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Last Time

Compromise

Once Tsuna had left, hearing the door slam shut, Ayame spoke. "Here's the deal. You tell me everything you know about Sealed Flames, when Ienari's Flames were sealed and why, and I'll tell you why this town is odd."

Reborn frowned. "I want to know what happened between Ienari and Tsuna at age eight."

"No. I don't trust you with that information yet," Ayame said. She didn't know what Reborn could do with that information. Perhaps use it as leverage to convince Vongola that Tsuna was the better Decimo Candidate? Over her dead body. Besides, Tsuna had expressed, in not so many words and not very confidently that he wanted to be the one to tell Reborn that. She would wait to see what would come from that decision first.

"I don't actually need the information you have," Ayame said brazenly. "All you would be doing is confirming without a doubt a theory that I have related to why this town is so messed up." In the end though, it would still be a theory, just one she was certain that was correct. There was no time, nor was she willing to risk people's lives to test the theory to confirm it as fact. Plus trying to replicate all the variables would be close to impossible.

Grinding his teeth, Reborn conceded. "Fine."

"Then we have a deal."

Secrets of Namimori

Reborn glowered, furious. While he was curious to know why Namimori was strange, it was not the most important piece of information he wanted to know. Grinding his teeth, he conceded because at this stage any information was better than this half lost state he had been waddling in since his arrival. Ayame held the answers and he had to play her game if he wanted to know anything. Especially considering the fact that she just said she didn't need any information from him, only a confirmation.

"You first," Ayame said. She leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest.

"Why should I go first?" Reborn bit out.

Ayame scoffed. "Because the theory I'm trying to establish is reliant on the information you're about to confirm."

"And what promise do I have that you will actually tell me?" Reborn demanded. He knew she was slippery one. It would be exactly like Ayame to ask for information and then vanish, not fulfilling her side of the bargain. He had been surprised upon waking this morning that she had been waiting for him in the kitchen, especially given how she had spent the weeks since they met avoiding him.

"I swear on Tsuna's life," Ayame said, seriously.

Well, that was good enough. Tsuna was clearly important to both of them after all. It wasn't something she would so cautiously throw in the wind. "Fine. When the twins were five, Nono traveled to Japan to meet them. This was just a precaution, acknowledgement of more potential heirs at the time," Reborn said.

He took a deep breath, stamping down the anger he felt. "An incident happened and Ienari fell from a tree or from a relatively high height at his age. Nono wasn't quite sure. That was when Nono felt Ienari's Flames flicker to life. As all of Nono's sons were still alive at that time, Ienari being the youngest would have been the furthest from inheriting and Nono decided to seal Ienari's Flames so that both twins could continue on with their civilian lives.

"I will admit that my knowledge of Sealed Flames is fairly limited. There are not many cases and while I know more than the average Flame User, I do not make it my life's work to study Flames like Vongola's technicians and scientists do. At most, Nono has let me read whatever materials they had."

"The public library or the secret one?" Ayame asked.

Of course, she would know about that. Vongola had two libraries. A public one that the majority of the famiglia and allies were allowed to use. The basic information could be found here: everything as to what Dying Will Flames were, the different types and their characteristics, common knowledge.

The secret one was only for the inner upper echelon of the Vongola Family: the Boss, their guardians and their trusted staff, blood relatives/heirs, the CEDEF boss and their trusted staff, the Varia boss and their trusted staff, occasional trusted friends and scientists contributing to the information within. The secrets of Vongola could be found in the secret library, such as the knowledge of the Zero Point Breakthrough Technique. It was a testament of the trust between Nono and Reborn that Nono had let Reborn into the secret library despite the fact Reborn was only an allied freelancer and not even officially apart of Vongola.

"The secret one," Reborn admitted.

Ayame hummed in understanding. "Since I know you want to ask," Ayame said, "I will tell you that the only reason why I know about the existence of the secret library is because Giotto told me. He built it, after all. Nevertheless, I've combed through all of that and all the data that the current scientists and technicians Vongola has. I've even hacked into your friend Verde's database for information and none of Giotto and his Guardians have ever heard of sealing Flames before."

"So you want to know whatever I know that isn't from Vongola," Reborn clarified. One day he would need to figure out how exactly she was getting that information. What on earth did she mean by combed through all the information in the secret library? Everything in there was written on paper. Did that mean Ayame had snuck in Vongola, past their security and into the secret passage to the secret library without anyone knowing?

This girl was a walking security breach.

"No," Ayame said. "Just tell me everything you know and I will determine for myself if you're just repeating what I already know or if you have anything new to offer. I wouldn't mind any theories or observations you have seen either."

Reborn nodded curtly. "Very well. Cases of Sealed Flames are exceptionally rare. They are only done when, one, someone is trying to leave the mafia and Omerta is involved. But since mafia is for life, this rarely ever happens. Two, in cases of extremely dangerous criminals as part of their containment and punishment. Three, for health reasons. There are at least twenty cases within the last hundred years where a person had too much Flames and was literally burning from the inside out, unable to control them. But in that case, only a portion of their Flames was sealed so they could gain some balance of control. Once they had mastered that, the seal was lifted.

"Ienari was the only one I've heard of sealing his Flames as a child. As I said, this was primarily done by Nono to ensure his civilian status. Had Ienari's Flames fully manifested, there would have been no choice but to raise him as a Vongola Prince."

Privately, Reborn wondered if it would have been better that way. If Ienari's Sealed Flames were the cause of the rift between the twins, than it having them separated at a young age would have left Tsuna in peace and Ienari with hopefully more control. But there was no way to tell, not until Ayame told him what had happened between the two.

"With the exception of one Sun and one Lightning, all the cases have had a Sky Flame User sealing the Flames. This would suggest that it is an ability that only Sky Flame Users can do. Both the Sun and Lightning were health related cases, so it may be possible that because it was only a partial seal that they could perform it," Reborn continued.

He paused, collecting and reordering his thoughts. "It is only my theory that Sky Flame is needed due to their harmonization factor. They harmonized with the active flames, petrifying them and preventing them from being used further."

To his surprise, Ayame groaned and buried her head into her hands. "Of course," she mumbled. "That would make perfect sense."

Reborn's eyebrow quirked upward, but he didn't ask. Instead, he continued on with his explanation. "The theory behind sealing is as simple as injecting the other person with Flames, but Nono didn't explain it in detail and the process is not written down anywhere I had found.

"The seal could be removed by the person who placed the seal in the first place, or by reawakening the Sealed Flames, stimulating them once more. The Dying Will Bullets are an excellent method for this because they remove a person's limits, give an increase of strength and boost of power. The time restrictions of the Dying Will Bullets cause the seal with wear away little by little. The condition of mastering Hyper Dying Will Mode is known to be holding Dying Will Mode for five minutes. Essentially, the difference between removing a seal on a Seal Flame is no different than awakening a Locked Flame. Or at least that was the theory Nono and I came up with when planning out the training for Ienari. Normally Dying Will Bullets are a strengthening exercise to build up Flames, not reawaken them in Ienari's case."

"Any side effects for sealing a Flame?" Ayame asked.

Reborn shook his head. "None was ever recorded. Only partial seals were done for health reasons, so no observed side effects there. If the criminals exhibited any, no one cared and for those who left the mafia, there was no contact with them so also no observed side effects there either."

Ayame rubbed her forehead. The corner of her eyes crinkled in stressed. "So to summarize, out of the goodness of his heart, Nono sealed Ienari's Flames when Ienari was five. Sealing Flames are rarely done; the method is not known and there has been very little research done as evident by the fact that there are no known side effects, if there are any. The recent leaking of Flames from Ienari have to do with the fact that you fired one Dying Will Bullet at him. Correct?"

"Yes," Reborn said, suspicious. His eyes narrowed, frowning at her words. "You can sense the leaking Flames from Ienari? You told Fon that you didn't have a Flame Type."

Sensing Flames were a passive ability upon awakening Flames. If she was sensing the leaking Flames from Ienari, then she must be lying about not having a Flame Type. There was no instrument that could record leaking Flames (it was simply too small to register on any known recorder devices); only someone with enough sensitivity could feel that they were leaking in the first place.

Ayame scowled. "Both are true. I can sense Ineari's leaking Flames, but I do not have a Flame type. I am literally incapable of using Dying Will Flames. Do not ask. I hope I can trust you with that tidbit of information and that aside from maybe telling Fon, you and he will keep that between yourselves."

Reborn gave a curt nod, signaling his agreement. That was fine. Perhaps this would prove that he was trustworthy to learn what happened between the twins this way. Odd that she could sense Flames without having a Flame type, but it was not a game breaking ability to have.

Ayame took a fortifying breath. "One last question. Define for me what Dying Will Flames are. As you and the rest of the Mafia world understand them as."

Reborn looked at her oddly. What a strange request. Wouldn't that be the first question one would ask, not the last? "Dying Will Flames are described as a high-density form of energy that is refined from one's own life-force. Due to the way it resonates with one's emotions, it has been regarded as a type of battle aura. However, unlike the aura, which is a supernatural phenomenon that can only be seen by a few individuals, Dying Will Flames are in many ways more alike to a real flame, possessing even its own destructive properties," he explained.

"Life-force?" Ayame asked.

Reborn frowned, racking his brain. "I believe it's defined as Wave Energy which is the wave of life-force that flows through the human body." There was a bit more information on that; but Reborn hadn't been very interested in learning all of it at the time. It basically boiled down to a single sentence anyways.

"That's it?" Ayame asked in disbelief. "That's the extent of everyone's knowledge in regards to what Dying Will Flames are?"

Tugging his fedora down, Reborn said, "Essentially. We are mafiosos not scientists. Most of us at least. There isn't any concern beyond the basic understanding and how we can use it to our own advantage."

He watched as Ayame leaned back in her chair, laughing bitterly. Her tone petulant and sour, she said, "You know I was once warned to never get involved with the Mafia. I'm beginning to understand why."

Reborn's eyebrows furrow in displeasure. "Your turn," he sniped. He was beginning to grow frustrated with this conversation. Just give him the answers already!

Ayame stood and gestured toward the front door. "Come. It would be easier to show you if anything. I suspect you'll be able to tell the difference."

Reborn followed after her. They headed out of Namimori, far past the normal boundaries and into the forest. After what felt like an hour and Reborn's anger, frustration and irritation growing as they headed deeper into the greenery, Ayame came to a stop in the middle a small dirt clearing. Trees framed the edge, standing tall as the bright sun hung above.

Turning around, she looked down at Reborn and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Irritable," Reborn retorted sharply. His hands twitched towards Leon, wanting nothing more than to shoot the girl in front of him for what was beginning to feel like a wild goose chase.

Ayame merely shrugged and picked him up. Before Reborn could retaliate for manhandling him, she pivoted a full 180 degrees and set him back down. "How do you feel now?" she asked again.

The word irritable died in Reborn's mouth as he realized the majority of his anger and frustrations abated. It was still there, but it no longer bubbled under the surface of his skin. The urge to simply kill Ayame faded away. Oh, he was still frustrated with her, but the trigger happy feeling was gone.

Frowning, he walked back to where he had originally stood. The frustration and anger within him swelled once more and he retreated back to where Ayame had set him down. The hitman glared up at Ayame. "What is going on?" he demanded.

Ayame crouched down to his eye level. "I take it you've been feeling somewhat irritable lately? No surprise, you have been here for what… roughly two months now? And you're without a proper grounding method and at the heart of the issue too. In layman terms, all of Namimori is covered with a miasma of aggression. Side effects have included: an increase of anger, mounting frustrations over the smallest things, constantly feeling irritable, even the nicest people have been showing signs of violence."

"Exactly how did Namimori become covered in a miasma of aggression?" Reborn asked flatly, not quite believing what he was hearing.

Ayame looked away, back in the direction of the town. "I had been trying to figure out the source of the miasma since I arrived here," she explained. "Even though I checked every place, nothing ever turned up. I eventually ruled out a curse, an evil spirit, demons, the whole usual suspects. Despite ensuring that the aggression was frequently drained and cleared, it would always return."

Reborn felt a headache beginning to grow. Curses? Evil Spirits? Demons? Namimori was a supernatural hot spot it seemed.

"That was until Fon told me that Ienari's Flames were sealed."

Jolting his head upward in surprise, Reborn stared at Ayame, black eyes wide. "Ienari is the cause behind this?!"

Ayame chuckled bitterly. "Heh. No, as much as I would like to pin the blame on him, I'm afraid the fault lies at Nono's feet. Ienari is the source, but Nono sealing Ienari's Flames is the cause."

She picked up a thin branch and began to draw two straight lines in the dirt. "I've heard that you recently took a trip into the Spirit World."

Where exactly did she hear that? Well, then again, there were plenty of spirits that Reborn had met on his little trip. For all he knew, one of those spirits told Giotto and Giotto told Ayame. He wondered though, what was his trip into the Spirit World had anything to do with anything.

At the lower line, Ayame wrote Physical next to it and on the higher one she wrote Spirit. "Also I'm going to assume you don't know anything about dimensional planes," she continued, looking at Reborn for confirmation.

Reborn nodded. It was best to assume at this point that he didn't know anything and let Ayame explain it to him.

"Very well. Imagine the world exists as a series of planes. The lower plane is the plane we live on, the Physical Plane. The plane above is the Spirit Plane. This is why you cannot, normally, see the spirits and ghosts that live on that plane, like Giotto and his Guardians. The same way you cannot perceive certain wavelengths of light with your naked eye. For the record, the Spirit World is a pocket dimension connected to the Spirit Plane which is the why none of the locations you visited are the same as the Physical World. Entry into the Spirit World is often found where the Physical Plane and the Spiritual Plane intersect, notably where holy and sacred places are such as churches and shrines. There are multiple planes, but really they aren't that important to know at the moment. With me so far?" Ayame asked.

"I wasn't even near a shrine when I entered the Spirit World. I just went to bed," Reborn pointed out. He had wondered how he had gotten into the Spirit World in the first place and in his adult body no less.

"That's not the only method," Ayame explained. "Dreamwalking is another way. An out of body experience they call it."

Exasperated, Reborn bit back a groan. Honestly, why was Namimori so strange? Even with Dying Will Flames and being cursed into the form of a baby, none of that was beginning to even come close to what was happening to him now. "So what do planes have to with this miasma of aggression?" he asked.

"Well, now that you know about planes, let me explain to you where Dying Will Flames fit into this equation," Ayame said, drawing an outline of a person in the dirt. "You are mostly correct in that Dying Will Flames are a high density type of energy produced from one's life force. One's life force, or one's soul to be more accurate. A soul is spiritual in nature, your body is physical. As such you could say that Dying Will Flames are a type of spirit energy that your physical body channels, allowing said spiritual energy to manifest on the Physical Plane."

Ayame drew an aura around her person dirt drawing. "To be blunt, a person's soul is very small in the grand scheme of things. It is because it is small that is why people can use Dying Will Flames, because Dying Will Flames are very basic in design. They are the only type of spirit energy that, one, can be generated by a human soul and, two, their high density nature allows them to pierce between the planes. It was suspected once upon a time that this energy was created as a result to give those trapped on the Physical Plane a way to defend against those from the Spiritual Plane. Basically you can fight ghosts and demons with Dying Will Flames. Weak ones at least. Now I could continue to debate and theorized on Dying Will Flames for the rest of the day, but I think that covers the basics. Any questions?"

Reborn pondered her words. An early morning conversation floated to the front of his mind. "Giotto had mentioned that Tsuna had the ability for a higher level above Dying Will Flames. That would be another level of spirit energy?"

Amused, Ayame nodded. "Yes. That is correct. It is the same way Fuuta de la Stella's ability is also a different type of spiritual energy. I would not be surprised if somewhere in his family line someone mated with a spirit and Fuuta is a descendant. I am willing to bet several Mafia family lines also have the same situation. Families that have unexplainable abilities, similar but not Dying Will Flames."

Reborn blinked. That was fascinating to know. Ranking Fuuta had shown up yesterday afternoon with Tsuna and all Reborn managed to piece together was that Fuuta was now staying with them, but not exactly why Fuuta was here in the first place. The boy was rather attached to Tsuna though; there would be no convincing him to leave Tsuna's side for Ienari's, even if Ienari would be the one who could provide him protection. (Not that Reborn could blame him.)

Ayame continued, "After all, Dying Will Flames are, as I said, rather basic. They have the same appearance, just a variation of color and are limited in ability. Just because Rain Flames act like water, it is not true mastery over water, does not have the ability to draw moisture from the air, create tsunamis, or freeze into ice, only mimic the ability very closely. There is no Flame that can manipulate air, wind currents and create tornados like certain types of spirit energy can. The list goes on and on. Rather than be limited to the seven types of Flames of Sky or even the seven types of Flames of Earth, spirit energy is far more flexible in its use."

That… made a lot of sense. Reborn had wondered once or twice offhandedly, why there was no Flame that controlled wind. Wind was an element of the sky. Storm the closest in name, but didn't possess any ability like an air blade vacuum. … This was starting to sound like one of those manga that Tsuna liked.

Ayame spun the stick in her hand before wiping away the pictures she drew with her foot. "Before we move on, it should be noted that once you activate your Dying Will Flames, there is no turning back. It's like opening an air mattress, nearly impossible to get it back into the box you had opened it from. You can contain it, fold it, and the like, but it will never be as compact as it was in the box you originally got it in."

Reborn nodded in understanding. That made sense. Once you were 'aware', your world shifted, changing and it was impossible to go back to the way it was before. The same way a civilian became aware of the mafia; there was no going back to a normal life after that. (Or how Reborn had his taste of high class coffee beans and could never go back to buying the cheap instant brand anymore.)

Ayame drew the taijitu symbol in the dirt. "Now how familiar are you with the concept of yin and yang?"

"Light cannot exist without darkness, darkness cannot exist without light. Everything is in balance," Reborn answered.

"Good, good," Ayame said in approval. "Balance is an important thing. The human soul is always seeking balance, but its frail and small nature is why people are often so far off-balance. Yin is the shady side, Yang is the sunny side. Outside of light and darkness, many things can be classified as Yin and Yang. Some general aspects of Yin are Darkness, Moon, Feminine, Cold, Decreasing and Water. Some general aspects of Yang are Light, Sun, Masculine, Hot, Rising and Fire," Ayame explained. "If you had to guess, what classification would Dying Will Flames be?"

"Yang," Reborn answered. "Dying Will Flames closely resemble fire. They burn, get hot, are bright and rise with emotion."

"Correct," Ayame said, nodding. "Now what do you think would happen if you carelessly sealed those Flames, this yang aspect with no escape?"

It clicked for Reborn. "It would be like shaking a bottle of soda. The pressure from the carbonation would continue to build until it exploded."

A dark expression filtered across Ayame's face for a brief second. "Yes. Theory is rather complex, but in a nutshell an excess of Yang is often remarked with emotional changes such as anger, anxiety, agitation and restlessness. On top of that, Ienari's Flames were sealed as he was a child. So that means as he grew, his body tried to adjust for the imbalance, generating more Yang only for it to get trapped within the seal."

Reborn looked at her in horror. So Ienari's bouts of temper and irrationally were a result of his Flames being sealed as a child. Given Ienari's personality outside of his anger, it was evident that if Nono had never sealed Ienari's Flames, he would have been a well-adjusted normal individual. What was originally a kind hearted gesture from Nono, warped Ienari's personality.

"In the cases you had mentioned, this would not be an issue in the health related cases as it was only a partial seal. That means there was still a flow to the balance. But for the other two, it is entirely possible that this would be one of the many side effects. Perhaps a criminal who went mad, cursing the entire world as their rage built. Or someone who left found themselves listless and lifeless. The sealing of Flames could result in any combination of excess of yang or yin or a deficiency of yang or yin; each with its own consequences," Ayame said. "There is no way to completely confirm my theory, too many variables need to be replicated and I refuse to toy with people's lives to chart the results. However, the pieces do fit."

What a nightmare. "So Dying Will Flames are a form of spirit energy produced by the soul and can be classified as a yang type of spiritual energy. The soul is constantly seeking balance. Nono, while his intent was good, did more harm by sealing Ienari's Flames at age five. Because of the seal, the yang built up which in turn cause Ienari to be aggressive," Reborn summarized.

"That's it in a nutshell. Ienari is the source of this miasma. I suspect his excess yang has been trying to leak out over the years, despite the fact that his Flames have just started leaking," Ayame confirmed.

"Because of Sky Flames' property of harmony and the fact that Tsuna is Ienari's trigger button, this also explains the aggression this entire town has against Tsuna," Reborn theorized.

"It is what I suspect, yes," Ayame nodded.

Reborn felt his world rock at the information Ayame had provided him. The implications and realizations hitting him hard, slamming into him as if they were bricks. His thoughts were dizzy as if he had just been spun around until he was ready to vomit.

Ienari was no doubt subconsciously using his Sky Attraction, his harmonizing factor to sync with everyone in the town. Why hadn't Tsuna's own harmonizing factor canceled it out? Unless because Ienari woke his Flames first? Tsuna had to awaken his Flames after Ienari if Nono didn't seal Tsuna's Flames when he visited it. Nono was an excellent sensor of Flames.

Reborn gave a frustrated bark. He could admit (with a clearer head now that he away from that miasma of aggression) that he was out of his element. The knowledge he possessed was far too small to be able to deal with this.

A soft breeze swept through the clearing, rustling the leaves on the trees and kicking up the dirt. Ayame waited patiently for it to sink into Reborn's head.

"How has no one realized this?" Reborn demanded to know. He finally had a grip on his emotions and the turmoil of information had finally settled.

Ayame shrugged. "As you said, you people are mafiosos. You are large unaware of the bigger picture in relationship to the Spirit Plane. There are few people these days that could even explain it."

Reborn gazed at her, calculating. "You're one of those people," he stated. That was evident enough that she was able to explain the Spirit Plane to him.

"Are you even human?" he asked. There were just as many mysteries surrounding Ayame as there was Tsuna. Reborn did not understand how she was getting her information, unless it was some sort of ability like the Ranking Prince?

Ayame raised her eyebrow. "If I wasn't, do honestly think I would tell you? But, yes, I am human."

Reborn paused, turning over the words she had just said. There was something hidden in what was unspoken. Fuuta's ability. Ayame didn't have a Flame Type. Dying Will Flames were a form of Spirit Energy. "Just because you don't have a Flame type doesn't mean you don't have the ability to use spirit energy, correct?" Reborn asked.

A razor sharp grin appeared on Ayame's face. "That is correct. You are as smart as your reputation says. I do have the ability to use spirit energy, though I won't tell you what my abilities are. However, I was raised near a shrine, so you could say I'm a miko. These days though, I'm not really attached to a shrine. No time, unfortunately."

Reborn felt pleased. That was another tidbit of information he could use to discover who she really was. Even if she concealed her paper trail, people's memories would still be intact. He would just need to find a shrine that had a girl around Ayame's age growing up and with her unusual eye color it should narrow down the results enough.

He felt his frustrations and anger ebb away into nothingness. Today was proving to be a very good day. Speaking of anger…

"Ienari cannot help his temper can he?" Reborn asked, refocusing the conversation back to the original issue.

"No. He managed some control over it from that anger management camp, but I honestly think he got better at hiding it," Ayame said. She paused for the moment. "I've only told you the 'how' in this situation, not the 'why'. While this might be the cause for his behavior, it does not excuse his actions."

"And the driving factor behind his attacks on Tsuna?" Reborn asked sharply. True. This explained Ienari's temper, but did not explain why he tried to kill Tsuna. What the hell happened between the twins that no one wanted to speak of it?

"I only promised to tell you the how," Ayame replied back. "As for the why, that's a story for another day. Ienari's fixation on Tsuna is…" She trailed off, golden eyes distant.

Ayame let out a heavy sigh. "Teach Ienari how to use his Dying Will Flames," she said, changing the subject. "That should remove the seal, but there's really no telling whether that will help. His soul might fix the imbalance, setting within him or it may continue to generate excess Yang because that's all it knows how to do at this point. He may start suffering a Yin deficiency because his soul cannot keep up with the Yang it is generating. Like I said, too many variables to really know."

Reborn groaned and buried his face in his tiny hand. It didn't matter that it was completely out of character for him. This was a complete and total nightmare. Leon crawled down from his hat, nuzzling his owner with affection. Absolutely nothing could have prepared Reborn for this information. Worse of all, what was he supposed to do? Training Ienari with his Dying Will Flames may or may not solve the issue at hand.

"And Ienari is supposed to become Decimo," Reborn quietly hissed. His student seemingly normal personality aside, that uncontrollable aggression was going to be Vongola's downfall. Either another bloodthirsty reign that hadn't been seen since Secondo or in the destruction of Vongola itself. With no assurances that Ienari's aggression would fade, Reborn didn't like that option. At this rate, Nono might as well give Decimo position to Xanxus; at least his rage could be curbed!

"Ienari will become Decimo regardless of what happens," Ayame said in a plain, matter of fact voice. "Xanxus cannot for various, stupid, reasons that I'm not going to get my hands messy with at all."

Of course she would know about Xanxus. Reborn was getting really tired of her knowing so much. What did she mean stupid reasons? Xanxus tried to perform a coup against his own father. That kind of behavior made him an undesirable candidate and Ienari, who tried to kill his own brother, was a better option? That was trying to pick the lesser of two evils!

"Tsuna could always-," Reborn started.

"No," Ayame said, cutting him off. "Tsuna has stated he doesn't want to inherit the Decimo position. Unless he changes his mind, you will not, I repeat will not force that issue. I will fight you on this, Reborn-san." Her golden eyes flashed.

For someone who said they didn't have Dying Will Flames, it was quite easy to see the resolve in her eyes. Reborn mentally frowned, not at all cowed by her threat. Whether she knew it or not, he still intended to convince Nono to give Tsuna a chance. "Do you really think Tsuna will be safe if Ienari inherits Vongola?"

"Vongola is not a threat."

What did that mean?! How could Vongola not be a threat? It was the largest mafia family in the world. Just because they were located in a different country did not mean Tsuna would be safe from them. In fact, it would be like handing a serial killer a gun and letting them into a group of innocent bystanders.

"How exactly is Vongola not a threat?" Reborn asked. "Once Ienari becomes Decimo, do you understand how much manpower and firepower he will come into possession? Do you understand how easy it would be for him to send an assassin after Tsuna? Just yesterday the Koujin heir attacked Tsuna! Tsuna didn't defend himself; he would have let the ninja kill him!"

"I know," Ayame said quietly. "That's the reason for this conversation. You have my thanks for building that new resolve in Tsuna's eyes."

Then she took a deep breath and with steel in her voice, she said, "But that does not change the fact that Vongola is not a threat, not in the long run. I cannot do much now, not without drawing attention to Tsuna because Tsuna won't let me retaliate beyond what I have already done."

"What do you mean retaliate?" Reborn demanded. It didn't matter how much information she could obtain, Ayame was but one person. Even adding Tsuna's friends to the count, there was no way they could even stand a chance against a group the size of Vongola's Famiglia.

She stared down at him with an unreadable expression on her face. "If Ienari became Decimo tomorrow and you were free from your contract with Vongola, what do you intend to do, Reborn-san?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject again.

Reborn blinked, surprised by the sudden question. "I won't recklessly draw my own enemies to Tsuna," he hissed. "That means fading back into the shadows from which I came from." In the end, even if Tsuna was his Sky, Tsuna was still a civilian and Reborn was not going to taint him like that.

Ayame's expression was still unreadable, but Reborn swore something like disappointment had quickly flash in her eyes. "If that is your answer, then it is not the right time to tell you," she said. She stood up, straightening her black vest. "We should head back," Ayame said. "By the time we finish our little hike, school will be out and Tsuna will be returning home."

She started down the dirt path they had come up on, closing the conversation. Reborn stared at her back; thoughts churning in his head.

Italy

Giotto lingered in the grand room that was once his office. His presence went unnoticed by the two other men in the room. Shortly after his conversation with Tsuna on Sunday morning, Giotto had felt his spirit being tugged and had found himself in Italy.

Wistfully, he glanced around the office, noting the pictures of each boss and their guardians. While he hated what Vongola had become, so far from his original ideal, there was a small part of him that was proud that his family had survived this long. Nine generations, soon to be ten.

"-Ienari is doing fine according to Reborn's reports. Perhaps it will soon be time to give him the Rings."

Giotto spun around, catching the tail end of that sentence. They were going to give Ienari the Vongola Rings?! Wasn't that a bit too soon?! Ienari was only 13!

"Isn't that a bit too soon Nono?"

Thank god Iemitsu had some drops of common sense. The man was a terrible father, but at least he did his part to protect his family.

"He should get used to wearing it and training with it. He won't become Decimo until later, but since Ienari is having trouble with his Flames, having the Vongola Sky Ring will be helpful. Perhaps next year. We will see from Reborn's reports."

Giotto frowned. That wasn't good news. He would need to pass that information onto Ayame when he returned to Namimori.

They were running out of time.

Oh boy, this was a dense info dump chapter. I hope it wasn't too confusing? But now you know why all of Namimori treats Tsuna poorly, the cause of Ienari's wrapped personality (but not his reasons!), why Sealed Flames are a bad idea, and how the Spirit World ties in with this entire story. This brings an end to the Bridge Arc aka Reveal 1 Arc. Up next is finishing Daily Life Arc Part 2.

General Notes

It has been remarked many times that Reborn is feeling frustrated in Namimori. The miasma of aggression has been influencing him since his arrival.

While Ayame drew her example of Dimensional Planes as straight lines, the more appropriate appearance would be jagged up and down spikes, hills and dips that overlap. (Or if it's easier to imagine, picture the physical plane is a sine wave and spiritual plane is a cosine wave). On the xyz axis, time travels along the x axis, parallel worlds along the y axis and dimensional planes along the z axis.

Taijitu Symbol (remove #): tinyurl#.#com/pyz64o3

Yin and Yang Basics (remove #): tinyurl#.#com/qhnm2wn

Excess/Deficiency Yin and Yang (remove #): tinyurl#.#com/ogq4gxr - Scroll down to Emotions

Interestingly, one of the Yang sources is the head and in the anime, Nono touches Tsuna's head to seal his flames.

I believe canon!Tsuna suffered a bit from having his flames sealed, especially at a young age. In this particular headcanon, I pictured if Tsuna was the one with Sealed Flames, he would be suffering a deficiency of yin (that is all his yin is eaten up by his sealed yang or his body isn't producing enough yin, matching the low yang production when it's just sealed yang) as some of the emotions from deficiency of yin is: No Motivation, Cannot Interact, Afraid, Low Self Esteem. Sounds like Tsuna at the beginning of canon right?

Guest Reviewer Response

Guest (Ch 11 9/4)

Oh my god. –falls in love with your theory- Some of it matches what I explained in this chapter but this is a beautiful theory.

HeartofStone

Oh dear! I hope you feel better! And I love cliffhangers :P

Guest (Ch 1 8/27)

Thanks for catching that! It's fixed now.