Clear to cloudy
Target 17: Geraldino's wrath
Geraldino has just activated his 'burning ice' and is standing in front of Kotsu holding out his flaming deep-blue ice-covered sword. "This is the end for you Neo Vongola Secondo!" He yells and jumps forward. Kotsu holds up his fork to block the strike, but Geraldino's ice is incredibly cold and Kotsu feels a slight chill and jumps back as soon as he makes contact with Geraldino's sword.
"This could be bad," Geraldino attacks him again and Kotsu is forced to evade again. The cycle continues with another unblockable attack. Geraldino seems to be much faster with his new ice somehow and Kotsu is having a difficult time keeping up. He lands and sticks his fork into the ground with the spikes pointing diagonally up and holds against it with his ringed hand like a shield as Geraldino crashes his sword in between the spikes and the fork starts bending slightly down towards Kotsu. He switches hand and sets his ring on fire again with his forehead. He holds it against the head of the fork and it grows, even more, making it into a sort of shield shape. Just as he does this he notices that the very end of the fork spikes are tiny purple crystals noting a similarity between them and the gem on his ring, before pulling the fork out and jumping back. However right as he does Geraldino speeds forward ending behind Kotsu and slashes at him with his burning ice sword. Kotsu quickly waves the flaming ring over the end of the fork spikes and they all light up and burst like rocket turbines sending Kotsu flying through a pillar in the middle of the station and he rolls along the ground and grits his teeth.
"Those crystals really did resemble the ones on my ring," He says with a slight smirk as Geraldino walks closer.
"Are you done trying out that stupid fork's capabilities or what!?" He yells and swings around his sword a bit at the air and Kotsu notes the sweat on Geraldino's forehead. 'He's sweating… but that ice is so cold…'
"You're hurting yourself by using that ice, aren't you?" He asks calmly. Geraldino grits his teeth and strikes at Kotsu again. Kotsu once more shoots himself off into the air with the tips of his fork still not having complete control over it yet.
"Don't act like you know what you're talking about!" He yells and slices at the air towards Kotsu and the flames form a sort of ice beam that flies towards Kotsu and Kotsu boosts down again, but right as he does Geraldino is there having predicted the move and Kotsu has no time to swing the fork around now that the head is so heavy due to the previous expansion of the head. He only manages to swing it back halfway and boosts forward towards Geraldino using the boosters at the spikes. He stabs at Geraldino with the other end of the fork and hits him straight in the chest. The ice wolf is sent flying back and hits a wall, but he's quickly up again charging forward once more. Kotsu looks at the fork tips and then at Geraldino and holds the fork over his shoulder and lights the tips again sending him flying straight forward almost like it's a jetpack and Geraldino comes at him just as fast.
"This is it Geraldino! You will not be able to hurt my friends ever again!" Kotsu yells and the two cross fists again with Kotsu punching with his flaming ring and Geraldino with his flaming sword. There's a giant explosion of blue and purple flames and everyone looks worried at the outcome.
The smoke disappears slowly and Geraldino is laying on the ground. Kotsu swings his fork around a little more before slamming it into the ground next to him spikes up.
"I'll admit I hate fighting. Especially meaningless fights and I know I'd have lost if I had nothing to fight for, but I do. I fight for my friends," He starts slowly walking away, going towards Fumie and he cuts the ropes she's being held by with his fork and she jumps out of the chair and Kotsu falls back with Fumie landing on top of him.
"Kotsu-kun! You came to save me!" Kotsu smiles at her still in his hyper form.
"Of course, I did. That's what friends do," He says and she looks into his deep purple eyes.
"Thank you," She says getting up and she blushes slightly. Kotsu stands with her and she can't help but notice how cool he looks with the calm purple eyes.
"No need to do that Fumie-san. I just did what I had to," The flame on his forehead slowly disappears and at the same time, the fork slowly turns back to normal size and changes to looking very ordinary again. He blinks a couple of times and his eyes turn from the purple color back to normal green. He grabs his head as he gets a quick jolt of pain. "W-what… happened to me?" He asks and Fumie suddenly gives Kotsu a little peck on the cheek quickly. His entire head turns red like a tomato.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-why'd… why'd you do THAT Fumie-san?" He asks frantically and Fumie punches him over the head embarrassed as all hell.
"D-don't dwell on it too much Kotsu-kun! I-It's just a friendly gesture! For saving me and stuff," Kotsu rubs the back of his head.
"Y-yeah… I've… never saved someone before so I don't…knooow…" He slowly trails off before falling over backwards much to Fumie's surprise.
"K-Kotsu-kun… Kotsu-kun!" She gets on her knees in front of him and shakes him violently to get the young boy to wake up. "Are you alright Kotsu-kun!?" She yells at him and soon after Reborn comes over and stops her from shaking him.
"Don't worry. His body and mind are just exhausted from using hyper dying will and normal dying will in such a short time. He'll probably be incredibly sore for the next couple of weeks from it,"
Ren comes over and looks at Kotsu. "He sure fought a hard fight huh? Those two went all out on the special effects," He says and smiles.
Geraldino starts slowly moving a bit and within a second Reborn is towering over him with a foot on his stomach. Geraldino slowly opens his eyes. He blushes as he sees Reborn standing over him.
"R-Reborn-senpai… is this a dream?" He says and Reborn raises his foot slightly before putting it back down a bit hard.
"No. But it could quickly turn into a nightmare. Tell me. Why'd you attack Kotsu? He's done nothing to you yet you decide to go all the way to Japan, abandoning the family in the progress, just to kill him. There's a missing link there. Care to fill it in?" Geraldino grits his teeth thinking back to his reasoning. Tsugemora comes up along with Murphy.
"I was just… angry. And jealous! I've been a member of the Vongola family ever since I could even breathe!" He thinks back to when he was very young.
-NII-
He's sitting in a big room eating a fancy dinner with his mother and father. He looks around 8 and much less intimidating.
"Say, dear… have you heard the news?" His mother says and Geraldino's father sends her a curious look.
"Perhaps. What news are you speaking of?" Geraldino is looking intently between the two of them trying to follow their adult conversation.
"My brother is getting married later this year," She says and Geraldino's father nods slowly.
"That's wonderful. Set an X in the calendar," he says and Geraldino's eyes light up.
"Really?! Uncle Gerald is getting married dad!?" Geraldino says excitedly.
"Yes yes, Geraldino. Calm yourself. Behave like a proper mafioso," His father simply comments and Geraldino calms down and keeps eating.
"I showed so much promise," He thinks back to a training session still looking around 8. He has a rather large kendo sword in his hands and is fighting a much older man. The man looks Japanese and is fighting expertly. However after not so long Geraldino hits him over the head lightly. "I win!" He says excitedly, jumping into the air in great victory and the man smiles at him.
"Very good Geraldino," He says and Geraldino smiles.
"But… then HE was born," His father and mother walk in with two other people walking behind them. One is an older man with a large beard and a tuxedo. The other is a whitehaired woman, who looks very Japanese. Geraldino now looks around 10. He's sitting and reading a book and doing assignments with a private tutor sitting beside him. He looks up and runs over hugging the man behind his father.
"Uncle Gerald!" he yells and the man hugs him.
"Why hello Geraldino. I don't think you've met my wife yet. Say hi to Miyuki. I met her on a business trip to Japan," Geraldino politely shakes her hand and notices that she's holding something in her other arm and as such points to it curiously.
"What's that, miss Miyuki?" He asks and Miyuki kneels down in front of him and shows it to him. It's a blanket wrapped around a little boy with white hair.
"Say hi to Tsugemora, Geraldino. He's your new cousin," Geraldino holds out his hand towards the baby and Tsugemora grabs a tight hold of his finger with his tiny hand and giggles happily making Geraldino get starry eyed.
Everyone chuckles at the adorable scene. "Oh look at him. He already knows who's going to protect him from danger," They all say and Geraldino smiles thinking that he'll do his best to protect him.
"At first it was fine! But then…" It's a lot later and Geraldino is now around 15. He's sitting at the dinner table and eating properly with his mother father, uncle Gerald, Aunt Miyuki, and Tsugemora who's around 5 now.
"Did you hear Geraldino? Tsugemora is already talking about becoming a bodyguard for Neo Primo," His father says and Geraldino looks at the shy little boy across from him.
"Really?" Geraldino asks and his mother giggles.
"Why can't you be more determined, like Tsugemora sweetie?" She says and Geraldino takes another bite of his food in silence, but it's clear that he's slightly annoyed.
"I'm devoted to the mafia…" He says lowly and eats a bit more.
"I've been as determined as I possibly could be just to prove it to them. I unlocked my flame just earlier that year and they STILL thought Tsugemora was better than me! Nothing I did helped! I learned the primitive theory of the burning ice to show my devotion! But…" He's now around 20 and standing in a big empty hall surrounded by at least 30 mafioso all with various weapons. He's holding the sword he used against Kotsu. He holds out his hands. "BURNING ICE!" He yells and activates his burning ice ability and in around 20 seconds all 30 of the mafioso are down. His ice slowly disappears. He looks to the side at his father standing by the side. "How do you like THAT dad!?"
His father looks genuinely impressed and slowly claps.
"That is quite the skill you've developed there my son. You really make the most of that rain flame you inherited from me. It does look to take a large stress on your body. Perhaps you should do something like what Tsugemora has just done. He had his entire nerve system electrocuted until he can no longer feel pain. Now THAT'S resolve and devotion," He says and Geraldino grits his teeth.
"Tsugemora… Tsugemora…Tsugemora…Tsugemora… Is that all you have to say to me, dad!? Do you even remember my name!? Cause all you seem to care about is that little twerp of a cousin and how amazing he is! His devotion to the mafia! His amazing new skills! His determination! I have ALL of that too! You think I've been training like this for my entire life because I hate the mafia!?" He yells angrily and his father's eyes widen go wide with surprise at the tone Geraldino's taken. His surprise quickly changes to anger glaring at his son.
"What kind of tone do you think you're taking with me, boy!?" He yells right back and Geraldino stabs the ground with his sword.
"THIS TONE YOU OLD GEEZER! I'm sick and tired of hearing how great everyone BUT ME is! I'm strong! I'm fast! I'm durable! I'm determined! I have resolve! But you and mom have NEVER seen things like that in me since uncle Gerald and aunt Miyuki had that little brat Tsugemora! Now it's all about him!" He yells back with no hesitation.
"Then SHOW me that determination! It won't be long before a bodyguard will be chosen for the next vongola boss. If that one happens to be you I will acknowledge your abilities! So train harder!" He says and leaves Geraldino. He yells off the top of his lungs in frustration grabbing his sword out of the ground.
"Get up! ALL OF YOU!" He yells to the barely conscious mafioso on the floor.
"So I trained and trained and trained, but of course…" After about half a year Neo Primo has gathered the whole family in a large hall. He steps forward to speak.
"I've not yet decided who shall be the next in line from me as boss, but I have decided to follow in the footsteps of Vongola Nono and as such my successor will be of roughly the same age as me when I was chosen!" The whole room erupts into discussion. However they're all silenced when a red laser shoots across the room.
"QUIET WHEN NEO PRIMO IS SPEAKING!" A man beside him angrily yells and Primo smiles to him.
"Thank you Gokudera. It is the decision I have made. And it is all there is to be said about it. As such the bodyguard who will be protecting him will be someone of roughly the same age also!" Geraldino smirks knowing that in that case he is pretty much the only choice. However, after thinking it over, his eyes turn from confidence to doubt. Unless…
"His bodyguard will be…Tsugemora Gagliardi!" Primo yells and everyone goes silent. Except for a single person. The chosen Tsugemora, who jumps up and down happily in place.
"Alright! I did it! I got chosen!" The people standing immediately around Geraldino quickly start to back off feeling his ominous aura and anyone who's gaze meets his as he looks towards Tsugemora quickly move aside out of fear until there's a clear path to him from where Geraldino's standing.
Tsugemora slowly stops jumping as notices his cousin's deadly glare directed at him. "G-Geraldino…?" Geraldino suddenly leaps towards him unsheathing his sword much to everyone's surprise.
"You little…! It was supposed to be ME!" He swings his sword down, but right before he reaches his target the strike is blocked by two long katana's. The man holding them is a man around Primo's age with short black hair and a small scar on his chin.
"That's enough Geraldino!" He yells and Geraldino starts ruthlessly attacking the man, but each and every one of his attacks are easily blocked. He slowly stops and falls to his knees.
"It was… it was supposed to be me… I'm better than him in every way… why? WHY Primo!?" He yells looking at the man in question who doesn't seem to react to Geraldino's outburst.
"I have my reasons for my decision. And it is final. I'm sorry you feel cheated. I know how much you trained…" He says and Geraldino grits his teeth and pushes his way through the crowd and leaves the hall.
-NII-
"After that, I changed. I became sort of obsessed with doing things my way. I got all these piercings and tattoos to prove that I wouldn't be bound by anyone," He finishes and Reborn nods slowly.
"I see. And when Kotsu became known as the successor you wanted to kill him out of spite towards Neo-good-Primo?" Geraldino nods as Reborn hit the nail right on the head.
"That's right Reborn-senpai…"
"But then why kidnap Fumie when you could've just attacked him instead?" Geraldino looks at Tsugemora.
"I asked Yari to locate Tsugemora and kidnap someone who was close to Tsugemora, since I didn't know what Neo Vongola Secondo looked like… so he mistook her for the real one…" He says and Reborn tsks.
Leon seems to have gotten better after making Kotsu's ring and fork and he transforms into a pair of handcuffs, Reborn uses to bind Geraldino's arms behind his back and he pulls the boy to his feet. Geraldino blushes as Reborn is so close to him.
"Reborn-senpai…" He says lowly and as he walks past Tsugemora he sends him a quick glance. He looks very angry but doesn't do anything as they walk out of there. Ren is walking behind Reborn and Geraldino with Kotsu on his back and Fumie, Murphy and Tsugemora are following close behind. Reborn looks back at Kotsu's resting face. 'You did good kid,' He thinks and Kotsu smiles in his sleep as if he heard him finally getting some praise.