Chapter 7: Yamamoto Family
Watching his son play something akin to tug-of-war against the Hibari kid with the small Sawada being the rope was interesting to say the least—not to mention hilarious—though Yamamoto Tsuyoshi held back the chuckle that was forming in his mouth.
By his right, the three mothers, Sawada Nana, Hibari Raven and his wife, Amaya, were not even trying to hide their laughter.
Takeshi frowned at Kyoya, tugging Tsuna harder to his side. If Tsuyoshi didn't know any better, he would have thought it was a childish pout. However, he knew his son very well and he was certain that the boy was greatly annoyed.
"Let go of Tsuna! He's playing with me!"
Possessive was the word the old man could describe his son. It wasn't that well-known but his son didn't like anyone touching or taking away what he treasured. It was one of the traits he inherited from his mother, other then his love for baseball.
It seemed that Takeshi felt threatened by the presence of the other boy and didn't want to lose his only real friend. He couldn't really fault the child. The Hibari Family just had this effect to people.
That or his child simply cared for the Sawada boy and again, he couldn't blame his child. Tsunayoshi was the most pleasant individual he had known, next to the boy's mother. It pained him that the boy didn't have many friends, except Takeshi and Kyoya.
"You're not the boss of me, plant-eater," glared the Hibari boy, impassively taking the smallest boy in his arm. "Tsuna's my pet so I get to keep him."
A snicker escaped his mouth while the giggles grew louder. It amused him greatly that these two children—no older than five and seven respectively—were already staking claims that they didn't know the real meaning of such intent. He was even finding the name-calling hilarious.
"W-well," the young Yamamoto seemed to deflate at the claims, which he didn't have before a determined face replaced this. "I'm his brother so I get more rights!"
Narrowing cold eyes, Kyoya retorted, "You two can't be brothers. You two have different parents."
"I'm adopting him!" he looked at Nana's face in question and beamed brightly when the lady nodded. "And I got approval from Nana-san!"
Kyoya frowned—and no, that was definitely a pout—but reluctantly accepted the logic. It didn't mean he liked it though and he was, by all means, not sulking.
Raven couldn't take it anymore she laughed out loud at the expression of her son, who slightly gave her a betrayed look, and this was followed by Nana and Amaya.
Yamamoto Tsuyoshi smiled. Tsuna had been the best thing that had happened to his family.
"Tou-san, Kaa-san," Takeshi called out on day and they were shocked and concerned when they noticed bruises and cuts in his body. They immediately went to ask what happened but he interrupted any question, "Why doesn't Tsuna have a father?"
"Takeshi, why are you asking that?" Tsuyoshi tried to pacify his son because he could hear the distress in the tone and because he knew that Amaya wouldn't try to discourage the anger his son might feel to the infamous Sawada. She had felt the same.
He knew of the man, of course, and maybe, it was more than what he wished. People would simply know Iemitsu as the man that abandoned his son and wife but he knew him as something far more than that.
He was retired but it didn't mean he had not heard of the "Young Lion of the Vongola". He had seen the blond take hundreds of enemy rivals and he had seen the man's work as the CEDEF Boss. They were acquaintance at worst and best friends at best.
Iemitsu had been the one to tell him of his and his son's—Tsuna's—heritage. They were direct descendants of the Vongola Primo and his friend had feared that his son would be a candidate for becoming the Vongola Decimo. No matter how it would pleased that his son was a mafia boss, he didn't want to endanger his son like that.
If Tsuyoshi didn't know any better, he would have thought the other would have tried to retire from his position.
The Mafioso didn't. He had confessed to the Yamamoto that he feared that others wouldn't take his actions lightly and he knew that it was difficult to escape the mafia. He didn't want to sacrifice his son's childhood if he did something stupid.
Iemitsu was an idiot but he was now a father. He had decided to not care of what others—even his own family—would think as long as he had protected his loved ones. He distanced himself and distracted anyone from mafia from finding his family.
Tsuyoshi had never felt proud of his friend until that moment so he would not want his family to dismiss the honorable man if he could help it.
"They were making Tsuna cry!" Takeshi didn't answer his previous question, lost in his own memory. "They said that Tsuna was abandoned by his father because he can't talk! They didn't have the right to say that to Tsuna! They were lying...weren't they?"
That last words, they were doubtful whispers and the two adult didn't know how to break the truth.
Caramel eyes grew teary at the silence. "They were right? Tsuna's father abandoned him? That's not nice! That's—I know, that he doesn't come home but that's—how could he?!" he cried out in blinded anger and sadness. "Tsuna and Nana-san are always waiting for him! And he never comes! That's not fair for them! He's a bad person!"
"Takeshi," Tsuyoshi didn't know if he could calm his son. He knew how protective Takeshi was to Tsuna. "Tsuna's father must have his own reason for not coming home. We just have to wait for him."
The boy shook his head stubborn, "Well, I still hate him, tou-san."
The man sighed, knowing he couldn't change the child's mind—looked at his equally angered wife—or Amaya's mind as well. "Now, will you tell us how you got your injuries?" he changed the subject.
Blinking, the boy changed back to his cheerful self though a little subdued and he grinned proudly, "i was able to bring back Tsuna's honor and prevent those bullies from hurting him! I did them good, tou-san! There's no way they'll try to bully Tsuna again."
"You beat them?" Tsuyoshi was too surprised to think properly and oddly enough, his wife was beaming in pride. He didn't know what to think of the situation.
"Nope, of course not," he shook his head but the older male knew he sensed disappointment there. "Violence is bad so I just did what my mother advice me to do to bullies!"
"And what that's?"
"Told them the Bird and Bees or The Talk."
The father stuttered, "Excuse me?"
Takeshi was just five, right? What in the world happened to waiting for the right time?! He somehow felt pity for the now traumatized bullies.
When Takeshi had fallen asleep, Ayama immediately went to her husband with a frown.
"Why did you told Takeshi a lie? You know as well as I do that the damned bastard abandoned his wife and son because he was dishonorable like that!"
Tsuyoshi didn't need a name to guess who she was talking about. "That's not the whole story, Ayama," he sighed, wondering if he was doing the right thing.
"What whole story?! That bastard—"
"—is a Mafioso trying to protect his family."
They stared off before the woman backed down, her anger fading at that statement because she could understand it.
She was a former policewoman, after all. She was actually trying to capture her husband to put him in bars when she realized that he was unlike many swordsmen or Mafioso she had met. She was just starting out at that time so she was surprised to know that some mafia families were helping the police.
Capturing Tsuyoshi, a famous swordsman at that time, was merely a test for all newbies and she passed with flying colors. However, after some random encounters, the two fell in love and they had gotten married, resigning from their previous jobs to start a normal family.
"He still should have visited at least," she muttered lowly.
"He would but then, his son would be a potential candidate to be a mafia boss."
Ayama choked herself at that. She looked at her husband in disbelief. She only saw sadness in those eyes.
"You can't possibly me serious! Tsunayoshi can't become a candidate. Never mind, the fact he's a civilian, he's mute and he's far too kind to hurt anyone! He's not suitable for that kind of life."
The black-haired man didn't have the heart to tell his wife that Tsuna was perhaps the best candidate in his opinion. She wouldn't be able to understand that so he just said, "So now, Iemitsu's trying in his power to prevent, even if he's indirectly betraying his famiglia."
The woman felt ashamed for thinking badly of the man before knowing the whole story.
"I really need to apologize to the man when I see him. Also, to Nana-chan and Tsuna-kun for not believing them when they defended Iemitsu."
"Don't worry. They'll understand."
Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was changing his previous thoughts. The Sawada Family was the best thing that had happened for the Yamamoto Family.
A/N: I'm sorry for being late and for making this still sightly sadder compared to the previous stories. I needed to get going with the plot after all! I mean, someone already mentioned it but we need to see more than cute moments so we'll now be taking note of themes like bullying, mafia, etc. Firstly, I really have to solve this Iemitsu problem...