Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.
Chapter 11: It Runs in the Family
The insufferable summer heat was at its climax, and Tsuna was miserable. Never had Japan been plagued with such madness; this year just seemed to be particularly inviting of the sun's direct rays. It was mortifying.
But, to her gratification, Nana had installed an air conditioner in her room; afraid her poor daughter would have heat stroke and possibly faint from the incredible warmth. God bless her, Nana was so caring.
So Tsuna, after retrieving popsicles for her and Reborn, went climbing up the stairs to her room. But as she franticly pushed open the door to let the cool air blow against her, she stared at the baby with mixed emotions. He was lounging there, in some sort of hakama with a fan, an assortment of seafood in a glass bowl and a cup of udon noodles. She was fixated on the baby and totally dismissed the sleeping Lambo, who she had shoved to the side while opening the door. (To her case, he was sleeping; the baby didn't even wake up.)
As her eyes stood rigidly at Reborn, jealousy and betrayal overcame her. Jealousy, for it would've been heaven, to relax in a comfortable air conditioned room with some summer delights. And betrayal, for while she was braving the heat and even went through the trouble of bringing a popsicle for Reborn, here he was, all comfy in her room… Her tutor could be so selfish sometimes; it flooded over her small, short, nice moments with him.
Still, he was her tutor, or trainer, in many aspects. He helped maintain her body, and his daily sessions improved her strength, speed, evasion, and (pain) endurance. She threw him a popsicle while unwrapping hers. He deserved that much.
Her duty finished, she began sucking on the delightful sugar-filled treat with rapture. Ah, the mouth-watering dessert made her tongue all the more furious. She let her tongue scale the creamy pole slowly, up and down, savoring its vanilla goodness in her mouth. That left her wanting more; the small melted portions of the cream were unsatisfying. She began sucking the top, swirling her tongue around the tip leaving her with numbing ecstasy.
Soon, her patience wore off. Wanting even more of the taste in her mouth, she bit off the top, letting it melt into her throat.
Delicious. She was going to perform that came ritual to the remaining bottom portion of her treat, pleased to see that it was not dripping down to her fingertips. No, the cream had only begun to melt, its semi-solid forms inch by inch shifting downwards to the bottom. Ravenously, she swooped down and sucked up the almost dripping cream into her hot cavern.
Reborn quickly tore his eyes away as soon as Tsuna had glanced at him from the side. She didn't need to know what her little play had done to him… Heck, he didn't want to know. He didn't want to feel his hormones on full-drive, his mouth dry with anticipation at what her tongue could do to him: his old, mature mind. No he didn't want to know.
Ripping the wrapper hastily, he fiercely bit off a portion in hopes of filling his uncontrollable thirst.
It helped, but his mind was still filled with want. Oh, if he were in his real body, if he could show her what a real adult was, if he could just slowly entice her into… No!
He mentally ripped the image out of his mind and chewed up the mess of cream in his mouth. His body was sated, but his mind… It was sickening. How she could affect his mind so much. How could she invade his thoughts, filling it with only things that were unreachable to him? How? He would never be able to have her with his current body. If only there was a way…
Those miserable thoughts were broken away with a girlish yell.
"Tsuna! Did you want some of my special seafood dish? I have some for you too!" Bianchi called out while holding an obviously poisoned bowl of whatever it was. Tsuna viewed the dead beetles, worms, and frog in the bowl with subtle distaste.
With a bored voice she asked the woman, "Just what are you doing here?"
"For love" Bianchi voiced out.
"It's for work." Reborn smoothly spoke. The woman's murderous voice aimed at Tsuna had brought him back into his usual sadistic train of thought.
"Reborn needs me." Bianchi hummed out in a lovesick tone.
"I asked Bianchi to tutor you partly." Reborn calmly informed.
'They're annoying.' Tsuna thought blandly.
…
The distance between the two were great; even to say that they were speaking different languages. Reborn was straightforwardly refuting her claims, while Bianchi was ignorantly gushing out her proclamations of love. They would never work out as a couple Tsuna knew, even with the minimal love she had given and took in her short life.
Then, as if to boast to her beloved one Bianchi announced to the girl, "What I am cooking now is Poison Cooking II. Twice the killing rate!" She held up two fingers to prove her point.
Tsuna felt sorry for anyone who would be victimized to taste (or see) such a concoction. Her thoughts only furthered her demise.
"I'll be assisting you in home economics and art. We will be conducting a home economics experiment, so I'll be in the kitchen preparing" Bianchi informed her with a smile before disappearing downstairs, possibly laying out multiple poisonous specimens found from who knows where in the world. Her kitchen would not survive the onslaught…
She tried, only weakly to convince her tutor not to condemn her. "Reborn, I already know how to cook." Tsuna half pleaded, hoping to save herself from the crazy woman downstairs.
It was (predictably) to no avail, as Reborn merely responded with the slurping of his noodles. The sound, along with the smug look on the baby's face urged Tsuna to throw her finished popsicle stick at his face. But with great willpower, she held it in (most likely fearing the punishment she would receive if she did so) and threw it in the trashcan.
A loud call rang out, wiping away her visions of the dreaded dropkicks that came from nowhere, falling upon her head.
"JUUDAIME!"
Now, her mind spun quickly, away from the tortures of her tutor, to the mild curiosity of her loyal 'friend'. Just how would he interact with his 'sister'? (According to her information at least.)
Walking downstairs, she was greeted with the sight of her stylishly dressed and relaxed (around her) subordinate, holding a net with a perfectly round watermelon up. Tsuna perked up at the juicy fruit held in front of her.
"Juudaime! Would you like some watermelon? It's supposed to be very sweet!" Gokudera chimed brightly, and Tsuna just as eagerly agreed.
"Yeah! Gokudera, just where did buy this Sugar Baby Watermelon? It looks delicious, we can cut it now." She smiled at him happily, intent on bringing the lovely fruit to her living room. (The kitchen was otherwise… occupied.)
Gokudera responded with a large blush and stuttering at the praise he received from his boss. His skin had reached a bright pink red, before it suddenly dropped to a freezing white. Stuttering turned to stammering as the boy froze in place. Tsuna watched confused at his abrupt transformation. What could excite such a reaction from the boy?
With a tremble, the watermelon dropped from his hands. In reality, it would've been an 'fwush', then 'plop' on the floor. But Tsuna saw it differently. For her, it went in slow motion, falling to the ground; to its tragic end.
Instinctively, she dove to the ground, keeping her back to the floor as she cushioned the watermelon on her stomach with her hands keeping it in place. It rocked slowly around the edge, almost pattering out onto the hardwood floor before rolling back into the center of her stomach. She let out a sigh of relief before directing a confused glance at Gokudera, who was still in shock, not even noticing his 'boss' on the floor right beside him.
The only word he spoke was the terrified gasp of, "O-Onee-san…"
Tsuna looked at the direction the boy was staring at, to see Bianchi, holding a bowl of… something, with Reborn right next to her. So she was right. Bianchi was his sister.
But the mystery was still unsolved. Why had Gokudera's face crunched up into that of agony? How did Bianchi's arrival relate to such an action? Just what had happened between them, for such a strong reaction to have been shown?
Gokudera's stomach then gave out a large groaning noise—similar to that of intense hunger, or pain—as he fell on her, though balancing himself with a hand.
The only problem was where he laid his hand… Now, Tsuna never did had the troubles of perverts on the crowded trains that groped a females buttocks, nor did she ever know a boy that interacted with her in that way. But she was pretty sure that even nowadays, this action would be considered inappropriate. Or to put it frankly: his hand had sought balance, on her chest.
At least her chest had been pressed down almost flat by her wrappings. Most likely, he was too much in shock, and since her chest wasn't the largest, he hadn't thought about it. His eyes didn't seem to notice where he placed his hand…Well, she hoped he wouldn't. Ever: it wasn't exactly the best thing that happened to her. Her embarrassment was at its peak right now, though she made sure not to show it. That would have been much worse; to have Reborn seeing her embarrassed over a mere boy touching her.
She would not let him have his blackmail.
So with the calmest face she could manage (which was pretty calm), she pushed Gokudera's arm off of her while placing the watermelon on the floor and standing up. The boy was still oblivious to her actions, shocked into silence.
The only thing he did was run away with his face contorted in suffering.
That left the three: Tsuna, Reborn, and Bianchi in the corridor, each with a different reaction. Reborn was still his ever present self—well he also had this strange expression on him, it was hard to tell what it was for some reason. Perhaps he was trying to hide it?
Bianchi had a thoughtful expression—which Tsuna found most unusual. Just what sister would react that way to their younger brothers, despite the natural sparks that happen between normal siblings of opposite genders (especially when the female is the elder)? But no, Bianchi merely gave a smile.
"He's always been like that. Strange child."
"…"
It really disgusted her a bit, to see such nonchalant, ignorant reactions from an elder sibling concerning their younger. The woman really had a heart as poisonous as her food; or she just simply would not care enough to understand her brother's pain. Both reasons rang angrily in Tsuna's mind.
It was decided. She now disliked the woman on a personal level.
"So Reborn, is she really his elder sister? They don't look similar at all—beyond the physical attractiveness of her bodies." She drawled, still trying to convince herself to run after Gokudera. (She just couldn't… the sun was blaring out there!)
"Yep. With different moms." Reborn answered knowingly, continuing to slurp at his bowl of noodles.
The sound of the slick threads of dough rubbing against his mouth, the sound of the vacuum sucking the gold strands into its cavern, the monotonous, loud, repetitive sound was too strong a foe for her. So with a twitch in her eye, she quickly stumbled out the doors and into the hellfire in search of her companion, who might be in a collapsed bundle somewhere…
The hunt ended quickly; it turned out he was at a nearby shrine, leaning against the trunk of a tree. It was a sigh of relief, to see he wasn't unconscious or worse.
Cautiously approaching the boy, Tsuna leaned in behind and whispered softly her concern.
"Are you okay?"
The small breath sent a pleasant chill up his neck as Gokudera's entire face lit hot red, and with a twirl he faced her with wide eyes, all traces of his pain gone, replaced with an unparalleled embarrassment and shock.
"J-Juudaime! What are you doing here?" he stuttered, hands cuffing his adorably red ears with force. His surprise was not hard to see.
Tsuna waited silently under the cool shadow of the tree branches, patient for the boy to snap out of his astonishment and gather the courage to look her in the eyes. She would know when that happened; it was excruciatingly easy to sense a powerful stare coming her way, and Gokudera's glares were the epitome of force. Well, most of the time, when he wasn't bowing in shame, regret, or self-hatred. And his glares could still fall under hers, as well as… Never mind. She didn't want to think too much of him now.
So with half-lidded eyes she leaned against the smooth bark and rested while the thick branches shielded her from the sun's glare.
But it seemed a while had passed and still, there was no stare coming her way. To her keen ears, Gokudera hadn't even moved, nor did he crumble to the ground in returning pain.
She opened her eyes and gazed at where his face should be, according to her memory. And just as she predicted, his face was there, but his eyes were a bit lower; not straight at her. Just what was he looking at? With a raised brow she peered down at the direction he was staring at, coming downwards to her… chest.
This time, she could no longer hold in her blush. A light tint of pink graced her face, though it was hardly visible, with her tanned complexion accompanied by the shade of the tree. Lucky for her, wasn't it? Gokudera's hadn't noticed her humiliation as he continued to stare avidly at her torso.
Letting out a cough, Tsuna glanced admonishingly at the boy, though it was not enough to garner his attention. In fact, nothing she could do dissuaded him from her chest as his face scrunched up into one of extreme concentration, like the introspection of a prisoner while looking at their cell. It was beginning to annoy her.
It was only when she impatiently covered her chest with an arm did he even move. Gokudera's face heated to an extreme as he stared in horror at the palms of his hands. Tsune hoped it wasn't what it seemed. She hoped the boy hadn't remembered what had transpired before…
But, it was to say, most of her dreams were dashed, diced, and shred into bits and pieces.
"J-Juudaime!" he muttered in utter horror. His gaze went from his hand, to her chest, and back. The red blush threatened to conquer his face, remembering the obscene actions he had done to his Juudaime.
Then abruptly, he threw himself to the ground and gave a deep bow. Tsuna was relieved no one was there watching. "I'm sorry, for having violated you, Juudaime! Please, I cannot be forgiven for my transgressions." He whimpered aloud, his head still firmly crushed to the ground in sheer guilt. He didn't have the courage to loon up at her (most likely) furious expression.
Tsuna ignored his self-beating; while she was embarrassed, there was nothing she could do to reverse time. She just wanted him to stop making a fool of himself. With an exhausted sigh, she tried to calm the frantic boy down. "Gokudera, its fine. I'm not angry; neither at you nor anyone else. So stand up and tell me about your relationship with your sister."
The mention of his sister sent Gokudera grasping his stomach in nausea. The pain hadn't returned, but his imagination brought forth the memory. But despite that, the bomber buried his embarrassment in order to answer her.
'Juudaime asked me a question. I can't disappoint her!' was his fired conviction, as he began telling his story.
"I used to live with my sister until I was 8," he started gravely. Tsuna did not speak. Long distance relationships strained the bond, Tsuna knew, but she wasn't going to interrupt his retelling; they would probably go off in a tangent.
"At our castle, we used to have lots of luxurious parties, but when I was eight, I was supposed to perform the piano in front of everyone" he continued. Now she silently pitied him. Most kids didn't have the nerves to perform in that kind of situation; even elder musicians might be nervous to play in front of a crowd of finely dressed men and women, in a castle. Tsuna paid close attention, curious as to the outcome of his performance.
Gokudera gave a small shiver as he recounted, "That time, my sister baked cookies for me for the first time. She came up to me and landed me a plate of cookies, telling me, 'I baked these for you. Eat it.'"
Tsuna sweat dropped at Bianchi's straightforward demands. Bossy by nature, perhaps?
"I didn't find out until afterwards… But my sister possesses the skill to make all of her cooking poisonous. So of course, as soon as I ate the cookies, I experienced extreme nausea and dizziness. And the piano performance was outrageous."
It would be after all, considering what he ate. Tsuna was just surprised he could still play; she imagined him dropping to the floor, unconscious.
"But that was only the beginning," Gokudera muttered with an aura of dismay. "My act was rated highly in the end. They said, 'How abstract! Wonderful!'" he groaned in horror. And to further his point, he waved his hands wildly in the air, showing the absolute craziness of the people.
Then Gokudera's mood grew even darker.
"And my father, in such a good mood, wanted me to perform even more. He told my sister to make the cookies again… I had to eat her cookies every time, and in the end the terror traumatized my body. Now, every time I look at her, I get stomach aches" he concluded with a pained look on his face.
"I HATE HER." Gokudera growled angrily. She was his sister, but she was also his greatest weakness. It was degrading.
Tsuna twitched, the tips of her lips curling down as she snorted. "Gokudera, don't you think it's sad, to hate your own sister?"
The boy's shock was portrayed quite clearly on his face. "B-But Juudaime!"
"Of course, I shouldn't be telling you what to do. Whether you hate her or not is none of my business. I don't really care." Tsuna affirmed. Because in reality, it was not. She didn't need to worry about him; Gokudera seemed fine hating his sister. She had her own problems to worry about. Like her ever distancing relationship with her adoptive brothers. And Reborn.
What should have been relief: that Tsuna didn't mind his opinions. Instead, it became a few thousand pricks in his chest. Gokudera winced a bit in pain as he repeated the words in his head.
'…She doesn't care...?'
He didn't know why, but hearing that come from her sent a numbing sensation to his heart. Of course she wouldn't care right? He wasn't that important to her… But she saved his life, even to the extent of endangering herself in the process.
Just what was he to her?
…
Nevertheless, he owed her his life. And it's not like she hates him, right? She cared enough about him to be a friend; that was enough.
Gokudera buried her words in his mind, trying to ignore them for now. Right now, all he wanted was to get rid of his sister. He masked his face into a neutral look before asking Tsuna, "Juudaime, can you please drive my sister out of this town?"
His words snapped Tsuna out of her thoughts, and she peered up at him thoughtfully. "Why not. She causes more trouble than I need, anyway."
Those words abated Gokudera's erratic nerves; everything seemed normal now. Like what she said had never happened. That her words had not hurt him as much as it did. Yes, he liked it better this way.
"I have a plan!" the bomber exclaimed happily, sporting a wide grin. "Before my sister fell in love with Reborn, she had a man she was obsessed with. He died due to an accident, but my sister still can't get over him. So all we need to do is find a guy that looks like her ex, and when she sees him, she'll chase him to the end of the world!" he finished proudly.
"…"
Her opinion of him had just dropped to the deepest abyss. She had really believed that such an intelligent boy would have come up with a less… moronic plan.
Then he pulled out a photo. With a smirk, he handed it to her. "This is the photo of the ex boyfriend."
As soon as she stared at the image, Tsuna's impression of him had soared into the clouds. She tousled his silky hair in glee, with his enjoying it all the way.
"Well done, Gokudera."
…
Tsuna quickly snuck past Bianchi, who was preparing some sort of deadly dish in the kitchen. She pushed open the door to her room, letting the comfortable cool air settle into her skin, before roaming the floor for her child.
Lambo was just as she remembered he was; right beside the door, asleep.
Shaking the infant awake, Tsuna asked the drowsy boy for his bazooka. "Lambo, lend me your ten year bazooka."
She didn't expect him to say no to her.
Lambo began sweating profusely, tears leaking from his eyes. "L-Lambo never shot the ten year bazooka" he replied, shakily. The tears, sweat, combined with his furiously shaking head and his eyes that could not look directly at her made it easy to tell he was lying. Not that she wouldn't have known even if he wasn't so obvious. Something told her he wasn't supposed to use the bazooka. But then again, what family gives their child a weapon, not to be used?
"L-Lambo's going to sleep" The baby stuttered, faking (badly) a sleeping position. It couldn't be more lucid. He always slept with her.
Well, she knew all about Lambo. As soon as she leaves for Reborn, he'll come running to her, along with a weapon at Reborn. Reborn would effortlessly deflect his attack. He'll cry, use the bazooka, and that was all. Now usually she wouldn't do such a thing to a baby, but it's not like he would get hurt. Lambo's ten years older self was not the 5 years old Lambo. Any injuries that might happen (especially with Bianchi there) the 15 years old Lambo should be able to handle.
So Tsuna calmly left the room, heading outside to find Reborn. The hitman wouldn't be too hard to find; he always appeared around her randomly.
And just as she had said, Reborn was outside, in the backyard with miniature swimming pool. It was funny really. The great Reborn, top hitman and assassin—going swimming in a kids bloat up pool.
"Hey Rebor—"
Her sentence was incepted by a loud yell, from above. Lambo was standing on the roof.
Tsuna wasn't worried; Lambo falling from two stories up was common in her life. But then the foolish child gave a charge yelling, "DIE REBORN! With the stun gun I got from boss, zap away!" He jumped off the roof, holding his stun gun. His fully charged, on, stun gun.
Now she was worried. If he landed in Reborn's pool…
SPLASH
ZAAAP
"GYAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Sparks went flying as the area was surrounded by a white light.
Just how high was its voltage? But that wasn't important: Was Lambo dead? If he was, it'd be her fault…
"Gyaaaaaaa~"
BOOM
"…"
By some miracle, he wasn't dead. Tsuna didn't know why or how, but Lambo had apparently, in the mist of the electricity, started crying and used the ten year bazooka on himself. Out came the 15 year old Lambo, soaking wet in the pool.
Tsuna admitted; the Lambo, with his almost transparent wet clothes that stuck to his olive skin was enticing. Not that she liked him that way; their relationship was purely platonic. She was just referring to his physical attractiveness. Once he matured to an adult, Lambo would look beautifully handsome.
But none of that; she had business to do.
Inhaling a large amount of air, Tsuna hollered, "Bianchi! Come quick! Reborn has something to say to you!"
Bianchi instantly appeared in front of the door with her bowl of who-knows-what in hand, sparkles in her eyes. Her adoration was officious at times (another way she related to Gokudera), but in these situations, it helped a great deal.
Lambo was still confused, sprayed out in the pool, so Bianchi's attention was drawn directly to him. Normally, Tsuna would find the idea of a 'dead lover risen from the overworld' impossible to believe. But this was Bianchi; for her, love really did make the world go round.
Bianchi stood with wide eyes, taking in the sight.
"Romeo!" she cried out, as if questioning whether it truly was him or not. Lambo (the child still had not come back from his shock) rubbed his head, disoriented.
Then the woman's eyes shed tears as she ran towards the teen. "Romeo! Your alive! Romeo~" she cried out to her past lover.
Only to run past him, though not before slamming her bowl of substance onto the teen's face whilst yelling out "POISON COOKING II!"
Tsuna turned to Reborn for answers. She was given a simple, "It seems like right before Bianchi broke up with him, they had a horrible relationship. Every time she thinks of him, she gets upset."
"…"
Gokudera had not done his research properly.
Tsuna grumbled to herself what she had to go through each day before peering at the possibly unconscious boy, to see if he was okay.
He wasn't.
It had been a one hit KO, with Lambo's face covered by the rice/insect mix. It almost looked as if he was foaming from the mouth.
"…He'll live" Tsuna predicted, and quickly left the area before the infant Lambo returned, promising another round of crying (caused by Reborn no doubt).
She went to Gokudera and retold her findings with an exasperated look. Gokudera returned her an equally grim look before informing her, "I heard the reason why her ex died was due to food poisoning."
"…Is that so?"
That was all she said, before Tsuna angrily walked away from her stupid subordinate, leaving the boy to himself. Sometimes, she really doubted his so called, 'genius intelligence'. Had he no logic, or at least common sense? It didn't seem like it.
…
Even if the plan had not worked out the way she would've wanted it, that didn't matter. It turned out that Tsuna's wish would be fulfilled. Bianchi had left the town to some mountain somewhere, claiming to 'go catch eel for Reborn'.
Maybe Reborn was her saint?
Or maybe Bianchi was a lot more similar to Gokudera than she had thought.
A/N: I hope you liked this chapter (filler, according to my friend). Please review, comment, and criticize.
To those who did read the full thing, was the lemon(ish) okay? My first time, so I wasn't so sure.
I have some Reborn/Tsuna in this chapter, but I'm sorry to say that the Xanxus/Tsuna has yet to come. But please, if you could give me some ideas, or what you think their relationship would be, it might help me... I can't seem to do anything nowadays.
And...
Poll Ranking:
1. Xanxus! (So not a sibling relationship anymore huh)
2. Reborn (YEAH!)
3. Mukuro (Eh... He's pretty cool... Perverted though)
4. Alaude (YES!)
5. Byakuran + Giotto + Yamamoto (TIED... Not what I expected)
6. Fon + Belphegor + Collonello (Fon being highest and Collonello)
7. Gokudera (Mah, I actually expected this.)
8. Squalo (He'll be... uh... well, sibling.)
9. Ryohei + Spanner (Not many ideas anyway.)
10. Kyoko + Chrome (Kyoko being higher) I like Chrome...
11. Basil Irie Skull (They're at the bottom... Damn it.)
SO: XANXUS WILL BE THE ROMANTIC PARTNER + SQUALO THE SIBLING/MOTHER HEN/?