School has managed to meddle in the affairs of all that's great and good in the world, that's my excuse.
~8~
"I'm home!" Hide announced as he walked in the door of his house with suitcases and rolling luggage with him. He wore a green and white blazer jacket, and jeans on. Immediately, he dropped all of his stuff by the stairs and went to the living room to laze on the living room couch, "God, I don't think my couch has ever felt this good in my life!"
"Oh my, Hide-kun!" his mother cried out happily upon seeing him on the couch; she immediately ran over to him and hugged him tightly, "Wah~! Hide-kun, you're finally back from Gramps' place! Kyaa! Oh my, did you grow taller?"
"Mom, I saw you last week at Takesushi," the son pointed out, "And I doubt I've grown taller."
"Oh my, that's so mean, it's felt like months since I saw you!" the mother pouted.
"Like I said, last week," he then asked, "Where's Adam and Anna?"
Mrs. Sawada then let go and said thoughtfully, "Oh my, they're around here somewhere, they said something about giving you a 'coming back home' present."
"Oh. Joy," he paled at the idea of what horrible present they would get him, "I can't wait to see what they'll get me…"
"Be grateful for what you get, idiot," Reborn smacked him upside the head.
"Ow!"
"Reborn-chan! Oh my, it feels like forever since I last saw you!" Hide's mom squealed and hugged Reborn tightly, "Kyaa! Oh my, did you grow taller too?"
"A hitman never grows taller."
"Kyaa~! So mysterious, oh my!" the mother squealed in adoration.
"That makes no sense…" her son grumbled in pain.
"Oh my, I'm going to make a big feast for everyone!" she said cheerfully before adding, "I know! I'll go to the store and buy some stuff, oh my!"
"Can I come with also, Maman?" asked Nico, after he had suddenly popped out of no where.
"Gah! Nico, I forgot you lived with us now!" Hide yelped in surprise.
"Oh my, sure you can come with me, Nico-kun!" his mom said cheerfully, "We'll go out soon, alright?"
"Right!" the younger boy said cheerfully.
"Wait, are you guys leaving right as I get home?" Hide asked worriedly.
"Oh my, that's right…" his mom looked a little downfallen before adding brightly, "But it can't be helped right? Oh my, this party is for Hide-kun after all!"
"Eh? But what if I'm hungry right now?"
"Oh my, there are some chips around here somewhere," she said thoughtfully and then repeated cheerfully, "But it can't helped!"
The moment I come home everyone decides to leave the house…great… Hide thought negatively.
"Bye Hide-kun!" he heard his mother call from the front door and listened for the door to close before going to the kitchen sadly.
~8~
"Hide, I've noticed that your behavior is extremely crude and unbearable to watch," Reborn stated after watching his student carefully.
"Oh gee, thanks," the boy muttered as he devoured the bag of chips his mom had left in a pantry, sadly, "Another thing to brighten my day
"If you are going to become a mafia boss, you need to learn proper Italian manners," Reborn continued.
"For the billionth time," Hide began, "I'm not going to be a mafia boss."
"Which brings me to my next point," the infant took out a remote with a large red button on it, to which he pressed.
Adam and Anna then came out of no where and got on each side of Hide. Both of them put on a thick, black, bracelet on each arm. Both bracelets were made of black metal and were large enough to cover a fourth of his arm
"W-What is this?" he, looking up at the twins and Reborn, questioned, "What did you guys do? And how did what I say bring you to this point!"
The sadistic tutor again pressed the large, red button somehow causing Hide to feel a sudden jolt of electricity run through his body.
"GAAAAAH!"
"Screaming spontaneously is considered to be rude in Italian," the infant stated and pressed the red button again.
"THAT'S NOT HELPING!"
"Students don't yell at their tutors," he declared and pressed the button once more.
"WHAT'S GOING ON!"
"You're going through my special Manners Course," Reborn explained before pressing the button again, "Every time I push this button, 1000 jolts of electricity will run through your body. And I will only push the button like so," he pressed the button again, "whenever you do something disrespectful such as yelling unnecessarily."
"That's ridiculous!" Hide protested and looked at Adam and Anna, "Is this supposed to be my 'Welcome Home' present?"
"Of course not," Adam shook his head, "Reborn just asked us for a favor."
"And isn't this method a little extreme?" the student questioned while rubbing his arms sorely, "It feels like my arms are cooking."
"Shut up," Reborn pressed the button again, causing the boy to scream in pain.
"W-What was that for!"
The hitman had to think for a few seconds before answering, "Questioning my authority."
"You just wanted to shock me, didn't you?" he asked before being shocked again.
~8~
"Yeah, this isn't working out for me," Hide muttered.
"Don't shorten your words lazily," Reborn pressed the button again.
"Fine! This is not working out for me!" the boy yelled.
"Better," the infant smirked, "What's not working out?"
"Well, first off, you are sitting on my head with a large red button ready to shock me at any moment while I'm walking in the streets," he pointed out.
"I will only shock you if you begin not acting like a proper Italian Boss," Reborn clarified and spun the remote around in his hands, "Now stand up straight."
"GAAH!" he yelped as the electricity shot through his body, he quickly fixed his posture and continued to walk towards his gramps' restaurant.
"Hide-kun?" he completely stopped as he heard the familiar, and really cute, voice, Hide slowly turned around and saw Megumi smiling and waving to him.
"I thought that was you, Hide-kun!" she said as she ran up to him.
"H-Hey, Megumi-san," he waved back to her nervously.
"All Italian gentlemen address girls by 'Signorina' or 'Signorita'," Reborn ordered and pressed the button again.
"H-Hello, Signorina Megumi," he winced and held back the urge to scream in pain.
"Now greet her properly," the tutor warned as his tiny finger hovered above the button.
"G-Good afternoon, Signorina Megumi!" he quickly said and winced as he expected horrible amounts of pain to happen.
"Um, hi?" she raised an eyebrow and smiled at him, "What's with the 'signorina' stuff? And you don't have to be so formal with me, Hide-kun."
"Yes, I do!" he nodded furiously.
"Don't move around so much," Reborn pressed the button again.
"Geh," Hide flinched, but luckily it wasn't too big of a movement to make Megumi notice.
"Reborn-Signore Reborn is trying to teach me manners," he quickly explained.
"You're doing behavioral lessons?" she immediately brightened at this and said reminiscently, "I remember doing those when I was little! My parents put me in classes for it too, and in the classes they had us do horrible things like carry books on our heads and learn where to put silverware on a table, things like that."
"It's something like that," he gulped as his eyes wandered upwards to where Reborn had calmly been sitting on his head.
"I remember it being a pain to go to those classes, but if you have Reborn-kun teaching you then that's pretty adorable," she smiled brightly and looked up at the infant atop Hide's head, "Reborn-kun, what kind of manners are you teaching Hide-kun?"
"Speaking, eating, walking; the basics," he shrugged before smirking evilly and asking, "Would you like to join us?"
Hide's mouth fell open at this request and he yelled, "What!"
This rewarded him with another painful shock.
"Sure, I'll do it," Megumi smiled.
"M-Megumi-I mean, Signorina Megumi, that may not be the best idea," Hide warned with a desperate look on his face.
"Nonsense, I think this is a great idea!" she said cheerfully and turned to Reborn to ask, "Reborn-kun, what kind of things can I help with?"
She's just ignoring me now, isn't she…? he thought helplessly.
"You can help stupid-Hide with his manners around girls," the infant suggested.
"That's perfect! I know how to act like a proper lady also!" she then turned around, coughed, and turned back to Hide, "It is a pleasure to see you on this fine day, Signore Hideyoshi."
So formal! he gawked at this display of manners, "G-Good day to you, Signorina Megumi."
"Is this not fine weather we are having today?" she asked politely.
"Yes, fine for the season," he answered solidly.
"You're doing better than the idiot here, Signorina Megumi," Reborn complimented her before taking out a different remote and pressed the red button on it. A door slid open from the street and a dining table that was already set and decorated with candles and food rose up out of seemingly no where.
"What the heck is up with this!" Hide's mouth fell open, he didn't care at this point if he was shocked painfully.
"This is to test your manners with a lady in a formal dining setting," Reborn explained and ordered, "Sit."
"R-Right," Hide nodded and quickly sat down in the chair, only to be shocked again, "What was that for!"
"You always pull the chair open for the lady and let her sit first, idiot," the infant scolded him.
The boy's face went red with embarrassment and he quickly pulled the chair out for Megumi, "S-Sorry Signorina Megumi!"
"Haha, no problem Signore Hideyoshi!" she giggled and sat down in the chair.
"Today's meal is spaghetti," Reborn announced as he pulled the metal lid off of a plate of spaghetti, "And since we are using Italian manners, it is always polite for the gentleman to eat any sauce or liquid that could potentially ruin the lady's dress."
"What kind of weird rule is that?" Hide questioned.
"An Italian one," the infant stated before hitting the red button again.
"I don't know much about Italian culture, but if that's the rule then that's the rule," Megumi shrugged.
Hide grudgingly slurped most of the spaghetti sauce (and there was a lot of it) from the plate, and once he was done he honestly felt like he was going to throw up.
"I think tomato sauce doesn't set well in my stomach…" he grumbled.
"Now that the gentleman is done protecting the lady from ruining her dress, you may both now eat," Reborn told them and then added, "But you have to use your hands."
"Okay, now that's obviously not true," Hide pointed out.
"It's how they do it in Italy," the sadistic infant stated before giving him another excruciating shock.
"W-Well…let's eat?" he suggested after recovering from the pain, he and Megumi slowly began to eat the spaghetti with their hands. They soon had to stop, however, when both Adam and Anna jumped out of no where in suits and sunglasses with toy guns in their hands.
"Freeze!" they both shouted.
"WHAT!" Hide's mouth fell wide open.
"Is this part of Italian culture also?" Megumi asked curiously.
"Hide," the boy realized that Reborn had appeared on top of his head again, "In this situation you are having a dinner with a lady, but then two hitmen from a rival mafia family come out and suddenly attack you."
"Is this some kind of scenario training now!" he screamed and grabbed Megumi, "Signorina Megumi, come this way please!"
Hide made a grand total distance of three meters before suddenly stopping and finding out that the street now had a gigantic hole in it, on the other side was Hanabi who was giving her beloved boss a thumbs up.
"Oh, and you were dining on the edge of a cliff," the infant added as an afterthought.
"Reborn-san told me you wanted a crocodile moat, Boss!" she shouted from across the large and very deep hole, "But I didn't have any crocodiles or that much water, so I just made a big hole!"
"You really didn't have to do that Gokudera-san!"
"Die, Vongola-scum!" Anna shouted as she pulled the trigger on her gun, a small pellet shot out of it and nearly hit Hide's foot. The ground next to Hide's foot then immediately began to melt like ice on a hot day.
"Is that acid!" he shrieked.
"Maybe," Reborn said innocently.
"Hm, this toy gun isn't doing anything for my range," Anna said while distractedly staring at her gun.
"This way, quickly!" Hide yelped as he grabbed Megumi once more and ran past the blond while she was distracted.
"Anna!" her brother called to her, thus snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Oh no, I let them get away," she said in a disinterested tone before turning back to the toy gun in her hands, "But I thought of a way for this thing to help my range."
"Anna, while you stand there and modify your gun, I'll actually be going and getting them," Adam sighed.
"Have fun," she ignored, and waved him off.
~8~
"Signore Reborn!" Hide shouted at his tutor, "Why are you getting Megumi-san caught up in all this crazy stuff!"
Reborn rewarded his student with yet another painful electric shock, "Don't you mean Signorina Megumi?"
"Fine! Signorina Megumi-san!" he yelled and was about to go off on a huge rant but stopped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder.
"It's alright, Signore Hideyoshi," Megumi said understandingly, "That's just how Italian culture is."
Does she seriously think that was an entirely normal thing to happen in Italy! Hide thought in horror.
"Oh no! The time!" her green eyes widened as she stared at the watch on her wrist, "Sorry Hide-kun, but I have to go home! Let's do this some other time!"
"A-Alright," he said good bye to her helplessly before turning his attention back on Reborn, "Don't ever do that again."
"Do what?" Reborn questioned innocently.
"Gee, I don't know how about that whole bit where Anna and Adam started randomly shooting at us!" he yelled in frustration at Reborn.
"Oh, that," the infant continued innocently, "A hitman must be prepared for any situation."
"I'm not gonna be a Boss!"
"Don't shorten your words lazily," Reborn stated and pressed the red button on the remote again.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
~8~
"Gramps, I'm back…" Hide muttered tiredly as he walked into Takesushi and sat down at the sushi bar.
"Yo, Hide!" his grandfather welcomed him cheerfully as he walked out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a wet towel, "Hey there, Reborn!"
"Ciaossu," Reborn nodded at Hide's gramps and jumped onto the bar, "I want codfish today."
"Haha, you're funny kid!" he laughed turning to his grandson and asking, "What's with those giant bracelets you have on, buddy? Are those the new style for kids to wear these days?"
"No, they're Reborn's bracelets," said Hide with a sour look on his face, "Reborn is trying to teach me manners."
"That's 'Signore' Reborn to you," the infant stated and immediately pressed the button on the remote again.
"Fine! Signore Reborn!" the boy yelped in pain.
"Haha, you guys get along so well!" Yamamoto laughed.
That's only what you think, gramps! Hide thought in horror.
"I'm surprised you came back so soon, buddy," his grandfather continued, "Did you really like my training that much?"
"Well, it's more like mom decided to throw me a huge feast and she pretty much left as soon as I got home," he shrugged, "I didn't want to be all alone at home, so I came over here."
I can't tell gramps that I'm actually afraid to be alone in the same room with Reborn, Hide silently added in the back of his mind, and that I'm probably being hunted down by Adam and Anna right now…
"But anyways," Hide continued after shaking the thoughts from his head, "I was wondering if you needed a little bit more help around the restaurant?"
"Hm," Yamamoto began thoughtfully, "Well, if you'd like you could work here for a while since Kouhei is with Shigure."
"Shigure?" the grandson questioned, "You mean his mom? Wasn't she in Russia?"
"Yeah, some things came up and she ended up here, so she's spending a few weeks with Kouhei," he explained, "Your mom will be pretty happy to see her also."
"Oh yeah, they were friends since elementary school, right?" Hide wondered before sighing, "But then again, my mom has a lot of weird friends."
"Don't talk bad behind people's backs," Reborn stated before pressing the button on the remote again.
"Geh!" he flinched.
"Haha, so what do you say, buddy?" Yamamoto leaned against the sushi bar and grinned at his grandson, "Do you wanna work here for a while?"
"Sure, why not?" he muttered while recovering from the pain, "I lived here for about a month anyways."
"Great! You can start tomorrow after school then!" he said cheerfully and laughed, "Haha, just like when you were little and you helped me out!"
"Yeah, except now I'll be doing something other than serving drinks, right?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course, you'll move up to being able to serve all of the food this time!" Yamamoto laughed cheerfully.
"Yay, now I won't spill just drinks on me," Hide sighed but shrugged it off since this meant that his grandfather was starting to see him as older, "Well at least here I can relax a bit."
Almost right after saying that, Adam and Anna ran in and pointed their guns against Hide's head.
"God, what is it now!" Hide groaned.
"Out now, or we'll shoot," Adam threatened.
"Haha, looks like you kids are having some great fun," Yamamoto laughed and waved good-bye to his grandson, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay buddy?"
"N-No! I think we're perfectly fine inside Takesushi!" Hide said pleadingly.
"A hitman is always compliant with his kidnapper's wishes," Reborn stated and pressed the red button again.
"GAAAAH! Why is kidnapping etiquette involved in a manners lesson!" Hide screamed before painfully following his kidnappers out of Takesushi.
"The situation this time is when you're idly sitting at a café alone and kidnappers come and attack you," Reborn explained patiently while following on wall against the streets of Namimori.
"I thought I was in my gramps' sushi restaurant…" his student pointed out.
"Don't argue," the tutor scolded him and pressed the button once more.
"Hey Hide!" the charred blonde turned around and saw Morita running after him.
"M-Morita-kun!" his mouth fell open in shock, he then noticed that Adam and Anna were both distracted by Morita as well.
"Freeze!" Adam threatened with a raised toy pistol.
"G-Get away Morita-kun!" Hide yelped.
"Eh? Why?" the boxer cluelessly asked while he came closer.
"Because-!" he began but stopped when Adam shot him.
Morita then got back up and licked the red liquid on his arm, "Ketchup?"
"Eh?" Hide's mouth fell open.
"Oh yeah," Adam said thoughtfully as if he had just remembered something, "I probably should have mentioned this sooner but Anna's gun is full of acid, while mine's just full of ketchup."
"Is this really an 'Oh yeah' moment…?" the blonde-Japanese muttered.
"I get it, you guys are playing that Mafia game again right?" Morita grinned and grabbed his arm, "Oh no! I'm shot!"
"W-What are you doing?" Hide dared to ask.
"Acting like I got shot of course!" the boxer laughed.
"Bang," Adam said and shot Morita in the chest.
"Oh no! I'm dead!" the boxer continued to idiotically laugh.
"I don't think people say they're dead when their dying, Morita-kun…" Hide pointed out but he then noticed that Morita was now ignoring him and was acting dead, Wait, what was the use of being here if you were just going to die! Hide gawked and noticed that both of the twins had their attention preoccupied with the dead Morita.
That's right! Now is my chance to escape! the reluctant Boss thought triumphantly.
~8~
Five minutes later, Hide was running down the street and was screaming his head off.
"AAAAAAAH! What the heck is with that crazy gun you have now, Anna!" he screamed.
"I modified it," she said while running after him.
"GAAAAH! What did you do! Modify it into a machine-gun!" Hide screamed.
"A bit," she said shyly while continuing to shoot.
"Why are you acting shy about it!" he screamed while running away, "GYAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
~8~
Luckily for him, he soon lost Anna along with the horrid bracelets that they managed to get on him in the first place. As Hide wandered back home and the sky was turning orange from the sunset, he contemplated the horrors that he faced on his first day home.
"My life is as miserable as always," he finally concluded while rubbing his cooked arms, "Ow, I knew they were gonna feel raw by the end of the day…"
As he reached the front gate of his house, Hide was surprised to see someone leaning against the gate. This person was female, she looked like the same age as Nagi, and she had shoulder-length brown hair.
"Uh, excuse me," Hide began as he approached her cautiously, "Can I help you?"
"Hm?" she turned towards him and, after staring silently at him for a few seconds asked, "Are you Sawada Hideyoshi?"
He gulped and nodded hesitantly, "Y-Yeah?"
"Good, we need to talk."
~8~
Gasp! Suspense! Twist! And so on and so forth.
Sorry for not updating in a while, I probably lost quite a few readers in my following but oh well, that happens. Uh, soooo I was originally going to finish the side-story to Skywards, called Al Cielo, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon so I'm starting the next major arc now instead of later, like I promised to some of the readers, and I'll just write the Al Cielo chapters as I go on.
Whether this last part counts as the introduction for the next arc is up to your imaginations, but I hope you last as long as I do on this whole struggle.
Thank you for reading! :)