RETURN TO THE HOMELAND – THE HIDDEN POTENTIAL
Tsuna's Training Yard, Italy
The night has passed, the night that will go down in history as the night where the seven great mafioso first gathered to counter the Yakuza. On this night Vongola Bana was made chief of the mafia police and Yamamoto Takeshi had been promoted to the leader of the Millefiore family. Several fighting styles had changed dramatically in one moment.
For Sawada Tsunayoshi nothing has changed, he himself never encountered Honda, only a few of the late comers even got a glimpse of him. Tsuna could feel him though, the terrifying leader of the Yakuza, his energy was tangible. Both the Vongola boss and the Yakuza leader know that their encounter is so inevitable that it could be referred to as destiny.
It is to the end of countering this great threat, the strongest person that the Vongola have ever faced, that Tsuna was allowed to keep training in his current style by Dino. All night he has been continuing his work, helping Gokudera obtain data about the zero-point breakthrough. Going for so long without sleep is not healthy but the Vongola boss supreme physical conditioning means he can keep performing at the highest level.
Gokudera had requested during the night that a few military personnel create a small shelter for them to work in. The Italian military did not like to disappoint, especially under the orders of General Donato Gallo. The shelter was exactly what Gokudera needed, it is fitted with plenty of workspace, a lot of storage and enough plugs to power a small office.
As Gokudera sits in the shelter he analyses the date he has collected from Tsuna's zero-point breakthrough. Gokudera uses his computer expertly, switching between graphs so quickly Tsuna barely even has time to look at them over his shoulder. 'All these graphs seem like an alien language to me, yet he understands them so thoroughly' smiles the boss.
"You're quite amazing you know, with all this sciency stuff" compliments the chestnut haired mafioso.
"Well I've always worked hard to understand the dying will flame" smiles Gokudera, recalling the days when he developed system CAI to counteract the Millefiore family. The Millefiore ruled the future with an iron fist, the threat they presented pales in comparison to the Yakuza however.
"You never know when this stuff might come in handy after all" continues the storm guardian as he tries to fill the silence.
Tsuna looks outside the shelter at the pouring rain, and howling winds. Gokudera had been wise to request this construction, the two of them would be OK with getting wet but Gokudera's laptop likely wasn't.
"Perhaps" begins Tsuna, not taking his eyes off the dripping water, "Your foresight will turn out to be the thing that saves us".
"I hope so" begins the white haired supervisor, "Haru always used to argue with me about it" he says with an ironic smile. He and Haru always used to shout at each other, of course that was just who they were but now that they have come to blows it is a painful memory.
"She thought you worked too hard" presses the 10th, eager to give any advice or help he can to his most faithful follower.
"Yeah, she wanted me to spend more time with her" explains Gokudera, he shrugs his shoulders, "Perhaps she was right, I think I neglected her too much retrospectively".
Tsuna places his hand on Gokudera's shoulder, "We all make mistakes Gokudera, you are no different".
"Instead of looking to the past in regret why don't you plan for the future".
Gokudera continues to look at his screen as he types away on his keyboard. His nostalgic smile still clings to his face, "You're right of course, after all this is over I will work hard to make things right with Haru".
Tsuna smiles and thinks back to his memories of the couple. He recalls when he and Kyoko would travel to expensive restaurants with them, sampling the benefits of the Vongola lifestyle. Not all the times were easy going, the foursome also went to dangerous mafia meetings, he and Gokudera had tried to talk the women out of coming with them but they were determined to play their part. Now Haru and Kyoko had become strong, they had progressed.
Since splitting with Kyoko, Tsuna has found happiness again, he had a wife. He and Dokuro had been thrown together through circumstance and had fallen in love by chance, he had moved on from Kyoko. Gokudera hadn't been so fortunate, Haru's re-emergence had come at just the wrong time in his life. The Vongola boss truly hoped that Gokudera and Haru could find happiness together again.
"No matter how far gone she is, no matter how far I drove her away, I will pull her back to being the Haru we all knew and loved" Gokudera declares with fire in his voice. It is a promise he is making, not a promise to Tsuna, not a promise to Haru and not a promise to the Vongola. It is a promise to himself.
"You're a good man Gokudera Hayato".
Gokudera opens his mouth to thank his boss for his support but is cut off when the final graph finishes rendering, this is the most important graph in the eyes of the supervisor. This is the graph to change things.
"It's just like I thought" the cloud guardian declares, his voice quiet as his whole body shakes in anticipation. "We can do this; you can do this 10th".
"What is just like you thought" Tsuna excitedly questions.
"Look at these absolute measurements of flame prominence, the different colours represent the different attributes" Gokudera explains as he taps the screen with his pen.
"When you use the zero-point breakthrough the other attributes prominence spikes".
"When I go into the minus" Tsuna asks incredulously, "That can't be right".
"No, when you are fluctuating between the plus and zero" replies Gokudera, "The whole time these spike".
"Amazing" gasps the boss.
"If we make full use of this, we can make a new graph where we assume your flames go into a parallel level. When you use the zero-point breakthrough you constantly fluctuate in the y-axis but you have a slight x axis shift until your breakthrough when you shift back again".
Tsuna looks at Gokudera with an innocent and blank expression, hinting to his friend that he has lost him completely.
Gokudera tries to explain again, "If we can push you further into the x-axis" begins the storm guardian, "No, I'm getting ahead of myself, what I'm saying is that with a few minor adjustments we can improve your power output massively".
"Good work Gokudera" shouts Tsuna as a huge smile comes to his face, "Who would have thought that science is where we would win this battle".
"Yeah, that's going to ruin the victory song" notes the storm guardian.
"The victory wine will be fine enough for us to talk about for a life-time" counters the 10th, knowing that the Vongola had plenty of methods to get some very fine wine.
"Let's do this Gokudera".
"Yeah".
The Yakuza HQ
In the medicinal area of the headquarters one of the Yakuza's youngest members is recovering, Kosuke Yaru. Having been beaten by his sister with 'the cane' he is in poor condition. His wounds are not life threatening but would not allow him to be participate in a fight.
Yaru slowly begins to wake up and become aware of his injuries. 'Perhaps' he thinks to himself, 'This will delay our invasion of Italy'.
The first person the green haired Yakuza sees upon waking up his blonde haired comrade, Kara. She has an empty look in her eyes as she stares into the distance, she knows Yaru has woken up but remains emotionless in spite of it.
"Why did you let him do that to my sister" Yaru asks. Yaru surprises himself by not being angrier. Right now his main concern is his curiosity about this woman.
"The master is the strongest, therefore he has the right to do whatever he wants" responds Kara as if rattling off a fact for an exam.
"I… I guess that's so" Yaru sighs, "Then we each have to become stronger in hope that one day we can do whatever we want".
"I have undying loyalty to the master" Kara explains, "He will always be the strongest".
Kara's answer only confuses Yaru more, who is Kara and why is she here. Why does she hold such undying loyalty towards a murderous old man like Honda yet not fear him at all? Yaru decides not to press the issue anymore.
Suddenly Yaru notices a third person is in the room with them. A young girl, maybe 8 years old. The girl has striking blonde hair, obviously she has died it. What is even more striking than her hair and age though is her actions. The young girl proceeds to dance around Yaru's bed playing a trumpet.
"Who is this little girl" asks Yaru.
"That's Sakura… she has no family name anymore" explains Kara.
"Nice to meet you" Sakura breaks her performance before quickly returning her mouth to her instrument.
"She's really… really good" notices Yaru. "How can she be this good at such a young age?" asks the boot user as he looks back at Kara who seems to be a fountain of knowledge.
"I'm really glad you like my performance" Sakura yells before Kara gets a chance to answer, "Let me play another piece for you".
Yaru doesn't lash out at the young girl for her rudeness. It is clearly just a symptom of her youth and inexperience. As Sakura begins to play another piece the green haired Yakuza smiles in response, her music truly is masterful.
"Sakura was sold to the Yakuza a few years ago" begins Kara, "We were going to use her for… well it's unpleasant to talk about so let's not go there".
Yaru feels sick to his stomach hearing that this talented artist had been purchased, she was a person not a commodity. He dreads to think what she was going to be used for.
"We didn't sell her in the end, the old man quite liked her music and he… the master saw her value".
"Sakura plays music because it makes sad things go away, it makes annoying things go away and it makes bad things go away" Sakura cheerfully yells to Yaru, "Don't you think so".
"You shouldn't indulge her too much" suggests Kara.
Yaru frowns at Kara's suggestion of neglecting the young girl. What had this young girl gone through to get here, she is clearly special, her music something to be cherished.
"Yes I agree" begins Yaru, "I don't feel sad anymore Sakura, could you keep playing your music".
"Yes" yells Sakura in reply, delighted that someone has found interest in her talents. Since the takeover of Japan there has been too much sadness around, interest in her art has become rarer, not even the slaves appreciate it.
Carrying some medicine, a slave makes the mistake of running into the room unannounced and uninvited.
"I have brought some…".
At this moment without any warning, an ethereal wave of distorted space launches from the end of Sakura's trumpet, a transparent wall of sound that travels towards the slave. As the wave hits the unfortunate slave his entire body shatters, disappearing in an instant.
"Annoying things go away" Sakura recalls using the exact same tone she did earlier.
Sakura apologises before continuing to play her trumpet, "Sorry, I forgot my performance".
'She doesn't hesitate to kill and she is so strong at such a young age' notes Yaru, 'No wonder she is valued so much by the old man, she has so much hidden potential'.
Bana's Training Yard
Bana has returned to his group with his big news. He contemplates how to deliver the news, some of his group are pessimistic about their relations with the mafia as a whole. The clone decides to simply declare it and see what happens.
"We have been given a new job" explains Bana as his guardians look at him, "We are to be the mafia police".
"Mafia police?" questions Sorata.
"What an interesting job" Tokata decides, smiling at the thought of having many worthy opponents to test his skills against. This gives him new limits to break through.
"But does this mean they are placing their full hope in us" Sorata asks as he turns to his enthusiastic colleague.
"Well I wouldn't get your hopes up" suggests the knife wielder.
"Who cares if they believe in us or not" says Lancia. Lancia has never been a man of words, he has always been a man of action, enforcing the mafia laws upon the mightiest fighting groups in the world is likely to be full of action. If they are to enforce the rules, then it matters little whether people have faith in them or not.
"They don't" Kyoko says with pessimism thick in her voice, "They are just trying to placate us".
Bana frowns as he looks at his sun guardian. Perhaps Kyoko would be the hardest of the guardians to get through to, she had felt the most betrayed by the mafia. She had felt betrayed by her ex-fiancée who was the golden boy of that mafia. Seeing him move on with another woman had undoubtedly been a bitter experience for her.
"They believe in us" Bana tells his guardians, fully believing himself that Tsuna has faith in his group, "And it wouldn't matter even if they didn't".
"This is what Tsuna talked about, it's an ever changing mafia, this is our big chance to prove ourselves. We are now a huge part of the mafia world; we can make a name for ourselves starting now".
"Make a name for ourselves huh" Haru smiles at the prospect.
"I like the sound of that" says Lancia.
"I suppose it is a chance as you say" concedes Kyoko.
"Wherever you lead I will follow you Bana, that is unconditional" promises Tokata.
"It sounds fun to me" laughs Sorata.
"Then for our first task I need all of you to help me to learn, I am going to practice the bow from now on. With help from the Chiavarone family we are going to get the strongest bow string and bow imaginable".
"Then" Bana continues, "We will show the Yakuza that the mafia police are no pushovers".
"Yes" the mafia police declare in unison.
Irrespective of whether the mafia has faith in them or not. They are united by their faith in each other.