Chapter 23

Or from the Inside

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes! I had a great day thanks.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tsukiba is being kind enough to translate this into FRENCH *applaudes* So any of you who prefer French to English, make sure to check it out when it's done. And I want to give a big thank you to them for offering to do so! It makes me feel really good to have someone ask. I ever realised my story was that good, lol.

To Aquamarine Lacus: No it's not them. Thanks for reviewing!

To kisa: Douche, I like that and it does fit him actually. Tsunayoshi staying certainly is the better outcome. Well just keep on reading and you'll find out, although the answer is kind of already out there if you look for it. Thanks for reviewing too.

Once again, thanks to HebaAce for working through this idea with me!

When Tsunayoshi was still a baby, and they had noticed his unusual ability, the others had commented to Lal how she could train Tsunayoshi from an early age since he wouldn't know better. Little did they know, but this would apply to other things too. And one such example is allowing Luce to dress him up. He didn't know it wasn't usual for boys to allow women to dress him up. He's more worried about keeping the smile on Luce's face and making sure she was happy. And she was always very happy after dressing him up. His only complaint was that the wig was a little itchy.

Reborn wondered if Luce had an ulterior motive with dressing Tsunayoshi up. Reborn himself only ever dressed up when it was necessary for a mission or to teach a lesson. He was rather adept at disguises. No one ever knew it was him. Except for Tsunayoshi. The little boy could always find him no matter what, or who, he was dressed as. But surely Luce couldn't be sending the boy on a secret spy mission? What other reason was there for him to be dressed up like that?

Lal wonders the same question as she walks down the street with the boy. Skull doesn't care, thinking that Tsunayoshi looks strangely cute in the black dress with pink frills and bows, with a huge pink bow sitting on his head. Tsunayoshi doesn't even question the dress, having caught Reborn in disguise in one once and also due to Fon's robes. Apparently there is a difference, but he doesn't see it.

The gate is opened by a woman dressed similarly to him. She smiles at them and allows them to come in. Apparently Skull is only allowed in due to his special status as an Arcobaleno. When they enter the large living room of the house, he is met by lots of women all dressed in some form of pink and black. All have pink hair and a black mask across their eyes. If that wasn't strange enough, they all have whistles on too. There are women of every age here, or as far as Tsunayoshi can tell with their masks on. There are even children as young as him here, unless some of these women are really really really small.

"We didn't think you'd bring us a new recruit, Lal-sama." Says one woman. Tsuna assumed she was the leader due to the tiara on her head.

"I'm not" growls Lal. "I'm just here to introduce you all"

The lady smiles and crouches down infront of Tsunayoshi. "We are the Cervello Organisation, a department loyal to the Vongola Boss only. It is our job to oversee and games and competitions, or situations that need to be judged. We judge fairly and are unbiased, and cannot be swayed or brought. We mainly judge small affairs, or fights between Families when they want a peaceful solution that isn't all out war. However our biggest role, and the purpose of our creation is to be able to watch over the fight to be known as the Vongola Heir when the current Boss and his outside advisor have differing opinions."

"Wow, that's a really important job then" gawps Tsunayoshi, amazed with the power they hold.

The woman laughs lightly "I'm glad you agree little one." And then she turns to Lal and Skull "And may I be introduced to this one?"

"I'm Tsunayoshi" he says, smiling brightly. As soon as the women see his cute smile, they rush over and pick him up, all wanting to hug him and ruffle his hair and tell him how adorable he is.

Lal and Skull quickly lose sight of the boy. "Ahh! I told Luce that if she dressed him up we'd lose him!" cries Skull, worried about both his own and the boy's safety. Women were quite scary when they acted like this.

"Yeah right. It doesn't matter since I'm here and I could find him before you anyway." Scoffs Lal, giving Skull a disgusted look.

Skull stomps his foot and glares at Lal. "Could not! I'd find him first. No one can beat the great Skull-sama." And he laughs, hand on hips, pretending to be the best for once.

The Cervello stop all at once and look at the arguing pair.

"You heard them Ladies. The game is set. Lal-sama VS Skull-sama. First one to find Tsunayoshi-sama wins. You shall have 5 minutes to hide the boy before the game starts. Go" The Leader claps her hands.

"Yes Rose-sama" the rest of the women chant. Then in a flurry of movement, they were all gone, leaving their Boss and the two Arcobaleno in the living room. Tsunayoshi was nowhere in sight.

Turning to the two unwilling participants of the game, Rose lays out the rules. "You both have as long as it takes to find him. He shall be hidden in plain sight. No harm will come to him since he shall be under the watch of my Family the whole time. Weapons are forbidden as is any form of violence, towards either each other or to members of my Family."

Lal and Skull just stare at her blankly, waiting for their brains to catch up. How had this turned into a game again? It made them wonder why the Cervello were so hung up on games, or at least being the umpires. Maybe they had some kind of rule or power complex? And if Luce had any part to play in this, she was dead, Boss or not.

They are shocked out of their blankness by a watch beeping. "The preparation time limit is over. You may now start the game." And she bows to them before walking off. She actually walks to her security room to watch over the proceedings through the security cameras in the house.

"Gyahaha! Just leave it to the great Skull-sama! I'll find Tsunayoshi no problem!" shouts Skull as he runs out of the door. Lal just grumbles to herself before leaving through a different exit.

In the meantime, Tsunayoshi was just wondering around the house. Everything was pink and black. In places where the wall paper was black, the accessories and furniture were pink and visa versa. There were also the odd hints of purple around the place too. The place looked very comfy though, with lots of couches and loungers to sit on. The only thing was… he was lost. Not in a scary way since there were women all around the place. But he didn't know where Skull nor Lal were nor how to get back to them. So he did the logical thing and ask someone.

"Um, excuse me" he says pulling on one of the ladies' skirts. She looks down at him and smiles before crouching down to be on his level.

"How can I help you Tsunayoshi-sama?" she asks gently and respectfully. He blushes since he'd never been called –sama before. Apart from by Hayato. But it sounded weird coming from an adult.

"I was wondering how to get back to Skull and Lal. I'm kind of lost." He admits, looking like he was about to cry.

The Cervello lady awws at this. "Didn't you know? We are playing a game of hide and seek. Lal-sama and Skull-sama are having a competition to see who can find you first." Tsunayoshi's eyes open wide, any hint of tears completely gone.

"Really! Oh, so I'd better hide then." He starts looking around himself frantically, looking for a hiding spot.

The lady giggles and ruffles his hair, amazed with the sudden transformation. "There is no need to. You must hide in plain sight. Think of it more as a game of tag okay."

"Oh. Alright then! Thank you!" he smiles and waves as he starts to run off.

Lal was not having as much fun as Tsunayoshi was. When she had turned down a corridor, at the far end was a group of children, all about Tsunayoshi's age and height- the brat was small for his age. So when she'd called out to them, hoping Tsunayoshi would answer her, they all screamed and ran in two different directions. They didn't like Lal's shout of "Oi, brat, get your ass here now before I shoot you down" but to be honest, what 4 year old would? Only Tsunayoshi would.

So now she was chasing a load of loud screaming children around the house. She was getting angrier and angrier by the second. How her fingers itched for her gun.

Skull? He wasn't having as much fun as Tsunayoshi was either. As he was walking along, a group of Cervello had invited him for a cup of tea. They had looked rather aggressive, especially with those masks, so he had had no choice but to accept. Admittedly they had great snacks though. So here he was having a rather awkward conversation over mugs of tea. He was trying desperately to find a way to excuse himself so he could continue trying to find Tsunayoshi.

But he's just too polite for his own good.

Back with Lal, she had decided to try a different tactic. "Ladies Halt!" It was her best army voice, capable of bringing grown angry men to a stop. The girls had no choice but to stop. "Line up" They quickly got into a line and stood, hands behind their backs, feet apart, looking straight forwards. She would commend these young girls, they had done it better than some of her new recruits had. She walks infront of them to see if any of them are Tsunayoshi. None of them were. "Follow me" she growls, angry that she now had to retrace her steps and find the other group of children.

None of the Adult Cervello were going to tell Lal how much like a mother duck with her ducklings trailing behind her she looked as she prowled through the mansion. There was nothing wrong with photographing it and using it as compliance blackmail later though.

Just as she was walking past a corridor, she heard a rather distinctive "Heeii". Quickly backtracking, she just saw the trail of two ribbons going around a corner. Tsunayoshi's dress had had ribbons on the back side, clinching the waist in. She took off at a run, determined to catch the brat. Her trail of young Cervello giggle and laugh, before running after her.

Skull sighs as he finally manages to escape the Tea Party from Hell. He was sure Lal had found Tsunayoshi by now and had most likely left the house already, leaving him behind. And weren't the Cervello supposed to be unbiased. Just because he was a man didn't mean they could be biased towards him. Really, was there some sign on him that said Hate Me or Bully Me?

"Wah, Skull don't cry!" says a voice.

"But it's so unfair Tsunayoshi!" he cries, before picking the owner of the voice up and crying into their shoulder.

Wait… Tsunayoshi?

"And the winner is Skull-sama!" announces Rose, who has just appeared from nowhere- the Cervello had the uncanny ability to do that.

Just as Lal rounds the corner with her followers.

"I… I… won?" Asks Skull. He'd never won anything when it came to the Mafia and the Arcobaleno. The only thing he'd ever won was awards for his stunts. He'd never won an actual game before.

"Yeah Skull you did! Congratulations!" shouts Tsunayoshi, hugging him before patting him on the head.

Lal stands where she stopped and fumes away. Her followers quickly step away, as do any adults in her vicinity.

"Gyahaha! Of course I won. I am the great Skull-sama after all!" gloats Skull, standing tall and proud, imaginary flames burning behind him.

Lal turns around and stomps out of the building.

"Ehh, I think it's time we went home." Thinks Tsunayoshi nervously. Skull agrees with him. He needed to tell the others that he'd won for once.

As the Cervello gather back in the entrance way, waving goodbye to their cute guest, Tsunayoshi clambers down from Skull and worms his way through the crowd. Eventually finding the person he wants, he smiles at her "Thank you for telling me the rules". The Cervello around him gasp and whisper in shock. No one could ever tell them apart. Most of them had even changed outfits to make the chase harder too.

The Cervello in question absolutely beams at him. "It was my honour Tsunayoshi-sama. Make sure to call upon us if you need us okay? We've love to rule over any game you may play."

All the way home, Skull was singing a little chant of "I won!". And it wasn't all that quiet either.

Bursting into the living room where all of the others were Skull shouts "Bow down before the great Skull-sama. I have won a game!" Luce smiled at him as did Fon. Verde looked like he didn't believe a word of what Skull was saying. Viper was looking very happy, extremely happy, as she held out her hand.

"Hehe, Pay up!" Of course they had made a bet on who would win. Luce had asked the Cervello to arrange the game for her, thinking that Lal needed to loosen up a bit and have some fun. Of course she had chosen Skull, a male, to go against Lal since she thought Lal would win. Amazingly, Luce was wrong for once. As was everyone else accept Viper.

"Eh, you were betting on us?" asks Skull, offended.

"Of course we were. And you've just won me a hell of a lot of money." They could tell Viper was happy since she kept letting out a little witch's cackle every now and again. A laugh that only occurred when she was around a vast sum of money.

"How did you know Skull was going to win?" Tsunayoshi asks. He had run into Skull by accident when he was running away from Lal. He hadn't planned on making anyone win, but when he had seen Skull nearly in tears, he just had to stop and help.

"I just know you better than the other's that's all" says Viper.

"Oi, I demand a share of the money. I won after all. I should get a prise! And Luce, you should make a feast tonight in my honour. And Reborn you should bow at my feet and apologise for all of the harsh comments you've made." Everyone had of course tuned the Lackey out by now, more interested in mourning the amount of money that they had to hand over to Viper.

"1 Point for me!" Skull shouts. Of course that 1 didn't make a dent in all of the other times the others had 1-upped him, but he was still proud of having a number greater than 0.

"Would you shut up!" shouts Lal. She kicked down the door leading into the hallway and shoots Skull with the humungous riffle she had in her hands. It was a good thing that Tsunayoshi had gone to sit on Viper as soon as he had returned home, or else he would have been a burnt crisp by now. Dropping the riffle (Which Colonnello is quick to catch before it hits the floor), she stamps over to Skull, grabs his shirt and proceeds to slap the hell out of the stuntman, her slaps emphasising her words. " You only won because I was chasing the brat and he accidentally ran in your direction!"

The others all roll their eyes- that made a lot more sense now.

Viper, determined to prove her argument that she knew Tsunayoshi better than the others, points out "But he could have just ran past Skull or jumped out of the way. Fon's taught him enough self-defence for him to get out if he wanted too. Tsunayoshi decided to let Skull catch him. Let me guess, Skull was crying right?" she looks down at the little boy on her lap.

"Yeah he was. I was running away from Lal and I found him crying so I checked up on him. He hugged me to make himself feel better"

Viper smiles smugly "I rest my case." The others are now racking their brains to think why they didn't consider that situation.

They don't think for long, though, since they are too busy laughing at Skull, who is still being slapped by Lal. And they knew from experience- Colonnello especially- that Lal could continue slapping for a very long time.

"Che, you deserve that for gloating Lackey" remarks Reborn. It surely was Karma giving Skull his comeuppance for all of the gloating he had done.

Lal stops slapping Skull, feeling that he's not worth wasting anymore of her time. Skull collapses into a pile of the floor. "It's not fair. You can't hit me when I was the only one to find Tsunayoshi" Skull grumbles. Reborn pushes off against the wall he was leaning against and goes to stand over the pathetic mess on the floor.

"What did you say?" he reaches for Leon, who auto automatically knows to change into a gun. He aims, and would shoot, if Tsunayoshi was not standing between Skull and Leon, arms spread wide.

"No. Bad Reborn!" states Tsunayoshi. "I'm Skull's knight, and I say you can't hurt him anymore. You have to go through me first!" Of course there was nothing stopping Reborn from picking the child up and throwing him to one of the others before shooting Skull, but Reborn didn't do that. Instead, he just lowers his fedora and walks away. Tsunayoshi turns around and kneels next to Skull. "Are you alright?" he asks

Skull looks up, tears of joy in his eyes "Yes, Thank you Tsunayoshi!" Maybe he could survive living here if Tsunayoshi stayed.

The man in the trees had watched the chaos inside the Cervello House and starts to wonder about these women. His experience with them wasn't the best, nor has it gotten better in recent years.

"A friend of mine once asked me why these women were involved in a certain conflict involving the Tri-ni-set. It most likely didn't help that they were with the enemy rather than with Vongola. What he doesn't know, is that before Decimo's disappearance, Byakuran and Decimo had a meeting with them. It was his first meeting with Byakuran actually, the one in which he was 'killed'. The way Byakuran worded himself, as childish as he, er you are, made it sound as if they were going to play a game: if he collected the Tri-Ni-Set then he won, if Decimo defeated him then Decimo won. God knows how, but these women appeared at that time and claimed that they were going to judge this game. Both of them agreed that they would rather have the Cervello oversee this than the Vindiche. So they did. And with him gone, they went to the next person involved. Irie Shoichi. Who technically is Vongola. It does make me wonder why the Vindiche didn't get involved with that incident…"

The white haired boy couldn't answer that question since he didn't know what went through the minds of the Vindiche any better than the man next to him did.

"Now Luce, I forbid you to dress Tsunayoshi up to fit in with the next Family." States Reborn.

Luce gives him a disgusted look "Of course I wouldn't Reborn. For a start, Tsunayoshi is too young to get piercings like that. Secondly, the punk look does not suit him at all. He's too cute for it."

The rest agree and just hope that Tsunayoshi doesn't ask for one when he comes back from the next Family. That boy was the last person Tsunayoshi needed as a role model.

So I hoped you enjoyed the visit to this small, yet commonly featured, Family.

Join me Next time!

Phantom Hitman 1412

First Published: 17 May 2012