Chapter 97
To be proud of yourself
For all of those who said you were about to die from Tsunayoshi's cuteness, may this chapter sober you up.
This is the 4th version of this chapter I wrote due to getting this plot point to fit into the MR and KRH world correctly, which is part of the reason it took so long.
Many thanks to Erephen for being my soundboard, beta and moral support.
And here's a shout out to Tian Kong Shang De Cai SeHippo~ Thank you for reading MR and lots of luck!
I had loads of reviews from names I didn't recognise this time. So to all the newbies: Welcome to Mafia Row!
"Okay, you can open your eyes now. We're not allowed to tell outsiders where our home is because it's super secret private!"
There would be a disaster after all if the public found out what Mafia Row was, who lived on it, and most importantly, where it currently was. So they had had to blindfold Fran the whole way here, whilst listening to flat remarks about child kidnapping, how wrong it was, and whether this was how they had found someone as cute as Tsunayoshi to live with. Luckily Fon was their designated driver once again, or else Fran might not have even made it to Mafia Row to start with. Fon just smiled and listened, making odd comments here and there.
The same could not be said of the other occupants of the car. Mukuro and Hayato especially were ready to kill Fran if he made one more comment, with Ken shouting all of the terrible things they could do to Fran (and being a child of the Estraneo, they were truly terrible things to wish upon a human being). Luckily enough, Tsunayoshi had pinned Fran into the corner of the car, so he was bodily in the way, stopping any attacks. Eventually, Mukuro just placed an illusion on everyone to block out the annoying boy's voice.
But now they were in the COMSUBIN training grounds, just Fran, Tsunayoshi and Fon. The others had gone home for the day, dismissed away from the lesson. Mukuro wasn't keen on Fran anyway and was glad to leave the brat alone. The training grounds had been chosen for privacy. The blindfold hadn't been removed until they had arrived at the training grounds, meaning that Fran couldn't see into any of the houses in case he was a spy or something of the like.
Conversely, none of the residents of Mafia Row would be freaked out to see strange things appear from nowhere when the illusion training began. Untrained illusionists could possibly turn those around them mad or crazy, so the fewer people around the better. It was better for the training to happen here, on Mafia Row, instead of in the normal world, since if they were caught, people knew what an illusionist was. There would be no cries of magic, or TV special effects, no attention grabbing and no interruptions.
Tsunayoshi pulled Fran over to where Viper was waiting, a smile on his face over seeing her again. "Hello Mammon! Did you have fun with the Varia?"
Viper turned from where she was watching the COMSUBIN training down on the beach to look at Tsunayoshi. "It was a nice warm up," She commented. "Easy money too."
Tsunayoshi giggled. "That's good then!" Viper liked making money quickly and easily after all and the Varia were some of her biggest income, along with her information brokering. "This is the boy I was telling you about. The one we think is an illusionist like you."
"You mean the one you are paying me to teach?" She replied, earning another giggle from the child. Tsunayoshi had no clue how large his debt to Viper was by this point in time, but he didn't really care.
She then turned her attention to the other boy. Who was wearing a strange hat in the shape of an apple, rough and run down clothes, covered in scratches and bruises, dulled eyes and…
Who was an enemy.
"So you're my teacher, huh? I was expecting someone in a wizard costume. Although I suppose this isn't much different." Fran commented dryly, looking Viper up and down, ducking slightly to try and see under her hood. "My name is F-"
"I don't want to know your name!" Viper said, taking a few shaking steps backwards away from that boy.
Tsunayoshi looked concerned, stepping closer to Viper. "Mammon, are you okay?" He asked softly. It was rare for her to act like this.
"I won't teach him Tsunayoshi. Not him." She replied, her voice quivering, taking yet another step backwards. Fran just stood there in confusion, wondering whether this was yet another attack by his long running streak of bad luck.
Tsunayoshi too looked confused. Viper hadn't had a problem when he had asked her earlier, and it wasn't like Fran was her first student, she had taught Mukuro and Chrome with no problems. "But why not?"
"He's deceiving you Tsunayoshi. I bet he's already well versed in illusions." She practically spat.
"I'm not actually." Fran interrupted. "I don't even know I'm doing them most of the time. Here, see."
But before Fran could do anything, Viper had run, picking up Tsunayoshi as she went and heading in the direction of the forest.
'No, not now, not here. I thought I was safe here. How silly that thought was.'
Where would be the best place to hide? Back with the Varia? Back at the Arcobaleno House? She couldn't even remember who was supposed to be there and who was out on missions. The Vendicare maybe? They'd at least protect Tsunayoshi.
"Viper, what's wrong?" Tsunayoshi pleaded, nothing making sense to him at all. Why did Viper not like Fran?
"You need to be quiet, if he finds us he'll probably kill us." Viper hissed, ducking under some branches and running through some bushes.
Kill them? Fran? Hmm… Tsunayoshi wasn't sure about that one. His feelings said the boy could, but was nothing Viper couldn't handle. But then again, he had never seen Viper like this before; she obviously knew something that Tsunayoshi didn't.
'I won't give them the satisfaction of having me killed. They won't ruin the life I've built for myself. But why now of all times?'
There was a crack of a broken branch, Viper whirling around at the sound.
"Is this part of the training? Because I don't understand it." It was Fran, standing a few metres away.
Viper growled, refusing to listen to the boy. Instead she conjured up a hell hound and sent it running after their pursuer. The hound howled long and loud, terrifying to all who heard it, saliva dripping from its maw, red eyes fixed on its prey.
Tsunayoshi skittered backwards a few steps at the sudden appearance of the beast, before being pulled in the opposite direction by Viper. They continued their run through the forest, every now and again having to dodge the traps the COMSUBIN had put there as training and defence.
"Viper, stop!" Tsunayoshi shouted, pulling Viper to a halt before she could fall into one of the pitfall traps hidden under the leaves. He took the time to try and catch his breath, although he didn't let go of Viper's hand; he was afraid she'd run off again if he did. "Viper… what's going on?" He panted, looking up at her.
"That's what I'd like to know." Said a voice from above. The pair tensed until they realised that it was Lal, the teacher jumping down to land in front of them. "There's a child running around unattended. I nearly shot him before I remembered you were doing a lesson out here."
"Setting a hell hound on the boy is a little much though." Colonnello commented, having followed Lal to investigate the howl from earlier. "Unless you're giving him the Spartan treatment, kora?!" The Spartan method was the best after all.
"It wasn't harsh enough. The boy needs to die. I need to get away from here." Viper muttered, looking around to check the boy wasn't nearby. Where could she go that they wouldn't find her? Maybe somewhere in India this time? Or maybe South America? She had contacts over there that could hide her.
"Kill him? Is he that bad a student? I didn't think you'd taught him anything yet." Colonnello laughed, although turned serious when he realised Viper wasn't reacting like usual- no head shake or rolling eyes over his humour. "Wait, you're actually serious, kora?"
"Of course I'm serious." Viper snapped. She shouldn't be wasting time here on idle chitchat.
There was another rustling of bushes nearby, causing Viper to tense and ready some illusionary knives.
"Ah ha! There you all are. I thought I was never going to find you all in here." Luce sang as she entered the clearing where the others were. "What's everyone so serious about?"
"Maybe Lal wants her students to face an army of Hell's Denizens. Would explain the hell hound chasing that boy through the woods." Reborn suggested with a smirk on his face, having been escorting Luce here.
"Nah, Viper just wants to kill her student." Colonnello explains offhandedly.
"Che, haven't we all been there? I'm surprised Lal hasn't killed you yet." Reborn replied, looking down at Colonnello. The soldier growled, but before yet another fight could start, Luce interrupted.
"Viper sweetie, what's wrong? You're shaking." She asked in concern, walking closer to Viper to grab her other hand.
Viper continued to look around warily, and it was only Tsunayoshi's and Luce's hands that were keeping her here rather than running. "Luce, I need to go. Somewhere far from here."
Luce frowned. "Viper, you promised to warn me before you ran off again."
"But Luce, it's Them." Viper pleaded, trying to get the women to understand.
Luce blinked, partly in shock and partly in understanding. "Really? I thought I would have Seen that happening." She commented, referring to her visions. She hadn't had one for a while now.
"Them? Who's 'them'? We'd like an explanation of what's going on." Lal growled, not liking being out of the loop.
Luce nodded and looked back at Viper. "Viper, I really think you should tell the others. How long have you been living with us? How many times have we saved your life? You know you can trust the others. They'll keep you safe so you don't have to worry any longer. We won't let them get you dear, I promise."
Viper's hesitation was clear. It had always been her first instinct to run when the odds weren't in her favour. She didn't like being trapped or losing. But then again, if they found her here of all places, then was there anywhere else she could run? The Arcobaleno House was quite literally the safest place in the world. If she was going to stay and be safe anywhere, that was the place. She knew that. And… she couldn't leave Tsunayoshi behind. Not after all this time together. Loyalty was not her thing, but for him…?
Viper sighed. "Alright then. But I want the boy captured and tied up."
Luce smiled in relief- looked like she wouldn't have to go chasing Viper all over the world again. She could be hard to find when she wanted to be. "I think we can manage that dear. Just make sure your little puppy doesn't attack us."
This is how the entirety of the Arcobaleno ended up sitting in the shade of the trees less than an hour later, Fran sat next to Bermuda, wrapped up in chains.
"Did we really have to do this outside?" Verde grumbled, trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the bare floor. He'd rather be sat in his laboratory, he had experiments to be doing after all, but Luce had insisted, in the particular way Verde had long recognised meant he couldn't refuse.
"It's not like we could take the boy anywhere on the Island, especially if he really is who Viper believes him to be." Luce smiled, handing out drinks and cookies from her picnic basket. Sure they were doing an interrogation, but it was on a poor little boy who hadn't done anything wrong yet, so Luce would rather make the atmosphere less oppressive. Plus it was a beautiful day outside and it would be a shame to waste it.
Skull leaned forwards, light glinting off his helmet. "Heh, if you think you can do anything to Mammon, you've got another thing commin' boy. You'll never get through the great Skull-sama!" Skull was sure that none of the Arcobaleno would let anyone hurt Viper.
"Indeed Skull, but I believe we need to understand a little more before we go condemning a child. Hastiness leads to mistakes." Fon commented, pushing Skull back, away from the child.
Tsunayoshi wasn't really sure what to make of any of this, things had gotten strange and confusing and he didn't understand any of it. But Viper must have a good reason for this. So he'd stay quiet until he finally understood why it seemed Fran was in trouble. He knew Fran got in trouble a lot, but he hadn't done anything this time, and Viper wouldn't be offended by the wizard comment.
"Tsunayoshi," Viper said, as all attention rested on her. "You've always wanted to know why I'd never let you get tattoos like those under my eyes, right?"
Tsunayoshi nodded. He'd always wanted those triangle tattoos under his eyes so he could be like Viper, but everyone had always said no. He'd even offered to get them somewhere other than under his eyes, but everyone still denied him. Even the puppy eyes hadn't worked! Nor was he allowed to get Luce's, Skull's or Fon's tattoos either. He had pouted all day until Luce finally drew on his face with her eyeliner.
The question confused him, until Viper prompted him to look at Fran.
Who also had the same tattoos under his eyes.
Tsunayoshi had noticed them of course, and automatically thought of Viper, it was one of the reasons he had become friends with Fran. But he had never thought they actually meant something… something bad apparently. If they had the same tattoo then shouldn't they be friends? Or maybe Family- that was why Luce and Aria had the same tattoo under their eye.
"They're the same…" Tsunayoshi mumbled, looking back up at Viper.
"Yes, they are. It has something to do with my past." Viper replied, looking back at Tsunayoshi. Luce was the only person she had ever told, and that was only because Luce had confronted her about it first due to her visions. It would be easier to tell this to Tsunayoshi than the others. Tsunayoshi wasn't going to judge her for her past. The others might.
"But we know your past, kora. You and Reborn were found and trained by Nono, right?" Interrupted Colonnello. That fact was no secret, even though it wasn't talked about much.
Reborn shook his head. "No, it's from before then. She already had the tattoos the first time I met her."
Viper nodded. "Yes. I've had these marks ever since I showed the aptitude to be an extraordinary Illusionist. I was three at the time, so I don't really remember much about it. These marks prove that I'm part of the Serpentis Noctem."
The atmosphere grew heavy and serious. The Arcobaleno knew exactly who they were. Dangerous and incredibly powerful. An underground, power-hungry cult that was rumoured to have large influences in most of the giant corporations of the world. No one knew much about them, although in the Mafia there were whispers that this cult was made up entirely of illusionists. Viper being a member, or ex-member, explained quite a few things about her.
"I have many of their rogue agents in the Antarctica Ice Prison, forced into sleep. Our research on them gives some interesting results." Bermuda explained offhandedly.
"Umm… who are they?" Tsunayoshi asked, concerned by the Arcobaleno's reactions.
Viper shook her head. "You wouldn't understand Tsunayoshi. Let's just say that they aren't very nice people, and that they have more influence and power than even the Vongola."
Tsunayoshi gaped. Even at his young age he knew how powerful Vongola was, and always has been. Even though they told him he wouldn't understand, Tsunayoshi trusted the judgement of the Arcobaleno unconditionally. If they didn't like these people, then neither did he.
"And Fran is one of these bad people?" Tsunayoshi asked, wondering whether he'd need to reconsider his friendship with the boy. He liked Fran, but if Fran was going to hurt Viper, then he wouldn't like Fran anymore. She was too important to him.
All eyes turned to the child who was still in Bermuda's hold.
"Fran, huh? The name fits. From the Latin frángere, meaning to break, shatter, fracture." Viper recited.
See, Verde knew Latin for all his sciency biology magic and Viper knew Latin for all her witchy magic spells~
"It wouldn't surprise me if they sent a child after you. But he'd have to be strong if they thought he could defeat you." Reborn suggested.
"Yeah! It's not possible for a mere child to beat you Mammon!" Skull loudly agreed before getting kicked in the stomach by Colonnello.
"But Fran can't do illusions," Tsunayoshi mumbled quietly. "That's why I came to you." Luce smiled and patted his knee comfortingly. They weren't saying Tsunayoshi was lying, but might have been tricked.
"Let us see what the boy has to say about this." Fon suggested. "We would be able to tell if he is lying to us after all and Bermuda's Flames will dampen any illusions he tries to do."
The others nodded and readied their weapons just in case. Slowly Bermuda unwrapped his chains from the boy. "Speak, boy." He ordered in his cold scary boss-voice.
"Ahh, what a scary bunch of people. I was expecting the boy who's too cute to be male to have cute parents, not wolves. Just my luck. Well at least that makes it 666 times now, wonder what will happen next?" Fran sighed, playing with an object under his shirt to calm himself.
That comment made Viper pause. Those numbers made a strange bit of sense. Could it be…? "What are you hiding under your shirt?" Viper asked.
When the boy didn't act quick enough, Lal leaned over and yanked on the chain, pulling an object out from under Fran's shirt.
Viper breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's fine. He's not with the Serpentis Noctem."
'Now I won't have to run. I didn't think I had done anything recently to cause their wrath.'
"What?! But you were sure a minute ago!" Skull cried. Was the boy an enemy or not? How did a ring make a blind bit of difference? Was everyone just playing a joke on him?
"Poor child." Luce frowned. "To be stuck with a Hell Ring at such a young age."
"Whilst the Serpentis Noctem are powerful, even they wouldn't mess with a Hell Ring. They care for their skins too much to deal with the negative effects. We were banned from wearing them." Viper explained. "It's punishable by death."
"That's probably what happened to my parents then." Fran commented, voice still flat despite talking about the death of his parents.
"Your parents were killed?" Asks Luce softly, handing the boy a drink and a cookie now that it seemed he wasn't an enemy after all.
Viper, however, wasn't going to act so nicely. Just because the boy had a Hell Ring didn't mean he was entirely friendly. He could be an exile like her, but a loyal one. Children were easy to condition after all, and if his parents had been loyal then the brat might not know any other way.
"That's what I said. My mother got me to a friend of hers before she was killed though. I was a baby at the time so I don't remember, but apparently the ring was left in the crib with me. Since then I've moved from relative to relative. No one seems to like me and thinks I'm possessed because I say weird things or weird things happen around me. So when they got too scared, they'd send me to someone else. Although your Chibi-chan there seems to think the strange things were because I'm an untrained whatever-he-said."
"Yeah!" Tsunayoshi shouts, finally smiling once more. He was glad that Fran wasn't an enemy, although Viper still didn't seem entirely happy. He'd have to do something nice for her later, and give her lots of cuddles. "Like I said, Fran does illusions without realising. I saw it when- huh?"
Tsunayoshi stopped when he heard some snuffling from outside their circle. Climbing over Colonnello, he saw that it was Basil, wiping glittering eyes.
"Thy tale is a sad one Fran. One so young should not endure such hardship." Basil said, walking up to where Colonnello and Lal were. "Lady Lal, Master wished me to hand thee this. Thou wast not answering thy phone." Basil handed over some files, which looked suspiciously like orders.
"Ah, so the lost time traveller also lives here. What a surprise." Fran said, waving at the boy.
"Isn't Iemitsu mean, making you come all the way out here just for that." Luce smiled. "Here, have a cookie." Basil blushed and accepted the cookie.
"It was not a problem, Lady Luce." He replied, bowing. He then paused for a moment, eyes flicking between her and where Fran was. "If One may be so bold Lady Luce, but what will thee do with Fran?"
Luce hummed, a finger to her lips. "I don't know. It seems rather mean to send him back to an unloving family, especially now that we know."
Reborn sighed, here she went again, messing with everyone's personal lives. "He is not staying with us. In case you've forgotten, Lancia has enough misfits to take care of and I doubt he or Verde would be happy having a Hell Ring near Fuuta."
"Umm… I may have a solution…" Basil said, daring to interrupt the Arcobaleno's conversation. "Master was complaining the other day that the CEDEF did not have an Illusionist on the staff, yet that Lady Mammon's fees were too high to pay regularly. Very few Illusionists are of the Lady's calibre after all. However, Master may settle for one trained by the Lady. If he were to live with the CEDEF then Fran would be close enough for thy lessons, Lady Mammon."
Those lessons weren't going to start straight away- members of the CEDEF had enough anti-illusionist training to survive whatever the little brat threw at them accidentally. Viper had to investigate the boy first, thoroughly. Extremely thoroughly. Whether his past was actually as he said it was. Whether he, or any of his previous foster families had contact with the Serpentis Noctem. She wouldn't teach him until she knew it was entirely safe to do so. Iemitsu would have to be warned of the possibility too, and keep a tight eye on the child.
"But what about the Hell Ring?" Colonnello asked suspiciously.
Basil tilted his head. "I am not aware of the Ring's effects, I am afraid to say."
"According to my research, Fran's one in particular inspires bad luck as a passive effect. However when the Ring causes good luck, it is of much larger and worthwhile proportions." Verde reported, pushing his glasses up his nose. Viper nodded in agreement.
"Well, I dost not see a problem with bad luck and I doubt Master will have one either." Basil said, smiling. The Master was a calm and caring person after all, he'd probably find a way to make light of whatever actions the bad luck caused.
"What do you think of that Fran?" Luce asked, smiling sweetly at the boy. Luce loved it when everything had a happy ending. Even with her visions, happy ends were not always easy to obtain.
Fran shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. "I don't really care. Although not being screamed at sounds better. I just want these lessons so I can go around scaring people for real. And to get back at the Pineapple-sempai for insulting me." He'd been swapped from family to family too many times to care where he went any more. What was one more? Especially one with such benefits. And the people here seemed interesting, especially Tsunayoshi and his 'parents'. Just how many parents did one person need, anyway?
"Is Fran free to leave with me? I would like to discuss this with my Master first." Basil said, smiling encouragingly at Fran. He had taken a liking to Fran whilst at school, and after hearing about his past, now understood the boy's demeanour better. He felt sorry for Fran, and wanted to help in any way he could. Whist getting an illusionist was not Basil's objective it was sure to sugar and smooth things over with the Master.
"He's all yours." Reborn said, standing. "I've had enough of this whole issue." And with that he walked off back into the forest. As long as the brat wasn't going to end up within the grounds of their house, Reborn couldn't care less. He wouldn't be the one to train Fran so what happened was none of his business.
Luce just giggled and turned back to Fran. "You're free to go with Basil here, or we can take you home, which ever you want." She wasn't going to pressure the boy into something he didn't want.
Fran stood up without answering and walked over to Basil, grabbing the back of his shirt and dragging Basil along, towards the forest where it seemed the exit was.
Basil gasped and tried to walk backwards. Eventually Basil managed to break Fran's grip and quickly bowed to Luce. "Good-bye Lady Luce, Tsunayoshi, Arcobaleno." He turned and chased after Fran. "Fran! You have to say good-bye to Lady Luce. It's imperative." Everyone had to be courteous to Luce, or else really bad things happened. It was practically an unwritten law on the island.
"Yeah, bye." Fran said out of reflex, more concentrating on his next question. "So lost time traveller, do you like in a castle? Or maybe a cave?"
Fran was so busy asking his questions, he never noticed the Hell Ring glow under his shirt.
Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Let's hope that I can get the next one out quicker XD. Basil and Fran became friends a few chapters ago purely for this, and to get him into the CEDEF House. Like I said, I want to mix up some of the relationships and this is one of them.
Lots of luck to everyone taking important exams in the next few months! Cute little Tsunayoshi will be cheering you on~. And if you're really nice, Verde might help you study. Or you can bribe Viper into finding the answers for you XD (assuming you've got the money to pay her of course)
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published: 08 May 2014