A Ten-Year Later Fan Fiction
A Special Type of Routine
Chapter 2: Coffee Talks
Warning: I've written this with Family Fluff in mind. However, interpret it however you want to.
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
The hand slammed down on the alarm clock and the blaring sounds of the alarm stopped ringing. A groan was heard and there was a shuffling sound. Then there was silence.
The alarm sounded again, after 5 excruciatingly long minutes of inner debates.
"I get it. Just—" A hand slammed down on the clock— "Keep—" A hand flipped open the blanket with much strength, throwing it to the floor—"Quiet!"
Tsuna sat up. He glanced at the clock and sighed audibly before swinging his legs off his bed, and pushed himself to the edge of the bed. He trudged towards the bathroom that was located right opposite his bed. Flicking on the switch, the curtains rose upwards and sunlight streamed into the room. Tsuna turned away at the sudden bright light and stepped into the bathroom.
He stepped into the shower and the water streamed down. Water droplets ran off his smooth skin and dripped onto the floor. He raised his head, eyes closed, allowing water to hit his neck as he washed himself clean. Turning off the showerhead, he slipped out of the shower, and took up his toothbrush. Thrusting the toothbrush into his mouth, he wiped himself clean with the towel. Shaking his head, water droplets flew out of his ever fluffy hair and the hair, even though still wet, stood up at places.
A bell rung throughout the mansion, stating that breakfast was to be ready within the next half hour.
The guardians will not be awake until the next bell, as usual. And that will give Tsuna ample of time to make coffee for most of them—and tea for the other few.
He donned his Armani suit and put on leather shoes, tapping it against the polished floor, making the "ta-ta-ta" sound. He gave himself another look in the mirror and he pulled at his sleeves and collar one last time before moving out of his room.
/
"Where are the Folgers, Alcee?"
The maid named Alcee whirled around very so quickly, and spilled over the mug of tea she was holding. Tsuna stepped forward, caught the mug and pushed Alcee into a stable position.
"Sir! I didn't mean—the tea!" She stumbled over the words and her hands were making imaginary circles in the air. Tsuna gave a kind smile and held her hand, stopping the imaginary circles, he shook his head and asked, once again.
"Where are the Folgers?"
Alcee was startled and flinched away from Tsuna's grip, pulling out of his hand, and accidentally twisting his hand in the meantime. Tsuna winced but still smiled, not allowing the maid to know that she injured him. She bustled over to a cupboard and took out a jar of Folgers and pushing it to Tsuna's injured hand hastily before muttering a quick sorry and went out of the kitchen.
Tsuna sighed—that girl had much potential and Tsuna wanted to develop her however, she was too shy.
With a pot that will fits 60 ounces of water. Tsuna added 3 ounces of coffee grounds to the water. After which, he brought to a simmer for 5 minutes and filtered grounds out. Tsuna took a deep breath, the smell was so fragrant that is tantalised his taste buds, salivating him in the process. Tsuna hummed a song as he poured the thick coffee into three cups—purples and a red. He added three creamers into both purple cups and a single pack of sugar for one of them too. He then added one single packet of creamer into the red cup and he stirred all three cups. Satisfied, he placed the three into the insulated glass cupboard.
He went back to the cupboard and put back the jar of Folgers, wary of his injured wrist. He twisted it in a circle and winced with a bite on the lips—his wrist was pretty injured.
Tsuna chose the coffee which is the lowest in acidity and very smooth, and grinded it even coarser than for the French press.
He used the right hand to open the percolator. He poured eight ounces cool water into the bottom chamber. He put the chamber and tube assembly into the percolator. He then added the coarse coffee to the top chamber, two teaspoons per cup. Tsuna picked the percolator up and placed the percolator on the heat source. The water temperature rose until the water in the bottom chamber boils, forcing some of it up the tube to the top where it splashed down onto the perforated lid of the coffee chamber. This water then seeped through the coffee grounds, out through the bottom of the coffee chamber, and drops back into the water in the bottom of the pot.
Three seconds has passed before the process started again. Tsuna wiped off sweat from his brow. Tsuna then removed heat at this point, as Reborn once told him that it should never be allowed to boil. Tsuna shuddered at the thought of Reborn and accidentally, hit his wrist. He sighed as his wrist throbbed but continued to pour the coffee out into the indigo cup. He placed the cup near his nose and smelt the bitter aroma of the coffee and gave a look of distaste. He opened a creamer and poured in half the packet and an entire packet of sugar. He stirred and picked up the coffee cup again—heavenly.
Pouring milk into a 1-quart microwave-safe bowl and microwave on HIGH 1 to one and a half minutes but definitely not boiling. Tsuna shuddered again. He then whisked until foamy. Tsuna smelt the cinnamon syrup before pouring it into the yellow cup. He gave a lopsided smile before microwaving on HIGH 20 seconds to warm syrup. He added steamed milk to brim of cup and topped with swirl of whipped cream. Next, he drizzled with caramel flavoured syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon. Unable to resist the temptation, he took a small sip and the whipped cream stayed on his lips. He quickly placed the coffee into the insulated cupboard.
Lambo was like a vegetarian in a Texas barbacue—a tea-loving, coffee-hater Italian. He hated chamomile tea bags or tisane della salute but rather, Twinings' Earl Grey Tea. He took out some tea leaves from the box and swirled it in the tea pot, allowing the leaves to settle and the fragrance to diffuse. The smell of the Earl Grey Tea hit Tsuna's nose and he cringed as the bitter taste touched his senses. He smiled slightly as he removed the lemon shortbread cookies from the oven—the ones that Alfee was tasked to bake in the morning. He placed them on the underliner of the green teacup and placed them into the insulated glass cupboard.
The soothing tea, Lemon Balm Tea or Melissa officinalis, is the only one that the Rain likes. Tsuna picked up some lemon balm tea leaves from the transparent jar and infused a teaspoon of them in a teapot. After 10 minutes, he strained the tea and poured into a sky blue cup. The tea's fragrance diffused upwards, making a small head pop through the kitchen's open door. He then took a sprig of fresh leaves into the tea. He licked the top layer of tea and grimaced before taking the honey jar over, putting in 3 tablespoons. He licked again and smiled sweetly before placing it into insulated glass cupboard.
"My tea?"
Tsuna whirled around, giving the man a quick smile before turning back to the last coffee he was boiling, "yes."
"Hey!" Takeshi walked over, stopping the man from cutting the packet of 3 in 1 instant coffee, "you don't get to cut the 3 in 1 instant coffee, okay?"
Tsuna pouted, "I'm not really picky."
"No."
"No?"
"You're just not in the mood to boil your favourite."
A pregnant silence fell over the kitchen. The silence, however, was broken by the soft chuckling of Tsuna.
"I understand. I'll get to the table and prepare all of your snacks then."
/
Yamamoto Takeshi added the sugar first and filled the ibrik with water up to the point where the ibrik's "neck" starts. The water came up to, but not into, the neck, just right as Yamamoto smiled a little. Patience was what you really need to make Turkish coffee. The coffee grinds float on the water and he knew enough to not to stir. It still rings in his head, the first time he boiled this with Tsuna and Tsuna had hit his own hand away when he attempted to stir the coffee. Tsuna will tell to heat the coffee very slowly. However, Yamamoto knew enough, and tried enough to know that medium heat works full well and gives the same taste. Only Reborn and Tsuna could tell and... well...
Thankfully, the water did not start to boil yet instead, it started to foam. The foam grew from around the coffee and started to fill the neck. Yamamoto did not stop looking. The foam started to fill the neck and work its own way up. Yamamoto liked it when the foam climbs; like little ants going up a tall big tree. When it is almost to the top of the ibrik, Yamamoto immediately removed the ibrik from the electric stove and finally but carefully stirred the coffee and the foam will subsided.
Yamamoto put the ibrik back on the stove and it started to foam again, this time more quickly. Again, he removed it from the heat source, "stir down" the foam, and repeated it for the third time and fourth time. The fourth was the final, which Yamamoto will not stir.
He quickly scooped up some foam and placed it on another plate before draining the coffee into a orange cup, just not the last part. Then, he placed back the foam, a substantial amount that will satisfy Tsuna and he placed the coffee into the cupboard, bouncing out of the kitchen to join Tsuna.
/
Tsuna went towards Alfee who flinced visibly. Tsuna, although hurt by the behaviour but commented on nothing but only asked her to sound the second breakfast bell. She nodded her head and hastily sounded the bell. Tsuna folded himself onto the orange head chair of the dining table and begun to look through some files that he had asked the butler to fetch for him.
He had, right after he left the kitchen, quickly prepared sweets and chocolates for the morning breakfast. The guardians were all sweet tooths, inclusive of the aloof Cloud, even if he did not show it.
Tsuna laughed when he picked up the next paper work he was to sign.
"Tenth, what was so funny?"
Tsuna was blinking away tears when Hayato folded himself into his seat and a muffled shriek of laughter escaped the Sky's lips once again. Tsuna shook his head and held up his hand, palm facing Hayato, fingers apart, indicating "wait". The right hand man nodded his head and asked no more questions, helping himself to the lemon shortbread cookies on the table.
The next that came in was Takeshi, who had peered over Tsuna's shoulder and saw the paper work. His eyes widened in surprise then mirth burst from him as he sat down on his chair, on Tsuna's left, laughing loudly.
Lambo came in third, sleepily, rubbing his eyes wearily and his hair poking out in all places (slightly worse than usual). He was wearing pyjamas, cow pyjamas of course, and he landed in his seat with a plonk and he immediately placed his head on the table, half-dead.
The next that came in was a complete surprise.
"Ryo-nii?"
"HELLO, SAWADA!"
"Shut it, Turf-top."
Tsuna smiled slightly, "Manners, Hayato," before turning towards the white-haired man that bounded into the room, "so early? I thought that you won't be here for another 1 hour or so."
Ryohei rubbed his head, a sheepish smile played on his lips and comprehension dawned on Tsuna's face.
"That's not really nice, Ryo-nii."
"But... They were extremely slow. And I had to—"
"Yeah, extremely speed the plane flight up. Yes, bravo bravo," a sleepy voice rang out from Lambo's mouth.
"MANNERS!"
"Like you too, so whatever, Gokudera-nii."
"Tea."
Tsuna smiled and pushed his stack of paper work away, "Let's wait a while more, okay?"
Lambo raised his shaggy head slowly, pouting at Tsuna, puppy eyes shining but Tsuna was too used to it that he shrugged it off with a smile. Knowing that himself could not win the staring contest, he let out a angered "hmph!" before dropping his head onto the table.
Tsuna stood up slowly, walking towards the kitchen and came back with a tray and eight cups; seven cups of different colours whilst two was both purple.
The tray was shaking and Gokudera noticed it. He unfolded himself from the chair and grabbed the tray, accidentally grabbing the injured left wrist as well which earned a small "ouch" from the Sky. Concerned looks shot over to him while a sheepish smile appeared on his face.
"It's just a sprain..." Tsuna's eyes hardened as he turned to Ryohei, "And no, Ryo-nii, no healing for me this time. You used up quite some flames to speed up the train."
Gokudera was creating a huge fuss when Mukuro, Chrome and Hibari stepped into the room.
"It's noisy."
Tsuna tapped Gokudera's shoulder and the man sat down, pretty reluctantly.
"Your coffee's at the seat."
"I can smell it. Thick enough, good job."
Tsuna's face brightened, "Thanks, Kyoya."
The other guardians all sat down, taking the lemon shortcake cookies, raspberry cake and the cinnamon pop tarts. Tsuna smiled again, as he placed a pop tart into his mouth and drank his Turkish coffee.
"It was on medium heat, wasn't it?"
A titter. Soft chuckles from around the table.
"Yeah, as expected of Tsuna!"
"Of course! It's the Tenth!"
Tsuna laughed as the Storm and Rain fought verbally again, across the dining table. Hibari sat at the end, avoiding all the noise and gave a thankful nod to Tsuna as said man had prepared snacks for Hibird and Roll as well.
"At least it was not Gearnine's!" Lambo exclaimed as he drank a sip of his Twining's tea. He licked his lips in satisfaction before continuing, "That's the worst you can ever have!"
Tsuna gave Yamamoto a sideways glance.
"Agreed." Chrome whispered, as she took a sip of her Folger's.
Mukuro chuckled before he took a sip as well and a chomp down his cookie, "I've taken Gearnine's once, in a local coffee house and it tasted like turpentine and Clorex. It was like... Tsunayoshi giving his body to someone else other than me!"
A pointed stare.
"Well, you do know then, that you will have to swallow turpentine and Clorex, don't you?" Tsuna said coolly.
"That's dying," Lambo commented, eyes closed as he took another sip of his tea.
"Oh yeah! What was the paper work extremely about? Gokudera was extremely complaining about it." Ryohei asked, diffusing the awkward situation.
Tsuna choked on his coffee and winced as his injured wrist twisted the wrong way. He put down his coffee quickly and gave a sideways glance to Yamamoto, the only one that saw the paper work.
"It's about Reborn..."
"The kid?" A voice called out.
"The acrobaleno. Yes, what about him that could even make my Tsunayoshi laugh?"
There was silence. Another pointed stare from the Sky to the male Mist. A shudder down his back. A chill down the others. An apologetic smile. Silence.
Yamamoto was the one to break the silence. He laughed first, before speaking it out loud, "He bought ten boxes of Gearine's."
Coffee Talks – Fin.
I thank you if you added A Special Type of Reunion into your favourites or followed it. Please review if you think that there is much improvement to be made or simply to express how much you feel about this chapter.
Hello! Not quite long since I've updated this but really, the type of response... I'm glad some of you liked it and really really, I will try my best to make it more comedic, try try try. In any case, I've incorporated Reborn in this chapter and hoped have let you laugh, even a giggle or a smile. By the way, most of the methods of making coffee was from the net and everything should be pretty much reliable except for the Gearine's part. I created the coffee brand myself, afraid of demeaning anyone so yeah!
Do tell me how you felt, please please please review. I'm already begging. And do help me answer the following questions:
1. More Reborn or only the guardians?
2. Another characters from other families?
Thank you!
Next Chapter: Mission Accomplished