M.M was semi-lucid as she stared drowsily at the shadows that danced on the hospital room's ceiling with every car that rushed home through the midnight traffic. She had accidentally gotten a bit agitated after Tsuna had left, her mind still raw from the memories of her Papa. The nurses had rushed in and soon she was hopped up on sedatives and trying to choose between sleep and insomnia. During the commotion Chrome and Mukuro had disappeared, so now she was alone, in the company of her thoughts.
As usual, she was thinking of Tsuna, a matter that had popped up way too many times.
She replayed the scene from when she confessed over and over again. Saw his face change from worried to angry to scared (for whom she really didn't know) and ending with a neutral mask. She really didn't like seeing Tsuna so guarded. She had taken to his openness, it was fresh after years of staying with a lion-human hybrid, a yoyo fanatic, a shy girl and a psycho.
To see Tsuna so...cold...had her almost feel scared. He wouldn't kill her, sure, but would he ask her to leave?
She let out a soft groan, which she herself could admit sounded more like a whine.
That's why she loved money so much. At least materials were only three dimensional.
"M.M." Her bed dipped as the baby appeared from nowhere. She didn't react, only turning her head to face the Arcobaleno, cursing the drugs for the time she used to do just that.
"What do you want, Reborn?" She stated sharply, trying to keep the slur from her voice.
Reborn quirked an eyebrow before dipping his hat to cover his eyes.
"Tsuna would be going to Italy by dawn." M.M frowned, wondering about the abruptness of the issue. "You will be going with the other Guardians by the next week or so, after you have been released from the hospital." Reborn had a strange calculating glint in his eyes. He was studying her, and she gave him her most toxic glare that was possible.
Not that it would work on 'The Best Hitman In The World'.
Reborn merely smirked, before jumping down and promptly disappearing into the night like some ninja.
She grimaced. Condescending little brat.
She sighed, too numb to be particularly pissed off at mafioso like she usually was. Closing her eyes, she wondered why she was going to be brought along. She stared at her hand, vaguely remembering the warmth that enveloped her whole body when Tsuna held her hand. She caught herself, eyes widening as she flushed a deep scarlet.
She fell asleep, feeling that the air conditioning in the room felt way too warm.
"I wanted to trick you into letting Mukuro take over your body."
Iemitsu replayed the audio, his jaw tight and fists clenched around each other. He sucked in a deep breath, before reaching out to replay the clip for the nth time. M.M's voice filtered through, clear enough despite the low quality. Her voice was fuzzy, and Tsuna's was too, but the words were easily decipherable.
Iemitsu gave a deep frown. He thought back to the fire in his son's eyes, and briefly he regretted what he had to do. But then again, when has he not? He regretted every part of his life, what with joining the mafia, or marrying Nana even when he knew that she could be put in danger just because of that, or not being able to raise his son. Maybe a part of him wanted to be the bad guy, to play bad cop just so he could protect his family, mafia or civilian.
He had to protect them.
A brief flash of Nana's smile entered his vision.
He couldn't let the girl harm his family.
Sharp knocks echoed from the door, inciting him to look up and straighten his slouched posture. Oregano entered after he gave the affirmative, and nodded in greeting.
"Master Tsuna will be arriving in Italy by tomorrow evening to visit Nono." She flipped through her clipboard. "He has also requested to bring a companion along with him." She slipped the paper to him, a small note easily recognised to be Reborn's handwriting. Iemitsu frowned as he found the name, before he glanced back to his laptop, where the hospital's subpar security system caught the grainy images of his son and 'plus one', as Reborn had named M.M. He smiled genially at his secretary, and dismissed her promptly. The woman bowed respectfully before she marched off, no doubt to ensure tiptop security for his meeting with Nono.
He grasped the note, and read it once over, giving a bitter smile at the fine print engraved neatly at the bottom.
"Don't do anything stupid." It was simple. A threat against Iemitsu from Reborn. Vaguely, Iemitsu wondered what had Reborn so interested and protective of the girl, but knowing him, she's just part of a scheme for him to complete his job. Iemitsu sighed, setting the paper down before sliding back to his laptop.
His eyes were determined, but held a slight edge of regret.
"Sorry, Reborn," Iemitsu thought, "but I won't be able to do that."
Tsuna crumbled as a strike of pain crippled his legs. He instinctively raised a hand to press onto his temple, where he could feel it pulsing. He took deep breaths, trying to remember what Reborn told him about alleviating the pain. His mind pulled out pictures of M.M, and he bit his lips in worry.
A knock echoed on the door, and just as quickly as the pain came, it left. He quickly pushed himself onto the bed and forced up a mask of semi-normal-and-totally-not-in-pain. Reborn sauntered in, eyes flickering to the bag already pulled onto the bed. He stared at Tsuna for a while, as if he knew something was up, and Tsuna returned the look. The baby flicked his glance away to the window, and Tsuna followed his gaze to see a black car with tinted windows waiting outside the house.
It was easy to recognise it as one of Vongola's, even when the telltale mark of the emblem wasn't there.
"We are leaving soon." Reborn stated. Tsuna nodded and as Reborn turned to leave, Tsuna called him back. The brunet gave a tight smile, before scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Is…Is M.M okay?" Reborn glanced at him, before giving a smile so small it was almost went unnoticed.
"As Dame as ever Dame-Tsuna." Reborn's amusement was obvious, even when he spoke no different than he used to. "She's fine. But she is still fatigued from the memory restoration."
Tsuna nodded, satisfied. "Good," he murmured, relieved. He shouldered his bag, and turned to his tutor. "Let's go then."
He glanced back to his room, and slipped on his gloves. Taking in a breath, he injected the gloves with just enough of his flames so that it didn't look like he was wearing winter gloves in the middle of summer. He stretched his fingers and nodded to Reborn.
To Italy he goes, then.
Ooh, look what we have here. Is this an update I see? Yes. Yes it is. And you won't be getting one til whenever FM2 gets a new computer since I have exams coming next week. Anyway, hope all of ya enjoyed this. Tensions picking up so it's gonna be super fun.
Remember to review, whether you hated it, loved it, or found it...meh.