AN: First I like to apologize for the later than usual update. I was trying to write the next chapter of 'Butterfly with Invisible Wings', but...I ended up stuck with writer's block on that story. So to people who read that story, I'm afraid it's going to be awhile before I update that one. On the other hand, I'm focusing all my attention on this one~!
Notes: I noticed in most fanfics I've read and in canon, People don't really focus on how lethal the mafia is, so I mentioned some of the dangers.
Chapter 7: Promise of Protection
The water was warm as it washed over his hands. Scrubbing the plate with practiced ease, Tsuna dried it not a second later and put it on the rack. He repeated the process carefully with the next piece.
Natsu stood by the doorway, half hidden in the shadows, and as quiet as a mouse. He watched Tsuna quietly, noting the nearly unnoticeable trembling of his younger twin's frame. It was only the fact that he had spent his entire life with the boy that he was able to pick out Tsuna's fear.
He had been scared earlier, Reborn and his blonde companion had even noticed, but Tsuna had brushed it off later as if it didn't bother him. Natsu was no stranger to Tsuna's fear. He was scared too, of the dark world that Reborn had given him a glimpse to.
It was all in the strange infant's casual actions. The lack of awe when his pet chameleon shapeshifting, something that wasn't even possible. Natsu wondered, how easily would it be for Leon to shapeshift into a nuclear bomb and just wipe the world out? How easy would it be?
It was also in the infant's habit with his trigger-happy fingers. The gun had fitted in his tiny fingers like it was a toy. The gunshot earlier, it had merely grazed him yet it had shed blood. He had no doubt that Reborn could shoot him if the baby wished. He could die with a twitch of a finger from the infant, Tsuna could die.
The destruction of the floor was another. The baby had tore a hole in the floor with his own former student, and hadn't been even remotely concerned. Could the baby tear down a skyscraper if he wanted too, without even a care for the doomed people in it?
It honestly scared Natsu, just as it scared Tsuna. Dino was no pushover too. That turtle, when Tsuna gotten a good sniff at it, had grown twice as large as them when Tsuna had rushed it to the bathroom to give it a cleaning. The bathroom had been obliterated, but thankfully, Dino had agreed to payed for the repairs, along with the hole from earlier.
Natsu had no doubt it could crushed them. It could break their bones, and tear their flesh with that mouth. It could kill them easily enough. The only relief on Natsu's conscious was that it would only become a threat when it was in contact with water.
The whip was bad too. Natsu had two reactions to the whip. The first, and somewhat more lighter one, was that the blonde had a really bad whip kink and was a wannabe cowboy. The more serious reaction was fear, because what if the guy decided humans could be whipped into shape like horses?
"Natsu..?" said a slightly trembling voice. Natsu frozed and glanced at Tsuna. It was often that Tsuna called him Natsu. But when he did, it was usually because he was either very upset, or very happy.
"Yeah?" he said quietly, moving closer to the shaking brunette. Tsuna had stopped in the middle of cleaning the dishes, and his hands were wet with soap and water. He had ditched his vest somewhere during dinner and had rolled up his sleeves to his elbows.
"Do...do you think I'm still going to be alive by next week?" asked Tsuna. Natsu frozed, right behind Tsuna. He couldn't see his twin's face but he could detect the rampaging fear in Tsuna's voice. He was serious, realized Natsu, he didn't know if he would be alive by then, he was scared that he would be dead, murdered by then.
He knew exactly what Tsuna was thinking. It had not slipped past them that neither Dino nor Reborn had truly accepted their goal of ruling as twin bosses. Natsu could bet that if by the time hit zero and neither had given up on their goal, one of them would be found dead sooner or later.
He also knew, that out of the two of them, Tsuna had the least chance of being chosen. Oh he knew that Tsuna could hold his own, blackmailing could go a long way. The parkour he learned in the brief time he had been bullied before Natsu had found out would also be helpful.
But in a full out fight, Natsu would win. Years in all sorts of sports and fistfights with his peers had toughened him up. His brain wasn't useless either, though not anywhere near Tsuna's. But that didn't mean he'll go along and let them kill his brother.
"Yes" growled Natsu with conviction, "You're going to be alive. I'm not going to let you die. If they want to kill you, they'll have to do it over my dead body. I won't allow it."
"But will they care if you don't allow it?" said Tsuna with a hysterically note, turning around to face his brother. His eyes were brimming with unshed tears and he looked small, nothing like the sweet, but brave twin he knew. "They can kill us, Natsu. They can do it without trying. We don't stand a chance as we are now."
"Then I'll become stronger" said Natsu, eyes the color of amber, pulling his twin in a hug, pressing their foreheads together like when they were little. "I'll become strong enough to protect you."
"We'll" corrected Tsuna quietly after a brief span of silence, raising his head to meet Natsu's amber eyes, his own eyes blazing amber with a hidden fire. "We'll become stronger because who else is going to save your ass?"
Natsu smiled, seeing the fire rekindled in his twin's eyes. Pulling back from the hug reluctantly, Tsuna turned back to the sink and started on his chore once again, with Natsu's comforting presence behind him.
"I'll protect you" said Natsu suddenly, after a couple minutes of silence. "I promise."
Tsuna didn't stop washing, but merely replied, "Don't make promises you aren't sure you can keep."
Because both of them knew, it would take time to grow stronger, much less stronger than the strange hitman tutor and the mafia boss in the room next door. There was no guarantee they could survive until then.
"I'll promise, anyway" said Natsu. Tsuna stopped, and put the plate he was in the middle of washing down.
Turning halfway to his stubborn twin, Tsuna met his eyes and smiled a small smile, "Then the promise is wrong. Its 'We'll protect each other' because if you think I'll let you do everything yourself, you need to get your head checked out."
Natsu returned the grin, because he damn knew what his twin was trying to say. We're getting out of this alive, together was unspoken but clear.
Meanwhile, in the next room over, Reborn sat facing his old student in silence as they listened quietly to the conversation next door.
As the conversation ended, Reborn hummed and shot a glance at Dino, whose eyes were glazed in thought. Romario had ran off somewhere, along with the rest of his subordinates, a couple hours ago, to book a hotel for everyone, besides Dino who was staying at the Sawada Household for the night.
It was only the realistic looking mask of Romario and Reborn's presence that had made him coordinated enough not to make a mess, and thus not recreate another similar incident of the Water+Enzo incident earlier.
"What do you think of those two?" asked Reborn, because as clumsy and no good his former student was without his subordinates, Dino, like most skies, was a ridiculously good judge of character.
Dino hummed, "As a brother or as a mafia boss?"
"Both" answered Reborn, shortly.
Dino sighed and leaned back in his chair. "As a big brother, I'll say they've got potential. They can change the mafia, cause a revolution for the good. Bring Vongola back to it's former glory and all that stuff. As a mafia boss...I think they're ideals are idiotic. The mafia is like a world of apex predators. Everyone wants to reach the top, rivals aren't tolerated. Their 'twin boss' idea will get them killed" said Dino, staring up the ceiling.
"But do you think, there is a chance it could work?" questioned Reborn, his fedora causing a shadow to go over his eyes as he leaned forward in anticipation.
Dino's eyes glazed over for a minute, before he said "Yes. I think there is a chance."
Reborn nodded, his satisfaction received, "Then we will take that chance."
Dino fell over, head first, at that. "Wait, what!?" screeched Dino from his position on the floor, flat on his back.
Reborn completely ignored him. Instead, he jumped off his chair, which had a giant stack of cushions on it just so he could eat, and landed without a problem. Leaving his former student sputtering in the dining room, Reborn walked into the kitchen upon the sight of his new students helping each other do the dishes.
"Oi, When's Mamma going to be home?" asked Reborn, jumping onto Natsu's shoulder, giving his new student a momentary shock. Natsu shot an irritated glance at the baby before replying.
"Ka-san called earlier. Apparently she met some old friend of hers and is going to stay there for the night. She's going to be back by morning" said Natsu, as he dried the dishes.
"Got it. Good cooking by the way, Tsuna. Wake up at 5 AM tomorrow, we're going training. And Natsu, remember your dual" called Reborn over his shoulder as he left the room.
"Arigato!" said Tsuna.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever-WAIT! Dual?! I completely forgot! GET BACK HERE, REBORN! YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!"
"You sleep together?" questioned Reborn in disbelief from Dino's shoulder, "Aren't you too old by now?"
"Y-Yeah" sweatdropped Dino.
Natsu shrugged as he wrestled a extra futon from the closet, dressed in his pajamas, a white tank top and grey shorts. Tsuna entered the room, holding pillows and some bed sheets, dressed.
"We got used to it" said Natsu, as if it was completely normal. Reborn shook his head but dropped the topic. After a couple minutes of a rather frustrating tug of war against the closet, Natsu finally managed to get the futon out, before giving the closet a good kick of course.
"You'll be sleeping here for the night" addressed Tsuna as he laid out the bed sheets. "Ka-san's room is locked, no one sleeps there except her and our no-good, idiotic, insufferable, drunk-on-his-ass father."
Dino and Reborn nodded before quickly changing into pajamas in the twin's private bathroom. Natsu and Tsuna could not help but snicker when they saw Reborn's pink and white polka-dot footie pajamas and matching hat that looked like the one from Santa.
Dino on the other hand, was wearing button up green pajama tops and bottoms decorated with horses.
Muffling another snigger as Reborn and Dino got on the futon, Tsuna crossed the room to close the lights. Finished, Tsuna walked through the dark with years of practice and got into his and Natsu's shared bed. Snuggling in the bedsheets, Tsuna fell fast asleep, with Natsu just across from him.
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