Chapter 52: Entrance to the Mafia's Magic.
Sorry for being late but I wanted to spend a bit longer on Haibara's part.
"Do you think Boss is going to be okay?" asks Chrome into the silence.
"Haha, of course he is. Tsuna always comes out of everything fine!" laughs Yamamoto, rubbing the back of his neck. The damage wasn't that bad he supposed.
"Yeah! Lil' Bro will be fine to the Extreme!" Agrees Ryohei. Everyone has to smile at the enthusiasm of their Sun.
"Sure maybe physically, but what about mentally? Kidnapping is rather traumatic." Comes a voice from the back of the room. Haibara had been swept along by the procession. Whilst not a prisoner here, someone had still been with her 24/7. The only time she was alone was when in her lab, and the only entrance was watched by several surveillance cameras. She wasn't going anywhere without someone knowing. So when a familiar shout of 'I've brought mother home,' was heard, she had been dragged to the entrance hall by the quiet eye-patch girl.
Everyone in the room turns to her and her unwanted news. Still leaning against the wall, she waves a hand in the air. "From what I've seen he's got more than just those facial wounds. Has anyone bothered to check yet?"
Tsuna resisted the urge to flinch and scream when it seemed as if there'd be a race to strip him.
"Woah woah, careful there guys," intervenes Kaito, stepping between the mob and Tsuna. "We checked him on the way back, he's in no immediate danger. It's all surface wounds and cuts." The rest breath in a sigh of relief. As bad as it sounded, that wasn't the worst that had happened to Tsuna. Byakuran had done a lot more damage during their final battle. Hell, Reborn had inflicted more damage than that, such as bruised and broken ribs, a fractured femur and a concussion- all on different occasions luckily.
"Hmm, aren't you forgetting some things Mr. Thief?" asks Haibara, falsely innocent. She didn't like this thief. International Phantom Thief 1412 had changed Conan, changed Shinichi, and quite possibly dragged Shinichi to be here in the Mafia. No, she didn't like him one bit.
Oh that's right, she was here. The woman who had drastically changed Shinichi's life. Kaito didn't know whether to hate her for what she had produced, feel sorry for what she had been through in her life so far, or be glad that she had created the toxin and re-introduced Shinichi and Conan into his life.
Kaito had come back dressed as KID since it had made more sense for the thief and detective to have found their missing boss than it did for a random VF employee/magician and detective to have found him. KID was known for being 'in' with the Guardians, not Kaito. Kaito was just a person Tsuna was fond of since he was from Japan too and talent he had discovered. Shinichi sadly didn't have this option unless he constantly wanted to be changing between Shinichi and Conan every five minutes.
Since all KID did was glare at her, Haibara continued on, this time turning to address everyone else in the room. "Do you ever take anything seriously, or do you view life as one huge TV show?" The question broke the respectful yet anxious silence that had filled the room. "Real life doesn't work like this. We're not participating in an action drama where the protagonist miraculously survives through the power of wishes and hoping really really hard. My life would be a whole lot different if wishes actually came true." She receives a few weird looks, many of the occupants not understanding what she was getting at. Weren't they Mafioso, shouldn't they know the underhandedness of their world a little better than this. Maybe their cover story of being corporate managers was truer than she had first thought.
"You do know that just waiting isn't going to help right? Depending on what happened to him, he might not even wake up. And you'll just be sitting here, watching him die." Oh, that got a reaction.
For they really were just standing around waiting, as if they thought that the person on the bed was just going to open his eyes, smile, and say that everything was fine. Okay, so maybe they did expect that to happen since it had happened before now. Tsuna was seemingly invincible. Woundable but unkillable. But of course Haibara didn't know about any of that, hadn't seen Tsuna rise from the dead during the battle against Byakuran, nor knew how resilient Flames made one's body.
"Oi, Science-brat, what do you mean by that?" asks Gokudera, glaring at her from his position kneeling at Tsuna's bedside.
Haibara sighs and shakes her head. "Boy, you people see but you never look do you?"
Kaito huffs and crosses his arms. "I believe that is Shinichi's line actually." He complains. He was sure that the detective had said it somewhere. Maybe not at a heist specifically, but at a case most likely.
Haibara ignores him. So what if it was? She walks over to the bed, followed every inch by a horde of protective eyes. She knew this environment well enough to know that at least three people were reaching for weapons. She reaches over and grabs Tsuna's sleeve, noticing a strange movement under his eyes.
Oh? He was awake.
Out of nowhere Reborn comes flying, foot gracefully extended. With full force his foot connects to Tsuna's stomach, forcing the boy to shout out and sit upright. At the same time Haibara had been moving Tsuna's sleeve and it ripped off, catching the bandages wrapped around and tearing them off.
There is a collective gasp from everyone present except a few. Lots of tiny pin pricks, a few raised veins and lots of red scratch marks. All of that could be seen on Tsuna's arm. That was ignoring the long thin cut running from his elbow to wrist that was still bleeding sluggishly.
"As I was saying, he needs medical attention. No amount of hopeful thinking is going to make cuts disappear, reduce the redness nor fix the consequences of those injections." That got the Vongola moving. Unordered panic ensued as people tried to find phones, decide on the extension number to call, which doctor was best, whether or not 'Sun Flames' could fix it (Apparently the boxer extremely didn't know), and shouting about which draws the plasters were in. Haibara didn't think they made a plaster big enough to cover this would up, the cow child should have known that.
But during this panic, Haibara takes a closer look at the needle marks, most of which weren't even really visible anymore. Whoever had done it was certainly a professional who knew what he was doing. Every prick had been done on separate veins, none of them had collapsed nor had any of them gotten infected. Now she wasn't a criminal expert (despite possibly being considered a criminal herself), but she was sure that Mafioso weren't supposed to have the knowledge to do this type of work. Although these days Mafioso's quite literally were anyone and everyone, so it was possible she supposed.
"Explain." Remanded the baby that had kicked Sawada awake. She watched as the thief stiffened, seemingly afraid of this baby. And to be honest, she was scared of him too. It had been said a few times to her that she could give off a glare scarier than adults, generally because she was an adult, her brain unconsciously using expressions an adult would use. But this baby, this baby was even worse. For him to have become this young, the baby would have had to have been a child when, if, her drug was administered. She had been told of every use of the drug and it had never been used on children before. Although if she could create such a toxin, it wasn't impossible for someone else to make one too. She was almost 100% positive that this was no ordinary baby and he was similar to them, an adult in disguise.
"Shouldn't we wait for Shinichi to come in first since he helped me to find and save Tsuna?" asks KID looking around the room. Indeed, why wasn't Shinichi here? He'd been too busy keeping an eye on Tsuna to keep track of Shinichi too. He had thought that Shinichi had followed them up here to the Guardian Infirmary. They had their own infirmary due to their wounds being of a different type to everyone else. Flame Combat caused different wounds and therefore needed different healing techniques. Plus, they were the Guardians, it would be disrespectful for them to share the same room as the normal subordinates. Since this was their private one, it wasn't constantly staffed.
"Shinichi is busy at the moment and won't be joining us." Reborn smiles. "He's relaxing right now after talking to Mukuro." It seemed that Tsuna and Kaito were the only two who understood the real meaning behind 'relaxing'. They doubted that Shinichi had a choice in the matter, and Reborn's foot or Leon were bound to have been used to 'help' Shinichi relax. Kaito really wanted to check on Shinichi, but he supposed that being unconscious was a good thing for him; Shinichi needed to recover.
"Are? Shinichi-nii is back?" asks Lambo, starting to apply as many normal sized plasters as he could to the lengthy wound on Tsuna's arm. Haibara slapped his hands away; They weren't going to help.
"Of course Shinichi-nii is back or else KID-nii wouldn't be back!" smiles Fuuta before walking over to KID and giving him a hug. Being 15, he understood KID's need for dual identities a lot better than Lambo and I-pin did. Kaito was dressed as KID, there was a strange woman in the room, therefore he was KID. "Welcome back KID-nii. Thank you for bringing Tsuna-nii back." It was easy to see the thanks, the relief and the pure happiness in Fuuta's smile. Kaito couldn't have asked for more.
Smiling gently down at Fuuta, he ruffles the boy's hair. "You're welcome. It's good to be back."
Brother? These people were calling Shinichi and KID brothers? Suddenly her theory of Shinichi being kidnapped and blackmailed wasn't looking so strong.
These people were just so…so… WRONG.
The image of Mafioso she had in her head and these people in front of her couldn't be more opposite if they tried.
A bang of a gunshot draws attention back to the suited baby. KID had his head at a funny angle having moved his head to avoid the bullet currently smouldering in the wall. "Explain." The baby said again. Reborn didn't like being ignored after all. KID turns serious, far more serious than Haibara had ever seen him. And she'd been there at the last public shooting that happened at a KID heist.
"Hitman, there is no need to worry. What needed to be done has been done." His voice is deeper, and certainly colder than she'd ever heard from him before. He never sounded like this at Heists.
"Am I to believe a Hunt took place, Hunter?" asks Reborn, lowering his fedora.
Why was KID being called Hunter? Was that his Mafia Code name? No one else here had one as far as she knew though. All she'd ever heard were weather references.
"One did. I'll give a full report when a there are no longer Civilians in listening distance." A look was made to the three 'children' standing right next to him. Reborn nods.
Lambo and Fuuta take a few steps backwards, eyes wide. "KID…nii?" asks Lambo, voice trembling. Kaito had never been like this before. Never so scary. Like the Varia on a bad day. Like those Mafioso who continuously chased Fuuta for his rankings. Never like Reborn when he wanted his presence known. This was not their brother.
"WAHHH! Shinichi-nii!" cries Lambo before running out of the door way, Fuuta in pursuit.
Hibari pushes off from the wall he had been leaning against to stride over to Hunter. "Oh? Is the Herbivore showing it's true colours."
Within a flash the aura's changed again and Kaito claps in Hibari's face, releasing a puff of glitter and confetti. "No way! Or else I'd end up as boring as you are!" Hibari swings his tonfa but Kaito jumps backwards and up onto Tsuna's bed. That doesn't stop Hibari taking a second swing and Tsuna has to curl up into a ball to dodge it.
The boys in the background laugh. "Haahaa, you've done it now KID." Smiles Yamamoto, as he leans forwards to dodge Hibari's swing.
"See boring, boring, boring~. You're so predictable. I could never be like that. There's so much fun in being unpredictable don't you think? I love to surprise people! So come on Skylark-chan, surprise me." KID grins widely before running out of the room.
"Ahem, Juudaime." Warms Gokudera, bringing attention back to the real problem. Tsuna looks up and follows Gokudera's eyeline. Quickly noticing his mistake, Tsuna stops scratching at his arm. The scars caused by the itching powder were healing and starting to itch almost as much as the powder did.
It's at this point that there is a scream in the hallway, quickly followed by KID's laugh and an admonishment for Hibari. Not long after a doctor walks in, not really showing the signs that the scream had belonged to him. You see Vongola doctors, or indeed any member of Vongola, was a totally different breed.
"Ahh, Decimo, welcome back home." Shouts the man, kneeling before Tsuna's bed. Tsuna looks sheepish at the display before urging the man back on his feet.
Haibara knew what happens next. There were only so many ways to apply antiseptic, stitch wounds closed and apply bandages after all. Nor was she interested in the kidnap victim now that Shinichi had returned. So instead she turns to one of the only sane people in the room, Shoichi, and asks, "Can you show me where Shinichi is? I have a few words I'd like to say to him." Shoichi gulps before placing a hand on his stomach at the reminder. Shinichi was not going to be happy with him. Not at all.
"Ah, ha, ha, of course we can. Let's leave the doctor to do his thing guys. I'm sure that Gokudera and Ryohei will be enough to supervise." The others in the room nod and start to file out, Haibara following after Shoichi.
Before they had left, Reborn had kindly told them that Shinichi was in the visitors lounge at the front of the building, before hopping onto Shoichi's shoulder. Shoichi looked scared to death and she could even hear his stomach protecting- he should really get that checked out. When they make it there, it's to find Shinichi sprawled out over a large 3 seat sofa, Lambo curled up asleep down by his feet and Fuuta dozing up by Shinichi's chest, head resting on the sofa whilst his body was on the floor. Across the room, in front of the fireplace, sat in a single arm chair was a rather imposing and creepy man. His legs were crossed, his hands perched on top of them, long hair and was that… the world's weirdest contact over his eye?
"Arcobaleno, there was no need to knock him out. He was already on the verge to start with." Comments this strange man, the voice deadly smooth and sly.
"It seems like your talk didn't end well." Reborn says in reply, jumping off of Shoichi's shoulder to land on the arm rest near Shinichi's head.
"Oya? Quite the contrary. I got all I needed out of that conversation." The man turns these weird eyes on Haibara. "Kufufufu~ I know who you are, Black Scientist Sherry." Haibara narrows her eyes at the insinuation. Mukuro extends a hand to the arm chair opposite. "Please, take a seat. My Silly Detective won't be waking up for a while yet. You might as well wait in comfort."
Mukuro didn't want to miss this conversation. This girl, this woman, seemed to be a firecracker at times according to what he'd seen of her in Shinichi's memory Library. And he could collect more reasons to bring Shinichi around to his cause.
When Shinichi reawakens, the first thing he sees are sharp blue eyes. They make him jump backwards slightly. These blue eyes weren't good. Not here, in this place, with that glaring look in them.
"Good morning Shinichi. Have a nice sleep? It certainly looked like you did." She says with a sarcastic tone. She wasn't as pleased as her voice made her out to be. The opposite in fact.
"H-h-Haibara. What are you doing here?" asks Shinichi, trying to regain his composure. He had no clue how much she knew, how much the others had let slip, nor what her thoughts of the situation was. He was working blind, and that was never a good thing with this woman.
"Family, Rainbow Flames, electric Lightning Flames, Time traveling Bazookas, Arcobaleno babies. Mafia. Anything else I forgot to mention?" Haibara lists.
Oh, so that's how much she knew. Shit.
Still sitting on the chair placed infront of his sofa, she reaches across to grab Shinichi's hand. "This Ring lights up doesn't it? The Flame released has strange almost magical properties that I can't explain. Kudo Shinichi, you are in a Mafia Den, working with Magic, in a permanent adult form. That sentence is one whole contradiction. I want answers and I want them now."
"Where did you get that idea from Haibara?" asks Shinichi shakily, leaning as far backwards as the sofa would allow to create distance between them.
"You should know how people talk when they think no one is listening. And how many people notice a little girl wondering around the place? Especially with other children around. We are currently staying at the Vongola Mansion. The Vongola are the strongest and oldest Mafia Family around. The current head is Nono who is coming back from a conference tomorrow. Your friend Tsuna, or Boss, is the heir to the Family. I didn't even have to ask any questions to find that much out. People talk about it rather freely as they walk past the lab these people have so kindly provided me with."
What could he say to that when it was all true? Haibara had this uncanny ability to tell when he was lying too, so that would never work. "Correct. I am working for the Mafia. But the thing is Haibara these people are different. Tsuna is going to destroy the Mafia. He's already made a rule that anyone following him isn't allowed to kill." Shinichi tries to explain.
Indeed that rule would look attractive to someone like Shinichi. And it was true that these people were different from the normal Mafioso walking down the halls. The group of young adults seemed to be a group under the heir- they were all looking for him after all- and worked differently to the older generation. It was this group of adults that were so confusing to her. None of them acted like Mafioso, they had been joking almost all of the time she had been with them. When it came to looking for their Boss, they were deadly serious.
Shinichi leans forwards, looking her right in the eye. "Boss," There was no need to hide that now. "Promised that he would get rid of the Organisation for me. I've already started a plan to draw them into the open. You've seen how far the FBI and the rest have gotten. Practically nowhere. But these people, Haibara, they could actually do it. Vongola is large enough to storm their hideout and obliterate them. To catch the Organisation, who else better than another underground organisation? They might mix in the same circles, for all we know they might even be a Mafia Family. I'm far more likely to find them here than I was working with the police. It's been three years Haibara and I'm hardly any closer."
Haibara had bristled at the mention of the Organisation. So that was Shinichi's motive? To destroy the Organisation? She had guessed that theory too: That the Mafia had lured him in with false promises. But it seemed to her that Shinichi truly believed in these promises that were made. He really did think that these people- a large underground organisation- would care about the opinion of a single person enough to waste thousands of pounds of resources and man power? Things never worked like that unless you were right up at the top. And that meant doing a lot of dirty stuff. She was sure that Shinichi wouldn't stoop that low.
… Or had he already? That ring, she'd seen that ring on the fingers of those who she had deemed at the top of the Heir's generation. The Young Adults wearing the rings had commanded a lot of respect from the older adults around them. Bowing in the hallways, respectful addresses, even coming to them for orders. They certainly seemed in charge. So if Shinichi had one of those rings…
"You'd become like them just to destroy them? I thought you were better than that." She stands up harshly, the force sending the chair clattering to the floor. "I thought I knew you. How would the Hakase feel if he knew? Do you think the Shounen Tantei would respect and admire you any longer? To know that their role model went back on everything he had taught them? What happened to the cause of justice, to doing things lawfully and by the book? What happened to being better than them!"
He hadn't heard Haibara shout at him for quite a while now. He jumps forwards in his seat, sitting on the very edge and goes to grab her shoulders to shake some sense into her. Haibara recoils and slaps his hands away. "Don't touch me."
"Haibara, you've gotten it all wrong. Tsuna is better than that. Vongola isn't your traditional Mafia Family. Get rid of the stereotypes and perceptions you have. Vongola may not be lawful right now, but when Tsuna takes over it's going to be. He's going to change this Family into a Vigilante group to combat the Mafia and protect the innocent who they affect."
"Hn, you fell for their honeyed words? You fell hook line and sinker for it. They all are empty promises and I'm not going to be there when you finally find that out. People who join the mafia are not going to forgo the pleasures it provides, that's why they joined in the first place. What that man claimed to you is impossible to achieve. What has he done to prove to you that his goals are something real rather than just fictional dreams made up to look good?" She was disappointed. She thought Shinichi was smarter than that, that he had principles that he wasn't going to drop for anything. She'd trusted him and he'd fallen for this?
"They helped me with the Black Wolves case. They made sure that the public were safe, they caught the criminals after they escaped, they even diffused the bomb." Explains Shinichi. That case had been in the news so she must have heard about it.
"They did that to make themselves looks good. It wouldn't even be a shock to find out that they had paid the Black Wolves to do that just to save the day and increase their popularity. The man, Sawada Tsunayoshi is just manipulating you to his own gains. A detective works both ways you know. You could just as easily create a near perfect crime as solve one." Her small voice was like ice, no longer shouting, yet having even more impact.
Shinichi couldn't believe that Haibara had just said that. He too stands up, looming over the petit girl. "What do you know about Boss?! Tsuna is more compassionate, more innocent, more kind and heartfelt than any other person I know. I've watched him break apart under this Mafia life. I've watched him escape, cry and vomit just from breaking the finger of a criminal who deserved the death sentence. I've watched him fight someone scarier than Gin just to escape and not have to kill anyone. I've watched him make a pact with the Mafia Enforcers who are the most feared people in the Mafia, swearing against his life that he or his subordinates won't ever kill anybody. After you've seen what I've seen, tell me then that it's all just a lie to draw me in. Until you have, you don't have the right to judge."
"You want me to be rational? Then stop being led by your own bad experiences of Underground life. Not everyone under the banner of Mafia is like the Organisation you know." Shinichi finished with. He was sure that she was being bias and not seeing both sides of the picture. She was too concerned with titles to bother to look at what was physically infront of her eyes.
Haibara just shakes her head. "You're right Shinichi. I won't believe it until I see it first hand. The rule of a Scientist. For all I'm seeing is someone who's too goal orientated to focus on what's before their eyes. What happens afterwards Shinichi? They've shackled you already to them. How you got that far up the hierarchy in such a short amount of time I'll never know. But for them to put all that money into curing you and for you to get the ring you must have done some dishonourable stuff."
Shinichi looks at her and then at the ring on his hand. "The cure? My Ring?"
"They work in conjunction."
"Reborn." Says Shinichi, half surprised to see him here. He knew this was going to be an important conversation, and it was Reborn's job to look after them all. Reborn, knowing that this was an important conversation had chucked the children and Mukuro out of the room before Shinichi had woken up. Reborn had been watching the relationship between Mukuro and Shinichi very carefully. It was a good thing, he supposed, for it seemed that Mukuro would stay with Vongola because Shinichi was there. It was added reassurance that a fight with Tsuna wouldn't make Mukuro, and by extension Ken and Chikusa, leave. Things had changed recently with Chrome, and Reborn was going to have to keep an eye on her to see if she was finally losing her fanatical view of the Ex-Convict. However, this relationship between the Detective and the Illusionist could pull the other way. It was possible that Mukuro had more pull over Shinichi than Tsuna did due to their childhood relationship.
"I want her in the family." Reborn plainly states. Yet only Shinichi understands the difference. Haibara just hears what she wants to hear since she doesn't know anything. "We don't have a Bio-chemist and one would be rather useful. Plus she'll keep the others in line."
"Reborn, we talked about this. I specifically told Boss that I didn't want any of the others to become a part of this. He promised not to involve them!" This path was for him and him alone; Haibara had already been in the dark long enough, he wasn't going to drag her back.
"Well she's involved now, through no fault of your own nor Dame-Tsuna's. Plus she already said she'd work for us. I believe her exact words were: "I'll help, but on the one condition that you stay away from the others. You harm them at all and I'll destroy all the evidence and your Boss will stay kidnapped."
Shinichi looks over to Haibara and raises an eyebrow. "Sounds like you." He comments. "Well if you've been here then you should know how different these people are. Haibara, you really need to give them a chance."
Reborn hands Haibara a file. "Don't let Shinichi see it." Shinichi pouts, before standing on his tip toes to try and see the file. Haibara just clings it closer to her. Sighing Shinichi sits down before looking around the room. He wanted to know what was in that file. If it was going to convince Haibara then it must be important. So why not let him see it? As his eyes wander the room he notices a mirror. Scooting along the sofa a little he gets closer and closer. That was it, now just use his Star Flames to concentrate on it better…
Reborn smiles and lowers his fedora as he jumps to stand in front of the mirror. "Nice try, but you'll never get past me."
In the meanwhile, Haibara opens the file and looks down at it. The contents makes her go pale. It was a list of every time the body guards Shinichi said they had, had protected them from being watched or confronted. It was a list of every piece of information they had removed from the Black Market about her, about the children, about Ran. This was what Vongola had been doing for her without her knowing it. This is what they had promised Shinichi they would do.
After spending the past few days with them, Haibara had gotten the sense that they really weren't bad people. Their earnesty to find their boss had proved that. The way they acted the whole time, it didn't seem to be an act to look good in front of her. They had never slipped up with it. These people seemed genuine. They seemed like her, born or trapped into this life. She could understand that.
She supposed she could give them a chance. If they were going to sell her out to the Organisation they would have done it as soon as she figured out the tranquiliser and she was no longer useful. If they ever did want to chuck her out in the future, or kill her to get to Shinichi, then she'd have enough evidence to go to the Law Enforcement with. She wasn't ever going to get out of the Underground alive, she supposed she had known that from the start. The wish of a peaceful life, of never having to remember those days was really a pipe dream. So she'd best make the most of it.
She closes the file and holds it out towards the baby. Before Shinichi can grab it Reborn's jumped, flipped, shot at him and grabbed the file before hiding it away.
"Shinichi I want the truth, from the start please." Haibara sighs, sitting back down on her chair after up-righting it. This was going to take a while.
Shinichi looks to Reborn. Reborn always knew what was best for the Family it seemed, so he would go with the baby's judgement on this. Reborn sits down next to Shinichi, stroking Leon on his lap. "I want you to remain open-minded. Think about how a shrinking drug would sound to the public. Remember that feeling as you listen to this." Haibara nods. She had a feeling she was about to get to know more about this Magic she had seen.
"Vongola was created over 400 years ago by Primo. However it didn't become a Mafia Family until Segundo took over. Primo created the group to be a collection of Vigilante, keeping innocents safe from the bad guys around them. One day, they received a gift, these rings. They were told that these rings were powered by the forces of the Earth around them, and by their own willpower. These rings were part of a collection that helped to keep the world as we know it at balance. The gift giver explained that these rings harnessed the power of Flames that was inside every living person. It would act like a medium to help bring out the power people already had inside of themselves; These Flames made people stronger even when harnessed unconsciously. With these rings, a physical manifestation of the Flame could be made and utilised to a higher level than normal. They were to be kept in Vongola hands at all times, never to be given to someone else."
"There are 9 types of Flame that people can have. Sky, Storm, Sun, Rain, Lightning, Cloud and Mist. These are the most common. The final two, Star and Moon, are extremely rare Flames that are hardly ever seen." Shinichi was not going to correct Reborn and tell him about Night Flames. He didn't need to know, plus he's promised Bermuda not to tell. "Each of these Flames has a different ability. Sky has a Harmony factor, Storm, Degeneration. Cloud, Propagation. Sun, Activation. Mist, Construction. Thunder, Hardening and Rain has a Tranquillity attribute. These Flame, when harnessed by the Rings can do things to objects and the physical world instead of just affecting personality like it does for anyone else. So for example the addition of Lightning Flames- the green electricity Flames you saw- make things harder or solidify. An application of Rain Flames can make someone more relaxed, fall asleep or slow something down."
"Shinichi was cured using these Flames. We consulted the World's Best Scientist Verde, who you met the other day, and he took a look at Shinichi. Apparently it was not possible to remove the Apo-toxin from his system, his body had become dependent on it. So what they did instead was create Nano-robots to enter his blood stream and effectively eat the toxin to a level where his body reverted back into Shinichi's adult form. This would not be possible without the use of two types of Flames. The Sky Flames' Harmony Factor was used to force Shinichi's body to accept the Nanobots and not to reject them. Then the Disintegration Factor of Storm Flames was used to destroy the toxin that the Nanobots had eaten. Without it, the Nanobots would have become full of the toxin, or it would have had to have been turned into some other substance and excreted. Neither was a viable option. So the Storm Flame literally disintegrates the toxin into nothingness."
"As such I can control the change. The Mechanics entered this password into the programming. At a command, I can tell the Nanobots to stop eating, which raises the levels of the toxin in my blood stream, causing me to change back into Conan. It's not really a cure, but it produces the desired results so that's what we've called it. Now you can see why I was never able to tell you exactly how I got cured. You'd never believe me, and the secret of Flames is strictly Vongola. Haibara you'd be killed if you told anyone outside of the Mafia about them."
"You expect me to believe that? You do remember that I'm older than you right?" asks Haibara, arms crossed.
Shinichi sighs. Scientists always wanted to watch something happen. "Hey KID come out. I know you've been listening." There is a cloud of smoke before KID is sat on the opposite side of Shinichi to Reborn.
"Would a demonstration ease your scepticism ?" asks KID to Haibara. Shinichi smiles, it saved him having to ask Kaito whether we wanted Haibara to know about them. Haibara nods to KID's question. "I am one of the few special ones to have the rare Moon Flame. This Flame has the ability to split into any of the main 7 Flames." KID holds his hand out with the ring facing upwards for Haibara to see. He lights a Moon Flame before sending it through a cycle of the 7 other Flames. He stops at the Storm Flame at the end. "See those tissues over there? Grab one and hold it over the Red Storm Flame. I'll show you the Disintegration Factor." By doing it this way, KID could prove that it wasn't a magic trick and that he wasn't making it disappear by himself.
Haibara grabs the box of tissues and removes one before holding the corner over the tip of the Flame. She was expecting it to catch fire and burn like a normal fire would. But it didn't. Instead it's almost like a red dye is being absorbed before the bottom of the tissue completely disappears. With in seconds, there's suddenly nothing being held by her hands.
KID smiles his lady killer smile before changing the Flame to Rain. He then turns his hand over and nods towards it. "Take it. I promise you won't get hurt. Rain does tranquillity, you'll feel more relaxed afterwards." Haibara still looks nervous at the concept. So Shinichi holds his hand out too.
"I'll do it too, I need a chill pill right now." He says, smiling gently at Haibara to encourage her. Slowly and carefully she places her hand in KID's and watches as KID takes a firm grip of Shinichi's hand. KID's hands glow blue, surrounded by the fire. It's warm, but it doesn't hurt. She can feel the warmness moving up her hand and into her chest. Slowly the tightness in her shoulders relaxes, the tiredness in her eyes leaves and she feels like she's gotten a full night's sleep. KID lets go of her hand when she's in this state, not wanting her to be any calmer than that. Shinichi however, he keeps on going with. He was stressed right out. And Reborn had mentioned a talk with Mukuro. Kaito didn't imagine that Mukuro was very happy with Shinichi for leaving, so he didn't know how their conversation had gone.
"Believe me now, My Lady?" asks KID.
Haibara looks at her hands, there aren't any burn marks. These things they called Flames, they really are magic. "I-… I… Believe you." What else could she say?
"Stay here and you'll get to look into them in more depth." Comments Reborn. "You'll be able to play with them as much as you want, find out new medicines using them, new ways to heal people, new non-lethal weapons, whatever you want."
"Vongola will treat you better than the Organisation did." Says Shinichi, earnestly. "So please Haibara, say you'll stay. Boss really is going to get rid of the Organisation for us. And you can help make that happen. Don't you want Vermouth and Gin behind bars? I'll place them in the Mafia Prison and believe me when I say that no matter what, they aren't getting out of there." He'd ask Bermuda to make sure than no one could barter for their release.
Haibara took a good long think about it, no one said anything whilst she was thinking.
"Fine I'll stay, if only to keep an eye on you and the promise you made. I'm not letting you go that easily Kudo Shinichi."
Reborn smiles and lowers his fedora. "Welcome to the Vongola Family."
"Good," Shinichi says yawning and stretching his arms above his head. "I think that's everything sorted out for now." He lies down on the sofa, a pillow under his head. "I'll talk to the others in the morning." KID nods his head too, resisting the urge to yawn, he was tired out too after all. "It'll be nice to sleep back at home for once." Shinichi mumbles. Home? Shinichi was that attached already?
"I agree, Tantei-kun. We'll need a good night's sleep. We're going to have to explain everything tomorrow."
"Yay… fun…" breaths Shinichi.
KID shakes his head before turning to look at Haibara. "Good Night My Lady." He bows, a smoke bomb rolling out of his sleeve in the process. By the time the cloud has dissipated, Thief and Detective are nowhere to be seen.
There's a knock at the door before Shoichi sticks his head in. "Oh, you're finished? C'mon, I'll take you back to your room."
Haibara nodded and supposed that she had better start to get to know the people Shinichi now called family.
Haibara's just as hard to write as Flan is. Oh well, at least she knows now.
I'll see you next time!
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published 11 Oct. 12