Chapter 20
You are not alone.
Hmm, I couldn't find the chapter about the past between the Hitman obsessed assassin and her idol so I made it up. I just remember them meeting at a garden party. Oh well, this is AU after all.
As Tsunayoshi hugs the two animals closer to him, he wonders who would like Reborn that much. He wasn't the most sociable person in the world, nor the most tolerable. However he was protective, strong and in Tsunayoshi's opinion, Perfectly Awesome. He looks up at the man in question, who was for once walking down the street with him instead of hiding in the shadows. He really wanted to meet this person!
They walk down the Row past the houses of Vongola and Shimon, and pass the recreational centre that ran perpendicular to the Row. The house they are visiting is the first on the right of this second block in Mafia Row. The Gate to this house is different to the others, being made of intricately welded iron creating patterns of curves and leaves.
Fon rings the bell and a maid opens the gate and, upon seeing just who exactly is at their gate, let's them in immediately. She had been warned that they were coming to visit today. But it was such an honour to have two of the Arcobaleno in their house. She wanted to faint on the spot. It was rare to see the Arcobaleno unless it was for business purposes.
Tsunayoshi looks around the garden and finds that there's nothing particularly special about the place. It looks rather normal and very Italian. What is interesting is the 7 year old with pink hair who is running towards them. The moment he sees her his stomach starts to hurt. But there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the girl. These feelings of his were so weird sometimes.
"Reborn, My love! You came to see me!" she shouts before stopping in front of him. Tsunayoshi looks on as the tiniest of smiles reaches Reborn's lips. His eyes weren't as harsh as normal either. He must like her too then, but not to the degree it seems that she does.
"Good Morning Bianchi" says Reborn, tilting his fedora down politely.
"Lookie lookie Reborn, I've mastered a new technique." Says the girl proudly. She holds out her hand and presents what appears to be a lot of different types of nut. Turning to a nearby flower bed, Tsunayoshi watches as her aura changes.
"Poison Hail!" she shouts before chucking them in the air. Somehow during their flight, the nuts turn purple and rancid almost as if decomposing. After their transformation is complete, they fall towards the ground picking up speed and smash into the flower bed, soil being chucked in the air. Tsunayoshi's eyes grow wide as the flowers in that bed turn a funny shade of purple too and wilt before decomposing totally. Bianchi turns to Reborn and beams at him. "So did you like it?"
Reborn takes a good look at the flower bed, eyes analytical and considering. "Well done, you're improving" he says softly, which is a sign of compliment from Reborn.
"That was awesome. How can you do that? I've never seen it before" gasps Tsunayoshi, poking a flower that is quickly turning into blue goo.
Bianchi flicks her hair over her shoulder before crossing her arms superiorly. "That is my Poison Cooking, a technique I came up with myself. It's totally unique and very useful for doing Hits with" She looks up at Reborn out of the corner of her eye trying to impress him. It was her dream one day to work with him. Not that she had done any hits with it, she was far too young to take on missions. Then she takes a good look at the boy before her along with how close he was standing next to Reborn. It was totally inside his private space and the Hitman didn't even care.
He was a threat and she would deal with him accordingly.
"You are the one living with the Arcobaleno?" she asks, voice slowly becoming colder. Tsunayoshi nods. "You've been spending a lot of time with Reborn" Tsunayoshi wasn't sure if that was a question or a statement so did nothing. "Well not for much longer. You aren't worthy to take my Love away from me!"
Where she got the platter of leaves from Tsunayoshi didn't know, but he is more worried about how she had managed to turn a leaf of rocket into a multi-tipped knife. Not to mention the pineapple leaves, they were sharp enough to start with.
"Heeii!" he screams turning to run around Fon and further into the garden. Fon goes to chase after them but Reborn grabs his shoulder.
"Heh, calm down Fon" Reborn smirks at his comment "It'll be good practice for them both. And building up a resistance to poison would be good for him" Trust Reborn to think about the training.
Screaming his head off, he tries very hard to keep the poison away from the two animals in his hands. It was obvious that whatever she touched fell to pieces in a pile of purple gloop.
"You can't take him away from me!" she shouts, throwing another leaf turned knife. It appeared that she could only turn very small or light things into weapons since every now and again, something normal looking would fly past like a sandwich or a slice of cake.
"I'm not going to take him from you" he whimpers, still running.
"He's too important to me to lose" she shouts as they round a corner, maids jumping out of the way.
Tsunayoshi slows to a stop at hearing this. Tilting his head, he asks "He is?" Bianchi stops too and thankfully stops throwing items of food, poisoned or otherwise, at him. She looks at the floor and hugs herself.
"He is. He's very important to me. Whilst everyone was fussing over the new born Hayato at a garden party, Reborn was the only one who came over and checked up on me. Not as the Boss's daughter, but as me. He talked to me like an equal and made me realise what I should be doing. He told me that Family is family and family is Family. In the mafia blood doesn't matter, what does is the spirit connecting the Family members together. It didn't matter about Hayato's mother, I should love him like a little brother anyway."
"That sounds like him. Reborn comes up with some rather thoughtful things every now and again." Agrees Tsunayoshi. Reborn had a way of reading right down to one's core: taking one's heart and reading it like a book, before taking his pen and scribbling over the parts he didn't like, correcting thoughts and feelings until everything was perfect. "I think of all of the Arcobaleno as my Family." He smiles.
That was the wrong thing to say. "He's going to be my Family" she shouts before resuming her attack. Tsunayoshi screams once more before dashing down the hallways. Maids and butlers shout and gasp in surprise whilst jumping out of the way.
"Che, what's with all of the noise?" says a voice coming from around a corner. Tsunayoshi runs past this person dodging them. "Ack, Aneki" That voice sounded painful and forced before Tsunayoshi heard a thump to the floor.
"Hayato!" shouts Bianchi.
Tsuna stops running and turns to look at what's happened. He finds the boy he had run past earlier on the floor clutching his stomach, with Bianchi leaning over him, worry clear on her face. Tsunayoshi runs over and kneels next to the boy, before asking Bianchi "Is he alright?"
Bianchi picks her brother up and carries him off down the corridor "Yes, Hayato will be alright. This happens every time he sees me recently. I think he must be so happy to see me that he faints in excitement"
Tsunayoshi looks at the pink haired girl unbelievingly. He was pretty sure the face Hayato had was not an excited nor happy one. It look more pain filled and scared to death than anything. Tsunayoshi follows Bianchi into the boy's room and sits on the bed beside him. Bianchi goes and comes back in with a wet cloth. "I trust you can look after my little brother" she asks. Tsunayoshi nods and after looking down at Hayato lovingly, she leaves, off to find Reborn once more.
Not long after Bianchi leaves, the boy stirs and opens his eyes. "Huh? Who are you?" the boy asks, sounding rather hostile.
"I'm Tsunayoshi. I came with Reborn and Fon. It's nice to meet you" he smiles at the boy who quickly looks away muttering something under his breath.
As the boy looks away he looks at the clock. "Ga! I'm going to be late. Oh, he's going to be really annoying now." Hayato climbs out of bed, tottering slightly and runs out of the room. In worry for the boy's safety, Tsunayoshi runs after him, waving to Reborn and Fon when he passes them in a corridor.
Hayato keeps on running until they reach the balcony leading out into the back garden. Once there, Tsunayoshi sees that there is an adult waiting for them. This man has a white lab coat on, shoulder length hair and could do with a shave. He was leaning on the balcony folding paper aeroplanes.
"You're late." He growls, not looking up from his work.
Hayato comes to a stop before the man and pants, hands on knees. "Aneki got in my way again" he explains. The man nods and continues on folding.
"Who's he?" asks Tsunayoshi, tapping Hayato's shoulder.
"He's my teacher, Trident Shamal. Every time he comes here, he comes with a different sister. I didn't think his family was that big. Most of them don't even look like him, but then again me and Aneki don't look too alike either. " Then Hayato turns and looks at Tsuna, finally realising the boy had followed him- he had just answered automatically. "Che, stop following me."
Tsunayoshi backs away from the glare.
In the meanwhile, Shamal has finished folding the paper and has walked around the side of the balcony to be roughly perpendicular to Hayato's position. Little did Hayato know but those were not his sisters, they were his girlfriends. But a brat like him wouldn't understand, so calling them sisters was best. At that age, Love was something that lasted forever, not less than a week. It's not his fault that there are so many pretty girls who all need attention!
"I'm starting the lesson brat" he shouted before launching a paper plane into the air. Hayato is quick to dismiss Tsuna in favour of his training. Pulling out a dynamite, he takes aim and throws it. It misses, but only slightly, and explodes in the air. "Stop watching me, you're putting my aim off" he shouts, whirling around to glare and growl at Tsunayoshi. Little Tsuna puts his hands up in defence and backs up right to the wall.
"Pathetic, next!" shouts Shamal before throwing another one. This time, Hayato hits the target, the paper quickly turning into ash confetti. The next 10 planes end up similarly.
"You've finally improved, about time" scoffs Shamal.
"Well, if I had a better teacher then maybe I'd be even better than you!" shouts Hayato back, stomping his foot and sticking his tongue out at the Doctor.
"As if anyone else would teach a brat like you. You should be happy that I'm even bothering with you when there are lots of Ladies- err- Sisters, that I need to see." To cover up his mistake, he moves on. "Now we'll be moving onto using two dynamite at once."
Hayato pulls two more dynamite out of nowhere- which Tsuna is secretly amazed by- and stands tall. "I'm ready whenever you are old man"
Shamal sends two planes into the air and watches Hayato's attempt. One hits its target whilst the other is off. Again and again, the same results happen. So Hayato changes tactics and throws one dynamite and then the other. It does work, but the aeroplane was practically on the ground by the time he got to it.
"Oy brat. If you hold them in different hands you'll never be able to get anywhere. Throw both at once." Advises Shamal, taking a cigarette and lighting it.
Hayato does as advised and starts to get it. However at one point the wind blows strongly and the dynamites get blown off course. Tsunayoshi's eyes widen and his gut screams at him. He runs forwards and pushes the boy to the ground, covering him with his own body. The Dynamites explode near them sending debris everywhere and scorching Tsunayoshi's back.
When Tsunayoshi opens his eyes once more, he stares right into shining grey eyes. They seem so shiny from the tears that are collecting there. Hayato's mouth is open in shock and he seems to have trouble speaking.
"No-No one's ever cared enough to save me before" Bianchi's mother seemed to hate him. His father was nice to him but seemed sad whenever he was with the boy. Sometimes his dad loved him and other times he seemed to hate Hayato. The maids and servants were always whispering behind his back. If he got harmed it was only ever his sister that cared for him, her and Shamal when he was in the mood. It made the boy wonder what he had done wrong. Tears start to fall from this stranger's kindness. "No one's ever done that before" he says again. Tsunayoshi smiles down at him. Just like he thought, Hayato wasn't as bad as he pretended. Just like Skull he pretended to be big to gain attention. Like Reborn he hid the softness, most likely to seem older to the adults around him, whereas Reborn hid the softness to seem even more dangerous. Tsunayoshi smiles at the boy.
"Please don't cry Hayato, you'd make me sad if you did." Tsunayoshi whispers kindly. Hayato sniffs up the tears and quickly wipes his eyes.
Shamal runs over and takes a look at the boy. "Oh heaven Reborn would murder me if anything happened to him. And then the rest would come after me too. I'm doomed. I should run now, even the Queen can't harm me as much as this lot can." He mumbles to himself. He sighs in relief when all he sees are scratches on the boy's back and even then they are few and shallow. "Oy, Chibi, you alright?" he asks. He was too scared to call Tsunayoshi a brat too.
Tsunayoshi climbs off of Hayato and winces at the cuts on his back. "Yeah, I'm fine, nothing's broken." He'd received worse when training with the others. Admittedly Dynamite had never been used, but knives and an untimely meeting with a rose bush produced similar results to now.
Even if the chibi said he was fine, Shamal was still going to treat him. Was Tsunayoshi a girl? No, cute but no. But he'd never meet another girl if this kid wasn't treated. Carefully picking him up, Shamal takes him to Hayato's room, avoiding the area where he sensed the Arcobaleno were. Placing the boy stomach down on the bed he lifts the shirt up and starts to tend to the scratches. One application of antiseptic and a few plasters later and Tsunayoshi was all fixed. Hayato had followed like a lost puppy and seemed mad at himself for allowing this to happen. Saying the boy was fine, Shamal made his hasty exit, not even saying good bye to the beautiful Boss's Wife like he usually did.
"I'm so sorry" shouts Hayato. "Is there anything I can get you?" Tsunayoshi smiles at the boy, it wasn't his fault after all.
"Can I get a drink?" he asks. Hayato nods furiously and runs out of the room. He runs towards the kitchen where the chef could get a drink for him. But what to get? A smoothie? A glass of milk? Of orange juice? Just plain water? NO! that wasn't good enough. Umm…
"Young Master Hayato looks more like Lavina every day." Hayato freezes- they were talking about him. He stops walking and flattens himself against the wall, wanting to listen in. They were always whispering about him.
"She was a temptress though, bedding the Boss even though he has a wife." Hisses the other, obviously mad at the act.
"Lavina did have a wonderful talent with the Piano, maybe she used music to lure him in?" suggests the first woman. What are they talking about?
"But after giving birth to young Master Hayato, his mother was banned from seeing him" His mother was… banned from seeing him? But wasn't his mother the woman living with them?
"Lavina was young Master Hayato's mother though, so she was allowed to teach him Piano. It was what the Boss liked about her the most after all" spits the maid. Hayato's eyes widen in shock. The Piano teacher… was… his mother?
"But didn't you hear? Hayato's mother died on the day he turned 3. It was an impossible death though. Some people are saying that Boss knocked her off so that the secret wouldn't be found out."
His mother was banned from seeing him… and then killed… by his Dad…
A fist slams against the wall and the boy goes off running back towards his room. He thrusts the doors open before running over to the Piano in the corner of his room and slamming his hands onto the keys.
"WHY!" he slams his hands down once more, the piano shouting out with him too. "Why did you have to leave me? Those looks, all of the words of hate, they are all because of you! Why did you leave me? It's all your fault." He slams his hands down once more, just not as hard. His vision is blurry from the tears. "And then you get killed." He starts to cry in earnest, head resting on the Piano keys.
Tsunayoshi was in total shock when Hayato slammed the doors open and attacked the piano. Rolling over, ignoring the pain of the wounds, he gets up and goes over to the boy, rubbing his back.
"Ne, what's wrong? Who died?" he asks carefully.
Hayato doesn't look up as he answers, tears muffling the words. "My mother was killed. First they don't even tell me that my Piano teacher is my mother and then they don't even tell me that she was killed. By my dad no less. It's all just unfair. This is why I hate adults."
Well that wasn't right. All of the adults were being very mean to Hayato. He deserved to know the truth, is what Tsunayoshi thinks, not knowing that the Arcobaleno are hiding the truth of his parents from him too.
"She left me to fend off all of these adults who hate me alone." He slams the piano once more. "I'm never going to play again. She left me so I'm going to leave her too."
Now that wasn't right in Tsunayoshi's opinion either. That feeling in his body told him that Hayato could play beautifully. So standing behind the boy, he grabs both of the boys wrists and stops him from attacking the piano anymore.
"But don't you want to remember her? She still came to see you right, during your piano lessons. She must have loved you to come all the way out here to see you. Most people wouldn't do that otherwise." Tsunayoshi can feel Hayato relax slightly. Sliding his hands, he places them atop Hayato's and rests their hands on the Piano keys. "You looked forwards to these lessons didn't you?" To have a Piano in his room, he must have, and indeed Hayato nods slightly. "You really liked your piano teacher right?"
Hayato nods once more. "She had the nicest smile you've ever seen. Her hands were so small yet they were warm and soft. I felt safe with her. I always felt happy when she was here."
Tsunayoshi smiles. "Well, there you go then. You don't want to forget her." He presses one hand down, forcing Hayato to play a chord. He moves their hands up the keys slightly before forcing another chord to sound. Hayato just lets him, too tired out emotionally to care. "So when you play the piano, do it to remember her." They play another chord before Tsunayoshi focuses on the other hand, higher up the keys and plays a scale, one finger by one finger, over and over again. "Always feel happy when you play because you were happy playing with her." Soon Hayato's hands move by themselves, playing an actual song rather than what Tsunayoshi was doing. "Don't stop playing Hayato, it sounds beautiful, just like I'm sure she was."
Hayato closes his eyes, take in a deep breath and plays the song in earnest. Tsunayoshi just stands there and watches, having withdrawn his hands when Hayato took control. The music really was amazing, he could listen to it all day.
As the song finishes, Hayato turns to Tsunayoshi. "How can you do that?" Tsunayoshi cocks his head, not understanding the question. "You come into my home, you don't even know me, yet you saved me from danger and then come in and heal my heart. How can you do that?"
Tsunayoshi gives him one of his brightest smiles. "Because I don't want to see you harmed, I don't want to see you cry. Because you are my friend and I care about you"
Little children could become friends very quickly after all.
Hayato's eyes widen once more. In a flash he's on his knees before Tsunayoshi, banging his head into the floor. "I'm not worthy of such praise. How could I become a friend to you when I put you in danger?"
Tsunayoshi laughs at Hayato's antics, finding it funny. "Please Hayato, be my friend?"
Hayato looks up, metaphorical tail wagging. He takes Tsunayoshi's hand. "Yes Tsunayoshi-sama! I'll always be your friend. I'll follow and protect you, always!"
Fon and Reborn look in at this scene and Fon smiles. "Tsunayoshi will be a good influence on Hayato: He should be able to direct the energy the boy has. Tsunayoshi will give him all the attention he needs. In return Hayato will be a very loyal friend for Tsunayoshi."
Reborn nods, face hidden under the fedora, showing nothing away. Fon couldn't tell if the Hitman was happy or mad with the new development.
"Good" says Tsunayoshi. "Now that you're my friend, I can give this to you. He runs over to the bed and picks up one of the animals there. He hadn't let go of them all day even when he protected Hayato earlier. The other was Natsu of course.
Hayato looks at the gift unbelievingly. He was getting a present too? How kind could this boy be?
The present was a small cat. It was mainly white, with yellow and brown spots like a leopard along its back and on the top of its head. There was a bright red tuft on its tail.
"I'm going to call it Uri" Hayato says. Tsunayoshi wasn't sure why but that name seemed right.
At the dinner table Luce exploded once again at the two men for letting Tsunayoshi get hurt. The others all eat watching the entertainment, Reborn was one of the few people to argue back with her.
When the argument seemed over, Luce spins and turns her gaze to him. She had done a personality 180 in less than half a second. Her smile at him was as sweet as always, even of it looked a little forced. Actually looking closer, it was so forced and sugary sweet that Tsunayoshi was rather scared of it. Even Verde, who he was sitting on, tensed up at that smile
"Don't worry Tsunayoshi darling. Tomorrow we are going somewhere totally safe." She informs
"Hmm, he is an interesting prodigy" says Verde, thinking about the young boy. He was nearly as interesting as Tsunayoshi was.
"Let's hope it doesn't rain then kora" says Colonnello and the others all laugh.
It wasn't until later in the chapter that I realised that Hayato wouldn't actually be like this. I suspect that he gets most of his gruff attitude from when he was on the streets, rather than when at home. However it could be that he's like this because he is ignored by his dad and Bianchi's mother. And sorry, but I've played with time once again, but it makes for a cute chapter. I also need this scenario to lead into the other chapter like a reviewer said, Tsunayoshi does seem to be getting older, specially in this chapter, but that because my analytical side is leaking through. I don't think his age matters all that much though. I think it's enough to know he's a young child. 4 is just a number after all.
And cute Hayato is mine. You can all fight over Tsunayoshi and Reborn and Hibari or Mukuro or whoever, but Gokudera is mine, alright. *waves gun* good as long as you all understand, lol.
So who is Luce and Verde off to meet next time?
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published 02 May 2012