Chapter 63:
That Are Different From
Congratulations to those of you who remembered that the Arcobaleno are 12/13/pre-teen in this chapter since we are following the Canon!Ending.
So um… Spoilers for those who haven't read the ending yet I suppose. Although no one has asked me why Reborn was 12 a few chapters ago so I'm assuming you all know.
Disused.
Generally meaning not in use, not being used, unfrequented, secretive, that you will be left alone. And it was for those reasons that the Ex-Arcobaleno decided to use a disused sitting room for their meeting since no one should be in there.
"It's been a year since all of us were in the same room," Sighs the Princess, "It's amazing how much you have all grown."
"It has been exactly 1 year 2 hours and 37 minutes since our last meeting." Precisely explains the World's Best Scientist. "Maybe there should be a longer length of absence between this meeting and the next. I am a busy person you know." He lifts his glasses back up his face before continuing to draw a diagram on the piece of paper infront of him.
"But I missed everyone," Whines the World's Best Stuntman. "We should meet up more often!"
The World's Best Martial Artist nods before pouring himself a mug of tea. He lifts the pot up with a nod towards Princess, asking if she wanted a cup too. "I agree, it is nice to have these gatherings. No one else would understand what we are going through after all." He finishes pouring the tea and passes it over to Princess.
"Che, what's there to worry about?" scoffs the World's Best Hitman. "Everything is easier this time round since we've been through it once before."
"Talk for yourself." Says the World's Best Soldier, crossing her arms. She and Princess were slightly different from the rest after all.
"I don't mind being a child again. After all, special children are much more of a selling point than talented adults." Argues the World's Best Psychic. She writes a figure down before putting that pile of notes in one sleeve and drawing a different pile out of the other. With practiced ease, she starts to count this pile too.
"And it's hilarious watching Mafiosi's face when they're beaten by a kid half their size. That should teach them to never judge others, kora." Laughs the World's Best Marksman.
Hitman smirks, crossing his legs as he tilts his fedora. "True, but you just like being able to fawn over Lal in public since everyone is less concerned with the actions of a child. I didn't think you and Lal would like child and mother roleplay."
"Why you, KORA!" Shouts Marksman, slamming his hands on the table as he stands. Soldier grits her teeth before grabbing the back of Marksman's shirt and pulling him back into his seat. A flash of gold glints off of both their hands. Hitman just smirks, knowing that was the reaction he was going to get. The rest of the group laugh or roll their eyes; time didn't change some things.
"Please everyone calm down. We aren't here to fight. Uncle, you should apologise to Colonnello and Lal." Orders Princess diplomatically. Hitman just clicks his tongue and looks away, not saying anything. The room goes quiet, everyone waiting to see if Hitman would actually apologise or if silence was the best they were going to get. Although all guessed the later.
But it seemed that this room wasn't as disused as they first thought.
There is the sound of movement from across the room near the fireplace. With an iridescent glow, Leon quickly changes into his gun form and Reborn shoots a bullet at the person sitting up. Maybe they were a spy or an assassin, although no one should know of this meeting. That was the only problem with being the World's Best at such a 'young age', everyone who was jealous thought they could take the Ex-Arcobaleno out easily. All were proven wrong.
"Heeii! I'm awake Reborn, I'm awake!" comes the cry of a young child before a shoe makes it's way rather forcefully over the sofa. Reborn moves his head backwards just in time to dodge the fatal item of footwear. The group stare at the shoe now sitting rather innocently on the table top. It was black and white with black fur around the top. And were those kittens on the laces?
"Ahh, isn't that adorable?" asks Princess, picking the shoe up to examine it.
A head of fluffy brown hair appears over the back of the sofa, eyes slightly glaring towards the hitman. "Geez Reborn, why do you have to shoot at me to wake me up? A nice hello like Mamma Luce does would be fine you know."
He takes a look and notices everyone else is there. "Hmm? Breakfast time?" he wonders. He slides off the sofa and walks across the room before sitting on Reborn's lap. "What's for breakfast Mamma Luce?" he asks, looking up the table to where Luce normally sat. "Huh? You're not Mamma Luce." He accuses. She had Luce's puffy hat on and the same flower under her eye, but that wasn't Luce. Not at all.
The room goes deathly silent. Some kid had just dared to sit on Hitman like he owned the man. What was Hitman going to do? Shoot him, whack the boy with a hammer, kill him? But then again, what kind of person sat on Hitman anyway? He wasn't exactly the friendliest person in the world.
Hitman sits there and does nothing.
A click breaks the silence as Marksman readies a gun, clicking the safety off in the process. He didn't mind shooting at Hitman. However he was not letting an assassin anywhere near Soldier.
Tsunayoshi freezes before moving out of Reborn's lap quicker than the time it takes Colonnello to say 'kora'. What was it with them and guns this morning anyway?
BANG BANG BANG!
Bullets zoom across the room and towards the boy. Sending in a child was a new technique, no one had tried that yet, but they were not going to be fooled. He had seen enough child assassins to be wary of them, Lambo and I-pin being just two examples.
Amazingly the boy ducks under every single one of them, seemingly dodging them with ease. "Colonnello are you mad with me? Those are coming closer than usual." The small child claims, turning around to face them again. "I know I didn't let you kill that bad man but you promised me you wouldn't. Therefore you can't get angry with me." The other Ex-Arcobaleno look at Marksman to see if he knew that the child was talking about. He's hiding the confusion well but these people can tell.
The child runs around the table and jumps into Psychic's lap. "Viper, save me!" he asks, grabbing some of the money off the table and holding it infront of his face. Marksman growls; if he attacked the money then he'd have Psychic on his tail, if he attacked her specifically then he'd have the whole Varia after him. So he puts the gun down.
The other Ex-Arcobaleno though are wondering over the use of Viper over Mammon. Hardly anyone knew Psychic's real name since she had been going by Mammon for so long. A child of this age shouldn't know her as anything but the Psychic Mammon off the television.
"Ne, Viper are you feeling better now?" Asks the child, placing one hand against her cheek. Psychic doesn't say anything, too stunned over the name and the personal contact. So instead the child looks over towards Scientist.
"Verde, is she and Bermuda better yet? Hmm? Verde you look really good today. Did you finally get some proper sleep?" The boy climbs off Psychic's lap, crawls over the table (Mamma Luce wasn't here so he could, or else he'd be told off) and sits on Verde. Verde was looking fresh and younger than Tsunayoshi had ever seen him. He didn't have dark circles under his eyes or anything.
Scientist stares disbelievingly at the male in his lap. "Who are you?" he asks. He was sure that the Neo Vongola Primo didn't have a child, especially one this old. Princess would have been sure to tell him, even if he didn't want to know.
The child in his lap looks devastated at the question, eyes tearing up. "Ha, ha, Verde, funny joke." He sniffs.
"Don't cry little one." says Princess, drawing the boy's eyes towards her.
"Who are you?" he asks, eyes narrowing. "Who are you, why are you sitting in Mamma Luce's seat and why have you stolen her hat?"
Princess blinks a few times, rethinking over what the boy had just said. The other Ex-Arcobaleno get ready to move since it seemed that the child might attack Princess.
The boy looks from one Arcobaleno to another, eyes settling on Soldier. "Wow, Lal, you look… older." He says, the last word hardly being voiced. He places a finger to his lips and frowns cutely in thought. After a few seconds he looks around the room, at the walls and furniture. Oh yeah, that's right. "You're not them. I'm still in the future."
"You finally realised Chibi." Says Hitman, taking another sip of coffee. He had known who the child was from the moment he had thrown the cat-like shoe at them. If it had been Sky hit with the Ten Year Bazooka twice, he would have screamed and ran off, not thrown something back at them. Plus, only Luce would place a child in clothing like that. Nana had more normal tastes.
Chibi, that was what Big-Haya-err Storm had called him all the time.
"Chibi? Who is this brat kora?" asks Marksman, giving a sharp look towards Hitman.
"That child is from the Alternate Dimension Sky was talking about. He's supposed to be our saviour, so I wouldn't kill him if I were you. This is a Sawada Tsunayoshi raised and trained practically from birth by us before we were cursed. He also lives on a place called Mafia Row, meaning he's surrounded by the most dangerous Mafia Bosses all of the time. This isn't the Dame-Tsuna we all know."
"Oh, the child that we did that memory transfer research for." Remembers Scientist, leaning forwards to get a better look at the child on the table. "I'm assuming the experiment worked then."
"It did. I saw an example yesterday. He was using moves that the Arcobaleno from his dimension hadn't taught him. They were the attacks of the Guardians of this Time and Dimension." Hitman explains.
Tsunayoshi just looks from one person to another, not understanding anything Verde and Reborn were saying. Although he never did understand a lot of what Verde was saying anyway.
"We've been training him well it seems," Comments Soldier. "He did just dodge those shots from Colonnello."
"Yeah that was cool!" exclaims Stuntman. "Put it there." He holds his fits out for Tsunayoshi to bump. Tsunayoshi smiles before crawling over the table to Skull and giving him the desired fist bump. He then goes and sits in Skull's lap. Stuntman doesn't mind and just bounces the boy happily on his knees instead.
"I am amazed that the child has survived living with us for so long. Not very many of us even like children." Martial Artist comments, resting his head on a raised hand. "In fact, I wonder how we even live in the same house; we can barely manage being in the same room for longer than an hour. The only time we ever get on with each other is when we're on missions."
No one really wanted to remember those times. Sure they were some of the best missions they had ever gone on. They were challenging, they made the Arcobaleno think, they made the pulse race and adrenaline run fast. But they were just bait, all lies to bring the Arcobaleno together, they were a trap set by the Man in the Iron Hat. It was the prelude to their curse and they were still feeling the effects now.
"Why does everyone look sad?" asks Tsunayoshi. He thought they liked going on missions? He gives Skull a hug to try and make him feel better.
"We're just thinking about the past Chibi, it is nothing to worry about." Martial Artist explains to Tsunayoshi.
"Ah, that reminds me," says Tsunayoshi, taking a good look at each one of them, especially Lal. "If we're in the future, they why does everyone look younger? Shouldn't you all look as old as Lal?"
The Ex-Arcobaleno look at each other and then finally to Hitman. How to explain?
"Why do you think you're in the future?" asks Hitman.
"Because that's what Big-Hayato said."
"Did he say anything else?"
"Nope."
Hitman thinks about how to answer this question. There is an awkward silence since none of the others know what to do either. Apart from Scientist, none of the others were privy to this experiment. They didn't know what they should or should not tell the boy.
Princess sees this indecision on the other's faces, so decides to do something about it. "Hello there Tsunayoshi. My name is Princess, it's nice to meet you." She hopes to distract the child from the seemingly troublesome question he had just asked.
"It's nice to meet you. But your name isn't really Princess is it?" says Tsunayoshi as he crawls over the table to sit directly infront of her.
Princess smiles gently at him, before offering him one of the biscuits she had made especially for this occasion. "No it's not. However, I'm not born in your time yet so I don't want to ruin the surprise." Tsunayoshi slowly nods his head in understanding.
"Surprise?" he asks, tilting his head cutely.
Stuntman laughs, "Haha, yeah, because she's really a spa~ce aaalien." He wiggles his fingers to add to the effect.
Scientist gives Princess a side look, eyes sharp with the glint of scientific discovery. Sadly even after all these years, he hadn't been allowed to take DNA and blood samples to see if the Man in the Iron Hat's claims were true; that he and Princess were 'true Earthlings' and of a different species. He really really wanted to but the others stopped him time and time again.
There are multiple kicks from everyone around the table, even Psychic and Martial Artist. Stuntman yelps and bucks in his seat. That had hurt.
Tsunayoshi stands up, gives off his scary Reborn/Viper/Verde glare, and stamps his foot against the table. "How many times do I have to tell you to not harm Skull!" How could they still be beating Skull up in the future? He's going to have to work harder it seems.
The Ex-Arcobaleno look at each other after the glare is given, with nods of approval coming from certain members. They really were training this kid up well. He might have a chance to defeat their enemy after all when he grows up.
"Hey Lal, our kid needs to be this cute and awesome when he grows up, kora." Laughs Marksman, waving his hand for emphasis.
Soldier blushes before grabbing Marksman's collar and proceeding to slap some sense into him.
Tsunayoshi laughs at the familiar scene, but his eye is drawn to two flashes of gold. He crawls across the table once again, deftly catches Lal's hand mid-slap and holds it close to his face. If Soldier was shocked by this brats ability to catch her hand then she was going to be even more shocked by the next topic, "Lal, why do you and Colonnello have matching rings?" He innocently asks.
There are smirks and stifles laughter from the rest of the group as the pair blush almost the exact same shade of red. Colonnello gets over it first and sits up straight and proud in his seat.
With the hugest grin Tsunayoshi had ever seen on Colonnello's face, he says, "Because Lal and I are married."
"Married? What's that?" Tsunayoshi asks, automatically turning to Verde since he was the one to explain new words to him.
"A legal ceremony where two people swear infront of God, family and friends that they love each other and will stay together forever." Scientist answers, even if he didn't believe in such stupid ceremonies.
"To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." Repeats Colonnello, staring into Lal's eyes. She smiles softly before remembering that there are other people in the room. She turns her face away in the opposite direction but still entwines her fingers with Colonnello's.
"So Lal really is Colonnello's girlfriend!" Tsunayoshi sings happily. A girlfriend had been defined as someone you love and want to spend the rest of your life with, if he remembered correctly from his trip to the Tomaso house. "Then I want to get married too! I want to marry Mamma Luce, and Lal and Viper!"
Psychic and Soldier look horrified at the boy's statement. The others in the room laugh at their expressions and the innocent seriousness which the statement had been said with.
Princess giggles, hiding her smile behind her hand. "That's a wonderful thought Chibi."
"No it's not!" shouts Psychic. Weddings and honeymoons cost a whole lot of money and then there would be the cost of a house and the bills for the house, and then there would be a car, or two and then there would be children after that and those cost a fortune!
All of that money… gone. She could feel it slip through her fingers.
"NO!" She shouts once more, releasing an illusion of some hell hounds to chase the horrible horrible child out with.
Tsunayoshi, still scared of dogs (no matter how hard Reborn tried otherwise), screamed his usual scream before jumping off the table. The hounds chase him around the sofa as Tsunayoshi throws everything he can reach at the dogs. When that fails, he runs around the sofa once more before opening the door and running out into the corridor. Hitman throws the cat-like shoe out after the boy since he had no need of it.
"HHHEEEEIIIII!"
He runs down the corridor, keeping an eye on the hounds that were catching up with him.
"Ah Chibi!" someone shouts, but these hounds came before that person. He had to escape.
Suddenly he runs into someone's legs.
"Maa maa, are you alright?"
"That was some extreme running!"
He was, he was safe. He pants and sits on the floor after his run. He then remembers that he had just run into someone.
"Oh I'm sorry." He says whilst looking up, and up, and up into faces that he both did not and did recognise.
I hope you like it.
Translations for this chapter include: Hitman- Reborn, Princess- Yuni, Martial Artist- Fon, Soldier- Lal, Marksman- Colonnello, Stuntman- Skull, Psychic- Viper and Scientist- Verde. I called Lal Soldier since that's what we know her best as. I called Colonnello Marksman because he's a really good shot with a rifle and I wanted to give the pair different names.
See you next chapter!
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published 20 December 2012