Hey, so this didn't come out before Christmas ended ^^" Oh well~
I was watching Leverage yesterday, and that inspired this. 4,774 words! I should probably do something about my habit of putting too many details in but I couldn't help myselt .
I hope you like it ~ !
"What the fuck do you mean they were stolen?!" Xanxus snarled through the phone.
"I mean they were fucking stolen last night." Giotto's voice snapped back. "There was a security breach yesterday, during Vongola's Annual Picnic."
The Annual Picnic, a long-time tradition in Vongola where all members of all ranks stationed at the main house gather together and play ridiculous games to win some crazy prizes. The Ninth treasured these kinds of traditions and as such, made them mandatory for all his guardians, heirs, his heirs' guardians, the main squad of the Varia and a few representatives of the CEDEF to attend.
It also so happened to be the only time when the Ninth and his guardians aren't wearing their rings, claiming that they could get lost during the usual chaos the occurred during the picnic. So they were kept in the main house.
Granted, it was the perfect opportunity for someone to steal it. However…
"The rings are kept in a locked safe that has a fingerprint scanner and can only be opened with a pin code that only the old man knows!" he snapped. "And the fucking thing is in his office, which is equipped with motion detectors and security cameras. There should be guards right outside of that room too, not to mention the other few dozen patrolling the mansion. How the fuck was it stolen?!"
"I don't know! When we got back from the picnic yesterday, Gramps went straight to the safe to get the rings but it wasn't there!" he said. "Something went wrong with the security footage and the guards didn't report seeing anything suspicious through the whole day."
"Fucking trash." He spat. "What about the CEDEF?"
"Iemitsu was supposed to go on a short vacation after the picnic, luckily we managed to catch him before he boarded his flight. He went back to the CEDEF headquarters for a bit but he should be here any moment now."
"Good." Xanxus said, grabbing his coat and making his way out of the office. "I'll be right there."
Needless to say, this was a serious situation. The rings are symbolic for Vongola's strength, without it they can't take on anyone at full power. If word got out that they were stolen, wars would be waged on Vongola left and right. Many thought that Vongola only got its power from the rings, which was not true but that rumor coupled with the fact that they actually let someone through their security would allow others to assume that Vongola has weakened greatly.
Of course, Xanxus had no doubt that no matter who went against them, they would win in the end even without the rings and even if all the trash famiglias all banded together to take them down. But that doesn't mean they'll be able to avoid casualties, not to mention the alliances that could possibly be severed.
They had to find the rings, fast. Before word gets out and people get any bright ideas.
And also the fucker who stole them and probably maul his ass to make an example out of him.
Xanxus brought Bel and Squalo along while ordering the others to investigate any possible suspects. It would've been easier if he had the entire Varia helping in the search, but they needed to keep this under the wraps. So having as few people aware of this as possible is the best way to go.
When he arrived at the mansion, Iemitsu had already left. They briefed him on what happened, gave orders to his men and went off to start an investigation. They had no time to lose, after all.
Xanxus wasn't really surprised when he found Reborn there.
"Any luck?" he asked after telling his companion to ask around and look for anything they might've missed.
"No…" Giotto said. "The security cameras are clean, turned off. There's no footage of any inch of the mansion between 12 noon and 4 o'clock when the guard turned them back on. The theft must've happened sometime around then, but whoever did it was thorough, didn't even want to give us the exact time. He definitely deleted some previous irrelevant footage to throw us off."
"And the guard in charge of watching the footage?" he asked sardonically.
"He admitted to dozing off but couldn't tell us when or for how long." He said. "We had someone check him up."
"Think someone drugged him?"
"Possibly."
"Well, things aren't looking good." Xanxus grumbled before glancing at Reborn.
"He says he might have a lead." Giotto informed him, and Xanxus raised an eyebrow at the hitman.
"I'm listening."
"Although it could be nothing-"
"When you're the one saying it, I highly doubt it."
"- but I found something suspicious in the records of the nearby airport." Reborn explained. "Normally, if you're gonna steal the Vongola rings then you're gonna want to get your ass to the other side of the globe as soon as possible. So I checked there first."
"Pretty quick."
"The Ninth informed Reborn about this last night, immediately after finding out that they weren't in the safe." Giotto said.
"And you decided to wait before telling me this?"
"We were hoping that it didn't have to escalate to this." He sighed, and Xanxus could understand that. Doesn't mean he was happy with it though.
"Alright then, give me their names and I'll have my men on it." Xanxus said.
"Just one; Ciel Fiamma." Reborn said.
Silence hung in the air for a good forty-five seconds, each of them wearing a deadpan expression.
"I have never heard of a faker name in my entire fucking life, and that's including yours."
"Yeah, it stuck out like a sore thumb." Reborn snorted. "Unsurprisingly, I couldn't find a single record of a person who goes by that name in any database in the world."
"Sky Flame? Are they fucking mocking us?" he scowled.
"Probably, since they decided to bring grandpa's painting with him on his way out." Giotto muttered darkly.
"Wait, the Saturn Devouring His Son?" Xanxus asked, receiving a nod. "How the fuck did he step a foot out with the rings and that huge ass painting with him?"
Giotto sighed. "In any case, that's not the only dead giveaway."
"Little Ciel here left Italy yesterday; February 7 at 4:45 in the afternoon."
"The airport's about an hour drive, so he must've taken them a little after three." Xanxus said before pausing as a thought came into mind. "That wouldn't happen to be the time when the guards-"
"- change shifts at that particular day, yeah." Giotto nodded.
There are 4 sets of guards, separate from the others who regularly patrol around, in the mansion stationed at different key locations; the ballroom, the library, the Ninth's office, the back door leading to the garden, and the front door. At certain intervals they rotate, moving to a different location whilst taking the opportunity to patrol and also keep them busy as to not get too bored and let their guard down.
It would be the perfect opportunity to escape through the front door since no one would be there.
"Our little Ciel also happened to have just arrived here recently," Reborn said. "Specifically, on February 6 at 7:20 in the evening."
Xanxus narrowed his eyes.
"At least 18 hours," Giotto said. "If you ask me, that's more than enough time to prepare for a heist, especially if you already came here with a plan."
"If you asked me few hours ago, then I would've said that you could've had all the time in the world but it still wouldn't be enough time to prepare stealing the goddamn Vongola rings."
"Well, you gotta give him credit for that." Giotto muttered.
"So wait, are we assuming that this whole thing was done by one guy." Xanxus asked incredulously.
"No, but you only need one man to deliver a small box." Reborn scowled. "His accomplices could still be here, or left the country through other means. It's also entirely possible that they're not his allies and he just hired a few men to help him out, paid them and went their separate ways."
Makes sense.
"Did you check the airport security footage?" Xanxus asked.
"I did." Reborn said. "Coincidentally, though. A virus appeared in the airport's system, didn't affect the planes though."
"Just the security footage?" he guessed.
"Not all, but certain portions, random enough to be able to pass off as unintentional. The men there are completely convinced that it was some computer malfunction. And also the flight records," He said. "I was lucky to nab a copy before it was all gone."
"Well, at least we're not dealing with a dumbass here." Xanxus grumbled.
"He's heading towards China." Giotto explained. "We've asked Fon for his help and he's informed us that the Triads are more than willing to lend a hand."
"What'd you tell them?"
"Fon was informed." Giotto said. "The cover story is that someone's tried to kill a close ally, we gave them Dino's name to make it sound more convincing. And that Vongola's helping to catch the perp, but we don't have a face. Only that he was on that flight. They've assigned someone for every person on that flight, to keep an eye on them and report any suspicious behavior. They also have a man at the security room, just in case. He'll make a copy of the footage for us."
"Alright then, looks like we have our jackass." Xanxus said. "What'd Iemitsu go off to investigate, then?"
"We didn't tell Iemitsu." Reborn said.
"What."
"From how it's looking, this is possibly an inside job." Giotto explained.
Xanxus thought about it, and despite how much the thought of a mole in their ranks made his blood boil, he couldn't help but agree. The intervals to which the guards rotated changed frequently. The one who decides and arranges that are the current guardians, specifically Coyote. Only the guardians and the guards are made aware of this schedule, along with the CEDEF who keeps a copy just in case. Not to mention how none of the guards saw anything suspicious and the incredible lack of clues they found at the Ninth's office.
"Don't tell me you're suspecting that idiot." Xanxus scowled. But then again, he was scheduled to leave the country the same day when the rings were stolen.
"No." Reborn said. "But I'd rather not have false information spreading, and I'm sure you feel the same way. The only reason we told you is because we could use a few extra hands."
Xanxus raised an eyebrow before nodding. "Let me know if anything comes up. And if you catch him, I have dibs on the first shot."
Reborn snorted.
They didn't have to wait long for news. Just as Xanxus was about to leave, Reborn received a call from Fon.
"They found him." He said. "He boarded another flight."
"To where?" Giotto asked incredulously.
"Brazil."
"So he's trying to throw off anyone potentially tailing him." Xanxus scoffed.
"Yeah, and I doubt this will be the last flight he'll take." Reborn said.
"I'll have Bel and Mammon head there and tail him." Xanxus said. "Do we have a face?"
"No. They said he was wearing a beanie and a face mask so there's not much we can go on."
"So the security tapes are useless." Giotto said.
"We can't be sure yet, but they'll send them to me just in case. Apparently, there was another virus." Reborn said, flicking through his phone. "Fon just sent me the flight records to the plane he boarded… There's no Ciel Fiamma here."
"So he's using another alias." Xanxus scowled.
"Well, he's a lot more subtle this time. It could be any one of these."
"Well then, we better get to work." Giotto said. "I'll have Alaude do a background check on every single one of these."
Whoever Ciel was, he was good. He went by Ignacio Kayano, who was supposed to have died 3 years ago when he was 19. Little Ciel (as dubbed by Reborn) was spotted by Mammon and Bel through the process of elimination. Bel memorized the appearances of all the other passengers and the short man who his brown hair in a baseball cap and wore thick glasses that hid his eyes was the only one who didn't match any of the pictures presented to them.
Thank God, the kid may be crazy but he was still a genius.
And from there, he went from being Ignacio to Daryl, to Chenglei, to Kwan, to Sakda, to Marco and five other aliases. From Brazil, he got into a taxi only to go to another airport and take a flight to Madagascar, then to the Bahamas, Ukraine, Yemen, Philippines, Nigeria, Finland and from there he took a bus to Russia where he got on a plane to India, and then Guatemala. He went on a tour on Madagascar, was spotted at a gift shop in the Bahamas and dyed his hair black in the restroom before boarding another flight, ate at a restaurant in the Philippines and stayed at a hotel for the night, went to a museum in Finland where a painting was soon reported to be stolen and went back to having brown hair when he looked around the Holy City of Varanasi in India.
There were numerous times when they lost him, but when the Varia Boss, the World's Greatest Hitman, and the heir to the most powerful famiglia in the world is on your tail then you've got not shot at shaking them off. They've also managed to get a brief description of him; short man probably in his late teens (which made Reborn's nickname for him quite fitting), brown hair that was usually hidden beneath a hat and brown eyes.
According to Bel, he was also an 'adorable little rabbit', whatever that meant.
"He's careful." Reborn had commented. "Not to mention the fact that he's acting like an actual tourist."
"Are we even sure he still has the rings?" Xanxus scowled. "The scum could've passed it off to someone, already."
"If that's the case then he's our only lead." Giotto said. "Once he's caught, I'm sure you can get the truth out of him."
Xanxus smirked.
"He took a bus to Mexico and got on a plane, Daemon managed to get on with him."
"Really?" Giotto asked. This was the first time this happened, since little Ciel (he can't believe that name actually stuck) had the annoying tendency of boarding a plane at the very last minute. Although he had slowly started to get less paranoid, it seems. The virus that would hit the airports stopped at around Yemen, too.
"Yeah, apparently he used his illusion to infiltrate the plane as a rather hot flight attendant."
Giotto shuddered but didn't bother commenting. "Where are they off to now?"
"Japan."
Giotto nodded. "Alright, Asari and G should still be in India. I'll have them on the first flight to Japan, they should arrive there before Daemon and Ciel does."
Xanxus smirked again, they finally got him.
"Yeah, at Namimori Airport. Follow him and wait for my instructions." Giotto said, through the phone. "He is not to board another plane. Sabotage the engines if you have to."
"I just received word that Alaude is on his way there." Reborn informed him.
Throughout this whole time, the Ninth and Iemitsu were kept out of the blue. The Ninth was too busy keeping the entire situation under wraps while Iemitsu had his hands busy on his discreet investigation. The three had decided to decide on their next move once they've properly interrogated Ciel.
Which they should be able to do soon.
"He didn't board another plane?" Giotto asked incredulously.
"No… he rode a taxi to the shopping district and walked to a civilian residence." G reported. "The nameplate says 'Sawada'."
"Sawada?!" Giotto shared a look with the other two. This had to be a coincidence, right? Sawada's a common name…
"Iemitsu's address in Japan is considered top secret, only he and the Ninth know it." Reborn said darkly.
Xanxus scowled. "Do we have a name?"
Giotto repeated the question to G through the phone. "Yeah. Tsunayoshi Sawada; college drop-out, 22 years old. Currently unemployed and his neighbors seem to think that he never leaves the house, but according to Alaude, from the aliases he's used so far, it looks like he's quite the traveler."
Giotto pondered on his options, but seeing as time wasn't a luxury for them, they had to act fast.
"Bring him back to Italy, we'll meet you at the Varia HQ." He ordered. "Have Daemon stick around there; make sure no one notices he's missing."
"Got it, boss."
When Giotto hung up, Reborn looked relieved that they'll finally be able to wrap things up while Xanxus had a sadistic glint in his eyes. Giotto only sighed.
A few hours later, the three of them were gathered at the Varia mansion and Asari and G walked in. Asari was carrying an unconscious brunet over his shoulder.
"Daemon's at the Sawada residence right now, but he couldn't find the rings anywhere." G informed them as Asari set their little Ciel down on the sofa.
One glance and Giotto could actually understand why Bel called him an adorable little bunny. And if he had shared his thoughts then Xanxus would've silently agreed with him.
Xanxus snorted, standing up from his spot at one of the couches and heading towards Ciel- or rather Tsunayoshi.
Then promptly kicking him off the cofa.
It was an abrupt wakeup call for their little guest and Tsunayoshi found himself coughing and groaning on the floor, clutching his head which must've hurt from whatever method they must've used to knock him out.
It took him approximately two minutes to regain any sense of functionality and to be able to look around and realize that he was in an unfamiliar environment with a bunch of strangers, two of which are visibly armed with guns.
You could spot the exact moment he realized he was fucked as he looked at each person in the room with utter horror.
None of them said anything, only observing and waiting for him to possibly plead his case. But what came out of his mouth was not what any of them expected.
"Oh God, does dad know?" he squeaked and a man of his age shouldn't be able to speak in a tone that high. Reborn might've been the only one who appreciated the inherent talent the kid possessed. Not only was he able to steal the Vongola rings, he was able to evade their combined efforts for two days (it was very impressive considering who he was dealing with), and shock a room full of experienced mafiosi into silence.
"N… No, we…" Giotto was obviously at loss for words and Reborn made a mental note to punish him for that later, such behavior is unbecoming of a mafia boss. "We didn't inform him about this."
Tsunayoshi didn't ask questions, only sighed in relief. Until he realized that he was still in an unfamiliar place surrounded by armed strangers and his face was overtaken by a look of panic.
"I-I-I'm SO sorry!" he said, scrambling to stand up and bow deeply. "I mean, I knew it wasn't a good idea- and- well , I didn't think I'd get so far! And then, well, I don't even know what got into me and I just- It's stupid! But well…"
He was stuttering and rambling, none of them really knew how to make of the situation until he managed to calm down a bit and gave them a sheepish smile.
"My bad…?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"… What the fuck?"
Xanxus, begrudgingly, ordered his men to fetch them some tea upon Giotto's insistence. Tsunayoshi didn't seem all that bad so Giotto decided that talking to him would be a much better choice than have Xanxus deal with the situation.
Again, the Varia boss begrudgingly complied.
Tsunayoshi was skittish and timid, he seemed (rightfully wary) at Reborn, Xanxus and G, which would've been understandable since two out of three of them had a gun and G was intimidating in his own right, but the young man didn't seem to be wary of Asari, which was strange especially since he was armed with a sword.
"My dad was supposed to come home the other day, he only visits my mom and I every few years… the last time he did, I just graduated middle school." Tsunayoshi explained as he nursed a cup of tea.
Reborn snorted upon hearing this. He had always thought that Iemitsu was an idiot but apparently, he wasn't winning any father of the year awards either.
"To be honest, I don't really like him. I found out about his involvement to the mafia during his last visit, he doesn't know I know. But I was mad at him for it, especially since he lied to my mom." He said. "And then I hear that he was gonna come back, and most likely going to give me an earful for dropping out of college."
His voice was filled malice, enough to show just what he thought about his father.
"And well, I didn't really want to deal with that… so I…" his voice shifted from being malicious to sheepish once again. "I…"
"You decided to steal the Vongola rings, of all things?" Xanxus snarled, making him flinch.
"N-No!" he raised his hand in defense. "I only planned to steal the painting in the Ninth's room!"
Another round of speechlessness.
"What." Giotto had thought that Reborn was the embodiment of ridiculousness, until he met this boy.
"Francisco Goya may not be in the same league as Van Gogh or Picasso, bur he was still considered the most important artist of his time and being one of the 14 Black Paintings, you could make a fortune out of Saturn Devouring His Son in the black market." Tsuna explained, slowly getting more confident in his words. "And the Ninth was known to be fond of that painting, for some reason. So if I stole it-"
"The Ninth would have Iemitsu stay and look for it." Reborn finished. "And Iemitsu can't refuse since it wouldn't just be a matter of a stolen painting, it would be a matter of someone managing to infiltrate through the security."
"Yeah…" Tsuna muttered. "None of you would've gotten involved since it was only about a painting and Iemitsu would've found it for sale in the black market a few months later."
"And he never would've caught the culprit." Reborn said. Even now, despite their numerous sources, the CEDEF had no leads."
"Then what about the rings?" Xanxus asked.
"I…" Tsuna seemed hesitant. "After I temporarily disabled the motion sensors-"
"How?" Giotto asked.
"I know a bit about tech stuff." He said, still hesitant on whether he should be disclosing such information. "If you checked the circuits, it would've looked like a malfunction but if you didn't, then you wouldn't have known they've been disabled in the first place."
Reborn smirked, slowly growing more and more interested with Iemitsu's brat.
"Anyway, I managed to finish sooner than I expected. So I was stuck at the Ninth's office, waiting for the shifts to change-"
"How'd you know about that?" Xanxus asked. "Do you also happen to know a bit about hacking?"
That would explain the virus on the airports.
But it didn't.
"The password to get into the CEDEF's database is my mom's name followed by the date of their anniversary." Tsuna deadpanned.
"…"
"That fucking idiot…" Xanxus massaged the bridge of his nose while the others could only sigh.
"Anyway, I was bored waiting there so I decided to try and crack the safe open."
"And you did?" Giotto asked.
"Took me exactly six minutes and thirty two seconds." He said, and he probably would've been a bit smugger about it if he wasn't afraid for his life.
"There was a pin code." Reborn said.
"Six digits; the years when his three sons were born." Tsuna said.
"There was a fingerprint scanner." Xanxus said.
"I expected something like that in the security room, although there wasn't any. But in any case, I brought some dark eye shadow with me for that kind of thing." He said. "The motion sensors were disabled all throughout the entire mansion, so it wasn't an issue inside the safe either."
"The safe was hidden under the carpet." Reborn deadpanned.
"I've found rich people to be very unoriginal." He shrugged.
"Wait, so you stole what may be the most guarded and precious artifacts in the world alone." Giotto said, understandable having trouble wrapping his head around the idea.
"Well, I mean technically I had a friend lend a hand, but all he did was let me borrow his computer to log into CEDEF's database and also wipe the records and footage from the airports I boarded." Tsuna shrugged. "So… yeah, pretty much."
"And you did it because… you were bored?"
"Okay, look, I didn't know that the safe held the Vongola rings, okay?" he said defensively. "I thought there was just a bunch of money in there, and I was going to just have a crack at opening it. But then I managed to do it and then I saw the box inside and- and it was the Vongola rings!"
Tsuna seemed giddy, probably remembering what it was like to find them behind the safe. He probably felt like a kid on Christmas morning.
"I mean, obviously I couldn't sell them since it would've set off a few wars and I definitely didn't want that, but it was the Vongola rings, and they were just sitting right there." He said, still giddy with excitement and speaking like this whole thing was an act of God. "It would've been a crime not to take them."
Xanxus must've been crazy at that moment because he genuinely understood his thought and, if he were in a similar situation, he definitely would've done the same.
"There's something wrong with you." G commented amidst his disbelief.
"Yeah, I have a problem, okay!?" he groaned. "But if I asked for help I'd probably get shipped off to some asylum, and I definitely don't want that."
"So you're a thief, huh?" Reborn crossed his arms. "I'm guessing you specialize in paintings and other artworks?"
"Yeah… I've tried diamonds a few times but getting rid of the ID number is a pain." He shrugged.
"How long have you been thieving?"
"I started back in high school when a friend of mine brought me to Italy during Christmas break and things… sort of just happened and I started doing it as something like a hobby during school break. It only became a regular thing when I dropped out of college two years ago." Tsuna said, unsure of where this was going. "Look, I've rented out a condo under a different name in a city; it's a single train ride from Namimori. I've shipped the rings there while I was in the Philippines. I can give you the address and you can go ahead and take it, I just- I'm so sorry for all the trouble I caused. I know it probably doesn't mean anything but I just- I'll work on my kleptomania after this, I promise."
Giotto frowned before glancing at Xanxus and they shared a look. It didn't take long for them to realize they were thinking of the same thing, and Reborn probably was too from the amused glint in his eyes.
They smirked.
"Tsuna?" Giotto said, stepping forward. Said young man flinched and looked at the blond like a kicked puppy, probably afraid that they were going to give him the death sentence.
"How would you like to join the Vongola?" he said and Tsuna's eyes widened.
He may be inexperienced when it comes to other important aspects of the mafia, but there was no denying his skill and talent when it comes to infiltration, evasion and even deduction, all skills that would come in handy in the mafia. And he already has fake identities established.
He'd be a great addition to the famiglia, not to mention the look on Iemitsu's face when he realized just what his civilian son has been up to.
"Yeah… I'm gonna have to pass." Tsuna deadpanned.
Xanxus smirked and from the way his expression was mirrored by Reborn and Giotto, along with the pitying looks sent to him by Asari and G, Tsuna knew he was fucked.
"Too fucking bad."
Do forgive any possible errors, I'm not really good at proofreading...
Anyway, thank you for all the reviews ~ ! I'm working on the part two of last chapter, along with the suggested prompts. I don't know which one'll come out first though, and when it'll come out. So please look forward to it!
Please review ~ !
~ RnR ~ !
~ RnR ~ !
