XLI.
There is a thunderstorm.
(Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.)
The skies are dark and ominous; overwhelmed by the endless expanse of heavy clouds gathering under the cover of the night. Lightning flashes across the sky, a blinding streak momentarily tracing out a jagged line against the heavens. Raindrops pitter-patter-pitter-patter –millions of icy droplets throwing themselves against the fragile windowsill, as if they wish to knock down the glass and sweep into the room to wreak havoc and destruction to their heart's content.
There is a thunderstorm.
(Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.)
Thunder roars, and the growing crescendo of the invisible monster sends vibrations reverberating deep, deep into the ground. As if the storm itself was a force of violence perfectly capable of tearing up anything unlucky enough to be in its way, anything unlucky enough to be caught in its warpath of destruction. None will be spared from its sightless fury, its unrestricted rage.
…
(Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.)
…
There is a thunderstorm.
And there is a silver-haired girl holding a silver-haired boy in her arms as they quietly sleep together, while the violent tempest tears down the world around them in their slumber.
(Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.)
XLII.
She can't move.
Because.
Because.
Because.
It's Superbi. Superbi. Silver hair, gold eyes –since when had he decided to grow out his hair?– complete with a sword at his side. He had always, always kept a sword on him no matter the –wait. A sword. A sword. A sword… attached to his wrist?
Varia. Varia uniform.
…
She can't move.
Except.
Except she's running, running, running; toes barely skimming the ground as she easily ignores her blood-mother's startled shouts behind her and races out the door, tearing through the streets, flying–
It's like tunnel vision, almost.
She barely notices his sword flashing, downing Gokudera and Yamamoto in one fell swoop and knocking Yuuto to the ground. She barely notices the other people running around on the streets, running away, screaming in fear. She barely notices the Rain-user-with-flames-burning-on-his-forehead shakily standing to his feet again and setting himself into a protective stance in front of Tsuna.
However, she does notice when her brother steps forward and his lips move, and then the heavily injured Rain-user says something, and then the blade is flashing down again, too quick for any of them to react to–
And.
And she's standing there.
Somehow.
Indigo spots of light dance at the corner of her eyes, but she barely notices her flickering flames because she's looking upwards into that familiar familiar familiar face –it's different from the face she remembers in her memories, but there's no doubt about it that it's the same–
His face twists into a scowl, and her heart sinks.
"Oi, get out of the way."
She shakes her head, not trusting her voice to speak anymore as her throat tightens. Not sure if she even can speak at the moment.
"S-Setsu! Run!" Tsuna's voice is filled with fear –not so much fear for the dangerous man in front of them, though that certainly was a large factor contributing to the fear he felt, but this fear was more the fear of seeing another of his beloved friends hurt. At seeing young little Setsu hurt.
… But she is not Setsu, not entirely.
Irritation and impatience prickles at the edges of the man in front of her, and he raises his sword threateningly–
And her voice comes through, steadier than it had ever sounded before.
"Stop this, Superbi."
XLIII.
"Stop this, Superbi."
Strangely enough, the first thing that registered in his mind during that moment wasn't the fact that this strange little girl called him by his given name (a name which only one person had ever done on a regular basis). It wasn't the Mist flames dancing chaotically around her body that had caught his attention, or even the way that she'd cut in and stopped him from killing down the CEDEF brat.
The first thing Superbi Squalo noticed about her was her eyes.
Hazel.
Hazel eyes.
Hazel eyes the exact same shade as his sister's… his sister who died years ago.
"I love you, Superbi."
And then he snapped out of it.
"Voi, what the hell are you doing?!" He growled –Mist flames; illusionist. His sister had taught him how to deal with illusionists, how to guard against the weaknesses they plucked out of your mind, how to see through the tricks they tried to make you believe in.
("I don't want to see you hurt, Superbi.)
He knew how to deal with illusionists. This one was young –but his sister had been equally young, if not younger, when she came into her own power. Age had never proven to be an accurate indication of danger.
The CEDEF brat barely pulled the little kid back in time as he swiped his sword at them again. Pity; would've made a painless beheading–
Hazel eyes. Soft smile.
"I love you, Superbi."
… Fuck.
Fuck.
Was this another trick of the kid's Mist flames?! Dredging up memories and trying to mess with him–
This wasn't fucking funny.
"Setsu, what in the world are you doing?!" The fluffy-headed brunet shrieked –yes, shrieked– and pulled the girl back, hastily pushing her along in the opposite direction. "Hurry, go!"
It was at this point that the Prancing Horse arrived –Dino Cavallone, the spineless, useless brat who'd gotten both a spine and some skills beaten into him by Reborn, before finally taking his rightful place as the Boss of the Cavallone Famiglia.
Remember what you're here for. Not to kill some shitty brats, but to retrieve the half-rings for your Boss.
And as he leapt onto the edge of a building before the smoke from the rubble and debris cleared, Vongola half-rings clutched in his hand and victory in his mouth; turning around with a smirk on his face–
There it was.
The diminutive form of the little gray-eyed girl that he'd almost killed just now, watching him with a small, soft smile.
XLIV.
He's my brother.
No he's not.
He's my brother.
No he's not.
Yes he is!
If he's your brother, then who are Yuuto and Sousei?
… My brothers.
Exactly.
… But he's my brother. My brother. He's Superbi!
Superbi is Stella's little brother.
I'm Stella.
No, you're Setsu.
I'm Stella, but I'm also Setsu. I'm Setsu, but also Stella.
Is it even possible to be two people at once?
I don't know.
So who are you, really?
…
…
… I don't know.
XLV.
"Ciaossu."
She blinks for a moment at the baby hitman's sudden appearance in the backyard, surprised. Usually, it had always been her tagging along with Yuuto to the Sawada household –she couldn't recall a time when the hitman came to seek them out in the comfort of their own home, when they were still in the Nakamura residence.
"Hello, Reborn," she greeted softly, gently setting down the paintbrush in her hands. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"No, but there's something you can help Tsuna with, Setsu." The hitman tilted his fedora, cocking his head at her, "… Or should I say, Lady Stella?"
She froze.
Only for a moment.
(But a moment was all the hitman needed to confirm his suspicions, ridiculous as it sounded –even to him, someone who had fallen under the Rainbow Curse…)
"… I hardly even know myself anymore," she eventually sighed, finally moving to put away her paints. It wasn't likely that she'd get anything else done at this point. "What does Tsuna need my help for? There's not much I can do right now."
She was careful to keep the bitter twist out of those last few words.
"On the contrary, there's a lot you can do." Reborn easily countered, not skipping a beat with his next sentence: "Become his Mist Guardian, Stella."
Paint splattered on the ground.
XLVI.
Control: This is Control.Requesting report.Establishing connection…
…
061: Connection established. This is 061.
Control: Status check.
061: All transactions this month have been conducted successfully. Copies of the intel exchanged during this period have already been submitted. Unusual requests have also been marked and highlighted in the report.
Control: Proceed with the assignment as planned.
061: Affirmed.
Control: File 061 has been updated. Terminating connection…
…
…
…
"Something wrong, Faust?"
The illusionist slowly looked up from the papers clutched in his hands at the sound of an old butler's voice. There were hundreds of other reports still awaiting his perusal –but it was the one in his hands, carefully marked and flagged down, that were sending alarm bells ringing in his mind.
"Someone has been asking after…" A small pause in his words. He continued on, "After Stella. The request was made by the Arcobaleno Reborn."
The majordomo stiffened at this tidbit of news.
"Why?" Alfredo's voice was sharp, much sharper than it usually was.
Faust felt a small frown surface over his lips as he glanced over the report again.
"I don't know, but I certainly intend to find out."
XLVII.
"Yuuto, Setsu? We need to talk."
Sousei crossed his arms and attempted to look stern in front of his younger siblings –of course, the key word here being 'attempted.' Neither of them looked contrite at the moment; Setsu was curled around a pillow on his bed, and Yuuto was leaning back on the chair to admire the diagrams plastered to the ceiling.
Honestly, these two…
"What is there to talk about?" Yuuto finally sat upright again when the silence stretched on between them, though his gaze was fixed elsewhere. And if that wasn't an indication that something was wrong, well, he'd eat the computer programming books that Shouichi had lent him last week.
Sousei sighed.
"Look, I'm not oblivious to everything happening in town. And when explosions and other equally crazy things happen on an increasingly daily basis, I'd have to be an absolute idiot not to know that there's something going on with that Sawada you hang out with."
"… Tsuna isn't a bad person, onii-chan."
"I'm not saying he is, Setsu." Sousei ran a hand through his hair, carefully picking his next words. "I'm just saying that it seems like a lot of dangerous things happen around him. Am I wrong?"
The silence that followed his question was more than enough of a telling answer.
"… Can't you at least tell me what's going on? This is getting ridiculous."
Sousei wasn't against his siblings making friends. He could tell that they genuinely liked hanging out with Sawada and his group, and he was fine with that. But he wasn't fine with the young duo coming home covered in soot and ashes and minor injuries –and there was that time when Yuuto had gone to the hospital after they had their 'hiking trip' to the abandoned Kokuyo Land–
Yuuto let out a low exhale, finally stopping himself from fiddling around with that… whatever-it-was, that he was rolling between his fingers. An ornament of some sort?
"What do you think about when I say 'mafia,' onii-san?"
…
…
…
"… No. Oh hell no."
"Hell yes, onii-chan… onii-chan? Um, I think we'd better tell Mama and Papa that we're going to be short one person at the dinner table tonight."
"I guess so, Setsu. We'll save something for him to eat when he wakes up again."
XLVIII.
Yuuto wasn't really sure what had been going on in his mind when he'd accepted.
It just… hadn't occurred to him to refuse, kind of? Sort of. He wondered if it made him a bad friend now, now that the entire situation was finally sinking in on him and the thought that he could've refused had finally come to mind, and he was wondering if…
…
Nah. He probably would've accepted anyways. For Tsuna, right?
Yuuto held up the strangely-shaped half ring to the light, watching as the small piece of jewelry glinted brightly under the sun.
What had they said again?
"The Mist, hiding behind illusions and protecting the family through deception of the enemies, seemingly intangible but nonetheless present under the Sky… you have the potential to become an excellent illusionist, Nakamura Yuuto."
… He'd been scared, when it first started happening. Borderline panic/hysteria, until Reborn had sat down and talked to him; if only because no one else had known what the hell was going on with him at the time.
It had been shortly after the Kokuyo Incident that he found there to be strange things that had started occurring around him –an extra pencil on the desk when he was sure he'd put away his supplies last night, a missing book that he knew had been placed there just this morning… he'd almost thought he was going crazy when he saw that stray dog bark once, twice, before disappearing entirely.
At least he had an explanation for it now.
Mist.
Mist flames.
Illusions.
… Who knew?
"It seems that the possession by Rokudo Mukuro has kick-started your ability to use illusions. That might explain why you took the longest to recover from that ordeal."
Well, at any rate… it was a good thing that Yuuto had been steadily growing accustomed to the insanity that followed Tsuna wherever he went; otherwise, he had no doubt that he'd be getting himself checked in the mental ward for seeing hallucinations every day instead of seeing a baby-hitman-tutor for help.
Mist flames.
… If they were hereditary… that meant that Setsu was also… a Mist-user?
It…
…
Strangely (or rather, not-so-strangely), it made a lot of sense.
If it really was, then… then it explained a lot of things about his little sister, including that incident. But it also raised just as many questions, if not more. How in the world had she even known how to create illusions by herself? He could hardly control these things from appearing and disappearing around him all the time, heck; even Lambo had noticed something wrong around him! And another thing –if Setsu could control it, somehow, then why wasn't she the 'Mist Guardian?' It wasn't like she would ignore Tsuna's plight (would she?). If even Lambo, a five year old, could be considered as a candidate, then what was there exempting her from fighting?
(Because, well. Really. She could fight; he couldn't.)
Yuuto gave himself a rough mental shake to focus on his surroundings again as the blonde man standing next to him spoke.
"Here's your tutor, Yuuto. Work hard during these ten days we have before challenging the Varia, yeah?"
His tutor was… a girl. A blue-haired girl with an eyepatch covering one of her eyes, and… holding a suspiciously familiar trident in her hands…?
"Her name is Chrome," Dino continued on with the introductions, seeing as neither of them was actually making any effort to extend the first overtures to each other. Yuuto didn't have a good feeling about the quiet girl. "Chrome Dokuro… or Dokuro Chrome, as you would say here . She… well. Um. She shares a rather unique connection with Rokudo Mukuro, which may be of great benefit to your training. Or, well, at least Reborn says so. Good luck, Yuuto."
… Something in his mind broke when Dino left and the girl's eyepatch fell from her eye and a slow smile curved over her lips.
No.
No.
No.
This… this couldn't be happening. There was no way, it couldn't... be...!
"Kufufu."
And as she smiled and spoke in the way only Rokudo Mukuro did, and the sidewalk disappeared and became a magma river…
…
Granted, there were probably worse things that could happen in this world.
(Though, as far as he was concerned, this was pretty much the lowest point things could ever get. Rokudo Mukuro?! How was this remotely good in any way, shape, or form?
… He was so dead. Oh, the things he did for the sake of his friends…)
XLIX.
"How is that painting coming along, Setsu?"
"… It's fine, sensei."
"Really? That's good to hear." The young teacher smiled cheerily, "I thought you might've hit a snag in it, seeing as you haven't been touching it lately. I'm glad you've brought it out to work on again –it's shaping up to be a lovely work of art."
"Thank you, sensei."
"You're welcome." A splatter of paint fell on the table, and the little girl quickly wiped it up with a rag. The teacher watched her fondly. "Are you ever going to paint that person standing in the middle there?"
"… I don't know."
"Again with the 'I don't know?'" A soft, exasperated sigh. "Sometimes, Setsu, art is all about ambiguity. Nothing has to be perfectly clear-cut and defined all the time. Sometimes, the beauty is in the interpretation of a subject, and not the subject itself."
The startled look on the little girl's face from that tidbit of advice was enough to draw a laugh to her teacher's lips.
L.
Ten days.
Ten days passed, and the Varia came.
"Let the first match of the battle for the Vongola Rings begin."
.
…
.
EDIT 8/26: Hey, you crazy author. Why the hell did you replace Mukuro with Yuuto as the Mist Guardian?
Well, look at it this way. On one hand, you have an illusionist who's really strong, but who also happens to be a criminal who tried to kill/possess Tsuna. Does that really inspire any confidence in you?
On the other hand, you have a budding illusionist who might not be as strong, but has the potential. You know that he will definitely do his best to protect Tsuna.
Setsu might've refused the offer, but Yuuto has the capacity to become a good illusionist after the entire ordeal with Mukuro 'awakened' his abilities.
Even in canon KHR, I was surprised by Mukuro becoming the Mist Guardian. Since Mukuro was the only Mist-user Tsuna knew at the time and he is really, really strong, I guess Iemitsu and the others just decided to take a gamble on him at making him into Tsuna's Mist Guardian. Honestly; he even says that the only reason he accepted the position in the first place was so he'd have better opportunities to take over Tsuna's body. And while that might've changed somewhere down the road, it most certainly was true in the beginning.
So you have Mukuro, who's strong and can't really be trusted. Setsu, who's strong but already refused. And Yuuto, who's not as strong as them, but has the potential to become a strong illusionist someday, and who's also someone who definitely can be trusted.
... Well, does it make sense that Yuuto replaced Mukuro as the Mist Guardian now?
Author's Notes:
A little short this time, so sorry for that. But! But at least we're approaching the Ring battles now. :D Anyone excited for that? Next chapter should detail the actual Ring battles taking place in Namimori. The Varia will be fun to write. xD
… Also, anyone see the Mist Guardian twist with Yuuto coming? :3 I actually kinda planned this from the beginning. Chrome and Mukuro will still play a role in this story, just not as Tsuna's Mist Guardians... the Future arc is going to be interesting, to say the least.
Reminder: Please vote! The pairing poll is still up on my profile, so please head over and vote if you haven't done so yet. I'll probably take it down sometime after the next update, so remember to vote while you still can. xD I'm guessing it's kind of obvious who's in first place from the polls right now, but second place was actually kind of a surprise for me. Well. You'll find out in the Future arc once we hit that stride. :)
QUESTION: Any predictions for what Faust and Alfredo might be up to now?
Please leave a note on what you think of the chapter. :3 And feel free to point out any errors in the text you find. Till next time, everyone!
-XxZuiliu