Chapter 34:
So the truth can be revealed
I'm warning you now this is a weird chapter. God knows where the idea came from. I blame Talbot honestly.
Since so many of you wanted Bermuda to get out of the house, I've finally decided to relent. So he's out of the house in this chapter, but not like you'd expect. So to those who I told 'everyone's too scared of him'- problem solved. Enjoy a chapter you've all been waiting for. Although I think the title gives it away.
To my totally anonymous reviewer: Thanks for telling me of that mistake, I've changed it now. I really do need to go back and proof read these chapters once more, now that I can't remember them word for word. Well, they walked back of course, but since I was doing it from Skull's POV, he was too busy crying to notice. Yes, this chapter is about them. We finally get to see our fav cow. Thank you~
To Anonymous: I'm really glad that you like it, the plot is one third of the story after all. I think the Arcobaleno would be protective by nature, but yes, it is awesome to see them like this. More Interesting… I'll see what I can do, although I wonder whether this chapter counts as interesting or not, lol. I do that with some stories that I love so I can read them at any time, so it's quite a compliment to known you have done so. I hope you keep enjoying the rest of the fic.
Okay, first time I'm gonna do one of these, but memories are important in this chapter and there are lots of different types.
Italics and centred: the 'man in the trees' POV, generally flashbacks to past chapters or else his POV when he's not in the current scene.
Italics: Generally these are specific thoughts of characters, rather than narrative thoughts. Ie, thoughts in the first person rather than the third.
Italics and Bold and Centred: Tsuna's memories.
Underlined: Communicators.
Bullets fall from the sky and Storm is forced to use the shields of his Sistema CAI.
"Che, these morons. Don't they have any clue who the real enemy here is?" he growls before pushing a ring into one of the many boxes on his belt. A cartridge covered in purple flames jumps into his hand and he inserts it into the Skull Canon on his arm. "Take this- Cloud Arrow"
The large crowd of Mafioso around him all get hit by the wide range attack and fall to the ground, not dead or unconscious, but due to the force of the hit.
"Now listen here you simpletons. Haven't you even heard about the Mafia Wide Treaty? Or do you all just want to die? Vongola is not your enemy- at this time, no one is your enemy. Wait until later to solve petty disputes. We are all needed to take down the threat that is staring us right in the face. Now get your pathetic Boss infront of me before I decide to lock you all up for being uncooperative. You know Vongola's got prisons big enough to do so." A few of the Mafioso near the back who hadn't been hit as hard scramble up and disappear into a nearby building.
"Storm Capo. I have a message for you from Rain Capo" shouts a man wearing a red tie to mark him as one of Storm's men.
"Che, that Sword Freak. What is it, I'm busy?" Storm growls in reply.
The man straightens up as he presents his message. "Right sir. According to Rain Capo, Carcassa and Nuevo are still having trouble with Civilian Resistance Forces. They are too busy trying to defend themselves to be able to send reinforcements to Sicily."
Storm growls and wants to shout out, but that would present the wrong image to the horde of Enemy Mafioso infront of him.
Juudaime, I hope this plan works.
Tsunayoshi wakes the next morning next to Skull. After the eventful day they had had yesterday, Tsunayoshi decides that a few extra minutes wouldn't do any harm. So snuggling closer to the Stuntman, he falls back to sleep once more. When he wakes again, it's to find two strong arms wrapped around him, so he smiles gently. Yawning, he looks at the time and decides it's best to get out of bed now.
"Oi Skull… Skull." But there was no reaction. He pokes the man in the cheek and receives a slight mumble in return. Leaning over, he flicks Skull on the forehead
"Oww. Stop it." Skull mumbles, so he does it again. "I'm up, I'm up, alright" he rolls onto his back and throws an arm over his eyes.
Now that he was at least free, Tsunayoshi jumps off the side of the bed. "You'd better come down for breakfast Skull before I eat it all" Skull rolls over and waves a hand at Tsunayoshi to at least show he's heard. Tsunayoshi sighs and runs down the corridor.
As he gets to the living room, he is surprised to hear the front door opening. A few moments later Viper walks in, rubbing her very red cheeks. They looked painful. "Huh, have you only just gotten back Viper? Are you alright?" he asks as he grabs her hand and forces her to sit on the couch.
Viper practically collapses into it. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a rather long mission with the Varia." She rubs her cheek once more. "I'm going to kill Belphegor if he keeps on doing this. In the future, I am never going to work with him again. He's going to be the death of me."
"He's not that bad." Tsunayoshi assures.
"So Chibi even survived the Varia. It's better that the meeting was done under conditions like these. This should definitely help."
"Help? Help with what?" asks the boy, looking up at the man.
The man just smiles a bright smile "I can't tell you that Byakuran, you know how things like that are."
"I thought that rule only belonged to the Clam?" the boys asks, confused.
The man shakes his head. "No, the Clam are the only ones allowed to break that rule. It's all for the better, you'll see"
"Yeah? Well you aren't getting your cheeks pinched every five minutes. I really should start to charge him for doing that." She mumbles evilly.
"Well if he's a prince, then you can charge a really huge fee can't you?" asks Tsunayoshi before he climbs off the sofa.
"I suppose I could. Even if he isn't a prince, the Varia Paycheck is rather large." She muses to herself as she watches the little boy leave the room.
"That's why you work for them right, for the money?" he asks from his new position.
"Well yes. Basically. Money makes the world go round and brings happiness." She sighs, before trying to figure out what Tsunayoshi is doing. He returns a few moments later with a small pot of something in his hands. He climbs back onto the sofa and stays elevated on his knees to be around her height.
"I don't see how that works. You don't need money to be happy" he says. He didn't have to pay for each smile or laugh he heard from the others. He didn't need money to stay by their side. Undoing the lid of the pot, he puts his fingers in the moisturiser and starts to rub it into her inflamed cheeks.
"In this day and age you do." She informs, letting the boy do as he pleases. "If we had no money, we'd be on the streets. You'd be more worried about your next meal than on how to be happy. However with money comes stability and the possibility to create happiness based upon that stability."
"Huh?" is Tsunayoshi's intelligent reply. He was careful with how close he got to Viper. He respected her privacy and never took advantage of his close position to try and peak under the hood. He did the exact same to Bermuda and never questioned the man's reasons for wearing bandages to cover his face.
"Since we have money, we don't have to worry about not having a roof over our heads, or about finding food. We are confident that nothing around us is going to change. So with the basics covered you have more time to socialise, get to know other people or to find a hobby that you can find happiness in. Plus, since you don't have to worry about them, you aren't as stressed and have the ability to feel happiness rather than feeling worried."
"Oh I see." Says Tsunayoshi, moving onto the other cheek.
"Maybe you should ask someone who has the experience to make a valid opinion on the subject" says Viper turning her head so that Tsunayoshi could reach the other cheek.
"Really? But I don't know anyone who used to live on the streets" informs Tsunayoshi, a small frown of concentration of his face.
"Yes you do. Lancia" points out Viper.
The man in the trees gapes at the small boys before him.
"But, but! He shouldn't be born yet! Not for another year yet. In fact, Hayato shouldn't have found out about his mother for another 4 years yet."
"Ah-hmm-hmm. That's the thing about parallel worlds. Everything happens at different times. If Tsunayoshi hadn't been with Hayato then, Hayato wouldn't have gone to get him a drink and found out like he did. In the case before us, all it takes is for one event to change. All it takes is for that boy's parents to go on a date that they didn't, or decide the time was right now instead of then. After all, parallel worlds pivot on change."
"You've been talking to yourself haven't you? I'm sure I had that speech before I came here." The man looks sidewards at the small boy who knew far more than he should.
"Well with you here, I might as well learn this now. Parallel worlds are my domain, Mr. Time Traveller."
When Tsunayoshi makes a questioning noise, she continues "Lancia used to live on the streets for a few years. The Family he is with now picked him up and trained him to be a bodyguard. He's especially loyal to them to thank them for what they have done for him. So he could tell you."
"Hmm, I'll have to ask one day. Maybe when I understand things a little more. For now, all I need to know is that I'm happy when you are with me. You and all of the others." He leans back to inspect his work and gives Viper a beautiful smile. When her cheeks go red once more, he starts to panic. "Oh no, it didn't work. I was sure it was"
Viper hugs the little boy. "Thank you Tsunayoshi. I feel a lot better now. And you doing this for me can be payment for the information I just told you okay."
Tsunayoshi nods and hugs her back. "Okay Viper"
"Did you know Tsunayoshi, that hugging people is good for the body?" asks Verde, interrupting their hug. Tsunayoshi turns his head in Verde's direction but doesn't let go. Nor does Viper for she knows that Verde won't tease her over it. "It releases Endorphins and makes people feel happier. Those in relationships that hug daily have a stronger and happier bond than those who do not"
"Heehee, so that must be why I've got a good relationship with all of you then!" chimes Tsunayoshi giggling.
"Hmm, maybe so" remarks Verde, before turning his back on them "Come on, breakfast is ready."
Tsunayoshi jumps up and runs into the kitchen where he finds a few of the others already seated. Lal and Colonnello were on a mission for today and should be back later on- they had left late last night. The same was true of Reborn, although his missions never took very long.
"Hmm, oh Bermuda, you're here today?" Bermuda wasn't always here since he had the Vendicare to take care of. However he made the effort to sleep and eat here as much as possible. He must have finished telling the Naughty Carcassa off then. Tsunayoshi goes and jumps on him, settling himself in for breakfast. Luce had to be careful now where she stepped since the chains he constantly wore were spread around the floor. However Bermuda always kept them as close to him as possible to save space and always moved them if she needed it.
"Are you going to come with me today?" he asks, leaning backwards to rest against him and look upwards at him.
Bermuda sighs "I wish I could Tsunayoshi. However I and the rest of the Vindice have a fearsome reputation that we have built up. It needs to be that way so that the Mafia follow the rules we enforce. As a result, most Families would be too scared to willingly let me in their house for a social call. It wouldn't create a very good atmosphere."
Tsunayoshi frowns at that. "Hmm, well we need to change that. You are a really nice person after all. Reborn is scary to most of the others but they still let him in their houses."
Verde taps his fingers against the table top. "It's a shame that you won't take off the cloak you are wearing. I've been working on an invisibility suit and could do with a guinea-pig to test run it for me. That way you'd be able to join in with the outing, and as long as you reigned in your aura, you'd be unnoticed."
Viper sighs. "I suppose I could sort that out. But you know"
"It would cost money" laughs Tsunayoshi. "Fine Viper add it to my tab then"
"T-Tsunayoshi! You know what you've just said right?" stutters Skull in a scared panic. Tsunayoshi nods before tilting his head to the side in question. "If you agree to give Viper money she'll hound you for it for the rest of your life! And even if you die she'd just resurrect you with her black magic! Or maybe she'd follow you into hell to make you pay up! There is no way to get away from her." Tsunayoshi laughs at Skull's words thinking they were a joke. Skull however, was deathly serious. "Or at least give her cash so she can't add credit interest!" Hmm, Skull seemed strangely wise on ways to counteract Viper, he must have a lot of experience then.
Viper glares at Skull for the insults before she sits down at her place on the table. "What you are forgetting Skull, is that there are many ways for Tsunayoshi to make money. In fact, he already has made quite a bit of money and is well on the way to paying off his debt." The rest of the table look at her suspiciously, wondering what she is on about. Tsunayoshi wasn't old enough to get a job, even by Mafia Standards. And if you are wondering what the debt is for, Viper charged him for every chore she had to do for him as he was growing up. Things like changing his diapers, making a bottle of milk and feeding him and other things like that. Viper made sure to remember each and every time and charge him for them. She should make money for her working time after all.
"Viper. What have you done now?" asks Luce, falsely sweet due to her protective instinct. There was no way Viper was making Tsunayoshi work, she would not allow it.
Everyone sees Viper's smirk and wonder what piece of information she has for blackmail this time. "I wouldn't turn the blame onto me Luce. After all, you were the one who made Tsunayoshi work, not me" Viper says slyly. The others turn to Luce, shocked that their Boss is to blame for… whatever it was she had done. Reaching inside her cloak Viper pulls out some pieces of paper and lays them onto the table. Everyone leans over to see…
Tsunayoshi's cosplay photos.
"They've been selling rather well I must admit." Smiles Viper, remembering all of that cold hard cash in her hands. Even taking out money for the printer and ink, there was still tonnes and tonnes of profit. What she wasn't going to tell the others was the silencing fees she had charged on top of it. Certain people *coughVariacough*, especially Families known for their hard and merciless nature, didn't want others to know they had purchased photos of the unbelievably cute boy.
"So which one sold the best?" Verde asked. This would be good research material on Human Nature. A study to see what types of images people who were known for their ruthlessness liked. Before Viper could even say anything, Verde slid a pile of notes across the table. She had them well trained.
Knowing exactly what information Verde was really looking for, Viper commented "Well, there were certain ones that sold well because of their normalcy. The one of Tsunayoshi dressed up as Reborn was quite popular since most Mafioso wear suits, so it's a natural choice that people won't be embarrassed to pick out. However, getting to the more interesting ones…" The others at the table lean in closer, interested to see what others thought of their cute little boy. "Mafia Bosses's wives quite liked the Easter Bunny. But the one I'm most surprised about is this one"
Viper picks one photo up and shows it to the rest of the table. The others can't believe the result.
It's the one of Tsunayoshi dressed up as the Cervello.
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 Vindice. 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 Vindice 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 Vindice any better than the man next to him did.
They all look at Viper, wondering if she's lying. Not that she was known for lying.
"Lots of people looked at it, but I think they were too embarrassed to actually buy it. However a lot of people blushed at it."
"But I don't like wearing that one" complains Tsunayoshi. "That wig was itchy and hot"
"And you won't be wearing it again" orders Reborn. Tsunayoshi smiles in thanks.
"Well, I believe it's time to be getting dressed, right Tsunayoshi" says Verde, standing up from the table. He had enough notes for now. The conclusion: Tsunayoshi affected everyone.
Tsunayoshi drinks the last of his juice and jumps down from the table. "See you guys in a minute then!" he says before running after Verde.
Tsunayoshi stops when he enters Verde's room. His eyes are drawn to the huge white bandage wrapped around the scientist's shoulder. A wound Verde had got protecting him. Tsunayoshi looks down in guilt.
Cold fingers press on his chin and suddenly he's looking up into framed eyes. "Don't." says Verde sternly. "This is not your fault." All Tsunayoshi can do is look away, knowing he can't win the fight. Verde stands back up and turns to put his green shirt on. "And anyway, it's given me a chance to create a medicine to try and fix the problem quicker than normal" Tsunayoshi feels a little better at that. When Verde sighs in exasperation, Tsunayoshi looks up. Verde is holding a lab coat. Nothing wrong with that, right? Apart from the fact that it definitely not his size. But it was a perfect fit for someone else in the room
Tsunayoshi claps his hands and runs to grab the item from Verde's hold. "Yay! I've always wanted to wear one of these."
Verde doesn't really mind him wearing it, although wonders where Luce got it from. At least it was one of her more conservative outfits. And Tsunayoshi did look nice wearing it, he had to admit.
As Tsunayoshi comes bounding down the stairs, Luce is waiting with one more item to add to the outfit. He blinks up at her and then grins widely. She's grinning too as she places the glasses on his face. Now there was the world's cutest scientist parading around the house.
"Are you ready Tsunayoshi?" asks Viper, who is standing next to the front door with Bermuda. Tsunayoshi nods and runs over to them. Bermuda chuckles over Tsunayoshi's happiness.
As they walk out of the doors, Tsunayoshi can't tell when Viper starts the illusion, but he does notice that others can't see Bermuda. Walking down the street, he can't help but giggle mischievously as he watches everyone else passing without noticing that the scariest person in the Mafia is standing right next to them. Verde and Viper just watch the boy with amused smiles on their faces. Bermuda though, is still getting used to the feeling. He and the rest of the Vindice had never needed to use illusions since they could come and go as they pleased. They had their own ways of watching everyone without being detected.
This is it. The chance I've been waiting for. Luce is watching a soap opera and won't check on Tsunayoshi for another hour. None of the other Arcobaleno are in the house. There is no better time than this. I can complete the most important part of the plan. We've all worked too hard on this plan for it to fail now. I will accomplish my mission. Thinks the Man in the Trees to himself. So jumping down from his perch, he walks over to the Arcobaleno house's gate.
Everything has been going well so far. Tsunayoshi, boy it sounds weird thinking that, anyway, he's started to build up good relationships with every Family on Mafia Row. All of the Families know who he is and find him cute, adorable and generally loveable. That's just what we need. The Mafia needs to be more joined, more like one big Family and hopefully Tsunayoshi, I'm not going to get over how weird that sounds, will be able to accomplish that. Hopefully he can win this person over too. I found out about them too late to be able to do anything. With this Family, we will be able to stop the threat. I sure hope so.
With his hopes riding on the small boy on the other side of the gate, he unlocks it and cracks it open. Leaving before Tsunayoshi can notice him, he hides back in the trees to watch.
The man in the trees smiles at this reaction from the other members of the Mafia. He even took a video of it. It was undeniable proof that their plan was working. That things were on their way to being fixed. He couldn't wait to show this to the others.
The members of Vongola Version Vigilante look on at the little boy. Vongola Primo smiles, glad that Tsunayoshi's intuition had lead him to what he needed to find. He looks up into the trees and smiles once more. It seemed that everything was going to be alright. "Did you remember what I said Tsunayoshi?"
"Yeah I did. Be like the Sky and accept all" Tsunayoshi smiles before continuing on.
So the feeling of being surrounded in Mist Flames was new to him. It was hard to fight his natural instinct to shake the flames off. The Vindice had a reasonable resistance to Mist Flames and illusions in general, not a full resistance, but there were very few illusionists that could create a successful illusion on them. Viper was one of the few who could. However, this time, since the illusion was helping him instead of hindering him, he'd allow it for now. Even if he did hate the feeling. And just as he's wondering why on earth he, the Boss of the Vindice, is allowing such an uncomfortable feeling to persist, Tsunayoshi turns around and smiles at him, extremely happy to be out with Bermuda. Oh yeah, that's the reason.
Verde leads them down Mafia Row, to a house next to Dino's house and opposite to the Shimon's house. It was right next to the Mafia Central road. Verde walks up to the gate and places his hand on some sort of square box. Tsunayoshi's eyes widen as it lights up green and then suddenly the gate opens up. That. Was. So. Cool. In his opinion.
So holding the gate open, he lets the three others enter the mansion grounds before firmly shutting it behind him. Bermuda didn't have to be worried about getting caught on Camera either. Viper's illusions were strong enough to affect machinery like that, and very little research into Flames had happened, meaning there were currently no counter measures.
The garden is filled with plants and flowers. Scientists in white lab coats were running around checking up on them, taking measurements and doing general maintenance. Tsunayoshi's lips turn upwards slightly as the scientists ignore them. It seemed to be a Scientist thing- whenever Verde was involved in an experiment, he ignored the rest of the world around him. Tsunayoshi seemed to be the only exception to that rule. So he wasn't surprised to find that these scientists were so into their experiments that the guests were being ignored. Due to his time with Verde, Tsunayoshi also knew to stay far away from the experiments and to touch nothing in case he disrupts it.
They enter the house to find an actual house. Tsunayoshi was expecting a laboratory. Verde smirks at the downfallen face Tsunayoshi has on and leads then through the house, down a corridor and stop infront of a door. Verde scans his hand once again and the wall infront of them splits, revealing an elevator. Tsunayoshi's jaw drops once more, amazed with all of the cool gadgets this Family seemed to have. All enter the elevator and travel down to the basement, where Tsunayoshi finally finds his Laboratory. Around the laboratory there is a lot going on; chemicals are being mixed, boiled, condensed and changing colour. In a different part, the sound of electric machinery can be heard with automatic screwdrivers tending to robots (Which Tsunayoshi is sure to stay away from), and types of weapons. It is here that Verde stops.
In front of them is a man who has a hammer in one hand and a baby in the other. And no, he was not using the hammer on the baby. This man was trying to juggle both at once, looking after the child whilst trying to fix the piece of machinery in front of him. Verde knew from experience how hard this could be, and takes a side glance at Tsunayoshi.
The man turns around when he feels eyes watching him and finally notices their Guests (minus one of course, Viper was doing an excellent job at hiding Bermuda). He puts the hammer down, readjusts the baby in his arm and holds a hand out to Verde. "Ahh, Verde, nice to see you again"
"And you too Tori" says Verde as he shakes the man's hand.
"Miss Mammon, how nice it is to see you again. I'm sure your visits are becoming more frequent. Actually, I might be able to make a graph to prove that…" Tori starts to look around for some paper and a pen, neither of which are in sight.
"That's fine." Says Viper hurriedly, preferring not to have to wait for him to draw a graph. That would have been a waste of time, and wasting time is wasting money and Viper does not waste money therefore she doesn't waste her time either.
"Oh, ah, okay. And is there a reason behind the increase in frequency? I don't dare to hypothesize that you have a growing interest in Science." Beady eyes blink behind framed glasses, truly interested in the reason. Viper was the most unscientific person in the Arcobaleno due to her job as a psychic and an illusionist. Both weren't scientifically proven yet- although little study had gone into how Mist Flames worked. It was unlikely that she would be interested in the subject that aims to prove her mystical powers aren't mystical at all, but scientific analysis and guess work based upon statistics.
Both Illusionist and Scientist step to the side to let Tsunayoshi be seen. He peers up and smiles at the rather eccentric man before him. "May I introduce to you the Boss of the Bovino Family, Vittorio." Tsunayoshi smiles and waves. "Tori, this is Tsunayoshi"
The lab goes eerily silent in a heartbeat and all of the scientists in the area stop and stare in their direction. Whispers start and soon fill the air before they all come over to investigate. Tsunayoshi would find their analytical and evaluating stares intimidating if he didn't receive the same look from Verde (and to be honest, most of the others every now and again) reasonably often.
"His height is slightly lower than the average 4 year old male."
"Same with his weight, although I highly suspect this is due to him having a more physically fit and muscular body than most 4 year olds"
"Indeed. It would be reasonable to assume that this is from the training and physical activity the other Arcobaleno have put him through"
"Agreed. The main suspects would be Reborn, Colonnello, Lal and possibly Fon."
Tsunayoshi looks from person to person since they were talking about him. He didn't know why they were talking about him though. They continued their conversation for quite a while before Tsunayoshi finally deemed they had gotten to the point
"So why?
"Indeed why?"
"Why is Verde-sama so interested in him?"
"Are you going to tell me why you are so interested in Tsunayoshi?" asks Byakuran, looking up at the man next to him.
"Because Tsunayoshi is important of course" replies the man, serious for once.
"Humhmm, he does make for an interesting toy." Byakuran smiles before popping another marshmallow into his mouth.
"I would never toy with Tsunayoshi. And you shouldn't either. I have it on good authority that you lose"
"That's no fun"
"And in a way, You have the people in that house to blame"
"The Cow Clan? Even I know they are no threat. The adults in the house keep telling us stories about all of the funny things the Bovino's have produced accidentally"
"For a load of intelligent scientists, they have no common sense. And I know that they don't even see it. They don't even notice half of the malfunctions their products have. But I suppose they did come up with one good thing: the thing that brought your demise"
"I wish you'd stop talking like that. I'm not the Byakuran you know. So stop saying 'you'. It's rather rude." The man nods his head in apology. "Gonna tell me what it is?"
"A time travel device"
Tsunayoshi crossed his arms and put a cute frown on his face. They made it sound as if he wasn't worthy of Verde or something. Like it was wrong for him to be with Verde. And that just wasn't right. He feels Bermuda pat him on the head gently, agreeing silently with Tsunayoshi. The small boy smiles back at him before watching as the cloaked man walks away. Bermuda was actually going to take the opportunity to look around at the experiments and to make sure everything was following Mafia Law. The Bovino's had never been in trouble before, but there was always a first time for everything.
Verde finishes his conversation with Tori at around the time the Bovino scientists/ Mafiosi ask the all-important question.
"Tsunayoshi is deceptive" Verde answers for them "Whilst looking innocent and normal, he is anything but. He is far more intelligent that any normal child and a lot more intuitive. He was the most interesting specimen I had seen in a long time. Even I haven't figured out the formula behind his magnetic personality."
"Because I'm not a magnet, nor made of metal silly" smiles Tsunayoshi. He knew what a magnet was; He used them to stick his pictures to the fridge. Verde had also showed him how to make pretty pictures using a magnet and iron shavings. The adults laugh before going back to their conversation. However Tsunayoshi quickly found out that he didn't understand a word they were saying any longer. He didn't realise that words got that big. So doing what children did best, he moved on and decided to go and look at the baby Vittorio was still holding onto.
Since the baby was being held over the Boss's shoulder, Tsunayoshi stood on the other side of the desk to be able to see the baby's face. The baby had lots of black hair that looked almost dark green when the light shone on it just right. He also had huge emerald eyes.
"Hello, I'm Tsunayoshi" he smiles, waving at the boy.
The baby waves back as best as it can before placing a hand on its head and saying "Lambo!"
"Is your name Lambo then?" Asks Tsunayoshi.
The boy pats his hand against his face a few more times, stating "Lambo, Lambo, Lambo~" Tsunayoshi assumed this was a yes.
"Yes, Tsunayoshi, that's Lambo, the newest addition to the Bovino Family." Says Viper, interrupting her conversation with Vittorio for a few moments.
Vittorio looks over his shoulder at the baby he's holding and smiles. "His first word, and the only one so far, was his own name. We're not sure if it's a sign of arrogance or because that was the word said to him the most." Tsunayoshi wondered why his intuition was leaning towards the first option.
So far the boy hadn't stopped grinning at him and seemed far more interested in him than anything else around. The baby reached one tiny hand out towards him and made a grabbing motion. Tsunayoshi smiles gently at this and reaches his own hand towards the boy. However his eyebrows furrow and a frown adorns his face when the baby totally ignores his hand and keeps on reaching for Tsunayoshi. He even wiggles his fingers to make sure the baby had noticed them. Tsunayoshi pouts and brings his hand back to him, but is surprised when the baby's smile gets even bigger. He looks at the child strangely and finally notices that the baby's eyes aren't even on him. Instead they are slightly lower… Looking down, he notices the corner of a sweet wrapper poking out of his shirt pocket. He points at the sweet and the child gurgles happily and claps his hands before reaching even more excitedly for the sweet.
"Lambo's!" the child shouts. Tsunayoshi takes a step backwards and shakes his head, whilst his hands go over his heart to protect the sweet.
"No, It's Tsunayoshi's" says Tsunayoshi, shaking his head and unconsciously copying the baby's own habit of using 3rd person.
"Lambo's!"
"Tsunayoshi's!"
"Lambo's!"
"Tsunayoshi's!"
"Lambo's!"
"Tsunayoshi's!"
"LAMBO'S!" Shouts the baby for the final time. Tsunayoshi had another one of those weird feelings, like he'd done this before. Yet how could he when he's never even met Lambo before? He did feel oddly attached to the boy though.
Whilst in the middle of throwing a tantrum, the baby bangs the piece of machinery on the table.
Hearing the shouting match Verde, Viper, Vittorio and the rest of the Bovino all turn around, only to find…
A huge cloud of pink smoke.
"Tsunayoshi" shouts Viper, rushing towards the pink smoke.
"Vittorio! What was that?" shouts Verde, looking at the man who was working on the machine. Verde take a look at it and finds it a purple bazooka. So maybe it was just a magic trick, or maybe it was for parties or something for fun. Yeah, for fun, it had to be…
"That was the 10 year Bazooka" says Vittorio.
Verde turns to him, green lightening flames crackling around him and making his hair even more spiky than usual. "You are playing with time again? You know the problems we had brining V3 here! What in the name of Science were you doing?"
Vittorio takes a step away from Verde, not having seen him like this for a very long time. "It's harmless, honest. It does as the name suggests and swaps whoever is hit with their self 10 years into the future. The effect only lasts for 5 minutes and then they are swapped back… I hope. I was still working out some kinks."
Eyes return to the pink smoke when an aura very different from Tsunayoshi's emanates from that area. It was colder, stronger, more adult and highly dangerous.
"Oh Sugar Honey Iced Tea"
Well, if the Bazooka really worked, then it was to be suspected that the voice would be deeper, but not that deep.
The smoke clears and Viper finds herself face to face with burning orange eyes. The man- for it's definitely not the 14 year old they were suspecting- looks around himself and grimaces. As his eyes wonder around the room, he spots the Bazooka. He grabs it, throws it to the floor before jumping on the pieces and shouting at it. "Every time! Every time it's always this darn thing! My life would be so much easier if it had never been invented!"
Suddenly remembering where he is, he looks up like a deer in the headlights before he stops jumping and smiles nervously at them. "Hahaa. Sorry about that" The others stare blankly on at the man before them, having no clue what they should do or say. The Bazooka had never been fired before.
"So I am to assume that you are Tsunayoshi" says Verde, gathering his mental wits first. The man nods his head.
"Well duh… Uncle Verde" the pause was slight and hardly noticeable.
"So how old are you?" asks Vittorio, since the '10 year' part of the Bazooka seemed to be off a little.
"Oh, I'm 24. Did the 14 year old me use the Bazooka again?" The 'Tsunayoshi' asks, once more with the slightest pause. That made sense, having a 20 year jump. Tsunayoshi had grown up quite a bit in those long years. He looked smart, professional and cool, unlike the cute and adorable self he was now. But it was still there.
"No. 4 year old Tsunayoshi was caught in the blast by accident" informs Verde, looking the man up and down. One thing that caught his eye was the ring on his finger. Well, it was two rings really, connected by a chain. Noticing this, 'Tsunayoshi' was quick to move them out of sight. He would have taken them off if it was possible.
"Ohh~ really that hasn't happened for a while. Ahh, Uncle Bermuda's just joined us then." 'Tsunayoshi' sings happily.
"That's right, just a few weeks ago. So what's the future like?" asks Viper. She changes her illusion so this new person could see Bermuda, who had run back into the room after all of the shouting. Tsunayoshi discretely waves and nods at him, understanding that he couldn't outright talk to the cloaked man.
Both adults notice the flash of worry pass through the man's eyes, but only because they know Tsunayoshi so well. "Haha, You'd have to pay me for that information Sis"
Viper takes in a small breath "Sis?" she asks.
'Tsunayoshi' rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah well, you didn't want me calling you Auntie since you said it made you sound old. Plus you are the second youngest after Skull"
"Who cares about that?" interrupts Vittorio barging his way to stand directly infront of 'Tsunayoshi' with a clip board and a pen in his hands. Lambo had been passed onto someone else in favour of this latest scientific discovery. A microphone was also shoved into 'Tsunayoshi's' face along with a camcorder. Another Bovino scientist stood nearby with a laptop to type notes on.
"So, what new discoveries have been made in the future? Are we living in space yet? Are robots doing all of the cleaning? Do cars no longer have wheels?"
"C'mon guys" laughs 'Tsunayoshi', not at all fazed by all of the questions, or the amount of people crowding around him. If Viper had anything to say, it looked like he was used to it. "You're supposed to be smart. I can't tell you that in case I change the future."
"Huh? Who are you?"
After the pink smoke clears, Tsunayoshi finds himself somewhere totally new. For starters he was outside. Next he was in a tree. And finally, he was sat next to Byakuran.
"Marshmallow?" Asks Byakuran taking this all in his stride as usual. Although he didn't actually have a clue what was going on.
"Huh? Where am I?" asks Tsunayoshi looking around himself. "It must have something to do with that weird Bazooka." He finally looks at Byakuran and the packet of marshmallows. "Thank you" he smiles, taking one. "I guess I had better be going back now. Do you want to come?"
Byakuran smiles a rather weird and downright dangerous smile. "I wouldn't miss it for the world"
Tsunayoshi didn't know what there was to be that happy over but shrugged and proceeded to carefully climb down the tree and back to the Bovino household. After knocking and getting someone to let him and Byakuran back into the house, he finds his way back to the Laboratory.
There he finds everyone talking to a strange man he'd never seen before. But he was sure he had. He was sure he'd seen this man before now.
"Huh? Who are you?"
Everyone looks over a the new voice to see no one else but little ol' cute Tsunayoshi…
Wait…
4 year old Tsunayoshi?
But shouldn't he be in the future?
Whilst eyes are in the other direction, 'Tsunayoshi' face palms and shakes his head. In the name of Primo WHY ME! Why does it all happen to me? I'd rather be in the middle of an all-out Guardian Fight than be here. I'd rather be back at my desk doing paperwork! No, C'mon pull yourself together, Reborn didn't teach you for nothing. Everything will be fine as long as his blood…
Tsunayoshi looks at the man and images flash infront of his eyes. He stumbles forwards as it almost feels as if his blood is pulling him towards this man. The images come faster and harder and the pain in his head builds and builds.
"You're… That man, from back then. The one with the needle. No! Stay away from me. You've already gotten me twice. No more!" Tsunayoshi takes a few steps backwards, shaking his head violently.
"Mama isn't looking is she?"
"No, she's still on her bed mourning over Iemitsu leaving once more."
"Heya there little guy. There's nothing to be afraid of"
"Kufufu~, says the man with a needle in his hand. Are you sure you can do this though? To yourself no less?"
"And you have a better suggestion for who to choose? I believe there is a reason you are the Mist and I am the Sky and not the other way around. If we used you, Mini-Muku would destroy Estraneo completely and we'd be fighting you rather than Byakuran as ruler of the world. Plus, this plan wouldn't be able to work if it was used on anybody other than myself. Unless you suddenly have a blood connection to Primo"
The other man looks away. "Oya, Someone's full of themselves."
"Heh, I'm no longer 14 anymore. And you can blame Reborn for that." He looks back at the baby. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you. You'll be under more pressure than I am. But at least you won't know it. Good Luck Tsunayoshi"
He takes a vial from his pocket filled with a bright red substance.
"Tsunayoshi? Are you alright?" Viper rushes forwards and kneels by the side of her little boy. She goes to place a hand on his shoulder to calm him. However Tsunayoshi looks up at her with shining scared eyes.
"Gathering the last of one's strength just to hide their unsightly corpse, a common trait in female illusionists"
"No, stay back! You're part of the Varia. You're going to kill me… No you wouldn't do that. You love me"
Verde comes over, never having observed this behaviour in His Subject before. "Tsunayoshi. Get yourself together."
"V-V-Verde! Don't hurt the other Arcobaleno. Don't harm Lambo. No, you wouldn't do that!" Tsunayoshi closes his eyes, presses his hands against his head harder, trying to get these awful and totally wrong images out of his head. These are not the people he knows!
"I am going to undo this curse placed on me and I won't let anyone get in my way"
"Tsunayoshi, what are you saying? You are no longer making any sense" says Bermuda, patting the boy on the head.
Tsunayoshi's head shoots up and his eyes go wide. "Bermuda! You can't kill Reborn! I won't let you! No you wouldn't do that either."
"You'll die. Defeating Checkerface means destroying the whole Pacifier System and the Arcobaleno will disappear. Of course this means me and the Vindice too"
He looks at them confusion clear in his face. "What's going on? It hurts. Make it stop. Help me"
All three Arcobaleno jump forwards as Tsunayoshi's eyes roll up and he faints. Viper picks Tsunayoshi up and holds him close whilst the other two turn to the older 'Tsunayoshi' who shouldn't even be here.
"Who are you really? What was Tsunayoshi talking about?" Demands Verde.
"Me? I don't have a clue what he's talking about." Says 'Tsunayoshi' taking a few steps backwards. The further away from the boy he was the better.
"You should though. You're him from the future, therefore you'd know exactly what he's going on about" accuses Verde.
Once again there was that nervous laugh "Hahaa, yeah… of course I do"
There is another pink cloud of smoke. Viper feels her arms suddenly get heavier. The smoke clears and Tsunayoshi is passed out of the floor infront of them, and 'Tsunayoshi' is being held by Viper.
"Damn" I'm really starting to hate the stupid Bazooka. Every problem stems from the blasted thing. He goes to get out of Viper's hold but finds his body frozen. She's not letting go either.
"You aren't going anywhere. Now whilst I may not be a scientist, even I know something isn't right. For you to swap places like that means you were already in our time, rather than in the future like you are supposed to be. So explain yourself before I set my Spirit Eaters on you."
"Heeii! Not the Ouroboros. Fon's the only one to survive that so far" He quickly shuts his mouth as soon as he says that.
"I've never used it on Fon before." She growls
"Hahmm, Maybe not in this world you haven't. But in his world, you seem to have done so" inputs Byakuran. He smiles when the imposter gives him a death glare.
"You're not helping Byakuran" he growls
"And why should I after what you've done to Tsunayoshi?" Byakuran asks, pointing a small hand in the direction of the boy still on the floor.
"You said world, not time. What do you mean by that?"
"You understand the theory behind Alternate Dimensions?" Verde nods his head "Well, he's from one of them"
"That still does not explain why Tsunayoshi claims he was attacked with a needle by this man" inputs Bermuda, his chains hovering close to the intruder.
"That..um. I can… I can explain!" pleas the man as the chains get closer and closer to him.
"Oh you'll explain alright. And I'll be getting the truth too" says Viper, her voice dangerously sly and sweet. She raises her hands and places them on either side of the man's temples.
"No! Mammon stop it. As your Boss I order you to stop" says the man in panic, knowing exactly what she was planning to do.
"He, I don't know which world you come from, but in this one Tsunayoshi calls me Viper and you are not my Boss."
"Viper, stop scaring the poor boy. He's only trying to save the world as we know it"
The people in the room whirl around at yet another new voice. This time it was Vongola Primo who had arrived.
"You had better explain this Primo" warns Verde, having had enough of not knowing the answers.
"But Primo, Sir. Won't this affect the plan?" asks the older Tsunayoshi. The three Arcobaleno take a look backwards at him and are surprised to find him kneeling to Primo. Just like Tsunayoshi had once done before.
"Of course not. If anything it'll improve it. Now stand up straight and tell them the reason you are in this world and time. I'm sure they'll understand once you explain yourself properly" Explains Primo, sounding rather like a teacher
"Yes Primo." Says the man. He stands and faces the three confused Arcobaleno. "My name is Sawada 'Tsuna' Tsunayoshi, also known as Vongola Decimo and Godfather of the Mafia. I am from an alternate dimension rather similar to this one, but with a few major changes. I am here, in this time and dimension, to try and save not only my world, but all of the others, including this one"
"Saving the world… That's rather extreme." Scoffs Verde.
"Well, let me explain. In my timeline, there is this Organisation that claim to be saving the world from Sin. They are some religious organisation that happen to have stumbled upon the existence of Flames. When they found out that the Mafia were the only people using these Flames, they decided it was a Sin against their god and claimed war upon us. They exposed our existence, and the existence of Flames to the General Public. There was outrage at the secret of Flames being hidden from them and the General Public turned against us too. However, the Mafia was weak due to all of the internal fights we were having. So when the General Public turned against us and attacked us, the Mafia Families were unable to defend themselves."
"Sure that sounds bad, but what does it have to do with us and our dimension?" asks Bermuda.
Tsuna looks a little sheepish at this. "After the Bovino had managed to make a time traveling device" and he gestures to the broken Bazooka on the floor "They next set their sights on making one to jump worlds. They recently managed to complete it. However when this Organisation attacked their base, the machine was stolen. We believe they used this Machine to reveal the existence of the Flames and the Mafia's use of them to the Public in every world they went to. We confirmed this when the Bovino managed to make another one. We are currently losing the battle in every dimension too since they have better technology than we do."
"Okay, but that still doesn't tell us why this time and dimension specifically" questions Verde
"I'm getting to that. By the time we realised the threat and banded together against them, over half of the Mafia had been destroyed. We were already weak from internal fighting. And even when we finally got together, we still couldn't co-operate. So Vongola decided that it would be a good idea to go back in time and make sure that the Mafia grew up to be closer and more like one big Family, so that when the time came, we wouldn't be as weak and could work better together. As we were looking for the best place to implement this plan, we spotted this dimension, which has something rather unique"
"And that is…?" prompts Viper, following along so far.
"Mafia Row" reveals Tsuna. "This is the only dimension where the plans for Mafia Row are approved and the Island is built. With everyone in one place most of the time, it would be easier to get everyone to get along and not be rivals so much."
"But why are you watching Tsunayoshi so much?" asks Byakuran. Most people had forgotten that the boy was still even there.
"Well, I, er he, er us… We have a very strong Harmony factor to our Sky Flames. In the future we are one of the only people to be able to unite the Mafia Families. So I thought that Chibi-me could do a good job at uniting them earlier in the time line."
"But why at such a young age?" Byakuran asks once more.
"So it would be easier for him. If I suddenly showed up and told him he needed to befriend every Mafia Boss, I knew my younger self wouldn't be able to do it. I hoped that the charms of a child would ease the way slightly also. And so far it seems to have worked. Tsunayoshi seems to have charmed most of the Mafia Bosses on the island. How they responded when they thought Bermuda was going to attack him is very good proof."
There were other reasons too for choosing this time and dimension. This world was one where the Arcobaleno were living together. In his world, the Arcobaleno had done the best job against the new threat, yet like the Mafia, their internal strife and fights had stopped them working as a single unit and had decreased their strength. Tsuna had placed Tsunayoshi with them in the hopes that bringing up the baby would help them to get along. More importantly, he had given Tsunayoshi to them so that Tsunayoshi would grow up to be stronger than he was. He'd only started to learn how to fight and use his Flames at the age of 14. If Tsunayoshi started earlier and learnt a wider range, then he'd have a better chance against the Organisation. Similar was true of the Vindice. Once again, Mafia Row was the only place where they were visible and easily accessible. Tsuna had befriended the Vindice too late for them to be able to help with the War. That's why he had helped Tsunayoshi bring Bermuda into the Arcobaleno house. Being Ex-Arcobaleno themselves the Vindice were pretty strong in their own right.
"And where do you come into this Primo?" asks Bermuda, turning to face the blond Boss.
"Well, when you first pulled us out of our own time you accidentally went too far and we ended up in the middle of the future Tsuna has described. It truly was a horrible place. However, we stood even less of a chance since we didn't understand the culture nor the current technology of the time. So Tsuna sent us back to this time to help work on the relationship between the Mafia and the Public. If the Public didn't see us as an evil criminal organisation, or at least didn't hate us as much as they do, then they are less likely to turn against us and weaken us before the Religious Organisation attack. It just happens to coincide with the plans Nono and I had already decided on."
Verde and Vittorio thought over this. It was true they had had a hard time of bringing VCubed here to their time, so it was possible that they had gotten the calculations wrong and brought Primo to the wrong time.
"So what do you want us to do about it?" asks Viper carefully.
"Nothing. Just keep on going like you are. Just make sure that you teach Tsunayoshi how to defend himself and how to use his Flames some time soon. And make sure to give him every opportunity to interact with everyone else on Mafia Row. He seems to be doing a good enough job so far. I've heightened his Hyper Intuition to help him along his way." Explains Tsuna, looking over at the boy as best as he can. He was still frozen in place by Viper's illusion; she had reapplied it after the shock of Primo's arrival had passed. He couldn't get out of a Baby Mammon's illusion, so he doesn't suspect he could get out of an adult Mammon's one, even if she was less experienced.
"Talking about that, my own has been telling me I have something to do with it. Mind explaining that?" despite Primo's sweet tone, it was icy cold and demanding.
"Umm, I'd rather not." Says Tsunayoshi. Primo gives him a stern look and Tsuna looks down. "It's still a no Primo."
"Fine then, I'll just continue what I was going to do" says Viper. Before Tsuna can even protest, she's grabbed his head and purple flames have bloomed around them. She delves into his mind, fighting the resistance of Sky Flames the whole time.
He looks back at the baby. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you. You'll be under more pressure than I am. But at least you won't know it. Good Luck Tsunayoshi"
He takes a vial from his pocket filled with a bright red substance.
"And that is?" asks Mukuro.
Tsuna looks at the vial and sighs. "This is the Blood of Vongola Primo, Penalty, Talbot gave to me. With this it'll kick start Chibi's Hyper Intuition. Hopefully it'll be able to give him insight into the emotions of the others, and he'll be able to form tighter bonds with the other Mafia Bosses. He'll be able to understand them better and empathise with them, no matter their circumstances. Plus it will keep him alive longer and make him a better fighter."
Mukuro watches as Tsuna injects the baby with the blood of Vongola Primo. He watches as Tsuna repeats the process with a different vial of blood.
"And whose it that?"
"Mine. It'll provide Tsunayoshi with My form of Hyper Intuition which is already tailored to suit the people Tsunayoshi will be interacting with. Plus it's supposed to make your job easier."
Mukuro nods and reaches a hand down into the crib to touch the baby's forehead. "Don't expect me to do this for anyone else. I'm only co-operating with you to get those Religious bigots to shut up. And because my precious Chrome asked me to."
Tsuna smiles as Mukuro puts his hand on Tsuna's forehead. "Of course Mukuro" Flames bloom around them.
What Mukuro was doing was copying all of Tsuna's memories and implanting them into the baby. It acts a lot like the Vongola Hyper Intuition and provides the Baby with information that Tsuna knew about the people around him.
"That explains so much" whispers Viper. Unlike the others, Viper had been inside of Tsunayoshi's head before and noticed the presence of Mist Flames there. However, no matter what she did, she couldn't break the flames to see what they were hiding. Now, though, she knew. To think that her student would get that strong.
"It explains how Tsunayoshi knew we and the Shimon should be dead." Says Primo, hand on chin in thought.
"It explains how he knew I should be with the Arcobaleno" says Bermuda.
If Tsunayoshi was awake to hear about it, it would explain far more. It would explain why certain things just felt right. It would explain why some times his intuition and his feelings didn't match up. It would explain why he had certain feelings towards people that were wrong. He would know why he recognised certain traits of people he had never met before- it would explain why he felt as if he had met them before.
"As you can tell, I've done everything I could think of to make sure that we can win this war. I've given Tsunayoshi all of the tools I can to help him on his way."
"What gives you the right to come in and do this to him like that?" asks Bermuda, stalking over to Tsuna and wrapping his chains tightly around him.
"I don't have the right. But what's done is done and you can't change that now. It's all for the better, I assure you." Says Tsuna, orange eyes staying calm. "If you don't like what I've done then kill me. I've fought you once before and I know that I'm no match. But killing me here isn't going to make the threat go away in 20 years. Nor is it going to undo the changes I've done to him." He looks at the other two Arcobaleno. "All you can do it to take good care of him, and let nature run its course. It's not going to negatively affect his life. He's grown up with it and won't know any different. So please…" Orange eyes return to the brown ones they know and it's so hard not to see the Tsunayoshi they know in this man's face. "Believe in me" The Arcobaleno found it hard not to listen to this man, wearing the same serious expression Tsunayoshi gave out sometimes.
*bzzt, crackle*
"Sky? Come in Juudaime?"
Tsuna sighs and tilts his head to the side. "Storm I'm a little busy at the moment"
"Ahh, I'm so sorry Juudaime. It's just that you didn't report in on time and I was getting worried. Please forgive my impudence. I should have known that everything was going fine. I was foolish to believe that something was wrong"
"Storm… Storm… Gokudera… Hayato!"
"Yes Juudaime?"
"I said I'm in the middle of something, just wait a little bit longer"
"Not happening Dame-Tsuna. You should know better than to keep me waiting"
"Reborn, I'm not 10 you know. I can stay out past my curfew"
"If you stayed out of trouble then maybe I would let you out later. However I suspect you're in a spot of trouble right now right?"
"O-of course not!"
"Oh my god Sky you are aren't you!"
"I said I'm not. Why won't you believe me Shoichi?"
"haha. Dame-Tsuna-nii's in trouble again. Lambo-san hasn't been in trouble ALL day!"
"Well good for you Lightening. But I'm not in trouble. Now if you don't mind, I need to get back to what I was doing"
"Yes Ahoshi. Stop wasting Juudaime's precious time"
"Wahhh Ahodera hit Lambo-san!"
"I'm sorry Sky but we need you back now. Carcassa and Nuevo are still having trouble with Civilian resistance forces and need you to go and sort out peace talks. Storm also needs you to finalise bringing the Ragno Family into the Mafia Treaty"
"And then guess what Dame-Tsuna"
"What Reborn?"
"You have a whole tree's worth of paperwork to sign before the end of the day. Leon and I will be there to encourage you"
"Meaning you'll shoot at me if I take a break right. However that's going to wait. I'm busy."
"Starting Space Time Translocation"
"Verde, turn it off now. Ahh, not you Verde, my Verde"
"Oh, you are talking to my 20 years younger alternate dimensional self? Interesting. How is he?"
"Turn the machine off and you might find out"
"Sky's tracking beacon located. Starting connection"
"Spanner! Why aren't any of you listening to me? I'm not done here yet"
"You know about the physical side effects of Time and Space Travel Vongola. You're limit for the week has been used up. We've got to bring you back now or else."
"But 5 more minutes, please"
"Connection made"
"I hate you guys"
"Please Juudaime! Don't say that. I beg for forgiveness for my wrongdoings. However your health comes first, so I'm afraid that I must insist. I shall bear all of your hate just to see you healthy and happy Juudaime"
"Travel sequence starting. Jump to be made in 10"
"Spanner, no please. Ah damn it. Please Verde, Viper, Bermuda, look after him. I promise you that everything will be alright. All you have to do is keep on living like normal. Just forget abou-"
And there he was gone.
The three Arcobaleno, Primo, and the Bovino all look between each other, wondering what on earth just happened. Eyes rest on Viper with a stern look.
"If that was your idea of a prank it's not funny" says Verde.
Viper folds her arms and Verde can feel the glare (even scarier than her Varia glare) from under the hood. "Why would I play a prank on all of you? Just because I'm an illusionist doesn't mean it's my fault. And does that sound like something I would come up with? Sounds far more down your street"
"Just because of the Time and Space elements? How shallow of you" replies Verde "And how would I make that happen?"
Bermuda ignores the arguing pair in favour of crossing the room and picking Tsunayoshi back up again. As soon as Tsunayoshi is comfortably situated, the frown on his face goes and he returns to a more peaceful sleep. The Bovino Mafioso stay as far away from Bermuda as possible. His chains were floating around him and aimed at anyone who got too close, almost like feral guard dogs. He bids his goodbye to the Bovino Don before walking towards the stairs that would take them outside once more. Noticing that the arguing pair weren't following him, he ordered his chains to go and collect them. Flying across the room, the chains avoid all of the scientists' experiments and wrap around the nearest wrist of the other Arcobaleno. With a harsh tug, they stumble towards him, still arguing all the way. When they finally are by his side, Bermuda opens a Night Flame Portal in the doorway. He had done it all the way over here so he didn't disturb the experiments dotted around the room.
Waiting for Tsunayoshi to take a breath in his sleep, Bermuda turns to the others and orders "Breathe". As soon as Tsunayoshi takes a breath he walks through the portal, dragging the other two with him. Of course having to hold their breath shut the pair up for a moment, until they exited the vortex and found themselves back at their house.
Back at the Bovino:
"Um, Boss, when did the Boss of the Vindice arrive?" asks one of the more observant subordinates.
"I actually don't know. He suddenly materialised after the child returned when he was not supposed to" replies another. This was due to the shock of having two Tsunayoshi's in the room at once- Viper accidentally lost her grip on the illusion and forgot to put it back up.
"He was slightly scary though, don't you agree" asks the first.
Vittorio places his hand on his chin. "I don't think so. He didn't go after any of us and was even considerate of our experiments. He exuded that scary atmosphere because of his concern for the child. He's not as bad as I was expecting him to be."
Across the other side of the room, a certain baby notices something shining on the floor. He gasps, claps his hands and screams "LAMBO'S!" before reaching out for the item.
The woman holding him looks to where he is pointing and notices a sweet on the floor. Assuming it was one of the child's, she picks it up, removes the wrapper and gives it to the child.
The annoying Bovino finally had the sweet that started this whole fiasco.
"I'll leave it up to you to explain what happened" says Bermuda before walking upstairs with the still sleeping Tsunayoshi. He places the boy on the bed and goes to stand back up. However, even in his sleep, Tsunayoshi won't let go of his cloak. Relenting to the unspoken wishes of the little boy (plus he didn't want to have to do all of the explaining either) he gets into the bed next to the sleeping boy and gently strokes his hair. Tsunayoshi smiles gently and snuggles closer to Bermuda. The Mafia Jailer takes off his top hat and places it on the night stand before placing an arm over Tsunayoshi and falling asleep too. It had been a long day after all.
Viper couldn't be bothered to talk for ages either, so she did the next best thing. The Arcobaleno were currently staring at a movie like projector screen watching the day's events through her eyes. Since it was from her point of view, they also got a good look at the scene in the Alternate Tsuna's head.
"Ahh, my poor baby" cries Luce after the 'film' had ended.
"T-t-that's happened to Tsunayoshi already?" asks Skull, stunned just like the rest of them.
"Hn, they should sort their own problems out." Growls Lal.
"That's right. Obviously the Me in that dimension isn't doing a good enough job. Maybe I should go over there and smack some sense into them" threatens Reborn, his hands reflexively reaching for his gun.
"That explains a lot about Tsunayoshi though, doesn't it? Your Observation Book must be useless now Verde, kora" says Colonnello, a lot less cheerfully than usual.
"Actually it isn't. That version of Tsunayoshi seemed to have different relationships with us all. Whilst still being himself and similar to the Alternate Dimension one, having been raised up by us will affect Tsunayoshi's personality. Basically, Tsunayoshi will always be Tsunayoshi and not someone else. The differences in Dimensions make them two separate people with the same name and face."
"But what are we going to do now" asks Skull, looking at the others.
"Nothing of course. His past makes no difference to who he is and how we should treat him. It just explains a few things. There is no need for us to do anything differently. Plus, it seems that's how this Alternate Tsunayoshi wanted it anyway." Calmly replies Fon, sensible as usual.
"That's right. Tsunayoshi is still my darling baby no matter what." Declares Luce. "Now, I do believe some drinks are in order. I'm sure I still have some of that Russian Vodka the Giegue gave us"
Phew! Done! Luce I'll take a shot of that too please.
I really like Vittorio's name. Whilst this name in itself means Victor, the Tori part actually means Bull (as in Taurus), suitable for the Boss of Bovino right?
God I had to come up with so many details for this chapter, hence why it took so long. Basically, Tsuna is Canon TYL!Tsuna- of course I can only base his experiences up to the Arcobaleno Curse Arc, but let's pretend that was all fixed and they moved on with their lives. And as we all can guess, Mafia Row is an AU, hence why I have nearly always called Tsunayoshi Tsunayoshi instead of Tsuna. The things I had already got planned from previous chapters was that: An enemy was destroying the future of all dimensions and the mafia were too busy fighting each other to band together and help each other. Hence why Tsuna is so happy during Bermuda's chapter that Tsunayoshi is liked and loved by everyone else. All of Tsunayoshi's weird feelings are caused by Canon!Tsuna's memories. So an example would be with Byakuran. He was originally scared of Byakuran since Canon!Tsuna knows him first off as the tyrannical Ruler of the World Villain. However once Tsunayoshi saw him being nice to Bluebell, Canon!Tsuna's memories provided evidence of Byakuran after the incident where his ring is gone and he's a nicer person. Other examples would be feeling like he's argued with Lambo before, that playing baseball with Yamamoto is a bad idea, the box weapons in general (and yes I'm going somewhere with them), or feeling like the Carcassa are bad even before they bully Skull.
But apart from that, I had to make the rest up for this chapter. I was trying not to make it a repeat of the Future Arc, but I think it is rather close. Oh well, it doesn't really affect the story any time soon. We've got to wait for Tsunayoshi to grow up 20 years first before we come back to this anyway. I just wanted to get it out of the way and the 10 year bazooka was a good tool to use.
If you ever go back to re-read this fic, you'll notice all of Canon!Tsuna's influences. Plus, his HI is heightened and already activated hence why he comes out with some rather insightful stuff.
Take this chapter with a huge pinch of salt. It's not coming into play anytime soon. However if there are any glaring plot holes (and knowing me there most likely are) then tell me and I'll try to clear them up.
Next chapter will be the Omake I promised and then we'll be moving on!
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published 02 July 2012