The Cloud That Bites The Skies
Summary: A scary person with a fearsome reputation finds Tsuna and Co on a normal, sunny day, bringing news of an assassination plot on Don Cavallone. Insanity ensues.
"Yo, Tsuna! Long time no see, little bro," Dino, the Cavallone boss, said with a cheery wave and a fond smile as he stepped into his 'little brother's room after greeting Nana down in the kitchen, no doubt leaving his men there, too. Reborn studied him, searching for any signs that an assassination attempt has already been made, but Dino seemed carefree as ever and while Reborn could see the usual traces of stress from working hard to be able to take a few days off, his former student didn't seem to be carrying any other burden. Which was good, as it meant 'Alaudi Kumo' had managed to indeed hold the enemy's plans off long enough for Dino to be a safe distance away. At least two days - one to figure out their target was not in Italy and another for the assassins to figure out where he went and to get here - had been bought with however many rings 'Kumo' had sacrificed. Seeing as every moment might be crucial since not even the time traveler himself knew how long he could stay, those first two days were a godsend, so to speak.
"Ah, Dino-san!" Tsuna, who had just finished giving the Sasagawa siblings a call and asked for them to bring along Haru as well, smiled plastically at the blond, who arched an eyebrow at the expression but didn't question it. Reborn wondered if he should give his former and current student a joint training session to remind them how important acting/lying and vigilance were for their survival. "What a surprise! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I managed to get my work done enough for a week-long visit! I figured I should drop by to say hi before I go looking for Kyoya. If he learns I'm here and didn't go to greet him immediately, he might just get annoyed enough to bite me to death instead of having a spar." Reborn rolled his eyes as all the youngsters shivered. Honestly, Hibari wasn't nearly as bad as these wimps portrayed him. He usually never beats someone up for no reason. He might be a bit more prone to blood-lust and was indeed strong enough to probably make Varia quality, but he was simple enough to understand to the extent of at least not getting yourself bitten to death. Offering him cute small animals would be enough to distract him and as long as you don't disturb the discipline, Hibari has no reason to hunt you down. Easy enough to understand, right?
The three middle schoolers naturally panicked at hearing what Dino said. Well, it's more like Tsuna and Gokudera got shifty while Yamamoto just laughed it off. "You and Hibari really like to train, huh?"
"Well, it's more like me trying to keep my head attached to my shoulders than your typical 'training'. I swear Kyoya gets stronger each time we fight. It's frightening how quickly he picks up on things, analyzes opponents and judges the likeliness of which move someone will make. If only he'd stop being so rash, he'd be a real monster."
"You have no idea," Reborn muttered to himself, remembering the grace of hidden strength, the sure confidence of every step, the absolute certainty that he was the predator in the room upon stepping in despite the World's Greatest Hitman sitting right in front of him. The rashness will fade with maturity. He was sure of that much. "How are things going back home?"
Dino sat down and started filling him in on some new business deal the Cavallone were getting involved in and Reborn let him ramble right up until the doorbell rang and moments later, Sasagawa Ryohei kicked down Tsuna's bedroom door, giving the occupants an 'extreme greeting'. The Vongola Sun Guardian was followed in by the much more polite Kyoko and Miura Haru, who smiled at the boys and went join them at the table, but Tsuna grabbed them and dragged them back into the hall to fill them in while Yamamoto distracted Dino with talks of sports. Reborn and Gokudera both snorted when Yamamoto appeared surprised that Dino might be into horseback riding. It really shouldn't be all that surprising. The Cavallone family actually started their mafia career through washing money through horse races before escalating into the horse market and then becoming a proper mafia family when they made enemies from some of their usual clients in the betting pool and they started hiring more people with the fortune they made. No Cavallone boss didn't know how to ride a horse.
"Hahi!?" Came Haru's surprised exclamation, probably at Tsuna's request to spend a week distracting Dino. Reborn was actually getting rather curious as to what these kids might come up with as an acceptable, appropriate way to distract a lovesick Bucking Bronco.
Yes, lovesick. Reborn was sure only he had noticed and perhaps Dino's constant bodyguards, but no one else seemed none the wiser about the Cavallone don's tender feelings for his first ever student. Reborn knew him well enough to have caught hint of it from the first time he saw Dino again after he took Hibari out of Namimori during the Battle for the Rings. The way the blond had talked about Hibari was rather telling. And every meeting since, the fact that Dino had spent the night by Hibari's bedside after the prefect had finally collapsed from the tiring, trying night, the way he seemed more than ready to always talk about Hibari made it all rather obvious to anyone with any experience in the matter. Reborn just had to wonder whether the idiot had figured it out for himself. And how Hibari might react. From the conversation with 'Alaudi Kumo', it is rather obvious those two will become considerably closer in the future, but how long will it take?
"Ne, Dino-san, we were planning to have a sleepover since tomorrow's the weekend. Why don't you join us?" Tsuna asked as he returned with two more awkwardly smiling individuals and Ryohei, who was simply Ryohei if he wasn't lying through his teeth to Kyoko. Reborn sometimes wondered and despaired for the fate of Vongola. Between Tsuna as the future Decimo and his Guardians ...
"If I'm not intruding, I'd be glad to," Dino replied with a gentle smile and the room collectively sighed in relief.
"We should play some sleepover games!" Haru immediately suggested, further distracting Dino and pretty much everyone else as they started discussing what they should do first. Reborn smirked and quietly snuck out of the room. He entered the guest room at the other end of the hall, went in and opened the window. He then climbed out and up to the rooftop. It didn't take long before whatever game the others were playing started creating quite a bit of noise. Reborn ignored them and waited. The hours passed and the sun was setting, painting the horizon in beautiful red and orange shades and Nana called everyone down for dinner - no doubt a feast, since they had so many people over - but Reborn stayed until I-Pin was sent to get him. He sent her down and waited for another minute before going down for dinner. It was indeed a feast and everything was super delicious as ever, though Reborn found it actually kind of hard to appreciate it given his thoughts kept jumping from topic to topic, person to person. It didn't stop him from teasing Tsuna and Dino, tormenting Lambo or avoiding Bianchi's poison cooking, though. He knows how to multitask.
Afterwards, the others went back to Tsuna's room while Reborn stayed with Bianchi after dinner to fill her in on the visitor she missed by going out to get more supplies for her poison cooking. He made sure to explain what they knew of the situation well away from the Cavallone men or the ears of Nana, Haru and Kyoko - who were helping the mother wash up after dinner like the nice girls they were. He wasn't sure if they should explain things to Fuuta, too, but he knew telling the normal Lambo was out of the question. The stupid cow would surely blabber it out at the first opportunity he could get and while the civilians might think it just cute, childish ramblings, Dino and his men knew about the Ten Year Bazooka enough to know a form of time travel is already possible. It would be best not to let anyone know about the incoming danger.
"I understand," Bianchi said with determination. "Should I join in on distracting Haneuma?"
"It would be best if you take on more of a defensive part in this," the baby said with a tired sigh. "Namely, to be on the lookout for any suspicious people, except 'Alaudi Kumo', that is. He'll be making an appearance again soon. Tall, dark, handsome, sharp, in a black suit and tie with a purple shirt and an air of immense danger around him. Can't miss him. It would be like ignoring all of your instincts if you do. And don't try to feed him. It's very unlikely he'll take food from anyone." Trust issues can do that to lesser men, let alone him. "I don't want you getting offended, starting a fight and ending up hurt."
"How sweet of you to worry for me," the woman said dreamily and Reborn would have rolled his eyes at her ridiculousness had he not been so fond of her. "So I take it he's strong?"
"His present day counterpart is strong. The ten years later him is even more so. I almost pity the fools who will feel his steel, but since they're targeting one of my students, I don't actually feel sorry for them."
"Should we expect a visit from the Vendice or CEDEF? Or organize for a clean up?" Those were actually good questions. He'd prefer it - as he is sure 'Alaudi Kumo' would, too - if Iemitsu and the trench coat wearing mummies didn't get involved at all, but he knew chances of that are very slim, to the point that perhaps even Nono himself might snoop around to figure out what 'Alaudi Kumo' is up to. It would be dangerous for them to disregard the possibility of it happening just because it seems unlikely.
"Who knows," was all he could say and then changed the topic for a while before he left Bianchi for the guest room once more. He passed by Tsuna's door and peeked inside to see what the childish ones were up to. Fuuta, I-Pin and Lambo had apparently dozed off already while the rest seemed to be playing a very intense game of Monopoly. It seemed to be a tie between Dino, Gokudera and Haru, who was unfortunately cosplaying as Rich Uncle Pennybags at the moment, while Yamamoto seems to have already fallen into bankruptcy and Ryohei and Tsuna were in jail already for the third time. Kyoko seemed to be doing moderately well, all things considered. That was good news if Tsuna wanted her to be his lady one day. It's always good to have someone good with finances around.
He left them to it and continued on his way. He knew he was inside before he even opened the door. "Ciaossu, Hibari. I wasn't expecting you back this soon."
Steely blue eyes looked up from a pile of papers they were reading. "Baby."
00000
Tsuna resignedly gave Gokudera-kun the last of his money, trying to smile reassuringly at his friend and convince him to just take it. After all, it was only a game and Tsuna wasn't a sore loser. He'd gotten too used to being Dame-Tsuna to really be bothered by losing a simple game of Monopoly while Gokudera-kun had gotten really riled up, just like Haru. Dino-san, too, but he was much better at hiding it even as his stack of money nearly doubled the other two's combined.
Predictably, Tsuna losing set off Haru on Gokudera-kun, who yelled right back at her, the two getting rowdy enough to wake up the kiddies. Which, unfortunately, lead to Lambo wanting to play, I-Pin inspecting the pieces and then Fuuta started ranking all the best mafioso Monopoly players, which made everyone and everything levitate, messing up the game. Haru and Gokudera-kun protested, claiming they just had Dino-san 'right where they wanted him', while the said blond just sighed as his hard efforts were wasted. Kyoko-chan, Ryohei-oniichan, Yamamoto and Tsuna didn't really care, as they had already lost and besides, Tsuna was too busy panicking about his room getting messed up while school idol and the baseball star were amused and in awe of the floating gig.
Because Lambo wanted to play, he was extra noisy, which only annoyed Gokudera-kun more, to the point that he decked the Bovino had on the head. Lambo of course started crying and Haru screamed some more. Dino-san tried to calm the situation, but ended up having to dodge dynamites and the cane Haru had added to her costume all the while maneuvering around the game pieces and Tsuna's stuff. As things were wont to do, before any of them knew it, Lambo was jumping into the Ten Year Bazooka and a puff of pink smoke left in its wake a frazzled looking older Lambo, hair and clothes in a mess and panickingly looking around. Adult Lambo's appearance broke Fuuta's concentration and everyone fell to the ground, along with all of the items that had been floating about. All rather noisily.
As if it wasn't loud enough to make the neighbors complain, Haru ended up landing on Lamo and she started screaming about creepy perverts.
Which was when the door slammed open, hitting an unfortunate Dino-san right in the face and planting him against the wall, the door holding him in place. Not that Tsuna actually remembered that part because the person standing in the doorway was much more important for his survival. Because right there stood a severely pissed off looking Kumo-san, his eyes actually glinting with Cloud Flames and a killing aura spreading from his person. Everyone froze, gulping in involuntary fear, but older Lambo once again showed he knew this terrifying person rather well because he once again fell into a seiza and presented a pretty box with the Vongola crest on the lid.
"I got you your rings, Kumo-sama! Half of them are from Cavallone, so there should be a lot of high purity ones!"
Kumo-san actually seemed a bit surprised that Lambo had gotten what he asked for so swiftly. Those steel-like eyes narrowed. "When did you get to see Cavallone?"
"Just now. I didn't tell him anything other than that you need more rings! I swear I didn't reveal anything!" Lambo reassured in a panic. Kumo-san grunted and stalked inside, took the box and turned to leave. He paused in the doorway and looked icily at them over his shoulder.
"You want to play games? Then let's play my favorite game. I am going to sleep down the hall. If you wake me up, no doctor will be able to put you back together because they won't recognize the pieces. Everyone understand the rules? Good." And with that, Kumo-san left, leaving in his wake a terrified bunch and a shaking Lambo, who looked about ready to jump into the Ten Year Bazooka again and leave it to his even older self to deal with this craziness.
Tsuna, for all that he was terrified into absolute silence and stillness, couldn't help but frown at the feeling of deja vu he was experiencing. He just couldn't put his finger on when and where he could have lived through something similar. He just knew that he had.
Reborn poked his head through the doorway and shook it in disappointment at them. "Dame-Tsuna," was all he said before turning around and going after Kumo-san or his own whims, as per usual, leaving them to try and shake off the fear. The bedroom door creaked as it finally unstuck itself from the wall and Dino, knocked unconscious, fell face first to the carpeted floor. The blond mafioso didn't so much as twitch besides taking deep breaths and Tsuna sighed. That was at least good. If they can keep Dino asleep until the rest of them wake up tomorrow so they can continue distracting him, then they may manage to get through the first day of their 'mission' just fine.
"I think that's actually enough for today, everyone," he told his friends and was not at all surprised when they all sighed in relief. Sure, Dino-san had said he'd stay for the sleepover, but they hadn't been sure if he'd run off if one of his men brought news of a Skylark-sighting. Hibari-san wasn't the only one who had some sort of an obsession in that strange relationship of theirs, after all. "Good work." After the collective cheer died down, they set about preparing the room for sleep. Kyoko-chan and Haru left to bunk with Bianchi in 'her' room, Haru the most eager about getting away from 'that pervert' who was a still shaken up adult Lambo.
Gokudera-kun shook his head as he took in how quiet and polite Lambo was being. "I never thought I'd say this, but that stupid cow is somehow too quiet."
Lambo, unexpectedly, immediately shushed him. "Of course I'm quiet!" The usually mature version of Lambo glared as he hissed out the whispered sentence. "I don't want to get disciplined again! Kumo-sama is the worst when he has to discipline someone! I'd rather stay in one piece, thanks." He then lunged forward and slapped a hand over Ryohei-oniichan's mouth when the older Sasagawa looked like he was about to say something, probably including the word 'extreme' at unnecessarily high volume.
"If you got disciplined by that guy as you were growing up, then I'm not at all surprised anymore just how differently you act compared to your present self," the dynamite expert commented, only for all of them to stiffen when pink smoke suddenly engulfed the teenager, leaving behind the normal Lambo.
"Yo, Dame-Tsuna! Lambo-san wants sweets!" Trying to calm him down or shut him up only made him louder. "You shut up, Ahodera! The great Lambo-san wants sweets! Lambo-san wants to play!"
A killer aura seeped into the room and they all shivered in fear, shaking as they looked over their shoulders to see what may as well have been death itself standing in the doorway, eyes glinting with purple Cloud Flames and a suffocating vacuum of killing intent seeming to surround Kumo-san like a damned halo. "Wao. It seems I get to start disciplining you lot earlier than the first time around. Saves present me quite a headache. I almost envy him."
"Kumo-san, please listen," Tsuna desperately tried to moderate but a single step by Kuma-san into the room had them all fleeing to the opposite side, Yamamoto even going as far as to try and open the window so they could escape. Gokudera-kun was too proud to just not put up a fight at all and had some dynamites out but seemed too shaken to do anything with them and even the Sun Guardian didn't seem up for a fight. Though that might be because Kumo-san had taken out a ring and seemed willing to waste it on them. None of them actually knew what the ring could do, but they didn't doubt that Kumo-san would introduce them to a whole new definition of pain and hell if they don't make a run for it.
"Shit, the window won't open!" Yamamoto cried, distressed. "It's stuck!"
Tsuna thought he might have heard a familiar phrase before the punishment started being dealt out, but by the time he woke up the next morning with quite a number of bumps, scratches and bruises, he didn't remember anything but the fact that he will never again let Lambo stay in his house when Kumo-san was around.
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"Oh, they sound like they're having fun!" Nana, down in the kitchen serving tea and coffee to the adults and Reborn, commented when the house started shaking and explosion-level loud hits could be heard coming from Tsuna's bedroom. She smiled as she took a seat herself while the Cavallone men looked like they were hesitating to run up there and save their boss. They weren't as sure as Nana that something as innocent as 'playing' was going on, but for some reason they were sure their boss was alright. Reborn had said, after all, that Dino was already 'asleep'. "Isn't it nice of Kumo-san to indulge kids and play silly games with them? He must be so kind. I hope he rubs off on my Tsu-kun. Men like that are a rare catch."
Reborn smirked behind his cup of tea. He rather hoped 'Alaudi Kumo' rubs off on Tsuna, too.
That would, after all, make him a good, strong boss.