A/N: I messed up a bit. Terasu should be nine and Tsuna ten, at the end of last chapter. I also referred to Bel as a 'teen' when he was only about twelve. I'll go back and edit it eventually, but a thousand thanks to the lovely InsaneScriptist who caught those continuity errors and helped me out a great deal with some of the mechanics of this chapter!
You're awesome, Izzy~!
Also, this chapter gets a bit dark towards the end. The purpose is to showcase that while Terasu has made a positive impact on many people, they are still inherently dangerous.
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Byakuran Gesso was a schemer and he was entirely unashamed of this fact. So what if he enjoyed poking and prodding things to see how they reacted?
The white-haired Gesso Heir leaned back in his rather comfortable office chair and allowed his thoughts to wander.
In his younger years he had been quite cruel, hiding his goals behind the innocent smile of a curious child. However, Byakuran had always been smarter, faster, better than the other children around him. He'd always been disgusted by their penchant for snotty, noisy breakdown over inane reasons and positively resented them for acting as if he was the defective one because he never engaged in such unsightly behaviors.
Yes, Byakuran could look back now and truly appreciate just how disconnected and detached he had been before the Little Queen had found her way into his life.
Terasu Sawada was an angel with a spine of steel; a heart draped in gold; and a will forged of diamond.
Prior to meeting her Byakuran had been terribly, wretchedly lonely, (not that he would have ever admitted such a fact- such things were beneath him), but he had not wanted to be attached to anyone else his age. Even his Mother and Father, for all the familial loyalty he felt towards them- particularly his Mother- were distant figures to him. He had never personally experienced the true impact that loving someone could have on a person from a first-person point of view.
Byakuran still was not sure if what he felt towards the Little Queen was love, but it was the closest he had ever come to such a thing. It was not lust, he knew that much. Not only was Terasu much too young for that sort of attraction to take place; even envisioning her as an older version of herself did not stir any sort of lustful anticipation within him.
Rather Byakuran felt possessive of her.
Not in the way a lover would- at least, as far as he could tell- but in the way a family member or emotionally-invested body guard would. He wanted Terasu safe. He wanted her to smile. He wanted her to laugh at him when he tried to cook. Byakuran wanted to watch from his favorite chair as Terasu gently teased her brother until Tsuna turned that particular my-sister-is-a-menace-but-I-adore-her shade of red. He wanted to watch as Terasu humored Shōichi and danced while the red-head played one of his various instruments. He wanted to watch Terasu dance around the Sawada kitchen with her Mama, laughing brightly and then brightening even more when she spotted him lurking in the doorway.
"Well, don't just stand there, 'Kuran-kun!" Terasu laughed delightedly as she bounced over to him, cheeks flushed red from the heat of the kitchen and exertion from dancing. Her bright green eyes had been shining with warmth and home and mischief as she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the room. "Dance with Mama and I!"
Byakuran wanted Terasu to exist simply as herself. Because Terasu's very existence provided him with warmth he had never known he had been yearning for before he'd stumbled upon her in that dark alleyway. He never wanted to go back to the constant state of grey that he had been trapped within before that moment.
Not ever. Furthermore, he knew couldn't go back to how he had been before Terasu, not without going utterly insane.
So while Terasu forced him look at his past actions and realize things he did not particularly enjoy realizing about himself, he refused to give her up. She was his- his light, his kindness, his epicenter- and nothing would take her away from him. Therefore all of his plans, all of his schemes, were plotted out for and around Terasu so that he could keep her safe and sheltered and protected.
The thing that amazed him was that Terasu knew that he was a plotting, possessive jerk and she allowed him to stay. She did not demand things from him- which he would give her, because her whim was essentially his command- nor did she flaunt her obvious control over him as some sort of twisted conquest. Instead she just smiled at him with frustratingly kind, understanding eyes and pulled him in to dance with her or to drag him off to cause mischief with her, until his darkest thoughts were once again burned away by her cheerful radiance and unwavering warmth.
May Heaven show mercy to any fool who would dare harm her, because Byakuran Gesso would grant them none.
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There was a light knock on the door. "Byakuran-sama?" Kikyō's somewhat muffled voice called from the other side of the thick wooden door.
Byakuran blinked a few times before calling out for his subordinate to enter. A few moments later, the greenet did so, the door sliding open soundlessly over the plush carpet and closing again with a soft click behind the other man.
"Byakuran-sama." Kikyō repeated as he quickly crossed the room and rounded the desk. "I have the final reports from the house in Japan."
"Oho?" Byakuran murmured as he took the file from his subordinate gestured for the other man to take a seat. "They finally finished construction, then?"
"Yes, Byakuran-sama." Kikyō told him, going into further detail once prompted to do so by his Boss. "The area it was in was involved in a major natural disaster several years back, as you were already aware. Due to the massive amount of damage and the uncontained contamination caused by the damage to several different facilities, the land was ruled as being toxic by the environmental surveyors." The minty-hair-colored man readjusted himself a little as he popped a small flash drive into the laptop he had opened on his lap and tapped a few keys before a projection appeared on drop-down projection screen that had been lowered in front of the bookcase that lined the eastern wall of the office.
"These are the before pictures." Kikyō continued pleasantly. "As you can see, Byakuran-sama, the area had mostly been abandoned after the natural disaster- a mudslide followed by some flash flooding, if I am not mistaken- swept through. The crews need to dig quite a bit to get down to the previously-exposed areas so they could be properly decontaminated. This process took several months." After about a dozen or so pictures showcasing how the clean-up efforts had progressed, Kikyō continued. "Once the crews could confirm that the area had been properly decontaminated, then they could begin the task of stabilizing the ground, this took another few months." Once again Kikyō showcased a dozen or so pictures that had shown the project's progress.
"Well." Byakuran commented mildly as his lavender gaze quickly flitted over the pictures. "They certainly did excellent work, even if they took a bit longer than I originally anticipated."
Kikyō hummed lightly in agreement. "Though Japan isn't particularly known for them, the crews wanted to be sure that the land would not develop a sinkhole or crumble underneath the structure during another season of heavy rain or during an earthquake. The outer edges of the property were also shored up in such a way that another mudslide would be diverted to the lowest part of the property, which is furthest away from the structure."
"Oho?" Byakuran said, one eyebrow rising slightly in pleased surprise. "I didn't expect them to go that far, I assumed we would need to add such a feature later on. Kikyō, make a note of their excellent work and make sure I use that company for anything else I might need done in their area of operation."
"Yes, Byakuran-sama." Kikyō replied dutifully, tapping his green-painted nails against the keyboard as he made a note of his Boss's order. "Back to the project, once the crews were satisfied with the condition of the land, construction commenced on the main structure and the landscaping. As ordered, the architectural style of the house is rather traditional." Kikyō tapped a few keys and displayed a new series of pictures. "The stacked roofs are sloped and flare out at the edges, and following local superstition, the house has five stories. As odd numbers are generally associated with yang and are considered lucky."
"It looks very quaint, yet sophisticated." Byakuran murmured approvingly. "I think the Little Queen will adore it~! Spanner just might go into raptures when he sees it. Let alone when he finds out he's going to be living there. He's been staying with Shō-chan up until now. I think Shō-chan's parents think Spanner is a foreign exchange student or something of that nature."
Kikyō snorted softly in amusement, but carried on with his report. "As you ordered the ground floor has been made to look much like it would have looked during the Edo period. This means linked verandas that open up to the outdoors and sliding doors that can be used to rearrange the layout of the floor at will. We acquired a number of replicas and knickknacks to decorate the ground floor, as it will be mostly used for passing through or meetings. Possibly for relaxing occasionally, I suppose."
Byakuran laughed out loud. "Yes, I wanted people to look at the outside and the first floor and decide that the house had almost no modern technology. Not only will it be greatly amusing to watch Spanner go into raptures over the 'authentic' ground floor, it will give anyone who tried to infiltrate us the entirely wrong ideas about our security."
"Indeed." Kikyō replied blandly, though he was amused at his Boss's narrative of the eternally jumpsuit-clad Spanner. "Behind a rather lovely wooden screen- called a byōbu, if I am not mistaken- is the keypad for the other floors. Once the code is entered, the panel gives way to a small entryway. There are two reinforced doors barring the way up and down, though the room is decorated to seem like a small powder room, complete with a mirror. The door on the left is the entry way to the two underground levels, while the door to the right goes up to the upper floors, which are living quarters. All the other levels are quite modern, and while there are a few power lines going to the house, most of the energy is provided by renewable sources- solar, wind, etc. - so as not to arouse suspicion."
"Excellent." Byakuran pronounced as pictures of the upper floors were displayed on the screen. "Now all that's left is to have Shō-chan take pictures of Spanner's reactions when he sees the place. Those pictures will entertain me for ages. I might frame one and give it to Mama."
"Yes, Byakuran-sama." Kikyō replied dutifully as he tapped away at his keyboard.
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Tsuna and Terasu felt the loss of their mentors keenly even though their lives only grew busier. So it was that the next few months sped passed and it was all the Sawada siblings could do to keep on top of everything.
They were extra careful about where they practiced with their Flames, though. They had no intention of letting their mentors down!
Around March, Spanner was finally able to move in to the house bought by Byakuran with some of his earnings from profitable business deals that he had made on behalf of his father's various companies.
Shōichi had followed the blonde around taking pictures and Spanner's reactions to everything had almost been more exciting than the house itself! Granted, Tsuna still didn't know what to make of Spanner's nearly zealous devotion of Mama. However, even Tsuna laughed himself silly watching the blonde bounce around the ground floor babbling in nearly unintelligible Italian.
The two underground floors held Labs and training areas, too! So Terasu and Tsuna had somewhere to practice and Spanner and Shoichi could tinker to their heart's content!
Byakuran was awesome!
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With dance classes, rehearsals, club activities, music lessons, and school Terasu's schedule was already pretty packed. However she really wanted to learn how to use her daggers properly and she figured if she took lessons on how to wield a staff she would be able to apply most of those lessons to her other weapon.
As long as she knew how to train without hurting herself, she could practice at the Gesso house anyways.
Terasu had decided to call her Harmony weapon Hermione- at least to herself. Terasu felt that the description of a reinforced spine topped with a sharp edge described her late best friend perfectly. The tip on the end that could either dig in and help Terasu hold her ground or lash out against those who thought her beaten also felt like something her late best friend would have approved of. Terasu had not named her daggers yet, but she felt that when she stumbled across the perfect names for them it would just feel right.
While she did not often reflect on her life as Harry, she still held every memory of that life close to her heart. Terasu knew that she might have some issues when puberty came along as she had to deal with girl issues, but Terasu was just who she was now. Harry was who she had been and was in her every action, every breath but the fact that her new life come with a different gender was more of a blessing than a curse, really. Terasu, as a girl, was free in a way she did not think she could have been if she had been born a boy. Plus, she got to be adorable and bright and dote on her brother all she wanted without anyone interfering. She was able to help Mama in the kitchen and still be fierce when the situation called for it.
Yes, being Terasu suited her just fine.
Still. Terasu thought as she struggled through her homework, grateful that Haru had given her some tips before the other girl had gotten involved in her own homework. I won't ever forget being Harry. I won't ever forget Mum or Dad or Sirius or Remus or Hermione or Mrs. Weasley or anyone that I loved then because they help me cherish the ones that I love now. I'm grateful to them and I won't allow this new chance to slip by because I went all broody-idiot. Mama needs me, Tsuna needs me, and all my friends. I won't ever let them down, not if I can help it.
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Belphegor of the Varia sneered condescendingly as he wiped his blade clean on the dead peasant's shirt.
As much as the Prince enjoyed culling the useless peasants who tried to rise above their appointed station, he was getting irritable. It had been nearly six months since he last saw the Little Queen and the Fluffy Dragon and that made him unhappy. Bel was slightly mollified to know that Lussuria was also suffering from Little-Queen-withdrawal, but even that knowledge did not ease the rising tide of irritation that was roiling inside him.
The Varia were doing their best to find out who was responsible for the death of Massimo, but all the leads were tangled and disjointed. Xanxus had been under suspicion and though he was cleared, there were plenty of suspicions eyes watching his every move.
Unsurprisingly, intense scrutiny made it rather difficult to run an Independent Assassination Squad.
Xanxus' inability to do his job had only made Boss more snappish and irritable, which filtered down to the Officers, and then the rest of the Varia. Twitchy assassins do not a pleasant bunch make.
Of course that was before Xanxus had gone to retrieve some personal effects from the Vongola mansion and had subsequently been labeled as being 'indisposed'. The Varia were trying their damndest to piece it all together, but all they had unearthed thus far was that Xanxus was attacked near his rooms and only Nono and CEDEF-Sawada actually knew the details. Mammon's tracking trick placed Boss at the Vongola's Iron Fort, though, so something strange was happening, despite Nono's bullshit excuses.
Bel scowled as he made his way out of the underground base he had been tasked with cleansing, blinking rapidly when he made it to the ground floor as the ambient outdoor light hurt his eyes for a brief moment.
On top of not being able to see the Little Queen and our professional problems, I truly want to stab one of my knives in Iemitsu's gut. Bel thought disgustedly as he casually slipped out the back of the building and circled around before blending into the late-afternoon crowd. His uniform was spotless as this was one of his quieter missions. Just last week I had to get special permission from Squalo to take out a double-agent in the CEDEF just to protect the Little Queen and the Fluffy Dragon. I rarely even have contact with the CEDEF! He ranted mentally as he slipped down a side-street and headed towards his previously parked vehicle.
The vehicle was covered in Mist flames with some ambient Tranquility thrown in, naturally. Bel did not deal with sub-standard equipment! Of course, since Bel was a Prince his attendant was also waiting for him.
Bel had three Varia underlings who acted as his personal attendant, this one was his Mist attendant as he usually required some manner of concealment whenever he finished a job.
There was his Storm Division Second-in-Command, Haldìr, who was actually a Rain-Storm. The man was also fairly old by Varia standards- he was pushing forty, actually- but he was steadfast and nothing short of deadly to any who dared oppose him. The tall, lithe dark-haired man had nearly waist length hair that was usually drawn up into a high tail. The chest-length bangs that usually obscured the left side of his face hid the temple-to-collarbone jagged-edged scar that Haldìr had had for as long as he had been with the Varia. The man's visible violet eye was usually set towards the emotion of 'blandly neutral' and Ottabio was terrified of him.
Truthfully, Haldìr was more of a Rain than a Storm, but he was positively indispensable to the young Storm Officer.
Bel was mostly indifferent towards the other two, although they did have their uses.
Then there was Vivacità, who was the only Sun other than Lussuria who was cleared to treat Bel. The short dark-skinned woman had a tendency to constantly change her shortly-cropped hair's color- she preferred incandescent shades and eccentric color collaborations- and was a member of Varia Medical, which was a sub-division of Sun Division. Actually, Vivacità was Varia Medical's best physician. She was sharp-tongued and easily distracted, but would forgive nearly anything when given the proper amounts of caramel-filled chocolates.
Lastly, there was Trance of Mist Division who acted as Bel's chauffeur whenever the Storm Officer went out on a short-term solo mission. If the mission was scheduled to last more than three days Haldìr or Vivacità were generally assigned to the team, as Mammon did not like to lose his favorite Mist Squad Leader for any longer than absolutely necessary. Bel suspected that Trance was genderfliud, as the Mist Division member was constantly altering the perception of his physical form. Bel had personally witnessed Trace project himself as being everything from seven-feet tall and broad shouldered to four-and-a-half feet tall and precariously petite. Trance always wore his cherished pink-and-indigo bracelet around his left wrist though, so Bel usually had no trouble picking the Mist out from any manner of crowd. The Mist also had the quirky habit of projecting his thoughts instead of speaking verbally, so he was a rather silent companion, even though Bel did actually more-than-tolerate the Mist's company.
Bel's internal musings lasted long enough for him to be properly situated inside the vehicle and he lazily observed Trance as the Mist started the ignition and pulled out of the alleyway into the light traffic. After they had successfully merged with the stream of traffic and Bel was certain that he could not spot any tails, the blonde Prince returned to his thoughts.
Bel knew he was twisted, broken somehow in a way that would never be truly mended. He had known that from long before the moment he had realized that his worthless Father was going to crown Rasiel as the Heir to the Throne. Rasiel had been even more broken than Bel! Despite Rasiel outperforming Bel, there had been a true sense of brutality and malice that had lurked within the other blonde that had surprised even Bel with its depths.
Knowing that Rasiel would only lead the kingdom to ruin, Bel had killed his brother, mother, and Father. This would, naturally, preclude Bel from taking the Throne himself, but it would allow Bel's uncle to step up and rule. Quite frankly, Bel had been quite impressed with his uncle's performance as King. It helped that Bel's uncle was a true royal and understood what sort of a sacrifice that Bel had made for the Kingdom, and therefore allocated quite a generous stipend for the young self-exiled Prince.
Bel had found the Varia shortly after his tenure into self-exile and once Xanxus had swept in and took over the young Prince had joined the organization properly. Xanxus was the brutal sort of Boss that Bel could respect- did respect- and Xanxus understood why Bel had needed to test him before deciding to follow him. Only someone with a Royal mindset could understand such a series of events, and Bel had quite happily fallen in behind the man once he'd been bested. Bel occasionally did spar against Boss, of course, but the red-eyed man never slipped into stagnation or weakness, which kept Bel, (and his Royal pride), content.
Finding Terasu Sawada had been entirely unexpected.
The Prince had enjoyed her performance so thoroughly that he had dragged Mammy and Lussuria back with him when he went to pick up his sushi order. Both of them had been duly impressed by the Little Queen as well- to be expected, really- and they had barged into her dressing room to meet her- and get her measure.
The Little Queen had been a bit startled at their abrupt appearance, but had recovered quickly and had proceeded to be dignified, elegant, and respectful. Bel's interest in her had been peaked, as had Mammy and Lussuria's, so he spent the next few months stalking her whenever he was in town for sushi, (which Mammy had developed a sudden fondness for after the incident). He had been content to wait and see until that rabble of ill-bred plebeians had not only insulted the Little Queen, but attacked her!
She and her brother had fought well, but they were far from Quality and heavily outnumbered, so the Prince had felt obligated to assist.
The Little Queen had displayed the same poise, elegance, and respect as before and Bel had deigned to indulge her request to accompany her to her home to meet her Mama. The Little Queen had displayed a lovely balance of humor and respect, and Bel had been rather attached to her from that moment forward.
That Bel's attachment to the Little Queen and the Fluffy Dragon remained after finding out that the idiot CEDEF Boss was their father was rather telling, in hindsight, at least.
Bel was not entirely sure when it had happened, but at some point the Little Queen and the Fluffy Dragon had transitioned from being amusing to being important. Terasu was all light and kindness until someone struck out against her brother or mother and then she raged as only a true Royal was capable of doing. Tsuna, as well, had a Royal bearing once his mother or sister were threatened. Neither of the children truly thought like a Royal- not yet, at least- as neither of them valued their own lives near enough.
However, over time they had become important to Bel and Bel was a Prince. Princes did not allow harm to come to those they deemed important. Not unless they were doing the harming, anyways.
Lussuria had become quite fond of the Sawada children as well, and through the two Officer's constant visits Mammy had developed some degree of affection for them.
It irritated Bel to no apparent end that he was unable to even go get sushi- which, in and of itself was an annoyance- and maybe catch a glimpse of the Little Queen as Sawada Iemitsu had actually stationed a few people near Namimori to watch over his family and a few other almost-Vongola assets. Those people were investigators, not assassins or Hitmen!
How, exactly, would they be able to correctly identify a clear and present danger, report to their Boss, and get approval to move in before something happened to the Little Queen or the Fluffy Dragon?
Bel took a deep breath and very deliberately brought his emotions back under his usual iron grip. Those peasants didn't even know about the spy in their midst. He mentally sneered as they drove through the Mist Barrier and he presented his Varia ID to the Side Gate Flame-sensitive Card Reader. Once the reader cleared him- only Bel needed to log in because Trace was listed as his companion on the internal Varia Missions Itinerary, and Bel was the one who had technically been assigned to the mission- and the gate dissolved. They slowly traveled the next half-mile to the inner gate and he punched in his personal identification number on another Flame-sensitive device, moving forward once that gate dissolved and the cool automated confirmed Bel's pending audience with the Varia Commander.
The automated system would alert Squalo that Bel had arrived from his mission and would soon be reporting in. After Bel finished his After-Action report Squalo would go in and mark Bel as being 'Present and on Standby'. The Main Gate was easier to pass through, but it also had live agents manning them and Bel didn't feel like dealing with people at the moment.
Something that Trance had picked up on, Bel would have to report such exemplary conduct to Mammy so the operative would be duly rewarded.
Once they had made it to the side-entrance to Varia HQ, Trance allowed Bel to disembark. The blonde Prince quickly scaled the steps and entered Varia HQ, nimbly hopping over a few Varia traps as he made his way through the halls to Squalo's office so he could report in and then either go sleep for a week or terrorize some of the newbies. I hope that the Fluffy Dragon is keeping himself in top form. He thought as a rather disturbing grin formed, making the nearby operative give him a wider-than-usual berth. Or he'll be in for a great deal of pain when I return. This mess can't take forever for us to get to the bottom of, after all. Hmm, I wonder if the white-haired peasant has any new information for me? I should have Lussuria check, he can move about without causing as much concern and I don't want Sawada to suddenly clue-in to exactly whom his children are friendly with.
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It was one of the few afternoons that neither Tsuna nor Haru were with her. Haru was caught up with the costume design team at Yumei, as Shōichi had recommended her and her grades were outstanding enough that the Club Sponsor did not mind that Haru was still an elementary student. Haru's sharp eye and creative solutions had ensured her continued acceptance, and when the term had started Haru had been astounded and excited to learn that her participation counted as her official Club Activity.
"Having a recommendation from a Club Sponsor at Yumei will give me some extra help in getting into Midori! I'm so happy, desu!" She'd all but squealed, Terasu dancing around with her as her friend had rejoiced at the exciting news, having come straight to Terasu's house to tell her best friend all about the new development.
Tsuna as well had been noticed for his rather intuitive talent for sketching people. He still was not a pro and sometimes the people looked more like potatoes due to their disproportionate features, but Tsuna had a knack for conveying emotions through his art. To help him further his talent one of the local high schoolers was getting Club credit for their club to tutor Tsuna a few afternoons a week. Terasu had been hesitant at first and had skipped her own club activities to spy and ensure that the high schooler treated her brother properly, but after a few sessions of observing she had been satisfied.
I kind of want to drop my music lessons so I can take some weapons classes. She thought as she absently waved to the school gate-guard and turned her feet towards the Sawada home. I don't want Shō-kun to feel upset, though. She bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to talk to her music-obsessed friend about dropping her music lessons.
Tsuna favored the piano, while Terasu had switched to the violin after only a few lessons. Shōichi could play several types of instruments, while Byakuran could play the piano as well. Terasu could also play the basic chords on the acoustic guitar, but nothing overly fancy. She probably could if she practiced more, but she really did not have the time- and, truth be told, the inclination to do so.
It's not that I don't like being able to read music and play when I want to. She thought as the warm mid-spring wind tugged playfully at a few of her errant curls.
The older she got, the curlier her hair turned out to be. Mama had laughed at her confusion and had confessed that her Mama- Mama's Mama, that is- had had the same thing happen to her. Mama had confessed that she had been a little sad that she had not inherited her mother's pretty curls, but had tenderly smoothed Terasu's hair and confided that she was happy to see them on Terasu.
It's just it's not my passion. Terasu thought as she quickly glanced around before deciding to take the short-cut home. Tsu-nii kind of wants to stop taking dance classes as well, but we're committed to the performances. Hm. Terasu's brows furrowed as she ambled along and thought about her scheduling conflicts. Maybe he can team up with Shō-kun and help the orchestra instead of performing or being a stagehand?
Tsuna had performed a few times, but he suffered from a rather terrible case stage fright. He'd gotten to where he could overcome it and speak his lines, but he much preferred making sure everything was running smoothly or watching Terasu perform. Even being an usher when they had started to utilize such a position to prevent arguments breaking out or so that the little old ladies could get good seats without issue.
Prince Bel was actually an usher once; he was surprisingly good with little old ladies and absolutely refused to allow them to be seated in such a way that they would be unable to see the stage well.
Terasu snickered to herself as she remembered Tsuna's shock at seeing Prince Bel be absolutely delightful to the little old ladies and then turn around and be entirely bloodthirsty and intimidating to any unfortunate idiots who tried to make the happily-seated ladies move.
Still, I'd like to add a weapon's class and those meet four times a week, minimum. Terasu thought rather forlornly as she readjusted her messenger bag, thankful that she did not have tennis practice that afternoon, and thus only had the one bag. I guess I could-
A sharp, unwelcome chill slid down her spine, and she was already moving before she fully processed what her Intuition was trying to scream at her. Her time under Lussuria had allowed her to learn how to ignore the little nudges so she would not constantly have a headache, but it had also sharpened her response time when her Intuition warned her of imminent danger.
She crouched low to the ground as her shoes skidded across the street's concrete, one hand thrown in front of her to help with her balance. A quick glance around showed that her area of the street was being strangely avoided, which told her that this was not a fluke and more than likely this was a Flame user that was attacking her. This was a side-street that did not get much traffic anyways, but it was still strange that on her side of the street for the entire block was devoid of traffic.
She narrowed her green eyes and tried to spot her attacker. "Show yourself." She spat viciously.
"What an adorable little girl." Her attacker purred malevolently. "You'll be a fine addition to my boss's collection."
Terasu cocked her head to the side and slid into a more defensible stance, one that Lussuria taught her. It was made to look as if she was unthreatening and scared, but positioned her in such a way that she could respond quickly to an attack from just about any direction. "What do you want?"
The man's lips were the only thing truly visible under the hooded jacket he was wearing, but his laugh was malicious enough to make up for the lack of expression that she could see. "Oh, a feisty one, eh? Well, we'll break you of that soon enough, little girl. You should fetch a decent price for that honor as well." Then the man moved, and Terasu was forced to slide towards the alleyway to avoid the strike he'd aimed at her neck- presumably to render her unconscious.
Terasu jumped back and hit the quick-release on her bag and used a trash can lid to flip backwards. The man had acquired a knife at that point and she could sense at least two people at the other end of the alley. Guess I need to use them, sorry. It was the work of moments to reach up and snatch her hair sticks out of her hair, causing some of her curls to tumble down from their previously-pinned position. She wore her hair sticks behind a decorative clip that covered the fluffy pony-tail scrunchie that kept her hair in place, mostly because Lussuria had been quite clear about not allowing her hair to fly loose unless she felt that she could prevent her enemy from using it against her. So while some of her looser curls now brushed against her shoulders, for the most part her hair was still secured.
"Going to use those sticks against me, little girl?" The man sneered at her. "I'm so scared."
Terasu bared her teeth. "You should be."
"Oi! Hurry up!" Someone called out from the other end of the alley.
"Play time is over, brat." The man said as he moved forward again, but this time Terasu was ready for him.
You are allowed to defend yourself with lethal force. It was one of Lussuria's earliest lessons, and while she still had nightmares about what she'd done when those thugs had tried to kidnap her, Shōichi, and Tsuna she had also had plenty of time to comes to terms with the fact that she would annihilate anyone who threatened her family- and keeping herself safe to be able to go home to them was part of the deal.
So Terasu took one last steadying breath and used her Flames to call for her daggers. A moment later they were in her hands and she was rushing forward to meet her enemy- for that was what he was now, an enemy as opposed to a mere opponent. He managed to cut her shoulder and shear off a few of her curls when she came into range. She preserved, though, and slashed at his chest as she used her Activation to spring off of his arm and vault over his head, Lussuria's teachings preventing her from being grabbed or body checked. She landed a bit awkwardly and winced as her ankle throbbed, but quickly turned back towards her enemy.
The man's hood had fallen and his dark eyes only added to his imposing figure. "What was that supposed to do, tickle? He sneered condescendingly at her as he looked at his entirely unmarred chest.
"No." Terasu said, controlling her breathing and wondering why the hell no one was interfering. "It wasn't."
Activation was Lussuria's playground, and he had taught her well.
A jagged tear appeared in the man's jacket and blood began to flow from the wound that ran from around his bellybutton to his left shoulder.
"What the fuck?" He cursed as he looked down about the same time the pain registered. "You little whore!" He roared as his eye lit with rage and he leapt forward again.
Terasu was scared, terrified even but she refused to give up. She ducked under his wild swipe and flowed around his reaching grab before she moved around him and thrust one of her daggers into his right kidney. She quickly pulled it back out and dropped down to cut the Achilles tendon on his left ankle before springing back away.
He went down with a bellow of rage, unfortunately, the two at the end of the alley had decided to come assist her enemy and they looked even more intimidating with their clearly yakuza tattoos and shortened appendages.
Yakuza tended to give the whole idea of tattoos in Japan a bad rap. The organized crime syndicates used the traditional method of inserting ink under the skin known as irezumi, (which was an incredibly painful process), and the tattoos were not only seen as marks of bravery but ownership by the 'family'. If that common wives tale was not enough to identify them, the missing sections of their left pinky fingers were- as whenever a member of the crime syndicates did something they needed to atone for, they were required to chop off a section of their own finger. Most Yakuza were missing at least the tip of their left pinky, while others were missing their entire pinky and then parts of other fingers as well, but it varied depending on how big of a transgression or how many transgressions.
The man who attacked her originally was apparently very obedient or new, as she had not noticed his pinky being shorter. The two bearing down on her now, however, were much easier to identify.
"Shit." One of them said, his lit cigarette dangling from his lips. "We need to get her and get out be- Fuck."
Terasu did not bother to look at what had caught their attention; she dove forward while they were distracted. She gracefully darted around the biggest brute and cleanly cut through the muscles and tendons behind his left knee, (as cleanly to the bone as possible, just as Lussuria had taught her), and most of the muscles and tendons behind his right knee before she was forced to duck and skip backwards. As she irritably blew her bangs out of her eyes she noticed that the new arrival seemed to be a boy about her age, who was wielding an oddly shaped metal weapon.
Well, she was assuming it was metal, it flashed brightly in what little light managed to infiltrate the alleyway.
The man she'd hamstrung was now down on his knees whimpering, she guessed he was not screaming so as not to attract even more attention. He was lying on his stomach and he was twitching erratically, and the new arrival was taking care of Henchmen Number Two, so she turned her gaze back towards the first man she had taken down and her heart immediately leapt to her throat.
He was pointing a gun right at her face, a snarl of rage plastered to his face and madness in his eyes.
Terasu did not give herself time to think, she acted.
The echo of the shot ricocheted off the alley walls and then-
So this is what it feels like to die. Again. Terasu thought rather bemusedly as darkness claimed her. She smiled, however, as the nearly-unnoticeable background noise of city life faded out to static. Take care of Mama, Tsu….
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Nameda Ito had no idea what was happening. A few weeks ago they had been sent on a grocery run for fresh girls to be trained up to be Hostesses for the Clan. Things had been going well and they were making their last stop when it had all gone to hell.
Ito was far from vain, but he was fairly high up in the national chain of command for his Yakuza syndicate. He had to be, for one of his men to actually have a gun to use, as guns were highly restricted in Japan. The Yakuza syndicate Ito belonged to was based out of Kobe, and they had operations in every corner of Japan's authority.
Ito was in charge of the acquisition of new 'high-quality merchandise'. Meaning, he and his team regularly went out to the smaller, remote areas such as Namimori and found younger teenage girls- and the occasional boys- who could serve as 'Hostesses' for the syndicate. Taking a small-city style teens to a huge metropolis such a Tokyo, Kobe, or Kitakyushu was usually enough of a culture shock to keep them off-balance long enough for their 'training' to begin.
If they were particularly feisty the trainers brought out the 'We know where your family lives and we'll kill them if you run' lines along with some pretty brutal punishments. Nothing permanently scarring, of course, that would harm the bottom line. After they began their 'trade' then shame was used to break them of even having running as an option- usually variations of 'Do you want your parents to know what you've done?' or 'Do you think they would want you back once we've told them about your shameful actions?'.
That was usually enough to keep them quiet and submissive.
Namimori, despite its notorious Hibari family, was small enough and removed enough- due to its mountainous location- that the law enforcement agencies did not have the proper contacts to find someone hidden by one of the nation-wide syndicates. The Hibari family was a concern, but there were only so many of them. Therefore Namimori had been a decent risk.
Or so he'd thought.
It should have been an easy mark. An elementary age girl not paying attention walking passed the alleyway the rest of the team had been keeping clear thanks to a few re-appropriated maintenance signs, (which the little bitch had walked right past). Rin had grabbed her, but then the little witch had actually shown some good fighting moves, not those glorified movie-inspired ones that most brats tried to throw out and she'd somehow been armed! Who the fuck gives little girls daggers anyways?
When he and Ren had moved into take her out once she'd managed to put Ren down, then things had gotten worse! That little Hibari fucker had dropped down out of absolutely nowhere! Sure, the shateigashara in charge of their local branch of the syndicate had warned them not to get caught by the Hibari Clan, but they had made certain the Clan Head had been out of town and his wife had passed away nearly half a decade ago! The only Hibari in residence that day had been the brat and the great-grandmother, who was his caretaker.
No big deal, right?
Wrong.
The kid fought like a demon, but Rin had managed to get his piece and had been aiming at the brat when the little bitch had thrown herself in front of the shot! Not only that, but after he had shot her she had kept moving! With a bullet inside her and blood spewing everywhere she had continued forward and planted one of her daggers into Rin's neck and damn near ripped out his throat. She went down soon after, but Rin was already dead.
The Hibari brat made short work of Ren and quickly secured Ito himself before whipping out s cell phone that had to be at least a year pre-market and calling for an ambulance. The brat had noticed Ito looking at him and had knocked him out.
The question was: now that he was awake, why was he in some sort of basement instead of in police custody?
Ito tested his legs and grimaced.
New question: why was he in a basement instead of in protective custody at the hospital?
The door opened and a white-haired brat came in, trailed by some sort of girly-man with green hair, and a psychotically grinning little blonde fucker.
"Ushishihi." The blonde hissed, the sound raking over Ito's senses like a firebrand.
The blonde is dangerous. He noted frantically as the door swung shut with a resounding thump and the three of them formed a half-circle with the white-haired brat in the middle.
"So." The brat said, eyes closed lightly and a pleasant smile on his face that was in direct opposition to the treacherous purr that the words had been uttered in.
Can brats that young even purr properly? Ito wondered as he tried to think of a way out of the situation.
Then the white-haired brat's eyes slitted open just a fraction and Ito felt all hope of surviving this shrivel up and die. Because the lavender-colored eyes that were gazing at him were only about two shades off from complete insanity. There was no mercy, no kindness, no room for negotiating, hiding behind those lovely eyes. There was just a tempest of fury and black, unforgiving rage waiting to be unleashed.
Ito prayed to his ancestors that his death would be quick and that his brothers would take revenge.
Then the white-haired brat through his head back and laughed.
It was not a cheerful sound.
"Ushishishi." The blonde hissed once more. "We will send you back to your brothers, filthy peasant."
"But not until we've made an example out of you." The white-haired brat took up seamlessly and Ito lost control of his baser functions, causing all three to sneer at him condescendingly. "You see." The white-haired one said pleasantly as he walked a slow circuit around Ito. "We want everyone to know what will happen should they decide to harm out Little Queen." The brat stopped right in front of Ito and gave him an infuriatingly faux-cheerful closed-eye smile. "Unfortunately for you the other two are already dead. So you're the only one who can be used as a messenger." The brat straightened back up and gave Ito a fury filled, haughty glower. "Oh, and don't worry. Our resident Prince took care of the rest of your little syndicate and you've already been cut loose by your oyabun, but we want to ensure that the message sinks in, hm?"
"There were over two hundred full-fledged members of our branch of the syndicate." Ito croaked out as condescendingly as he could around his dry, swollen tongue. "There's no way-"
High, ringing laughter tinged with insanity and bloodlust resounded through the room and Ito shuddered involuntarily.
"Ah, there were two hundred and sixty three altogether." The blonde informed him with a savage grin. "There were many who fell before the Prince's knives. They should be grateful that the Little Queen does not approve of torture or We would have done more than offer them mostly-clean deaths."
"You're monsters." Ito whispered in despair. "Fiends. Devils."
The white-haired brat was handed a knife by the green-haired man and raised an eyebrow. "Yes. We are." He admitted glibly. "But we have sworn ourselves to someone worthy of wielding us, someone who preserves what humanity we have left. Our light and anchor and everything that could be called good and right in our twisted, tangled genius minds." The lavender gaze was fairly blazing as the brat stepped forward and pressed the dulled edge of the blade to Ito's temple. "And you, you pathetic waste of flesh, dared to sully that. To take her from us." The smile that painted itself onto the brat's face was dark and dangerous. "And your body will tell any others who dared to even dream of retaliation a story of devils, fiends, and monsters and what happens when you cross them." The smile turned lighter. "Now, sing for me, worthless filth."
Ito screamed.
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Please leave a review on your way out~!
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'People are people, wherever you go'. I mention that because I am in no way trying to paint a certain country or race as being 'evil'. There are assholes everywhere and not all of the threats posed to Tsuna and Terasu are strictly Mafia-oriented.
I hope I have shown that Terasu- while being a powerful, captivating Sky- is not a Mary-Sue. I also hope I have sufficiently addressed the 'Harry-is-Terasu' conundrum and that she no longer feels like an 'OC'.
I want to assure you that Harry is in everything Terasu does.
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