SOMETHING NEW IN ITALY – THE TWO MEET
In the Italian Lakes
Dokuro looks at Tsuna solemnly not knowing how to act in this situation. It would have been easier if he was angry, if he was furious but he wasn't, he just stood there in silence.
"I'm sorry, this is all my fault" yells a man who slowly approaches from behind Tsuna.
Dokuro raises her head in shock "Bana…".
The blonde man approaches, Dokuro's boss Vongola Bana. Tsuna turns his head slowly to look at the newcomer, he looks like Primo… is this Dokuro's new boss?
"You must be the current Vongola boss, Sawada Tsunayoshi, it's an honour to meet you, I am Chrome's boss Vongola Bana" Bana introduces himself to his rival.
That moment has finally come where the two meet, the tension created by their auras is almost palpable to Dokuro, 'I never imagined that things would be so intense when their gazes first met'.
Tsuna looks Bana over as he thinks to himself, 'you may look like Primo but you are just an imitation, you will go like all the others'.
Bana has similar thoughts for Tsuna, 'the Vongola boss who defeated Bermuda, does he think that will be enough against me'.
"I must apologise Tsunayoshi, Rokudo Mukuro approached me in a difficult period of my life, he offered to be my mist guardian if I challenged you for the position of 10th, Chrome was part of that deal" Bana explains.
Tsuna struggles to believe this, "Mukuro never told you that he was already my mist guardian".
"Never" replies Bana.
"Then what about Dokuro?" asks Tsuna.
When he gets no response the young Vongola boss turns to look at his fiancée, "Well, did you tell him you were my mist guardian?".
Dokuro replies out of fear for her mother, "No, I didn't", this causes an awkward silence to descend over the hill top as Tsuna hangs his head.
Bana allows himself a small smile, he understands exactly what is going through Tsuna's mind.
"If you like, Chrome can become your mist guardian again, I didn't know you two were so close before this" says Bana.
Regardless of this offer, Bana already knows what Tsuna is going to say, they are of a similar disposition.
"That's fine" offers Tsuna, "Since that is how it went you can keep her as your guardian".
Bana's tone changes from one of sympathy to one of enthusiasm, "Sawada Tsunayoshi from this point take note, I am officially challenging you for the position of Vongola 10th and his guardians".
Dokuro takes the opportunity to focus her mind on something other than how hurt Tsuna is, "Wait a moment, Tsuna won't have a mist guardian, how is this fair, we would have to…", however she is interrupted by Tsuna.
"It's OK" says the brown haired man, "You can have the mist match, we will win the others anyway".
With that Tsuna begins to walks off, heading down the hill with no emotion displayed on his face. It is clear to both Dokuro and Bana that he is devastated, Dokuro begins to run towards Tsuna but is stopped by Bana's hand on her shoulder.
"It is best to leave him alone right now, trying to cheer him up would just make him even more sad" says Dokuro's new boss. To that Dokuro simply nods in reply.
"I'm going to leave, I came on another boat, if you want to come with me it's this way" suggests Bana as he walks down the hill the opposite way to Tsuna.
Dokuro looks in Tsuna's direction then Bana's direction in turn but she heads neither, she just collapses to the floor and continues to cry, this day she has lost the bond that she worked so hard to build with her boss.
A few hours later, the Vongola Mansion
A still dejected Tsuna walks in to see a drunk Iemitsu and 9th boss.
"AH TSUNA" shouts his father, "you were proposing today right, how did it go".
"We are both looking forward to hearing about it" adds the 9th.
"We're not getting married, she's found another boss and they are challenging us for the position of 10th" Tsuna dimly declares.
"WHAT" shout both Iemitsu and the 9th.
"I need to be alone for a while, I hope that doesn't bother you" says Tsuna as he leaves the mansion.
9th and Iemitsu look at each other, one of them is his boss, the other his father and yet neither know what to say to him in this situation.
Tsuna wonders out of the Vongola mansion, not in the mood to take in the moon lit views. It's a well-lit night and the air is pleasantly cool, it would have been nice weather to enjoy a romantic walk in, if Dokuro had said yes.
Tsuna has a lot of thoughts going through his mind, 'why did he look like Primo, why did she side with him, why did Mukuro betray me, are my friends going to get hurt again, have I let down the 9th'. None of the things he thinks about bring any pleasure to Tsuna.
He ventures into Rome looking for somewhere to clear his mind, he walks through the centre to find that at this time of night the streets are lined with people at the doors of clubs, happy people, excited people, violent people, people being sick, each one of them still happier than him. While wandering through a back alley to avoid the clubs Tsuna is confronted by some muggers, they clearly chose their target wrong. Tsuna is more violent than usual in the beating he gives them; he leaves the alley at the other end with his clothes barely ruffled.
Decimo, as Primo had insisted on calling him, decided to wonder further from the centre of Rome, he found a nice spot to sit down a bench just beside a lake. Tsuna stared into the water, maybe just for something different to look at but the only thing he can see in the water is Dokuro's face. In a moment of pure frustration Tsuna stands up and slams his foot through the bench. A few splinters line his body but the pain doesn't bother the young boss, he simply dusts himself off before walking over to the other bench.
The next day, in Rome
Tsuna is asleep on the bench still, emotionally exhausted from the previous day. Several passers-by look at Tsuna with disgust, his state proving displeasing for them to see. Fortunately for the future boss a passing individual was a member of the Bovino family.
Since Lambo's rise to prominence in the mafia world the Bovino family had re-established their good relations with the Vongola. This woman walked up to the bench and gently shook Tsuna by the shoulder. Tsuna opened his eyes to see this suit-clad woman before him.
"Excuse me, I am a member of the Bovino family, aren't you the young masters brother, Sawada Tsunayoshi".
"Yeah, that's me" responds Tsuna as he sits up and looks into the lake.
"Thank you for waking me, these people are all giving me a funny look" says Tsuna.
After a small discussion about Tsuna's wellbeing and ability to get home the woman from the Bovino family continues on her way. Tsuna continues to stare into the lake, unable to see anything but Dokuro's face, eventually driven to madness by this constant reminder of yesterday Tsuna throws a nearby rock into the water, creating a splash big enough to surprise everyone around him. Tsuna gives little notice to their stares as he continues gazing at the ripples on the lake.
After staring for long enough a different reflection appears in the lake, no longer is Tsuna looking into the eyes of Chrome Dokuro, the one who appears instead is Gokudera Hayato.
"I hear you've been backed into a corner 10th" says the storm guardian.
Tsuna turns around with haste as if to confirm that what he is seeing isn't an illusion. There are no illusions here, standing before him are his storm guardian, his rain guardian, his sun guardian, his lightning guardian, his cloud guardian and even his home tutor have arrived.
"Everyone, you really came" says Tsuna, looking happy for the first time in 24 hours.
"Of course we did, we've been waiting for this for an extremely long time" Ryohei reminds Tsuna.
"Yeah, you're our friend after all Tsuna" explains Yamamoto.
"Papa and Mamma told me I had to come" moans Lambo as he picks his nose,
"Shut up" Reborn reprimands as he hits Lambo on the head.
"I warned you about Mukuro, oh well, fighting him will be interesting" remarks Hibari.
The tenth generation Vongola family has all gathered at the request of the 9th Vongola boss to help Sawada Tsunayoshi.
"I don't care who made you upset" claims Gokudera, "but we're going to kick their ass for hurting the 10th".
"YES" respond the entire group, the confrontation is now set in place, Giotto's chosen one vs Giotto's son, Sawada Tsunayoshi vs Vongola Bana, the two of them are on a collision course.