Tsuna stared sharply at the mess that had become his room, where Lambo was meant to be playing along with the toys the brunet had purchased for him. Yet the demon child was nowhere to be seen, and the state of his room suggested there may have been quite a bit of a struggle before he was taken away.
"How did this happen without any of us noticing?" Even though he asked calmly, everyone could tell Tsuna was on the verge of bursting out.
"It could have been the work of a demon; however, the risk of our kind harming someone from the house of the Seven Rulers of the Underworld is too high. They would have been located in an instant either by the Emperor himself or his guardians," Bianchi said. "That, and with Reborn around, no demons within the vicinity should have been able to get ahold of the stupid cow undetected unless..."
"But even Reborn is nowhere to be found. He should have been with Takeshi in the living room,"
Both Bianchi and Yamamoto turned to Tsuna, the latter looking a bit regretful as he sighed. "The thing is...that guy, Reborn-san suddenly stormed off the house when Hayato and you were in the kitchen,"
Shutting his eyes, Tsuna pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to assess the situation. He already had an inkling that this was somehow related to him or his soul that seemed to have significant value to most demons right now. He just didn't get why Lambo, of all people—or, well, demons—had to get caught up in this.
Before Tsuna could even raise a question about Gokudera's whereabouts, Bianchi had beaten him to it. "Hayato had most likely gone after Lambo and the perpetrator, who purposely left trails of himself, so there's nothing to worry about...for now."
Tsuna relaxed in response to her words, but he wasn't fully relieved since he knew Lambo was not out of danger just yet. "Bianchi, does your information on my father have anything to do with Lambo's disappearance?" Tsuna questioned, his voice low but dangerous prompting the other two in the room to flinch slightly. It was the first time they had heard so much venom in Tsuna's voice. Takeshi had seen Tsuna get mad before, but seldom to this extent, whereas Bianchi believed Tsuna was incapable of expressing such emotions, viewing him as the naive youngster she had initially perceived him to be.
Clearing her throat, Bianchi calmed herself and crossed her arms across her chest, standing upright in an attempt to show that she was not intimidated by him. That would be a major stain on her reputation. "Kind of,"
Tsuna nodded and shut his eyes briefly before leading them to the living room, where they could converse comfortably, even though the situation suggested otherwise. Yamamoto excused himself from the two, claiming that he'd be making tea, due to having sensed the talk was personal.
"I've heard from Reborn that you already know about your father's involvement with the Vongola," Of course, he knew. The day he learned that fact was the day he crushed the last shred of hope he had for that unworthy individual. "Sawada Iemitsu, often referred to as the Young Lion of the Vongola, was previously the Vongola Ninth's valued advisor; however, he was dismissed from that position after beginning to plot against him. His crime against the organization was geared toward weakening them from the inside so that he could take over the position of the boss. Iemitsu started establishing alliances with the Vongola's adversaries behind their backs, eventually disclosing sensitive information about the organization to them. The incident twelve years ago was committed by one of the mafia factions he was in alliance with. The Vongola messed them over at one point and began pursuing vengeance against Iemitsu for the damage they had suffered; it was also then that the Ninth boss started suspecting Iemitsu."
"I knew he was a terrible man...but to go as far as to bite the hands that fed him..." Tsuna angrily worded, clenching his fist at the thought of that son of a bitch's avarice being the sole reason why he was now without a mother.
"It was uncertain how Iemitsu evaded the Ninth's suspicion, but following that occurrence, he chose to stay low and go back to winning the Ninth's trust once more," Bianchi paused for a second and took out a small thick brown envelope from her jacket's pocket, flinging it at the brunet, who clumsily caught it. "Take a look at that."
Despite his perplexity, Tsuna followed Bianchi's instructions and took out the contents of the envelope. The first thing that caught his eye was a photo of Iemitsu, however, unlike the one in his childhood memory, Iemitsu looked a lot older and rougher. It looked like the man had been through quite a lot for him to be looking this way in the photo. Skimming through the next photo, he saw an old man bearing a gentle smile on his face; Tsuna was sure he hadn't met him but he felt as if this man was related to him in some ways.
"That's the Ninth boss of the Vongola; Timoteo. He is the closest thing you have to a grandfather on Iemitsu's side," Bianchi explained briefly and concisely.
"This is the man that guy wanted to overthrow?"
"Apparently,"
Sighing, Tsuna didn't say anything else and simply moved on to the next photo; it was a family picture consisting of the Vongola Ninth and if he guessed correctly, his three sons.
"Is this..." Tsuna began, glancing over at Bianchi with a questioning look.
"Federico, Enrico, and Massimo are Timoteo's sons who died mysteriously one after another when it was time to decide on the next Vongola boss," Tsuna suspected the true cause of their deaths even before Bianchi went into more detail. He wasn't even surprised anymore; Iemitsu was so power-hungry that he would willingly throw his family into a den of wolves, and killing others to attain his objective was no longer an issue for him.
Moving on to the final photo, Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows as he studied the man in it: white hair, sharp purple eyes, and a purple tattoo under his left eye. What drew his interest, though, were the huge snow-white wings affixed to his back. "An angel?" Tsuna murmured to himself, but with Bianchi's keen hearing, she had most likely overheard it.
"At first glance, you'd think that he is but no, that guy. is far from what he looks like,"
"I don't get any of these. Can you just go straight to the point? What do these people have to do with Lambo's disappearance?" Tsuna eventually snapped, smashing the photographs on the coffee table while giving the pink-haired demon a stern glare.
Rolling her eyes, Bianchi leaned against the couch, her arms and legs crossed, before answering. "This has everything to do with his disappearance. Sawada Iemitsu is currently in a contract with that white-haired guy in the photo," she breathed, spreading her arms as she rested them on the headrest, her expression indifferent as she said those words. "His name is Byakuran; a high-ranking demon who went off the grid a thousand years ago. But as you can see, his appearance screams the opposite of what a typical demon looks like. As of yet, the underworld has very little knowledge of what made him that way, but the Emperor had most certainly dispatched his retainers out to dig some more intel. After all, a mid-ranking demon like myself could only gather this much."
"Eh? I thought you came here specifically to get Reborn?"
"That is part of it, but even without the task at hand, I would have nevertheless come here intending to kill you so Reborn can be freed from the constraints you've put on him," She scoffed, her gaze sharpening, and gone was the carefree look on her features as she stood up and towered over the brunette sitting on the couch opposite her. "I've finished my job, and now it's up to you. Hayato has most certainly made it into Iemitsu's lair. I could track him for you, but you must make your choice; if you go, I want you to swear that you will never call for Reborn."
