Chapter 9
Tsuna and Ingrid were in bed together, not really doing much other than having some small talk and the occasional kissing and teasing as they were watching a random cartoon on tv. The cartoon wasn't anything of interest, just some random show about a vampire girl named Mavis getting into trouble and misadventures with her friends while her father was away on "official vampire business".
She reminded the Dhampir of himself in a way. Mostly because of the situations and adventures she got herself into.
Seeing that Ingrid was distracted by the tv, he grinned perversely and decided to mess with her a bit. Getting himself into position behind the dark skinned Hell Knight he slowly began to fondle and rub her breasts while gazing at her reaction.
Ingrid didn't seem to notice or if she did she didn't show it though he could've sworn he saw a slight twitch of a smile on her as he massaged her chest.
Well two can play that game then…
Getting bolder, he unbuttoned her work shirt a bit and firmly squeezed her boobs, earning him a light moan from her as he continued his little game. He would've gone further and tweaked her nipples if he didn't hear the doorbell being rang.
Grumbling to himself and ignoring the chuckle from Ingrid, he went downstairs and opened the door to see a red head holding a box.
"Sup, need something?" He asked rather annoyedly as he stared at the red haired teen.
The redhead stuttered a bit before he found his voice. "O-oh hi there. Umm, someone dropped this at my house and I'm not really sure what to do with it."
Tsuna raised an eyebrow at that. Finding it to be rather odd and pressed the other teen further. "Really? And why did you receive the box in the first place to begin with?"
"Oh, well this kid in a cow onesie crashed into my apartment the other week and my mom and sister told me to send it back after finding out what's inside. The package had the name of a guy named Reborn on it along with the address of this place." The red-head explained as Tsuna listened to him.
"Alright fine, come in then." He said as the red-head came in with the box and closed the door. "Name's Tsuna Black by the way."
"Irie Shoichi. Umm, you wouldn't happen to be related to Edwin Black, the founder and CEO of Nomad would you?" Shoichi asked curiously as he set the box down on the table.
"Yeah, I am. What about it?"
"O-oh… oh nothing, just curious." The red-head stammered as he pushed his glasses. "I've heard a lot about what Nomad does and how it seems like they have a hand in nearly everything. Course though, there are some rumors about them being involved in the more illegal stuff that nobody can seem to confirm."
"Well don't listen to rumors then. While it's somewhat true that Nomad has ample funds to invest more in things that aren't prime targets, their reach isn't that far. As for anything considered illegal, there are gray areas especially if it involves weapons and experimental medical drugs and technology. Anything else and it's just made-up lies and propaganda from rival groups wanting to gain an edge." Tsuna explained, not really lying but not telling the truth either. It wasn't as if he was obligated to explain to others what went on with Nomad or what they really were.
That was Ingrid's job.
"Oh I see, so what's with the kid anyway?"
"His name is Lambo and long story short, he was given access to explosives because some guy from his previous family thought it was a good idea to let a hyperactive 5 year old have them in the first place. No idea how he survives being blown up, but it probably has something to do with that poofy afro of his." The Dhampir said exasperated. "I swear the damn thing's a Hammer Space of sorts considering I keep finding weapons whenever I get the chance to comb it."
Shoichi snickered at that thought, not realizing that Hammer Space was a real thing to begin with.
Eventually both of them managed to get most of the items out of the box. Some of it was cash that was used to repair Shoichi's wall… not that he could blame the Bovino though but he wished they would stop sending explosives for Lambo to use regardless of the young boy being a Lightning and being able to survive it. Then he spotted something that made him curse out in Romanian.
"Oh for the love of Mother Lamae! Who's the dumb fuck that thought sending more of these damn things was a good move?! He's a handful enough as it is without these fucking things involved!" Cursed out Tsuna, pulling out some pink bombs that looked spiked to an extent.
"The hell are those?" Asked a surprised Shoichi. He didn't understand Romanian well, but he could understand that Tsuna was cursing up a storm in the language.
"Ten Year Bazooka Ammunition." The Dhampir said without thinking. "Annoying shit, you get hit by one of these and your ass ends up 10 years in the future for a few minutes while swapped out with your future self."
Shoichi was surprised at that. "Really, Time Travel is real? How does it work? Does it involve Time Sand, actual Magic or even Quantum Physics…"
Tsuna blinked as he looked at the mumbling red-head with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you a fan of Science or something? Sounds like you want to become a Scientist or even an Engineer of sorts."
Shoichi rubbed his head sheepishly. "Somewhat, I actually want to be a Musician since I read about Einstein playing the Violin. Although, I consider being a Scientist or an Engineer as a fallback option if it doesn't work out."
"Hey Tsuna, who's this?" Asked Ingrid as she came downstairs from Tsuna's room.
Seeing Shoichi's shocked expression at seeing the Spokeswoman of Nomad made Tsuna chuckle with amusement. "Ingrid, meet Irie Shoichi. Shoichi, meet Ingrid… my grandfather's right hand woman and one of my lovers." He said with amusement as Shoichi looked slack jawed at hearing that while Ingrid rolled her eyes at seeing the red-head's reaction.
"Wha… Bwah… How…?" The red-head stuttered out as what looked like smoke was coming out of his ears at what he just heard.
"I think you broke him sweetie." The Hell Knight said rather dryly as Shoichi shook his head till he was coherent again.
"Man, some guys have all of luck." Muttered Shoichi as he looked at Tsuna. "How the hell were you able to get someone like her to be one of your girlfriends?"
"Simple, by being myself along with being charismatic." He said with a shrug and smirked. "Course, it helps that she has known me since I was a kid and she once played the role of an overprotective older sister figure." He snickered as an annoyed Ingrid ruffled his hair a bit rough, but he could tell that she was being affectionate.
After that, Tsuna and Shoichi talked for a while with the Dhampir finding out that the red-head was a tinker of sorts and liked to work on devices which gave him an idea.
"Hey, if you want to, you can take some of the extra ammo home with you and see how it really works. Who knows, maybe you can increase the time limit or nullify the effects."
"Tsuna, is that really a good idea?" Said Gokudera who came by to see what was going on and was kinda nervous at letting a civilian handle what was basically mafia tech.
"Hey, the Bovino thought it was a good idea to leave the ammo at his house without a proper explanation as to why in the first place. If anything, it's their own damn fault for being so careless and not thinking through." Tsuna said without any sympathy. "Besides, I'm sure Shoichi would've messed with the bombs out of curiosity and to see what they were capable of."
That, and he thought Shoichi would make a good fit for Nomad's R&D Department, especially under Doctor Sabato's supervision.
He had the feeling the two would get along.
Tsuna and Reborn were walking down the street when some random girl ran up to them looking rather angry for some reason.
"How dare you convince a young child that he's a hitman?!" She said in a rather accusing tone as she pointed at Tsuna who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"The hell are you talking about? Reborn's a grown ass man, not a child." He said rather calmly while Reborn looked at the scene before him with amusement.
That seemed to throw the girl for a loop and she stuttered a bit. "W-w-what? T-then how is he so short and young looking to begin with?"
Tsuna rolled his eyes at the girl's obvious naivete. "For the record, despite looking young he's actually in his 50's. He just suffers from Dwarfism." He said. It was a lie, but it was a well placed one.
Reborn gave him an odd look, having never heard of that word before.
"Dwarfism?"
"Also known as Little Person for the more 'politically correct'." Tsuna said with air quotes. "You've obviously heard of the word midget since I've called you that a few times before."
"Ah, now I see." Well that explained things.
"No way!"
"He's also my Home Tutor, a rather sadistic one though he fails at it." The Dhampir said in a dry tone as Reborn whistled trying to look innocent.
Tsuna then looked at the girl with a glare, spooking her a little bit. "If that's all, then I've clearly satisfied your curiosity. Just some words of advice, mind your fucking business." He said as he and Reborn made their leave, thinking that was the end of it.
Course though by the next day, the girl showed up again by the river in full samurai armor with some hockey sticks. She demanded that Tsuna fight her to test him and see how strong he is.
That made him rather annoyed and he considered using some fireballs to get her to back off before deciding to use martial arts instead. Ironically or by some stroke of luck, Gokudera came by and knocked her into the river which made Tsuna go and fish her out of the water due to the heaviness of the armor.
To his annoyance, that made the now named Haru Miura infatuated with him as she declared her love towards him much to the amusement of Reborn along with his male friends who wondered what was going on until it was explained to them. Didn't really help that she struck up a friendship with Kyoko, Shizuka and Bianchi whom he suspected told Haru that Reborn was an actual hitman along with his role in the mafia.
So yeah, they couldn't exactly get rid of Haru now especially since she was so dead set on being stubborn and being part of the group. Although, she did tone down her affection toward him when Chrome talked to her while smiling a bit too sweetly.
What she said to Haru he did not know, but at least it got her to back off.
Sensing it was the weekend, Reborn proposed to Tsuna that they go to Tokyo to visit an Art Museum.
Some of his friends declined saying they weren't interested with the exception of a few so it was just him with Tanjiro, Nezuko, Gokudera and Rukia along with Ingrid who acted as the driver for them.
Finding one was a bit tricky as some were closed, but there was one that was opened with a sign out front that said they were featuring some Tamayo Art.
That raised a few eyebrows, but from seeing the looks of recognition on Tanjiro and Nezuko meant that the Demon Twins knew what it was.
Heading inside and looking around the group saw several paintings of a dark haired woman with purple looking eyes in various art forms. In some she was surrounded by birds or flowers and in others she was smiling rather warmly.
"Huh, so this is what they meant by Tamayo Art." Said Gokudera as he looked at one of the paintings. "Not gonna lie, these are better than some of the gaudy paintings my dad had around at home. They look so realistic."
"And you would be correct on that young man!" Said a young but harsh voice as the group turned around and saw a well dressed young looking man with shaded greenish hair and lavender-purple eyes looking at them with some scrutiny. "That said, I would advise you to back up a bit. I don't particularly like it when humans get too close to the art of my late lady's image."
Gokudera flinched a bit at the tone of the man and did just that while Tanjiro and Nezuko had surprised looks on their faces at seeing him. "Yushiro, is that you? Wow, it's been ages since we've last seen you!" Tanjiro said rather excitedly at the now named Yushiro who seemed to recognize him.
"Ah, Tanjiro and Nezuko. I see that you two are still around." He greeted the two with a neutral look but Tsuna could tell he was smiling however faintly. "How has immortal life been treating you?"
"Hehe, can't complain much since we've managed to make new friends." The Sun Breathing User said with a smile as Nezuko nodded and hugged Tsuna rather affectionately, much to the curiosity of Yushiro who narrowed his eyes a bit at the Dhampir and sensing his scent.
"I see…" Yushiro said slowly as he looked Tsuna over. "And who are you young man? Despite looking human you got the scent of a Demon."
"The name's Tsuna Black and I'm part Vampire. Is that a problem?" He said as he folded his arms and glared at Yushiro who glared right back.
"Hmmm, Black… Black… Black… where have I heard that name before?" The greenish-haired demon mused before he realized it. "Aha, yes! That's the name of that one Demon that rules this city while pretending to be human. Edwin Black." He said the name with distaste as he stared at Tsuna. "I assume you to be a relative of his?"
"Yeah, I'm his grandson." Tsuna confirmed as his eyes were red now. "Now again, is that gonna be a problem?" He said as Rukia and Ingrid summoned their swords and moved forward a bit.
Sensing the tension, Yushiro shook his head. "No, not exactly." He said and things calmed down somewhat as the two Hell Knights put away their swords but kept their eyes on him. "Forgive me, but any demon that's on par with that monster Muzan puts me on edge. Doesn't help that your scent is similar to Black's although weaker somewhat and also smells like the sky for some reason." He then stared at Tanjiro and Nezuko before inhaling their scents. "It seems both of your scents have changed as well. They smell similar to flames and I'm not talking about your Hinokami Kagura. Just what have you and your sister got into?" He asked rather harshly.
Tanjiro was silent for a moment before answering. "I cannot tell much to outsiders, but there exists a power that's used by a select group of humans with ties to the criminal underworld. They're called Dying Will Flames and they have properties that act similar to other elements." He explained before pointing to Tsuna. "His are Sky Flames and they act as a spiritual glue of sorts that brings the other six together and form what's called a Guardian Set."
That answer seemed to pacify Yushiro, though he didn't look like he was satisfied with it. He nonetheless accepted it and didn't push for more.
After that, the group looked around more at the paintings with Yushiro sometimes pointing out the names of them. Soon it was time to go as it was getting late but as they left, Yushiro called out for them.
"Thank you for visiting. While it may bother me a bit it's nice to know that more people know about my beloved late Lady Tamayo. Also, be careful of what may come these days. There seems to be a group that behaves similar to the Demon Slaying Corps only that they're more like your late friend Tengen Uzui. I haven't seen any of their members, but I have sensed them snooping around in this city."
That made the group pause and looked worried, especially Tsuna but he merely thanked the greenish-haired demon for the forewarning.
As the sun began to set, Yushiro looked to the Horizon before heading back inside to continue his work. "Tsuna Black…" He mused while petting Chachamaru who appeared next to him. "He's got a long road ahead of him. These Taimanin, they sound like they could be a threat to him. He'll need to work hard should he encounter them, not to mention being able to step out of his grandfather's shadow. What do you think Chachamaru?"
"Mrow!"
A few days later, Shoichi came back in a panic.
"Hey, what is it?"
"Tsuna, I screwed up. Big time."
Tsuna looked at him oddly before offering a chair for the red head to sit down and take a breather. Nobody else was in the house as some were busy with activities or were going for a walk. He knew that Chrome was hanging out with Kyoko, Shizuka and Haru while Reborn went shopping with his mom cause he found there was a sale on some special coffee beans.
He kinda wished that the damn midget would take it easy on the coffee.
"Okay, so what happened?"
Shoichi looked pretty stressed out, but also kinda miserable.
"Alright, so I was tinkering with those weird bombs that you had let me keep and one thing led to another and somehow I accidentally set one of them off. On one occasion I found myself in an engineering university and ran into someone before the time limit expired. I wasn't exactly happy with that situation so I decided that I wouldn't go into engineering because I thought music was my life. So I tried again with another bomb and found myself in a shitty looking bar and then it happened."
"And let me guess, you ran into the same guy." Tsuna guessed.
"Yep, except he somehow recognized me. He looked like he was annoyed or had a headache or something but suddenly he knew who I was. After that, I tried a few more bombs to study the effects of the ammo and ended up in different futures that were rather strange or not good for anyone. One of them had a version of you that was just cold to people along with having gray-silver hair. Though I'm not sure if it was you or just a younger version of your grandfather that looked like you"
Tsuna just stared blankly to the point Shoichi thought the teen didn't believe him.
"I see… well then. Sounds like instead of dragging people from a set future it just drags people from different timelines."
Shoichi breathed a sigh in relief. Looks like Tsuna did believe in him.
"That said, Who was the guy that you ran into? What was his name?"
"I think his name was Byakuren. He was kinda weird… he had an obsession with marshmallows and looked like an albino with lavender eyes and a tattoo of sorts under his left eye. He also wore a lot of white and seemed to have a dragon motif going on."
"Alright then, I'll be sure to ask Reborn if he knows anything about someone with that name. Anything else about these timelines that you ended up in?"
Shoichi thought for a moment before he remembered one that was rather odd and kinda suspicious to him. "Now that you mention it, with one of them I found myself working as a genetic engineer for Nomad under a Kiryu Sabato. We were making quite a lot of progress on this project called the Master-Servant Project where it involved reviving people that died long ago and putting them in new, strong bodies." He said as he looked at Tsuna with a critical look. "I saw some things that were out of place and it was obvious that Nomad wasn't what it appeared to be. So, can you please tell me what's really going on?"
Tsuna sighed, knowing that giving the bombs to Shoichi was gonna come back to bite him in the ass.
"Alright, I'll tell you. However, you will have to listen and not freak out. What I'm about to tell you isn't well known, but is not out in the open either so normal civilians don't know about it."
He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, revealing crimson red eyes that glowed which shocked Shoichi and kinda scared him.
"So Shoichi, what do you know of Demons?"
After a long explanation, Shoichi looked pretty bewildered as he felt his whole world was rocked before his eyes.
Demons, the Dark World, Hell Tech… everything in between. The whole thing felt so surreal and he wanted to believe he was being pranked, but considering the amount of evidence before him it definitely was not some crazy joke to begin with. It got even more surreal when some of Tsuna's friends came by and wondered what was going on until the Dhampir told them about it.
Finding out that Tanjiro and Nezuko were a rare kind of Demon similar to Vampires was a lot to take in, more so on the fact that there was a whole city underneath Tokyo that was full of Demons was pretty shocking to the red-head.
"So Shoichi, do you have any questions?" Asked Tsuna, bringing him out of his thoughts. "I trust that you can keep this to yourself and not blab to anybody? Cause I would hate to have to kill you ya know." He warned.
Shoichi was quiet for a moment which worried Tsuna as he feared he may have broken the other teen until he suddenly got rather excited.
"Holy hell… I can't believe Demons are real!" He said rather loudly as he had an excited gleam in his eyes which surprised Tsuna and the others. "This is like every Fantasy/Isekai Otaku's wet dream! Never mind the fact that Hell Tech is something that my friend Spanner would be very interested in. Like how does it truly work? Does it require a combination of magic and quantum physics or something like that or…" The red-headed teen rambled on until he was snapped out of his thoughts by Tsuna who waved at him.
"Wow, slow down!" Tsuna waved him off. "Okay, so it's obvious that you're on board and not freaking out. I'm assuming you would like to work for Nomad as an Engineer or possibly a Mechanic?"
"Tsuna…" Reborn warned, but Tsuna just ignored him.
"I'm sure Doctor Sabato would love to have an apprentice who can keep up with him and knows what they're doing, I just need to call him as it's up to him if he wants to have you on as another assistant or not. If you can prove you're competent then I'm sure we can get your friend hired as well. Just a warning though, Fulst lingers around at times and his attitude can be quite grating to others. Ignore him and you'll be fine, but don't be alone in the same room as him." Tsuna warned as he held out his hand to Shoichi. "So, do we have a deal?"
Shoichi nodded rather excitedly and shook hands with Tsuna. And no, the irony of shaking hands with demons and making deals with them wasn't lost on him as the red-head made a corny joke about Faustian Deals.
That made some of Tsuna's friends laugh or roll their eyes at the joke but took it in stride.
Later on, Tsuna called up Doctor Kiryu Sabato and explained the situation to him. Naturally the Demon Doctor was a little annoyed at what happened and told the Dhampir that he was careless, but was thankful at having a potential new assistant.
A few days later, Shoichi was hired as a new intern for Doctor Sabato.
Tsuna and Chrome were at the park with Lambo, Futa and I-Pin tagging along and playing with each other as the two teens watched them.
Reborn told him that it was probably best for the kids to be outside to let out energy so he wouldn't have to deal with the ruckus they made. That was pretty ironic as the small hitman made a whole lot of noise when feeling the chaos itch or when deprived of his coffee.
Either way, the kids were having fun and the Dhampir did keep watch of any possible suspicious person that wanted Futa's book. The brown-haired boy was having fun being outside and not having to fear someone wanting to take his book.
"Isn't this nice." Chrome said as she leaned on Tsuna as she watched Lambo and I-Pin play tag with each other while Futa was on the swings. "It's almost like we're a married couple taking their kids out to play on the weekend." She said with a giggle much to Tsuna's slight embarrassment.
"Hehehe, well I don't disagree with that idea but don't take it too far." He laughed a bit. "We're still young so we still have plenty of time before we cross that bridge."
"Yeah, but still…" Chrome pouted as she suddenly hugged Tsuna. "Ever since that night on your birthday, the thought of starting a family has been on my mind for a while. However, I admit that I'm a little apprehensive and fear that I will make mistakes and behave like my own mother…" Chrome was cut off by Tsuna who hugged her back and pulled her into a kiss.
"Listen to me, Chrome." Tsuna said as he broke the kiss and stared at the now blushing purple-haired girl. "There is nothing to worry about. You have me, Ingrid and the others as support and to fall back on if you believe you're making a mistake. Everyone makes them, but the difference is some are willing to admit it and move past them. Regardless, I think you would make a great mother Chrome."
That last part made Chrome blush deeply as steam came out of her ears and she buried her face into her hands.
Soon the "teasing" came to an end when some snickers were heard and the two teens saw two kids the same age as Futa enter the park.
"Heya Tsuna aniki." Snickered a boy with brown hair and amber eyes as he walked up to the Dhampir while the other boy that had black hair and blue eyes lingered behind a bit. "I see ya keeping an eye on Futa and his friends while flirting with Chrome nee-chan." He said with a laugh.
Tsuna rolled his eyes at the teasing and ruffled the boy's hair. "Hello there Satoru, I also see that you're still a bit of a brat." He said in a deadpan tone while the younger boy huffed in annoyance.
Tsuna had met Satoru and his friend Kenya one time when he was walking around town with Futa in order for the boy to get acquainted with the town. While a bit of a brat and a troublemaker sometimes, Satoru was a good kid at heart and got along with other kids his age pretty well so it was natural for him and Futa to become friends.
Kenya on the other hand… well he was an okay kid but was rather timid crybaby at times and seemed to get spooked by loud noises.
Or whenever Lambo was in one of his moods and deciding to throw around minor explosives.
"Gyauhahaha! The Great Lambo has got you crybaby Kenya. Tag, you're it!" Exclaimed Lambo as he jumped on Kenya's head and ran away laughing, ignoring the raven-haired boy's surprised protest.
"Don't mind him Kenya, Lambo likes to pester people but it's nothing malicious. He just likes to be loud and goofy at times." Tsuna said with a chuckle as he ruffled the other boy's hair only for Kenya to swipe at his hand and glare at him albeit weakly.
"D-don't touch my hair jerk!" He said with a stutter and a huff. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the boy's attitude while Satoru just sighed and shook his head.
"Kenya be nice." Satoru warned while looking at Tsuna apologetically. "Sorry about that Tsuna, Kenya's been acting like a brat for a while. Not sure what his problem is, but I'm pretty sure he's got a crush on Chrome and sees you as a rival for her love or something." He said with a shrug and a smirk, ignoring his friend's weak protest of denial.
That got another raised eyebrow from Tsuna until he remembered something about Kenya that only a few knew about.
He had a habit of getting possessive around girls that he likes, especially older women. Now this wasn't normally a problem and some would think that a little boy feeling jealous and being possessive would be cute, but Tsuna was rather perceptive and could sense that Kenya had some hidden desires that he kept to himself.
He wasn't sure if he was being cautious about some bratty kid or if it was the Vongola Hyper Intuition that Reborn told him about.
Chrome scoffed at the idea that Kenya thought he could compete with her beloved Dhampir and glared at the raven haired boy who flinched at her gaze. Looking down on him, she bluntly told the young boy that there was NO way that a little boy such as him could ever measure up to her boyfriend and she made that clear when her eyes glowed slightly to the color of Mist Flames.
Tsuna didn't think it did anything, but whatever Kenya saw made him stutter in fear and fall down to the ground.
With a proud smirk, Chrome whistled to Futa, Lambo and I-Pin that it was time to go and that she was making dinner. That made the three kids smile and they got done with whatever they were doing as they ran up to the purple haired teen.
As they left the park, Tsuna glanced back at the two boys and smirked at Satoru laughing a bit at Kenya's state but also scolding him for his attitude.
He doubts Kenya would think about trying anything after what Chrome did, though it's not like the brat had the spine to do anything that would get him in trouble. The only way he could do anything was through the intervention of a Demon…
Remembering Yushiro's words, that got him thinking. If the Taimanin were rumored to be snooping around then there was the possibility of them being in Namimori however low the chance may be.
And considering Reborn once told him one time that Namimori was regarded by the Mafia as a retirement area for former members, was there a chance that retired Taimanin could be living in the town as well?
And if so, was there also the risk of nosey demons coming and looking to start trouble?
