Future of the Sky

In the Attic

A little more then a week and a half later Amami found her self standing in the middle of the hall outside the bedrooms blankly staring up at her brother who grinned down at her boyishly from a opening in the ceiling that led to the attic.

Amami wasn't as mad at her brother as she had been when she first heard that he had told Emiko that they were involved with the mafia now, but she was still a little irritated. Whenever her brother or Emiko would try to get her to tell Kenji, because apparently he didn't want to hear about it from his little sister, Amami stubbornly refused. She hadn't called or spoken to the elder Yamamoto sibling either.

She was also able to stand on her ankle now with out crutches, or babying it thanks in part to Reborn, though it still hurt because it wasn't fully healed, and they were still being put through hellish training by the devil in disguise.

Today though the devil man had left the two Sawada siblings to their own devices as he went and did whatever devils did when they were out. Maybe he was off scaring kids, or drinking blood, Amami didn't know. She had been studying the material that Reborn had given her, because though Amami didn't want to be a mafia boss for any reason she also didn't want to give Reborn any reason to give her punishment work, or what ever.

Ieyatsu though had gone exploring through the old Sawada residence, and found the attic, which led to the current situation of Amami staring blankly up at him as he grinned down reaching out a hand to pull her up there with him to explore the space, and discover their dad's treasures.

"Nee-san it's amazing up here. There are all sorts of dad's stuff that's stashed away, and it's really old. Like, from when he was our age and in school old. " He said excitedly.

Amami wanted to laugh at her brother, and tell him of course it was from when their dad was their age, because this was dad's childhood home. She also wanted to take his hand and get up there with him to see what was there, but there was a part of Amami that made her hesitate, the part of her personality that usually kept her from doing crazy things. Not that this was particularly crazy…

Ieyatsu blinked, and sighed when she took to long before he disappeared into the attic for a moment, and then dropped back down landing neatly on his feet. Reborn's training was doing wonders on him. Her unathletic brother was much quicker and lighter on his feet now then when they left even though the time they spent with Reborn so far was short.

"You're not mad again are you Nee-chan?" He asked with a sigh.

Amami shook her head quickly, "No, I just… Oh I don't know! Is it really a good idea to go through dad's stuff up there?" She asked.

Ieyatsu looked thoughtful, "Well it's true there's a weapons stash up there," He commented causing Amami to look horrified for a moment, "But the rest of the stuff is cool, and it's all old. There's some photo albums from when dad was a teen, and there's a little bit of stuff about Reborn, well with him in it at least." He grinned at his older sister again, "I took a peek before I let you know, sorry Nee-chan."

Amami blinked in surprise at her brother. Stuff about Reborn? Well that was certainly worth a look, because though their mother had told them that Reborn was an extremely close friend of their father's they didn't exactly know what kind of relationship the two had had. Whenever they asked Reborn they always got vague, frustrating, or confusing answers so the hitman was absolutely no help.

"Mmhm, alright let's go see." Amami said making her brother's grin grow wider as he turned and pulled on a rope hanging down a little way away from them. A ladder came down, and Ieyatsu started back up into the attic.

The attic definitely looked like an ordinary attic. It was dusty, and there were lots of boxes, and a few pieces of furniture here and there that were covered up by cloth. Ieyatsu went over to a bunch of boxes marked "Tsunayoshi" and "Tsu-kun" A few even had the number twenty-seven hastily written across the lid.

It was those that Ieyatsu had opened to see inside. Amami fallowed her brother over to those boxes and looked into them with a muttered, "Sorry for the intrusion" just because she felt bad for poking her nose into her father's stuff.

"Ah-ha!" Ieyatsu exclaimed grinning as he pulled out some clothes from the box he was in and showed them to Amami. "It's dad's old uniform!" He declared. Amami blinked at looked at the clothes. Grey pants, white shirt, blue sweater, and a blue tie.

"Mmhm!" She replied with a nod and a smile before turning back to the box she was kneeling in front of and going through. She had seen that uniform on her father before in a picture in their house.

"Do you think it'll fit me?"

Amami blinked honestly surprised by her brother's curiosity. Looking up she gave her brother their mother's smile, and said all too happily just to mess with his head, "Not a chance."

Her brother's expression made her laugh as he scratched her cheek and muttered complaints. Amami went back to the box she was going through, and pulled out one of the photo albums as her brother went back to digging through his own chosen box. Sitting back she opened it and started looking through the book. It was completely filled with pictures of her parents, and their friends, from when they were in middle school.

"Ah, this... This is Reborn isn't it?" She asked showing her brother one of the pictured that had a baby sized Reborn in it.

Ieyatsu leaned over and nodded his head, "Mmhm, I think so. I wonder why he's so small in that..."

When Kenji arrived at home after spending some time in the dojo he found his mother standing on the second floor shouting up at the ceiling. When she noticed him his mother rounded on him looking quite unhappy.

"Kenji, you sister locked her self up into the attic again and won't come out." She said sounding as unhappy as she looked.

Kenji tilted his head slightly, "You two had another fight?" He asked. His mother seemed to deflate and Kenji knew he hit the nail on the head. The young adult sighed, "I understand. I'll take care of it." He replied.

Kenji loved both his mother, and his little sister, and he knew the two loved each other, but since their father had died it wasn't uncommon for mother and daughter to get into fights. Emiko had always been daddy's little girl, and Kenji didn't doubt that she would always continue to be daddy's little girl even if it cause a little strain on her relationship with her mother.

"Thank you dear." His mother replied before leaving.

Looking around Kenji grabbed a near by broom and used it to ban against the door three time, left a pause, and then again twice. He was about to do it again when he heard the latch open, and the attic stairs came down for him. By the time he got up into the attic Emiko was already sitting among a bunch of boxes marked "Takeshi", she had head phones on and was staring intently at a portable DVD play that was in her hands.

Not long their father died the attic had become the place that Emiko and Kenji would hide from their mother after they had a fight because it was where a lot of their father's things were. Their mother couldn't bring herself to come up there her self, though neither of the siblings knew exactly why.

"Emiko." Kenji said standing in front of his sister and offering a hand to her. He waited like that for a moment, the younger Yamamoto not moving. "Come on." He urged his sister.

Emiko looked up at him, though she was still plugged into the DV player. "No." She replied simply.

Kenji sighed running his previously offered hand through his hair before he sat down in front of his sister, and among the boxes. "What are you watching?" He asked.

Emiko didn't respond for a moment before she scooted next to her brother and handed him one of her ear buds. Kenji placed it into his ear and looked at the screen as well.

"Congratulations Yamamoto-san!" The people in the room cheered. It was decorated party style, and the room was the dining area of the family sushi shop. A large banner was hung across the back that read, 'Congratulations on Winning State Championship' Or something like that.

"Haha, thanks guys." The light voice of their father when he was younger said.

The video continued, showing what happened during the party. Kenji knew this home movie well, it was one of the ones that his sister particularly liked to watch when she was upset. Not that he knew why she liked this one so much, never asked. Kenji didn't also ask what she was upset over even as she changed DVDs once this one was over. The attic was their hiding place; the attic was the one place where both he and Emiko came when they needed their father. He just sat next to his sister waiting for her to talk to him first as they watched the movie like he always did.

"Ah, it's started?" An older Yamamoto asked, he looked to be in his early thirties.

A woman giggled, "Of course it is Yamamoto-kun, see the light's on." The voice didn't belong to their mother, but to one of his friends named Haru.

"Oh, right. Haha, thanks Haru." Their father replied before looking at the camera again. In the distance a squeal, and a loud cry could be heard.

The woman, Haru, sighed in exasperation form behind the camera. "If that boy of mine is picking on Daichi again..." She grumbled before she could be seen leaving the room as Yamamoto laughed sheepishly.

"It's never quiet around here..." Yamamoto commented before he seemed to remember what hew as doing before.

"Ah! Right! Emiko this is daddy. Mommy says I don't have to do this, but I wanted to. After all I might not be around when you need me for something." Kenji pulled his earplug out and placed it back into Emiko's ear. He never listened to this part of this particular video, though he did watch in amusement as his father went on and started making exaggerated arm motions as he spoke to the camera. The older he got, the more his father's way of speaking with his hands amused him.

Kenji gave his sister a pat on the head, "Come down when you're done." He said, even with out a response he knew that she had heard him.

Leaving the attic he blinked seeing his mother come to the end of the hall, looking at him expectantly. They stared at each other for a moment, Kenji half tempted to ask why she and Emiko had fought about. Instead he shrugged at her unspoken question.

"I did what I could. She'll be down soon enough." Before he went into his room to grab a change of clothes so he could shower. By the time Kenji was done Emiko had moved to hiding in her bedroom rather then being in the attic. She chirped a hello as she passed Kenji on her way to the bathroom now that he was out. What ever their father said in her movie pep talk always seemed to cheer his little sister up.

Shaking his head Kenji walked into his room and kicked to door gently shut, he then turned on some music as he sat sown at his computer drying his hair. The young adult froze in surprise when what came out of his speakers wasn't music at all.

"Kenji, it's Dad." Yamamoto's voice was serious as he spoke. Tones that Kenji knew well, but hadn't ever heard often when his father was alive. "What I'm about to tell you is very important, and you need to listen to me carefully son. At this point I don't know what you've heard about me from others, but most of it is probably true."

Kenji turned slowly to face his CD player words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them, "Even the stuff about the mafia?"

"Reborn advised all of us to record a message incase the worst happened and we were taken out by someone. I know I left you and you sister one on video, but this is different Kenji. If you're actually listening to this message it means that more then the worst has happened, and you'll have to help little Ieyatsu and Amami finish what we adults started. I'm sorry about this son, and maybe you'll get to choose a different path, but incase you don't please listen to what I'm about to tell you."

Kenji stared at the speakers with a level of confusion he hadn't felt since his father died seven years ago. Nonetheless he listened to what his father was telling him.

A/N :: So this remained a little filler chapter, and though the wording and dialogue is different it pretty much remained the same as it had been before. I don't really have much to say about this, but I hope you guys enjoyed it! Though on another note, with the Arcoblaeno Arc over I now don't have to make up the reason why Reborn is in his adult form. Yippie!

So... I know that in the last chapter I said I'd only update once a month, but that near about killed me. So I'm going to try updating twice month once in the beginning of each month, and once near the end. So please look forward to another chapter of Future of the Sky some time between the 18th and 24th of November. I'm not sure exactly when I'll get it out that week, but I'll get it out for sure.

Please review with your dying will! Flames will, as always, be used to roast marshmallows with Byakuran.

Disclaimer: Akari-chan doesn't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, any of it's characters, places, or anything like that.

Reposted 11/6/12