Chapter 9:Reflections and Lightning Battle
A/N: Just a reminder, if you have read this story, know that I've rewritten most of the stuff here. So re-read then come back if you haven't already. Other than that please read on and thank you for Reading.
Sawada Natsuki knew the moment that she had accepted Checkerface's deal that her life was never going to be normal anymore. Yet she didn't think of the consequences. Somewhere within her, an impulse took over her mind, the adventures were too lavish, blinding her eyes to the bloody truth. In truth Life was not always all rainbows and Unicorns. That was what she learned during her stay with the Varia. Now here she was laying on her bed, thoroughly thinking about her mistakes, something that she should have done earlier. She thought how she gambled her life away. How she abandoned her brother like her father. How she broke the Varia's hearts in a span of a year and six months. Yet within all those mistakes were precious memories. Memories that reminded her that the future is still there despite her curse. Despite her small habit to make bets with Checkerface.
The door opened, Natsuki sat up and looked at the face of his little brother and his tutor sitting on top of his head.
"Na-nee," he said with worry lacing his voice, a small wrinkle forming on his forehead.
"I'm fine," Natsuki replied, a small smile placed on her lips. "Don't worry about me Tsuna."
"But.." Tsuna countered, only to be kicked by Reborn. "Itee.."
"You shouldn't be like Dame-tsuna," Reborn said. "Anyways, you owe my student an explanation."
"Right," Natsuki said with a small sigh coming out of her mouth. "Then please listen carefully."
Both boys nodded and sat down to listen. Once seated, Reborn signalled Natsuki to start.
"Alright," Natsuki said. "I believe it's best to start from the beginning, the time when I got into an accident. I got hit by a car, of course, and died. Well of course I was supposed to die. Apparently at that time my patron noticed the Trinsette's weakness. It did not do enough to have the world balanced. So he decided to create a new system. This new system consisted of frozen flames to make sure that all wild flames don't go off and start burning the world."
"Wait what's the Trinsette?" Tsuna asked, interrupting Natsuki and earning a kick from reborn.
"The Trinsette is a sort of system that keeps the world balance," Natsuki replied with a small reassuring smile. "I believe that Reborn will explain what it is specifically but think of it as a sort of like a seesaw.."
"Just move on," Reborn piped up, sounding annoyed by the lame explanation.
"Sorry," Natsuki replied then continued. "So, this new system needed holders like the Trinsette. He had already chosen six others but he had yet to get the seventh user. That's when I come in. Being a sky flame user like you Tsuna, was a sort of blessing to him of sorts. And to add to that, I'm also a direct descendant of Giotto. Therefore I was a perfect candidate. Unfortunately I was too young at that time, so he had me split my soul into many pieces. Before that we made a bet, being a kid, I agreed to the terms. Before I turn 18, I had to the pieces of my soul back together to the original body or I lose about 10 years of my life. Thankfully I won."
"So these six other people," Reborn said. "They all are flame-users?"
"Yes," Natsuki replied. "As the sky, I am automatically their boss. Hence the title 'Boss' coming from Alek."
"Is that all?" Tsuna asked, narrowing his eyes a bit, his Hyper Intuition going off slightly.
"No," Natsuki said. "The curse part is that our bodies are slowly freezing and the only way to stave off our deaths is to inject flames into our systems. I keep making bets with my patron only because Sky flames are rare."
There was silence. Tsuna contemplated on Natsuki's words. He repeated them over and over again in his mind. He was already dealing a lot more since the lightning battle is up next and that meant that Lambo would get hurt.
"Just think it over," Natsuki spoke up softly. "For now you should think about this battle right now."
Tsuna looked up at his older sister, he saw her assuring smile. Yet her smile didn't reach her eyes. He could tell that the burden of what had happened to her had finally weighed down on her.
"Alright," Tsuna said and hugged her before leaving her room. Reborn took one last glance at the girl brunette before also leaving her room.
The next morning was an odd one for Tsuna. It started out normally. Breakfast was served, the kids get a bit rowdy, Reborn steals his food, Natsuki gets it back for him. Then there was the knock and a TYL(Ten years later) Lambo look-alike was standing in front of him. He was wearing a long black coat and his black hair swayed downwards from his face.
"Is this the Sawada house?" He asked, his voice was down a few octaves than TYL Lambo.
"Yes," Tsuna said, looking at the man with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. Then his sister came from behind him.
"Ah Niccolo," she happily said. "I didn't think that the Bovino boss would let you out this early."
"I didn't think so either," Niccolo replied with a small smile. "Is my litt-"
"Fratello!"Lambo screamed in delight as he ran towards the older man and tackled him to the ground with a ground.
"Ciao fratellino(little brother),"Niccolo softly said and hugged his little brother then coughed a bit.
"Fratello you're sick again?" Lambo asked, his head tilting slightly and a worried expression covering his face.
"I'm fine," Niccolo replied with a small smile. "I see you've taken a liking to this house."
Lambo's expression lightened slightly as he started to tell his fratello about his life at the Sawada household. Tsuna watched, amazed at how both interact nicely. Despite Lambo's brattiness, Niccolo's soft presence balanced it out. Next to him, he could feel his sister's presence as she also watched both of them.
"We should ignore them for now and let them have their fun," she said to him. "The two need it since the Bovino boss doesn't let Niccolo out because of his sickly condition."
"Alright then," Tsuna replied, glancing at his sister before going out with Reborn, who happened to be on his head.
Natsuki smiled slightly as she saw her brother leave the house. From the edge of her vision, she saw her father look at Niccolo suspiciously. A smirk formed on her lips as he started to wonder why he was even here in the first place without placing any suspicion on his family. This made hiding things from him much more easier. Natsuki just passed his father ignoring the man as soon as he tried to speak with him, her smirk already disappeared.
Natsuki arrived earlier than she intended, she didn't expect it to rain the whole night either. In front of her was Levi-A-Than, who looked at her suspiciously.
"Umn Hi?" Natsuki spoke up with a thin smile on her face. She was promptly ignored.
"Umn What's your name?" Natsuki spoke up again. "I'm Natsuki by the way, nice to meet you."
Again silence. Natsuki sighed, she felt her heartbeat quickly rise slightly. Breathing wasn't easy for her at the moment and awkwardness was suffocating her.
"Levi-A-Than," Levi spoke then closed his mouth again. Natsuki smiled brightly.
"Nice to meet you Levi-A-Than-san," she replied then flinched a bit as soon as the thunder was heard. She looked up at the sky and frowned slightly. In her mind, she could picture Lambo being in a pinch especially with Levi as the opponent.
"Such lovely weather," she softly said to herself with a small smile. She remembered that the weather was about the same on the night that she died. Levi-A-Than just simply nodded in agreement upon hearing her words.
Tsuna and the others soon arrived on the rooftop only to see Natsuki sitting down on the wall and sleeping.
"Nee-san," Tsuna exclaimed in horror as he saw that she was thoroughly soaked from the rain. "Nee-san wake up."
Natsuki's lips frowned slightly before she slowly opened her eyes. She glanced at the expression that her brother was wearing and ignored it.
"Morning," she softly said as she got up and stretched. She shivered slightly as she felt the coolness of the weather and rain start to affect her.
"What were you doing here so early?" Niccolo asked, a small frown decorating his lips.
"I stayed late and decided I didn't have the time to be going back home and then go back here," Natsuki replied with a small yawn afterwards. "Levi-A-Than-san was here already when I came up."
Tsuna and the other boys looked toward the huge man, who was just standing there.
"Ah fratellino," Niccolo said grabbing Lambo. "Wait, don't run off like that."
Tsuna turned his attention to Lambo and helped the older Bovino calm down Lambo for a bit. That was when the lightning struck, making Lambo look at the contraption before them with glimmering eyes.
"It's called the Eletricco Circuit," One of the Cervello women spoke up. The other spoke up to explain what it was, making the older Bovino smirk playfully.
"Do have fun fratellino," he said to his little brother. Lambo grinned and tried to get out of Tsuna's hands, only to have one of his horns drop towards the ground.
"Stupid cow," Gokudera said and picked up the horn and got out his sharpie marker. "Don't trouble Juudaime."
He started writing on it and showed it to both the cow child and the brunet. On it 'stupid cow' was written. Both boys blanched at the sight.
"There," Gokudera said with confidence. "Now someone will bring it back to you if you lose it."
Niccolo snickered quietly as he saw his little brother look at Gokudera with a new distaste gleaming on his eyes.
"Alright let's do it again Sawada!" Ryohei shouted with glee and pulled the boy brunet into a cheer circle.
"Lambo Fighting!" They said once in the circle. Natsuki watched with pity as Lambo asked to do it again, only to have it be refused by her little brother.
"The lightning guardian must come up," one of the Cervello announced, making the young group turn around and look at the field. "Levi-A-Than has been waiting for two hours."
"T-two hours?!" Tsuna exclaimed and looked back at his sister for confirmation. She just nodded. Soon, the rest of the Varia excluding Xanxus arrived.
"He's two hours early again," Bel said with his usual smile.
"He's always an awkward guy like that,"Mammon replied.
No sooner had they said those words, Lambo started to run towards the field, only to be stopped by Tsuna.
"You don't have to go in if you don't want to Lambo," Tsuna said to him. "I don't know why Dad picked you to fight but it not right for a kid like you to don't want to die right?"
"You know I'm indestructible right Tsuna?" Lambo said with a sneer at his face then turned around. "Bye."
"Ah wait,"Tsuna exclaimed and grabbed the cow child's shoulders. "You're Ten year self told me not to use the Ten year bazooka."
"You talk too much!"Lambo exclaimed with anger. Tsuna held out the old horns.
"But if you're going then take these," Tsuna said, ignoring Lambo's previous words.
"I don't want them,"Lambo argued, looking at the dirty and old horns with distaste.
"Just take them," Tsuna said and forcefully put in the horns in the child's afro. Niccolo watched as his brother entered the field with worried eyes before taking a deep breath in and looked at the field as a whole. Beside him, Natsuki leaned on the wall. She shivered a bit from the the rain and the cold, regretting that she had not at least come back home to get a jacket. Her eyes landed on Levi, who seemed to be looking at the child with utter disgust. A small smirk formed on her lips, knowing what the man was thinking. Levi's eyes then wavered towards her and then looked away suddenly.
"Tsu-kun,"Natsuki complained out loud. "Levi-A-Than-san is looking at me weirdly."
"He did fucking what?"Tsuna asked coldly then glared over to the poor man's side. Levi glared at Natsuki who just smiled innocently at him. Bel and Niccolo softly snickered, as they watch the young brunet boy glare at Levi while muttering some very colorful words. His other guardians just blanched a bit, glad that Lambo was a ways away to not hear those words.
"I think the battle should start,"Gokudera said, signalling the girls to ignore the scene before them.
"Then the Thunder battle," the Cervello announced. "Levi-A-Than versus Lambo..start."
Once again the mood was somber. Natsuki watched as Lambo approached a wire while prodding it with his hand, wondering how it works. She ignored her brother's talking, knowing that this contraption doesn't do anything bad to the child except maybe scratch him lightly.
The lightning struck, the boys held their breaths except Reborn and Niccolo, who just watched in amusement. Levi jumped out of the way,while Lambo foolishly stayed and got electrocuted.
"We'll confirm if he's alive or not," One of the Cervello announced.
"No need," Levi said, signalling the pink haired woman to stop. "He's burned to a crisp."
That was when he heard the cries of the little boy. Niccolo smiled as he heard his brother's cries. Elettrico Couiu, that was the effect of being struck by lightning so many times. Something that Niccolo knew more than any person in that roof. Natsuki on the other hand, warily looked over to Levi, who was shaking with anger. She knew that once that man will get pissed, there is little to no chance Lambo will survive fully intact.
Natsuki's body flinched as she saw him hit the child with an electrified umbrella. She took a glance at the older Bovino, who seemed to be grinning like a mad man. Immediately, Natsuki turned her head back towards the field. Nearby her, she could hear Tsuna's protest and Gokudera's encouragement as Lambo took out his Ten year bazooka and went in as Levi attacked.
Pink smoke went up the air and was cleared by the wind. In front of them was the TYL version of Lambo.
"Yare Yare," He calmly said as he looked in front of him. "Who knew that Gyoza(pot-stickers in english translation, called Jiaozi in Chinese I think. Basically it's a sort of Chinese dumpling, these are good by the way and I recommend tasting some) would be my last meal."
With that the younger Bovino ate the food that he had on his chopsticks before taking off the napkin tied around his neck. Immediately, the Varia members questioned his presence, only to have the Cervello to explain that he is Lambo Ten Years in the future.
"Sorry Lambo," Tsuna said towards the older version of the cow child.
"Don't apologize," TYL Lambo said with a small smile as he picked up the chain with the ring and put it around his neck. "I had a feeling this might happen."
The young Bovino then looked back towards his older brother, who was smiling at him. His face twisted into a frown.
"Take care of yourself too fratello," he added then turned his attention towards the enraged Varia lightning guardian.
"Don't worry too much fratellino," Niccolo said with a hearty laugh. "You'll get white hair earlier if you do."
'Liar' Natsuki thought as she glanced over to her subordinate and saw bits of ice starting to form on the older Bovino's fingertips. Immediately, she ignored the random conversation and the younger Bovino's Thunder set. The young brunette girl dragged Niccolo forcefully down the stairs and into the floor below, looking much more pissed every second that they were away.
"I've already collected the flames by the way," Natsuki said with a small huff once she stopped. "Ma-"
A huge current of electricity passed through them, Niccolo winced a bit while his Boss passed out. Niccolo blinked and looked at his Boss with concern and confusion twisted on his face.
"Boss?" He softly asked as he knelt down to check her pulse and condition. There a was faint pulse on her skin.
"Boss," the older Bovino repeated, more worry laced in his voice. She didn't respond, Niccolo slowly poked her and blinked. Soon, it settle down upon him how weak his Boss is at the moment.
"Shit," he murmured as he picked up his young Boss and ran towards the hospital. He didn't bother looking back, knowing that his little brother would be safe in the hands of the Vongola.
Tsuna was devastated. First Lambo was hurt then he learned that his sister was caught up in the lightning that was released by 20 years later Lambo and back into a sleep-like state. He was afraid again, like when he was five, when he was told that his sister might never wake up.
She was only sleeping, not in a comatose state. That was what he told himself. He will wake up just like Lambo will. That was what he assured himself. Until then, he had to keep going, the next battle was of course going to be the Storm battle. He hoped it would be something to take his mind off the whole situation.