Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Word Count: 8058
Intermission 4
I should have noticed it long before they had told me.
But I was hopeful, Tsuna – my beautiful, bright baby boy – he wasn't so hard to find anymore, it was slow but I could see him easing himself out of his shell. His eyes were bright and he looked on in interest, it didn't take Natsume poking and prodding and almost forcing a reaction out of him anymore.
And my little girl, her shoulders didn't look as burdened – without any say so she had taken over watching her brother and protecting him and standing up for him when he couldn't do so for himself.
I noticed it in the friends that came over and I was so happy, but now knowing what was becoming of them, to see them go down a road I never dared follow – even though it would have been so easy – I feared for them.
The world in which Iemitsu was bringing them into, I am terrified of it taking and smothering the brightness of my children.
They who shine so bright, who have been the constant light and joy in my life, who have often helped me overcome the sudden longing in my heart for my family back home, I am scared of losing that to the darkness that lays in wait for them.
But there is a feeling, I see it in Tsuna's smile and Natsume's reassurances, they will overcome it.
I just know it.
I hope they are able to shine through the darkness, instead of letting it take over them.
Part 14: Coming to Terms
The days after the revelation from her children, Nana didn't see much of her usual guests. That was until Lambo (who was probably pushed in by Reborn of all people) came up to her. The afro haired child had been a sweetling – not the withdrawn child who was waiting on the worst news – when she had promised him a home after she had placed a call to Iemitsu (and she wasn't at all surprised now to understand why everything had gone through so quickly with the boy's family).
"Auntie?" he had taken to calling her and some part of her would have usually been happy, but she couldn't bring herself to feel it, at least not right now.
"Lambo-kun."
"Is you mad?"
"It's are, Lambo-kun," she corrected, crouching down to the boy's level and ruffling his hair. Her smile wasn't her usual one, it was more meant to placate people (the ones she used to give to the sensei's when she was unimpressed with them) and it made the small child worry. He had come to know Sawada Nana as one who showed her happiness through her smiles and recently, she had been dull, almost broken.
He kind of understood what had happened, Auntie hadn't known about the Mafia like he did; his ane and nii-san had told her the truth.
He thought that if telling her the truth made her sad, maybe they shouldn't have said anything at all.
"You be fine, Auntie?" he stepped closer to her, placing his hands on her knees in his way of trying to comfort her.
A soft chuckle escaped her, one that he would have missed or confused for her just breathing out if he hadn't been trained to notice the smallest things about people. Yeah maybe he wasn't the best hitman, but he was kind of good at reading people, even if it confused him sometimes.
She cupped his cheek, thumb rubbing against the mark on the apple of his cheek, "I will be Lambo-kun." Nana ushered him on to go about his usual business, his footsteps loud once he pulled away from her and headed upstairs to play with Tsuna-nii.
It was quiet and she was almost glad for it, but at the same time didn't appreciate it. She sat herself at the sofa, picking up her usual crossword book and after a while of trying to focus on the jumble of words before her, Nana wrote it off as a lost cause.
What was she to do?
"Sawada-san…." It was Reborn and Nana wondered if she would be able to have a calm conversation. She turned her head left and just a ways beside her sat Reborn with his usual drink in his hand.
"Reborn."
"They've told you," he brought up, not bothering to beat around the subject and the awkward tension that hung around the house. "I assume you have questions."
Nana wanted to scoff, but she instead sighed, "The only questions I have are for my husband, but I do wonder if my children will be safe."
"As long as I'm here."
Nana swallowed, crossing her right leg over her left knee, one arm draped over her stomach, book long forgotten at her side while her right hand came up and she barely kept from biting at her nail, "And when you're not?" Her voice was soft, would have been lost to the peeling laughter from upstairs if Reborn hadn't been who he was.
"They will be able to do it themselves."
She was fidgeting around, her nerves about the situation showing through as she moved around, legs uncrossing and foot thumping against the floor. She wiped her hands down the apron she kept tied at her waist and she blinked rapidly. How could she respond to that (she remembered Kailua's little group, how they dealt with those trying to encroach on their territory. She had gotten involved a few times, but they had been there for her, she knew she wasn't strong enough to help her children, but she hoped, she hoped it never came down to them being hurt.)
"Promise me," she sighed out, finally looking Reborn in the eye, "Promise me that as long as you are under this roof, you will do your best to protect them."
Reborn bowed his head and Nana felt a jolt of fear squirm through her, before it was replaced with relief. Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her, for a second she had thought Reborn's small shadowed resembled that of a grown man.
"As you say, Sawada-san."
She shook her head at his usual address of her, she stood up from her seat hands balled into fists at her side as she fully turned to face him, and "I've told you to call me Auntie, Reborn-kun."
There was a change and Reborn was smiling up at her, she had a feeling he wouldn't be calling her that just yet, but soon he would, she had a feeling he would.
"Tell Bianchi-chan to come around, how will she ever learn my recipes if she's not here?"
/ | \
Christmas and New Year's passed by with more cheer than ever – there was a house full of people, enjoying each other's company and pulling crazy stunts (like the silly little 'Family Battle' Reborn had sprung on them for New Year's).
Her home had been the loudest it had ever been and it helped seeing her children so happy and carrying on as if nothing was wrong (even though she knew otherwise). Watching them smile and play around with the others, watching them mingle and speak with Dino and Reborn, it comforted Nana.
With the festivities dying down, Takeshi and Hayato were settling in Tsuna's room while he decided which of the leftover platters he should take up. Nana out of whim wrapped him up in her arms and placed a kiss against his temple.
"Eh Mama?"
She smiled at him, kissing him once more before pulling away, "I love you Tsunayoshi," she murmured to him, delighting in the way he blushed. She giggled, ruffling his hair, "No matter what happens, I'm here for you."
A high pitched laugh from upstairs broke the moment and Nana stifled a chuckle as she heard her daughter's laughter.
"Oh my, I wonder what brought that on."
Tsuna shrugged, finally deciding on a platter of left over sandwiches and taking up a bag of his sister's favorite chips, "I think we're having a competition."
Nana nodded, "Make sure your sister doesn't get carried away."
"I will smite you Hayato!"
"Ah, Imma go," and the brunet scattered upstairs when the laughter cut off. He honestly hadn't thought the girls would want to join in on the game and when he came upstairs he found Kyoko cheering for Natsume and Takeshi egging on Hayato, while Haru merely sat back and looked a little put out – judging by the driver going out of control the screen, Tsuna could kind of guess why.
"I brought food?" Tsuna said, sitting himself beside Haru and placing the stuff he had brought on the small table. "Y'know if anyone cares."
"Aw, Haru cares Tsuna-kun~" the girl said leaning into him and blinking cutely up at him while he leaned away and was happy when the girl didn't try to push it further (when did this become his life?). He could hear his sister humming a tune under her breath and when he looked on the screen and saw she had acquired a lightning bolt he could only shake his head.
"Are you really humming Bohemian Rhapsody?"
"Yeeeup."
"How did you even get that? You're in second place!" screeched Hayato as his character shrunk down and was passed up by both Natsume's and Haru's. His sister's response was shrugging her shoulders, while grumbling an 'idontknow'.
Buzzing his lips, Tsuna rifled through a box of new games that he had received (curtesy of Dino who wanted to literally drown his 'little brother' in gifts').
"Hey after this, why don't we play this?"
"Tsuna you want a hole in your wall don't you?" Natsume asked, brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to avoid the mud pits and the random cows that popped up on the track. She had flicked her gaze over and saw him holding up the Wii Sports game.
"It'll be something different though," Tsuna pouted, as much as he loved playing any Mario game (it was one of the first games he had gotten when his mother had gifted both him and his sister the Nintendo 64) it would be nice to do a different big group game.
"I'm not fixing the holes, just saying!" she crossed the finish line and held up both her hands next to her face, pulling out the peace signs and sticking her tongue at Hayato. "I told you I'd kick your ass!"
"Hah! Luck!" sniffed Hayato as he ended up in second after hitting Haru with one of his turtle shells, the quiet cry that came from the girl would have made Tsuna relate, but he had warned her that the others were relentless when it came to Mario Kart or Mario Party.
Natsume whistled what seemed to be a 'whatever' and gestured for Tsuna to change the console and game, helping herself to the bag of chips and a sandwich (sticking said chips in her sandwich).
"Hey this game has baseball on it too!"
Natsume turned to Kyoko, who had gotten some chips from her bag and shook her head, "How badly do you think this is going to get?"
The auburn haired girl put on a mock-thoughtful look on her face, before shrugging, "It'll be on par with Onii-san dismantling his sand bag when he gets carried away."
Natsume munched on her snack, thinking it over, "So not that bad right?"
In the end it took Reborn firing Leon off to get the kids settled (especially after Takeshi swung his remote during a golf game, where it slipped out of his hands and the Wii remote went flying out of his grip and through the window).
Reborn honestly didn't know how to feel – his original assignment since he had gotten here had been changed (he had been looking forward to terrorizing the children because hey that's funny and it was a bit of hazing he did to see how people reacted to him).
It helped that they had been more receptive of his appearance (unlike Dino who seemed to have been completely against it) and were willing to ask him questions and ask things of him (even if he really shouldn't give them any mind – he was the tutor here, he had a job to do – it was probably the fact they didn't actually treat him like the infant he looked like) that they often took the advice he had given them.
Perhaps he was getting soft, maybe he had spent too long under this curse and he was losing his touch. Maybe, just maybe it had something to do with the fact that the twins were of the few Sky's that didn't grate at his nerves and were willing to accept him as is instead of demanding things of him (they had very low expectations).
"There's a hole in the ceiling Reborn," Natsume said, head tilted back to squint at the small cylinder hole he had made.
"I can't even reach up there to cover it up," Tsuna whined mimicking his sister, the fact that his remote and his window may need to be replaced being pushed aside by the fact that there was a bullet hole in his ceiling.
"Wow that's a really impressive toy kid!"
Hayato sputtered, but didn't bother correcting Takeshi, really if the guy hadn't realized what exactly was happening (especially when Reborn had corralled them all into a friendly fire game that would have been lethal to just about anyone else), he deserved whatever brick wall he ran into. (1)
"You'll fix it tomorrow, Tsuna," Reborn informed the brunet who quickly looked down at him and gave him a deadpanned look.
"It's your mess."
"I've told you before as a Boss you must keep everyone under control," the hitman said, letting Leon shift back into a gun and crawl up his arm. "If I have to intervene my mess becomes yours to fix."
There was a 'gckk' sound that escaped Tsuna, his eye twitching and really Reborn would have loved to laugh, but he had an image to keep, so he kept a straight face and sat himself beside Haru, who seemed to be on his side.
"You can't expect Reborn-kun to clean up Tsuna-kun! He's just a kid!"
Natsume ignored the argument that soon sprung up between Tsuna and Haru, which quickly added in Hayato who was defending his 'Boss'.
"I'm going to get the remote," Natsume said, finding it within her to get off the bed.
"You have to take responsibility Tsuna-kun! Reborn's just a baby, what does he know? Aren't you supposed to be his big brother?"
"I'll be back, Kyoko can you –"she didn't need to finish her question. The auburn haired girl was already shooing her away, before she put her skills to the test. Kyoko's ability to destabilize a fight and calm down anyone was a total God send, especially during times when Hayato got riled up and Hana decided to egg him along.
Natsume thought that it had to do with all those years of putting up with Ryohei and his very loud and energetic personality and being able to calm him down.
Or it was a possibility that Kyoko probably had a Rain attribute.
Reborn hadn't gotten to telling them much of the Elements of the Sky, keeping them more focused on knowing and getting a feel for their flames. Kawahira on the other hand had told her she had to know them all to understand how she fit in.
Two different ways of learning, though she was leaning towards Kawahira's methods (even if he was brutal in his demonstrations and what he expected of her). She had thought rummaging through the Namimori Forests was bad with Reborn, but with Kawahira whenever she stepped into the circle he erected for them to 'spar' it was like facing down a true monster.
Getting to the bottom of the stairs and heading towards the door, Natsume made her way outside turning on the front light to at least give her a better chance of finding the white remote…against the white snow.
Great.
She chanced a glance upstairs, the argument seeming to have died down (go Kyoko!) No one was looking out the window and so she looked back over the white blanketed ground and focused, keeping her eyes fixed on a certain point and willing the Flames she possessed to spread out from her feet and search for anything within the vicinity.
It was almost like what bat's did to sense anything in the area, except she extended her senses through her flames. The light ping she received back led her towards the base of the tree that stood before Tsuna's room, nestled there in the snow was the remote.
Picking it up, she pocketed and headed inside.
/ | \
"I still can't believe they got Nezu for being a fraud."
"Good riddance," Hana murmured, grabbing one of the cookies that they had bought from the Café. "Really it wasn't like he was any good."
Kyoko hummed in agreement, "He wasn't very nice either." She still remembered that one time at the beginning of the year, when she had yet to get to know Tsuna that Nezu-sensei had called him out and belittled him in front of the class.
"'He was awful', just say it Kyoko, the man was an ass," Natsume stated, her hands wrapped tightly around her cup of hot mocha that she had ordered, enjoying the warmth that seeped through her fingers. She received a light slap against her shoulder from Kyoko and a shake of the head from Hana, "Why do you people do that?"
"You have a bad habit of cursing, it's not very ladylike."
Natsume stuck her tongue out at Kyoko, who giggled at her friend's response, "I've read that cursing is a sign of a very intellectual person, so screw you guys." Natsume had caught Kyoko's puppy eyed look and couldn't really bring herself to tell her to fuck off.
The three sat in silence after that, munching on the snacks they had all bought and sipping their hot drinks. It was the first time they had done this and Natsume thought it was nice, there was no silly boy antics going on, no Reborn to show up and throw a curveball.
Just girl time with someone other than her mother and Bianchi, who quite frankly scared Natsume when the woman got annoyed or decided to go off on whoever irked her (it was usually that new Doctor at the school, but hey Natsume didn't like him either).
"I'm kind of excited to start school, it'd be so nice to see everyone again after the break," Kyoko spoke up after a while.
"You're such a people person," Natsume grumbled, placing her elbow against the table and cupping her chin with her hand.
"You just don't like people," Hana pointed out, though she really had no right to say that.
"Reasons, m'dear Hana," the golden brown haired teen quipped back, plucking the last of the cheese danish's off the plate and nibbling at the corner of it to make it last, "Like you're any better."
"Tch," Hana pulled off a perfect little prissy sniff, nose sticking up in the air, arms crossing against her chest and everything, only for it to break down after a couple of seconds, a wry smile on her mouth. "Touché."
"Y'know," Natsume piped up, turning her head to catch one of the barista's at work, a sly smile curling her lips as she thought about how she would phrase this, "I'm curious to know why you two like this place."
"Their sweets are good," Kyoko informed, not bothering to hold back from getting another chocolate filled croissant, "They have so many varieties too."
"I'm here for the lattes."
"Oh~ nothing else?"
Both girls looked at each other, wondering what their friend was thinking. It wasn't until they caught her waggling her brows at them and gesturing to the two barista's behind the counter that they realized exactly what she was getting at. By the way Hana blushed to her ears and Kyoko tried to not choke on her bite of food, Natsume got them.
The teen leaned back in her chair, wanting to crow with laughter, but deciding that nobody in the vicinity needed to hear that. Instead she covered her face, smothering her laughter as Hana pouted at her and decided she was taking one of Natsume's treats, while Kyoko pointed out that Hana was really red in the face, while also sporting a light pink blush of her own.
It's so nice to have friends.
Intermission 5
It kind of irritated me sometimes, to remember a life in which nothing terrible happened. Where the only thing I had to worry about was my grades, how could I help my friends, and how can I go about life doing as I pleased without disappointing my mother?
It seemed in that life I was always doing something to please others – I did as my mother asked, my father had often commented that music would never get me anywhere in life, so I gave it up. I did so many things I didn't like and really thinking about it now, I realized I was never really happy.
As Natsume I felt so much freer, I had no fear or worries about my life and how it would play out. I always went with the flow, never really fighting it too hard, unless it demanded that I should.
I had a mother that loved and adored me, that would be willing to let me go when the time came and let me walk on my own. I had a brother who I knew I could fall back on; who I knew one day would be able to stand on his own – even if he probably didn't believe he could. And a father that tried to be there for his family, which was more than I could say about my previous one.
We were changing now, Tsuna was able to stand on his own, though he still wobbled around, Mama was watching, more worried often than not, but always greeting us with open arms.
As I watched the beginning months pass us by, as we visited the Island known as Mafia Land, I could only hope that whatever the Gods placed in our paths, that we will be fine.
Part 15: We Try Our Best
"When do you leave for your trip?"
The girl before him blinked up at him, the back of her hand covering her mouth as she yawned, "Monday I think?"
Kawahira nodded, gesturing for the girl to resume to what she had previously been doing. In the short few months that he had begun teaching her, he was willing to admit that she was a quick learner.
The meditations the arcobaleno had started her on had helped in relaxing her mind and her flames, letting her have a feel to that power that thrummed through her body. Now she was able to consciously call it forth without having to enter a meditative state - it was a quick change, one that few would notice now since she had learned to control it from showing in her eyes.
She was creative and liked making constructs of animals and copies of herself that he would then twist and pull until they broke into small wisps that lingered about his feet, trying to crawl up his legs only for them to be shrugged aside. He constantly tested her illusions, showing her ways how a simple gesture or touch can pull people under her influence.
It was almost scary how well she took to that.
"It's like I'm an Uchiha or something," he had heard her mumble once when after weeks of trying to pull it off, she finally accomplished the compulsion. He had wanted to question what that was exactly, but she had already referenced him to an old character named Dumbledore (which he found to be oddly fitting of him in some ways, once he picked up the books and read them) and he'd rather just not deal with that.
"Do we just hang this up to dry now?" she showed him the bundle she had wrapped and he nodded in answer to her question. "Why am I working all these herbs all of a sudden?"
Kawahira sat himself before her, watching as she laid out the ones she would be taking and which ones she would be leaving behind for his own use, "You can't always rely on your flames," he began, lacing his fingers together, his eyes glancing over the box of bottled herbs and various wild flora that his assistant had gathered for him. "I'd rather you have a skill that is outside of your flames, instead of being without it and finding out the hard way when you fail."
"But these smell and they're kind of obvious no?" Natsume asked, beginning to wrap up the bundles in paper so they wouldn't be crushed or undone in her bag.
Kawahira shrugged with one shoulder, "Most of what people use now a day is marketed and well known, you on the other hand will be creating your own and hoping it works as it should."
"I don't get it."
Kawahira sighed, leaning over and looking through his box and pulling out a specific bottle handing it over to her. She looked at the white flowers inside, thumbing grazing over the label taped over the front 'chokecherry'.
She looked back up at the white haired man who took the bottle back and set it back in its spot, "As you read, that was chokecherry and depending on which part of the plant you use, how much of it and what you mix it with it can spur along cyanide poisoning," he explained, finding the way her eyes widened amusing, "It can of course be used for medicinal purposes if made correctly. Seeing as we are in modern times it will usually depend on a person who is very familiar with plants and their properties to know what exactly is happening."
"This feels witchy," was her response and Kawahira found it odd that she sounded excited. Looking at the girl she had a pleasant smile, her eyes alit with some form of glee. "Do many people do things like this?"
Kawahira shook his head, he gave the girl a half smile, "Oh they try, but they don't get to the core point of it and most of the time its people who are inactive users, with your flames you will be able to manipulate and saturate whatever you use and exaggerate whatever effect it is you want."
Natsume leaned forward, elbow resting against the table and her hand cupping her chin, the glee in her eyes looking a bit crazy, "So I can make my own lotions if I wanted too (2)."
The older man blinked, nodding slowly, "I'm not sure why you would want to, but yes as long as you have whatever else you need for that."
"Cool."
Kawahira had a feeling that though this wouldn't be happening anytime soon, he should be wary of anything the girl were to send his way, "Moving on, is there anything else you would like to do before you leave for today?"
The girl seemed thoughtful for a second, the hand that wasn't supporting her head going through her hair and twirling it between her fingers.
"No, not really."
He nodded, tapping his fingers against the table before he stood up, "Before you leave I would like for you to do something for me." She finished putting her things away, arranging the materials on the table to how they were when she arrived before she followed suit.
Putting on her shoes, she went through the heavily beaded curtain, rounding the corner to be on the other side of the counter.
"Here," he handed her a clear crystal, which she held between her pointer finger and thumb. She made a face and he seemed to barely hold back from rolling his eyes, "Focus your flames in it and let them saturate the crystal."
Holding it in her palm, she closed her hand around the clear crystal, her fist lighting in light purple and gold hues.
"Now you have to want your flames to stay in the crystal, don't want them leaking out and taking on whatever mind they want." It had happened once when she had first done this, she hadn't been focused enough and when the flames leaked out there were cats of various colors and species everywhere.
Why they had taken on the form of cats, she had no clue, nor did she want to know what that said about her state of mind or what she wanted.
"That is enough," Kawahira tapped against her fingers, plucking the indigo tinted crystal out of her hands. "Off you go now."
She inclined her head towards him and turned around, though the look on her face let him easily know how she felt about his easy dismissal of her.
Brat.
When the door shut behind her, he turned around, carelessly waving his hand over his shoulder which lent to flipping the open sign to closed and the lights shutting off. His attention was on the crystal that held his student's flames and he was oddly curious about the feel of them.
/ | \
The three hour taxi ride to Shimzu Port was spent with one twin nodding off on their mother's shoulder, while the other stared out at the passing scenery for the first thirty minutes before falling asleep as well. Nana simply guided the eldest of her children, whose forehead was pressed up against the window and whose nose was wrinkling in annoyance, to lean against her.
She stroked her daughter's hair, which she noted was getting longer, reaching just a bit past her midback. Nana turned to eye Tsuna's hair, which was once more starting to resemble a lion's mane from how much it stuck up. She quietly clucked her tongue and wondered if perhaps there was a salon of sorts on the cruise ship that would help in maintaining her children's hair.
It was another thing she had stopped worrying about for them, leaving it up to them to do as they pleased. It was looking to be another situation similar to that of their messy rooms and she idly wondered what would happen if she started leaving dinner and her more mundane chores to them.
Her thoughts went on from there, fingers unknowingly twirling the light golden brown hair of her daughter, the color reminding her of her husband's grandmother, which made her think of her husband. An odd feeling settled within her and it made her think how exactly Iemitsu had gotten them these tickets.
A cruise wasn't something that happened on a mere whim, yet here was her husband, sending her and their two children off on one.
Perhaps it was the Mafia money that had made it affordable, the same money that probably paid off their modest home, and the same money that she used to buy the necessities for her home, the same money that was deposited in the twin's accounts (where she would give them their allowance from.)
Nana felt a little sick at the thought, she knew the Mafia wasn't clean cut most of the time, she understood there was much more to it than she would ever want to know.
She just wanted to know why her husband had kept it from her.
Was she not trustworthy enough?
Did Iemitsu assume not telling them was going to keep them safe?
"Mam," Tsuna called to her, reaching for her hand that had stopped running through Natsume's hair and had begun to pick at her skirt. "Don't look so worried."
An odd laugh escaped Nana, letting her son lace his fingers with hers, "Your mama thinks too much, Tsunayoshi." Natsume twitched, a light snore escaping her. "I just need to relax."
Tsuna hummed, nodding in agreement with his mother, "I think we all do."
/ | \
After settling down Nana had gone off to the spa in hopes of trying to relax, while the twins settled into their room (by bouncing around on the beds and flinging pillows at each other.) The knock on the door they got a couple minutes later had them scrambling, Natsume just letting herself fall onto her back and pretending to be sleeping, while leaving Tsuna to get the door.
"Get the door Tsume," Tsuna said, trying to pull his sister off the bed, "Come on you're supposed to be the responsible one!"
"Wrong~~"
"Mama said you were in charge!"
"And I said open the door!"
The bickering quieted ant the knocking resumed. Tsuna made a sound at the back of his throat, swatting at his sister's calf (who tried to kick him and failed). Not really wanting to and not having much of a choice, Tsuna approached the door, already thinking of ways to apologize to whoever it was (because it was obvious they were here because of the noise).
Opening the door Tsuna was surprised to see no one there.
"Ah?" He stepped out a little bit, looking up and down the hallway to see if anybody was walking away, "Okay then."
Closing the door and turning around, Tsuna screeched.
"HIiiee! Reborn!"
The boy shook his head and ran past Reborn, quickly jumping into the bed his sister was now sitting up in and burying himself beneath the covers. Natsume didn't know how to react, especially after Reborn followed after her brother and jumped up on the bed.
"….We are on vacation, right?" She asked, sounding like if he did deny her that, she wouldn't be to upset about it.
"Of sorts."
Her brow wrinkled in confusion, mouth opening slightly about to question him what that meant only for her to be spoken over by Tsuna, "Natsume make it go away, my hopes and dreams have been crushed." The teen girl only shook her head, hands coming up in surrender.
"He is your tutor and you must watch over him," Natsume said one of her hands coming up and covering her face. "You are on the verge of becoming a man and – agk, you little shit!"
Luckily the walls on this ship were thick and thus whatever noise or fighting went on in the rooms, very few people would actually be able to hear unless something big and drastic happened. Reborn smiled, watching the twins bicker, for now he would let them relax and have their fun, of course when they reached their destination, he would be running them through.
When he received two judgmental looks, Reborn blinked at them, wondering why they were looking at him like that.
"I sense a great evil," Natsume muttered to Tsuna, giving Reborn the stink eye.
"How can something so small, feel so evil?"
He was not letting off any vibes; he was too in control of himself, so why were they picking up on his intentions.
"Awe now he's confused, how cute~"
"I've had enough of you two," Reborn said, raising Leon and letting the chameleon shapeshift into a slipper, smacking the two teens on the top of the head with it. There were groans, Tsuna leaning his head against Natsume's shoulder, while said girl held her head.
"Rude, I can't believe I thought you were cute."
Reborn straightened up, smiling cutely up at her, "I am cute." Sometimes it paid off being a pint sized kid, because he was sure if he had been his adult self, Natsume would not be gaping at him and would have tried to strangle him (tried, but maybe he wouldn't have bothered getting on their level.)
"Tell Mama, that dinner's on me tonight," and he jumped off the bed with that, sauntering out the room as if he owned the place.
"I can't believe him sometimes," he heard Natsume mutter before he shut the door, cutting off whatever conversation followed.
"Ne, Tsume, how'd you do that thing?"
Natsume lifted her face from her hands, slightly frowning as she tried to figure out what Tsuna was getting at, "Oh, that? Uh," she wiggled her fingers, trying to find a way to properly show and explain what she had done. She tapped her pointer and middle finger against his wrist, focusing on his pulse and breathing in deeply. Using the same hand, she curved it up as if she was scooping something out of the air above Tsuna's wrist, and a small golden orb appeared, reflecting colors.
"It's….almost like a mood ring?" She tried explaining, closing her eyes as she concentrated on holding it up, "I have my flames, cause you know they're mist, I have them try to reflect what a person's feeling so I can have an idea of how they are….though Reborn's wasn't as focused, so I was just guessing at it," she opened up her eyes, smiling at him, "Thanks for going along with that, it was great."
"It's rare the moment we can tease Reborn and get away without being subjected to 'training'."
It was quiet between the two, Tsuna resting his head against her shoulder, watching as she let the 'Illusion of the Mood' as he was going to call it fall.
"You don't need that to pick up on people's intentions right?" he asked quietly, "Did you ever –"
"It's not that hard to tell what people feel sometimes, Tsuna," Natsume responded, voice low, hand curling around her brother's wrist, "Some people, like Reborn, are just better at hiding it."
"...Oh, okay."
Natsume turned her full attention to her brother, "Spit it out."
Tsuna pulled away from her, shaking his head frantically side to side, "Not now, maybe later, let's….let's just have fun for now?"
She squinted her eyes at him, not impressed with him avoiding whatever had crossed his mind.
"Kay."
Part 16: Children Are Not Always Cute
"Would you like to join him?" Reborn asked, popping up beside Natsume who had had the option to sit out on Colonello's obstacle course.
She bit her lip, shaking her head, "I think I'm fine right here," she said, trailing off as she tried to see what Colonello was getting at with his training. "Was this the whole point of coming here?"
The small blond was just hounding her brother through the course and on his whim would become an obstacle himself when he would throw himself down in front of Tsuna and try to fight him. She really wanted to know how the blond was able to wield that rifle so easily when it was twice as tall as him and was used in such close quarters.
"Colonello has his ways, he's second best compared to me."
It seemed like the small trainer had heard them, because after he had kicked Tsuna aside he aimed in their direction, shooting off a bright blue light that didn't look at all friendly. Reborn didn't bother making a move, already knowing how to brush off one of Colonello's bullets by using his own Sun flames to protect himself.
Natsume on other hand wouldn't be able too, yet before he could do anything, the air in front of him shimmered. Colonello's bullet looked to break through it, only for it to bounce off of whatever surface Natsume had conjured and fire right back at the blond.
"Reality is what I want it to be," Natsume said, her voice pitched a touch lower than usual, her gaze half lidded as she watched Colonello dodge both the bullet and Tsuna's kick. Tsuna didn't expect for Colonello to throw himself at him, kicking out his other leg and forcing him to go down on his knees.
The brunet barely had time to hold up his arms to block out the rifle the blond swung at him and was thrown back; rolling across the dirt and back onto the path he had run off of. Tsuna's instincts to either fight or flight kicked in high gear and he turned back down on the path, racing and aiming to finish the course before the small kid (person, whatever he and Reborn were, it wasn't normal) decided to up the danger level.
"Oi! Where are you going, kora!"
A shot rang out behind him and though usually he would have been freaking out (after months with Reborn he had learned to not show his fear) he called forth the flames he could and focused on the feel of them.
His panic tapered off, he dodged right and began a zigzag pattern up the planks as he jumped over the wall that he usually would have struggled to get over.
Calm and smooth, breathing even, that was Tsuna now and he relished in the feel of it.
From a distance he could feel something (Natsume) flare up and he knew she was doing what she could to call attention off of him. Knowing that his sister was still watching out for him pushed him on and the finish was close.
"Come on Tsuna!" he heard Natsume cheer, another dull crack resounding the air and he could feel a bullet whiz above his head.
He could feel his power fading and he thought only a couple more seconds, he reached for the pole that would grant him safety and used it to stop his momentum when his hands grasped it. He turned slightly on the pole; the last bit of momentum swinging him around to meet Colonello's shaking head as he mouthed something off to Reborn.
Tsuna waved up one arm and got a return wave from Natsume.
Colonello looked put out, having assumed that the little brat would have given up and failed at the very beginning. The blond looked on at Reborn, who made his towards him, a sly smile on his fellow arcobaleno's face.
"You could have warned me, I would have gone harder on him."
The hitman only shrugged, looking past him and towards the brunet who had let himself fall to the floor and was laying on his back.
"I didn't actually think he would make it so far," or that he would have used his flame in that way.
"Comparing him to the Cavallone brat," Colonello shook his head, flicking the safety on his rifle before he put on his back. "That's a huge disservice."
"He's no Mafia brat," Reborn responded, his fedora shadowing his features, ignoring as Natsume swept by to help Tsuna up, "But he's a quick study when he wants to be."
It usually took some form of motivation, because as Tsuna had said it, he never really saw the need to protect himself from anything, or needed to bother. As Colonello had done earlier, shooting at his sister or putting her in a situation where she would not be able to help herself pushed Tsuna beyond the limits he thought he was capable of.
Family defending family, love and care and fear of losing a cherished one always won out in the end and it was what made Tsuna's flames grow stronger and have more of presence.
The groan that came from Tsuna as he was helped up brought his attention and Reborn walked up to the two, jumping up onto Tsuna's shoulder and put his hand against the boy's cheek. There was a soft yellow glow and whatever scratches Tsuna had gotten healed over.
"Reborn used heal," Natsume mused aloud, a snicker escaping her, "Tsuna is ready for round 2."
"No," her brother hissed out, letting his head fall back as he shook his head, "No, no, I hurt everywhere."
"Tch," Colonello huffed and would have said something sarcastic, if only the alarms hadn't started blaring, drowning out any and all sound. Once the warning sound ended, a feminine voice spoke alerting visitors to find safety and that it was a free for all on until the Carcassa Family was dealt with.
"No time like the present to experience an attempt to take over Mafia Land, kora!"
/ | \
The fight for the island didn't last long and Natsume was happy that neither she nor her brother were dragged into that petty fighting. Reborn and Colonello ended up stopping the 'leader', who called himself the Great Skull. Once he had been dealt with the small fleet of people that he had scattered to the winds, not at all wanting to be on the receiving end of either 'arcobaleno.'
When she first heard 'Arcobaleno' directed at Reborn, she had wanted to ask though something – probably her intuition – stopped her from doing so.
She had a feeling it wouldn't be a good thing and Reborn wouldn't be very nice about it, especially if it had something to do with why he was so small.
No, no instead of wondering about it, she continued on with her day, spending it at one of the many beaches that Mafia Land seemed to have, happily soaking in the sun and trying not to run over the stray person that got in her way once she started skimming along the shore.
"This is nice."
The sudden voice in her ear freaked her out and she ended up falling off her board, landing with a slight splash in the water.
"Ay, that's not cool," she waded further into the water reaching for her board, giving Reborn - who had jumped off her shoulder and looked entirely amused – a pouty frown. "If you wanted a ride, you could have asked instead of doing that."
"No fun in that," Reborn responded, turning to look down and see how far they had gone from their group. "You shouldn't stray so far from the group either, although we are in the nicer parts, this is still Mafia Land."
She hummed, stepping closer to him and kneeling down before him, "Let's head back then," she said, still trying to get over the scare he had given her. "Hop on," she gestured for him to settle on her shoulder and he did. Her left arm came up, making sure he wouldn't fall off (because even though she didn't believe he was a kid, he was still small) she began to get ready to go down the shore again.
She made sure no one would be in her way and that the wave she wanted was coming in and started running, letting the board drop down in front of her before she got on. She was careful with her balance now that she the added weight and glided all the way down to where her mother and brother were staying at.
Reborn hopped off before she actually stopped and she shook her head, sticking out her tongue in concentration and directing the board out towards the water and taking one of the small incoming waves before she let herself fall into the water.
It was something she liked about this beach that it was deep, even if you only took a couple steps into the water. She broke the surface quickly, reaching out for her drifting board and letting herself settle on it for a quick minute before she headed back out.
She adjusted her water top, unrolling the sleeves that had curled back and pulling down the bottom that had come up.
"Tsuna you wanna go?" she called to her brother, dipping her head back into the water so she could get her hair out of her face. Her brother responded with a 'No' as she trudged out of the water, once more sticking the board into the sand and settling herself on one of the towels.
Her mother handed her a pineapple that was filled with chicken and rice.
"Where'd you get this?"
"A vendor over there," her mother gestured over her shoulder to the many shops, "Not usually what I would get, but I know you'd eat it."
A grin was what Nana got from her daughter, who dug into her food soon after. The breeze that came by ruffled her short hair, taking in the peace that she now had compared to the chaos of the previous days, and Nana couldn't help but relish in it.
Author Notes:
(1) I just found it funny because Yamamoto + Genkishi = Wall and yeah, bad joke.
(2) Just Natsume thinking up of ways of hurting people without their notice, because y'know, who would suspect lotion of all things to being 'poisoned'? Idk I'm dumb and tired, I'll probably look over this again.
So I never realized how far Arizona was until we went there, I also thought I'd be able to put this up but apparently my aunt doesn't have wifi. soo. yeah. Friendship building, dorks being dorks, sibling + mom time, sibling + Reborn time. I should probably write down what I want to talk about, but any questions, critiques, concerns lemme know.
I tried proofreading, I'm not the best, but yeah.
Again anything let me know in a review, thanks to all of you who have done so in the past, and to all you people who have favorited, alerted (and ghost read) this story, ya'll are awesome.
Until Next Time
Sorugao