Chapter 14 : a house on the cliffside
There's a saying that without the Hibari family, Namimori wouldn't exist - but something like that is surely an exaggeration? It's true that 'Hibari' is a common name to find among the people in police uniforms, and in other places; it's true that they're a very prominent family, so that their looks aren't uncommon even among families that don't bare the name. But is it okay to say that a town exists for the sake of one family?
Or maybe it's said because on the lonely hill beneath the shrine, there are ancestral lands that the Hibari family holds. A massive, elegant estate is built there, and around it and the public shrine behind it, Namimori came into being. It may be a very young town in respect to its neighbors, a mere several hundred years old compared the near-thousand of towns nearby - but there is some pride that the residents feel toward their history.
Rather than being called 'Lark's Haven,' though, shouldn't it be something more like 'Tengu's Roost' if Hibari Kyoya is living there? The Demon of Nami Middle. However his family name is spelled, something like a raven or a raven type demon fits him better.
And if the Hibari family is the backbone on which Namimori is built, then what does that make the Tomaso family? The hands? The mouth?
-0-
The way things stand, Tsunayoshi decides early the morning after hearing about it from Nana to go visit the Irie household. He simply won't have time to look into the matter at any other moment, although intruding in another family's breakfast is unpleasant. Well - leaving early from his house for that purpose is unpleasant in its own way, too, since Nana embarrasses him with a kiss on the cheek at the doorway before handing over a bento.
"Tsu-kun is resembling his father more and more each day," she coos, cupping one hand to her cheek and looking so touched and so proud that Tsunayoshi strangles back the first five replies he has for something as abhorrent as that. It's too bad he really doesn't know Iemitsu better in order to avoid more things like that, he reflects with a weak smile to Nana as he heads off.
He definitely doesn't want to be compared to someone that can't even be bothered to be around those that are supposed to be important to them, and then says good job when they've done something despicable and they're clearly unhappy.
(Although, clearly: there's only one person in this household that is important to that man. Fine, fine. However it has to be - but at least attend to that person diligently. It can't be done from a distance, after all. Ahh.
More than a dame son, isn't it true that Nana's husband-)
Tomoko is already expecting him at her house, even so early in the morning as this, because Nana had already called ahead for his sake after he'd explained his attentions. Tsunayoshi doesn't have to wait long at all for Irie Tomoko to answer the door and welcome him inside. She does seem a bit oddly surprised at him, though - she blinks at him quite a lot as he toes off his shoes.
By the time he's achieved that little, Tomoko says, seemingly reluctantly impressed: "Wow, Tsuna-kun, you really have stepped up as the man of the house, huh? As long as you remember to take a step back when your father comes back home! I'm sure he's proud!"
Straightening abruptly, Tsunayoshi cuts her a look from the corner of his eye. What would she know about it in the first place? He's only ever gotten one kind word or bit of praise, and there's no way someone like Tomoko would accept the reason for it. "No way," he says bluntly. "In the first place, 'the man' has nothing to do with being the head of a household. I'll only recognize Mom's hard work."
Judging by the way Tomoko reacts like she's just gotten a rude surprise, perhaps he should have been more polite about it. It's just that there's no way for Tsunayoshi to rest easy with the thought of stepping down for a reason like that. But - ah. What does Nana think about it?
After a moment, Tomoko, still looking taken aback, points him toward the stairs. "Shoichi's room is that way," she says.
It isn't hard to tell which room that is, since the doors are labeled like Tsuna's own. The computer design of the placard for Shoichi's room isn't all that bad, but it isn't the sort of thing that Tsunayoshi thinks a boy his age would choose for himself - the idea that Shoichi had any say in it's design seems increasingly unlikely, although Tsunayoshi has nothing to base that thought on except for the family pictures he'd passed on his way up the stairs.
Still, maybe it's a bit fitting, given that even now, there's the sound of what Tsunayoshi suspects is a keyboard tapping away inside.
It's only then that Tsunayoshi comes to a stop to really think about what he's doing here outside Shoichi's room. He wants to help Tomoko if she's trying her best for her own son, even going to far as to risk having him compared to Nana's infamous dame son - but: he doesn't know the first thing about Shoichi. How is he supposed to help or explain himself?
Well - standing outside Shoichi's door isn't likely to give him any answers either. He'll just have to look and see for himself.
Tsunayoshi knocks, and then a bit harder a second time when the clacking keyboard doesn't even stutter. He hesitates anxiously, but - Nana said Tomoko complained that Shoichi hadn't even been leaving his own room all this time. He knocks one more time, adding an "um, Shoichi-kun?" for good measure, but it's just as likely that Shoichi has plugged in headphones, he decides.
He tries the door. It's unlocked.
Shoichi sure is spoiled, having his own desktop computer, is Tsunayoshi's first thought - but the room is pitch black other than the white glare of the screen, so he should be excused for such a useless first impression. The form with tousled hair sitting in front of the keyboard is likely to be Shoichi, his fingers moving so quickly across the keyboard that it's amazing he doesn't get something wrong. It's so confident and decisive - if only Tsunayoshi himself could ever be half as certain as that.
There's a boy sitting on the table next to the computer, his head laid on arms folded over the monitor, his overlong hair stretched over everything like cobwebs. His face is cast in eerie shadows by the odd position he's in relative to the only source of light, but it makes his eyelashes glitter like snowflakes on the hills of round baby fat cheeks, and he doesn't look up from staring at the hidden face sitting in the chair before him. Those eyes in this darkness should probably be shining, but they're faded, and strained, and dull.
Under the edge of the hospital gown he's been wearing all this time, his bare feet dangle: knobbly ankles, and delicate bones like glass.
Tsunayoshi blinks.
"Um," he says, because he can clearly see now that Shoichi isn't wearing headphones. "Excuse me?'
Actually, he can kind of hear murmuring. After a moment, Tsunayoshi ventures inside, carefully circling a bit. That alone proves that the murmuring seems to be Shoichi talking to himself under his breath, who even then scowls and stops tapping away at the keys to irritably pound one key in particular. Grabbing at the mouse, he swings it around, striking it with one furious finger - click, click, click like the rattle and pop of guns, tap-tap-tapping the key like spent shells striking the floor.
The room goes a little strange, Tsunayoshi's heart thumping wildly in his chest in counterpoint. His skin prickles. His palms sting. "Shoichi-kun," he says, forcing his fists to release as he reaches out. His fingers curl around the back of the chair, which feels strange and fragile and flammable. "Who are you going to war with?"
All movement at the desk freezes, and Shoichi slowly turns. Their eyes lock together, and then Shoichi screams and hurls himself from the chair at the desk. He scrambles frantically, cornered thing with wild eyes and white teeth. Tsunayoshi only watches him as long as it takes to determine that his resolve is hardly any kind of threat, and then returns his attention to the computer.
He doesn't have one of his own, and it's difficult to have gut feelings about something like a computer in the first place, but Tsunayoshi still looks, trying to understand. The light clicks on overhead, but it's not until he gets an itch does Tsunayoshi look away from the screen full of symbols and kanji and roman letters that he think might be English instead of anything else.
Shoichi has turned in the overhead light in the room and he has a mop in his hand. He clearly means to use it as a weapon, heaving for breath but clutching a little low on his abdomen for it to be his heart that's bothering him. He has red hair, which seems a little odd for someone with a mother and sister who so clearly favor their heritage.
Still, Tsunayoshi frowns at him, or more specifically at his defensive grip on the mop. "Shoichi-kun," he says, "you'll hurt yourself with that." Or Tsunayoshi will - he'll probably accidentally brain himself taking it away from Shoichi, anyway.
"Who are you?" Shoichi demands shrilly.
Ah. They have a nervous personality in common it seems - which makes whatever war Shoichi is fighting all the more troublesome. "Sawada Tsunayoshi," he says. "Nana is my mom. Tomoko-san brought you up with her, so I was asked to get involved."
Apparently standing still and being calm is useful for something, because Shoichi is catching his breath and his knuckles have eased up on the mop. "Sawada Tsunayoshi - Sawada Tsuna - ah. Tsuna. Tsu - dame-Tsu-! Ah." After looking enlightened, he now only looks awkward and embarrassed, blinking a little uncertainly at Tsunayoshi as if he's not sure that the guy that broke into his bedroom might not get angry for being called something like that.
In this case, though, it's kind of useful, so Tsunayoshi makes sure to round his shoulders and dip his head appropriately with a smile. "That's right," he agrees. "It must be pretty bad if someone like me gets involved."
More importantly: even a guy that goes to a private school recognized the name 'Dame-Tsuna,' he thinks. Tomaso Nerina is either a liar or a hypocrite - aren't those people on the edges the most important to catch before they fall away from society?
After all, Tsunayoshi is the one who has become such dangerous scum over the fact that he only has a few precious connections to protect. Hasn't Haru been denied? Hasn't Yamamoto? People should really try reaching out with both hands to something they want to keep.
Shoichi flails at his words, though, and nearly brains himself with the mop. "Ah - no! I'm sorry you got involved," he says, finally setting it aside the way he should have when Tsunayoshi first suggested it. "Or...? No, I'm not sure why you were asked to get involved…" He tugs fretfully at his hair, much more harshly than Tsunayoshi ever has. Then again, there's a hot, angry angle to his frustration that Tsunayoshi's never had the nature to generate for himself, too, so surely that factors into it.
"Because Tomoko-san was worried, of course," he says.
"But why?"
"Even I know it's not okay to lock yourself up inside your room alone," Tsunayoshi says, despite once have done that very thing - in a much more serious way than Shoichi has, honestly. At least Shoichi us doing more than just sitting around staring at nothing. Speaking of - "you never answered," he points out. "Who are you going to war with?"
"Going to-" Shoichi's gaze goes to the computer that Tsunayoshi is pointing to, and he startles. "Ah- no. That's not - that's just some code that I'm working on - although it's a bit frustrating." Now that he seems to have rejected the idea that Tsunayoshi is a threat, he doesn't hesitate to cross the room quickly and assess what's on the screen. He mumbles fretfully, clicking at it, before pulling back again and scrubbing at his eyes behind his glasses.
This close up, it's even more clear that Shoichi really hasn't been sleeping well, or even keeping up with his bathing appropriately. No wonder his mother has been getting anxious about this - even Tsunayoshi, who used to sit alone for hours at the window, still came down to eat and out to bathe when it was time to do so.
Smiling slightly, he says, "it sounded like you were fighting it as if you were prepared to die, though."
Shoichi lowers his hands, staring at Tsunayoshi as if he's never seen him before - although this is the first time they've met. His eyes are actually dark gray, like Ryohei's, although not the same at all aside from the color.
Come to think of it, he didn't look too closely at those family pictures, but it's becoming very obvious that Shoichi doesn't look like the rest of his family at all, not in the shape of his face or eyes and he definitely doesn't share any traits with the mother that opened the door or the sister who'd been sitting, half asleep, at the table for breakfast.
"No?" Shoichi says, but he seems to fluster a bit, as if Tsunayoshi's suggestion has somehow made him uncertain of himself or the situation again. "F-fight as if I were prepared…?" Just saying the words seems to terrorize him.
Well, not everyone can be Hibari or Haru or even Yamamoto, Tsunayoshi thinks. It's not bad to be the sort of person who can't get along with the idea of fighting for one's life. Tsunayoshi used to be that way himself, until circumstances conspired to threaten him with losing the things that he's found to be important. He still hates the idea of hurting others and would rather avoid having to do so, but at a certain point: it just becomes impossible to pamper people who insist on living like scum.
Still, Shoichi doesn't have to understand Tsunayoshi in order for Tsunayoshi to help him. "Sorry, it's my mistake," he says easily. "Shoichi-kun seemed to have been getting pretty intense there, as if it were a fighting game. Did I interrupt you having fun?"
"Aah, 'fun' - no, it's nothing I do for fun," Shoichi says, even as he gratefully accepts the lie as an explanation. "And it's not a game, either. This is something my Dad sent me to look at as a favor for him." But instead of sounding happy about it, Shoichi seems to be feeling even more tired and resigned than before.
"Usually, you'd ask a favor from someone who is really good at something," Tsunayoshi observes. "Unless Shoichi's father is just really that desperate?"
"Desperate is probably the right word for it," Shoichi says miserably, snorting. "It's not really that I'm good at it. I mean - I mostly understand it, but there are a whole lot of guys out there who are a lot better than I am. I just learned because I wanted to improve the online song players - ah, not music players, but - here, let me show you."
He drops into the chair that Tsunayoshi is still gripping in one hand, reaching for the keyboard and mouse again. All the nonsense on the screen shrinks away, and Shoichi's fingers go right back to pounding away on the keyboard as he swivels the mouse around and click, click, clicks. It doesn't sound like fighting a war at all this time. "See?" he says as something else comes up on the screen. "It doesn't play music that's already written - you tell it what noises to make, and then it plays them. Like - a simulated band!"
A pretty handy thing for a kid who doesn't easily make friends. Although - that's looking less and less correct by the second if Tsunayoshi is honest. It's less that Shoichi seems overly nervous or anxious about Tsunayoshi's presence, and he's confident about the things he does without hesitating or flinching, even though Tsunayoshi more or less barged into his room without warning. He has an anxious personality, it seems, but he doesn't seem socially awkward the way that it sounded like to Tsunayoshi.
Definitely not along Tsunayoshi's own problems with connecting with others.
Judging by the way he said it, Tsunayoshi taps thoughtfully at the bone of his jaw. "So, Shoichi-kun wants to be a musician, then?" He doesn't know anything at all about coding, but definitely has the feeling that Shoichi is a bit better at it than he made it sound - but it's not the coding itself that he cares about, but what it can do for him.
Shoichi laughs wryly, ruffling a hair through his hair - seems to notice only then just how oily it's gotten, grimacing and rubbing his hand on his shirt. "It's not really an appropriate aspiration for someone going to Yumei middle, right?" He sounds a bit defeated about it, which is - well.
"It's a better aspiration than becoming a street sweeper, or a NEET," he says, glancing down at him. There's no way that Shoichi can become the idol type, even without his glasses, so what kind of musician does he dream of being, then? Shoichi seems a bit reluctantly amused by Tsunayoshi's suggestions, but he's still preoccupied by his own problems. "If you specialize in music code, then your father sent you something like that?"
"That would have been nice," he says, "but no. This is - ah. Honestly, I don't really know what it's supposed to do, but judging from what I have here, it's some kind of game code, I think. Dad only sent it to me because he knows that I'm into replicating music without actual musicians involved. Do you know what VR is?"
Tsunayoshi could probably guess from what's been said so far, but in the interest of seeing what else Shoichi will say without meaning to, he indicates his ignorance.
"It stands for 'virtual reality,'" he says, returning his attention back to the computer so that he can draw up more things, like his program that makes songs. "There are a couple of different kinds - I like the kind that projects into the reality as we know it, so that maybe one day, we can play games that send out projections so that onlookers can enjoy it without needing a screen. Being able to interact with something like that - holograms, I mean - would probably be the pinnacle of human advancement. Especially if it could be attached to AI.
"But this code that Dad sent to me, it's a different kind of VR. Instead of being the kind of thing that anyone else could participate in without the equipment, in public - this is the kind of private, worldbuilding type VR. Although maybe someday, a lot of people could plug into the same world, right now, just fitting one player into a simulated world so they can interact with objects, or even AI, is the first stepping stone."
More or less like entering some kind of game world, without a controller. Ah, but: Tsunayoshi would die if he were alone, so: "I think I like the hologram idea best, too, Shoichi-kun." Shoichi brightens, turning to him with a happy expression - but that just bugs Tsunayoshi, because no part of Shoichi seems to be struggling with talking with him. Shouldn't someone like this easily make friends? "But - then, if you're not going to war, why have you shut yourself into your room?"
All of Shoichi's happiness immediately melts away. "Are you joking?" he asks with a scowl, voice cracking with indignation - not at Tsunayoshi, but at the situation. "With everything piling on, if I don't do things this way, then I can't spend any time with music! It's the only thing that calms me down." He clutches at his abdomen again, but it seems to be out of reflex and not because of anything actually bothering him. "Between school work, that program my dad sent me, and trying to plan my future - I don't have time to leave my room, never mind socialize!"
So he actually understands precisely what has his mother concerned. At least Shoichi has a better grasp on the situation than Tsunayoshi ever did, since he himself never noticed just how upset Nana was about the situation in the first place.
"If it's that bad, can't you just tell your father 'no' when he asks you to do something like this?" he wonders. "If it were me, I'd do it right away."
Although - if Iemitsu were the sort of dad that actually kept in contact enough to send Tsunayoshi things, maybe it would be harder to do that? Tsunayoshi can't really wrap his head around the whole concept though, because never once has anything like that happened. He'll just never get it.
"It's not that simple," Shoichi says gloomily.
"I see," Tsunayoshi says, even though he doesn't, even though despite everything, Tomoko is working hard for him - even if she doesn't understand what Shoichi actually needs and misunderstands the situation. Obviously she has her own idea of what's going on that won't be easy to shake. "In that case, I don't want to be late to school myself and get bitten to death-" although if he were, then at least Hibari would have to pay him that much attention, "but I'll probably see you again soon, Shoichi-kun."
The sudden departure seems to shock Shoichi, as he'd half accepted Tsunayoshi to be some kind of weird hallucination or apparition borne out of stress and sleep deprivation. That's more or less the last straw, Tsunayoshi thinks as he encounters Tomoko at the bottom of the stairs. She has her hands clasped together and her brow is pinched in concern, her mouth a soft circle and looking like some kind of praying saint with a dawning light over her brow.
Halting on the step that leaves him at eye level with her, Tsunayoshi just looks at her for a moment, and the face that's depending on some kind of god or demon to take pity on her and save her - flinches. Plainly, he says, "your husband is overloading him with extracurricular projects to the point that he's hallucinating from the stress."
Tomoko blinks rapidly as if waking up from a bad dream. She seems a bit confused for a moment before remembering the situation at hand. "Masatsugu is?" she says, shocked.
It's not a complete lie, so Tsunayoshi doesn't feel bad about telling it, but if she at least confronts her husband over something like this, then maybe the family will start paying attention to each other again - or something like that, he thinks. Otherwise, regardless of what Shoichi thinks, he really will snap and go to war against that father of his instead of just the codes send to him. More than anything, Tsunayoshi knows what someone pushed to the edge of their endurance looks like.
"I'll come back to check on everything as I have time for it," he adds as he goes to collect his shoes from the doorway. "Hopefully by then, Shoichi-kun will have gotten some sleep."
"Ah - ah! Thank you," she says, but it sounds more like she's saying it because it's appropriate than because she really feels like it. If she weren't an adult, maybe it would sound more like a question.
Honestly. What a troublesome situation. People working hard for the sake of others deserve a break, but only if they've actually tried fixing the problem themselves, first, Tsunayoshi thinks irritably as he shuts the door to the household behind him. Looking to someone else to fix it before trying yourself is despicable.
-0-
As prominent as the Hibari family is, the Tomaso family is roughly on the same level - although, just considering it feels a bit like he'll get bitten to death by Hibari, even though Hibari doesn't seem to care about his family's name or reputation. Given everything that Tsunayoshi has come to understood, he wonders if it bothers him at all to be called by his family name all the time. Although appropriate in most cases - he really, really wonders it.
If it's true… and since Tsunayoshi has selfish reasons for it, he wonders if it's really okay to try calling Hibari by his given name. Maybe he'll want to bite Tsunayoshi for being overly familiar? Well, some part of Tsunayoshi is twisted enough that he thinks he might welcome it. It's difficult to go from regularly being chased and beaten by Kyoya to not feeling his presence anywhere in his life. It's rough. It's bad. Ahh. He doesn't feel good about it at all.
Besides, there's no way that Tsunayoshi wants to attach Kyoya to people who have put that look on his face.
And if it's not his family, then Tsunayoshi just likes how it fits in his mouth better. Surely he can do this much without making Kyoya feel crowded or pressured. Even if he's being ignored, maybe Kyoko was right when she said that Kyoya was putting himself through a lot of trouble for Tsunayoshi's sake. On the off chance that it's true, then Tsunayoshi should probably take responsibility, right?
And if it's not, it isn't as if Tsunayoshi will regret working hard for Kyoya's sake, either.
Still, there should probably be limits, he thinks, reaching up to scratch at the uncomfortable wig. He barely manages to even touch it before Haru promptly slaps his hand away from it. "You'll mess it up," she complains, and then twists their hands together to interlock their fingers.
Tsunayoshi's cheeks have been burning for ages now, but at this point, his ears join in. He's not the only one, but at least Haru seems happy about it? No - even with that, Tsunayoshi isn't sure that he can resolve the situation! "I'm losing feeling in my legs," he complains.
Haru scoffs. "Welcome to a woman's world!" she says. "Anyway, they're necessary to draw attention away from your knees and calves, you know? All the heels in the world can't entirely change the shape." She gives Tsunayoshi another once-over, but ultimately seems satisfied by the effect.
When Tsunayoshi had reasoned with his guardians that there's no way anyone of their skill level would be able to completely hide themselves from notice when following someone like Di Tella Arturo, who is prepared to kill for Tomaso Nerina's sake, he honestly hadn't expected Haru's previously unknown skill for costumes to come into play. It's just his unfortunate luck that Haru said with Yamamoto's frame, there's no way he'd pass without drawing way too much attention to them.
"If my knees are a problem, then give me a longer skirt!" Tsunayoshi complains, tugging uneasily at the bottom of the one he's wearing. It might be long enough that he managed to wear his boxers underneath, but the stockings are another problem all together!
"Are you kidding? It's not nearly cold enough for a full length skirt," Haru sniffs. "Don't you pay any attention to fashion at all? Soon everyone will start wearing their summer uniform. Anyway, Tsunayoshi-san is cute!"
"Calling me that while crossdressed in a girl's uniform won't make me happy," he says flatly. He hadn't found himself cute, although Haru is good at her job and Tsunayoshi is fairly certain that most people would easily see him as a girl - maybe Haru's underclassman. It's just - if they run into any of Haru's classmates, they'll probably immediately realize they don't recognize him.
Still - between the heels, the blazer, and the wig… there's a good chance that no one will easily recognize him as Sawada Tsunayoshi, either, and that had been his main concern. Haru has excuse enough, since she doesn't attend the same school as Nerina, but if anyone were to catch Tsunayoshi around the Tomaso house, that could cause problems.
Although, comparing the Hibari estate to the Tomaso estate really does seem like a kind of slight against the Hibari family, he reflects as the two of them turn the final corner. Which isn't to say that the Tomaso estate isn't impressive, with it's multiple stories and elaborate detailing and high, fancy fences, like something Tsunayoshi thinks would fit in perfectly with the shows he's seen set in America. Or maybe it was England?
It's clearly worth a lot of money, but it kind of clashes badly with the neighborhood around it.
"So," Haru says, gazing at it. "This is the kind of place the mayor of Namimori lives, huh."
Worse than that, Tsunayoshi doesn't say, thinking about all the Tomaso children and their bodyguards. It's safer to say it out loud as 'mayor,' which is also true besides. He wonders what Kyoko thinks of herself that she's pitted herself against Nerina, who has these kinds of family connections.
Although, maybe Tsunayoshi should learn more about Kyoko's family before thinking such a thing. He sure is an incomplete stalker to not even know that much. It's things like that which really make him think that he's dame.
But now at this time, without really looking closely at it, Tsunayoshi picks out at least seven people who are patrolling the grounds. They're very paranoid folk, he thinks, but as someone who was kidnapped less than a year ago, he figures he can't really blame them for that. There's significantly less reason to kidnap Nana and Tsunayoshi than there is to kidnap members of the mayor's family.
"Although, I guess 'mayor' is overselling it," Haru adds, even as she tugs Tsunayoshi along the sidewalk in front of the house. "Since Namimori has had a Tomaso mayor since way, way before Haru's family or Tsunayoshi-san's family came here."
He hums. It's not like he'd know the difference, but leave it to Haru to go as far as researching Nerina's family for the sake of Tsunayoshi's plans.
Although when he's mentioned wanting to collect more data on Nerina, he really hadn't expected going undercover to be her answer - but maybe he should have.
Abruptly, Haru goes up on her tiptoes, waving her free hand in the air. "Hi," she calls out, obviously to one of the men standing guard at the gate of the estate. "Hello!"
"Haru!" Tsunayoshi hisses, tugging on her other hand. "What are you doing?"
"Trust Haru, Tsunayoshi-san!" she says breezily, and now that she has the man's attention, she begins dragging Tsunayoshi across the street toward him, ignoring all of Tsunayoshi's further protests.
The man doesn't look pleased in the least to be approached, but at least he doesn't seem likely to strike out - anyway, Tsunayoshi would break his arm if he tried, or his face if he's particularly stubborn about it. It's a fair gamble that even so, none if the other guards will try killing two girls over something so minor as approaching them in broad daylight. Their resolve just isn't strong enough for that.
Still, Tsunayoshi self-consciously lags behind, his cheeks burning almost painfully as he clutches at Haru's sleeve and ducks his head down, hoping that the long brown wig will shield his face enough.
"What do you girls want?" the guard asks a bit gruffly. He's not happy, but at least he isn't completely unreceptive to listening to Haru.
"Mm! It's Kaoru, and this is Yoshiko-chan," Haru chirrups, bouncing as she comes to a stop, which is wait what? When Tsunayoshi had said his piece and eventually allowed Haru to talk him into this, he doesn't remember agreeing to having any kind of name over it or otherwise he would have refused! "Is this where Mayor Tomaso lives?"
Against all logic, this question actually makes the the man relax a bit. "That's right," he says.
"Wow, cool," Haru enthuses, clutching the front of her blazer with her free hand. "Is it true that he's recently gotten a love interest?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss Mayor Tomaso's private life," the man says, but he's definitely tolerating them.
Haru squeals in reply. "I'm marking that down as an affirmative!" she exclaims, and the other man standing at the other side if the gate laughs despite keeping an eye on the opposite end of the road.
"Make it a direct quote or otherwise you'll cause trouble for me," the guard facing them says, but he definitely doesn't seem like he minds the situation anymore. Haru is obviously some kind of magician.
"No problem," Haru says in English. "Then: not commenting on his private life, do you think the Mayor will build on additions to the house? Since his sister-in-law and niece are there?"
"That's planning too far ahead into the future."
"That's no fun!" Haru chides. "Play ball, play ball!"
Rather than finding this bratty of her, the guy just smiles, waving her away. "I don't want any trouble," he says. "That's my livelihood on the line, you know."
Haru pouts about it but it's obvious that the man won't budge on it. "Aw," she says, then tilts her head. "Then, in the interest of saving your skin, is there anyone else we could interview? It's an exciting report on the future of Namimori for the paper, you know!"
Undoubtedly, if Haru had walked up and opened with that statement, the guards would have told her to get lost. Instead, Tsunayoshi watches as the man wavers. His partner at the other side of the gate must surely sense as much, but rather than step in, waves him off as if to say that the decision is his, and on his head it'll be.
Tsunayoshi wonders if that wig and skirt have really fooled these adults into think that he's something harmless. Then again, they only looked at him as an extension of Haru, and even then only once before seeming to forget his existence entirely.
"It's also a big part of my grade," Haru simpers. "Please? You don't want me to fail, do you? A young girl with a bright future?"
"Aah, fine," the man says in exasperation, glancing around - looking at the other security guards scattered around, keeping an eye on the situation. "I guess letting you talk to someone wouldn't be impossible." Haru bursts into cheers, and even though the man clicks his tongue, he doesn't change his mind about it.
Haru is certainly amazing. Maybe they should have tried committing to the school newspaper interview thing and had Yamamoto come along as their 'cameraman' or something like that - if Midori weren't a girl's only school. Surely some other school would have sufficed? But maybe Haru's inside knowledge is vital in some way that Tsunayoshi hasn't seen yet.
Tsunayoshi trusts their path to Haru, looking around as they're lead inside. The walls are kind of suspicious, he thinks - as if the building had once been a more traditional compound before the building had been torn down and replaced with the Western style home. Come to think of it - although there are some plants on the inside of the tall walls, it's difficult not to notice that the trees nearby aren't growing as closely to the estate as the others in the neighborhood. Those trees have been growing for many generations, judging by the trunks.
Although someone has planted a fruit tree.
The inside of the house is kind of stupidly lavish to someone with Tsunayoshi's background, which has always been about doing as much as possible with only the meager amounts left over from Iemitsu's pay after the house and utilities were paid for. At least some of that must be a side effect from the 'saving up' that Nana mentioned, but even so: Tsunayoshi hasn't ever really wanted for anything. The things he's felt the absence of aren't really the type that can be bought with normal amounts of money, anyway.
More alarming is the number of people who are inside the house - not as family members, but as servants. No, the alarming thing about them is the ones that Tsunayoshi would find inconvenient in certain ways, who look even at the awkward girl that Haru is dragging around by the hand. He only listens with half an ear as Haru talks to them, or the servants in charge of the other servants, really, and reflects that Kyoko certainly asked him for something very difficult.
Still, now he has Haru and Yamamoto backing him, as well as Nakamoto - and hadn't that been a surprise! Tsunayoshi hadn't particularly thought that Nakamoto would have been inclined to help after the trouble he gave Tsunayoshi over the dossier, but he'd been worried enough to follow up.
And ah, but what a scary face he'd made when Tsunayoshi had finally plainly told him what the reason behind everything was. Lips peeled, white teeth bared. That had been super surprising - for a moment, Tsunayoshi had wondered if Kyoya could forget about biting Tomaso Nerina to death because Nakamoto was going to do it for him. Maybe with his actual teeth.
"Hey! Who is this!"
The sudden shout after the halls of the Tomaso house being relatively quiet makes Tsunayoshi jump so hard he bumps into Haru. They both look around, Haru's hand clutched tight over Tsunayoshi's, to see a boy around their age coming down the hallway behind them. It's immediately evident that this is a loud type of person, from the way he walks with his elbows and knees turn out, to his bleached hair and his ridiculous sense of fashion.
"Is he some kind of loud bird?" Haru wanders under her breath, and Tsunayoshi hums uncertainly.
Whoever it is, or whatever he thinks that he is, it's clear that he's no one's favorite - still, there seems to be a servant hot on his heels, following with a stern face. It's the servant who shouts at them: "What are you two doing in here! This house is off limits to outsiders!"
"Relax," the boy chides him, waving him off. "They're getting along with everyone, so it can't be bad!"
That's a really simplistic way of viewing things for a Tomaso child, Tsunayoshi thinks - and then in the next moment, the boy has arrived before them and has grabbed both of their free hands in his own, shaking them vigorously. Haru manages to stand firm in the onslaught, but Tsunayoshi staggers and sways and ends up throwing his weight against Haru to steady himself, grasping her hand even tighter. She stands firm beside him, clutching his hand back with equal strength.
"It's nice to meet you!" Haru says, matching the Tomaso boy's energy flawlessly. "This is Kaoru, and this is Kaoru's friend, Yoshiko-chan! We're here to see for our school newspaper! Say, say, Tomaso-kun - are you free to do an interview?"
The question strangely seems to fluster the boy. He flushes like no one has said a kind word to him to the point that Haru merely asking for his attention for a bit seems to feel like a kind word. He sputters. He flails. He says, "please," and finally gets out: "It's not 'Tomaso' at all! It's Naito! Naito Longchamp!"
Haru stares. Tsunayoshi stares right with her. Even if he's not up-and-up on his local history, even Tsunayoshi knows that the previous mayor had been named 'Longchamp' and so is the current one. But they definitely both had the family name 'Tomaso.' Tsunayoshi looks at the severe adult standing in Naito Longchamp's shadow, who seems severely cross about it all - even with being the only person who looks at that kid kindly.
What kind of twisted thing has Tsunayoshi gotten involved in?
-0-
Despite the way that Naito Longchamp commandeers the rest of their visit to the Tomaso household, the reconnaissance isn't a bust at all. He's a lonely kid overseen by a stern adult who appears to be unwanted by all the other people living in that whole huge house. He has a wing to himself, but it's mostly deserted other than a glimpse of a few other people Naito's age. Naito's room is cluttered and uncared for, although the stern adult who continued to hover protectively makes a few gestures at trying to right the mess of it. Naito calls Nerina his cousin, even though there had only been the two children of the previous Mayor Tomaso, and the current mayor had no wife or children.
He's too clever or otherwise too self-conscious to be loose lipped about Tomaso family concerns and Haru and Tsunayoshi never do meet Nerina herself or the other members of the Tomaso family, but it's an interesting trip all the same.
"Wow, playing a Spy game seems pretty fun," Yamamoto says brightly. "Hey -" putting his hands together in the classic sign of entreaty, he says, "next time, invite me along, too!"
"If it's possible," Tsunayoshi says, having failed to specify the specifics of the entire venture: that they had arrived as 'Kaoru and Yoshiko' rather than Haru and Tsunayoshi. The less said about 'Yoshiko,' the better. Anyway, despite Yamamoto's ability to be popular while also feeling the weight of the terrible things he's capable of - well. Yamamoto is a more honest sort than either Haru or Tsunayoshi himself.
Not that there had been a lot of call for Tsunayoshi to be overly dishonest as Yoshiko, but still.
"Well, if there's anything I can do, let me know!" Yamamoto adds. "I've been spreading word around for Kyoko, so you can count on the baseball club's vote!"
Well, even so, Yamamoto is still working hard to achieve Tsunayoshi's goals. "Thanks, Yamamoto," he says with a smile borne more of gratefulness for the effort than because the team's votes will count for much.
It sort of feels like it should be a foregone conclusion with how popular Kyoko is as an idol, but he's seen enough about the spirit of Namimori to know that it's a bit set in its ways. Probably from day one, the name 'Tomaso' had given Nerina the ability to step into roles of power without being questioned. Class president at first, but now that they were in middle school, she'd taken control of the Council President position when there were older or more experienced candidates available.
"It would cause less problems over all if we could just do this honestly," he adds after a moment. "I don't exactly want the kind of attention that will come if we're caught at what we're doing." He already doesn't have a great reputation - still half Dame-Tsuna, now with flavors of delinquent - but this kind of thing, if the adults find out about it, that will make them even more reluctant to let their children associate with him, won't it? Other than just 'Sawada'?
"Don't worry so much about it, Tsuna," Yamamoto says, clasping a hand to his back. "Kyoko wouldn't have asked you to do something that bad. Or - haha! - something that could end badly. Right?"
"Well, she didn't ask, exactly," he says, because if anyone asks her, she can honestly say that she never asked Tsunayoshi to rig the election in her favor. But he gets the idea that Yamamoto is probably right - even if Kyoko could honestly weasel out of any repercussions, it doesn't seem like it would be in her nature to do so. Even if it would be troublesome, Kyoko isn't the sort that allows trouble to dissuade her - or surely she would have given up on her own brother.
She's not as fond of Tsunayoshi as she is Ryohei, but Kyoko likes to leave her fingerprints on things. As long as he continues not to be a threat to her and her own, she'll lend him aid.
"It's bound to work out fine!"
But Yamamoto also thought nothing of the fact that his father had asked to meet Tsunayoshi in their own home, either.
For all that there's a small back area in TakeSushi for the sake of the Yamamoto family getting some rest if the restaurant requires their constant care and attention, they have an actual home that Tsunayoshi needs guidance in order to reach. The neighborhood is making him a bit anxious, truth told. He grew up living a simple, unassuming life - nothing to pay attention to. Not so poorly done by that they'd struggled, not so well off that anyone noticed that either. His possessions are few, and Nana's too.
But Yamamoto's father has a dojo, he remembers. The baseball team had complained about it. Of course things aren't as simple as that, though Tsunayoshi has to wonder just what kind of man Yamamoto's father is that he got such a nice place to live.
"I feel like I should have dressed better," Tsunayoshi says when they arrive at the gate, but Yamamoto just laughs at him, catches him with an arm around his neck and drags him in.
"It's not like that," he says. "I think Pops must give off that kind of atmosphere, but we're really a relaxed family - well, outside the dojo, anyway. But that's to do with blades! You have to take that seriously or someone could die."
There's an odd kind of gravity to how he says it, despite his easy-going tone. People sometimes talk about 'death' and 'dying' - but, Tsunayoshi's noticed that it tends to be divorced from the actual idea of what death means.
"I guess even you take 'death' seriously," he says.
"Ah - well," Yamamoto says, slightly stilted. The air seems strange for a moment. Flat. "Pops said it was pretty important. Even I can tell when I need to pay attention to something and learn it by heart." He glances down at Tsunayoshi and the edges of his expression are strained even as he tries to grin it away. "I don't want to cause problems for him, you know?"
"You're a good kid, Yamamoto," Tsunayoshi observes bluntly, only for Yamamoto to fluster over it. It's not like Yamamoto is short on praise, Tsunayoshi thinks, but it's like when Haru praises him - it doesn't mean as much from someone who doesn't know everything. It's a bit nice to be trusted so much.
Heavy, but nice.
Still, Yamamoto not wanting to cause problems with his father will make things a bit dicey here, especially because Tsunayoshi sharply remembers his introduction to Yamamoto's father and just how Yamamoto had gotten about it. The same kind of dread and tension that he feels on exam day settles around him now, no matter how hard Yamamoto squeezes the arm around his shoulders. It would be nice to take reassurance in that, but Yamamoto has it all backwards about who is protecting whom.
Ahh - but isn't that right? Whatever Yamamoto's father's thoughts are on all of this, even if it's a negative one: when it comes to Yamamoto, Tsunayoshi is capable of anything. He's been thinking that way and taking it to the worst possible conclusion, but - 'anything' can be waiting patiently, can't it? At some point, Yamamoto will leave his father's house and become free to join Tsunayoshi's household.
(Even a tyrant like Hideki can't control his children forever. And if they reach out to Tsunayoshi with yearning hands and call for his help, then what should he do? What shouldn't he do? Wouldn't ignoring the problem be the worst decision by far? Even if he's scum that can't lift a finger for his own sake, wouldn't the worst kind of scum turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to a cry for help?
And even if there are only a few things he can do to help, even if they're scary: isn't holding back still worse than any of them?
It's bad. He reminds himself that it's bad. He's can't be thinking like that. But it's just if he wants them to stop then-)
Yamamoto squeezes his shoulders a second time even as he calls out to his father, "I'm home! I've brought Tsuna with me, too!"
He leads Tsunayoshi to where his father's reply comes from - a sort of reception room with a tatami floor and a low slung table with zabuton placed around it; Yamamoto's father is sitting seiza at the table, a box at his elbow with several papers in it with painstakingly neat handwriting on it, his face stern and unapproachable.
"Ah," Yamamoto says with such a tone of deep surprise that Tsunayoshi knows that he should have definitely dressed better.
His father doesn't look up as he places the paper - the letter - in his hand into the box. "Takeshi," he says, none of the smiling chef in his manner, "sit your friend down and make us tea."
Tsunayoshi doesn't know the art or the form of this kind of setting - Iemitsu has some Japanese blood, but neither of his parents have taught Tsunayoshi any of the traditions or rituals of formality and politeness. Rather than panic, Tsunayoshi remembers taking a gun in his hand when he's never held anything more dangerous than a stick before and killing five men over it. He remembers Nana's panicked face in the memory of it, and waiting for her to catch her composure again. Kyoya setting his tonfa to Tsunayoshi's throat and thinking: ah, he'll definitely kill me if it becomes necessary - isn't that a relief?
Set against those events, this is nothing.
Before Yamamoto can act on his father's orders, Tsunayoshi steps into the room, and even though he's never actually trained himself, he sits seiza as best as he can on the zabuton across the table from Yamamoto's father. From the doorway, Yamamoto casts him a look nothing short of the desperate bunny eyes he's shown once before, so that Tsunayoshi is moved to smile at him just to prove that he's fine, that everything's okay.
Yamamoto blinks, but he settles slightly, casting his father a wary look. "I'll be right back," he says to the room in general before turning on his heel and leaving the two of them alone - a mixed reassurance to Tsunayoshi and a warning to his father.
He really does have no idea who is protecting whom in this case. But that's fine. Tsunayoshi is capable of it.
Across the table, Yamamoto's father looks at him like he's already sliced Tsunayoshi open from belly to throat; the hair on the back of his neck and his arms prickle - in a different way than it does with Yamamoto himself. This definitely isn't a man that Tsunayoshi wants to face in a fight, not now. Not ever. It feels a little like to him, Tsunayoshi is already a corpse on the floor who is only still breathing out of a minor mistake that hasn't been corrected yet. A mild inconvenience. A mess to be cleaned up at some later date.
That's fine. To Tsunayoshi, that man is the same. But still -
"Please pardon the intrusion, Yamamoto-san," Tsunayoshi says, even though it's probably impolite and bad manners to speak up first. It doesn't really matter. Yamamoto's father isn't the sort that will change his mind over a few social gaffes. "Um - it's my preference that we can all get along and work together, since over all, it's less stressful for your son that way - but, um."
Tsunayoshi allows himself to look away from Yamamoto's father's stony stare. If he wants to kill Tsunayoshi, then he already knows that there's nothing he can do to stop that man. He loses nothing by putting all his cards on the table. He thinks of Nana promising to house any of his friends that need it, and running away on a boat across the sea.
"Sorry," he says at last, meeting Yamamoto's father's eyes again, "I'm afraid I can't really leave things alone unless it's Yamamoto-kun himself that tells me so."
He watches himself die a hundred times in Yamamoto's father's eyes. Still, that man doesn't so much as twitch, his breathing calm, his heart steady. It's plenty impressive. Tsunayoshi's impressed. No, Tsunayoshi is in awe - he wants to learn a trick like that. There's no way for him to emulate Yamamoto's composure, since it comes as part of Yamamoto the same way his height does - but Yamamoto's father is a person who is more like Tsunayoshi himself. It doesn't come naturally to him, but somewhere along the line, he learned the discipline.
Tsunayoshi wants that discipline more than most things.
Not enough to leave things like they are, though.
At last, Yamamoto's father seems to come to some sort of conclusion, turning to the box at his elbow. "Someone came for my wife, once," he says, not reaching for it, but looking at the papers inside. They're old, careworn and creased. The writing is painstakingly neat, like it was performed by a calligrapher. "I already knew it, but I learned again that it's possible to lose things by trying to keep them." He stares for a long moment at the letters, and then says, "if Takeshi himself tells you, you'll let him go so easily, huh."
He doesn't know what the right answer is here, but Tsunayoshi frowns, a bit bothered by the question. "It's not a matter of 'easily,' Yamamoto-san," he says, because it's not. It won't be easy. It'll bother him for years: the question of 'is Yamamoto okay? Is he happy? Did he find someone who can understand him? Accept him?' Yamamoto fought so hard to come to Tsunayoshi's side, endangering the things that he needs to live happily - his reputation, and the acceptance of the kids in his club. He'd been so anxious about Haru's behavior and how Tsunayoshi felt about it.
Yamamoto is the type that sets his life on the line without hesitation or even thinking for a moment that there might be a different way. He needs someone to look after him if he's determined to be so reckless. It's clear his father's regard isn't enough.
"It's not a matter of it being easy," he says again. "But I don't want Yamamoto-kun to be unhappy, after all. Someone said to me that I might become a tyrant, but - um. No one's happy living under a tyrant, are they? I decided then that holding people against their wills is despicable. So - um. I thought, if I let someone go when they want to, and support them in that, then they'll remember it and want to come back from time to time - right?"
If he has to settle for little scraps like that, then certainly Tsunayoshi will settle - if it's that or nothing at all. Any tiny indication of affection can be enough for him, but - ahh: he's like Yamamoto that way. He's a greedy person. More than just working for his sake and trying to achieve his goals, he wants someone embrace not just the all-devouring ember within him, but also the char that's the only thing left of his heart afterwards.
Someday, he wants someone to choose what will make him happiest for his sake.
If Yamamoto's father has a reply for that, it's delayed by Yamamoto showing back up with a tray that has a hot kettle and cups on it. He still has an anxious look about the corner of his face when he appears in the doorway, but seems to relax a little more when he notices the looks on their faces.
"Haha - I wasn't sure which type to choose, so I got some of everything," Yamamoto says, setting the tray down on the table. It's crowded with several canisters of different tea blends - Tsunayoshi stares with no little apprehension. Tea isn't really a drink of choice at his house, outside the cold drinks that can be found in a vending machine. If anyone drinks something hot, it's usually coffee, although Tsunayoshi just normally goes without.
"Ch' - you overeager brat," Yamamoto's father says, rising as far out of seiza as it takes to reach across the table and swat Yamamoto's head.
Yamamoto doesn't quite yelp, but he flinches and grasps at his head, blinking wide eyes even as the rest of his tension evaporates. It was a gentle thing, Tsunayoshi reminds himself, the kind of thing that the baseball team does to one another. Proven a second later when Yamamoto laughs about it, seeming relieved. "Isn't it better to go overboard than under perform?" he asks happily.
Tsunayoshi will never understand the relationship Yamamoto has with his father.
All that is set aside for a moment while the three of them mix up their tea. Tsunayoshi goes for what he's familiar with, which is generic and probably cheap - or as cheap as it can be, coming from a canister. Yamamoto's father goes for something pale and floral and Yamamoto something stronger and black, with citrus notes that tickle Tsunayoshi's nose.
"So," Yamamoto's father says, "Sawada Tsunayoshi. What exactly are your future prospects?"
Tsunayoshi blinks rapidly at him. "Eh?"
The man looks at him calmly, and not with the eyes of a killer, but with the eyes of a father - which is somehow much more terrifying than seeing the hundreds of deaths that Tsunayoshi suffered in Yamamoto's father's mind. "My Takeshi is aiming to become a professional baseball player," he says bluntly. "But I've also been teaching him how to run a business so he has something more stable to fall back on. How do you plan to support yourself as an adult?"
"Ah-" Although Tsunayoshi himself has realized that he needs to figure something like that out - he hasn't even gotten started! Suddenly being put on the spot like this is making his heart hammer anxiously. "Um - that is - um."
"Pops!" Yamamoto objects. "Come on, play nice!"
"I won't surrender my son to the care of someone else until I'm satisfied," his father says mulishly, scowling at Tsunayoshi and going so far as to cross his arms across his chest. "Well? You've given it some thought, haven't you?"
"Marrying Tsuna was a joke!" his son protests.
Just what in the world has Yamamoto been telling his dad!
Panicking now, Tsunayoshi quickly puts his cup of tea on the table before he spills it all over himself, or worse: everyone else. "Um! I - I've given it some thought, of course, but-! Even though I haven't decided yet, I'll do my best and work hard at it! I've noticed myself that I can't provide for Yamamoto-kun yet, but in order to ensure his happiness, I'm willing to do anything-!"
No, wait! What is he saying himself?!
He's not the only one to think so, by the way Yamamoto's head whips around and he stares with a somewhat wild cast to his eyes.
"Well, it can't be helped," Yamamoto's father says gruffly. "From now on, so that you can learn something about becoming a responsible adult, you're to come by TakeSushi and start working for me!"
"Hiee!"
-0-
NOTES:
* This just in - Shoichi is a Vocaloid nerd.
* Recently Tsunayoshi has been getting more and more stressed out and overwhelmed, even though he's been asking Haru and Takeshi for help.
* And so there's Naito Longchamp. Yeah. I really went there. But listen though, the idea of Tsuna getting a 'test run' with a friendly local Family was too good to pass up.
* Tsuyoshi, much like Takeshi, often hides his feelings behind acting like a bit of an oddball. He still hasn't completely accepted the situation in his heart, but Tsunayoshi did make a good argument for his case when he said he was willing to let Takeshi go that's what Takeshi wants.
By the way, those letters were the love letters Mayu sent him when they were courting.
