Now the fun begins. The manga starts here.
Elysia rocked back and forth on her heels, waiting for Tsu-kun to run out of the house. It had become normal for her to walk with him in the mornings, and it was good for Tsu-kun because he usually got up on time now.
The sound of the door opening made Elysia turn, and she giggled as he came stumbling out of his house. He glanced up sharply at the noise, and jogged over to her, grabbing her wrist as he exited the gate. Tsu-kun dragged her down the sidewalk, and Elysia could only blink in confusion.
"Tsu-kun…?"
"Ahaha," Tsu-kun's laugh was forced, "Don't worry about it." She was about to ask him what was wrong, when Elysia felt the presence right beside them.
Instincts reacted without her conscience consent and she grabbed Tsu-kun to yank him behind her, her right hand going to her thigh to grab the knife there.
"Ciaossu." Those eyes did not belong to that body.
She ignored Tsu-kun spluttering behind her, and stared at the little baby who spoke, knife raised in defense, "What are you here for?"
Not for her.
He pointed to Tsu-kun, "To train him."
Elysia's knuckles were turning white from the grip on her knife, "What for?"
"To be the tenth Vongola Boss."
Vongola.
The world darkened around the edges, and she could barely breathe out, "What?"
The baby just repeated himself again, staring at her with intense black eyes. Elysia felt like her world was crumbling, because innocent little Tsu-kun was picked out to be a Mafia Boss and this baby was going to teach him, and Tsu-kun would have to go through 'training' that would be worse than her own. She couldn't let that happen, just couldn't, because Tsu-kun was her friend and she had vowed to protect him and how could she do that when a hitman had decided to train him?—
Elysia growled, her alto voice even gruffer than normal, "Does Tsu-kun want to be the Tenth?"
Behind her, Tsu-kun was gaping, "Wha-what—"
"Of course he does." The answer was spoken in a matter-of-fact tone, and her eyes narrowed. Elysia spoke to Tsu-kun, never looking away from those eyes, "Tsu-kun, do you want to be a Mafia Boss?"
There was a silence in which she assumed Tsu-kun was staring at her in shock, before he replied, "N-No!"
"He has no choice," The baby stated, still looking at her. Elysia forced herself to keep her face straight, because he could probably hurt her very badly and said, "There is always a choice."
"Unfortunately," She could see the knowledge behind those eyes, that he knew what kind of decision he was forcing on Tsu-kun, and she relaxed just the slightest bit, "He does not have a choice."
Elysia stared at him, realizing that she could not win, neither in a physical nor verbal fight. She inclined her head to him, and replaced her knife in its thigh holder. "What's your name?" She asked.
"Reborn." Elysia almost chocked on her spit. As it was, she just wheezed, "That Reborn?"
"Yeah." Although his face didn't change, Elysia could hear the arrogance dripping off the word.
"What are you two saying so casually?" Tsu-kun wailed, apparently having gotten over his shock.
"Shut up, No-Good Tsuna." Reborn replied, punching Tsu-kun in the face.
When did he move?
"Ow!" Tsu-kun rubbed the spot on his face, tears in his eyes. Elysia helped him up from the ground, eyeing Reborn wearily.
"Can we just leave?" Tsu-kun looked up at her so pathetically that Elysia could only nod, and follow him down the street, Reborn trailing after them.
Just as they were about to turn a corner, Tsu-kun gasped and made himself one with the wall. Elysia peed around it.
Ah, Sasagawa Kyoko.
She blinked as Reborn walked past her, and in front of Sasagawa-san. The girl squealed slightly and kneeled down to his level, "How cute!"
"Ciaossu." Tsu-kun twitched.
"Why are you wearing a suit?" Sasagawa-san asked.
"Because I'm in the Mafia." Reborn promptly replied. Elysia just looked on in amusement, Because who would take what a baby says seriously?, before turning to Tsu-kun to try and knock him out of his comatose state.
Sasagawa-san made a noise of appreciation, "How cool!"
Tsu-kun twitched again, seeming to come back to life. "Well," She said, "Good luck. Bye bye!"
Reborn waved to her, "Ciao Ciao," then he turned to Tsu-kun and smirked, "Mafia seduction."
"WHAT?" Tsu-kun yelled. Elysia chortled, covering her face with a hand.
"You have a crush on that girl, right Tsuna?" Reborn asked, causing Tsu-kun to scowl at him.
"Is that any of your business?"
"I've mastered the art of mind reading." Elysia smiled at the bickering, helping Tsu-kun up when Reborn nailed him again.
"Have you told her yet?"
"Of course not!" He replied, "Kyoko is our school's idol. I'm way out of her league, so it's useless to confess my feelings."
"That loser complex is amazing."
"Leave me alone." Tsu-kun mumbled, depressed by the statement. Elysia spared a moment to dwell on the moroseness before starting to try to cheer him up, only to be frozen solid at the sight of Reborn pointing a gun at Tsu-kun.
"Go die."
And then the gun went off—Pain exploding in her shoulder, and she landed in a pool of blood. Not hers. Dead brown eyes gazed at her. Gramps. Dead. Gramps. Dead. Grampsisdeadit'sallmyfault—and the scream that wanted to rip out of her throat was forced back as she tried to focus on the situation.
Why?
Why had Reborn shot Tsu-kun, when he had just told her that he wouldn't do anything to kill him? Why was Reborn just standing there, not even looking concerned about her presence? Why was he staring so intently at Tsu-kun's body, when it would never move again?
And then Tsu-kun popped out of his body in his underwear and ran off shouting, "CONFESS TO KYOKO WITH MY DYING WILL!"
Elysia looked after him blankly, What?
Finally, it registered that Tsu-kun was alive, that he was chasing after Sasagawa Kyoko to confess in nothing but his underwear, and that it was all Reborn's fault.
She glared at the baby, before running after Tsu-kun, swooping down to grab Reborn as well. "What did you just do?"
Reborn smirked from his position atop her head and said, "I shot him with a Dying Will Bullet."
"Which is…?"
"If he is regretting something when he dies, he comes back to life with his dying will to take care of his regret."
Elysia glanced up at him, "You're going to destroy the serenity in my life aren't you?"
"Probably." Completely unapologetic.
She just continued to run, grieving for the loss of her contentment.
When Elysia reached Namimori, she was just in time to see Sasagawa-san run off and Mochida-san wind back to punch Tsu-kun.
She stepped in to grab his fist before it landed, "Please, do not hit my friends, Mochida-san." He scowled at her, "The pervert made Kyoko cry!"
Elysia kept silent and didn't let go of his hand until he gave her a resigned nod, chasing after Sasagawa-san. She turned to give a look to the people who were watching them, and everyone quickly pretended they hadn't seen a thing. Sometimes, being close to the Head of the Disciplinary Committee came in handy.
"Tsu-kun, are you alright?" She asked worriedly, part of her still not believing he was still alive. She hovered over him, checking his body for injuries.
"I'm fine, Elysia-sempai." Tsu-kun answered, looking uncomfortable with her attention. She hummed doubtfully, but left him alone. Together, they went to the nurses' to get Tsu-kun an extra uniform, and she walked him back to his class, ruffling his hair. "I'll see you later Tsu-kun."
Elysia waited for a moment, wincing at the jeers he received from his classmates before turning to her own classroom. Hibari was waiting for her at the door, standing nonchalantly against its frame.
"Ah, Hibari," Elysia greeted, "Is there something I can do for you?"
"What happened this morning with Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Was his curt question, and she sighed before answering, "Hibari, I think that the peace in Namimori may be in danger."
"What." A statement, both the tone and the stormy blue eyes demanding she explain right now.
"A baby has come that will make things… difficult for Tsu-kun," like always, he scowled at the nickname, "which will probably lead to a kind of chaos."
Hibari inclined his head in acknowledgement, standing up fully. He turned away from her, "I'll bite anyone to death if they disturb the peace in Namimori. Omnivore, keep an eye on your friend," He said the word with distaste, "Because if you're with him when this chaos happens, both of you will be bitten to death."
"Hibari," He paused, "I have new cookies for you to try."
Hibari looked over his shoulder with a smirk, "Bring them."
Elysia nodded, smiling as he walked away. Maybe things were looking up after all.
She opened the door to the classroom, apologizing for her lateness, explaining that it was because of Hibari (everyone flinched at his name), and taking a seat, eagerly waiting for lunch.
Elysia was looking out the window when the bell for lunch rang, and she grabbed the lunch she had packed and quickly walked to the reception room. She opened the door without knocking, seeing Hibari writing at his desk, "Hibari."
He glanced up, and nodded to her, pointing to the sofa with his pen. Elysia placed both boxes down and waited patiently for Hibari to finish the form he was on. For some reason, the Disciplinary Committee always had a lot of paperwork. She had a vague notion that part of it was probably because of their violent tendencies.
Elysia looked up when Hibari plopped down across from her, unwrapping his own bento carefully. She blinked, because he had never eaten with her before. But Hibari ignored her raised eyebrow and picked up his chopsticks.
Elysia shrugged, if Hibari wanted to eat with her, then who was she to stop him? The silence that usually surrounded them was replaced with an expectant air, and Elysia finished her bento quicker than normal. She looked at everything but Hibari when she was done, examining the reception room for the nth time.
When Hibari laid his chopsticks down and looked at her, Elysia met his gaze curiously. For some reason, he smirked at her, and then leaned back on the sofa, arms spread out across the back. Elysia almost groaned aloud. He wanted to play the waiting game, which meant her basically sitting in silence trying to wait patiently and him lounging back, taking his sweet old time in telling her whatever it was that was on his mind.
They both ignored the bell when it rang for classes to begin again, and when Kusakabe came to check up on his leader, he just quietly closed the door without saying anything after taking a look inside.
Elysia sat there for what felt like forever, and finally Hibari deigned to answer her unspoken question.
"Omnivore."
"Yes, Hibari?"
"This afternoon, Mochida will be challenging Sawada Tsunayoshi to a kendo match." He smiled at her spluttering, "If there is too much crowding, everyone will be bitten to death, and I will hold you partly responsible."
Elysia scowled, because at one point after Hibari had threatened Tsu-kun she had, at her wit's end with the amount of trouble the boy got into, told him that she would take the beatings for Tsu-kun whenever he did something wrong. Hibari had frowned at her for a moment, before smirking and telling her that Tsu-kun was now her responsibility.
She sighed, "Thanks for telling me," Hibari had irritated her, so it was only fair to annoy him back, right? "Kyouya." She immediately left, grinning when she saw his shoulders twitch before the door slid closed.
But now Elysia had to deal with Mochida-san, and that was not something she was looking forward to. The boy was lucky that he wasn't in her class, because she would have had words with him. She still would, of course, but it was easier to cut the problem off before it became too troublesome.
Sighing, she decided to take the long way to her class room, hoping to think of something besides pummeling Mochida-san to stop him from whatever it was he was planning. But when the final bell rang, signaling the end of classes, Elysia scowled. Figures that Hibari would have kept her there for so long. He was probably going to use it as an excuse to 'bite her to death' later on.
Elysia turned on her heel and headed to the gymnasium. She could hear the crowd before she saw the building, and her green eyes widened when she saw just how many people there were. Elysia pushed through the crowd until she got to the front, where she heard Mochida-san shout, "The prize of course, is Sasagawa Kyoko!"
"What?" Elysia looked at him blankly; too disturbed to even go after Tsu-kun as he snuck away. Sasagawa-san didn't seem very happy about it either, and her friend had to hold her back when she tried to go after Mochida-san.
She heard the crowd mumbling about his suspicious behavior, and Elysia slipped through the people to stand by Sasagawa-san.
Elysia murmured a greeting to the girl, and she spun around in surprise, "Ah!"
Sasagawa-san's friend gazed at her through lidded eyes, "Who are you?"
"She's Elysia-sempai," Here, Sasagawa-san looked to her for confirmation, "right? You're in Nii-san's class."
"Ah." Elysia nodded, and the other girl spoke again, "I'm Hana, and aren't you the girl that always hangs around Tsuna?"
"Yeah, he's a good friend of mine." Elysia said, jumping when the door to the gym slammed open.
"Ready!" Tsu-kun stood there, in his boxers again, "Fight!"
Reborn. Again.
The crowd reacted normally to it, with many 'Pervert!'s ringing out, and Elysia tried to slide over to him, but was rendered immobile by all the people. She sighed, because she was sure that Hibari considered this seriously overcrowded, and he was bound to show up at some point. And then she would have to fight him.
Tsu-kun bypassed the Kendo club members trying to give him his armor, sprinting at Mochida-san. The older boy laughed, "Only an idiot would run in naked!"
He raised the shinai high and cracked Tsu-kun in the head with it. Elysia twitched, itching to protect her friend, but Tsu-kun head-butted through the bamboo sword and slammed his forehead against Mochida-san's. They tumbled to the ground.
He then proceeded to pull out every hair on Mochida-san's head, turning to the ref with a "Zembu-pon!" Elysia grinned as the crowd cheered for her friend, and she moved to congratulate him herself when Sasagawa-san beat her to it. Knowing that Tsu-kun would be slightly preoccupied, she went on a hunt to find Reborn, because he was sure to be near.
Elysia found the baby when he popped out of a fire-extinguisher, and he greeted her joyfully, "Ciaossu, Elysia."
"Reborn," She said back, "Do these bullets have any side-affects?"
He just stared at her with his creepily intense eyes, "Why do you ask?"
Elysia snorted, "Please. Do you really expect me to think that a bullet that can give a person an incredibly large amount of power has no other affects, especially negative ones? There is a downside to everything."
"Perhaps the Dying Will Bullet is an exception."
"Or perhaps not." She said dryly. When she was met with silence, she said, "Reborn, if that bullet didn't have anything dangerous associated with it, the Vongola would definitely have more people using it as a weapon."
He narrowed his eyes at her, "What do you know about the Vongola?"
"A disturbingly small amount," Elysia muttered, "for having my best friend in line for being the next Boss."
And, the Vongola were always secretive. They guarded everything heavily. At least, that's what I gathered from Caprice's frustration.
Reborn hummed thoughtfully, "Don't worry about it."
"Not until you tell me what could happen."
"Why?"
"'Why?'" Elysia repeated exasperatedly, "Am I not supposed to be concerned about Tsu-kun?"
"You're not part of his family; his well-being is not your concern." Reborn replied, staring straight into her eyes."
Elysia suppressed a snarl, "Don't you dare tell me who to care about."
Reborn merely smirked, "Then join him and it won't be a problem."
She flinched—Arnaud gazed at her with dispassionate eyes, "You will join my familiga, and you will not be a burden to us."—and tried to hide it behind her black hair.
"Reborn, I'm not sure I can do that."
I never wanted anything to do with the Mafia. Why else would I risk leaving?
"Then Tsuna is none of your concern." And those eyes burned at her. Reborn walked away, leaving her to her thoughts.
Elysia scowled and headed to the school gates, waiting for Tsu-kun. She walked home with him, studiously ignoring Reborn's gaze and talking with Tsu-kun, whose puppy love was showing. When she got to her apartment, she sat down in her meditation room and faced the decision head-on.
Join, and be chained to the Mafia forever, and lose the freedom that she had bled for- that others had bled and probably died for. Or she could keep that freedom, and leave Tsu-kun to fend for himself against the Mafia and all the consequences associated with such a life, when he didn't even want to be in the Mafia in the first place. Would she leave him to be hurt and alone in a world were dying in a blaze of gunfire wasn't gloriousbut the norm?
Elysia laughed, covering her face with one hand as tears gathered in her eyes but did not fall. She laughed for a long time, and even to her own ears it was not a nice sound.
That night, she did not dream.