out for. They want us siblings to tear apart. Kanna has speculated as such."
Tsuna nodded in thought before he stood up. "Miwa-san, Harito-san, Ota-san."
The door opened and the three assembled as he gestured Suoh to come with him. He opened the partition where the old man should be. The old man is puffing his breath— the difficulty to breathe is obvious. The brunet gestured Suoh to the extra seat beside the old man before he sat on his usual spot.
His eyes inspected the man's physique. His intuition hummed sadly, and he sighed in reply too. Taking the old man's hand, he squeezed it weakly. Shoji-jii-san opened his eyes languidly. They were dazed for a second before they went for Tsuna and the old man's lips curved to a smile.
"How's the lungs?" He joked, earning a small laugh. "Wanna sit? Suoh-san is here to help you up with me."
A small nod.
Tsuna gestured Suoh to help him. They braced the man's back with one arm each and slowly heaved him up. Suoh reluctantly pulled away as his father leaned on the brunet. "Good? Do you want water?"
A weak nod, and the water magically appeared beside Tsuna, carried by Kaen. He helped the old man drink water. "Have you..." 'Decided?'
"Yes." He nodded then cleared his throat. "With the three Division Leaders and your children as witnesses; I, Sawada Tsunayoshi, am declaring my decision to step down from being the boss of Kurogane and appoint Kurogane Suoh as my successor and the new boss of Kurogane den." He turned to Suoh who is staring at them with wide eyes. "Suoh-san, come near."
The man moved and went in front of them.
"Division leaders, any objections?" He called out.
"None, Sir!" The three chorused.
"Watusei-san, Seina-san, Kanna-san, Kaen-san, any objections?" He turned to the four.
The four looked at one another before shaking their heads with Watusei verbally answering for the four of them. "None."
"Shoji-jii-san, your blessing." He asked.
The old man, who has been staring at Suoh for a long time now, reached out and placed a hand on his eldest son's head. He gave a proud smile. "May your reign prosper."
Tsuna eyed the others. "Kaen-san, take my place."
Kaen scrambled quickly to replace him as he slowly pulled away.
"He's... Not staying any longer." He whispered to them; the old man's eyes were serenely closed. "I advise you to tell everything you want to tell him."
All five gazed at the old man. Tsuna was about to leave when Watusei and Kanna held his hands and pulled him down. It was Kaen who spoke first. Saying all the things he had achieved so far. His voice broke when he tried to say gratitude, so Kanna took over. Kanna was cheerful. She told him everything and even joked. Despite the unshed tears, her voice didn't break. And to make a tradition, she didn't say her thanks and made Seina take over. The lady had her eyes closed as she spoke, voice soft. It showed how strong of a woman she is.
Watusei was trembling when he did his. Instead of achievements, he told the old man his insecurities and worries. He told him how he worries for the future of them five and the family and just everyone. His voice cracked, but still kept going. After he said his last word, Suoh took over. His voice was like Seina, soft and soothing. Something that the old man has become proud of since Suoh is a tough cookie to break and seeing him being soft in an occasion like this is one of the fitting qualities of a leader Shoji-jii-san wanted to see.
"What about you?" Seina asked to Tsuna after Suoh's last words. "Don't you want to say anything to him?"
He shook his head.
"There must be something." Kaen argued.
Well, he does have one... But he doesn't know.
"Do say so." Suoh urged as well, emotions in his eyes were unreadable.
Tsuna glanced at the three Division Leaders with pursed lips before he opened his mouth, meeting the gaze of the old man who opened his eyes. "I was thirteen when I learned how to hack. Back then, I didn't really think of searching your name. I had this mindset that since you left me, it means you don't want me. That since you didn't take me with you, it means I don't deserve love. But..." He gulped as he caressed his own wrist. "Perhaps I wanted something. Any reason to answer my questions. Why did Jii-san leave me in Tokyo? Why didn't he take me? Was I bad? Did I do something wrong? For seven years, I questioned my value. So, when I learned how to hack, the first things I looked for were Chiemi-san and you.
"I... I discovered your general biography, lots of articles featuring your name, your family, your organization. What kind of Yakuza are you, who are you associated with like Lady Shouyo, the Twelve Swords including Miwa-san, Ota-san, Hariko-san. Everything was there, except for me. So, I mulled over it. I thought over these information for so long until I reached a valid conclusion. You didn't take me in because you wanted to protect me. You wanted to protect me from the underworld, your enemies, your family, and your children. You wanted to protect me from all the criticism, discrimination, insults, and comparison.
"So, my mindset changed. I said to myself, you left me in Tokyo, so I'll wait for you to search for me. I remember what my biological mother taught me back then. If you get lost, stay in your place so when the one you're with retrace his steps, he'll find you on the same spot. And I believed that. So, I stayed in Tokyo. I stayed in the apartment you left me to live. I stayed near so in case you'll search for me; you won't struggle to find me.
"Lady Shouyo asked me a lot. Why didn't you visit Shoji? Why don't you visit Shoji? He's getting old. He's not getting younger. I know. I want to say I know. Because when we met, you were already old. Not as frail, but still old. But have they considered the consequences? That if I did visit you— If I did reach out, what will happen to that almost nine years of keeping me safe? I'll paint a target mark on my whole body, leaving you vulnerable as well. Showing up completely unannounced will cause trouble to the whole house, what more among your children?
"But I am grateful that you did search for me. Gave me an ally, three of your swords, a roof over my head, jobs that pay me enough to live my life happily. I'm happy that you asked for me to come here because I've been wanting to see you. I'm happy I'm able to see you, listen to you, talk to you and serve you." He eyed the five who nodded at him. Tsuna looked down to his hands before he reached out for the old man's right hand with his own right hand and grasped it, like how the two of them did when they first met. "Shoji-jii-san, you have done a lot. You served your life with purpose. You have taught your people a lot of things. And most of all, you have passed down your knowledge to the younger generation. I am sorry for all the hardships that you have gone through, but I am not sorry for how it made you stronger and be more you. Above all, I want to express our gratitude to you. For the things you did for us. For me."
Tsuna tightened his hold as he holds back the tears that are trying to descend. The other five, however, have teared up already, sniffing and trembling. And for the first time in nine years, Sawada Tsunayoshi gave his best smile to the old man who is watching him fondly.
"Shoji-jii-san, thank you so much. For everything."
The old man nodded weakly, and slowly, he closed his eyes. They watched his expression become the most serene one they saw on the old man. In a second, his chest was rising and falling. Before they knew it, the rising and falling seized as he breathed his last breath. Tsuna raised the still warm hand and kissed the back as all people in the room wept silently.
Koro-sensei felt the urge to go. Karma has been restless when he dropped by to see the development of the nursery the old man Matsuka was taking care of, since the students were rebuilding it. He too feels unusually restless and had run through his mind what could've made him so. But when Karma texted him as Xanxus did to check on Tsuna since he has the maximum speed to go there, everything clicked.
Landing in the garden of 'Arcadia'— as Tsuna called it when he visited once— he was greeted with the brunet sitting and leaning by the doorjamb of the partition, eyes on the flowers, but his mind is obviously away. What gave Koro-sensei a hint of what happened is the black suit the child is wearing. He even has white rose and white lily in hands, flowers for farewell. And Koro-sensei didn't want to disturb, but he still approached.
He knew something shifted the moment Tsuna started to trust him more and avoided any means to kills him or even mentioning of killing him. He doesn't know when or where, but he felt it. The bond.
In the underworld, or also known as the dark part of the world's reality where crimes are not blinked at, there are some kind of relations. In mafia specifically, there is the relationship featuring the elements of the sky. With the sky in the middle, there are storm, sun, rain, lightning, cloud and mist surrounding it. One for each element. Sometimes, a sky can harmonize with another sky or more elements, depending on their strengths. One formed bond is full of trust, loyalty, compassion, sympathy, unconditional love, respect and understanding. Xanxus, back when he first saw Tsuna in the school, told him that the brunet is born to lead for he is a 'sky'. Unbonded sky attracts elements. The stronger the sky, the stronger the elements. Weak ones will only break if bonded to a strong sky, and vice versa.
Koro-sensei doesn't know how the bonding works, but he knows how it feels as described to him. As his friend told him, it's by stages. Quarter means sense of ease. Partial means having a radar for each other when one is feeling emotions. Full means bonded. If the bond is quarter and was discontinued, it won't hurt. At partial, it feels like confusion. In full, it is like someone they deem so important die and part of them was taken to grave. And right now, he, Karma and Xanxus are partially bonded to the brunet.
And Koro-sensei finds himself not minding that. More of, he's worried of what will happen once Tsuna finds out and for the future months since his doom's day is nearing.
Anyhow... The brunet perked up when he sat down beside him. He smiled at the teen who gave him a weak nod before looking away again. Koro-sensei decided not to say anything, like that one time the child opened up to him.
"I've wondered a lot..."
Beady inky eyes watched Tsuna from the corner of his eyes. The brunet looked so empty with how void of expression his face is.
"What if Chiemi-san didn't take me in? What if Shoji-jii-san wasn't there at that time to save me? Where will I be now if those didn't happen?" The brunet looked down to the flowers in his hand. "When I watched Shoji-jii-san last night, I thought of how death is a bittersweet ending. Like we suffer from all the pain, exhaustion, rejection of the idea and trying to be strong only to die like nothing happened. All we needed to do was to exhale the last air from our lungs and we slowly die. It makes me think too. It's like I regret not cutting my wrist deeper, but I also regret putting scars onto it. It's like a moral dilemma where I have to choose between kicking the bucket or still breathe air as much as I could.
"I figured that if I die on one of those days I cut myself, my body will probably be discovered when it starts to smell too bad. They'll probably call the police after seeing it in my apartment and investigate it for a little before declaring it as suicide after seeing my wrists. No one will mourn for me, or even say some good things about me other than 'Dame-Tsuna is a good punching bag'. Maybe, it is just... I feel so jealous of how people can be surrounded by the ones they love while I can't. How even if they're bad, they still have people looking after them while I don't have anyone back then."
'Maybe I just want to be found. ' Words that were left unspoken but understood in a way.
"You have Karma back then." He pointed out. "But he'll just think you transferred away if you suddenly disappear." He added, causing the brunet to chuckle.
"Yeah." The teen nodded.
Koro-sensei smiled softly before asking in a somber voice, "What happened?"
Tsuna told him what he was doing in his stay in Gunma. Since the Kurogane Yakuza is in the state of chaos because the boss won't name a successor, Kurogane Shoji fell ill due to stress. In his last wishes, he asked to see the child he left in Tokyo. That is where Tsuna comes in. And because the brunet already confessed how he has a hunch of what's happening, he offered himself to do the job. The job of appointing the next successor of the boss. So, he was named as the holder of the position temporarily.
The tests for the five children were simple. First, the brunet determined who among them won't accept him as the boss of the family. It means that person would like to sit on the position himself and unwilling to accept anyone not their blood. Complying and accepting are two different things, the teen has stated. The suspicion that Tsuna won't be able to lead the family nicely since he's still a 'babe' is a good qualification. The brunet wants them to solidify their worth. Those who will greet him as custom are the ones who accepted their fate. Out of five, three have greeted him. Suoh and Seina didn't greet him, the former even verbally said his disagreement with the decision.
The second test is their abilities to look after their comrades and improve their skills inside the group they are assigned to work with. Tsuna analyzed every detail told to him regarding the family. From there, he used them to formulate good ways for the five to learn things in the span of less than three weeks. All by using the existing skills, their specialties, passion over something, hobbies; all divisions' specialties, what kind of persons their leaders are, and how can the people there help the additional person they'll have momentarily.
Other than that in mind, Tsuna wanted to use them as some kind of information broker from the inside, to know the state of the divisions they are assigned to. It's a win-win situation. The brunet wants to establish a closer relationship between the children and the divisions, so disputes, complains and concerns will flow freely with respect in the future. He reasoned that as long as the internal system of the organization is strong and unshakeable, even the heaviest flood will not shake them.
The third test was a little tricky. Tsuna's decision depended on their answers to his questions. The thought of leaving the family, their dreams, and their willingness to do the right thing for the sake of the people they lead. He was impressed with their answers, and Tsuna knew they depended mostly on their elder brother, so the decision was obvious.
Koro-sensei is fascinated, marveled with the fact that his student is that good.
"If Suoh-san made a different answer, I would've made a decision right there still." His student said, now sitting properly and a little lively. "I don't want Shoji-jii-san to suffer more pained breaths. He deserves the rest. He waited too long per my request, and I thank him for that. This way too, he won't feel sad that he thought his children hated him."
"You asked him to wait?"
The child nodded. "I wanted him to see who I picked among his children and bless them personally. He did say he wanted to name his successor in his dying breath, and I fulfilled him that role. It was enough payment for what he had done for me."
Koro-sensei nodded. He wonders if the child cried as the others did. "How are they now?"
"Fine. They are greeting the relatives. I slipped away since it's not my business. I'm not entirely related with them. I did inform Ota-san, the convenient store manager. I'll probably go out when the procession starts and join them fully when the will is about to be read aloud." He huffed, amusing the teacher. "They become fond of me so suddenly last night. It wasn't me who asked the leaders to call for them when Shoji-jii-san was about to... Die."
"Well, you did some changes for their sakes, Tsuna-kun. So, it can't be helped." He chuckled at the irritated sigh. "When will you come back then?"
"Probably after the will is read. I want to do a disappearing act before any of the relatives try to track me down for being present."
"You have to let them know of your plan."
"Yeah." The brunet raised his hand that is gripping the stems of the flowers and used it as a brace to his chin while the elbow is on his knee. "Lest making them hunt me all over Japan just because I didn't inform them."
Koro-sensei laughed truly this time. He can imagine them doing that, Kurogane Yakuza turning Japan upside down just to find one brunet who wanted to go back to his old life.
"It's not funny." The brunet said indignantly.
"Don't worry. If it happens, I'll hide you."
Mischief shone in those brown eyes, turning them a little caramel. Something Koro-sensei noted as a sign that the brunet feels light. "Really?"
He nodded. "Inside my robes."
Chuckles erupted from the teen's mouth. It wasn't those soundless ones that he usually does. It was a beautiful sound. "I can imagine."
Koro-sensei snickered as well. "They'll never find you."
The laughter continued, words of agreement filtering between them. "They'll even have a hard time!"
Koro-sensei snickered as well. The laughter is contagious. It doesn't help that it's the freest he has seen Tsuna since he met him.
They talked a little more before he reminded the brunet to contact Karma and Xanxus since the two may or may not have a 'Tsuna-is-in-trouble' radar. The brunet grumbled how the two are worrywarts while taking out his flip phone and touchscreen to message both simultaneously. He didn't dare offer the brunet some reviewers. He needs to treat the class equally. Fault of one is fault of all. And even if he did offer, the brunet will decline. He's that noble and fair.
(Karma was beaming when he came back. Hundred percent eased up with the message he got from his friend.)
(He interpreted Xanxus' message of 'good' as 'thanks'.)
Tsuna loosened up his tie as he walked to the expense of the hallway with Ota and Miwa following him. He already sent Hariko to ready the car that will take him back to Tokyo with his school bag and uniform. Everyone in the compound, who knew he was once the boss, has been informed that he will be going out after the will was read. He already said goodbye to every division, the staffs and visited the gardens once more. Now, all he need is to be present for the will.
He brushed his hair to its place as Miwa took over to open the door for him. The three won't be back for probably a long time since they have to orient Suoh properly on what a boss needs to do. Tsuna already gave the man an outline of what he mostly needs to do, but that's just a piece of paper full of advice from a three-weeks sixteen years old boss. Either way, as long as Kurogane is in good hands, it's fine. Besides, they are five, not one, so they can divide the paper works among themselves.
The room went still after Miwa opened the door for him. He went in straight, not even glancing around as he always did even when the procession went by the other day. He plopped down between Suoh and Watusei. The second born suggested that he sits between them so they could cover him when he decides to go. It's a good strategy so he agreed.
(He didn't know that it is to establish that he was once a boss of the organization, and it is a sign of respect from the core members of the family.)
Suoh watched him make himself comfortable. When he gave a nod, the new boss signaled the main lawyer of the family who is also part of the Horse Division, Michimiya Kihachi. The man coughed on his fist and scanned the crowd that is present in the large meeting room.
"Let us start." Michimiya said solemnly.
