Chapter 14: Part II - Dissonance
"Hold on – hello, Reborn?"
"Hello, useless Tsuna. Are you eating out today?"
"No, I think not. Why? Do you need me to cook?"
"I was thinking of having a meal with you. To talk. It's been a long time."
Suspicious. Reborn never asked her out to a meal, if he could help it.
"What did you do now, Reborn?"
"That will have to wait till our meal."
Tsuna was frustrated by his elusiveness and constant dodging of her questions. She had wanted to slam the phone shut, but it was a gift and she could not afford another, if it did spoil.
"I'll come for the meal. Where do we meet?"
"Right… -"
All of a sudden, both Tsuna and Yamamoto heard a loud screech, most likely by a car that was swerving around the corner. It was a familiar, sleek black design – she recognized it to be Reborn's car.
"-… up the stairs," he finally finished his sentence.
Tsuna gaped.
"…Did you put a tracking device on me?"
"Stupid Tsuna. You're still living in the 20th century, aren't you? You don't even need one of those to pinpoint a location now. Anyway, hurry up and get here. I'm getting impatient."
Tsuna only put her phone down and gave Yamamoto an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go now. Reborn's taking me out for dinner."
"Oh, no worries! I hope you have a good meal!" he said, patting her back a couple of times. Unfortunately, he did not try to be gentle; she had almost choked on her own saliva.
"W-Well then," Tsuna said, coughing loudly, "I'll see you sometime…"
She gave a quick wave and ran up towards Reborn's car.
Reborn had been tapping his fingers edgily when Tsuna seated herself next to him.
"What are you, a snail?"
"No, Reborn. As you can see, I possess a perfect set of limbs and I look no different from any other human being on this earth."
"If it interests you, no two human beings are exactly alike…"
"O-Oh, cut it, Reborn."
Reborn was not the only one annoyed by Tsuna's slowness. Rather, Tsuna was also irritated with his lack of ability to even wait just five seconds, which resulted in a rude departure from Yamamoto. She somehow knew that he was plotting something, or even perhaps, had already plotted something. Even worse, he might have executed it.
"So, what is the hidden agenda of dinner tonight?"
"Oh, nothing. Just a nice, heart to heart talk. The both of us."
"You know we never have heart to heart talks."
"Well then, we'll have one now."
Tsuna sighed. It was impossible to get anything remotely useful out of Reborn. She turned to look at him. Maybe, just maybe she could try reading his emotions. Just like she did so many countless times before. She never really understood this ability, but it seemed as though, with the extra senses that overwhelmed her due to her condition, she could even read another person's emotions – was it hyper intuition?
Nevertheless, she decided to try it again.
"What are you looking at?"
There – she felt as though many dark colours flowed out of his voice – not only sound. Somehow, she could even taste it – but what was it? Bitter? Sour?
"Nothing."
She turned back. Just as she did, an abrupt jerk told her that they had just arrived at their destination. Tsuna clumsily stepped out of the car, Reborn following suit, albeit in a more suave and refined manner.
"Reborn – table for two," he spoke to the Maitre d'; unlike most other restaurants which had adopted technology to handle reservations and orders for them, this particular restaurant continued with a more…human touch. It was what kept Reborn continually patronizing the restaurant – Tsuna knew well – he seemed to dislike technology, and shunned it even. She knew it was probably because of his belief that some technology was just plain unneeded. Who needed automatic doors, or did humans not have arms to open doors themselves?
"Right this way, sir."
Soon enough, Tsuna found herself seated comfortably in white cushions.
"Now that we're here, do you mind starting your heart to heart talk now?"
Reborn only shook his head and continued to look at the digital menu projected before him.
"I'll take this," he said, tapping a button on the screen.
"What will you have?"
"This," Tsuna said in return. She only tapped the screen without looking or thinking (for she really just wanted to know what Reborn wanted from her) – and then he shut it off. He had a bemused look on his face – no, not bemused. It was bordering sadistic.
"Excellent choice. Let's talk while waiting for the food to come."
The pair stared at each other for a while.
"Well? We sure are having an interesting conversation here, aren't we now?" Reborn smiled.
"You're the one who called me out in the first place, Reborn!" Tsuna could feel a bead of sweat trickle down the back of her neck.
"Oh, yes. Yes, I did. First of all – you just quit your job."
"Excuse me? I didn't."
"You did."
"Did not."
"Did to," Reborn's stare bore into her eyes. It felt as though it was burning a hole through her head as he did so, brainwashing her, compelling her into thinking that she –
"I didn't quit! I've only been at it for barely a week, and I'm not even permanently hired yet!"
"You gave up and quit, and now you're looking for a job."
Tsuna sighed exasperatedly.
"Why are you so against me keeping my job? It's just a harmless thing to do! How does making tea for other people affect you?"
However, she was not ready for the next few words Reborn would speak.
"I have a mission, Sawada Tsuna. I never fail my missions."
Wait. Mission? What mission would be involved with a job like a "maid" anyway?
It all never connected in her head. Her face turned from an expression of confusion, then to contemplation, and finally to anger.
"Er hem, your Cieche Fritte(1) has arrived, ma'm," the waiter coughed as he set down a plate of food in front of her.
To say that it looked rather appetizing now would be a lie.
"R-Reborn. If it's just your mission to make me quit my job with no rationale behind it, then I refuse! I d-don't care if you pulled any strings, I'll still go back to work, whether…whether you l-like it or not!"
It was the first time she actually dared to talk back to Reborn. As she realized what she just did, she quickly covered her mouth; then, she snatched up her purse and slid out of her seat.
"I-I hope you enjoy your meal!" and with that, she stormed out of the restaurant. To say she stormed out though was an overstatement. It looked more like a meek mouse scattering from trouble.
Reborn placed his chin in his palms.
"She's never talked like that before. This is going to be tougher than I thought."
Outside the restaurant, Tsuna was wondering what to do next. Would she head back to the apartment to sulk? No – it would only mean she had to face Reborn later, and facing Reborn was the last thing she wanted to do now. She could go back to the Vongola Mansion – no, that completely made no sense. Stay out in the cold? That made as much sense as her previous thought. In the end, she decided on paying Miss Miura a visit. It was not too late, after all. Just to be sure, Tsuna gave her a call.
"Hello? Miss Miura?"
"Oh! Tsuna-kun! What is it?"
"Mind if I head over for awhile?"
Haru seemed to hesitate before replying.
"Sure! You're welcome any time!"
"Thank you!"
"No problem! See you in a short while then!"
Tsuna put the phone back into her pocket before setting off on her way again.
Back at the restaurant, Reborn sat alone in silent deliberation as he stared at the untouched plate of food across him. He was jolted from his thoughts when a sudden buzz rung out in his ear. He tapped the screen of his phone on to check for who had called, and subsequently, he found himself frowning when he saw the name flash across the projected screen.
Sawada Iemitsu.
(1) Fried baby eel.
A/N: Okay, here's part two that doesn't even look like part two. I probably left a lot of grammatical and stupid mistakes in here, but I'm a bit too tired to check again, so I'll do it another time. (Procrastination is my forte...though not as much as dear Usako.)
Thank you all for reading and reviewing!
...I sense from now on I'm going to make a lot of stupid mistakes resulting in gaping plot holes. Oh well, gotta figure this out...figure this out...