Chapter eleven – Trouble finds you because misery loves company.
Disclaimer:
"I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me."
―J.K. Rowling,Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Tsuna sat down on his seat, thankful that it was one near the window. He had finally made it to Rinku-Tokoname station and got there in time to board the train. As he sat down on the toasty seat, he felt himself sigh. Now that the adrenaline of finding himself in a strange place on the streets were leaving him, he felt hungry. His stomach loudly complained. He glanced around the train as it started moving and saw that there were hardly anyone around. Just a woman and her son. He smiled to himself, thinking about his mother and his sister. His mind tried to push him in that dark place but he refused to go there. It was like he said. He had to survive this. He had to. For Teruko's sake. He leaned back against his seat and fatigue tried to lull him asleep but he refused to close his eyes. In fact, he took out Aoi's book and started to read.
"If you wish to pull off perfect, discreet scouting, it is recommended that you work with a team. While you're taking the pictures, another person could be behind the wheel of a car, just in case you need to get away as fast as you can.
Even if you don't have a team, don't worry! Anyone can scout their target properly if they follow through with the basic rules!
Now that you understand the rules of scouting, you should go to fourth step of the planning process!
What is the fourth step?
The fourth step would be to take an account of resources that you have on hand and what you will need for the future. It is recommended that you have the basic necessities of recon such as surveillance gear: for example binoculars, cameras, recording devices etc.
Transportation is also important, and clothes.
Why are clothes important?
Clothes is part of your disguise. It is part of scouting. If you have to track your target, you have to do so in a way that draws little attention to yourself.
For example, if you're tracking the manager of a company, would you wear a dingy pair of jeans to enter into his office? Of course not! If you wish to blend in, then you're going to need to look the part! Clothes make the man! Or the woman!" Tsuna was reading when someone plopped themselves down on the seat before him. He looked up from his book and a girl around seven years old was smiling at him. Her hair was brown as his, though it wasn't as fluffy. In fact, it neatly ran down her shoulders from the black ribbon she had used to place it in a high ponytail. She wore a black jacket that was left opened, a white dress with more black ribbons that ran around her mid-section and thigh high boots with white laces.
"Hi" she chirped as she pushed herself forward, her amber eyes sparkling. "I'm Aimi-chan" she said. Love beauty, huh? She frowned when Tsuna placed his book back into his jacket. "What's your name?" she asked with a smile.
"Tsuna" he replied. Unlike with Aoi, he didn't tell this kid his full name. He didn't know why but something about her, just like with his grandfather, rubbed him the wrong way.
"Are you sure?" the girl sweetly asked and he could see her hand moving to left boot. "Aimi-chan told you her name, so why don't you tell me yours?" she pouted but Tsuna wasn't convinced. He looked down the walkway of the train, only to see a burly boy blocking one of the exits. When their eyes met, Tsuna knew for sure that something was wrong. To prove him right, before he could turn around, a knife was pressed against the side of his neck, so people walking past them wouldn't see it from that angle. "Give me your money" she said, the sweetness gone from her face, the metal digging into his neck. The tip of the blade threatened to break his skin as she applied more pressure.
"Or what? You going to kill me?" Tsuna asked and the girl's eyes narrowed. He had already been through SO much within the short span of days, that he couldn't find it in himself to fully react to the girl or her threat.
"You see that little boy there?" the girl pointed and Tsuna followed where her finger was directing him to look, some seats down from them. The mother and boy was huddled together, reading one of Tsuna's favourite books. "If you don't give me your money in three seconds, I'm going to kill them" she said. Tsuna gritted his teeth, hate boring through his pupils as he dug into his jacket for the death race money. She smirked and pocketed it. "You're too easy, kid. I'm sure you haven't even tried to make connections with the others" she told him.
"You're part of it" Tsuna whispered but she didn't answer. Instead, he could barely keep up when the knife disappeared like it wasn't there in the first place.
"We've been watching you ever since you got on this train but you never even noticed us" Aimi said with an unimpressed snort. "We heard about Soke-sama's grandson entering the race, but who would've thought he would be so weak" she whispered and his hands gripped onto the hand rests of his seat, until his knuckles turned white with the rage that was ready to explode.
"Aimi-chan, we have to leave" the boy said, walking towards them. "They're coming" he added. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and placed her hands on her hips.
"Don't worry, this wasn't personal or anything. This is just how the business works" Aimi said and shot him a peace sign before they high tailed it out of there. He could only watch completely humiliated as the two ran off, followed by some men. He had just been robbed by a fucking seven year old.
"Damn it" he whispered to himself. Even his mother would be disappointed. "Shit" he said as he sat up. "Now how am I going to pay Ryo?" he asked himself and groaned. Now he was in deep shit.
"Well that was easy" Aimi laughed as the doors snapped close behind them. They could hear the men approaching but she didn't particularly care. "What's wrong?" she asked her brother but before he could answer her, her eyes widened at the gun positioned threateningly into his temple. When Aimi got her knife ready to retaliate, she froze at the gaze she was met with. This boy was even more dangerous than she and her brother was. "You…." She hissed. She had heard through their grapevine about the kid protecting Soke-sama's grandson but she would have never, in her wildest dreams think that the boy would be HIM.
She was expecting the boy with whitish gold hair to shoot her brother or even injure him, but instead, the boy shoved her brother in her direction. Instantly, she got rid of her knife so he wouldn't collide with the sharp metal. She could tell that the boy wasn't going to do anything.
Yeah they had robbed their Soke's grandson and threatened someone else's life, but they hadn't harmed him.
That was the only reason he was letting them go. "Next time, I'll make you pay" Aimi gritted her teeth.
"ThErE wOn'T bE a NeXt TiMe" the boy smirked and Aimi bit her tongue in silence. "RuN" he ordered and without another word, Aimi escaped with her brother.
When Tsuna finally made it to Chita-Handa station, the police had rushed in, ready to interrogate them about the thieving duo. Apparently Aimi and her accomplice had robbed not only Tsuna but nearly everyone on the train. As soon as the doors slid open and they were told to come outside in an orderly line, Tsuna's eyes roved everywhere, looking for a way to sneak out. "We're just going to ask you all a few ques-…" the officer was saying when a loud 'SLAP' interrupted him. Their attention was swallowed up by the rather boisterous couple who was arguing right there on the platform.
"How could you do this to me?!" the woman screamed at the man who had neon green hair and sunglasses on his face. He wore some type of cheap looking suit with a bright gold watch on his wrist and a pair of shiny black shoes. "You spent all of our money on your gambling and now, we have nothing!" the woman shouted as she slapped him again. The officers who were so intent on maintaining order before, were now enjoying the free show that they were given. Tsuna decided that would be his cue to leave. He couldn't waste time going to the police station. He had to find a way to hitch a ride to Yokkaichi with Ryo with NO money. He was ready to slip away, when a name stopped him. "Do you have anything to say for yourself? Huh? Ryo-kun, answer me!" she demanded and Tsuna's mouth dropped open. THAT was Ryo?!
"Yeah" he croakily whispered and he straightened himself up before leaning forward. "Does this mean we can see other people?" he asked and they were all glad when the women decked him.
"You always could pack a punch, Yukine-chan" Ryo muttered to himself, carefully dabbing the handkerchief against his split lip. Judging from the burning pain in his mouth, he had bitten his tongue when Yukine (who was his ex now) had hit him on the platform. He leaned against his van. Usually he would grasp onto the black box pressed against his chest, secured in his pocket when he realized that it wasn't there. "Oh right" he hissed as he slammed the back of his head against the window. "Ryo-san!" a slightly shrill voice called and his head snapped to the right, where a short boy was stumbling towards him. He remembered what Big Aoi had told him over the phone. "There's a kid heading your way. Be nice. He's a friend" the woman (even though Aoi was beefy than he was) had warned him. He knew what that meant. He couldn't swindle the kid. What a shame, he said to him, this kid was made to be conned with those innocent eyes and naïve face. That begged the questions though: Who the hell was this kid? And how did he get tied up in their world?
"Ryo-san!" Tsuna shouted as he approached the man. Ryo was standing next to a modest white van, wiping away the blood from his split lip. He looked up and Tsuna said "Big Aoi sent me". Ryo frowned and pulled the handkerchief from his mouth.
"Yeah, she called me" Ryo said taking off his sunglasses, blue eyes focused on his face. Now that he had a good look at him, he could see a hint of foreign blood poking through. "My mother was Italian" he added when he saw how Tsuna was curiously looking at him.
"That's nice?" Tsuna said though it came out as a question but could you blame him? What was he supposed to say? Ryo just smirked and leaned against his van.
"So you want a ride to Yokkaichi" Ryo said as he placed the napkin in his front pocket.
"I have to get to Iga by tomorrow" Tsuna said and Ryo crossed his ankles as well as his arms.
"How much money do you have?" Ryo asked and Tsuna frowned. "What?" he asked again at the boy's crest fallen face.
"I got robbed" Tsuna said and for a good two minutes, silence blew between them. Ryo pushed himself off his van and patted Tsuna's head.
"Too bad. Well good luck" Ryo said ready to jump inside, when Tsuna stopped him. "I don't do anything for free, kid" he added as he slapped Tsuna's hand from grabbing his jacket. Tsuna stepped aside as Ryo sat down in his van, ready to leave. He had to stop him. Ryo was the only way he could make it to Yokkaichi and then to Iga. He had to stall him….Come on brain. Think! Think! Think! Tsuna's eyes widened and he knocked against Ryo's window.
"We'll make a trade!" Tsuna shouted and Ryo frowned from inside the van. "Please, I'll do anything!" he added as he bowed. Ryo stared at the kid. He knew exactly what desperation was, and this kid was dripping in it.
"Alright, hop in" Ryo said and Tsuna timidly looked up. "Get in" Ryo said and Tsuna didn't wait to be told twice. He ran around the van, opened the passenger's door and climbed inside of the van. "We'll make a deal. I will drive you to Yokkaichi but you're going to have to do something for me" Ryo said, glancing at the kid who make sure to place his seat belt on.
"What is it that you want me to do?" Tsuna asked. Before Ryo could speak though, Tsuna's stomach loudly rumbled. Pink started to crawl from Tsuna's cheeks to his neck.
"We'll eat first and then talk" Ryo said and Tsuna couldn't argue with that. He was starving.
"Take it easy kid" Ryo joked as he watched Tsuna wolf down the bowl of ramen. The kid who was furiously slurping the broth straight from the bowl, sheepishly smiled as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Another one over here" Ryo told the waitress and the woman snorted at him but nodded at Tsuna.
"Women don't seem to like you" Tsuna said and Ryo rolled his eyes as he took a sip of his water.
"A lot of people don't like me, not just women" Ryo said with a dry smile. Tsuna leaned back on his chair and frowned. "You learn to get used to it" he added. Tsuna opened his mouth to say something but decided against it.
"What would I have to do to get that ride to Yokkaichi?" Tsuna asked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. Ryo took a long drag of the cigarette between his spilt lips.
"Three days ago, two punks jumped me" Ryo said, raising his shirt up so Tsuna could see the faded bruises that ran from his hairy chest to his stomach. Tsuna's face reflexively scrunched up. Ryo blew the smoke from his mouth into the air and pulled his shirt back down. "I had just made a killing at the race track in Toyoake, when they pulled a gun on me just as I was entering my van" Ryo explained as he looked out the window. "From what I heard on the streets, and my own conclusion, that robbery wasn't coincidental. Someone more specifically my former mistress told her brother about my regular 'runs'. He and his shitty friend thought that they could pull a fast one on me What they don't know is that I tracked them down and found out where they live" Ryo said as he flicked some of the ash onto his now empty bowl.
"Please don't tell me you want me to help you get revenge on them" Tsuna said with a panicked look on his face. Ryo on the other hand laughed. Now Tsuna was offended.
"If I wanted to get revenge on them, why the hell would I ask a ten year old wimp like you for help?" Ryo chuckled and Tsuna glared at him. "Besides, revenge isn't my thing. I was made to gamble not kill or fight" he added.
"So what is it that you want me to do?" Tsuna asked, confusion winning over his mortification.
"When those punks robbed me, they took something extremely irreplaceable from me. My one and only prized possession. I want it back" Ryo said as he clasped his hands on the table.
"And how exactly am I going to get it back?" Tsuna asked before thanking the woman who approached with his second bowl of ramen.
"You're going to steal it back for me" Ryo said and Tsuna was thankful he didn't start eating as yet, or he would've choked on his food.
"How...?...I don't steal" Tsuna said with a serious expression. Like he told Jin, his mother may be a killer but she had grown him up the right way and stealing as she always told him, was wrong.
"If you want that ride to Yokkaichi, you're going to have to learn" Ryo said as he crushed his cigarette in the empty bowl. "Now hurry up with that so we can get to work" he added before leaving him inside the small restaurant. Tsuna frowned and looked down at his steaming hot ramen. Ryo had just cut his appetite.
Author's notes:
Toyoake City is located in the same prefecture as the Chita Handa Station: the Aichi prefecture or so the internet says.
Just Google Toyoake to Chita Handa Station and it will show up on Google maps, if you want a clearer understanding of the geographical info that I'm throwing around.
Thanks goes out to all those who left wonderful reviews that I couldn't respond to in this chapter. Unfortunately, as you've noticed, I haven't been updating ANY of my stories because I'm swamped right now. I know I'm horrible and I'm sorry.
I'll answer all your questions in the next chapter.
PS: I know some of you have been wondering if Tsuna will kill someone and the answer is yes.
Bwhahaha, he will kill someone and it's going to be brutal.
