He wondered, as he stared up at an all too familiar ceiling, why it was that Checker Face hadn't jumped all over Byakuran for his efforts in gathering up all pieces of the Tri-ni-set. Perhaps because the bloodline inheritors for the Mare and Vongola Sky rings had not been killed?
The Arcobaleno could apparently be replaced, and the Mare Sky ring did not seem to be blood-locked. Even so, why let the man get away with it? Byakuran had killed the Arcobaleno and had possession of the pacifiers. Tsuna had no idea how the man had supported them.
Or was it simply that Checker Face was waiting for some unknown signal to swoop in and steal them back? Inflict them on a new generation of the "I Prescelti Sette" as chosen out of what powers were available?
He scoffed. As if anyone could replace Reborn. He wasn't as sure about the others, but Fon and Colonnello seemed like all right people for the most part. Not Verde, but he might be the end result of soul-crushing bitterness.
Kind of like how Tsuna went off the deep end after the Flood of Blood, except he had the chance to start over again. It would never erase his deeds, because he sincerely doubted the worlds he died in ceased to exist, but he did have the opportunity to try again.
Skull was a bit harder to understand. He had only met him the one time that he could remember, during the invasion at Mafia Land. The poor guy didn't even seem like he wanted to be there, and sure as hell wasn't happy with having to deal with Reborn and Colonnello.
And what was with that, anyway? Why were those two such assholes to the Cloud?
Where did Colonnello get off on being such a dick to a former civilian when he was the same? The man had a background in COMSUBIN, which was part of the Italian military, for fuck's sake. If that didn't say civilian to mafiosi he didn't know what did.
He had to assume it was connected to him being military special forces, and therefore feeling a sense of superiority. Tsuna got the feeling that Skull had no clue about much of anything when he was dragged into the Arcobaleno mess, however that worked.
Tsuna heaved a sigh and got up. His mother would be calling out to him soon, so best he get ready.
'What am I going to do this time?' he thought. 'I said I would play along, so there's that. But what about Byakuran? I really don't want to experience that whole mess from the Decimo side. I seem to recall…' He thought hard as he washed up, trying to remember the details of two lives before.
'Something about how he got his hands on—no, wait. Shoichi got his hands on ammunition for the Ten Year Bazooka, after some kind of incident with Lambo. Oh, right. The Bovino sent along a crate of stuff to the Irie family after Lambo had attempted yet again to kill Reborn.
'Reborn had deflected the missile and Lambo was sent flying off, to crash land at the Irie apartment. The crate that had been delivered apparently also had a bag for Lambo, but since it never got properly delivered to the little cow…
'Shoichi ended up with ammunition and messed with it. His trips to alternate futures was what tipped Byakuran off. So if I can ensure Irie-san doesn't have the chance…? I also know where Gesso is, so…'
"Tsu-kun~! Wash up, now. Breakfast is ready!"
. . .
Ryohei was back to being male, but he was dying of stage four cancer. Shoichi was drafted in by Reborn as Sun Guardian, complete with nervous disposition and dodgy stomach.
Tsuna had made it a point of tracking down Chrome—Nagi, originally—and befriending her. Her excuse of a mother had met with an unfortunate accident, and Nagi was accepted into the Sawada household without a second thought by Nana. She was his Mist.
Tsuna had gotten to her early enough after he woke up that he was able to shore up her confidence. She might still be soft spoken and caring, but she was no longer a shrinking violet of a wallflower. He used Mist to ease her way into his school, to get the paperwork handled.
Nagi might one day come to hate him for his actions, but for the time being she was simply relieved that her abusive mother was out of the picture, and that Tsuna had provided a safe home for her, and a brother. A mother figure, too, though not much of one.
Tsuna nearly laughed the first time Nagi gave him a look that said, "Is she for real?"
He had taken her to that one park no one ever seemed to frequent for a picnic in response. "My mother," he said softly, "is… Sometimes I think something inside her broke when my father went away. She always seems to act like barely any time has gone by, you know? Like a visit from him is just around the corner, always.
"Or maybe she just loves the idea of it all. He's in the wings somewhere, not here, and unable to shatter any of her romantic notions or delusions. I don't really know, and asking her is pointless. But she keeps us fed and clothed, we have a place to come home to."
Nagi had just nodded, her eyes downcast, and served herself some anpan.
He shouldn't have expected a six year old girl to truly understand, and she hadn't, but that was all right. He treated her as his sister, watched out for her, and she gave him her loyalty and support. As they got older she probably understood that he viewed her from a loftier position, like a much older brother, but he never overtly showed it.
It was hard to connect to someone genuinely a child.
Reborn had a bizarre soft spot for Nagi. More proof that the Sun had a heart, somewhere deep. Looking back, Tsuna was fairly well convinced that Reborn was fond of Dino. He might even have grown fond of Tsuna himself, given time and opportunity.
Tsuna knew what was up the moment Nana let out a happy squeal and announced she had won a contest. A cruise!
Tsuna tried to look happy. In a way he was, for her sake. She was clearly thrilled.
"A luxury cruise ship~!" she warbled, clasping her hands together under her chin. "It'll be like a high-class hotel," she said dreamily. "Soft beds, high-class food like steak…"
He almost snorted. Anyone who believed that was clearly under the spell of advertisers. Yeah, okay, maybe Kobe beef was some kind of special, but…
"And there are swimming pools and casinos and even concert halls~!" she burbled excitedly. "And at the end, it'll reach a tropical paradise! The tropical sun will take away all your worries!"
He almost snorted again. They lived in a subtropical climate. From an adult perspective it was clear his mother had no clue the island moved on its own, or even about basic geography in their part of the world.
His mother suddenly came down to Earth. "But it's only for two people, the tickets I won. We can't just leave Lambo-kun and I-Pin-chan home alone by themselves."
"I'll take care of those brats for you, so don't worry." Bianchi was posed in the doorway, arms crossed, leaning nonchalantly against the door frame.
"You two should have a chance to enjoy yourselves once in a while," Reborn added, an innocent smile on his child's face.
Predictably, his mother was openly pleased and excited at the offer, completely forgetting that she had two other children in the house. True, Nagi was old enough to keep an eye on the two younger children, and Fūta wasn't too young, but his mother was being unthinkingly dismissive, or even cruel. Tsuna was just happy neither of them was in the kitchen to hear any of it.
Reborn and Bianchi saw them off at the cruise ship.
After Tsuna and Nana dropped off their things in their room they headed to the dining room. The place was just as magnificent looking, with dozens of huge round tables covered in snowy white linen, gleaming with polished glasses and cutlery. Waitstaff were everywhere, in sharp black trousers, white jackets with black lapels and bow-ties, and a white towel folded over one arm.
'So does this mean they're all trained sommeliers?'
The man at the doors they entered by looked at them inquiringly.
"The name is Sawada," his mother obligingly supplied.
His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. "Sawada-sama? Hm… Did you not already come and eat?" He glanced over at the table with seats reserved for them.
Tsuna followed his gaze to see what he expected to. It looked as if someone had had a fine meal prior to their arrival. Nevertheless, the man led them over and waved an elegant hand, then helped Nana with her seat.
It was only after he left them, murmuring that someone would be along shortly to take their orders, that a contented groan arose from a seat across the table and Nana went to investigate. The size of Lambo's stuffed stomach rivaled his poofy hair as he sprawled on his back on the seat cushion.
"Can't eat any more," Lambo muttered.
Bianchi, Reborn, and I-Pin showed up on schedule and Tsuna asked the expected question of, "How did you all get in here?"
"We charged right in the main entrance and beat all the guards, of course," Reborn said matter-of-factly.
Tsuna blinked at him, wondered why he had fallen for it previously, and nodded, then sat right back down and waited for their promised waitstaff to arrive.
Reborn's eyes narrowed—or at least he thought they did, since the Sun was in his peripheral vision—then he vanished.
Sadly, Tsuna had not yet been able to order when some rough-looking men came over to ask, "Have you seen any suspicious looking kids around here?"
He blinked innocently and shook his head. He had, but Reborn was suspicious by default, and he was fairly certain they were referring to Hayato, who probably had actually stowed away. Then he turned away as a nice man arrived to take their orders. He ordered steak, of course.
A minute later a disgruntled Reborn pushed aside the tablecloth and popped out from underneath. "Aren't you worried?"
Tsuna leaned sideways to get a better view. "Why would I be? You're perfectly capable of making your own decisions, and it was your decision to … sneak on board with extra people. The very idea of you getting caught is laughable." He rolled his eyes and straightened up, hoping his meal would arrive soon.
It was not until an hour later, as he and his mother were taking a stroll on deck, that he was unpleasantly reminded of something that happened previously. Naito Longchamp and his famiglia were on board. "Oh, look!" he exclaimed softly, steering his mother in another direction.
"Oh, what is it, Tsu-kun?" his mother asked, looking both expectant and confused.
He raised a hand to point, then let it drop. "I thought I saw…"
"Yes?"
"I thought I saw him for a second, but I guess that would be silly." He was saved when he did see Nagi, and impatiently tugged his mother that way.
. . .
Reborn was in a sulky mood as they disembarked at Mafia Land. Why on Earth Haru was part of the party he had no clue—unless it was simply Reborn being a trollish dick. 'What, he has to suffer through his psychotic stalker Bianchi, so I'm forced to deal with Haru? Pfft.'
As expected he was directed off to the front desk to "inform" them of their arrival. The "front desk" was in an office labeled "Information", which in and of itself was suspicious. 'I was such a naïve fool the first few times I made it into my teens,' he thought despairingly.
He couldn't sense Reborn anywhere nearby, so he diverted off to the bathroom, dithered around for a few minutes, then emerged and beelined for his mother and the others. If Reborn wanted to force him into a training session with Colonnello, he'd have to do better than that.
Sure enough, a very disgruntled Reborn showed up about twenty minutes later and hauled him away to the train. Well, metro. He thought it would better be considered a metro, anyway.
"And we're going…?"
"To the backstage of Mafia Land, of course," Reborn said chirpily.
"Of course," he said agreeably. "Is that where we'll put together our dance routine for later?"
"You'll find out when we get there." Reborn scowled slightly and looked away.
The train schussed to a stop and the doors opened automatically.
"So you had the guts to come. Tell me your name," Colonnello demanded.
Tsuna raised a brow. "Interesting that someone like you would be so stuck in a civilian past with an outfit like that," he muttered.
The blond scowled harder.
"Ciaossu, Colonnello."
"Reborn!"
"Take this!"
Tsuna rolled his eyes and took a seat off to the side, deciding to run an experiment. His Mist Flames came to bear to try to trick the two Arcobaleno into thinking he was standing there gawking at the "friendly" greeting the two were giving each other.
He honestly wondered if they did it to intimidate people, or if they were more in the frenemy category. They appeared so earnest about their attempts to kill each other. He about busted a gut in silent laughter when his Mist Flames proved themselves against Reborn, of all people.
When the alarms went off he heaved a sigh of relief and stood up, still covered by Mist. He would blend into the illusion of himself as he, Hayato, and Takeshi raced away from the training ground to go find Tsuna's mother and the others.
What he was really interested in was another look at Skull. He kept in mind the sight of the Sun and Rain pacifiers glowing, not understanding why there was a warning system built in. Reborn's pacifier hadn't glowed when they had approached Colonnello, but both had when Skull began the attack?
'So it's not just proximity?' he thought as he raced down the tunnel with his two … friends.
What he didn't get, once he was chivvied off to the front lines, was how Skull managed to have backup of … himself? And yet, the chibis with him didn't seem to share a damn thing with the Arcobaleno except size and a vague approximation of his outfit?
'Either there's something funky in the air, or my sense of perspective is hosed,' he thought, eyeing the situation. The multitude of mafiosi on the "good" side were so thrilled to get into a fight that they gave themselves orders, relieving Tsuna of the responsibility.
Oodako showed up from the forest to protect his companion from bullets. Tsuna had to question why the octopus was wearing a face mask that may or may not have been a reverse rebreather. Surely an Arcobaleno companion wasn't limited by the same things as a normal animal of their type?
"Reliable help has arrived!" cheered one rather bulky man with an Uzi.
"Why is Reborn-senpai here?" Skull questioned, tilting his helmeted head in confusion.
"Ciaossu," Reborn chirped. "Didn't you notice your pacifier glowing?"
Skull's head tilted the other way.
"We don't meet often," Reborn continued. "We should have a drink. And turn that thing—" He pointed at Oodako. "—into tako sashimi."
Skull's fists clenched. "You… Don't spout nonsense!"
Tsuna took a few steps back and produced a bag of popcorn from Between.
"I've received orders from the Carcassa boss to come! You're the enemy I have to obliterate!"
"Excuse me!" Tsuna called out, flinging some of his popcorn at the two chibis.
Both heads turned his way.
"So, yeah. Purple guy with the cute octopus. Why the hell are you taking orders from a trash family like Carcassa? Do they have blackmail on you or something? Because I'll totally give you a job with the Vongola."
Reborn's eyes went wide with something like horror.
"Wha—?" Skull breathed.
"Absolutely," Tsuna said firmly. "So how about you trot on over here and we can talk, and the Carcassa can do their own damn job. Which, knowing these guys—" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "—means they'll be fish food shortly. They take their family entertainment very seriously, and I'm pretty sure one of those volleys took out the roller coaster."
Skull dithered around as Reborn sent a betrayed look at Tsuna. "You wouldn't…" his eyes said.
Tsuna smirked and nodded. 'I would.'
Skull trotted over and came to a stop in front of Tsuna, who obligingly crouched down.
"Want some popcorn? Or do you not eat while your helmet is on?"
After a minuscule pause, Skull flipped the faceplate of his helmet up and grabbed a handful of popcorn to munch on.
"Oh, wow. Your eyes match your flames. That is so cool. Mine are just boring brown."
Skull smiled slightly and nodded.
Right about then Colonnello flew in on Falco and blew up the ships. Who knew anti-tank weaponry worked so well on battleships?
"So, I heard a rumor you were a stuntman before," he said. "That must have really sucked when you got hauled into all of this. Really throws your career path into the dumpster, am I right?"
"Yeah!" Skull complained. "I was real good, too! I was making a big name for myself. Had a job with a really cool outfit in France that'd been around for ages."
"Shit, man, that really does suck." He snorted. "So, what are you interested in? I mean, people like us don't have much of a choice when it comes to this mafia stuff, right? There has got to be something I could put you to work doing that you'd enjoy, or at least not hate."
Skull looked thoughtful.
"Well, we'll think of something. Or, hm. I take it that stunt work is really taxing on the body?"
"Yep! You can do terrible damage to yourself if you don't know what you're doing. Why?"
"Don't you think that'd be a useful skill to have? I've already had people trying to assassinate me."
Skull nodded, then tilted his head again. "I'm sorry. I just realized I have no idea who you are."
Tsuna laughed. "Tsuna, the poor civilian bastard tapped to be the tenth Vongola don."
Skull's eyes went wide.
"Hm, grab a shoulder. Let's go get something to eat, yeah? Popcorn is great, but it's not much of a meal."
"Okay!" Skull responded enthusiastically, and perched on his shoulder.
Tsuna got up and sauntered off through the crowd.
. . .
Unfortunately, Skull knew very little about the cursed pacifier he bore, though he was far more willing to talk about it than he suspected Reborn ever would be. They had agreed, in the end, that Skull would be his personal advisor and strategist, not that much of anything came of it in the end. He already had a very good idea of what sort of salary that would merit and was paying the Cloud out of his own funds, which were accruing nicely from his investments and the sale of various items he had "acquired".
All Tsuna still knew was that they were a type of battery. The pacifiers, the Mare rings, and the Vongola rings, the difference being that the pacifiers were more directly leech-like and ultimately fatal to their bearers. The Sky was the worst off, having to hold not only the Sky but buffer the rest, which cut the Sky's life span down considerably once they "took office".
In truth, he wondered how it was that Giglio Nero managed to produce enough Skies to support giving over one of them to the Sky pacifier so often. To the best of his knowledge—because he had coaxed quite a bit of the story from Skull—Luce gave birth around the time of the change, and only lasted long enough for her daughter, Aria, to take on the burden. It remained to be seen if Aria could produce her own replacement. She had during his Varia life.
Then again, the Giglio Nero Skies were said to be prescient, so they probably knew exactly when to procreate, though the idea of doing it all on some schedule determined by Fate was just… Ugh. Tsuna himself was none too keen to find himself a woman and start producing babies to carry on the damn empire that Vongola saw itself as.
Children raised to the idea of leadership and power. Assuming he lived so long, anyway.
He was missing pieces of the puzzle regarding the pacifiers and was as yet unsure where to dig deeper. How could he figure out a way to replace them, to save yet another generation of their strongest from enslavement to an object, to the will of the world—or more accurately, Checker Face's vision of how balance would be kept.
The rings were far more gentle, but he questioned how it was the Vongola rings even worked. During the lead-in for the Scramble Battles he was given to understand that the true rings were separated each into two, to keep them safe? Kept in a vault?
How could that possibly be true? Surely they needed to be whole and worn in order to leech off the flames of their bearers? They had to have lied to him. The rings must have been separated shortly before the battles, for the ring that rejected Xanxus appeared to be the real thing. Once those were over they were given over to the tenth generation, for them to start feeding their hunger.
He snorted to himself. Vampiric rings. What a concept.
Were the pacifiers made of some sort of flame-reactive material that wasn't metal? They did look translucent, after all. They encased the colour of the flames, rather than be the colour. A captured star. Was there significance to their shape aside from suiting the baby forms of their unfortunate bearers?
Based on what Skull had revealed—that when Checker Face approached him he had been carrying an unlit, clear pacifier—he also had to wonder if the pacifiers the current Arcobaleno wore would cease to be once their replacements were brought online. If new pacifiers were fashioned each time, because they, too, wore out and had to be replaced.
He was missing something, and he couldn't tell if it was right there staring him in the face, or if he had yet to encounter a vital hint.
. . .
"How exciting it must be!" Nana said excitedly.
"Eh?" Tsuna looked up from his breakfast to cock and eyebrow at his mother.
"There's going to be a group of new students transferring to your school, right?"
News to him.
"What's a group of transfer students?" Lambo asked cluelessly. "Is it a kind of flavor?"
Nana giggled and shook her head. "It's not food, Lambo-kun. Because of that recent earthquake… They feared another might happen, so they moved here, because Namimori is pretty much free of earthquakes."
"Uh, right," he said slowly. He ate the last bite, got up, and booked it to school. It was a duty day for him, so getting there early was preferable. He was halfway there when Reborn popped up like a clipped yen coin.
"I've received a dire message from the ninth," his tutor stated, looking solemn.
Tsuna badly wanted to voice the sarcastic reply running through his mind.
"It's a notice for the Inheritance Ceremony of the Vongola Famiglia."
He felt a sense of dread steal over him. This was the farthest he had ever gotten in a life where he was in the line of succession.
"Mafiosi from around the world will be there to see you officially acknowledged as the inheritor of the Vongola, the incipient boss."
"Yay, I'll be paraded around like a prize pig at the fair. Bacon for everyone. I can't wait," he deadpanned as he passed through the gates to the school grounds. A short time later he was at his classroom and making sure everything was tidy.
Their homeroom teacher got their attention with a clearing of his throat—it sounded more like he was about to hack up a lung, but that wasn't uncommon in heavy smokers. He glanced at Hayato and shook his head sadly.
"As all of you know, seven students from Shimon Middle School have transferred in and will be starting lessons here today. Two of those seven will be with you in Class 2-A. Be sure to take good care of them. Now, then, I'll have them introduce themselves."
The teacher glanced out the still open doorway. "Come on in, Kozato-kun, and … Shi … Shi … to … kun?"
A girl stepped in, dressed like some glam rock star from 70's America. "My name is Shitt P! Call me Shitopi-chan!"
'How she fits through any door with those weird plastic tubes around her…'
"My talent is hakko! My favorite food is pi-pu, pu, piiiii…"
'Fermentation?' he thought. 'Is she talking about a flame type? There's something other than Flames of the Sky, more than what I call my Earth?' Movement to the side showed that Hayato was having one of his UMA fits and was furiously scribbling down notes in the little book he used to keep track of aliens and whatnot.
"Er…" Their homeroom teacher blinked a few times in confusion, then said, "Very well. Next up is you."
The boy looked a lot like Tsuna used to be, but with bandages on his face. He assumed for the moment that the boy was a beacon for bullies. He had striking red hair and red eyes; Tsuna could see even at that distance they the boy's eyes were odd. He was thin and slouched a bit and wore was was presumably the uniform of his previous school.
"I'm Kozato … Enma," the boy said almost sotto voce.
"I'm sorry, what?" the teacher said, one hand up to the ear nearest the the boy. "Couldn't hear you there."
"Kozato Enma," the boy repeated, looking embarrassed.
"Still too soft! Once more!"
Tsuna felt bad for the kid. He looked so depressed and unhappy.
. . .
That afternoon on the walk home—he had stayed late to make sure 2-A was adequately tidied up—he came upon two bullies threatening Kozato. His eyes narrowed and he sped up. "Leave the kid alone, trash," he said in a low growl.
"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?" one of them said with a sneer.
"Man, you're clueless." He chuckled disparagingly. "Aside from the fact that Hibari-san will be informed about your transgressions on his territory…" Tsuna set his bag down out of the way and quickly snapped a fist into each face. "Now fuck off like the trash you are and stop bothering innocents."
The two scrambled to their feet, clutching bloody noses, and booked it.
Tsuna sighed and turned to Kozato to hold out a hand. "Hey, you all right? I'm sorry you're getting such a bad welcome in our town. I can help patch you up if you like."
Kozato gave him an indecipherable look before using his hand to leverage himself up. The pupils of his eyes were like the four points of a compass. It was really cool in Tsuna's opinion. Everyone had cooler eyes than him, he was so jealous!
"That kind of thing used to happen to me. You know, because my father hasn't been around in forever. People start rumors, about my mother," he said. "They're … unkind. But it stopped when I proved I could fight back, at least enough to get them to back off."
Kozato nodded slightly and stooped back down to gather his things.
Tsuna helped, gathering up books and papers, so he could hand them over.
Kozato looked up as he accepted his things, but stilled for a moment, his eyes somewhere around Tsuna's upper chest.
Tsuna looked down and realized the Vongola Sky ring was showing, the chain having come free from being tucked inside his shirt. It was then that he noticed Kozato had something similar.
The redhead quickly stuffed all his things into his bag and scurried away, leaving Tsuna with a confused look on his face.
'Eh?'
"He's not just a normal transfer student," a suddenly visible Reborn said. "Here, you should make sure the kid gets this. He left it behind."
Tsuna accepted the damaged book Reborn offered. 'More like you ensured he left behind.' He nodded and walked away with a word.
Wisps of Mist scouted for him and eventually located the boy at the canal, not too far from the bridge, so he headed that way. Kozato was in the process of trying to repair the tears in his uniform trousers, which Tsuna found impressive until he realized the poor boy had sewed one leg to the other.
Kozato sighed and slumped. "Go ahead and laugh," he muttered.
"Uh, no," he said, reaching out a hand to steady the boy. Unfortunately, Kozato was as clumsy as he once was and they both ended up in the canal. "At least it's not deep," he said as he helped the boy out of the water.
"I came to return this book to you," he said, "though it's pretty beat up. And wet, now. You want to come dry off at my place? It's not far from here." At least the splash into the water had ripped the bad job Kozato had done and allowed the boy to walk properly again.
Nana welcomed the strange boy enthusiastically, promising to bring up a snack straight away. Tsuna had barely gotten Kozato bundled into some replacement clothes when his mother was back with a tray of food.
"How wonderful~! You've made a new friend," she burbled. "Feel free to stay for dinner if you like! Oh, I'll sew your trousers for you."
"Thank you," Kozato mumbled.
Nana wandered off, only to be replaced with Lambo and I-Pin.
"Tsuna! Let's play assassins!" the cow cried, waving two grenades around.
He sighed. "It's getting late, Lambo-kun, and you know it upsets Mama if you damage the house. How about you go take your bath. I'll come tuck you in later, you and I-Pin-chan."
Lambo pouted and skulked off.
"It's cheerful here," Kozato commented, staring at the two retreating children.
"Lively would be a better way to put it."
"You should probably not bother with me after today," Kozato said, his head swinging back around. "You'll only get pulled into the bullying that always happens around me."
He shook his head. "And if I see it happen again, I'll do something about it again. I know what it's like to get kicked around. If you don't want to hang out, then I won't try to force you, but that won't stop me from doing what's right. The people in Namimori are more than aware of what awaits if Hibari-san catches them crowding or hurting what he calls small animals. If they're so stupid as to disregard the warnings, well, I am happy to remind them, and a lot more gently than he would."
Kozato gave him a wide-eyed look.
Tsuna's intuition pinged. He reached up and caught a grenade, which he tossed out the window so it could explode harmlessly, then turned to eye his little cow. "Lambo-kun…"
Lambo scowled and stomped his foot, then raced off.
"That boy…"
. . .
Hayato managed to scare Kozato off the next morning. Tsuna had run into him on his walk to school, but the moment Hayato raced up, Kozato had bolted like an uncoordinated rabbit.
"Weird," he commented.
The remainder of the walk consisted of him absently listening to Hayato babble on about UMAs, but he was startled to note that Hibari was atop the school, facing down a tall, busty female with long hair and legs that reached forever. She wore the same uniform as Kozato, so she must be one of the seven transfers.
"You came, Tsuna!"
He looked away and over. Takeshi was there. "Why wouldn't I be here? I mean, it's a school day."
"Let's get up there and watch!"
'Yeah, no, let's not,' he thought. He followed everyone inside, but peeled off as they headed for the staircase to the roof, and instead went to classroom 2-A. He settled in to review recent work, trying to ignore the sounds coming from above through the open windows.
Reborn showed up, looking annoyed. "Why aren't you up there?"
"Because it's none of my damn business," he replied.
"You should be concerned about our guests."
"And why is that?"
"They belong to the Shimon Famiglia. They're a mafia family, and they've been invited to the Vongola Inheritance Ceremony."
"Right," he said, still not looking up from checking his work. "All seven of them, I suppose. And based on what little I've seen, Kozato-san is the leader. Am I right?"
"Yes," came from behind him.
Tsuna glanced back over his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that. You don't look like you want that any more than I do."
Kozato looked skeptical for some reason.
"The connection between the Shimon Famiglia and the Vongola dates back to very old times. They've known each other since the time of Primo. Now, though, they've become such a small family that I hadn't even been aware of them," Reborn said.
"Somehow I doubt that," he said dryly. "Your pride would demand otherwise."
Reborn sulked. "What happened to the sweet, innocent boy I was promised?"
Tsuna snorted. "You relied on the word of that delusional sperm donor who pretends to be a husband and father. He wouldn't know the truth if you rammed it up his—"
"Tsuna!" Reborn said sharply. "He's family."
"I will never consider that man my blood, and nothing you can say will change my mind. Unless you plan to brainwash me, Reborn. Though why you'd want me infected with his idiocy is beyond me. I wouldn't trust him to administer a roach motel."
"You can't display an attitude like that in public."
"I fail to see why you defend him. Are you here for me, or to be his advocate? I like you, Reborn, but that won't change what I think or how I feel when it comes to him. Pretty words and excuses don't change the facts. He lied to us and abandoned us, and he always will given a choice. That's just who he is."
"Tsuna…" Reborn tilted his hat down to shade his eyes.
"Don't worry. I can pretend I don't despise the man if he's there at this stupid ceremony being planned. But let me put it to you this way, Reborn. You're more of a father to me than he is. Make of that what you will." He looked away as other students began to file into the classroom.
. . .
"Why don't you run away?"
Tsuna looked over to see Kozato stretched out on a bench, nursing his injuries.
"I'm always thinking about running away."
Tsuna sighed. "I see they got you again."
"When humans use power they use it rashly. The mafia and school bullies… They're all like that. So why don't you run?"
"Because I know they'll have the entire family out to track me down, and possibly allies, and that's assuming I have the skill to sneak off under Reborn's watch. If I'm forced into this, they're going to be forced to deal with how I want things done. And if it means the destruction of the Vongola, so be it. That's what they get for being shortsighted and arrogant."
"You should consider the ninth's feelings."
Tsuna heaved a sigh.
"For the sake of the ceremony," Reborn said, popping up out of nowhere as he usually did, "the ninth has sent out heartfelt invitations to all the families connected to Vongola. No matter how small or weak they may be. He was very pleased to know that one of those families went so far as to transfer for the ceremony. He thought you could become good friends, considering you're all around the same age."
His brow went up. He had nothing against the idea of being friendly with the Shimon, but he wasn't about to force them into it. He'd only met two of them anyway.
"He also said that he expects the Vongola Famiglia to take care of the Shimon Famiglia, since they're extremely weak."
Tsuna frowned. "Since when it is polite to denigrate a potential ally like that to their face, Reborn? You're small. That doesn't make you weak. Where is the ninth's proof that he can say something like that so casually? Or is that you being a snob again?"
"…Of course, there are some out there who aren't in favor of Vongola being powerful. I expect there will be groups that will boycott. After all, the ninth did write in his letter that he's caught wind that opposing groups are already on their way to Japan in order to interfere with the ceremony."
"Of course there—" He jumped sideways in response to an urgent ping from his intuition and made sure Kozato was safely out of the way.
Something that looked like a bizarre grappling hook crashed into the ground where he'd been standing.
"They're arrived already, haven't they?" Kozato said, his eyes wide and his shoulders hunched.
'Cloud Flames,' he realized. The huge, frightening looking man—man?—had his right hand replaced with that hook and he could apparently slingshot it at targets. 'It looks like he's using his flames to propagate … himself? Make himself bigger?'
"Don't you even think of losing to him, Tsuna," Reborn said seriously as he grabbed Kozato and hauled him out of the way.
Tsuna frowned and pulled on his gloves, then lit his flames. The second his gauntlets had settled, he launched himself forward and slagged the man's weapon with his Sky, then slammed into his jaw, knocking him unconscious.
"Is it just me, or is he a pathetic excuse for an assassin?" he asked no one in particular.
Reborn glided over thanks to Leon and took a closer look. "This is Tattoo of the Pesca Famiglia. Looks like he was in 'hyper mode' due an altered version of a dying will bullet. They're not even worth our time."
Tsuna coughed. "I thought those bullets were a Vongola creation. Where the hell would Pesca get their hands on any to alter?"
Reborn shrugged, which did nothing for Tsuna's peace of mind. He let his flames die out as he said, "Will you call a crew for clean-up, please?"
Reborn gave him an opaque look, then used a transformed Leon to make a call off to one side.
"You're actually pretty strong," Kozato commented.
"More like annoyed," he said as he tucked his gloves away, "but I thank you for the compliment. I'm just glad you weren't harmed. I can't go any length of time without something squirrely happening. Having the Chaos King over there around doesn't help."
Reborn paused for a moment in his call to smirk happily.
"Why is this my life?" he muttered, frowning at the assassin.
Somehow he ended up bundled off to a restaurant and squashed into a booth with Hayato, Takeshi, and Shoichi, with Enma and some of his family members on the other side. Reborn was disguised as a napkin holder for all he knew.
"Why isn't everyone here!?" Hayato demanded.
"Hayato," he said wearily. "You know Hibari-san hates crowds. Lambo-kun is too young to be involved."
"We called Nagi-chan," Shoichi added, "but got disconnected."
"We tried to call our members, too," said one of the ones Tsuna didn't know, "but Kato Julie is out right now, and Shitt P is busy meditating."
"Wha—!? Meditating? Her?" Hayato immediately started scribbling in his book. "So she communicates with the depths of the Earth around this time of day," he muttered.
Tsuna rolled his eyes, wanting nothing more than to bash his head against the table. "I don't even get why we're here. Shimon may be associated with Vongola, but that doesn't give us the right to ask anything of them."
Hayato looked like he was having a seizure. "But, Tsuna-kun…"
He shook his head. "No. The only thing we're going to do here is to say this. Kozato-san, you already witnessed one instance. I don't doubt more might try. But they should be targeting me, so you should be all right. Please be on alert just in case, you and your friends."
"Families underneath the Vongola should cooperate," Hayato protested, then flinched back when Tsuna turned burning eyes on him.
"Underneath?" he said softly. "You think Dino-nii is beneath me? Is that what you're saying? And people we've only just met recently are beneath us? You disappoint me. I-I don't know what else to say. I apologize, Kozato-san. I need to go, before I do something stupid."
He got up and walked away quickly, before he lost his temper for real.
. . .
He had just gotten word that the Giegue Famiglia had been attacked while after an alleged enemy of Vongola in Namimori when Reborn alerted him to the arrival of a limousine outside the house.
"The ninth is looking forward to meeting you."
He saw and recognized Coyote Nougat and Ganauche III, though he was not supposed to. "They are…?"
"Some of the ninth's guardians. They've come for you. So let's go."
Namimori hosted a surprisingly large and fancy hotel for a town that was not a tourist trap. He had to wonder if Vongola had a hand in that, though aside from the Sawada family, Tsuna couldn't imagine why anyone would bother.
"This way, Tsunayoshi-sama. Ninth is waiting for you on the top floor."
'You know there's money involved when you enter the penthouse suite and see a patron gardening.'
"Over here," Timoteo said. "Thank you for coming, Tsunayoshi-kun."
His mind froze up on how to address the man, so he bowed his greeting.
"Let's have some tea," the old man said kindly.
One of his men poured seconds after they took seats at a small table near the greenery.
"As much as I have heard you are not fond of the idea of becoming a mafia boss," Timoteo began, "the only one who can return the corrupted Vongola to it's original state is you, and only you, Tsunayoshi-kun."
For a moment he was speechless at the sheer amount of manipulation packed into that statement. Unless there was a real bastard child in the wings, yes, he was their only chance. By their own rules Iemitsu was ineligible to take on the role of Decimo, and Timoteo was unlikely to live long enough for another child of the blond to get to an appropriate age to take over if Tsuna refused. The appeal and the flattery were just icing.
"Original state?" he asked once he collected himself.
"I'm sure you've heard already," Timoteo responded. After a sip of his tea he continued. "The purpose of the first generation Vongola Famiglia that Primo founded was to protect the townspeople. They would fight for their loved ones, but they didn't abuse their power. What you have been doing is very much like their ways.
"Things began to change from the second generation. Given the form the ring took for you, a form that no other generation has been able to obtain, it must mean that Primo and I are thinking the same thing. That Vongola in its current form must be destroyed. You're the only one who would be able to carry on the will of Vongola. Think about it carefully, yes?"
"Why now?" he asked. "Why hold this ceremony so soon? I've not even finished middle school."
"It is true that you're still a little young to work in society, but Primo was about your age when he founded the vigilante group. I am not getting any younger, Tsunayoshi-kun. There is only so much time."
His eyes hardened. "Why me?"
Timoteo affected to look confused. "There is only you."
He nodded. "Right." He let it slide for the moment, the unspoken refusal on the old man's part to address the real question he asked.
"The sooner you become boss of Vongola, the sooner you'll see and end those fights and murders that you so hate."
He blinked in surprise at a second round of manipulation, not to mention the blatant lies. The old man must think he was shockingly naïve to believe something as ludicrous as that.
"Oh, dear," Timoteo said, raising a hand to his forehead as if in chagrin. "It must sound like I'm asking you to succeed me directly after the ceremony. I'm sorry. I assure you, if you are against the idea of it all come the day before the ceremony, you should say so then. I'm certain the people who have come as witnesses will understand."
He wondered just how often Xanxus's hackles must have been up given the utter swill that came out of Timoteo's mouth when he was trying to convince someone to his way of thinking. The only thing that would have surprised Tsuna more would be for the old man to bring his Sky Flames to bear in an effort to get his way.
"Now, then, how about some dinner, Tsunayoshi-kun?"
He had decided on the ride to the hotel to ask some hard questions during this meeting, but now he could tell he'd get nothing more but the same evasions, lies, manipulations, and guilt trips.
He smiled awkwardly and shook his head. "I-I'm…"
Timoteo smiled and Reborn said, "I'll be staying the night since Ninth and I have some things to discuss."
He eyed his tutor. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
Ganauche saw him out of the penthouse and Tsuna was glad to be gone. Didn't stop him from leaving behind some spies to see what went on in his absence.
"Do you really think Tsuna will agree to succeed you as boss by your sugar-coated words back there?" he heard Reborn ask.
"I sensed that there was a moment when that child seriously considered the idea," Timoteo replied. "It's enough."
"Is this it?" Reborn asked.
Tsuna frowned; he would have to wait until he could recall his spies to get a visual on whatever it was his tutor just referenced.
"Yes. This is what has been passed on from generation to generation since Primo's time. It is Vongola's … sin."
'What the everloving fuck?' he wondered.
When he got home he was surprised that Enma was there. "Hi," Tsuna said. "Want to come in?"
Enma nodded. "I wanted to thank your mother for her help the other day."
"Oh, sure. She'd love to see you no matter what. That's just who she is."
Nana brushed off Kozato's thanks and ushered the two of them upstairs to Tsuna's room, and returned moments later with a snack for them.
Tsuna blinked and shrugged. "The ninth told me today to decide whether or not I want to become boss by the morning before the ceremony," he said. "He said to decide as I wished, but I could tell he honestly wants me to become boss and revert the family back to how it was in Primo's time."
"Why are you telling me this?" Kozato asked apathetically.
"Ah… Sorry. I don't normally have anyone I can talk to about things like this who isn't already too close to the situation. I thought you might understand how I felt, given some of the things you've said. I presumed, and I apologize."
"Don't put me in the same category as you."
'Okay, this is getting weird.' "What do you mean?"
"Unlike your lot, my family has had a lot of scary things inflicted upon us by other mafia families. Because we're famous as a small and weak family. You could never understand our pain."
'Right, I'm not about to get into a dick measuring contest when it comes to pain with someone who's clearly having an emo spell,' he thought. He nodded and ate some onigiri rather than saying something that would likely bleed sarcasm.
"Tsu-kun~!" his mother called. "The bath's ready!"
Kozato immediately got up. "Good evening, Sawada-san."
'The older I get, the less I think I understand,' he thought as the redhead headed out. 'And that'll teach me to reach out to people.'
He took his shower, then settled into the tub for his evening soak. Since his spies weren't transmitting anything else of particular interest, he recalled them. The "Vongola Sin" turned out to be an ornate glass or crystal vial with some dark liquid in it. Like blood.
. . .
On his way to school Reborn popped up like a clipped yen coin. "Ciaossu! Have you decided?"
"Like I have a choice," he said stiffly. "You may as well just call the man and tell him yes."
Reborn tilted his hat back and eyed him intently. "I'm getting the feeling there's so much you're not saying."
He snorted. "It's disappointing, Reborn, that he clearly thinks so little of my intelligence, critical reasoning, and kami knows what else. The sheer amount of manipulation and lies made me nauseous. I'd rather not be in the same room with him again until I must for the ceremony."
"I see." The hat tilted back down and Reborn remained quiet for the rest of the walk, then vanished somewhere as Tsuna passed through the school gates.
He hadn't been home for very long when he got a call from Hayato. Takeshi was in the emergency room. He'd been found in the locker room after baseball practice. He dropped the phone and bolted. It was hard to connect to any of them meaningfully, but that didn't mean he lacked a heart.
Hayato was waiting when he got there. "He's in surgery right now."
Nagi was present, and Shoichi. Lambo was in one of the waiting room seats, looking confused and upset.
Ryohei was also there, looking fairly well dragged out due to his condition. "I was the one who found him," he said. "I was on my way home and heard something as I passed the baseball team's locker room. The door was open, so I went in to check. Yamamoto was lying in a pool of blood… I called an ambulance."
Tears dripped from Nagi's eyes; no surprise there. She felt deeply, and her heart was kind and loyal.
Hayato's fists clenched. "I won't forgive whoever did this," he swore.
He felt his tutor approaching. Tsuna looked up in time to see him appear around the corner, carrying a cup of coffee. Once the chibi got close enough he said, "I found a lead. Yamamoto left a message in blood, before he passed out. A good portion of it was covered up, probably the part that revealed the culprit's name.
"However, next to that the letters 'deritoto' had been written. Doesn't seem like anything, which is probably why it wasn't covered up. I didn't get it at first, but then I tried romaji, which changed it to 'delitto'. In Italian it means—"
"Sin."
Reborn nodded.
"But what does it mean?" Ryohei asked.
Reborn sent a solemn look at the dying Sun. "From here on…"
Ryohei nodded. "I get it. I need to go, um… Yeah. Will someone keep me updated on Yamamoto?"
Tsuna gave him a nod.
Once Ryohei had cleared out Reborn continued. "Sin is the name of the small bottle or vial the boss of the Vongola inherits at the ceremony with each new generation. 'Sin' is something Primo created to leave the memories of his battles to all his successors within the family. It is the proof of the Vongola boss. In legends they say the bottle contains the blood shed during those battles."
Tsuna stared blankly at his tutor. That sounded like a Disney-fied version of a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.
"Whoever it is, they obviously know that the only time it's seen by the eyes of the public is at the ceremony," Reborn said. "It seems likely the culprit will be there tomorrow."
. . .
'For how long has Namimori been hiding a freakin' castle?' he wondered. 'Or is this some elaborate Mist construct and I'm just not sensing it properly? Or was this where Giotto ended up living when he retired to Japan?'
There were tables outside, covered in snowy linen, with clusters of people around them as they waited. Groups of security personnel were doing body checks on guests, to collect any and all weapons.
The doctor who handled the surgery reported to Yamamoto Tsuyoshi that, "His condition is severe. We were able to save his life, but there's a good chance he may never walk again."
For anyone who knew that it might seem a tad odd that Takeshi was there with them, outfitted in a suit like the rest of them. Nagi was handling that part, making it appear as if the boy was whole and hale.
The ninth had been swift to lock down on any reports regarding Takeshi's injury or condition. The idea, as presented by Reborn, was to have him appear to be there and have people watching to see who, if anyone, reacted oddly.
Naito Longchamp was certainly fooled, but he was not the best test.
Dino also appeared not to notice, but Tsuna never was certain whether or not the Cavallone Don had anything resembling intuition in the way a Vongola Sky might. If he did, he was smart enough to keep his expression schooled and hold his questions until a better time.
"I didn't expect this day to come so soon," Dino commented, smiling at Tsuna. "You make me proud!"
Tsuna smiled back, unable not to. His fondness for the blond persisted from the moment he met the man.
"Let's talk later," Dino suggested, just as there was a loud, "Voooiii!" in the background.
The Varia had arrived, sans Xanxus. Some of the people milling around outside froze up in fear, their eyes wide and their mouths gaping.
"It's been a while, scum!" Squalo focused on Takeshi. "Voi! You haven't been skipping training, have you!?"
Takeshi scratched the back of his head and laughed. "Of course not!"
Squalo nodded and slung an arm around Tsuna's shoulders, and leaned in close. "Where the fuck is Yamamoto, scum?"
Dino leaned in as well. "We won't pry if you don't tell us, but… We can help."
Tsuna shook his head, worried that Nagi would lose her cool over it. "Later," he said quietly.
The two men pulled away and started toward the castle. "See you inside!" Dino called back.
"Am I too weak…?" Nagi whispered.
"You're doing well."
Tsuna glanced back long enough to see Mammon providing some moral support to his Mist.
"They'd have to be real experts to see through an illusion of that level. Have some confidence."
Nagi's eyes went wide. "Thank you."
"Let go of me," Mammon said, head tilted down to stare at Belphegor, who was holding onto one foot like the Mist was a bizarre balloon.
A commotion started up over at security, and Tsuna nearly rolled his eyes when saw that Enma was being harassed. He strolled over quickly and put a stop to it. "Why are you bothering invited guests?"
"We've never even heard of the Shimon Famiglia!" a guard protested, still eyeing Enma.
"So you decided their invitations must be forgeries?" he asked. "Or did you not even bother to check them?"
"Look, boy, you—" The guard shut up once he saw who was making the protest. "Oh."
"Please check the invitations. I know this group and I know they were invited." He pivoted and started off. "I just know this day will only get worse," he muttered to himself.
"It's time to go in," Reborn said.
Inside was a sea of black. Even most of the women were in black, though a few stood out in colours like blood red. The hall inside the main doors was three storeys high and the room was flooded with light from the myriad windows.
Tsuna and his group—Hibari had shown up at the last moment, surprisingly—walked down the aisle and came to a stop in front of Timoteo, who had his usual kindly smile gracing his face.
"We shall commence with the passing of the bottle, which is proof of the Vongola boss since Primo's generation. It will be handed to Vongola Decimo, from Vongola Nono," Coyote announced as he walked up with a balding man bearing a pillow, which in turn bore a glossy, dark-stained wooden box.
Unfortunately for Tsuna, he could not very well use mirrors or wisps to figure out who was itching to jump at that "artifact", and had to trust in others to be his eyes.
"Now, the inheritance…"
Timoteo picked up the box and unfolded the sides, revealing the Vongola Sin to the assemblage. "I pass this on to you, Decimo."
And then a god-awful hellish shriek of noise started up, causing everyone to cover their ears. Smoke bombs went off to further confuse things.
The ninth's guardians surrounded him, pushing Tsuna into the circle as well. But when it calmed down, the old man's arm was bleeding and the Vongola Sin was cracked on the ground, the blood splattered on the carpet and nearly invisible against the red pile.
"Are you all right, Ninth!?"
"It is fine. Seal off all the exits. Do not let anyone leave."
"The exits are sealed," Brow Nie Jr reported, one hand pressed against his earpiece. "We'll start analyzing the security footage now. It shouldn't take more than five minutes to find the culprit. Everything is as planned."
Tsuna's brow went up at this evidence that he was excluded from the plan. Not that it surprised him. He was just a boy, and at the moment, a pawn.
"It looks like their motive was to destroy the Sin," Reborn stated.
"It seems that way," Timoteo replied. "Do not worry, Tsunayoshi-kun. That was a fake, a replica of the Sin made to lure the culprit into action. The real one is stored safely in a vault in the next room. The flames that shield it is made of our seven properties and cannot be destroyed by any weapon or dying will flame."
'Pretty damn confident about that. Weren't you also confident about Xanxus being on ice?'
"To have planned this far… You're incredible, Ninth!" Hayato said in awe.
Tsuna wished for a handy wall so he could bash his head against it.
"Bad news! The vault was broken into!"
Everyone rushed into the next room, like sheep. Tsuna felt so very tired. More Vongola arrogance. More reactionary twaddle.
"Huh!?" Brow Nie Jr grunted. "Something's in the room." His gun came out and then fell apart into its component pieces.
'The Shimon Famiglia,' he thought. 'There's no other explanation.'
A volley of ice shards came flying straight at them, but a barrier of Lightning Flames went up as protection. It failed.
When the dust cleared, the Shimon Famiglia was there, posing. Enma had the Vongola Sin. "We're taking this back. This blood belongs to the Shimon Famiglia. We needed this to unlock our power, and to gain our revenge on Vongola."
Enma cracked open the vial and poured some of the blood on his ring.
Tsuna checked out mentally during the ensuing episode of story time, about how the Vongola Primo had betrayed the Shimon Primo, how the Shimon were then spit on by the rest of the mafia world because their alleged failure had caused Vongola to lose some battle.
'And really,' he thought, 'this all sounds like severely one-sided history to me. I know Giotto could not have been a saint, but even I'm having trouble believing he would heartlessly betray his friend like that. There's got to be more to this.'
Enma stepped forward to show the Vongola just how weak they really were, to humiliate them the way they'd been humiliated. Enma was an Earth, so Tsuna knew exactly what they could be facing. One by one his "guardians" were picked up and slammed into the walls or ceiling.
"Do you want to know why I have yet to attack you, Tsuna-kun?"
"You don't have the right to be so familiar, Kozato-san," he said flatly.
"I want you to feel the pain the first boss of Shimon was dealt by Primo."
Tsuna played it straight, with only Sky Flames and his Hyper Intuition. He was nothing special, after all. He didn't have Cloud Flames, or Mist Flames, or … Earth Flames. Not in front of so many witnesses, anyway. It wasn't fun to be slammed into the ceiling and held there.
"So weak," Adelheid said scathingly. "And Enma's power is still incomplete. The Shimon ring and the blood of Shimon's first boss will finish merging in seven days."
"This is your only chance," Enma said. "In a week, you won't even be able to lay a finger on me."
'It is at this point I really want to say that if the Shimon Primo had Earth Flames he must have sucked balls at using them if he couldn't take on an army with gravity.'
"We should go, Adelheid," Enma said. "If we kill them all now, they will never taste of the pain Shimon has gone through." He switched focus and yanked Nagi over to their side, where the one Shimon guardian Tsuna almost never saw, Kato Julie, took possession of her in his arms.
"I'll take you along, too~ We have date plans~!" Kato said.
As a final insult, Enma crushed all seven Vongola rings before they left.
'Was it worth it?' he asked himself. 'To hold back through that farce? To not show what I can do? To let them kidnap a friend, because the boy I was in my origin world would not have had any way to handle this situation aside from sheer panic?'
His impact with the floor drove all the air out of his lungs and nearly broke his nose.
'Wait a minute. That child just shattered part of the Tri-ni-set. Why the fuck isn't Checker Face here throwing the mother of all tantrums!? It's official. Nothing makes sense anymore. This is all just a bad dream. There's no logic anymore. I mean, seriously, what the everloving fuck?'
"There is still hope."
"Who!?"
"I can see there is light, even with these blind eyes." The ancient man was—sporting a mohawk?
'I definitely lost my mind at some point,' he thought as he rose to his knees, then his feet. His suit was a total loss. 'It's no wonder I have trouble taking any of this seriously.'
"Ninth. You certainly have grown old."
"Grandfather Talbot! You came to the ceremony," Timoteo replied.
"Yes, though a bit late. I had to take care of my sheep, you see."
"That's Talbot," Reborn said for peanut gallery. "The oldest metal craftsman who has worked alongside the Vongola. It's rare for him to show himself. It's said he's been working for Vongola since Primo's time."
'Eh? Is the dude like Checker Face, then?'
The wizened mohawk mummy crouched down carefully to examine the rings, which had somehow conveniently all ended up in the same place. "Ouch. They've taken quite the beating. Ho ho ho, so the opponent was the Shimon ring aided by the Sin, eh? No wonder you were defeated. Good boy, I'll fix you right up. What say you? The Vongola rings are writhing to be reborn."
"The Vongola rings are still…?" Timoteo trailed off.
"They're still alive. Their shells have merely been destroyed." Talbot switched focus in a heartbeat to Tsuna. "So you're Vongola the tenth. You're exactly the man the rings say you are."
'Kami help us all, because I don't think I want to know.' "Please stop poking me with your stick," he asked as politely as he could.
"Hey, geezer!" shouted Hayato. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? What do you mean the rings are telling you things!?"
"You wore one of these and yet didn't even know?" Talbot asked condescendingly. "Within powerful rings dwell spirits. With spirits they are able to feel."
'And the wand chooses the wizard, Harry.'
"To hear those voices is my job. The Vongola rings are telling me of new possibilities."
"You mean to say the rings can be fixed!?" Timoteo said.
"More or less. But not to their original state. As such, they would only meet the same fate if they faced Shimon again. It can't be helped, as the levels of the rings are too different. With the Shimon rings bathed in the blood of the Shimon's Primo, their powers are multiplied. No, no, these would have to be upgraded."
"With!?" Hayato demanded.
"Is that not obvious?" Talbot said, then flipped one arm out dramatically. His cape had myriad objects attached to the inside. It was a wonder he didn't clink everywhere. "With this," he said, having detached a vial from his collection. "The blood of Vongola Primo, Penalty."
Tsuna was exhausted. Everyone was so fucking emotional and dramatic and he just wanted to take a nap at that point. All the gasping and surprise and shock and…
"Now, then, we have the materials. If all goes well, the Vongola rings will obtain a power like never before. But if we fail, they will lose their spirits. They will never shine again. The probability is half and half. What will you do, tenth?"
'Uh, oh, I'm supposed to say something here, right?' "I… Um…"
"You must do what you think is best, Tsunayoshi-kun."
"Ninth!" someone protested.
"We all agree!" Hayato cried. "Right?"
Of course he'd say yes, to go ahead with it. He was at least mildly pissed off that Takeshi had nearly been killed and might never again walk. He was at least mildly pissed off that Nagi had been hauled off like a sack of potatoes, potentially to be sexually assaulted by a pervert. And he was at least mildly pissed off that he couldn't just crush the fuckers when he had the chance, for the crime of blaming innocents for something that happened centuries ago. "Please!" he implored Talbot with as much emotion as he could pack into his voice. "Upgrade the rings!"
'Okay, so I guess Checker Face is probably watching and waiting to see if the rings survive. And if not, then he'll flip out. I guess.'
. . .
The Vindice showed up when Tsuna and company arrived on the Shimon Famiglia's "holy" island.
"We have come here to fulfill our promise to Vongola Primo Giotto and Shimon Primo Cozarto. Giotto and Cozarto were bound by their unfaltering friendship. For that reason, Vongola and Shimon must not ever cross swords with one another. And thus, should that situation ever arise, we created a law that the losing side shall be erased from existence forever. This is the second time that this law has been put into motion. The losing participant in this fight will be confined in our prison for eternity."
"I like the sound of it," Enma said. "For eternity."
Sun went first; it was a tie. They were both hauled away.
Tsuna sent wisps off as spies, to canvass the island. To find Nagi, to figure out where things were, for what it was worth.
One alerted him to his Mist. For a brief moment she thought she was seeing Mukuro. He knew Mukuro had reached out, as he had previously. That he had found Nagi. Maybe it was just one of those things meant to be. Those two could be siblings, after all.
But why would Mukuro have anything to do with Kato Julie?
Lightning was next. Lambo won.
Storm followed. Hayato won.
Tsuna still had no clue how to get to Nagi, or why she'd been taken beyond her value as a lure to force them to the island. Though, given what a poor opinion the Shimon had of Tsuna, why they thought he'd care…
Enma showed up, crazed out of his mind. Blaming Iemitsu for the death of his father, mother, and sister. So naturally, Tsuna must be as much of a bastard.
Tsuna was only "saved" from being atomized because the Shimon Earth ring had not yet finished its merge with Cozarto's blood. Adelheid hauled him away, promising she would be the next to fight.
A spy caught his attention, which caused Reborn to misinterpret his blankness and kick him in the head. Kato was bothering Nagi again, and he knew about her contact with Mukuro.
"To be blunt, the one who devised this fight between Vongola and Shimon… It was done by me~!" Kato said happily. "I have two goals. First is the annihilation of the Vongola, right? Adelheid and Enma are really trying their best with that. And the other goal is you, Nagi-chan~! To be precise, I'm going to use you as an entrance to get into your master."
Tsuna blinked a few times in confusion, still not paying attention to Reborn. Kato wanted Mukuro's body? For some reason?
"I plan to take Rukudo Mukuro's body for my own~!"
"You're… You're Daemon Spade, Primo's Mist Guardian," Nagi whispered.
"I'd prefer you submit that body of yours to me of your own will."
"No! Absolutely not!"
"Nufufufu. Then, I've got to punish you. You're going to be mine," Kato—Daemon—said.
Tsuna saw Daemon's mark appear in his eye, a spade. And just like that, Nagi was under his control.
'Well, shit.'
Cloud was next, which meant Adelheid. A helicopter buzzed in out of nowhere and dropped Hibari off.
'Sure, why not. Anything is possible at this point. Even Disciplinary Committee members who know how to fly choppers.'
While that was going on, he was still paying attention to Nagi's situation.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi has inherited the thick blood of the Vongola Primo," Daemon informed Nagi. "He's a dangerous factor. We must eliminate the remainder of the Vongola Primo's bitter legacy. In order to do that we need my own abilities. You know what it is you can do for me, right?"
"…Yes."
"Say it with that mouth."
"…Yes. …This body and Rokudo Mukuro… I offer them to Daemon-sama."
Hibari won. What a shock.
The memory they got that time actually felt important. Cozarto had come to aid Vongola. They were surrounded. When Giotto found out he immediately made the decision to rescue him and his people.
Daemon Spade, however, said it was reckless and impossible. He would go, pave a path of escape for the Shimon.
Hibari noticed someone approaching. "Who are you?"
"Looks like you found me," Kato said. "Oh well." Nagi was half hidden behind him.
"Julie!" Adelheid cried out. "You'll take care of Enma, won't you?"
"Of course," Kato said airily. "Leave it to me. You did well, Adel. And from here on, I'm going to go ahead and leave my place in Shimon."
"Julie!?"
"Looks like I don't have any need to continue this awful charade. Adel, I needed you to lead the Shimon as its passionate driving motivation, but… You being taken away permanently will dismantle the family. The Shimon guardians have nothing left. And when Enma fully awakens, he'll have emotionally gone past the point of no return, so there's no problem."
Tsuna mentally checked out again until the point that Takeshi dropped in out of fucking nowhere to save the life of his counterpart—the one who tried to brutally murder him—and face down Daemon Spade in Kato Julie's body, all while Nagi was holding up a barrier that, allegedly, would kill her if it was broken.
Mizuno Kaoru saved Takeshi from a back attack, and thus lost the Rain battle.
Tsuna was still confused as fuck by Daemon's insistence on wiping him out. If he was dead, and Iemitsu was clearly incompetent, just exactly who did Daemon think was going to lead Vongola, the bloodier, nastier, all around more disgusting version of the family? Because with blood-locked rings…
Was Daemon planning to break his mind and use him as a puppet? Why was he like this? What was the twisted logic that made up his insanity?
Why was the next memory, after he beat the sense back into a psychotic Enma (he was starting to believe in Naruto's therapy jutsu), so focused on showing a clear pacifier when it came to the Vindice?
Is that where they originated? When the Arcobaleno were replaced and the present set were sucked dry? If they somehow clung to life, or unlife… Is that what Vindice were? They—or one of them—had their own flame, not of the Sky or the Earth.
"Should I call you … Bermuda von Veckenschtein?"
The chibi-sized Vindice with a clear pacifier.
Reborn flipped out, demanding of the Vindice who were present to share the memory, "Why do you possess that clear pacifier!?"
"We have no reason to tell you," was all he got as a reply.
He had never, in any life, seen Reborn flip out like that, but it did prove just how deeply he felt about being enslaved to a pacifier.
A bit later—it might have been hours and several fights on and possibly saving Enma's life—Daemon had pulled a bluff and stolen Mukuro's body, broken out of Vendicare, and brought himself back to the "holy" island to wipe out Tsuna.
And boast, and monologue, and laugh psychotically. And also show just how fucked in the head he was with how he kept warping the body he was wearing. It was almost amusing to see a pissed off Mukuro inhabiting the body of a passing owl.
There was a battle, wherein Tsuna could finally openly use Earth Flames—some bizarre thing where his Vongola ring merged with Enma's Shimon ring—and how did that work, anyway? Now poor Enma was short a ring? Tsuna got it all, and Enma got the satisfaction of helping? Or something?
Daemon was defeated, and it was revealed that somehow the man had interpreted "protect the weak" to mean wipe them off the face of the Earth and turn the family into a bloody totalitarian regime that encompassed the world.
But everyone was happy! The Shimon Famiglia members had been set free by the Vindice (and Shoichi), Mukuro was allowed to keep his body and not have to go back to Vendicare for his efforts in defeating Daemon Spade, and it was all so saccharine that Tsuna wanted to gag.
Back in Namimori, Tsuna died when a small yappy dog startled him into falling into an open manhole, which wouldn't have been so bad, but he knocked himself into unconsciousness when his head hit the metal rim and he drowned.
In sewer water.
