2 consecutive weeks of updates! I'm so proud of myself! :D
~8~
"We need to talk," this woman, whom Hide had just met, spoke as if she had known him most of his life, and for all he knew she probably did. The woman wore entirely black, her jacket was black, her pants were black, and her shoes were black. This part of her unnerved Hide a little.
"Y-Yeah?" he repeated nervously as the boy had some vague idea of what she was going to talk about.
"It's about your heritage, Sawada Hideyoshi," she began.
"Heritage?" he repeated and then his mouth fell open in horror, "Heritage! Is my bastard of a grandfather involved in this!"
"Something, yes," she nodded patiently, "Well, what I actually wish to do is simply offer you a once in a lifetime deal."
"Er, what is it?" he questioned suspiciously.
The woman then looked around cautiously and said, "Let's speak somewhere else."
"Huh?" Hide raised an eyebrow curiously and was about ask, "What do you mean?" when he noticed a rope ladder came out from the sky.
"Climb," the woman ordered him.
"Eh? To the sky?" the blonde asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"No, to the hovercraft," she said and took out a remote which she pressed a button on it, a large black machine mysteriously appeared in the sky with an indigo-tinted mist surrounding it, "Now climb."
"R-Right!" Hide yelped and quickly climbed up the ladder.
As he soon came close to the open door that was waiting for him, he felt a hand grab his shirt collar and pull him inside hovercraft. He both felt and heard the door suddenly shut behind him in a loud clang! which made him yelp.
"W-What about that lady?" he worriedly asked.
"I'm already up here," she said, Hide spun around and saw the same woman that was on the ground behind him now right before him.
"H-How did you get up here so quickly? I thought I was ahead of you and-and-!" Hide stammered.
"He hasn't taught you that yet?" she interrupted and then shrugged before he could give an answer, "Oh well, you probably aren't even ready for it yet anyways."
"For what?" he asked without thinking and then realized that he probably didn't even want to know the answer.
The woman smirked at him and said, "For the Flames."
The words stuck forever in Hide's head, and deep down in his mind he knew for a fact that hearing those words would forever change his life. He was silent the whole ride in the hovercraft, he could not see neither the woman nor anyone else in the machine very easily as it was dim and dark. At one point he swore he saw that one of the guys in the hovercraft with him had a large scar on the side of his forehead.
Immediately upon feeling the hovercraft stop, the doors opened and a large gust of wind swept inside, bright lights blinded him as he stumbled outside. He then realized that it was night, that they were on top of a very tall building, in a very large city, and there was definitely no escape.
"This way please, Vongola Twelfth," the woman he had met earlier guided him off of the rooftop and into some ritzy high-class lounging room where he was sat down on a red velvet chair that had golden, or at least gold-painted, arms and legs.
"This is much better," the woman smiled a very pretty smile at him and sat down in the chair opposite of him, in between them was a glass coffee table that was decorated with a bowl of assorted fruits, "Now, to get back to the discussion we were having earlier."
"R-Right," Hide nodded nervously.
"I have a deal for you," she continued.
"I remember you saying that," he nodded again.
"I'm glad you do," she smiled again and said, "My name is Delia, by the way, and those men you probably saw in the hovercraft were all members of the Varia."
Varia? Hide remembered the familiar word, Wasn't that the assassin group that's with the Vongola and the same one Chloe is apart of?
"They are also my underlings," Delia added.
"U-underlings!" Hide yelped, "M-Making you th-their-?"
"Boss? Correct," she nodded and smiled again, "I am Delia, head of the Varia."
"EH!"
"Well, the last boss, Xanxus, died recently, so I have been named the new head until they get things sorted out," she shrugged and added, "But while I'm head of the Varia, there is also another title I have that involves the Vongola."
"Y-You do?" Hide gulped.
"Yes," she said and stood up, then put her hand over her heart and said "My full name is Sawada Delia, candidate for the title of Vongola Twelfth. I am your cousin, Sawada Hideyoshi."
"EH!" he repeated, "I thought I was the last candidate left for the Vongola title!"
"That was originally true, but your father and the Eleventh had another brother named Kyoshii," Delia explained as she sat back down, "I am his daughter, and I was originally passed up for the candidacy because of my participation with the Varia. But our grandfather decided to be lenient on his rule and said that I could count as a candidate also."
"Th-Then that means that I'm not going to be a mafia boss anymore?" he asked hopefully.
"On the contrary," she shook her head and said, "We are both candidates now, and because of that we both must go through a ceremonious fight over the title, called the Ring Battle."
"Ring Battle?" Hide groaned and then added cheerfully, "Wait, but if I lose on purpose then you can just be Boss and I won't have to, right?"
"Ah, well that's a problem, see?" Delia let out a small laugh and said, "The Ring Battle is a battle in which each side picks six people that are close to them to act as 'Guardians' and these people fight against the other side, most of the time to the death."
"H-How can you say all this so easily…?" Hide groaned.
"That's because I have an assortment of deadly professional assassins that would rather die than be defeated by whomever you chose," she said light-heartedly, "And also, they will probably accidently kill anyone you chose."
"W-Why are you telling me all this!" he yelped.
"That's because I have a deal I wish to strike up with you, Hideyoshi," Delia began with a sly smile on her face, "You are not only related to the Tenth but also to one of the Tenth's Guardians, Yamamoto Takeshi, who is your mother's father. Because of this heritage, you have the rare ability to not only have access to the rare and prestigious Sky Flame but also a surprisingly pure Rain Flame."
"W-What are these 'Flame' things you're talking about?" Hide gulped nervously.
"Eh? You don't know this either?" she questioned and then shrugged, Delia raised a fist that had a ring on one of her fingers and said, "Watch." The ring suddenly burst into a shimmering orange flame that was all too familiar to Hide.
"The Dying Will Flame!" he yelped.
"So you do know it," she nodded, "Well, you probably don't know that there are different types of flames as well, this one is called the Sky Flame."
"I-I see."
Delia then shouted, "Aggie!"
The next thing Hide knew, he was frozen still with a peculiarly shaped knife at his neck and a blonde-haired stranger sneering at him.
"Stop that, Aggie!" Delia scolded the man while pulling him away from Hide, "Hideyoshi, this is Augusto."
Augusto had lots of blonde hair, there was so much of it that it completely covered his eyes. He also wore clothes that were similar to Delia's black leather clothes except that Augusto wore a clothed hood over his head. Augusto also had a creepy looking smile that made Hide shiver.
"Shishishi," the man snickered, "What's this? I thought you called me in here to kill the brat, Dog."
"Quit calling me 'dog' already, I'm you superior now!" she slapped him on the back of his head and said, "I called you in here to show Hideyoshi your Flame."
"Just that? How boring," the assassin complained but showed off a ring to Hide that soon burst into a harsh red fire.
"What Aggie has is called the Storm Flame," Delia explained before turning back to Augusto and said, "You can go away now."
"I was planning on it, shishi," he snickered and then disappeared.
"Idiot," she mumbled after he left and then said aloud, "That was an example of a different type of Flame other than the one you've probably seen already."
"R-right…" Hide nodded and shivered as Augusto's creeping smile haunted him.
"Ah, but anyways, Yamamoto Takeshi, your other grandfather, had an abnormally pure Rain Flame," she quickly explained, "Its only logic that the Flame would be passed down through your heritage, you understand?"
"I think so?" he said unsurely.
"And so, this brings me to my next point," she said calmly, "Sawada Hideyoshi, I propose that you become my Rain Guardian."
The statement made Hide severely confused.
"Guardian…" he began slowly, "As in the person that fights for you in the Ring Battle…?"
"I'm sorry, I think I said that incorrectly," she apologized and explained, "If you become my Rain Guardian, you will automatically be disqualified as a candidate for Vongola Twelfth. So there will be no Ring Battle, and no one gets hurt."
"So, if I do this I won't become a Boss anymore?" he questioned.
"Yes," she nodded and added, "Even though I am an assassin, I do not wish to fight meaningless battles. In a sense, that's my laziness."
"A-And there will be no fighting also?" he asked.
"Yes," she nodded again.
This is great! Hide thought in delight, I won't be Twelfth anymore! No one will get hurt anymore! Thank you god! Buddha! Anyone!
"You look happy," she smiled, "That's good."
"Yeah! I can't believe your taking such a horrible burden off of my shoulders!" he said with relief.
"Great, and as a plus since you're just a Guardian you won't have to do anything unnecessary like fly to Italy at awkward times! It's great, right?" she said cheerfully, "You're entire life will go back to the way it was! You'll have almost nothing to do with the mafia, and every tie you have with the Vongola or any sort of mafia other than being my Guardian will be cut away from your life. Severely."
"Yeah, yeah!" Hide nodded but paused and asked, "Wait, what was that last part?"
"You'll have almost nothing to do with the mafia!" Delia repeated happily.
"No, the part about any tie I have with the mafia will be cut," he said, "What does that mean?"
"Very observant, huh?" she continued while smiling, "Well, since you asked, excluding all blood-related family, anyone involved with the mafia or Vongola that has associated with you will be hunted down and killed by the Varia. This is the best way to make sure your life will be safe and secret from the rest of the Mafia Underworld. Even that man you just met, Augusto, will have to be killed."
"Eh? But isn't he your subordinate?"
"Yeah, but that's all he is. He's replaceable."
"But everyone has to die? Why?"
"To keep you and your family safe," she repeated patiently, "The Mafia Underworld is a dangerous place, and unless you want to protect them yourself, you'll have to just trust me, alright?"
But that's not fair! a voice echoed in his head.
"But that's not fair!" he repeated without really thinking, he quickly covered his mouth with both hands and thought, It's that voice again! That voice from when we were in that underground base!
Delia was silent for a moment before pulling out two envelopes from her jacket and laying them on the coffee table.
"My, my, you're a confusing kid, Hideyoshi. But since you're family, I'll give you a second chance. Take the left envelope if you want to take my deal and become my Rain Guardian thus reverting back to your regular lifestyle; but take the right envelope if you wish to go back to the way things are now and be prepared to go against me and the world's most powerful assassins."
Hide gulped and nervously looked from the letters back to Delia.
"Look, I'll even turn my back," she turned around to where she wasn't facing him and said, "See? After taking the envelope, just leave. Alright? I promise not to do anything to you."
The boy looked back down at the letters and got out of red velvet chair slowly. He continued to stare at the envelopes and clenched his sweaty palmed fists.
Delia waited for a while to hear the door from the room shut to a close and she waited five more seconds after that before turning around and examining the coffee table. She smiled at the results.
"I thought he would pick that one."
~8~
Hide wheezed air in and out of his lungs as he stood in the hotel elevator nervously and prepared to run straight out of it. He clenched the envelope close to his chest then held it out in front of him.
"Crap, what did I do this time!" he groaned and whacked himself with the envelope, "Stupid, stupid Hide!"
After almost causing himself a papercut on his forehead, Hide slumped down in the elevator miserably. He was quickly surprised and a little freaked out when the envelope opened itself up and a few pieces of paper unfolded themselves out of the envelope. Each paper had an orange flame atop of it that burned brightly. Hide noticed the words that looked like they were carefully handwritten onto the paper.
"W-Wow, is this an actual letter?" he found himself saying in amazement, "I can't believe people still write these by hand these days, but what's with the orange flame on it…?"
The letter with the orange flame atop it read:
Dear Hideyoshi-kun
If you are reading this then that means that you have passed the test, congratulations! I knew that Delia would be the best person to give you this test, she even came to me to ask what she could do to help further your progress to become Vongola Boss. Oh yes, do not worry about the Ring Battles that she was talking about, although they are real Delia is still not counted as a candidate because of her involvement with the Varia so you do not have to worry about them hunting you and your friends down to kill each of you! Haha!
Reborn has told me many things about you from the letters he's sent me and phone calls I receive from him. He often talks about the experiences that you went through that were quite similar to mine, chasing after girls, avoiding girls, going through his torturous tutoring, struggling to pass, and meeting new weird and bizarre people. I am very proud of you, and I am still very sorry for involving you in all this.
From, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Vongola X
Hide clenched the letter in his fists and crumpled it up until it was large paper wad, "That's so dumb!" he yelled in frustration, "Stupid old man! Saying that he's 'very sorry' he doesn't even know what I'm going through! Argh!"
~8~
"Shishi," Augusto snickered as he reentered the room Delia was in, she sat on the chair she was in earlier and was eating an apple, "How'd it go, Dog?"
"Quit calling me that," she grumbled before saying aloud, "It went perfectly, though I'll admit that for a second there I thought he would choose the left envelope instead of the one from the Tenth. But I was prepared since the left is the poison-laced one."
"Shishishi, what would you have done if he did choose the laced letter?" he asked while knowing the answer.
"Well, I do have an antidote," she began slowly, "But if I did accidently not get it to him in time, then it wouldn't have bothered me to become the next Vongola Boss."
This response made Augusto burst out in delightful laughter, "Shishishi! As expected of the Varia Boss! Shishishi, right Dog?"
"Quit calling me that," she frowned, and took another bite of her apple, "Reborn will be pleased that he still has a student, at least. Right, Uncle Yuuto?"
A man with spiky, blonde hair and caramel brown eyes stepped out from behind a pure white pillar, he wore a black, pin-striped, Italian suit and held a matching fedora with a silk black ribbon wrapped around the band.
The blond man smiled, "Perhaps."
~8~
Somehow, Hide managed to get back home, and even though he got home at almost midnight, his mother and friends were still waiting to give him the huge feast that was prepared earlier.
"Welcome back!" they all cheered.
"Y-you guys are still here?"
"Of course we're still here, Hide!" said Morita, "We're your friends after all!"
"Well, we're still here because we kinda sleep here," Adam shrugged as he stood next to his sister.
"Oh my, Reborn-chan told us that you would be coming home late, Hide-kun," his mom said cheerfully, "So I made sure that the food was still warm and fresh for you!"
"Reborn did?"
"Oi, Hide," the boy spun around and saw Reborn standing on the dining table, "What happened to those electric bracelets that you had on? Those were expensive you know."
"Is that all you have to say to me at this point!" Hide questioned angrily.
"Where did you put them?" the infant repeated in a deadly serious tone.
"I-In the park next to the sign!" he quickly said.
"Do you need me to go get it for you, Twelfth!" Hanabi quickly volunteered.
"No! I'll go get it for you, Boss!" Nico piped in.
"You're both not going to get it because it's almost midnight!" Hide pointed out.
"As expected of the Twelfth! He cares about the well-being of women and children!" the two then began overly glorifying the blonde, much to his embarrassment.
"I don't think that was even a proper sentence," he pointed out again.
"Time for presents!" Adam suddenly announced, he held a large red and green wrapped box over his head, "Ta-da!"
"W-What is that?" Hide asked cautiously as it was set in front of him.
"Open it! Open it!" Nico and Adam cheered in sync.
The reluctant Boss opened it hesitantly and found that there was nothing but packaging peanuts inside.
"Eh?" he wondered and tipped the box upside down, he looked up at Adam and Anna and asked, "Is this all just packaging peanuts!"
"Hey, its bubble-wrap too!" the male-Grandhart said defensively.
Something finally fell out of the box with a gentle thud on Hide's lap, the boy looked down and saw a small, metallic cube that had a keychain on it.
"A box?" Hide questioned as he studied the cube in his hand.
"Anna worked really hard on it, Boss!" Adam said proudly.
"I stayed up past my regular sleeping hours to make that, Boss," Anna said before yawning, "I also made some for everyone else."
Hanabi and Morita were also presented with small keychain-cubes that were different colors.
"We have one left over for Suzuki, but since he's not here we'll give it to him later," Adam said as he stuff Suzuki's keychain in his pocket and took out his own keychain.
"Why don't I get one?" Nico demanded, "I want one!"
"Annoying brats don't get one of these," said Anna as she pushed him away and said, "These are very special, and very hard to make. Don't lose them."
What kind of 'coming home' present is that! Hide wondered in shock as he held the keychain in his hand.
"Why is mine red and the Twelfth's is orange?" Hanabi asked as she noticed the colors.
"Because I made them that way," the blonde girl stated, "Deal with it."
"Thank her properly," Reborn ordered while smacking around his student.
"Th-thank you, Anna," the boy whimpered in pain.
"Let's eat everyone!" Hide's mother announced cheerfully, "Hide-kun, you can play with your present later."
"Alright mom," he said and quickly set the small cube on the coffee table in the living room and went into the kitchen.
The lights in the living room were soon turned off and the whole room was pitch black except for the crack of light from the kitchen and the small keychain that appeared to glow orange off of the kitchen's light.
~8~
So mysterious…:O There will be an update of Al Cielo later today that will explain who exactly Delia is, so please be patient! :)
And I lied! The next chapter will be another filler but there will be a good ending to it, and I promise it will be a good and funny chapter. And then after that chapter, the new arc will finally start! I'm still deciding when to end the first chapter of the arc, so you know it's gonna be good! :D