Chapter Forty-One
Tsuna perked up and blinked his eyes when he felt his intuition suddenly getting excited. Well, Reborn has been in and out of his dorm room the past days, so it's not really a thing to be excited about, except when he has some food to share. So what's up today?
Two days ago, after he cried for missing Lambo, Reborn won't leave him alone. Well, they ate. The three of them in that room after Reborn did the cooking himself because the brunet won't let go of Shouta. Then when he went back to the dorm, Reborn was tapping on his veranda door. He offered the bed in the end and slept on the futon he kept for the purpose. Shouta didn't mind in some ways, as long as Reborn won't be seen by anyone sneaking in.
Speaking of sneaking, he suddenly remembered Mirio Togata. His quirk is quite impressive. He didn't really go for the field that time because he knows it will be unfair. Togata has no hold against Tsuna's intuition, But he has good combat. He admitted this to Shouta when asked. Shouto stared at him though, as if wondering. He didn't mind. Togata has a good sense of explaining things too. He pumped them for the internship and its benefits for them. But, really, the big three are quite welcoming. They have this unique friendship that reminds him a lot of his family.
Right now, he's thinking about the internship. He reviewed the list he had and had asked Shouta about it. At least somewhere near this time as his request. His Dad only chuckled at his condition and pointed at the nearest ones. He tried to persuade him to choose for him, but the man tapped his forehead instead and went to work. So Reborn offered a scouting for him. He never felt so grateful to the hitman.
He blinked again when his intuition started to cheer. He looked around to know what made it all excited. Just then, the door of his room opened and gathered all of their attentions. His mouth went agape when he registered a familiar white hair, purple eyes and facial features peering in.
"Byakuran?!" He gasped, garnering his classmates attention.
The albino, even if a counterpart, grinned his usual lilt with his eyes turning half moon. "Good to see you too, Tsu-chan."
Tsuna went out of his chair and ran for his friend. He tried to tackle him, but he was just too damn tall! "I missed you!"
The albino laughed as he got twirled around to go outside and the door closed. "I missed you too. They all miss you."
"Argh." He groaned, sniffing the familiar scent of Italy and sugar. "Reborn already made me cry last time. Don't start with me."
"I'm sorry." Byakuran apologized sincerely. "If only I was here sooner."
"It's fine." He assured as he stepped away and appraised his family. "Why are you here though? I was sure you're going to stick with Aria, since Yuni should be a year or two old now."
"I'm here to excuse you actually." Byakuran smiled. "Aria wants to meet you personally."
"I have classes- Never mind. Since when did we do things half cooked?" He sighed as he stared at the permission slip the other is holding. "I need to get my things first, get Dad then we're going."
"Where are we going?" He looked back to see his Dad walking them, hands on his pockets and eyeing them. "Tsuna?"
"Dad!" He cheered before gesturing to Byakuran who smiled widely in return. "This is Byakuran Gesso, the boss of Millefiore. Byakuran, this is my coolest, most laidback and understanding Dad, Shouta Aizawa, also known as Eraserhead."
"Nice to meet you, Eraserhead." Byakuran nodded. "I take it you know Tsu-chan's past?"
"Yes. You're the guy who likes marshmallow, right?" Shouta asked as he nears. He got a nod. He turned to Tsuna. "Where are we going again?"
"To Aria." He answered as he took the man's hand and squeezed it. "Do you wanna come? I don't want to force you, since I, myself, am not sure if they are the same persons, but I wanna at least introduce you to them."
They stared at each other before a hand was brought on his head, and he has to close an eye when the other ruffled his hair.
"Go get your stuffs, we'll wait here for you." Shouta ushered.
Tsuna can't help himself from feeling happy and loved. He quickly opened the door to see his classmates waiting for him. Heh. He needs to assure them first then.
"He's happier." Byakuran hummed as they watched Tsuna get his stuffs while being interrogated by his classmates. "Knowing his past must have been really difficult for you to deal with."
Shouta nodded. His eyes followed his son trying to assure Todoroki, Bakugou and Midoriya. "But it's fine. At least I know now why he kept on mumbling things in his sleep, or why he cries whenever he stares at his colors. Or why he's deep in thoughts sometimes. If knowing it makes his heart lighter, I'm glad I'm carrying half of the burden with him."
"No wonder Tsu-chan wants you to meet the whole family even if we aren't really his." The hero glanced at the mafia boss who grinned. "The sky can be really really possessive to his loved ones, even if he is known to be a saint."
'Saint?' Shouta thought, perplexed with the used term to describe Tsuna.
"Tsu-chan praises others like they are the saviours of the world, yet he downplays his own abilities. You know that, don't you?" He nodded. "Let's just say that if his guardians are monsters when it comes to loving and protecting him, he, on the other hand, is a demon in many aspects. Not because he has a demon tutor, but because he can do things when one of his family is mocked, insulted and assaulted. I bet you've seen him get angry."
Shouta thought of that time he was saved by Tsuna from the Noumu.
"That's a small part. When he's in complete rage, you'll know what I mean."
"Done!" The brunet beamed as he stepped out without his bag. "Katsuki said he'll put my things in my room, so I only took my gloves and phone."
"Let's then." Byakuran led them away. "The car is waiting."
The car ride was a little eventful. Tsuna made himself a good middleman, talking about mundane stuffs the two could relate. When they arrived, Shouta stared at the hotel building in front of them. Mafia families are known to be rich, so of course they can afford the luxury. When Byakuran nudged his son to walk, Shouta strode beside him.
When they arrived in front of the room, all of them can hear a baby crying inside. Byakuran opened the door for them and they were greeted with a woman, with shoulder length, midnight blue hair, holding a crying baby. They were ushered in. Tsuna sat beside him on the living room couch while Byakuran tried to help the woman calm the baby from crying more. He blinked when a blond man in suit came running in with a baby bottle of milk formula. He winced though when the child rejected it and didn't seize to cry.
He eyed Tsuna, who fidgeted before pursing his lips and went to get his hands disinfected with the alcohol on the center table. He blinked at the brunet when the latter stood up, and smiled widely at him with a wink. He blinked when he got attacked by sunshine smile. Before he knew it, his son is already walking for the baby.
"Uh..." He started off, gaining their attentions. He gestured to Yuni. "May I?"
"Oh. Sure, Tsunayoshi-kun." The woman agrees, a little relieved that her baby will stop crying soon.
Tsuna stepped in and gently took the child in his arms. Shouta watched his son make small 'hush hush' sound, trying to get the baby's attention. In a second, it worked. When sparkling midnight eyes met warm brown, he saw the brunet smile widely and greeted the child in a soft voice. He cooed as the child sniffled softly before opening his hand for the formula. The blond, who was holding it, looked really amazed that he surrendered the bottle to Tsuna.
Tsuna expertly and gently arranged the child in his arms, as if he has done it a lot of times, and made silly faces, before taking the bottle. Shouta smiled when Yuni giggled at his son's antics. The brunet showed the bottle and the baby made graby hands, so he gently put the nipple on her mouth and held the bottle. Shouta relaxed as a hum of a lullaby resounded in the room.
"Nice to meet you, Aizawa-san." The woman greeted, taking his attention from Tsuna, Byakuran and the baby's way. "Or should I call you Eraserhead?" The lady questioned.
Black eyes blinked before he answered as politely as he could. "Aizawa is fine."
"Sorry about this." The lady apologized, sitting on the single sitter. The blond bodyguard went to stand behind her chair. "Yuni-chan can be very unpredictable. Good thing Tsunayoshi-kun stepped in."
"I know the feeling." He can't help voicing out. "I used to fumble in the dark too, but Tsuna can be a good guide."
A fond smile graced her lips. "It is nice to know that Tsunayoshi-kun has a pillar of his own now. He's lucky to have you."
Shouta shook his head. "I'm the one who's lucky."
"Yehey! She finished!" They heard Byakuran cheered, walking beside Tsuna who is making silly faces to the giggling Yuni. "You're really good with children, Tsu-chan."
"It's the sky flames." The brunet waved off before going for the mother. "Here."
"Hold her for the meantime." She said, looking down to her daughter who won't take her eyes off Tsuna. "She wants to see you more."
Caramel eyes twinkled and Tsuna turned around to Shouta. "Dad! Look! A baby! You're so lucky I was a toddler back then!"
He deadpanned playfully. "You're still handful now, what's the difference?"
"You just wounded me." Tsuna gasped, sitting next to him and looked down to his new charge with a fake sad and hurt look. "Yuni-chan. Can you believe that?"
Yuni giggled.
"Now you're laughing at my situation." He huffed before grinning. "No worries. I still love Dad."
"Love you too, buddy." He whispered, earning a lovely smile from the brunet.
"So since Yuni-chan is okay now," Tsuna gave a smile to the three. "Are we waiting for Reborn? And the other Arcobalenos?"
"We're here already."
Shouta tensed up a little when people started to appear one by one from the living room entry, and sit on the chairs across them. He only relaxed when Tsuna put a hand on his knee and patted it, just like when the four upper echelon of Vongola came to see them. He remembered how dangerous Tsuna looked that time. Ready to pounce and lash out on one single move. As if Frederico and Massimo weren't there and only staring straight at Enrico.
'When the head is severed, the rest are dead.' Tsuna explained to him when he asked that one time.
He had never seen Tsuna at full power, probably because he had said that he doesn't have his full equipments. Sometimes, when they talk about his son's past, Tsuna always talks about how powerful the Arcobaleno, the Simons, the Millefiore, the Chiavallone boss, the Vindice, the Varia and his guardians. But never himself. He will never talk about how powerful he is, or how much techniques he had made so far. He will deny his limitless flames, or how can he destroy a country with his sheer fury. The only time he will is when there is a power play. He will threaten a person, not with mere words but with a vow of pain and strong retaliation.
A civilian.
A mafia boss.
A vigilante leader.
His family's pillar.
Those are his only roles. But why are these people gathering here just to meet him?
The hero eyed the newcomers. There's a man wearing Chinese garbs and has his black hair in braid, he is wearing a polite smile too and looked really harmless. A man and a woman looked like they're soldiers with how they dressed, the woman though has scars and bandages in her arms and legs since she's wearing shorts. There's a person wearing a cloak and hiding his face with a cloak. There's also a person with white lab gown, green hair and round specs. Then a person with piercings on both ears, make up on his face and wearing casual clothes. A civilian? He looks like one with how he fidget. Then there's the hitman who freeloads on Tsuna's room, and cooking for them or with them.
He wonders if all of their counterparts were Tsuna's family too.
"Chaos." Reborn greeted as he appeared, going straight to the two of them.
"Hi Reborn." His son chirped. He was guiding Yuni's hands to make 'come here' gestures. It looked a little silly since the baby is doing it willingly. "Laugh at your uncle's face, Yuni-chan. He looks funny, unlike my handsome Dad's face."
"May I remind you that I'm a sought out person." Reborn pointed out, boxing Tsuna in their middle.
"So is my Dad. He's just not allowed to marry anyone until I'm twenty-one." The brunet retaliated with a smirk of his own. "In my timeline, you're my favorite. But in here, Dad is my favorite."
Onyx turned to black ones. "May the best man wins."
"Sorry. I already won a decade ago." Shouta deflected causing Tsuna to laugh with Yuni. Some of the others snickered silently too.
"Burn, Reborn! Burn!" Tsuna cheered, softly guiding Yuni's hands to a clap.
"Oh. You're so on." Reborn smirked at the challenge, flicking the front brim of his hat up.
"As much as I love to see you banter more," Aria cut in smoothly with fond and amazed look on her face. "I think it's time for introductions."
Shouta noticed how Tsuna shifted and sat straighter. It's as if he's demanding attention and respect from the others who more likely to disregard him.
"Hello, I am Tsunayoshi Sawada." His son introduced himself with a polite smile before gesturing to him. "This is my Dad, Shouta Aizawa."
He gave a nod to the pairs of eyes staring and watching them.
"Nihao. I am Fon, the storm." A Chinese man bowed, hands inside the sleeves of his garb.
"Lal Mirch," The military woman introduced before slapping the sullen blond beside her. "This is my student, Colonnello."
Colonnello rubbed his head with a pout before giving off a cheerful, all teeth, smile and eyes sparkling with friendliness. "We're both the rain, Kora!"
"Viper." The hooded figure clipped. Shouta did not question why the person named himself to a snake.
"I am Verde." A scientist said.
'Verde is green, right?' He thought, eyes going for the last person. He is so lucky that his face is only expressive to Tsuna alone.
"Uh, hello. I'm Skull de Mort. I'm the cloud." The gothic guy nodded reluctantly.
"And I'm Aria Giglio Nero." The mother of Yuni, Aria, smiled. "We are the Arcobaleno."
"A pleasure." Tsuna smiled amicably. Always the polite one, his son.
"May I ask why are we here, Aria?" Lal Mirch questioned. She looks impatient.
"We are meeting the person who freed us from the curse." Aria replied, motioning to the both of them.
Wait. There are only three tri-ni-sette curses that Tsuna mentioned to him. The sin of Vongola, the insanity of Mare, and the pacifier curse of Arcobaleno. If they are the Arcobaleno, it means they were turned to babies. And since they are not babies anymore, the curse was broken? Definitely not by him, but by his son? Again?
Woah.
"You did that?" He asked his son who looked wide eyed and surprised as well. "By the look on your face, you don't know."
"We all did not know, Aizawa-san." Byakuran informed. He has been quiet and eating his pack of marshmallow at the other single sitter. "You see, Tsu-chan did it unconsciously. When his other self died and he replaced him, Tsu-chan resonated with the tri-ni-sette in his arrival to accept him, and accidentally able to free the Arcobaleno without needing any device. Like in his world."
"How is this possible?" Verde voiced with a frown. "The system won't allow that."
"Since when did tri-ni-sette make sense?" His son snorted.
Shouta snorted with the others. He said the same thing after he got briefed of what the tri-ni-sette's role in earth. Three sets of artifacts for three different sets of seven people. There are three sacrifices too. And it's dumb.
"Generally, let's say, if Tsu-chan didn't die in his original world, we won't be here." Byakuran hummed after chewing a marshmallow. "All of you are still babies. I'm in my house and plotting the fall of Vongola. Aria-chan is with Yuni-chan, and Eraserhead will be at school, teaching and grading his students."
"Even if my counterpart survived the attack that day, I don't think he will be able to free any of you." Tsuna hummed, playing with Yuni's left hand. "He can't utilize his flames since he won't be the Vongola heir. Enrico will probably send assassins to eliminate him even, to avoid further competition for the position and for his children."
"But in all parallel worlds I saw with my ring," Byakuran nodded to his ring with wings. "your existence in every world is what balances the tri-ni-sette. Without Tsunayoshi Sawada, the world will always be imbalanced. Enrico nor any of his brothers, even Xanxus de Vongola and his daughter, can't balance it. Well, except for your own child, but that's debatable. After all, the great sky only comes rarely, not in consecutive times."
"Don't downgrade yourself." His son admonished, puffing a little. "I won't be one if you weren't there to help me."
"But," Aria intercepted. "you will only be the person who will call all of the people he knew as his family regardless of worlds."
"What's the difference?" Tsuna defended. "Let us say, Reborn here is a hero, instead of a hitman, or he's kinder-"
"Hey!"
"-and is sweet. But he is still Reborn. Well, I can distinguish the difference, but at least my gratitude to those people who kept me alive will be received by their counterparts. They'll be one of the receiving ends. Besides, I don't need to say a reason to save people. Except if I have to kill them, of course. End of story. No more sequels."
Aria giggled with her daughter.
"But to think the Tri-ni-sette..." Verde trailed off, going thoughtful.
"Let's just say your tri-ni-sette needed a balance." Tsuna proposed. "I've speculated that the manifestation of quirks were the manifestation of people's dying wills. Remember, there are people who are quirkless. Since Dying Wills are not practiced anymore, there are no sacrifice. Byakuran got the mare because he is a chosen one. You lots got the pacifiers because you tend to never give up. But what about Vongola?"
"Timoteo flourished his children." Lal stated. "They are not weak."
"But have they gone through hardships?" His son questioned, eyebrow raised. "Xanxus has his wrath because he was discriminated for being a slum kid. He wasn't Nono's child. Those three were born in a luxurious life. Everyone bowed to their feet, kissed their footsteps and offered themselves as elements."
"Tsu-chan's flames were sealed by Nono when he was four." The albino supplied. "He became clumsy. He couldn't comprehend his learnings. He got bullied and called Dame-Tsuna for being unable do things right. Completely friendless too. His father rarely comes home, his mother is quite ditsy who calls him a dame too. If I remember, he admired the only person who have never called him useless."
Shouta's eyes widened and turned to his son who's eyes were covered by his bangs. He held the hand on his knee and slid an arm around those small shoulders. He didn't know.
"The only time his life changed was when his tutor came in and introduced him things. He was also unable to enjoy his life like a teenager since he was expected to be Vongola Decimo. But don't you know what made him the greatest sky?"
"His ability to forgive." Shouta murmured, squeezing the shoulder and the hand. "He will forgive people because that's what they are. They can't change with just a snap. He forgives for their sakes, not for himself."
"Correct." Byakuran affirmed. "The Vongola siblings didn't have those, explaining why they have weak flames. What's more, Vongola are cursed for their blood. And it is only Tsunayoshi Sawada who can destroy that. And since the kid version died, it means the balance waned. So, the tri-ni-sette sought him out."
"Do you think Uncle will suddenly pop out somewhere near me and attack me for freeing the Arcobaleno?" The brunet queried, looking around with cautiousness. "For someone who lived a long life, he can be really unreasonable."
"Nah. He'll even be grateful, Tsu-chan. You lifted him the burden he had carried all his life. Just like in your world."
"Who are you talking about?" Viper questioned.
"The man with an iron hat, Checkerface." Byakuran supplied.
"I call him Uncle Kawahira." Tsuna hummed. "The loneliest man I ever met."
"I salute you for being able to tie him down, Tsu-chan. He's the most slippery mist I ever met. If your tutor doesn't detest him, he would've never left your side."
"Uncle is tolerable, if he's not irking him. Having a trigger happy tutor and father figure is troublesome."
"Wait!" Lal Mirch shouted. "What the fuck-"
Shouta immediately put his hands on Tsuna's ears after he saw the latter covering Yuni's. Both 'skies' snickered and giggled like children. He can't help smiling under his capture weapon. Too adorable.
"Lal!" Aria, Reborn and Colonnello chided.
"Oh Yuni-chan!" Byakuran cooed, snickering a little.
"Fine fine. Sorry. What I'm saying is, what are you talking about? Are you describing the Checkerface we know or not?" The woman stated.
"According to the Byakuran Gesso, a parallel world surfer," Tsuna started off when Shouta let him go. "every parallel world has a Checkerface in it. Sometimes they're so jaded that they love to torment us, that's why he never wanted to change the Arcobaleno system. Sometimes, he's so over it that he wishes someone to be the administrator instead. But there are times that they just wait for miracles to happen."
"He turned us to babies!" Lal shouted, turning red.
"Calm yourself, Lal Mirch." Tsuna grounded, staring straight at those blue eyes. "You are only a mere mortal. A human. You don't know what imbalance can do to all worlds."
"They fall." Byakuran answered. "I've seen a lot of worlds falling. A lot die. A lot suddenly go for the worst. Sometimes for the best."
"Kawahira-jii needed to do what he was tasked to do. Have you ever thought why he doesn't age? Why he always look the same? Or why Aria-san have the clairvoyance she inherited from her mother? Or that Talbot-jii-sama is still alive? They are all the same species. They are Ancient. Being a baby must have been hard. You live for years in your condition. What more of Kawahira-jii lived generations and generations? See people come and go? Be alone for the rest of his life because he cannot afford attachments? Can you imagine yourself living alone in this world with all of the people you've known dying one by one by old age, ambush, disease, and many more?"
Silence.
"Imagine stepping on his shoes, administrating the tri-ni-sette, forcing seven different people to bond for the sake of the system. To keep it balanced. To keep it alive and so the world won't eat itself. If it's hard for you to imagine, can you imagine shouldering the burden? His future counterpart shouldered the weight of imbalance when the mafia boss me destroyed the Vongola rings. Trust me, if you were the people who has powerful Dying Wills, he won't turn you to babies. He'll choose someone else."
"If I remember right, you were told that you were to become the next sky arcobaleno." The Albino piped.
Black eyes turned to the brunet who nodded. "Yes. He also said that if I was born during the time you were all chosen, Luce Giglio Nero won't be your sky. I will be."
Shouta doesn't know if he would curse or not. Of what Tsuna had told him, sky Arcobaleno has shorter lifespan. They die at a young age. If he wasn't a mafia boss, he's an Arcobaleno?
Fuck the system.