Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn or any other recognizable enterprises. Nor do I make money off them.
Before the Bullet
Chapter Six Stressed Conversations
Tsuna had never been a big reader of anything beyond manga. Boredom drove him to books. He had read Hibari's Thirty Six Stratagems in a hurry, thinking Hibari would either be angry if Tsuna did not return the book soon or be like Reborn and give a surprise quiz with painful penalties. Nothing of the sort happened yet and Tsuna started to doubt either thing would happen. Beyond beating the shit out of someone and patrolling Namimori, Hibari was exceedingly lazy. Hibari sleeps more than the average cat.
Thirty Six Stratagems was dry and boring book filled with more Chinese history than Tsuna could recall but at least the information was new to him, unlike all that his class went over. Some of the lessons, though, were quite familiar even though Tsuna had never seen them on paper. He had put some into action to deceive enemies…and so had Byakuran.
Thinking of the different ways to work strategies made class move faster. Some, like the "Honey Pot" he couldn't imagine working well, for or against. Fifteen year olds seducing another to ruin a force—mafia family, in this case—in the long term (or really, any term) seemed laughable. More so because his close Famiglia was mostly under the age of fifteen. How old are the Varia, anyway? Maybe Bianchi could pull off the seducing part but she would never stay long enough to bring the destructive distraction the book described. She would kill the man or go off to find Reborn in short time.
Tsuna stretched, pulling on heavily bruised muscles. Hibari had gotten a hard blow across his chest yesterday night and the bruise had developed to a deep purple before Tsuna even reached home. Metal tonfa hurt a lot more than the bamboo ones. The very idea of gym in the last hour of the day hurt. With his luck, they would be playing a tackle game or something with balls that always managed to hit him.
With a sigh, he checked the board. Lovely, areas of shapes. He returned to skimming through the book. Tsuna had developed a system to not pay attention in class and rapidly go through homework so his grades weren't too good. Then after a test, he studied what the test went over instead of the current subject. Tsuna feared Reborn's penalties too much to not keep up.
Though I might be too use to being in pain by the time he shows up. His chest throbbed. Hibari assured him that nothing was broken and Tsuna chose to believe him from the amount of injuries Hibari inflicted on people regularly. Just fucking hurts.
Like hearing his name called, Tsuna immediately looked up to see the door slid open. Those without on and off again Hyper Intuition took a few seconds longer to notice Hibari's presence.
"Hibari-san," Oshima squeaked out.
Hibari smiled at Oshima, an expression as comforting as the jaws of a shark. "Sensei, Sawada-san will be leaving class now."
Oshima nodded repeatedly and then seemed to decide to bow also, looking quite ridiculous. Poor guy, Tsuna thought with a sigh.
"Sawada, bring your things with you."
Tsuna nodded and put his notebook into his backpack, ignoring the pitying stares from those around him. They didn't have a clue to what Hibari was truly capable of and yet they (and once himself) feared him for the little they could see.
Tsuna walked to the front of the class. For once, there was no whispering, no flinging things, no note passing. The class's attention was completely on one thing, Hibari and Tsuna's possible doom. You would think I was walking to a firing squad or something. Do we just scare ourselves?
The throbbing of his chest reminded him there was a reason to their fear. And it will only get worse. Today, in school and beating up kids. Then one day the mafia and... Tsuna grimaced; he had no doubts of what the mafia did. The Vongola wasn't all family and trying to get along. Soldiers waiting for his commands like Byakuran's White Spell.
After a quick bow towards Oshima-sensei, Tsuna walked out of the room with Hibari.
"You look like you swallowed a hedgehog, herbivore."
"If I had, I wouldn't be an herbivore, would I?" Tsuna bit his lip. Should I ask? He had avoided asking questions about the future, unsure of how Hibari would react and Hibari's almost nonsensical comments bothered him without any context (or much understanding) to what he was saying. Still, confiding in Hibari about his fears seemed like a game of Russian roulette; Tsuna would get either pain or nothing.
Hibari didn't respond and they walked in silence down the halls. Questions ran through Tsuna's brain, about the Vongola and the Millefiore. He steeled himself towards the meeting with Gamma. Goals: find a way to get to Byakuran and kill him and keep Gamma and Hibari from attacking each other. Extra: avoid getting injured in the process.
"You are thinking to loud."
"Hiiii!" The very thought of Hibari being able to read his mind created a desire to leave town. Maybe even the country. Wait, I once thought he was cute as a kid. Definitely leaving the country.
"Say something or shut up." A tonfa appeared in his hand to accent the threat.
"Just thinking about Byakuran and Millefiore!" Tsuna rushed the words out.
"Don't worry about Gamma. I have beaten him before."
Tsuna shuddered. I will never look at hedgehogs the same way again. No boxes this time, though. What did Gamma fight with again? Some kind of stick.
The nagging question hit him again. "Hibari…we weren't like the Millefiore were, right?"
"We were the mafia and all that implies."
His stomach twisted and Tsuna wanted to be sick.
"Though Xanxus often complains, with you in charge, he might as well have joined the Peace Corps. You signed up the entire Varia up for the Peace Corps for a month after that comment."
Tsuna gaped at the nonchalant Hibari. How did I survive doing that? Scratch that, how did the world survive!
"You were soft but determined to protect your precious Famiglia." Somehow, Hibari's voice made even the compliment harsh. Tsuna wanted to apologize, but for what he did not know.
The words brought relief flooding through his heart. "Thank you for telling me, Hibari."
Getting to the café did not take long. A police officer tried to talk to them—schools were still in session after all—but one Hibari glare sent him fleeing. They were a good fifteen minutes early and they (Hibari) ordered shumai, gyoza, wasabi endamane, and two green teas. The waitress had given them a weird look but another waitress pulled her aside and whispered to her. She came back nervous but brought the food quickly.
Gamma entered, practically swaggering in with his hands in his pockets. With his foreign looks and suit, he looked very much out of place and attracted the attention of both the servers and the handful of patrons in the café.
"Hello brats." He said, sliding into the booth.
After a moment of uncertainty, Tsuna said, "Good afternoon." How does one greet a mafioso?
Gamma laughed. "I thought it was weird seeing you as a teenager. It's just funny to see you as little kids."
Tsuna snuck a glance at Hibari, who seemed focused on eating a gyoza. His eyes, though, seemed to be evaluating the chopsticks. Tsuna could imagine the thoughts going through his head. "What angle do I need to kill someone with these? Didn't I—no that was a fork. Probably works the same way. Is it worth it or should I just continue eating?"
Hibari dipped the gyoza in soy sauce and at it. Tsuna let out a sigh. He had once eaten dinner with the Varia , Gokudera, and Yamamoto in a four and a half tatami room. Tsuna learned quite quickly that bloodshed with eating utensils had put him off food, even if he hadn't eaten much more than a couple bowls of rice in the last week.
"Do you know where Byakuran is?"
"Florence." Gamma and Hibari said at the same time.
"Wait, you knew?" Tsuna glared at his Guardian.
Hibari shrugged. "We had no way to get there. We do now."
"Presumptuous." Gamma said with a smile.
"Gamma-san, if you know where he is, why haven't you killed him?"
Gamma crossed his arms. "The Giglio Nero are going through rough times right now. The Gesso are not and we've always been rivals. No where near Vongola ranked but trying to get ahead of each other. I've been tempted, but Luche needs me."
Tsuna nodded. Gamma is disturbingly similar to Gokudera. Tsuna missed his Storm Guardian, even his fretting. Two years, he reminded himself. Then I have my life back.
A waitress came by, halting the conversation. "Excuse me sir, would you like anything?"
"Beer, please."
The waitress frowned at him. "How old are you?"
"Seventeen. What do you have on tap?"
Hibari laughed, surprising the waitress into jumping back a foot. "Drinking age here is twenty."
Gamma's draw dropped. "You're kidding."
Hibari shook his head.
"Water then." Gamma snapped out and the waitress scurried away.
"What's the age in Italy."
"Sixteen." Gamma and Hibari said in unison.
That is really creepy. Trying to avoid any topics that would inspire another duet answer, Tsuna addressed his next question to Gamma. "Er, Gamma-san, we don't have passports."
"We couldn't have used our own anyway. Iemitsu or someone would have found a record of it eventually." Hibari pointed out.
Tsuna drank the last of his tea. Hadn't thought about that. Come on brain, there has to be some mafia minded part of you!
"Don't worry. I know someone." Gamma waved off the question and glared at the approaching waitress. In record time, the waitress dropped off the glass of water and ran to the opposite side of the café.
At least we don't have to worry about being overheard.
"Christmas would be a good time to go." Hibari sipped his tea.
"Christmas." Gamma repeated. "Of course, one of the most expensive times of the year."
"One of the few times we have off before summer and who knows when Reborn or another Vongola starts keeping tabs on Tsuna." Hibari fiddled with his chopsticks and Tsuna suddenly realized all the food was gone. He had not gotten a bite to eat. He sighed and picked up the cup of cooling green tea.
"Weird planning for events you know are going to happen, isn't it?"
Neither Hibari nor Tsuna responded but all three could not deny the oddity of the situation. Not that there was a particular standard of anything in the mafia but there was no "How to Deal with Time Travel for the Crusading Mafioso."
Shumai and gyoza are dumplings and endamane is soybeans, just so you know. I have a hard time imagining Hibari ordering fries and a coke because of his portion of the base in the Future Arc.
A four and a half tatami room would be about 8.5 by 9.5 feet or 290 by 270 cm. Coupled with a table, food, and the Varia, it would so be hell.
In case you don't remember, Gamma fought with a billiard cue. What isn't used as a weapon in the show?
Posted: May 25, 2009
Edited: June 1, 2009