DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN
"Hi. Nice to meet you, I'm Yamamoto Takeshi." A lot of questions ran through Hayato's mind the moment he opened his door. Why the fuck was Yamamoto Takeshi here? Was Haru here? Does she know her boyfriend is here? How did he know to come to this place? Why was he coming after midnight? Did he know who Hayato was?
Again, why was her boyfriend here?!
"You have the wrong room." He attempted to quickly close the door but Takeshi was faster. And stronger. The one hand on the door didn't even flex against Hayato's trying to shut him out.
"Gokudera Hayato, right?" He stopped pushing him out. Raising his head, he saw the blue-orange ring on his finger. The presence of only one dash. That didn't make sense. Haru told him that he wasn't Mafia related. Moving his attention, he wanted to make sure that it was still the same stupid baseball player that he saw on the advertisement that one time.
Instead he was greeted with a smile. He knew that smile. It was the same one Haru used on strangers. The perfect rise of the corners on their mouths and slight show of teeth. The smile that never reached their eyes.
"I have your attention now?"
He glared at his tone. "What do you want?"
"Can we talk inside? I know there's a lot to discuss." Hayato showed clear hesitancy to let the other in. He didn't like the way he spoke to him. He was tired too. There was nothing that was making sense with this visit. However, he couldn't turn him away. The whole thing was too intriguing for him to not hear him out. And to add on, the ring was a simple threat.
Hayato took a single step to the side. Takeshi didn't waste a second to head inside. Hayato didn't lock the door behind him just in case anything was to happen. He didn't see any weapons on him. That didn't comfort him after seeing his ring. The other's presence was too strong yet not at all. He could easily see the similarities between him and Haru.
"This is a nice place you got here. Haru pay for it?"
"You already know that answer." A quick scan over him told Hayato a lot about his character. Apart from the ring, Takeshi dressed nicely. It wasn't super formal but it was good quality. Both stylish and casual. It was a form of showing that he was someone of high status while not being too cocky about it. He still found him very much annoying though.
Takeshi chuckled a bit. "Yeah that was a stupid question. Sorry."
"Why are you here? I have nothing to do with you."
Their personalities clashed. Hayato wanted to sleep. Get the guest out as soon as possible. Takeshi wanted a lot of answers. Though he knew that it would take a bit of pulling to get everything he needed. The hostile Povero and friendly Ricco were unable to see equally. They both knew this.
"I don't think that's entirely true." He took a seat exactly where Haru did the first day they met. It didn't feel nice seeing that.
Still he took a seat in front of Takeshi. Uri jumped up next to her owner, hissing at their guest. That was not a good sign. He had to place a hand over her back to make sure she didn't attack him while they talked.
"I don't want to take up too much of your time."
"Too late for that. Just tell me what you want. I don't think whatever you came here for is even here." Already Takeshi had an idea of the kind of character Hayato was. He would easily work with this. Wasn't the first time that he met with someone that had clear hostilities towards him. Simple wording that hides the true meaning beneath it always works wonders. Something that Takeshi excelled in with a cute smile.
"Alright then. I want to get out of your way so I'll be quick. What's your relationship with Haru?" There were three steps to making someone spill out what he needed. Firstly, was to establish a form of trust between the two. Fake or real didn't matter. Being straightforward was to pretend that an underlying message was impossible.
"Relationship? I don't fucking know." Second, find out who exactly Hayato was and what he was capable of. If Haru hired him there had to be something important about him. He already knew that the other was crude. Now he can say that he was loyal too. That could be bad for Takeshi trying to figure out more. He would have to work around that.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means I don't know. She's weird. Ask her." While it was easy to string nobodies along, it was difficult making them talk when they were unaware of the situation themselves.
"If you don't know then why do you continue working with her?"
"That's for my own reasons that I don't have to tell you."
"Fair enough. However, I feel like I should tell you that I was only asking as a means of getting you to talk yourself. It'll save you a lot of trouble if you're more honest."
"I am being honest. I don't know anything that you need. Everything that you can find out is probably all I know." Very true. He wasn't someone that lied on instinct and the fact that Takeshi was able to find him said a lot of what he knows.
"So you don't know why Haru hired you?"
"No. Is that all?" Everything about him was opposite to what Takeshi expected of Haru's employee. He had no class, was ill mannered and uncivilized. There was nothing about him that hinted that he was anything more than an easy scapegoat for her. Probably the only thing that worked in her favour about him was that he could probably fit in with other hostile Mafiosi.
It wasn't like Haru to go through this whole mess to secure him purely for the purpose of having someone to throw away. Hiring a scapegoat was not like her.
Takeshi scanned over Hayato's disheveled appearance. The tuxedo had the tie roughly loosened so that it was barely hanging off his neck. Ripped in the weirdest spots. A bunch of dirt, or dust, coating the fabric. A completely fine suit ruined by whatever he did earlier today. And he couldn't blame the tired, sunken face on his Povero background.
"Do you like working with her?" Third, find their motive. This can be done by seeing their thoughts towards the subject. People who do not have any ill intentions will not hide anything. That didn't work with Hayato's attitude so he changed his tactic to see his thoughts towards the one who hired him. In this case, he can figure out if he was someone that personally supported Haru's goal through his emotions towards her.
"She's not bad I guess. We don't really get along but there are times that we get each other." The nonchalant answer told him that it wasn't purely because of Haru that he was doing all of this. There was another motive. It wasn't a hard guess to think of what it was that made him continue.
Money. According to Basil's notes, Hayato's mother was in the hospital for an indeterminable amount of time. That ranked up quite a bill that required the children to support her. Haru was the perfect solution to that with her abundance of earnings.
"Is your mom doing okay?" The first real reaction that he got out of Hayato was now.
"Why are you asking?"
"I remember, what I assumed the first time you met, was a week before your mom fell ill. Was it a coincidence that the two events were so close together?" Uri growled at her owner's hostility rising.
"Are you implying that she had a play in what happened? That's not possible. My mom has had a weak body for a long time. The doctor told us that at the very beginning."
Takeshi's eyebrow raised in confusion. "Weak body?"
"Yes, she collapsed one night due to years' worth of exhaustion finally catching up to her. She's staying at the hospital to get some rest and help with any other body issues she's ignored over the years. The woman had nothing to do with it."
"Have you seen her since starting here?"
"Only once with the woman."
"I see." He was finally getting somewhere with this conversation. "Are you free tomorrow? How about I take you to visit her?"
Haru did technically give Hayato a day off tomorrow in order to recover from today. Doesn't mean that he wanted to be with Takeshi. The sudden change in objectives from questioning him to being his friend was suspicious. "What are you planning?"
"I just want to confirm something. If you truly believe that Haru is innocent, then it shouldn't bring any problems. I won't tell your family anything either. You don't have anything to lose."
"What if I just don't want to spend time with you?" The guardian laughed.
"Yeesh, that's kinda harsh of you. Here I thought that we could be good friends." He didn't like Takeshi. He was more of Haru's goody two shoes act than mafioso. It was mocking how friendly he tried to keep things. They both knew they couldn't be friends. There was no reason to be nice besides that it was a terrible attempt to get more answers out of him.
"Fine. I doubt we'll find anything that I'll use you as a free trip to see my family. Now will you get out of my room?"
"Yep!" He saw himself out as quickly as he came in. Leaving no trace of him ever being here.
Uri hopped onto the table in front of her owner. She meowed once as if to tell him he may have made a mistake. He didn't need his cat to tell him that. He was messing with a Vongola guardian after all. This didn't look good.
Hayato felt even more like a criminal sneaking out of the hotel into Takeshi's car. He didn't think that Haru would have some form of surveillance but it didn't feel good to follow her boyfriend that she made very clear to avoid.
The main thing that bothered him was that she did technically lie about Takeshi's status in the Mafia. It did make sense in a way to avoid people learning that the famous baseball player was actually a part of the worst family out there. When he mentioned his mother's condition it did make him a bit confused. The other said it in a way that meant he knew more. He didn't like that.
Walking into the hospital, he thought that they would head straight to his mother's room for another questioning session. Instead, Takeshi took the lead towards the hospital director's office. Apparently they knew each other.
"Yamamoto! Extremely good to see you!" The, very loud, director greeted him.
"You too Senpai! Thanks for helping me out when you're so busy. This is the boy that I was telling you about."
"Oh! It is you. The octopus head playing piano boy! How are you doing?"
"Who are you calling octopus head, you turf head?!"
"What did you say?!" Takeshi stood in between the two of them before any patients saw them.
"How about we talk inside your office? You got the file I asked for, right?"
"Yeah I got it. This is for his mother, yes? You know I'm not allowed to reveal any patient information without consent from those related to her. So before we go in and tell you anything, I need to have written consent from him or his sister." He handed a clipboard over to Hayato.
He was reassured that, though the director seemed like an idiot, he took his job seriously. After a quick scan of the contract, he signed it. "Alright! Come in, come in."
The office was neatly covered in medical books and was very homely. The only thing that was a mess was the desk that had no empty space from the sprawled out sheets of paper. The director took his seat at the desk with his two guests sitting in separate chairs in front of him.
"Let me re-introduce myself. I'm this hospital's director, Sasagawa Ryohei. In addition to that, I am also a doctor myself. I am not in charge of your mom directly but Yamamoto tells me that you're concerned about her condition and wanted a bit more detail about it. Is there something you wanted to know in particular?"
"Y-yeah. I was just wondering how bad it is?"
"Yeah no worries. It's been around- umm near three months since she was transferred to this hospital. That's not too surprising given her condition and body weakness. Her immune system was the biggest concern as it really took the toll making her recovery rate a bit slower than the average person. But at the same time, she had recovered a lot. According to these notes, she's maintained cooperativeness to all treatments and has a positive mindset which is the key to recovery."
"How long do you think it'll take to be released then?"
"It's hard to say. At this rate, I would say a minimum of another half a year. We base this off of people of her similar living conditions but her case is somewhat unique. It is possible to release her earlier if she shows signs of significant improvement or if your sister or you can prove that you can manage her condition by yourselves." Ryohei was careful in his words to not discourage him. As a doctor, and a family person, it was important to be realistic but sympathetic towards those worrying.
"So- so if we weren't Povero and she had a healthy lifestyle, she would have been okay?" To Hayato, it was telling him what he already knew.
She was getting better but not fast. This would have to be her life for another half a year. Even then there was no tell of what would happen after that. It is possible to revert back to her usual overworked style and back to the hospital. Hayato took on the job only because he knew this possibility. He had to prevent it as much as he could.
"I can not say for sure but given that her health history is a major contributor and comparing her to what is considered a healthy woman her age, I'm afraid so. That is not to say that-"
"I know." Ryohei didn't take offense to being cut off. It was hard to hear a loved one's condition. Especially one so devastating as his mom's.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of any help."
"It's whatever. Thanks I guess." Hayato pushed his seat out to leave. There really was no use in following Takeshi here.
"I can ensure that your mother is in the best condition here. She's already received the best antidote possible," Hayato froze, "and now it's a matter-"
"What do you mean antidote?" Surely the director must have misspoken. Assumed a synonym for some other form of medicine.
"Antidote for your mother's condition. I have to admit, reading her file I was surprised that anyone would be cruel enough to poison such a lovely lady. She was lucky that medics were able to get to her so quickly."
Poison? No, his mother was put into the hospital for exhaustion. The doctors at the other hospital told him and his sister that it was due to her weak body. There was nothing that said that someone had caused this unintentionally. Or intentionally. He specified that someone did this. Not anything as simple as accidental food poisoning.
"Do you know who poisoned her?" Takeshi was the one to ask since Hayato was too busy trying to understand everything.
"I have no clue. You're going to ask Haru about that." The words were slowly losing meaning to Hayato.
"What does Haru have to do with this? Isn't she just paying the bills?"
"Well yeah, but she was the one to request her to come here. Honestly, I only read her file because Haru was the one that told me about the poison. It was an extreme dosage she got. If she didn't get the antidote the timing she did... even I wouldn't be able to do anything. I thought that Haru would be trying to find the culprit for the sake of her friend." Or she was the culprit. Hayato was her main goal.
She already made it known that she researched him beforehand. That included his family. The day that they met she was already convinced that he would come join her. If there was an incentive, which there was, she could ensure his position. He never knew about the poison so he couldn't have told her about it. If she did know from being their benefactor, then there had to be a reason why she didn't tell him. The director already said that he wouldn't give information without consent. Which he didn't.
No it couldn't have been Haru. He may not know everything about her but she would never. Would she? There had to be a limit. She never harmed him while they were together. She gave him a lot. She could have potentially taken a lot as well. Good treatment out of guilt towards what she did behind her back. Or as a distraction to make not realize her true nature.
'I don't care how many people get in my way. I'm going to kill him.'
That time. When Haru told him that she was willing to do anything to get rid of the traitor. She was already breaking some rules by hiring him. She fought with those Varia members. She lied to her guardians. What made Hayato so different? There was nothing that was stopping her from betraying him. His family was the easiest way to do so.
No matter how close they got during their time together, if she did poison his mom she would have done that before they started working. How close did they even get? She flipped switches so easily. There was nothing special about him that could actually protect himself from her. She had access to all his information, knew his ins and outs, a carrot hanging about his head at all times. She had her goal set. Hayato was merely a stepping stone in her path. He was an idiot for thinking that she would treat him better for no good reason.
"I'm leaving." He needed to talk to her now.
"H-Hey Gokud- I'm sorry about him, Sasagawa-senpai. Gokudera!" Ryohei didn't get a chance to say anything as the two rushed out of his office.
Haru poisoned his mom. If she was close enough to do that, she could have killed her. His sister too. She essentially did with the poison. It was because of the, apparent, antidote that she lived. Now she was too weak to walk. By poisoning her, Hayato was forced to be in a situation where he needed money. Haru appeared in front of him right when he needed it. It all blended together perfectly. That was meant to be a coincidence?
Call him a naive child that doesn't know about the Mafia world, he hated that she resorted to such acts. After all that he's done, she was just laughing behind his back.
"Gokudera. Gokudera!" Takeshi was fast enough to catch up to him and grab his wrist.
"Let go of me!"
"Listen to me!"
"What? What can you possibly say right now? Is this some sick play that you mafiosi play with people who don't have a choice in life? This is all bullshit!" He ripped his hand out of the other's grip. But he still stopped to hear out what form of reasoning he could muster out to protect his girlfriend.
"I swear that I only knew that she was poisoned from documents. I wanted to show you the truth since it seemed like you misunderstood. I had no idea that Haru would know that. Now you see why I'm worried about the whole situation."
"So what? She wants to betray your Mafia gang. Big deal. I have no place with Decimo or any of you. Why did she have to drag my mom into this?!" While Hayato did care a bit about the bride, he couldn't care enough to reason why his family had to get involved.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. She's planning something. We're the only ones who see that and can stop her. Right now, your mom and sister are still technically under her custody. There was no true promise that she'll leave you alone after your mission. Don't you get that? If you cooperate with me, we can bring this mess to an end. I don't think I'm asking for a lot. Please just tell me what she's planning."
"I don't know! How many times do I have to fucking tell you that I don't know what she's doing?!"
"That can't be true. Think back. It may not be a direct answer. She didn't fully cover up this track with your mom and the poisoning. There had to be something strange in what she did and said that you didn't think much about. If you go step by step there has to be something there." Hayato was naturally smart. Since the start he kept a close eye on all movements she made. Did it make everything make sense? No. He had no guess of what she actually did. If he was smarter he would have found it all suspicious. He didn't.
Hearing his mother got poisoned brought a new type of devastation. Adding Haru's name only made it worse. It made him... He didn't fully understand how it made him feel. How was he supposed to react? Angry? Sure but that wasn't what was on his mind. He's felt anger many times. This time he didn't want to fight or argue with her. He wanted to fact check her. Confront her on what exactly was going on. He was scared to do that. This wasn't like them accidentally getting into a fight. There was no coming back from this. He was angry that he felt this way towards her.
"We met on my way to work when she offered me to work with the Vongola. I rejected that. Around a week later my mom collapsed so I had to take on the job. I was given clothes, food and a place to live while I got trained by a dirty womanizer. After that training we did a practice round that made us end up in the hospital for a check up. She didn't say a lot that time." He started to trail off at that memory. That should have been the first time he saw her true intentions. Instead he thought she actually cared about him.
Now it was all making sense. She didn't want to integrate herself anymore into their lives out of caution of being exposed. That was very Haru like. He wasn't sure if that was true. Everything he knew about her was gone.
"What about yesterday? Why were you in a suit that was badly destroyed?"
"We had to take another mission where the employer got taken in as a hostage that we had to save them." He wasn't fully aware that he was telling the truth without restraints now. It didn't matter if the Rain guardian knew the truth at this point.
"Another mission? Why?"
"I got caught by that knife bastard from the Storm branch. In order to not reveal who I was, we took on a mission."
"Knife bastard? Do you mean Belphegor?"
"Yeah that sounds familiar." Takeshi did know that Haru took on a mission from Belphegor about a month ago. He thought it was something she did on her own. That and he didn't want to try understanding the Varia. It was bad enough that Hibari and Shamal were unwilling to answer questions. Varia would only make that frustration grow.
On the other hand, Belphegor was called a genius for a reason. Showing interest in Hayato was a big note. There was no way that his character would let this unnamed boy and the Cloud second in command off without getting a bit involved. With a twisted mind and more resources than Takeshi, Belphegor had a good chance of finding everything they needed.
"Okay. I know that you're still distraught but I think that we need to take a visit to Varia." Hayato wasn't too keen on the idea either given what happened last time. Belphegor wasn't someone he ever wanted to see again. And quite frankly, he was ready to stop meeting up with Mafia people. But he couldn't stop the nagging in the back of his mind. There were too many questions left unanswered if he left now.
So if there was a chance that the knife bastard could answer it then fuck it. He'll suck up his tiredness to go to the Storm branch's base. Again.
Varia Headquarters was the same as always. An isolated mansion that had show of someone being inside. From the outside having no evidence of people. It was essentially an abandoned place that no one dared to question why the lights were on at times. To top it off, because the majority of the Varia was based in Italy the members barely returned to Ripartizone leaving this place to cause rumors. Monsters living in the haunted mansion. Only appearing once in a blue moon. Not entirely incorrect.
Takeshi approached the gated entrance to ring an anticlimactic doorbell with a scanner attached. He flashed his ring in front of it. Not a second later someone's voice came out. "Y-Yamamoto-san? How can we help you today?"
"I have business with your officers. Can you let me in so that I can discuss that in detail with them?" There were some muffles that came from the other end.
"And what business would that be? We don't like people coming late at night." A female voice replaced the worker just now. She spoke with more confidence than the other did.
"Yo Natsuki. Xanxus or the commanders around?"
"Yes but I wouldn't interrupt them if I were you. They're finalizing a bunch of security measures for the big day. Not having any outlet, the entire time being here, they may explode soon."
"Good to note. Then how about Belphegor?"
"Who knows? Bel is always going around. You have a better chance of finding a needle in a haystack than finding him in a Mafia driven city with fresh targets." Another dead end on Takeshi's part.
"Alright, I'll try back another day. Sorry for bothering you so late. I hope you have a goodnight Natsuki." He was going to leave when she spoke up.
"Are you sure you don't have any questions for me? Or that Gokudera-san wants to ask?" He glanced back at the man trying to hide in the shadows of the night.
"You know him?"
"We've met before, yes. And I can answer more than what Bel knows, without attacking you like my superiors. Come inside if you care to listen more." The connection was cut off with a buzz coming off the gate to signal it being unlocked.
Hayato, with a lot of hesitation, walked behind Takeshi towards the mansion. "You didn't tell me that you met Natsuki."
"You didn't give me the chance. You were so focused on the knife bastard. Does it matter now? She says that she knows more than him too. Shouldn't that work out in our favour?"
"If she cooperates, that is." Neither of them really wanted to work with the Varia members. If they had a choice, Takeshi would have taken one of the second in commands. Squalo having a personal relationship with him and Mammon being on the more rational side of things. Bel would have been a headache but at least Takeshi had hierarchy over him. Not that he always listened to that.
If it was true that she knew more, which it was, it didn't mean it was going to help them. The thing with Varia was that they were always going to be the Mafia. They did things their own way. They didn't care about the repercussions. They were selfish and greedy for what they considered to be fun.
The door closing behind them may have sealed the deal of if they'll walk out of here alive. Natsuki was completely relaxed. Takeshi didn't seem to show any signs of worry. Perhaps it was only Hayato that felt some nerves with the whole predicament.
"Thanks for having us."
She ignored Takeshi. "I haven't seen you in a while. Shouldn't a greeting be in play, Gokudera-san?"
Seeing how she spoke to Takeshi was similar to Haru but at least there was a sense of trust between the girls. They were on better terms that now he would choose to have her here instead of him. Everything they did today felt safer with her. He didn't trust Takeshi the same way he did her. That was changing with the more time but it was not like he was becoming more reliable. She was losing her reputation.
"Who am I?" She snorted at his rude attitude. Not that she wasn't expecting that.
"What is this; some sort of psychological assessment? You're Gokudera Hayato-kun. Nothing more."
"You know that's not what he means."
"Yes I do. Why don't you ask better questions then?" She took a seat on the stairs. Standing in the middle entrance corridor of the mansion didn't give them a lot of space to relax. Her sitting down was saying that she didn't really care about hospitality towards her guests. It was solely them staring each other down.
"Do the rest of the Varia know who he is?"
"Yes and no."
"What do you mean by that?"
"There were a few members that met him last time. Only Bel, Levi and Lussuria got to learn the truth. Squalo-sama, Mammon, Xanxus-sama and I already knew. So yes and no, a few others in Varia are aware of his presence, not who he is." The key to this conversation, as Hayato sees it, is to avoid one-worded questions. She was too careful with her words. She was fast to come up with it too.
"What is more known about me that the rest of the members don't know then?"
"That's an interesting question, Gokudera-san. What the officers learned is why Haru-chan hired you and who you are."
"Expand on that." She raised her eyebrow hearing his demand.
"You've gotten bold Gokudera-san. Something leads me to believe that something happened to you. Was it Yamamoto-san's influence? Regardless, they learned that you are Gokudera Hayato-kun. Same as I said before." He wasn't sure if this was on purpose until now, but she loved to mention his name. Last time that he was here, she questioned his name a lot as well. It was Haru that stopped her when she was doing that.
"Does my name have a background to it?"
"All names do. Do you remember what the significance of mine is, Yamamoto-san?" Now thinking about it, Basil only went about his research by looking at his name and that didn't have any results. Natsuki, herself, would have near zero results from her legal name as opposed to her birth name.
"Sometimes I forget that you have Vongola Blood."
She tsked her tongue a few times. "That's no good Yamamoto-san. If you want to solve this, you can't be so track minded. If you expand your horizon a bit, you'll realize that the answer you're looking for is right in this conversation. I know a lot more because of my blood. You can't ignore that part of anyone."
He briefly glanced backwards at the man behind him. "Are you implying that he has Vongola blood?"
She let out an exasperated sigh. "You sure you properly graduated high school? Vongola blood. Mafia blood. Normal blood. Spilt blood. Lots and lots on the floor. What you're looking for is red. Fucking. Blood. Got that? That's my only hint for you to find the traitor."
"Haru told you who the traitor is? Why didn't you tell Xanxus or the rest of us?" She approached Hayato. She took something out of her pocket. The men were shocked to see a clear and red ring in between her fingers. It was shown that one of the Varia second in commands, maybe the Storm guardian himself, had already given that ring permission.
"Is that-" Takeshi tired to grab at to have her pull it away.
"You don't have clearance to hire a null. How did you get that?"
"Doesn't matter how I got it. You can't touch me. Perks of Vongola Blood. This is a legitimate null ring with full clearance by a Varia position higher than me. You think I'm stupid enough to lie to my boss? He knows who the traitor is. The moment you find out who Gokudera-san is, it's not that hard of a guess. Now why don't we tell Decimo? Because this is his job. Not ours. If he chooses to continue that is."
She held up the ring closer to Hayato. She was exactly the same as when they met the other day. "Haru-chan can't really hire you because of everything revolving around you. I can though with this ring. If you choose, you can continue your work with her without Yamamoto-san, or anyone for that matter, being able to interfere."
"You're giving me a choice? But if I don't take this then won't the wedding get ruined?"
"Does that matter to you? Decimo is no more than a stranger to you. In the end, you're her worker. I can't force you to do this. Haru-chan was the same wasn't she? She must have given you a chance to think it through."
"I don't think she really did. She doesn't even tell me why she chose me."
"That's not of her choice." Natsuki placed the ring into a small box. Putting that box in his hand. "Wear the ring or don't. If it is your choice to stop then Varia and the rest of the Vongola will handle the traitor in a way we see fit."
She hopped backwards. "That's all I'm going to say to you gentlemen. Now I ask that you head home. I still have a lot of work to do today."
"One final question, Natsuki." She allowed the Rain guardian. "We found out today that Haru may have, in a way, blackmailed Gokudera to work for her. Does that change your opinion of her? Anything about the situation?"
She furrowed her eyebrows together. Turning to Hayato, she made it visibly noticeable that she was scanning him over. "You said you still don't know why she hired you?"
"Yeah?"
"Then no. Ultimately speaking, Haru-chan's goal does not require her to go as far as to blackmail someone. It wouldn't match up with anything for her to do so. Unless you have exact evidence that she has done so. If anything I believe that you are the ones that have misunderstood the situation. As long as you remain clueless of everything, there is really nothing that is compelling you to continue besides your own desires."
Hayato's head hurt. On the one hand, someone poisoned his mom. She knew that without telling him. On the other hand, it was like Natsuki said, they didn't have any real evidence that pointed to her. Both Takeshi and Natsuki were set on who Haru was. She wasn't someone that blackmailed people but will do anything that she can in order to get to her goal. She was someone that was genuinely nice. As long as they were someone that earned her kindness. There were too many contradicting things about her that he couldn't figure out what was real. Did they get along or was it an act?
"Trash." Above them a scarred man with a rough voice called out to them. Who he was referring to was unclear.
Natsuki respectfully bowed to him while Takeshi waved. From where they stood Hayato could see the orange and red ring. He knew that it was the Storm guardian. According to what Haru told him before, he was the one that was most suited to replace Decimo if need be. He was the exact image of who anyone would picture a Mafia don.
Xanxus was wrath personified. Whether it be the literal higher platform or the presence he gave off, it made everyone else in the room small. Would it be better if the frown left his face? No way. What could make a mad man smile that wouldn't shake a normal human shake in their boots? Problem was that no one in the room was normal. Each of them having blood on their hands. If everyone committed a crime, did that create a new norm?
Besides Takeshi, he's never met an actual guardian. The air the two of them gave off was completely opposite. The Storm guardian's eyes were stronger. He demanded attention. Respect. There was no doubt that the guns placed on the other's hips were the least frightening part of him. His mature face made him more to fear than Takeshi's lively boy charm. And the scars. Those scars that had a dark story behind it.
"Xanxus-sama, did you and Squalo-sama require something from me?"
"The doorbell interrupted my dinner. The kid got the ring?"
"Of course. Though, a bit earlier than expected. I assume that is not a problem."
"Kick them out then. I don't like having the Rain boy scout here. Nor a kid that refuses to use his head a little." He never took his eyes off of Hayato. The headache was growing with each second they stayed here.
"You heard the man Yamamoto-san. Get out."
"I'm not done."
"Yeah? Well we are. Leave before we use brute force. You're on Varia turf with someone that doesn't even fully trust you. I suggest that you don't push any more buttons." The two men could see that her weapon was in easy reach. Not to mention her boss having a clear advantage. They couldn't win no matter Takeshi's position.
"Fine. We'll leave. Just don't say that we didn't warn you about Haru if the wedding blows up in your face. Come on Gokudera."
"Funny that you say that when you are lurking behind Decimo's back right now. Is there a reason why you haven't gone straight to him? Mister right hand man?"
'Decimo's right hand man-' It was the same as the mission. A tingling feeling under Hayato's skin that made him want to throw up. At first he thought that only happened because of the shock of taking a life. That wasn't it. There was something more complex hidden away. Deep deep down there was something that everyone was keeping at bay.
The only way he snapped out of it this time was the fact that his body also warned him of danger. Takeshi was the one to do that. It never occurred to Hayato that he could have a switch like Haru. One second they were the kindest people anyone's ever met. The next they were your worst enemy.
Being in the Mafia must have been hard. Takeshi had a bunch of rules thrown at him. Don't say this, don't attack them, don't touch that. All of these unnecessary rules just got in the way of what really mattered. They were practically telling them that they were going to allow the traitor to do as they pleased while restricting Takeshi who wanted to stop them. If that was Hayato, he would have attacked the moment they basically threatened them.
He noticed that throughout the entire day, the other never once dropped the large bag on his back. He assumed that some weapon was inside it. That was further proven when his grip tightened on its strap. Maybe it was a way to control himself to not release whatever was inside it. The moment he lets go of that strap is when his hand becomes free to attack. Of course he wouldn't do that.
"I'm doing this for his sake."
"That's exactly what Haru-chan said too. What makes you think that you are any better than her? Your position? All of you love Decimo. None of you top each other in that. Stop kidding yourself into thinking such. If you can't trust each other then don't even bother to pretend to for the sake of Decimo. It's rude. Go back home, children." Natsuki stretched her arms out, letting out a yawn. She was in no way threatened by the two males. A wave of her hand backwards as she was walking away was her way of sending them off.
Hayato side eyed his companion to check if they would leave. Which they did with a very heavy glare being held back. Compared to Haru, he wasn't that good at acting. That or he was just that pissed.
The day resulted in more questions than answers. It was a joke thinking that he could be anything more than a puppet to a girl that was hardened by the world. This day only brought him stress that he easily understood the saying that ignorance was a bliss. For a smart guy that was praised for his ability to pick up on things fast, he felt stupid for not seeing it all earlier. He should have ignored her that day like he wanted. Then again, it was because he ignored her that his mom was in the hospital. What he should have done was not confuse her blackmailing as kindness.
"So what do you want to do now? I can pay for a new hotel room and your mom's medical bills if you don't feel comfortable working with Haru anymore. With everything you know it is possible to put you into witness protection. I won't be able to promise that given that the Cloud guardian mainly handles that. I can get my team to work with you and your family though. They're probably the safest away from you as well."
"Just drop me off at the hotel." He mumbled.
"Are you sure?"
"Uri is still there. She probably finished all her food by now." He didn't fully like the idea of going back to the hotel Haru paid for him. Truth be told, he wanted to run away from all this Mafia business.
There was too much that was going on. All he signed up for was one simple mission to pay some bills. Now he may be a part of some double-triple backstabbing plot to take down the top person in all of the underground world. He hasn't even met the guy yet and was asked to sacrifice himself for his wedding. Correction, according to the person who may or may not have poisoned his mother, his wife. He doesn't have a fucking clue as to what was the truth or not anymore. Let alone what he should actually do now.
At least Uri was something that couldn't betray him. He was the one that fed her. Well technically Haru was the one keeping food on the table. And she did like her more. Fuck. Whatever. He just wanted time alone to think.
Takeshi, himself, needed some alone time. After dropping Hayato off he went to sit in the bleachers of his old high school's baseball field. This place brought back a lot of memories. The life before all the complications kicked in. Yet in the end, he thinks one of things that made him follow Tsuna was the fact that he could continue his baseball career. It was Squalo, and everyone, that told him that he should have devoted his life to one.
Until this day, Tsuna made it clear that Takeshi had to place his own desire above his. That if he chose baseball there were going to be no hard feelings. The choice was never difficult for him to make. Many times he forgot their official positions from how causal he always kept the environment. To him, it didn't matter that he was Vongola Decimo. He would always be one of his first friends. The shy boy that ran away from everything except when his friends needed him. That was the person he was willing to sacrifice so much for. He would give up anything to make sure Tsuna was okay.
"Oh? Is that you, Takeshi?" He turned his head to a familiar face walking up the bleacher seats. He immediately smiled and stood up to greet him.
"Oh dude! What are you doing here? How are you?" They high fived each other.
"I'm great actually. My family just landed last night so I thought of going for a walk when I saw you here. You going down memory lane too?"
"Yeah. It's crazy. It only feels like we were kids yesterday. Now look at us." His friend sat down next to him.
"You can definitely say that. I've been keeping up with your tournaments. You ended on a good streak before the end of the league. What was it like being on that level?"
"It was a lot, yeah." His friend tilted his head a little to look at Takeshi a bit better.
"Hey, everything okay? You seem a bit low on energy." He ran a hand through his hair.
"To be honest, this wedding has brought on a few problems that we weren't expecting. We've been working really hard this past month to try fixing it but it's really hard." His friend nodded along.
"I can imagine. My family was surprised when the date was moved up by so much. Was there a reason for that? We can help out in any way we can. Just tell us." There was a part of Takeshi that wanted to unload everything to his old friend. Having friends in the Mafia that wasn't their own family was somewhat rare. Alliances were meant to be a formal relationship. More than half of Vongola connections were that way.
The friend in front of him was different though. They all went to the same high school, spent nights over at each other's houses, nearly failed the same classes. From teen hood to adulthood, they were close friends that could relate to each other in more ways than one. His entire family was invited to the wedding because of how well they all got along. But he was Tsuna's guardian now. He couldn't be doing things the same as a kid. If he learned anything today, no one was on his side.
"You don't have to worry about it. You guys are the guests so focus on having fun. As for the date, it was only moved because the couple are really excited for the ceremony. All other problems are the usual wedding nerves that you'll see in the shows."
"Alright..." He didn't fully believe in Takeshi but decided to not push it. "Hey, since we're here already, why don't we play a few rounds? One to one."
"I don't have a glove or ball." His friend pointed back towards the school's shed.
"We are not only alumnis but we are Mafiosos. We can open the shed without anyone knowing. What do you say?" It wasn't like both of them haven't done more heinous things. Borrowing two gloves and a ball wasn't going to be a problem in the long run. Especially considering the fact that both of them had donated a lot to the school for sports programs. It was fine if they played a little. They both needed a break.
"Let's do it. I won't hold back against you though. Still got that killer pitch?"
"You tell me." His friend smiled. The both of them forgot about the worries at the back of their minds to play a few rounds of catch. For the first time that day, Takeshi stepped away from his sword.
A/N: With this chapter and the next (even before) I have been hinting at who the traitor(s) is/are. It is possible that with enough looking in between the lines and knowing enough about KHR that you can figure it out. I ask that if you do figure it out to not put the specifics into the reviews until the actual reveal. I will also not be confirming nor denying any guesses. I hope that with the reveal some will be surprised or be able to confirm their suspicions so please keep it fun for other people. Thanks and see you next chapter!