While they were waiting on Shoichi and the girls to arrive, Gokudera decided to haunt nearby, which gave Tsuna an excuse to give him a careful once-over. He could only hope that while Reborn was out he had spoken to the kid and made certain things clear.
Tsuna rather figured that had he not already broken the seal, had not already gathered guardians to himself and gained his little family, that this Italian might have been aiming to barge his way in, possibly even become his consigliere.
As far as Tsuna was concerned, he and Kyōya co-led and Tetsuya was the right-hand man.
Kyōya nodded.
Only after the other three had arrived did Tsuna eye Reborn, then gestured for Gokudera to follow along. As it was a Tuesday it was an outside day, so there was far less risk than it being a Mementos day. They had to spend time around the kid to get a feel for him, and to see if Tsuna felt any kind of potential connection.
He assumed Reborn had arranged for the kid to have a cramped little studio to live in, though it did make him wonder what connections were to be had in a place like Namimori that something could be arranged so quickly for a boy of fourteen or fifteen to live on his own.
When they reached the mansion they briefly entered to drop things off and get changed, then headed out to the field where Reborn had already taken Gokudera.
Then it was the usual sparring, with partners changing roughly every ten minutes, then a swap to two on one, with further swaps to keep everyone on their toes. That made Tsuna wonder if Gokudera could even fight without flinging dynamite everywhere.
During the break for water (over and in) he eyed Gokudera speculatively, then brushed hands with Kyōya.
As a prelude to paintball rounds, Kyōya would spar with Gokudera (who had yet to say a word) so they could assess him.
"Gokudera-san, you're up. No dynamite, because we don't need you destroying the field. If you use a more conventional weapon, now's the time to get it out," he said.
Gokudera looked somewhat alarmed by that pronouncement.
"And if you don't have one, you'll be sparring hand-to-hand and showing how well you can block and dodge in and around trying to get in hits. If you're up for it, I can lend you a blade, though I have no idea how you'd do with a wakizashi."
It wasn't a weapon on par with theirs, but why worry about that when he had no idea if the kid could even use one.
"So, which? Fist weapons or the wakizashi?"
"…Wakizashi."
Tsuna nodded and conveniently disappeared from full view behind several of his family, all so he could disguise what he was up to when he pulled a weapon from inventory. That was given to Gokudera.
Kyōya shot a look at the gaijin and stepped onto the field.
A minimum of five years of fighting versus … what?
Tsuna was perversely gratified to see Kyōya knock Gokudera around like a tiger playing with a rabbit, getting it nice and tender before meal time.
The only downside was that Gokudera didn't shriek the way he used to.
Still, Gokudera lasted a bit longer than he or Haru had in the beginning, which was something. The kid managed to stay somewhat in shape.
"So, who is this kid?" he quietly asked Reborn. "Or rather, how much are you willing to say and how much do I have to ask him directly?"
Reborn looked thoughtful for a minute, eyes squarely on the spar, then said, "He was born into a famiglia, but ran when he was eight due to reasons. Got picked up by a freelance assassin, so he had some vague semblance of a home. Sort of."
Once the silence went on for too long, he nodded. The rest he would have to ask for directly.
Gokudera dragged himself back to the benches once Kyōya finished mauling him, so everyone else got ready for paintball. Tetsuya pulled the sniper rifle that time and went off to find a good spot, while the rest splayed out over the field.
Gokudera twitched every time a ping hit him, he noticed.
'At least he's sensitive enough to feel them,' he thought as he aimed, fired, took down Chikusa, then sprinted for new cover while keeping everyone else's positions in mind. 'Too bad there's not a way to reconfigure the grounds at whim to mix things up. It's not worth spending that much money on something we won't even be able to use a few years down the line.'
He dodged a hit on him and broke cover long enough to take out Ken, then dove for new cover, rolling and coming back to hide behind one of the walls. 'Maybe if Mukuro and Nagi could figure out solid illusions? They'd have to work super hard to maintain those and keep in the game, though.'
That was something of an issue. There weren't a lot of flame actives in Namimori, and those who were active were his family, barring the odd exception (adults). So who could an illusionist practice on to see how good they were getting at fooling people, in taking over their perception and playing them?
Maybe they should take field trips to other cities?
But even then, even if they could find people to test again, those people might be fairly innocent, which meant they'd be off limits.
'I guess, they could just practice against kidnappers and assassins, rather than us immediately biting them to death, wiping their memories, and hanging them out to dry on the mountain.' As soon as he got knocked out of the game he trudged over to the benches to sit next to Reborn so he could ask.
"How can our Mists get more experience against flame actives without the Vindice coming down on us? Or should we stick to messing with the yakuza? Maybe a trip to Tokyo over the winter break?"
Reborn pursed his lips and nodded. "I'd say a trip to Tokyo. It'll give everyone practice in sounding out hostiles, yakuza, bottom-feeding scum like rapists… Plenty of opportunity for your Mists to mind-fuck people. Whether or not any of them would be active, that's hard to say. For that I'd have to ask for reports on those districts, and doing so would raise more questions than I'd want to answer."
He frowned. "Stupid old fossil," he muttered.
Nagi got herself deliberately shot so she could join the discussion. "Tokyo? We'd have to make sure we never ran into certain individuals, just in case."
"Oh, right, forgot about that. If we're looking for dregs, though, it hopefully won't be an issue." With Nagi's change in name and never seeing the woman, he had mostly forgotten that Nagi and Mukuro's mother primarily lived in Tokyo. "We have the funding to set up in a decent hotel, so that wouldn't be an issue. It's more a question of sorting out rooms close to each other, but if we booked now…"
Kyōya wandered over after having been shot and brushed his hand.
"Oh? Well, that's inconvenient. I'm sure Shoichi and the duo can fix that little issue." What was this nonsense about not renting rooms to minors? Pfft. Clearly he was well into the mafia mindset if that was deemed a minor obstacle and hacking or Misting their way past it the sensible solution.
The Hibari name did not have as much sway in Tokyo, but it was not unknown, either, so there was that.
He turned to Gokudera, who was on the other side of Reborn, and said, "So, uh, skills? Because sparring is clearly not something you do regularly. You probably haven't had time for it." He threw that last bit in only because Reborn had said the kid ran.
Gokudera scowled, but the expression was wiped off his face almost immediately.
It made Tsuna want to scowl himself, because odds were Reborn had specified what famiglia Tsuna was a part of (by birth rather than choice), and that alone had dictated a certain response from the kid. If he turned out to be a fanboy…
"Dynamite," Gokudera said tersely.
…Which, okay? 'Any other skills?' he wondered, because if dynamite was it, what had he been doing all this time since he ran and ended up with a freelance assassin?
"Right. After this round is over, you can demonstrate. Those walls are solid steel." Privately he was wondering again. What would a demonstration even show? That the kid could aim at a standing object. But could he time the fuses so they exploded as they hit? Or would they just lay there after landing and then go off, giving an opponent time to get the hell away?
Everyone trooped in as Tetsuya took down Haru, so they could rest a bit, and have some water, so Tsuna gestured to Gokudera, who looked torn between eager and embarrassed as he got up to demonstrate his skills with dynamite.
Tsuna wanted to face-palm when he realized that, no, Gokudera wasn't timing those things right (and how did he have so many? was he propagating a source supply?) and, once Mukuro provided some moving targets, wasn't all that good at aiming, either.
"Shoichi? Can you do the math on this and maybe come up with something mechanical that would give him the opportunity to firm up his aim and timing?" he said as Gokudera wandered back their way.
"Uh… Yeah, sure." Shoichi looked less than thrilled, but still willing.
"You any good with a gun?" he asked Gokudera, looking for something the kid could do that wouldn't be massively destructive to his potential allies.
"…I've never used one."
"Everyone starts somewhere," he said. "Paintball might not be the real thing, but it still counts for something. I'll sit this round out so I can observe."
Gokudera licked his lips, nervously perhaps, but nodded.
Shortly thereafter everyone was back in the field for round two, with Ken having pulled the sniper rifle.
"This is like pulling blood from a stone," he muttered.
Reborn shrugged.
"You told him what famiglia I'm a part of, so now he's all defensive and trying to play things tough, but now he's seen us practicing and knows he's … behind. I can draw certain conclusions based on what little you've said, but I still don't have a clue what he's been doing all this time. Was he trying to make it as a freelance hitman or something? With dynamite? Because that sounds insane. Can he even use his flames?"
"I've never seen it."
"Huh… I don't want to bring him inside, because that's too much. I don't have enough of a nudge to do it, and even with Haru it took time before I was willing and so were the others. She clicked, we harmonized, so it worked out, but… Well, tomorrow is mafia lessons, so I don't see why he can't sit in on those."
How could any of them decide they were willing to include the kid if he was closed off and defensive, thinking he had to be tough and … whatever … to survive. Seriously, what had the kid been doing? Had he even attended school, or had he just slouched around looking like a tough and trying to get jobs?
Out on the field he wasn't terrible with a paintball gun, but neither was he great. For someone who had never used one, that was promising. It could be improved. Maybe if Reborn was feeling feisty he would hook them up with real guns so they could practice with those against targets, both stationary and moving.
Reborn shot him a look, which immediately had him suspicious. There was nothing in what they had found about the man that suggested he had Mist Flames, so either he was telepathic and had just ghosted his mind, or Tsuna was really terrible at controlling his expression. Or maybe he had just moved funny, who knew?
He wasn't going to shield his mind except around enemies, because it was damn useful for Kyōya, Mukuro, and Nagi to read him and pass on messages. If Reborn was a telepath, it was inconvenient and a violation of his privacy, kind of like an adult man perving on a child with his x-ray eyes. Yeah, pedophiles were on his "bottom-feeding scum" list right alongside rapists, people who killed because they thought it was fun (there was an exception there for people who were actual assassins and on a job, because at least they directed their urges in a productive manner), human traffickers, and drug pushers.
In theory, Tokyo would be ripe with opportunities for the Mists. So long as they didn't kill anyone, in theory the Vindice would have no reason to come after them. Preferably yakuza scum, because they were organized crime!
And if any of them were flame active, bonus.
When the round ended and everyone got their break, Tsuna went back in and Chikusa came out, with Kyōya pulling the sniper rifle.
Almost the first thing Tsuna noticed was that Gokudera was unwilling to ever aim at him.
The same was true for the next round, where Ken came out.
By then it was getting late, close enough to when he would need to start dinner, that they forewent another round. Tsuna had something to say about Gokudera's behavior, but that could wait until the next afternoon, during a break in mafia lessons.
Gokudera left, back to wherever he was staying, and Tsuna's thoughts were ghosted by Mukuro and Nagi, who imparted them to Shoichi, Tetsuya, and Haru.
Which meant, after dinner was over and they were gathered in the new workroom, the laptops came out and everyone joined a group chat to discuss Gokudera. Tsuna didn't want to risk their parents overhearing the conversation, and not all of them were fluent in Italian yet.
"The first thing I noticed about Gokudera-san," he said, typing what he was saying, "was that he refused to target me. I plan to talk to him about it tomorrow, though I may have to draw him aside, just the two of us."
"You can bet one of us will be ghosting that," Mukuro said, also transcribing for the benefit of the three. "None of us has a reason to trust him yet."
"He could have been avoiding you as a weird way to suck up," Nagi said.
"If someone is speaking a language other than Japanese," he said and typed, "when you ghost them, do you understand?"
Mukuro nodded, then said and typed in, "Yes. Because they do, which translates over to me. So someone speaking German I'd understand if I was ghosting them, but I couldn't speak it, not without putting in the work. I'm in no hurry to find out if I can lift a copy of someone's language memories, because that might fry their brain and give me noise."
"Huh… Which makes any Mist who can do it a fantastic spy on foreigners. But back to Gokudera-san."
"So you point out that issue, and we see how he responds."
"Haru was perfectly willing to jump right in, but this guy seems very guarded."
"So he's guarded also because he came here not expecting Tsuna to have anyone, or any experience?"
"Probably."
"He's not the one in the know who gets to help Tsuna. Instead, he's the one who is behind on everything except living in Italy and being around mafiosi."
"I really hope he didn't come here thinking he'd be Tsuna's right-hand man, because that position is taken, and anyone with eyes can see it."
"Technically," Tetsuya typed, "I am the right-hand man to Kyōya and Tsuna."
"They do come as a set."
"You realize that the ninth will expect you to marry and produce heirs," Reborn said.
Tsuna dutifully typed that in with a label of "Reborn:" ahead of it, then started a new line as he said, "Sure, and I'll be just thrilled to tell him where to step off. He doesn't have a choice at this point. It's me or nothing, unless he plans to haul Xanxus out of wherever he stashed him, or he holds on until one of the defect's kids is old enough. They can get married to some poor woman and father kids, but I'd sooner have surgery to make myself infertile than ever bow down to a power-hungry old fossil who should have retired at least a decade ago, if not two."
"You did wonder if the reason he didn't was because his sons were weak or lacking," Mukuro pointed out.
"They probably didn't even have proper guardians."
"But whose fault is that ultimately?"
"Politics and someone foolish enough to let that dictate choices?"
"The eighth was his mother, right?"
Reborn nodded.
"Did she just not have time to teach him properly or did he blow off anything she said because he's a misogynist?"
Reborn shrugged. "I have no idea. I spent next to no time near the Vongola until after Timoteo became don. Things were just too hectic. He was born on the tail end of World War II, and Italy was part of the Axis Alliance."
Nagi was busy typing all that out.
"Things were … very complicated."
"Which, oddly enough, meant Italy and Japan were allies at one point. Timoteo is, what, 70-ish?"
"Yep."
'And he's talking like he was alive then, which means he could be as old as 75, if not older. If so, no wonder he bagged the title of world's greatest hitman. He's had plenty of time to practice.' He resolutely did not think of the other things connected to that, if only because it would annoy his senpai and future husband, and he might not get hugs and kisses that evening.
Kyōya snorted in amusement, then leaned over to kiss his cheek.
Tsuna laughed quietly. "So, okay, I have to talk to Gokudera-san tomorrow. If he refuses to open up…"
"If he won't open up, we'll have to reject him."
"Or at least, it'll take a whole lot longer before any of us have any reason to trust him, because how can we tell if he'll mesh?"
"And if things go south…?"
Mukuro shrugged innocently, as did Nagi. "I'm sure we can think of something. Just a little reset, ne?"
"If it comes down to that, he can always go back to his assassin friend, though I admit, we'd have to provide a plausible reason for him to have retreated."
"Not clicking would be a good one. I mean, if he's incapable of harmonizing with Tsuna…"
"True."
"All right," he said (and typed). "I'll talk to him tomorrow, and we'll go from there."
Ω
The first part of their lesson featured a large map of Italy and Sicily, with an overlay which divided the country up into territories. Reborn continued to lecture them all about each territory, who controlled it, if they were Alliance, neutral, or wrong side of the tracks, and so forth. Sicily was a little different, because it was one of Italy's five autonomous regions, and home to "bad" famiglie.
Movies that featured mafia (not that Tsuna had watched any) usually featured people who originated from the island.
Reborn was even nice enough to hand out dossiers so they had something to refer back to. "Keep them in the mansion, though. I don't want material like this getting out to civilians."
Which meant keeping them in inventory as far as Tsuna was concerned.
"Now, that's the overview of where we'll be ending up. Let's take a break, and then we can start in on more detailed reviews."
Tsuna and Tetsuya got up, but Tetsuya headed straight for the kitchen to prepare a little something. Tsuna gestured to Gokudera to follow him to the original workroom.
"I'm not going to be vague or ambiguous here," he said. "That just leads to confusion and misunderstandings, right? So Reborn set things up that you'd come here as a possible guardian, but he didn't have the right info, as you've seen. So the thing is, you might be a good fit for a secondary Storm guardian, but that's never going to happen if you don't open up to us. We won't come to any consensus other than 'no' if we have no idea who you are. There can't be anything like harmonization if you're a mystery to us, and we aren't willing to open up if we don't see you being willing."
Then he fell silent, to see what kind of dent that made in Gokudera's "tough guy mafioso" act.
Gokudera got a pained look on his face. "What did he tell you?"
"Only that you ran away when you were eight and were taken in by a freelance assassin, and that you use dynamite."
"Not why, or who?"
Tsuna shook his head. "He claimed it'd be better if we got to know you based on you, not be biased based on his slant on things he revealed about you, and I have to say I agree."
"…It was pretty cool that you sensed that assassin and took care of him so easy."
Gokudera did look faintly impressed, but Tsuna had to wonder if the kid was so used to dampening outward expressions of emotions or thoughts that most things came through a bit apathetically, like hiding away so that others couldn't find chinks in the armor to wedge open.
"I've had multiple kidnappers come after me, and that was the second assassin. After the first one we did some research, then came up with a way for all of us to be able to sense who was in the vicinity. For me, out to twelve-hundred meters, since that's the normal outside range of a sniper."
Gokudera blinked. "Which explains the paintball with a sniper every round."
"Yep. Getting real guns to use with plastic or rubber bullets is not easy in this country. Even the yakuza are leery of using them, because if they get caught in public, the police can't afford to ignore it. So, paintball. Laser tag would be another option, but that doesn't let you feel it, just hear it."
"…What happened to the first sniper?"
"He missed, due to reasons. Nagi, Ken, and Chikusa went after him obliquely, and once he was down, Nagi wiped about ten years of his memories and compelled him to return to Italy. As for the kidnappers, the first time it happened we beat him unconscious. After Tetsuya escorted me home, he and Kyōya turned the guy over to the police and gave statements. The others were beaten unconscious and left to live or die on the nearby mountain.
"If they keep coming, though, we might mix that up with Mist-fuckery. The prior ones were probably due to a certain defect not keeping his mouth shut, but this latest one is either because of Reborn switching tutoring targets, or just a coincidence.
"Also, we all noticed you refused to ever target me in paintball. That isn't good, because that's as good as hindering my efforts to learn how to avoid being shot. So, you know, think things over. Sunday we spend the mornings here, afternoons are for whatever we feel like doing. It's time to get back, have a snack, then return to the lesson."
After some onigiri and tea, Reborn got back to lecturing. He didn't start with Vongola, though, no. Apparently he was saving that for last. Tsuna could sort of see his reasoning for that, so he settled in without objection.
Reborn started with an eradicated famiglia, the Estraneo.
"To this day no one is quite sure which famiglia or famiglie attacked them, but when they did they eradicated them. Their research, buildings, the entire compound, all of it was destroyed, burnt and razed to the ground. They only had a small territory and it has remained empty."
"Why would they be eradicated?" Mukuro asked with a straight face.
"They experimented first on themselves, then on children. They also had something called the Possession Bullet. The idea was to use it on people in power and puppet them. If they'd been able to do it to the right people and often enough, they could have ruled the world, or destroyed it." After a short silence Reborn said, "Moving on…"
Ω
Thursday was another sparring and paintball day, which went well enough. Friday, however, they had to divert Gokudera using an easily-removed mental Mist construct to redirect him every time he got anywhere near the shrine, all so they could do their usual Mementos stint (and, incidentally, take care of a request).
Saturday was back to sparring and paintball, and then Sunday rolled around. Tsuna prepared breakfast, with Ken helping him deliver everything to the dining room.
"Mafia lessons today?" Reborn said.
"I suppose so, but only during the morning," he said. "This is supposed to be our day off each week."
"We have a lot of territory to get through," Reborn said.
Ken groaned at the pun.
During a break in the lesson, where Tsuna went to the kitchen to prepare some stuff, Gokudera followed him, which meant Tetsuya tactfully didn't. Tsuna put water on to boil, then got out packets of rice crackers to snack on, as well as got out a tray and cups.
"…I really don't even know where to start," Gokudera finally said, his eyes on the tea kettle.
Tsuna looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then said, "My father used to terrify me, bounce me off the ceiling or drop me, then get me blackout drunk on what he called 'magic water'."
"…Oh. And they all know this?"
"Yep."
The water started boiling, so he took the kettle off the element and filled a pot, placed it on the tray, along with adding tea, then hefted it all up. Gokudera rushed to get the door. The lesson was derailed when Gokudera decided to reveal his background to everyone.
"Wait, your own sister was poisoning you repeatedly with your father's okay?" Nagi said.
"Yeah. It made it so when I played the piano at gatherings it was all really strange. I can't even see my sister's face without having a … psychosomatic reaction. But that wasn't even the whole reason I ran. I overheard some of the servants gossiping and found out that my piano teacher was my mother and that I was a bastard child."
"Well, what happened to her? Why not go with her?"
"She died, but I don't know the details. It was said to be an accident, but it could have been anything. Maybe someone killed her because of my dad, I don't know. All I know is she never married him."
"So you and your sister are half-siblings."
Gokudera nodded. "Anyway, I ran, ended up with Trident Shamal, a freelance assassin who is also a medical doctor, and who uses trident mosquitoes to do hits. He claims to have been infected with over six hundred different diseases, which cancel each other out, and he has mosquito carriers for all of them."
"It certainly sounds like a novel way to kill people," Mukuro said.
"Shamal is also an inveterate pervert and shamelessly hits on just about any woman in sight. It was highly embarrassing. He also won't be a doctor for men."
Nagi and Haru exchanged a frowny look.
"I admit that when Reborn told me about the heir to Vongola I was really excited, especially since this heir supposedly had no guardians."
"And if I'd been the heir to a smaller famiglia?"
After a long pause and a faint grimace Gokudera said, "I might still have gone for it, but only if it was a neutral or Alliance famiglia. But the odds of someone like Reborn being called in to tutor an heir to a smaller group… I can't not be mafia, so it's either find a decent famiglia or be freelance."
"Does the mafia not have people who handle other skills?" Nagi asked.
"Well, sure, but why would anyone put a flame active into a non-fighter position? Unless they were a Sun, I guess," Gokudera said.
"Huh…" He would expand on what he had already told Gokudera, but that would require revealing Mementos and Palaces, and he wasn't ready to do that.
Mukuro nodded slightly, only proving he was ghosting, and proceeded to explain the backstory for himself, Chikusa, and Ken. Gokudera's eyes went wide as everything came out, and even Reborn showed signs of surprise.
Mukuro did not, however, detail all the weird stuff he could do as a result of the experimentation, nor for Ken or Chikusa. That would require a whole lot more trust. It did handily explain away—sort of—Mukuro's very odd red eye with kanji in it.
Kyōya, Tetsuya, Shoichi, and Haru did not have tragic backstories to tell, and Mukuro revealing their experimentation on and escape from Estraneo more than diverted attention from that fact.
A slight brush of Mukuro's hand against his imparted that Gokudera was heavy with emotion and, while the knowledge was weighty, the way it was revealed did not make the kid feel like his own woes were diminished in comparison.
Which, good.
Apparently the kid was fairly empathetic under the tough exterior. On top of that, Mukuro reminded him of things he could talk about, just in some cases vaguely, so he launched into a rendition of just how crippled he had been prior to the seal on his flames being shattered, and more detail on the kind of "play" the defect had put him through.
Tsuna was starting to lean toward bringing the kid in on Mementos, but he would need time with his family with Gokudera not there to decide that. His intuition wasn't against it, certainly, but he still wanted a consensus, if possible.
Lunch was prepared by him and Tetsuya, and that was served along with a cake made the night before.
"Wait, it's your birthday?" Gokudera asked.
Tsuna shook his head. "That was Wednesday. We try to celebrate birthdays on Sunday, since that's a free day for us. So yeah, I'm fifteen. A little over three more years of school, and then I assume it's off to Italy to get a migraine over how messed up the famiglia I'm supposed to head is. I foresee a lot of people getting bitten to death for their incompetence."
Gokudera sputtered. "But… They're the biggest, most powerful famiglia."
"Yeah? So? Doesn't mean they aren't skating by on numbers and reputation," he retorted. "C'mon. Three sons died, and the oldest was in his thirties, at least. How is it even possible that all three died if Vongola is actually what they're represented as? How could they possibly have fucked up so badly that all three heirs were murdered?"
Gokudera looked lost on having it shoved in his face like that.
"And that's on top of having imprisoned the youngest, the illegitimate one, on charges of attempting a coup, but given that no details were ever released, we can't be sure it's not a cover-up for something else entirely. At least, not until I'm don and can go through everything, assuming the fossil bothered to write anything down. So that's four sons out of the game, leaving me, the civilian-raised one directly descended from Giotto, who they sealed after I went active, now yanked off the shelf. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they tried to put me in as a puppet don while they backseat drove. Which, let me say, won't happen, because I'll boot them out the second I can. Age might bring wisdom, but it can also bring senility, and why would I take advice from people who are clearly incompetent."
Gokudera practically hunched in on himself as he took that in. "…You're right. You can't afford to trust those people or anything they say. Neither can I. They put up a good front. I mean, everyone's heard about Estraneo, but aside from the Possession Bullets… I can't say I knew a thing about what was going on behind the scenes, which makes me wonder how many other people are clueless."
"I didn't know most of it," Reborn said.
Gokudera nodded and gestured in a "there you go" motion. "So yeah. Shit."
Tsuna was again feeling better about including Gokudera in Mementos.
There was quite a bit of skin being brushed as Mukuro and Nagi served cake. They made it look so natural, how they sent and received private messages that way. The upshot, once Tsuna's skin was brushed again, was that they were all in agreement that they could test Gokudera in Mementos.
But not that day. It was a celebration day.
He had every intention of spending time napping with Kyōya, under that sky as clouds drifted in it.
Ω
After school let out for the day, they all headed for the shrine, the diversion in Gokudera's head having been removed. Gokudera was confused by their destination, then seriously startled once Kyōya brought them into Mementos.
Tsuna took over, as usual. "This is a test, Gokudera-san. We will head down, and you will face a shadow. Survive, defeat the enemy," he said, then took off down the stairs, the others following.
It took a minute for Gokudera to arrive, and he was thoroughly weirded out, by the situation, the costumes, the flaming masks (it made Tsuna imagine just how colourful Gokudera's mask would be), the tinted lighting, and the shadows lurching about.
Tsuna gestured at the nearest shadow, orange light flickering over his arm and hand.
Gokudera bit his lip, then advanced. On contact with the shadow he underwent what they all had, though his ordeal lasted even longer than normal. Whether it had to do with not facing truths (for all they knew, Gokudera secretly believed he was worthless and thus should die) or how many flames he had, Tsuna didn't know.
But Gokudera did finally rip off the mask, blood flying everywhere, and stand up in order to face his foes. Or rather, a Slime and two Pyro Jacks, all weak to Wind.
Kyōya made an irritated sound. The actual combat portion of the test was far too easy.
Tsuna would have preferred to see someone get smacked with Pulinpa the way he had been (and he hadn't even had the comfort of friends nearby), but he figured he was allowed to be a little off every so often, especially toward someone who had originally probably only seen him as a huge step up and entry to the Vongola Famiglia.
The second the fight was over Tsuna said, "Pick up the loot, then we're headed back up to get you properly kitted out."
The tab for Gokudera held … bows and arrows? Tsuna blinked a few times in confusion, but considering that Chikusa used yo-yos… He bought the best available anyway, along with a Holy Whisper accessory. Armor was not a problem, if only because Shoichi had found a site on the Dark Web called Tanaka's Shady Commodities, which sold grimy armor of a higher level than they were used to, that being Unholy Armor, at a mere ¥1,000 a pop.
All the boys were each outfitted with a Demon's Jacket+ (304 DEF, 21 EVA, STR+5) and the girls each with a Haten Robe+ (275 DEF, 25 EVA, MAG+5), though it all seemed horribly sexist and a case of stereotyping. Either way, it was the best armor they could get without possibly Tsuna spending way too much money summoning Personas to itemize in the hopes that he got something extraordinary, or Shoichi coming up with something custom.
They had earned a lot of money during battles, but it was no excuse to spend it so foolishly.
Which, right, he needed to ensure that their money remained separate from Vongola's.
Once Gokudera was kitted out, Kyōya teleported them to Taida no Michi and started hunting. Tsuna left those not currently in the main combat party to explain what was going on, and it barely took any time before Gokudera called out, "I have [Storm Flames]? But I already knew that."
That necessitated another conversation in the back.
When Gokudera hit level forty due to their relentless hunting he let everyone know he had gained [Lightning Flames]. At fifty he gained [Sun Flames], at sixty he gained [Cloud Flames], and it seemed once he hit seventy it would be [Rain Flames], as the only flames the kid didn't have were Sky and Mist.
But, there was only so high they could normally get in short order with the level of shadows even on the lowest Path, so they would have to wait for Flu Season to hit, to push Haru and Gokudera up to max. And, well, get Gokudera that last flame attack.
"This is a lot of exercise," Gokudera said, his breathing just a bit out of kilter.
"That's why we do it," he said with a shrug. "Normally three times a week, but now we have mafia lessons taking up one of those days. This is a fantastic way to keep in shape and earn money."
"I never have figured out where the money is coming from," Shoichi said, "and how it's not destabilizing the economy, but whatever, right? It's like magic, and that doesn't necessarily have to make sense."
"Uh…" Gokudera nodded after a moment, choosing sanity rather than overthinking the issue and getting stuck in a mental loop.
'Good man,' he thought. 'Now the question is if and when he harmonizes by accidentally or deliberately touching me. Which, still weird, but that's how it seems to work for me.'
Huh… He was fifteen (and a few days) and maybe… He glanced at Kyōya, then turned his attention back to the chest and picked it open. More vendor trash, which was tossed into inventory. He wanted a proper kiss! Yes, and he would get one, damn it.
(The nap together was really awesome, though.)
Ω
After Reborn went into the bedroom (he was still not thrilled with sharing with what was probably an old man), he went in for a hug. Arms wrapped around him, enclosing him in their strength. 'I still don't like where our family is headed, but at least we're headed there together,' he thought.
Kyōya lifted him up on his toes so he could more easily kiss Tsuna. 'I know. And yes.'
Tsuna's heart nearly beat its way out of his chest again to lodge inside Kyōya's when he was kissed for real, or rather, deeply.
There was tongue involved!
'Oh dear kami, are my limbs supposed to go wobbly like that?'
He realized after a moment that Kyōya was shaking with silent laughter even as he kissed him, but he was enjoying it too much to get huffy. That and it was hard to huff when your mouth was already occupied.
He clutched the back of Kyōya's shirt as he was educated (by someone who probably had no more experience than he did) in how to kiss. He was starting to feel quite flushed, not to mention… Well, that was mildly embarrassing, but given that Kyōya was in the same position, in the end it shouldn't be anything to be embarrassed about. Except for when he went to enter his bedroom, and he was going to stop thinking like that because he was really enjoying the kissing and wanted to concentrate on that and Kyōya.
The best part was that he could feel what Kyōya felt for him.
He floated into his room a bit later, thoroughly kissed, ignored Reborn's knowing look, and went about the usual bedtime activities before sliding into bed and dousing the light.
Ω
They celebrated Chikusa's birthday on the thirty-first of October.
It was the next day, in Mementos, that it happened, that Gokudera became Hayato when he collided with Tsuna. He was trying to be helpful and pick up the loot, even though Tsuna was accustomed to being the one to do so.
[Tsunayoshi and Hayato have achieved Harmonization] was followed by [Hayato is now the Secondary Storm Guardian of Tsunayoshi].
"So, uh, you can call me Tsuna," he said blandly as they moved toward the next shadow.
Hayato, with his left hand over his heart, nodded. "Yeah, call me Hayato, all of you."
Tsuna was just thrilled that Hayato wasn't calling him something stupid like Hibari-sama or Tsuna-sama. He didn't need slaves or minions. Well, if he wanted minions, there was the Disciplinary Committee, and those were primarily under Kyōya's rule, not his.
"I think Nagi and I have finally figured out a way to anchor certain things," Mukuro said conversationally.
"Oh?" he said, twisting around briefly.
"We decided to go with something sympathetic. So we looked into runic systems to figure out what would represent the concepts we were after, and what we could anchor protections to."
"That sounds amazing," Shoichi said, "and I hope it works. I mean, as much as some stuff hurts my brain, because science, stuff like flames doesn't always follow the rules, right?"
"Belief is a key component to using Mist," Nagi said, "even more so than other flames."
"Haru wonders if the boosts our Personas give us here count outside."
"You know, I think they do," Shoichi said. "We just can't use the Persona-only abilities. Active ones, I mean. I am a lot stronger than I should be, even with all the exercise and strength training. It has to be my Persona. And after spending so much time leveling it and myself, well, I've earned it."
Tetsuya smirked. "Except for the last bit."
Shoichi ducked his head, then said, "That was proper use of resources made available to us. It's only cheating if the other guy does it."
Reborn chuckled.
Tsuna wondered if this assignment was like a holiday for him. They all knew how to use their flames, though Hayato had a ways to go on that, only just recently having unlocked them properly, they could all fight, Tsuna's flames weren't sealed, and none of them were afraid to wipe out a decade of memories (or worse), or beat the shit out of someone if need be and leaving them to die on a mountain that supported omnivores and carnivores.
All the chibi had to do was lecture (though Tsuna honestly wouldn't put it past him to give tests) and make sure they had a damn good idea of what they were walking into in a few years.
Well, Tsuna assumed he would get to finish high school. Surely it would look bad to have an uneducated heir and future mafia don? Or possibly worse, one sent to the mafia school Reborn had mentioned, where they would have to deal with an entirely different education system on top of potentially being harassed by people brought up in the culture, while learning that culture.
Yeah, no thanks.
For some reason that reminded him to stock up on face masks for when flu season inevitably rolled in.
Ω
Flu season rolled around shortly before they celebrated Tetsuya's birthday. Or rather, with relation to Mementos, it was Flu Season inside when they entered on the fifteenth of November. It had only lasted for three days the previous year, inside, so they only had the one sure chance.
Hayato and Haru were appropriately freaked out when Tsuna's intuition gave the go ahead to engage a Reaper.
But, bonus.
A single afternoon was all it took to bring both up to max level. Mementos was back to being for exercise, funds, with the odd request to handle. Hayato also unlocked his final flames, so there was that.
Tsuna did wonder what other Palaces they might end up in in the future. In Namimori there was already enough push against certain behaviors that they weren't seeing cause. Two bad teachers had already been ousted for cause, so the remaining teachers in the city had shaped up against any bad behavior as far as they could determine.
And after the scandal of Watanabe Yua, a lot of adults were eyeing up anything suspicious and reporting issues to the authorities. According to Tetsuya, most of the school faculties had been put through training to spot abuse in their students, and actually do something about it, rather than just sweep it under the carpet so as not to tarnish the reputation of the school.
Highly counterproductive behavior, but it was changing. Bullying had been common until Kyōya had started the Disciplinary Committee, and their family the Mementos requests. It was ridiculous!
At least none of them had noticed anything abusive about the coaches for various sports clubs, like kendo, kyūdō, boxing, and so forth, though admittedly, none of them were involved in any of those.
"Oh, that reminds me," he said as they were making their upward journey toward the entrance, "we'll need to get an armband for Hayato-kun."
Tetsuya nodded. "And bring him up to speed on what the Disciplinary Committee does, and the responsibilities."
Hayato's brow furrowed, but he nodded.
Tsuna brushed Kyōya's hand to pass on a private message regarding housing for Hayato, as it was really rather ridiculous for him to be living in a tiny studio with no support and probably have to take a part-time job (which would negatively impact his position in the family) to afford rent, utilities, and food.
Kyōya frowned, but a responding brush sent back that he was willing to open a room for the kid, so long as he kept any damage to allowed areas, the same as the others.
Tsuna squeezed Kyōya's hand briefly in thanks, then set about figuring out how to make that happen without Hayato potentially flipping a table over something that could be perceived as charity. He could see if Reborn would help with that, but it almost felt like handing off a task he simply didn't want should he do so, and that reflected badly on him.
He kicked open a chest and sighed, the sigh being for the task and not the vendor trash inside, and as he picked it up said, "So, Hayato-kun, you're more than welcome to move into the mansion. I can't imagine it's comfortable being where you are, nor can it be all that safe."
Tetsuya chimed in with, "And it means a lot of extra travel time on your part. It's not like you have blood family right here in the city to stay with, like me, Haru, and Shoichi. There's no reason not to take up the offer of a suite in the mansion."
'Except pride,' he thought as he kicked open another chest and collected the loot. A sly look showed that Hayato looked seriously torn, which made it that much better when Mukuro chimed in.
"Also, you'll need to get some kind of job to pay for that place, right? And if you're doing that, you won't have time to train with us, and you'll fall behind."
'Oh you clever bastard,' he thought, then turned so that Hayato couldn't see his face when he noticed the smirk Mukuro sent his way, because he ended up smirking himself. It wasn't exactly fair to Hayato, but he could justify this as manipulation both for the good of Hayato and the family.
"Haru wouldn't mind living in the mansion because Haru's father treats her like a five year old, but aside from that, home isn't bad."
"My family is fine," Shoichi said, "though they usually can't understand a word I say when I get scientific. Which, admittedly, is irritating."
Kyōya slammed his tonfa against a chained door and broke it open, then stalked off down the revealed hallway.
"I … know a bit about science," Hayato said diffidently, which just made Shoichi light up.
Tsuna could only hope those two could geek out and come up with all sorts of mad scientist stuff for their little family. And there was no reason he couldn't go ahead with a legitimate company selling legitimate products, such as Haru's designs, or technology (that would be acceptable for the general public, anyway), and make a whole lot of funding. Why not have a separate source of clean money that was divorced from Vongola?
Because if he had his way, they would be out of there the second one of the defect's children was old enough to take over. At the moment he couldn't see a reason to stick around past that point.
Ω
Moving Hayato into the mansion turned out to be something of a production. He did not have a lot in the way of possessions, but it was more than he could carry on his own. So Tsuna, Kyōya, Tetsuya, and Shoichi helped him, even though that was overkill in terms of being pack mules.
Waiting for Hayato in his new room, as a gift, were a selection of the rings Shoichi had come up with, for each of his flames. (The girls at school would probably think he was even more of a tough guy young punk sort with so many rings on.)
Hayato certainly looked relieved at not having to spend most of his free time working to pay for his accommodations and food, and by the time he realized he could pay for all that with the money earned in Mementos, it was too late, because he was already installed at the mansion, where they could keep an eye on him.
Considering just how many people Kyōya was hosting in his home, Hayato didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to objecting to charity, especially when they were all contributing to the coffers via Mementos.
None of it made a lick of sense. It wasn't as if they had a bank account holding all this money. Or rather, Kyōya did, but they could retrieve funds from that just as easily as they could the funds gained from hunting, which was—what, held in some sort of interface limbo?
"We should probably investigate our finances," he said, then briefly explained his thoughts. "Because if we do start up a company of our own, entirely separate from Vongola, with clean cash only, we need to be able to show where the money came from."
"Fake an inheritance?" Hayato suggested.
"We'd be paying a 55% inheritance tax," Shoichi said with a wince. "We already have well over ¥600,000,000, which is what bumps to that level."
"Purchase commodities like silver and gold?" Mukuro suggested. "Or see what we could get outside for some of those weird coins, rather than selling them as vendor trash?"
"Maybe even an auction?" Chikusa added.
"The biggest issue is that even at eighteen we're considered minors in this country," Tetsuya said. "We'd have to wait until we moved to Italy and had citizenship there, where we would be considered adults."
"But there's no reason we can't test selling a coin outside," he said, "right? Because if that works… And purchase of precious metals. A huge chunk of our funds can be considered 'found money' so it's not like we have to be exceptionally careful when it comes to trading for goods, though getting good deals is preferred."
"You need to take a good look at those coins," Reborn said. "If they are ancient, it shouldn't be an issue. If they're unknown, I doubt they'd sell for much, not unless you could tie them to a once-existing population. Either way, you'd be in for a lot of questions as to your source."
Tsuna frowned. "And the government might get involved, because they'd want to know where this treasure trove is located in Japan. Then maybe we should just sell in Mementos and arrange for gold and silver bullion, maybe rare metals or gemstones."
Kyōya's funding was probably an account his family filled and signed over to him, which would (in theory) bypass inheritance taxes.
Tsuna had to wonder about someone like Yamamoto Takeshi, at the point where his father eventually died and, what, left the kid TakeSushi? Half the value of that business would presumably go toward taxes? Way to start off with a debt! He also wondered if Yamamoto-san would just sell the place once he got old enough, or transfer ownership early. Tsuna had no idea what TakeSushi was worth, though, so the tax bite might not be that terrible in the end.
The kid felt like a rain, but Tsuna still wasn't the least bit interested in a boy who had never so much as glanced at him and was obsessed with baseball. Kurokawa Hana felt like a Cloud, but again, nothing doing. She thought all boys were "monkeys" and only tolerated a single person in their year, a girl who gave Tsuna's mother a run for her money when it came to being gullible and airheaded. He hadn't run across anyone who felt like a Lightning.
He already had too many people in his family who weren't mafia to begin with. He wasn't going to drag in more who weren't in any way attracted to him. That said to him that none were a good fit, and he refused to force things.
"Another option is for Haru to start getting real experience with costume making using materials we buy with our earnings, because at this level, no one is going to get too fussed over where the money came from, not in such small quantities. So long as we keep track of time and receipts… There's nothing stopping Shoichi from inventing things and getting the patents, or a joint effort between Shoichi and Hayato-kun."
"So a small-time basis that blooms once we're adults," Tetsuya said. "And we'd also get experience in administration of such. Even something as simple as an accounting program to track expenses, income, and so forth."
"Taxes?" Ken asked.
Tsuna very quietly groaned. "We're old enough to get jobs, so we'd be paying taxes. I would have to assume anything we crafted and sold would have to take taxes into account. But if we learn this kind of thing now, we'll be better prepared later."
"Haru could always make a number of things inside," Haru said, then paused to frown. "Haru would not be able to use a sewing machine, though. Probably. A treadle machine would work. But the only point in doing so would be so Haru has more hours in the day."
"It's not really a good place for that kind of thing," Chikusa said.
"More hours in the day means you're too tired every day."
"I'll look up how we'd deal with the tax thing," Shoichi said.
Hayato volunteered to help.
Tsuna knew he was good with numbers, and had probably shown up in Japan thinking he was looking at the potential of being a right-hand man, so administration was not out of the question as an expected skill.
Reborn decided to throw a spanner into the conversation when he said, "Nono has been making noise about sending an allied famiglia to test your guardians."
Tsuna gawked. "What does that mean? And who? You've already told the old man I have my guardians, then."
"Odds are?" Reborn said. "He'll send Dino, most likely, my previous student. What exactly a test would be I'm not sure. It never came up with Dino."
"This Dino," Hayato said. "He's the tenth don of the Cavallone Famiglia?"
Reborn nodded.
Tsuna frowned. "And I have to wonder how careful they'll be in coming here. The assassin after you arrived might have been a coincidence, but…"
"Why was he your former student?" Ken asked.
Reborn shrugged as a non-answer.
Tsuna took that to mean either that it was none of their business, or Reborn was being mysterious for the sake of it. Fon had mentioned the heir had become don too early, which implied he was the only option and the previous don had died for some reason, but Reborn clearly wasn't interested in elucidating to confirm that.
If they were an allied famiglia, he could hope that Dino would be personable. He expected that any visit would mess up their routine. It did present the potential, though, depending on how many people would be involved, for additional, temporary, sparring partners.
There was also a question of how long these people would be staying, and how many of them there would be. Tsuna could only assume they'd rent hotel rooms, because it would be beyond rude to expect Tsuna's family to accommodate them.
"Which means, depending on when he showed up, we might not be even here," he said, thinking about the proposed trip to Tokyo over the winter break. A look from Kyōya had him adding, "And what might these people do—assuming it is Cavallone—once they got here? And by that I mean, would they just trample on in to this property like they had any right? You say test of my guardians, but I'm hearing 'test of loyalty to Vongola and the ninth', not a test of their loyalty to me, which is far more important."
Reborn's resulting expression was bland, rather like it was conveying, "Not my circus, not my monkeys."
Except, if it was Dino, Reborn had been the ringmaster of sorts of that circus? For years?
And if it was Dino, they were "allies", which meant a lot of things, like not humiliating them (assuming they could be crafty enough to do so). He had to assume that anyone sent to do "tests" must be experienced, right?
Though, if Reborn had been Dino's tutor… After what Fon had said, he had to wonder if Dino would fold like wet paper the second Reborn cocked an eyebrow or busted out a sadistic smile.
Just the mention of it and thinking about it was making him feel very annoyed, and if he was annoyed, Kyōya was probably irritated. "What weapon?" he asked.
Reborn eyed him. "Dino uses a whip."
He immediately wondered if he could use Zero Point Breakthrough on a weapon like that, to render it useless.
"It's a special whip," Reborn added, then, on seeing Tsuna's brow go up, said, "My little friend has some interesting talents." He briefly pointed a finger at the chameleon lounging on his hat. "Leon swallowed the whip Dino uses, right before a crisis, and when he spit it back out it could channel flames."
Shoichi practically lit up with interest. "That's very interesting, but what can you tell us about flame-conductive materials?"
"You'd really want to talk to Talbot about that. He's the one who has been doing it for centuries," Reborn said with a shrug. "There's also Xanxus, because I think he crafted his own guns to work with his flames, but he's unavailable, and might be more interested in shooting rather than speaking to you."
"Uh huh. And the odds that this Talbot-san would even speak to us at this point?" Shoichi persisted.
Reborn shrugged again. "No idea."
Tsuna sighed. "Can you give us contact information for Talbot-san?"
Reborn shook his head. "I don't have that, because I'm not technically Vongola. I can only contact Giannichi and his son Giannini, because they do weapons work for Vongola, and it's part of my contract with Nono."
Tetsuya frowned. "And would contacting this Giannichi-san cause issues with one of them randomly appearing here in Namimori?"
"No idea," Reborn said blithely.
Tsuna was getting the distinct impression that it might well cause problems for them, and that Shoichi was better off figuring this stuff out on his own, so he shook his head at Shoichi and Tetsuya.
"Right," Shoichi said. "Let's not invite someone here who won't use proper caution and end up causing a complete mess for us."
Left unsaid was, "Rather like Reborn, except that wasn't our choice."
Reborn, of course, scowled at the unvoiced, implied add-on, but declined to make a verbal issue of it. Or an issue at all.
If they weren't going to fall for his tricks and trolling, due to Tsuna's intuition, what was left except acceptance versus spite? Either he would save his trolling for other people and thereby preserve his reputation with the incipient don of the only famiglia he had true ties to (that Tsuna knew of, Cavallone aside), or he would be spiteful and ruin anything he had with Vongola.
Tsuna had to wonder, did the ninth not have intuition like his? Or had it atrophied through disuse? Either way, Reborn would either love it or despise it. Reborn's earlier statements, right after he arrived, lent Tsuna some hope on the matter, but time would tell.