"Let me fill your heart with joy
and laughter, Togetherness,
Well that's all that I'm after
Whenever you need me
I'll be There
I'll be there to protect you
With an unselfish love that respects you
Just call my name and I'll be there"
'I'll be There' -Jackson 5
"Mom~ I'm back!" Tsuna called out walking through the front door loosening the tie around his neck and kicking to the door closed. "Sigh, it's always rainy or humid in June and there aren't any holidays during the whole month. It's so tiring...and Ashlynn says that the students in the U.S. normally get the end of May all the way to August or September for their summer break, and they get two day weekends and half-days and other breaks that are a week or two long and-hmmm?"
Tsuna paused in the middle of the hallway in front of the door looking at the high table that they used to hold a small vase with whatever flowers the kids pick for Mom and a small bowl for the mail. There was a card on top of the pile addressed specifically to him by name. "What is this? I don't usually get any mail...A Wedding invitation! Inviting me to come! Who-who is it? Who do I know that's getting married!" Tsuna cried opening the seal and immediately dropped the invite in shock. He shook his head before taking another look to be sure of the names written inside of a heart. "N-No way! Reborn and Bianchi! But when! And how come I never knew about this happening! He did say that they were lovers but he said it in past tense so...and isn't he just a year old? This...this is too much...is...is someone playing a joke on me..really funny...haha..ha..ha...?"
Tsuna jumped when the door opened and Kyoko and Haru stepped through the threshold in a nice pink and teal dresses respectively while Hana stood on the porch in a dark blue dress with the boys wearing black suits. Tsuna's jaw dropped then waved the invitation in the air. "K-Kyoko-chan! and Haru and everyone! E-everyone is here and all dressed up!...Then this is actually real!"
"Are you ready to go TO THE EXTREME?" Ryohei greeted him.
Gokudera made a sweeping bow. "Juudaime! We have come to escort you!"
"So let's go to the ceremony hall together okay? This is my first time going to a wedding. Isn't it exciting?" Kyoko smiled.
Hana shook her head. "How come you're not ready yet Sawada? You don't plan on going in your school uniform are you?"
Tsuna sputtered as he was lead out of the house and off the property. "Then this really is real? It's not a joke?"
"No joke kid. Weddings are serious business."
"Hiiiiiie!"
"Jeez, settle down kid. No need to screech."
Tsuna whirled around to face Dolly leaning against the limo in the street next to the house in a maroon dress. He wasn't able to talk anymore since the woman grabbed him and stuffed him in the back of the vehicle and motioned for everyone to get in and nodded to their driver that they were all set to go. The woman gave Tsuna's uniform an odd look before remembering that Niamh had told her that Reborn usually and purposefully left Tsuna out of the loop and this event was most likely no different. Which was why they had an 'extra' suit in the boy's exact size waiting for him at the church. She had asked why Reborn would do that and Niamh's answer was a shrug while saying, 'Not sure. He's to be a mafia Boss~ . Maybe it's to get him used to having to get to meetings and events like these on very short notice. Even when said short notice is literally mere hours before the event. That's what I think anyway. And Reborn has told me straight up that he teaches the wrong way of doing things before the correct way so that you learn not to do it the bad way.' Dolly guessed it may be a good skill to be ready and prepared for anything at a moments notice so she nodded her head and went along with it. She just wished the boy would stop screeching. It's alright to be surprised but his screams sounded rather girly to her...
Tsuna looked down at his hands. "I can't believe this~. Everyone of you has known about this? And no one notices that Reborn is a baby?"
"Sorry Tsuna. We thought you knew since he lives with you." Yamamoto apologized.
Hana huffed. "That should be the reason why he knows. Since he lives with the groom."
Tsuna sighed as they stepped out of the car in front of a church and as they walked up the steps a sign caught his eye that announced the event with Reborn and Bianchi's names. He gaped as he was herded inside the building and to a side room to change into a suit left out for him. When he walked out he was shuffled with the others in front of a door that said 'Bride Waiting Room'. "It's not a joke..."
"I told you it wasn't, kid. You should pay attention when people talk to you. Besides the invitation must have been more than enough proof to convince you." Dolly said opening the door and waved them in and raised a brow when Tsuna hesitated. "What's wrong?"
"U-um, are we really allowed in there?"
Dolly nodded. "It's fine. You go on in I'm going to find Niamh and Birdy."
Tsuna nodded reluctantly and wondered who 'Niamh' was as he went in and closed the door behind him in case Reborn was walking around before he stood next to Ryohei. The girls cooed in awe as Bianchi turned away from a full length mirror to face them in a strapless white gown and a veil over her pulled up hair. Both Kyoko and Haru clasped their hands to their chests singing praises for the beautiful bride.
"Hahi, beautiful-desu~."
"Bianchi-chan you look amazing!"
Hana smiled. "This is the beauty of an adult woman."
"Really. Bianchi you look very beautiful. Congratulations by the way." Tsuna told the bride.
Bianchi smiled serenely as she carefully set down her bouquet and raised a hand to cover her blush. "Thank you, all of you. It has always been a dream for me to become a June bride. It is a good month and when I asked Reborn about it while planning the celebration he nodded many times. He even agreed to be married right away instead of waiting another full year before being wed."
"Oh, I want to be one to when I get married!' Kyoko smiled.
Haru sighed dreamily. "A June bride~ It has such a lovely sound to it doesn't it?"
"Being a June bride is really that important?" Tsuna wondered out loud.
"Of course it's important." Hana explained. "When an adult woman marries she married in June; Even if it's really not June at all it doesn't matter. She's getting married in June."
"Right~" Koyko and Haru chorused.
Tsuna's shoulders slumped. "That's just unreasonable..."
"Right! It's just like how I am always EXTREME!" Ryohei punched up in the air.
Gokudera jumped up from his seat. "Don't try to make the two seem familiar, Turf Top!"
"What was that Octopus Head!" he yelled at Gokudera's back.
"Come on." Tsuna stepped in. "We should be celebrating today so please don't fight...Hey? Gokudera-kun? You're alright in front of Bianchi?"
"Yes Juudaime! With these glasses on I can't see a thing!"
"Eh? What is it Gokudera? Tsuna is over there." Yamamoto pointed.
Gokudera standing next to Yamamoto looked in the opposite direction. "Over here?"
'He really can't see a thing.' Tsuna sweat dropped. Then looked closely at Bianchi smiling and the dress she was wearing. 'I...I've seen that dress before...'
"That's right Tsu-kun." Maman placed her hands on her son's shoulders. "I'm letting her borrow my wedding dress for her special day."
"Eh? You kept it?"
"Of course! I was going to have your bride wear it on your wedding."
"M-my bride?" Tsuna sputtered.
"It's a lovely dress! I'd like to try it on too!" Kyoko giggled.
Tsuna stared at her. 'If Kyoko-chan were to wear that dress...then would...then she would marry...she'd marry...She'd marry me!...No, of course not. Like I could be that lucky for that to ever happen...'
"Haru doesn't want that to happen either!"
"Hiiiiie!"
Haru's eyes sparkled as she imagined her dream wedding with Tsuna knowingly being the groom. "Haru has already decided that when she marries it will be in a bunkin-takashimada! And then Haru will change into a decorative white tiered cake costume for the reception!"
"What! Why would you want to do that?" Tsuna cried.
"Tsunayoshi." Bianchi called for his attention. "Would you mind checking on Reborn for me? I would go myself but you the groom is not supposed to see his bride until I walk down the isle to meet him at the altar."
"Yeah, sure thing." Tsuna nodded and went to do just that as the girls fluttered around Bianchi and the boys decided to walk around.
"Oh, Tsu-kun, Reborn is in the dressing room two doors down on the left, okay?" Maman told him before he shut the door.
"Thanks Mom." Tsuna shut the door and knocked on the door Maman said Reborn was in, let himself inside and gasped when he saw the groom in one of the chairs smiling. Tsuna moved forward and gave him a hearty handshake. "Wow! You're all formal, too! I guess it's true when they say that the clothes really do make the man. You know, Reborn, I really wish that you would have told me about this earlier...but still...congratulations and I hope tha-"
CRACK
"...Crack...?" Tsuna looked down at the hand had been shaking then slowly up the arm to the shoulder that was no longer attached to the Hitman's arm. "...Reborn...?...Your arm...It...came off...IT CAME OFF~!"
"Who's in here!" The door slammed against the wall.
"Hiiiiiiiie! D-Dino-san! Reborn! It's Reborn! You have to help! He, his arm his arm came off! Quick call an ambulance! Medic!"
Dino still standing in the doorway sighed in relief and closed the door behind him after making sure no one had noticed Tsuna's yelling. He walked forward and put his hands in Tsuna's shoulders. "Shhhh. Tsuna, calm down, it's okay. Reborn doesn't need any medical attention. Honest."
"Th-then he's able to grow his arm back!"
"No...at least I don't think he has that particular ability...that doesn't matter right now. This here isn't really Reborn, Tsuna. It's a doll with Reborn's likeness." Dino took the arm away from the boy and fixed it back to the doll's body.
"A-a doll?" Tsuna stuttered in disbelief. "Then where is the real Reborn? Why isn't he here for his own wedding?"
Dino pressed his fingers to his temples. "He didn't show. In fact you could say that he got cold feet and ran away."
"What! The groom ran away!"
"Tsuna please don't yell you don't know who could be walking the halls right now! Anyway, when I called him this morning to congratulate him...he said 'Fnn, I don't know anything about a wedding. Though I remember that Bianchi had been in a very good mood when I woke up from my nap~'. That's what he told me so what I think happened was that Bianchi had asked him to marry her while he was napping."
"So this is a misunderstanding on Bianchi's part? But, but if Bianchi ever finds out about this...that Reborn ran away...even if it was a misunderstanding..."
"Yeah, she'll go berserk and in her rage she'll kill everyone in attendance until she finds him. And the same will happen if we try to cancel the ceremony. I think Reborn saw this coming so he had prepared a replacement."
"Replacement? But won't we get busted immediately if we use the doll? And who knows what will happen if anyone finds out that we knew that Reborn skipped out."
The doll whacked Tsuna across the back of his head. "Say that again if you have the guts."
"Hiiiiiie!"
Dino snickered at his reaction and revealed a remote controller from his jacket and fiddled with the buttons. "You have to admit that this is very well made. Even you were fooled until I told it was a doll. I've heard that it was made with the Vongola's newest technology at their disposal. We can use this remote here to have him perform simple actions and say certain phrases and words. I've already sent someone to search for Reborn's whereabouts so all we can really do now is use the doll and hold out for as long as we can until Reborn comes back so there won't be a massacre."
Tsuna slumped into the chair next to the doll. "You really think that this is going to work?"
"It's the best we can hope for in this situation Tsuna. It's about time for the ceremony to start so we should get going. Let's cross our fingers and hope for the best."
Ashlynn thought that the two Bosses were doing fairly well so far in keeping everyone, especially Bianchi, from knowing that the Reborn really wasn't with them and a controlled doll left in his place. Well, almost everyone; Dolly kept giving her glances and Birdy had noticed it wasn't him and had brought it discreetly to her attention.. Ashlynn thanked her for telling her but asked to keep this to herself. They didn't want Bianchi to become upset.
Still, Ashlynn knew that everything was going to go to Hell in a hand basket soon but since it would turn out well and okay in the end she wasn't all too worried. Not yet anyway."
"Evviva gli sposi!"
The room erupted into a thundering applause as the newlyweds raised their drinks in response to the toast. Ashlynn clinked her glass with Ryohei and Yamamoto who were sitting with her in the seat between them. Lambo and I-pin jumped up to clink their cups with everyone at their table before hopping back into their chairs.
She watched as Bianchi said something to Reborn and raised his cup to his lips for a drink. The Reborn doll froze and started to convulse in the chair. "Shaa..."
Ashlynn heard Dino swear. "Shit!"
Reborn paused before his head started nodding up and down so fast that it looked like he was vibrating then he leaped across the room and dived into one of the water fish tanks. "Shananananana! Naaaaaaa! Naaa~~~."
"...This...this isn't Reborn. My Reborn wouldn't talk or act in this sort of manner. WHERE IS REBORN! WHICH ONE OF YOU IS HIDING HIM! SPEAK UP!" Bianchi demanded the crowd with two semi-automatics aimed at the guests.
Tsuna quickly plucked the swimming doll our of the fish tank and rushed him back to the main table. "Wh-what are you talking about Bianchi? This is Reborn."
"Ciaossu."
Dino laughed nervously. "This is a wedding reception! He's a little nervous and he slipped into the water!"
"Nervous!...You're right...you're absolutely right! I'm such a selfish person! I hadn't considered his feelings at all! Oh Reborn I'm so sorry! Could you find it in you to forgive me?" Bianchi clasped her hands with the doll's.
"Thank goodness, we were able to trick her.' Dino cut in. "Since he's drenched why don't Tsuna and I take him to go get changed? Wouldn't want to ruin that lovely dress."
"Oh! Of course, this is Maman's old dress after all. You go on ahead Reborn. I'll be waiting for you right here."
Ashlynn watched as Dino and Tsuna took away the doll with Gokudera following after them and a curious Lambo trailing after him with bright eyes shining since seeing the remote control that Dino had been carrying around with him. She didn't react as a pair of breasts were pressed to the top of her head and arms wrapped around her shoulders.
"They're doing well so far, sweet pea." Keiko remarked airily playing with one of the springy curls in her hair. "They're being a little obvious though. Fortunate for them that no one else has noticed yet or don't care to tell anyone else."
Ashlynn hummed in agreement. "So far so good but it's not over yet. They were lucky to take this chance to fix any problems from the electrical shortage. But Lambo followed them and will definitely be taking every possible chance to take the remote away so he can play with it. I just hope he doesn't realize it's controlling Reborn's likeness. We'll probably never hear the end of that."
"Ah, here they come~. Evviva gli sposi!" Keiko toasted and was answered by an applause by the guests for the bride and groom.
Bianchi smiled happily as Reborn was seated next to her again and nodded to waiter to continue. "Let's move onto the cake, alright Reborn? I made it personally."
On one of the tables where there had been a cloth draped over a towered shape revealed it to be a purple tiered wedding cake with flowers, borders, and poison. There was a motif on the second layer with Reborn and Bianchi's likeness surrounded by a heart in frosting. It was lovely to look at despite the purple vapor being exuded into the air and the many bugs crawling around on the surface. Until Reborn crashed into the frosting Bianchi's face waving his arms and yelling out
'Ciaossu!'.
"Haha! Things are getting really exciting huh?" Yamamoto laughed.
"Hahi? Is that a tradition? To jump into the cake instead of jumping out of it?" Haru wondered out loud.
"Haru thinks it's a wonderful fun idea! Haru will do it too for her wedding as well!"
"G-Gokudera-kun! What are you doing!" Tsuna cried and gasped when he saw Gokudera blindly patting the floor since he couldn't see because of the glasses and Lambo just out of his reach mashing all the buttons on the controller in delight. "Oh no, Lambo!"
Bianchi slammed her fist onto the table while her other fisted into the back of Reborn's coat lifting him into the air. "This is not something that my Reborn would do! Tell me where Reborn is! Where is he! TELL ME RIGHT NOW!"
"Not good. Not good! B-Bianchi! I'm sure that there is really Reborn!"
"Yeah! Remember he's just a little nervous with all of this commotion! You know that Reborn really isn't one to have this many people here who aren't really close friends." Dino agreed with Tsuna as both jumped up to placate the bride that now had a knife in her hand.
Bianchi growled and kicked the two away from her towards the back tables. Ashlynn left her seat without notice and hurried to where the two had landed now beneath the table. She went behind the table lifted the cloth and crawled in under right behind the two Bosses who were laying on the floor peeking out through the cloth on the other side in wonder as Bianchi cried in relief that Reborn had somehow turned back to normal thanks to Lambo somehow pressing the correct sequence of buttons on the controller.
"This. Is. A. Test." Reborn's voice rang.
"A Test!" Bianchi cried.
"Of course." Dolly called out. "There is a tradition that obstacles are put in a bride's way to see how well she could handle married life. This one is to see how much you're willing to put up with him as your husband. It was the same for my wedding."
Bianchi dropped the knife. "Oh, Reborn! I understand now! You can relax! Such a miniscule thing is nothing before the love between us."
Dolly called out the toast. "Evviva gli sposi!"
Ashlynn grinned as she scooted closer between the two males as they sighed in relief that Lambo had surprisingly salvaged the situation before Bianchi truly snapped. "So what are you two doing unsupervised beneath the table?"
"Hiiiiie!"
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Both Bosses yelled and hit their heads on the bottom of the table in surprise. Ashlynn waited as they rubbed at
their scalps to reduce the sting before she asked again.
"Ah, um...nothing! Nothing really...we were thrown back...and...there, there was...something...and... Um...ah, Ashlynn... you look..lovely?" Dino tried to explain but couldn't seem to blurt the words out of his mouth.
She shook her head and decided a different approach though she already knew the answer. Though they didn't need to know that. "Thank you, but I'd rather you not tell me that like it's a question, Dino. You may try again later. Now, who has the remote?"
"R-remote?"
Ashlynn sighed. "To the doll of course. Really, please don't take me for an idiot. I know that it's really not Reborn. Hell, I know it's not even one of the costumes he pulls out every now and then."
"What! So you knew that it really wasn't Reborn! D-does anyone else know? And...EH? You knew that it was Reborn dressing up the entire time!" Tsuna hissed.
"Of course I knew. I just never said anything."
Tsuna grabbed at the sides of his head. "But why? Why wouldn't you say anything! Maybe he'd stop doing it if someone else called him on it!"
"Maybe he'd stop doing it if you'd stop freaking out about it." Ashlynn deadpanned.
"You really think that that would work?" Dino asked.
"No."
Tsuna grabbed at his hair. "Then why say that he might stop!"
"Then maybe you'll stop freaking out Tsuna. Anyway Reborn's costume habit isn't important right now because he's not here. Instead there's a doll being controlled by a remote you obviously don't have in your possession right now. I know that Keiko, Dolly and Birdy know that it's really not the real Reborn and I know that Gokudera has been helping you." Ashlynn shrugged and lifted the cloth to see Gokudera unknowingly jump in front of his sister, took off his glasses, and fell over sick after she looked him in the eye and kissed his cheeks.
"Or he was helping you. He just keeled over."
They looked up as the tablecloth was lifted from the same place that Ashlynn had entered and Dolly poked her head under the table and gave them a questioning glance. "What are you three doing beneath the table?"
"It's okay Dolly~." Ashlynn gave her a thumbs up. "I'm supervising."
"...Alright Niamh. Carry on." Dolly moved the tablecloth back into place.
Tsuna looked at her strangely. "You're Niamh?"
"It's an old nickname my Grandmother and my brother used and now Dolly and sometimes Birdy uses it. Now, I think we should get out from beneath the table before someone really misses us, okay?"
'I didn't know she had a brother...' Tsuna thought.
"Alright, let's go." Dino motioned for her to lead the way.
Ashlynn crawled backwards towards where Dolly had poked in and was grateful that no one was watching in their direction. Though the reason for that was because Reborn was malfunctioning again and he spat oil into Bianchi's face. She quickly pulled up the tablecloth and pulled both Bosses out from beneath the table to see.
"Hiiiiiie! This is really bad!" Taking the chance while Bianchi was stunned by the Doll's behavior Tsuna leaped for the controller in Lambo's hands. "Lambo! Quick give it here!"
"Nope! Don't wanna! Lambo still wants to play!" Lambo blew a raspberry and jumped into the air with I-pin hot on his tail crying for him to stop making mischief. Lambo bounced off a table and onto the ground dislodging the Ten Year Bazooka as he tried to make his escape. The purple weapon swallowed both children in a cloud of pink smoke.
"Ah! What is this place?" came the voice of the future I-pin as she waved the smoke away from her and her white qipao. "Oh, Sawada-san, can you tell me where I am? I was just making sure that Kawahira-oji-san had ramen. The food at Ashlynn's wedding reception wasn't agreeing with him so he asked for something else. I have to go Sawada-san before the noodles become soggy! Goodbye~!"
'Ashlynn is getting married on this day ten years from now? First Bianchi being a June bride and the girls wanting to be one and now future Ashlynn too? Is being a June bride seriously as important as they say it is?'' Tsuna wondered.
"The food here is pretty good~"
'Eh? Adult Lambo is here too!" Tsuna looked over to see Lambo sitting at one of the tables with a full plate in front of him.
Hana rushed forward. "You're the cute guy with the cow printed shirt!"
"ROMEO!" Tsuna whipped his head in Bianchi's direction as she stalked slowly forward. "I thought things were odd. First Reborn is acting out of character and now you dare to show your face here on my wedding day! All of this must be your doing!"
"Oh no! She's confusing him for her old lover again!" Tsuna cried as the older Lambo cowered.
Bianchi picked up two dishes that instantly turned the food upon it into poison cooking. "I will send you to Hell right now!"
"Please hold on, Bianchi-san!" Hana stepped between the bride and her target with her arms spread open.
"You're a married woman as of today! Men from your past shouldn't matter to you anymore!
"Get out of my way!"
"No Bianchi-san! That's not fair!"
"Hana, Bianchi-chan! Please calm down!" Kyoko pleaded.
"Hahi! The Missus is getting passionate!"
"Things are getting really EXTREME!"
"Bianchi." Ashlynn put a hand on her shoulder and carefully took the dishes from her hands. "Remember this is a test to see what obstacles you can overcome to prove that you can be a great wife."
"Is it really? It's only a test to what sort of wife I am? To see if I'm worthy?"
Ashlynn nodded and gave the poisoned dishes for one of the waiter's to dispose of as Keiko brought the woman back to her chair while she caught Hana from stumbling away from the now present five year old Lambo.
Keiko smoothed her friend's hair. "Yes. Try to keep a level head, dear."
"A level head?..A level head?" Bianchi screeched finally at the end of her fuse and she pulled away from her culinary friend and picked up the fake Reborn by the back of his suit. "No! No more! Because this is not the Reborn that I know! I WILL NOT STAND FOR ANY MORE OF THIS BULLSHIT! NO MORE! IT'S OVER!"
"HIIIIIIE! Dino-san! Bianchi's lost control! Everything is turning into poison cooking! If we don't get everyone out they'll be poisoned!" Tsuna screeched inching away from the now poisonous floor and the now flying bits of poisonous metal that used to be the Reborn doll.
Bianchi stalked forward her hair flying in her rage and pointed angrily at the two Bosses. "You! You knew the entire time didn't you! YOU KNEW! YOU KNEW THAT THIS WAS NOT REBORN! AHH!"
Bianchi stumbled back from a bullet that had been shot just centimeters from her face. She turned with fiery eyes to the double doors of the reception room and froze in shock at the smirking baby in the dark suit.
"That's the ultimate dish in poison cooking: 'The Thousand Poison and red variety poison~! You finally did it. Congratulations."
"Reborn!" Tsuna crashed forward with Dino and Ashlynn stepping sedately behind him. "Where on Earth have you been this entire time! What were you doing while all of this was going on! We were almost killed!"
"Reborn? Reborn! It really is you!" Bianchi cried.
Reborn nodded and pulled a ring out of his suit pocket and tossed it to Bianchi. "I had to go and get this."
"Wow!" The woman crooned. "It's so lovely! Thank you~!"
"Was it okay to leave to get a ring on your wedding day?" Ashlynn asked the hitman.
"Don't misunderstand. That's a weapon that shoots out piano wire."
Tsuna covered his face with his hands. "So this entire fiasco...this wedding...?"
"Fnn. It doesn't count."
"You're right Reborn." Bianchi turned while lovingly putting on the ring. "I have learned from today's obstacles that I'm not quite ready to be your bride. I hope you can forgive me."
Dino sighed running a hand though his hair. "You have got to be kidding me~."
Reborn smirked.
Instead of a happily wedded bride and groom the wedding only resulted in a large increase of Bianchi's powers and a ruined reception hall that forwarded the bill between the two worn out Bosses.
Only a few days after the 'wedding filler disaster' as Ashlynn preferred to call it, had finished all the housework needed and since it had now turned over to summer break she had a little more time to do things. Things such as trying to think of ways that she could consciously use her dying will to create sparks and hopefully during the process gain some sort of resistance to those shocks.
Which was the reason why she was crouched on her feet glaring at one of the electrical sockets in her apartment trying to muster up the courage to actually stick her fingers in and see what she could work with. Stupid conscious knowing that it's going to hurt. She reached for the socket again and before anything could possibly happen she pulled away with a curse at her blatant reluctance. She shook her head. No, there would be no room for any sort of cowardice. This was something that needed to be tested no matter how nervous it made her. Ashlynn reached for the socket again.
Dammit!
Ashlynn angrily glared at the socket took a deep breath and shoved her fingers at the the socket, yelped at the shock and fell over onto her back holding onto her tingling hand. "Oooooow! Shit, that hurt~!"
She looked at her fingers and sighed. If this was what she could expect, then man this training was going to suck fuzzy nuts. Ashlynn sighed. Perhaps she was going about it wrong? Moments after soothing her poor digits she realized that she had just stuck her fingers in without any thought of her flame. Which meant she was going to have to try again.
She crouched and glared at the socket again and wondered if this counted as fighting with an inanimate object. Electricity could be counted as animate, right?
'Soooo...yeah, I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. Do I just keep shocking myself till I go numb and that will allow me to build resistance? ...Suppose I should visualize sparks or something? Or go with another approach by wearing wool socks and sliding my feet against carpet, buy one of the trick bubblegum packs, or maybe rub a balloon against my hair...' Ashlynn huffed and closed her eyes and tried the second option to imagine being surrounded and filled with a green aura then started to add sparks to that aura. When she was sure she could keep the image she peeked her eyes open and moved her fingers towards the socket. To her surprise there was a pale green shock before she had even come close to touching the indented prongs.
"Alright then. Sparking aura it is, then we'll go onto a balloon followed by socks sliding against carpet."
Ashlynn brought back the image of the aura and sparks connecting her to the electrical socket, reached again and she was once more surprised when there really was sparks connecting her to the outlet. She smirked in triumph and then after a moments inspiration she attempted to pull the a bit of the sparks away so she could try holding it in her hand. It was like pulling melted cheese out of a mozzarella stick. Ashlynn giggled in glee at the thought and pulled a little more and severed the piece from the wall.
And then the power went out.
"...Oops.."
Ashlynn didn't get up yet even though the ceiling light in the living room shut off. She looked at the tiny sparks that she had pulled into her palm. They were giving off a sensation that numbed and tingled her skin at the same time. Kinda like when your foot falls asleep and then moments later it becomes a sharp tingling. She squished a bolt between her thumb and forefinger then between the thumb and middle finger and then snapped her fingers with the little spark. It banged then what was left of the spark fell onto her bare toes.
"Fuck!" Ashlynn jumped grabbing onto her foot and hopped away from the wall and fell over the back of the couch and onto the floor nearly missing the low table.
Ashlynn sighed massaging her toes as the light flickered back to life. Perhaps she should have given the 'experiment' more thought. She shook her head before standing up to rummage through one of the draws in the kitchen for a small pack of leftover balloons.
She blew one up the angled her hand so she could see the the balloon draw out her hair into frizz. She imagined her fingers covered in green sparks and happily created a green spark of lighting from her hair and the balloon. She played with the bolt again before grabbing and holding up a stray piece of paper and snapped her fingers at the tip of the page.
The bolt cracked and charred the tip of the page.
"So you're having some success I see."
Ashlynn yelped and turned her head to the hitman that she hadn't heard enter through the door or make a sound when he came to the kitchen. He had a pleased smirk on his face as he scrutinized the paper she had shocked.
"Reborn. How long have you been here?"
"Since you first started glaring at the electrical socket."
"So about the whole morning then, huh? Wonderful~. What is everyone else up to?"
"Fnn. Kyoko is going to help Tsuna with an essay while we meet with a weapon tuner from the Vongola."
"Eh? A weapon tuner?" Ashlynn made the motion to look down to the jade bracelets that rested on her wrists. "Hmm, I don't know about that~. I'm still getting used to these as they are."
"Perhaps. But you can still see what the weapon tuner will do for everyone else's weapons. Meet you there."
"Sure thing." Ashlynn watched as Reborn left her home and shook her head with a smile. She was sure that Reborn now had some sort of fort somewhere within the complex. She slipped on her shoes and made her way over to Tsuna's to see the weapon tuner. She, of course, knew that the tuning would actually make the weapons useless so tactfully declined the offer to have her weapon upgrade; or rather downgraded.
She met Kyoko right in front of the house before entering and the two could hear Tsuna yelling for whoever was upstairs could use his room and not to come down.
"Oh!" Tsuna stepped down from the steps. "Ashlynn's here too? Hi."
Kyoko smiled. "We met just outside. She is our upperclassmen so maybe she could help a little bit?"
"Really?"
Ashlynn shrugged. "That's alright with me."
"O-okay! Then we'll do the work in the kitchen. I found one of my old essays when I was a kid, so I guess we can work off of that..."
"Really?" Kyoko giggled. "From what year? May I see it?"
"Oh, um, It's really nothing special actually. The assignment was just to say what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was from when I was in the second grade." Tsuna handed the old page to her as they sat down at the kitchen table.
Kyoko unfolded the pieces and began to read the page out loud. " 'My nickname is Useless Tsuna..."
Ashlynn winced. 'Poor kid, even calling himself that in the second grade. He wouldn't have been much older than Birdy is right now at that point.'
" 'But my mom says," Kyoko continued. "That even though I'm useless now, she said that people can change. I think so too. So I wanna be a giant robot when I grow up.' Hee hee! Tsuna-kun, that's so cute!"
"J-Juudaime!" Gokudera sobbed from the doorway hiding his face in the crook of his elbow. "Juudaime, that was so...touching! So inspiring! It touched my heart! To want to be gigantic..!"
"G-Gokudera-kun! Why are you here! Ahh, I thought I told you guys to stay upstairs I thought you were talking to Giannini!"
Gokudera rubbed away any traces of manly devoted tears. "I wanted to show Juudaime my newly modified weapon! Come one!"
'Oh no!' Tsuna panicked. 'This is the worst thing that could happen! Gokudera please not in front of Kyoko-chan!'
"I haven't seen the improvements yet so it will be a surprise for the both of us! Ready?" Gokudera opened the sliding glass door.
'Oh, you'll be surprised alright.' Ashlynn stood up from her seat to get a good look with Kyoko right next to her.
"No! Wait Gokudera-kun!"
"Huwah! Behold my new dynamite!" Gokudera tossed the lighted fuses into the air. It exploded in a shower of ribbons, confetti, balloons that floated away, and a few doves that cooed as they took flight.
Ashlynn and Kyoko clapped at the show as Gokudera and Tsuna stood flabbergasted at the effects of the new dynamite.
Kyoko cheered another time. "Wow! That was fun! Those were lovely party favors, ne Ashlynn-chan?"
"Yeah. Gokudera's a one of a kind magician~." Ashlynn grinned.
Gokudera stormed out of the kitchen and back up the stairs. "Giannini!"
"Ciaossu."
"Hiiiie! Reborn! Why are you coming down here too? Go back to my room!" Tsuna hissed to the hitman.
Reborn aimed his gun at Tsuna's head. 'I wanted you to see the new modified version of the Dying Will Bullet. Die."
"No! Wait! Kyoko-chan's right here! Don't shoot!" Tsuna waved his hands.
Reborn pulled the trigger but instead of Tsuna falling over dead which was expected the bullet plopped weakly out of the barrel of the gun and rolled back and forth on the floor between the two males.
"..."
"..."
"Excuse me while I deal with Giannini." Reborn left the kitchen for the upstairs bedroom.
Moments later a door slammed upstairs and there were sounds of bangs, stomps, and yells coming from the second floor.
'He's, he's really dealing with him!' Tsuna paled.
Kyoko yelped. "What? Tsuna-kun, what is that noise!"
"I'm sure it's nothing! Someone probably knocked something over upstairs! I'll go check up on them to see if everyone is okay. You stay with Ashlynn alright? I'll be right back!" Tsuna forced a laugh before rushing out of the room.
Kyoko sighed. "I hope they're all okay. That really scared me."
"They're boys. It's kinda expected that they rough house every now and then." Ashlynn fibbed. There was another yell coming from the second floor. "Hmm? That sounds like Lambo...They better be taking his small size into account if they're going to let them play."
Kyoko waved her hand. "They may have brought Tsuna into their game. Why don't you go check? We still have some work to do down here. I'll start on my own essay while I wait."
"Alright then." Ashlynn left and jogged up the steps and opened Tsuna's door. Inside the room the walls were covered in weapons and the floor with bombs, maces and tools and in the middle was a small hovercraft with a beat up man inside working the controls to keep in the air while he was surrounded by displease Reborn and Gokudera, and Tsuna and Lambo. Gokudera smacked the boy on the top of his head making the Bovino cry and pull out the Ten Year Bazooka.
"Gokudera-kun! Please stop that!...Oh no, Giannini-san, you didn't...?" Tsuna trailed off as the Lambo turned the bazooka around to aim at himself.
"Of course." The man replied. "I modified it as well."
Tsuna's eyes widened and leaped for the bazooka. "Lambo wait! Don't shoot! Stop!"
"Um, guys?" Ashlynn called.
Lambo ignored them all and pulled the trigger and missed shooting himself and hit Ashlynn behind him. The bazooka sparked a bit and with a yell Lambo pulled the trigger for another shot but Tsuna pulled it away from his face again and it shot across the room.
Tsuna coughed waving his hand to rid of the smoke and called after the escaping Bovino child. "Lambo! When I tell you not to shoot, don't shoot!"
"Che, some 'modifications'. I'm never going to trust you with my weapons ever again!"
Tsuna started at the younger voice and his eyes widened as the smoke cleared away from where Gokudera was sitting and in his place was a shrunken version of him. And it became clear that Gokudera had no idea that anything was possibly wrong.
The small Gokudera looked at Reborn right next to him. Both were at eye level. "Oh? Reborn-san?"
"Yes?"
Gokudera smiled. "I feel closer to you now."
"Same." Reborn smirked.
"Woah!" Gokudera exclaimed when he looked up to Tsuna. "Juudaime! You've become gigantic! You've accomplished your dream from your childhood! Is this what they mean by an aura? You seem to be so much taller than before, Juudaime!"
Tsuna gaped. 'I think you're misunderstanding! And you haven't realized that you've shrunk!'
"I'll be going now Juudaime! I look forward to hearing your essay tomorrow at school! And- huh? Who are you? How did you get in here?"
"Eh?" Tsuna turned to see what Gokudera was looking at and saw a little girl in a light blue sundress with familiar honey brown pulled up into two curly pigtails at the top of her head clutching a porcelain doll with dark brown hair and a red dress. The little girl shrank in on herself when Gokudera pointed at her then moved closer to where she was standing.
Tsuna's eyes widened. "A-Ashlynn?"
The girl's dark eyes caught his and she slowly nodded while trying to inch away from Gokudera and keeping clear of the sharp weapons hung on the walls and the explosives on the floor.
"Huh, I almost didn't recognize you Ashlynn. You changed the way you styled your hair; it's nice. Well, I'll be on my way Juudaime! See ya!" Gokudera nodded then let himself out of the room. They could hear as Gokudera hopped down the steps. "Ha! Hoh! Hye! Wow, Juudaime's house got bigger too!"
Tsuna sighed forlornly. "He, he still hasn't realized that he's been shrunk. Hey, Ashlynn? Are you okay?"
The girl froze when she heard her name and looked at Tsuna and tilted her head in confusion. "...?"
Tsuna stared back almost as confused. "How come you're not saying anything? Is something wrong?"
"Fnn, it seems that the Ten Year Bazooka hit Ashlynn first and switched her with her younger self, then the effects changed before Gokudera was hit so he was shrunk down to be certain but keeps his present state of mind. I assume that at this age she doesn't know any Japanese. Giannini, you will fix this."
"Y-yes, Reborn."
"Wah~! How cute!"
"Oh! That was Kyoko-chan's voice!" Tsuna offered his hand to the little Ashlynn and gave a hesitant smile and hoped that was friendly to the girl.
"Let's go downstairs, okay? We'll put your shoes in the cubby next to the door."
"Stupid Tsuna, were not paying attention? She doesn't understand Japanese." Reborn kicked the back of his student's head before looking at the girl and translated what Tsuna had just said. She nodded and took her little flip flops off, handed them to Tsuna and moved to take Tsuna's other hand and allowed him to lead her away from the room with all the pointy weapons and down the stairs. In the hallway Kyoko was crouched in front of the shrunken Gokudera and cooing how cute he was and asked if he was one of Lambo's friends.
"What did you say! Friends with that stupid cow!" Gokudera seethed and brandished his dynamite and the girl. "Don't look down on me, woman! I'll blow you and your stupid brother to smithereens!"
Tsuna let go of the younger Ashlynn's hand and picked up Gokudera and pulled him away from Kyoko. "Hey, wait! Don't do that! C'mon, let's talk over here."
"Uwaah! Wow Juudaime! You're so strong! Oh, and Juudaime! There are some really weird guys hanging from those telephone poles." Gokudera pointed out the window.
"Huh?" Tsuna looked over where he was pointing. "What are you talking about...? I don't see anything..."
Gokudera frowned. "What? You really don't see them? They're wearing green suits!"
"Those are sparrows." Kyoko giggled.
Gokudera glared. "Are you making fun of me? I'll punch you!"
Tsuna put down the struggling Gokudera. 'I can't understand this kiddy Gokudera...what should I do?'
"They mean harm to the Juudaime! But I will remain vigilant and make sure that the Boss remains safe from all harm! Just leave the protecting to me Juudaime! I won't let you down!" Gokudera scowled at the two men hanging from the poles.
"I said there is nothing there!"
"Oh?" Kyoko made a questioning sound in her throat and cooed at the girl peeking over from the edge of the stairs next to Reborn. "And who's this? She's adorable, Tsuna-kun! Is she a relative of yours? And what a pretty doll~."
"Eh? U-um, yeah, a relative. She's extremely shy though."
the younger Ashlynn tilted her head and tugged on Reborn's coat sleeve and pointed out the window. The hitman nodded and murmured a few words to the girl and then motioned to Tsuna. She nodded showing that she understood.
"You're very good with children, Tsuna-kun and you get along with them very well." Kyoko patted the Gokudera's head.
He moved away from her hand messing with his hair. "What are you doing! Stop it! And don't look down on me! Don't worry, Juudaime! I get it! You don't want to worry the civvie! I'll go take care of those bastards myself!"
"Hey! No, you can't!" Tsuna pulled him back. 'This is really bad! If I let Gokudera-kun run out the way he is, who knows what will happen!'
"Hey guys!" The door opened and Yamamoto walked in and slipped off his shoes. "Are you done with that essay assignment? The guys in my group sent me over to see how you were doing. Oh? Not working upstairs today?"
"No. No, my room's...too crowded to work in there today..."
Gokudera pointed angrily at the baseball player. "If you have free time, then go take care of the enemies that are watching Juudaime's house! You baseball Idiot!"
"Oh, Gokudera! You're here too?" Yamamoto grinned stuffing his hands into his pockets.
'Yamamoto doesn't realize anything is different with him!' Tsuna sighed relieved that Kyoko hadn't heard Yamamoto call Gokudera-kun by his name because she was trying to coax the younger Ashlynn away from the stairs. But still, he whispered to Yamamoto. "It's not really Gokudera-kun. It's one of his cousins that really looks up to him. Don't you think he's really short?"
"Hm?" Yamamoto laughed picking up a struggling Gokudera. "Hahahaha~ That's true when you look really close, Tsuna. He kinda gives off the feeling that Gokudera does!"
"Hey! You bastard! Let go of me! I'll kill you!... Dammit! Why can't I hit him!" Gokudera squalled waving his arms trying to hit the other boy.
Yamamoto only laughed. "What a nice breeze! Haha~!"
"Ehhhh? Where did these kids come from? Lambo-san wants to know~." Lambo hopped into the room.
"L-Lambo!"
Lambo stood in front of Gokudera who had been put down on the floor. "Do they want to become Lambo-san's new followers? Gyahaha! This one's hair is lame~!"
"Lambo knock it off." Tsuna warned.
"Ehehe. You're ignoring the great Lambo-san? Then Lambo-san will teach you a lesson." Lambo spat a loogie into his hand and moved to wipe it on Gokudera. "Haaaaah~. Watch me as I beat you up!"
Gokudera kicked him into the living room. "Buzz off. I don't have time for you. Psh...! Shit! When did they get in!" He pulled out a set of dynamite. "Juudaime, we've been invaded!"
"Hey kid, you shouldn't try to copy Gokudera." Yamamoto picked him up again.
Gokudera snarled and pointed at the men that had broken into the house. "What are you doing! Baseball Freak! Can't you see them at all!"
Yamamoto kept him at arm's length. "Now, now, don't go pointing those little legs at me."
"What did you just say! Short Legs! Eh! What! I'VE BECOME SMALL! W-what is this...? A body that's so weak and soft...How can I protect the Juudaime while I'm in this state!...UGH...Oh No! Juudaime!"
"G-Gokudera-kun?"
"Ahhhh! That's it!" Gokudera lit the dynamite in his possession and threw them at the man he saw hanging from the ceiling just behind Tsuna.
Tsuna waved his hands. "Wait! Don't do that in here!"
The dynamite once again exploded in a shower of ribbons, balloons, confetti, and doves. Gokudera swore. "Crap! I forgot about that!"
Kyoko clapped. "Haha! I like these party favors!"
No one save Reborn noticed that the younger Ashlynn frowned before she slunk away from the room as Gokudera struggled out of Yamamoto's grip yelling that there was danger.
Gokudera froze as an idea came to mind. He looked over to Yamamoto and grinned. "Hey, teach me how to catch, will you? You have a ball with you right?"
Yamamoto laughed and let Gokudera down again. "You want me to play with you? Sure thing! Where are we going to play?"
"Right here." Gokudera stood right behind Tsuna.
Tsuna gaped. "W-what! What are you doing? Don't play ball in the house!"
"Come on Yamamoto!" Gokudera yelled. "Throw it over here! Juudaime is in the middle!"
"Ha! No problem!" Yamamoto's eyes glinted as he threw the ball hard just above Tsuna and opened his mouth in shock as it hit something just above Tsuna instead going over and passed him and the sound of someone crying out from being it. A person in a green body suit crashed onto the floor rubbing his head. Tsuna gasped.
"N-no way! How did you know!" The man groaned.
"Got him!" Gokudera cheered. "Now the other one!"
Tsuna yelled. "What is going on here! Hiiiie! A-Ashlynn! What are you doing!"
The younger Ashlynn tore into the room with her doll in one hand and a cast iron pan in the other. She ran up onto the couch, a step on the wall, turned and with all her childlike strength swatted something next to the window. Another man now visible in the green body suit, shorter than the first, fell to the ground where Ashlynn knocked him on the head again with the frying pan.
Gokudera cheered again. "Good job, Ashlynn! You got him!"
"What on Earth is going on!" Tsuna cried. "Who-who are these people! How did they get inside the house!"
The shorter man cursed. "The impact broke the camo suits! Damn it!"
"Fnn, good job you two." Reborn stepped forward.
The taller man sputtered. "It's Reborn! The Vongola's top assassin!"
"You two were the people hiding in the electric pole."
"What!" The shorter man yelled. "How did you know!"
Reborn smirked as Gokudera and Ashlynn stepped next to him and I-pin peeked over from behind him. "Children can see you. I-pin saw you earlier this morning when she went out on an errand. Gokudera, shrunk to the age of five was able to spot you, and Ashlynn by the effects of the modified Ten Year Bazooka was able to see you as well."
"But that's impossible! No one should have been able to see us while in these suits!" The taller man argued not believing them.
"I believe..." Giannini explained operating his hovercraft into the room. "That it was designed so that children are able to spot you."
"No doubt designed by your Boss." Reborn crossed his arms.
"What? Special suits?" Yamamoto asked.
Kyoko smiled. "That sounds cool!"
"Fnn, your Boss is the Arcobaleno with the green pacifier - Verde, right?" Reborn smirked as the men flinched. "Verde believes that if he was unable to see through the camouflage, his subordinates would eventually try to betray him. That's why he made it so people under a certain age can see it."
The taller man swore. "Then the assassination was a failure from the get-go..."
"What!" Tsuna screamed. "You guys are assassins!"
"That's right! Since we've already been discovered! We'll just kill the Juudaime directly!" Both men pulled out pistols.
"Hiiiiiiie! For real! Reborn! Help!"
Reborn shook his head. "I can't do anything about it right now. Because of Giannini's modifications all my weapons are useless. See? Even the Dying Will Bullet is dancing." Reborn held out his palm and just like he said the bullet was shaking back and forth and even doing what looked like the worm.
"Dammit!" Gokudera rushed forward with his dynamite with Ashlynn and I-pin right behind him. All three were kicked back by the taller man as he and his partner pointed their guns at his head.
"It's over Vongola Juudaime!"
At that moment, Tsuna began to regret. If Giannini hadn't made any modifications then wouldn't he have tried to defeat the two with his dying will? He would have saved everyone from the men that may have turned on them after they shot him. No one would be hurt if he could fight back against the attackers.
"Oh?" Reborn looked down at the bullet as it froze shot out of his hand towards Tsuna. "It seems that it was modified so that it automatically reacts to Tsuna's Dying Will."
"REBORN! Defeat my enemies as if I were to die!"
"Bastard! Die!" The men shot at him.
They were drop kicked as Tsuna dodged the bullets flying at him, then he knocked them off of their feet with a sharp uppercut before grabbing onto the back of their suits and throwing them out of the house. "Take That! Do you admit defeat!"
"Fnn. Send my regards to Verde."
Tsuna sighed as the flame on his brow disappeared and jumped when Yamamoto and Kyoko congratulated him.
"That was really cool, Tsuna! You managed to get rid of those thieves!" Yamamoto grinned.
Kyoko smiled. "That was amazing, Tsuna-kun! You were very brave~!"
"Ah...credit for this isn't mine. It's his." Tsuna pointed at a bashful Gokudera. "...Um...I'm going to change...Excuse me!"
Kyoko stayed over until she and Tsuna finished their assignments and she waved goodbye to Gokudera and the younger Ashlynn. Poor Gokudera was hitting the ground in anger with Ashlynn watching from where she was sitting between Tsuna and Reborn across from Yamamoto.
"Why haven't we changed back yet! This is all Giannini's and that stupid, dumb cow's fault!"
It wouldn't be another few hours before the effects of the modified bazooka wore off.
The first thing Ashlynn noticed when the pink smoke disappeared and allowed her to see where she was, was that she was no longer 'animated' and that she was in a park that she didn't recognize. She didn't see anyone nearby except for a boy who looked to be ten who was swinging on the swing set with his back to her, so she decided to wander around until the effects of the bazooka brought her back where she was supposed to be.
She walked around the jungle gym and over to the swings and wondered if she had ever been to this place before. She didn't remember it if she had. She sat two swings away from the boy and swung in the opposite direction that he was swinging.
"Hi."
Ashlynn looked over to the boy and gasped when she saw his face. It was the image of what she had seen in many pictures. She jumped a little when he looked at her weirdly and asked what was wrong.
"Nothing, the sun just reflected off that sign over there. Blinded me for a second."
He nodded. "That's why I'm swinging this way so the sun's not in my eyes. My name's Flaithri. What's yours?" The boy, Flaithri, her big brother asked her.
"...My name's Lynn." Ashlynn told him while she turned around to face the opposite direction.
"Really? That's the ending of my sister's name. She's called Ashlynn."
Ashlynn kicked her feet to go higher. "That's a pretty name."
"Yeah. She'll probably come out here to play if she isn't inside playing with her doll or following Máthair around the house or sneaking out to the fort that we made by the river to throw rocks in the water for the last time before we're busy packing to move."
"You're moving out of town?"
"Yep. Athair says it's time for some more space since my youngest sister is getting bigger, she's two years old and her name's Norene by the way, and I heard that we might have a relative coming to stay with us for a while but I don't know which one is coming over when we move to Virden."
"Mmmm."
"Where are you from Lynn?"
"..Japan."
"Really? where is that? Is that in this state?"
Ashlynn laughed. "Nope. It's out of the country and halfway across the world. I'm only here for a while before I have to leave town and meet my friends before going home."
"Halfway across the world? Really? That far away?"
"Really."
"That's so cool!"
Ashlynn smiled and listened as her brother talked about everyone and everything. It made her heart feel warm when he talked of how he adored his baby sisters and more about the move the family would be making soon. He told her about school and his friends that he was going to miss but Athair had said that he could still talk to them and that he'd make more friends at the new school he was going to be enrolled at. Flaithri also asked a lot of questions about her own family and she caught the irony of describing her brother to her brother. While this was going on they had jumped off the swings and played around the jungle gym, climbing onto the nearby trees, and spinning on the whirl-around before he led her to the fort by the river where they skipped rocks.
They both looked up when they heard a loud whistle and Flaithri grinned. "That's Máthair's whistle so it's time to go in now. Thanks for playing with me."
"No problem, Flaithri. It's about time that I head off too."
"Will you be around town or by Virden?"
"Probably not." Ashlynn sighed.
"Okay then. Céad slán, Lynn. It mean's fare-"
"I know. Beidh mé ag chailleann tú, Flaithri."
Flaithri smiled and ran off for home leaving Ashlynn watching as he went with a wistful smile. She'd walk back towards the park so when she switched back her younger self wouldn't have to go too far to get home. She slowly walked back towards the park and sat back on one of the swings. She smiled again as she was surrounded by a plume of pink smoke and switched back.
Ashlynn blinked twice as she waved away the smoke and found herself back in the anime with Tsuna asking where she went and if everything was okay.
She shrugged. "I had a pretty good time playing with my younger big brother. It was a shock to see him but I was able to play it off because the sun was in my eyes."
"What?"
"Dame-Tsuna she was switched with her younger self. Obviously she went to the past instead of the future and it was longer than five minutes. It was rather smart of you Ashlynn to decline the modifications. Otherwise you'd end up with some kind of useless party favor."
Giannini hung his head. "I'm sorry."
His apologies were ignored.
Ashlynn grinned. "I hope my younger self wasn't too much trouble for you guys. I don't remember too much from before the age of four or five but Mathair used to tell me that I could be quite the terror. That and I was a climber."
"Not too much trouble from the little warrior." Reborn smirked.
Ashlynn stared. " 'Little warrior'?"
"Tsuna was nearly killed a few times today but the attempts were foiled thanks to you and Gokudera who was also under an effect from the bazooka." Reborn told her. "Even as a child you charged in to save your Boss in a dress wielding nothing but your doll and a frying pan. Aren't you lucky to have such loyal subordinates, Tsuna?"
"They're not my subordinates!"
~Good news!~~ Next chapter is the start of the Mukuro Arc~ Though I had ended up skipping a good many chapters of the manga to get to it (ex. The pool, the beach, summer festival, Haru's suspicion, dare of courage). I haven't butted them out for good, I just want to get a move on and every once in a while I'll add in a filler scene or two if it will fit~ I'm still wondering if I should try sticking in Naito Longchamp and the Tomaso Family... But the majority watches the anime and don't really know who Naito is...We shall see later on where the story shall take us~
~Also thinking if I should add in Haru's HaruHaru interview. I know that I want to do at least one. Perhaps those will be a sort of omake? Also want to try my hand at the 'Monster Tamer Tsuna' side story..
~Hmmmmm
-"Bunkun-takashimada: The traditional Japanese woman's hairstyle, worn by brides in modern times. Basically the whole Japanese traditional of wearing kimono and all that good stuff that they do~
-Evivva gli sposi: meaning "Hurray for the newlyweds!" in Italian. It is a popular custom, usually made by a male guest will toast after a few glasses of wine and guests respond with applause. This toast is also shouted whenever the mood is starting to droop in the celebration, renewing spirits and enthusiasm.
- -Máthair- 'Mother' in Gaelic
- -Athair- 'Father' in Gaelic
- -Céad slán - 'Farewell' in Gaelic
- -Beidh mé ag chailleann tú - 'I shall miss you' in Gaelic
