Edited on December 03-06 2023

ARC I when doubts are pushed away, beauty comes out

CHAPTER 3


1

Namimori was under the protection of the Taizai clan. That system of territories was almost like the one in his world with the Emperors. But the Hibari clan was actually the one that governed Namimori even though they were doing a bad job.

To let an entire town bully a small family that had done nothing to them was cruel. The first thing he had needed to do was to search for a good schooling program. He had made contact with Mammon for a doctor. In less than a week, someone from Russia was chosen to be Nana's and Tsunayoshi's doctor.

Nana was slowly recovering from the seal. Her flames were wild, tearing down the environment when her emotions were high. She needed to eat a little bit more and exercise. But Tsunayoshi's state was getting worse. It worried Dr Anya, a woman that was also part of the Varia. Nana confided that her son barely ate, badly slept, and his body had been growing weaker those past years.

Unsealing Nana was easier than Tsunayoshi's. He hadn't tried yet, choosing to search through his memory of his mother's teaching the best method he could use. For Nana, he had used a forbidden technique; it consisted of drawing a large circle around the sealed person then proceeded to pull energy from the environment, with the help of nature, the seal would naturally break under the pressure to reveal the soul energy.

"Tell me about your sleeping habits, Tsunayoshi," Dr Anya asked.

"I.. I have a lot of nightmares. I keep a dream journal, I thought it was a good idea. At least, on the internet, it said that it helped. So far, I don't know. I usually sleep three to five hours. I always wake up at least three times a night. I'm always cold at night.. Well, I'm always cold anyway. And sometimes, there's pain all over my body."

Dr Anya noted. She didn't show her emotions, keeping them tight as she wrote down what the teenager was telling. Usopp remembered something from his childhood. Could it work…? Not before the seal is off at least…


Someone was waiting at the door. Which was weird considering how hateful the neighbors were towards them. The child abandoned his activity — which was drawing, a hobby that he was nourishing — and went hiding upstairs. He did stick his head out though, just in time to see his mother opening to a stranger. It was a tall man with a hood over his head.

"You look well, Banchina."

"Dragon, a pleasure to see you again," the woman whispered as she let the man enter.

After closing the door, she called him to go back downstairs. The unknown man gave him a smile as he went back to his chair in the living room.

"That's your son, he does look a lot like you," Dragon said as he sat down on the couch while Banchina prepared some tea, "and he's already flame-active."

"Yes, a misty and drifty child."

"Interesting. He could do well in the Revolution."

"No, he will be a pirate like me," Banchina chuckled while caressing her son's hair, "so why are you there?"

"There's something important that you need to know."

Dragon smiled as he pulled a folder out of his cloak and gave it to the woman.


"You need to rest more, Nana," Dr Anya sternly said to the stubborn woman after she had a fainting spell, "we are taking care of Tsunayoshi, do not worry."

"He has a fever. It's worse than the last time!"

The short brown-haired woman was scared for a good reason. Last time the teenager had a fever, he nearly died. He spent a few weeks barely eating and stuck in bed. Not even medicines could do anything.

"I'm here, Nana, it's okay."

Usopp's eyes burnt with determination as he added, "He will not die, I assure you."

The mother pulled the young man in her arms sobbing against his shoulder. He understood her fear of losing her only child. He saw his own mother getting sick, suffering for months until her death. Sometimes, at night, he would see her all over again in his dreams. Her ghost always haunted him. He didn't want the teenager to pass away the same way his mother did. Usopp would do anything for him.

With Dr Anya's worrying diagnosis, he decided upon using Burning moon, one of the Tenth Forbidden Techniques of his clan. Something he had never done before. Something that he had learned through his grandmother's journal.

He took the three following days to prepare the ritual.

In a clearing in the forest of white dreams, he drew large runes in a circle over and over until it was thick enough. Magic was an essence that most beings didn't know about. And that forest was bathed in it. He wished that his friend Ambre, or Lù as she was called by the Marines for an unknown reason, was there. He kneeled down in the middle of the circle. Usopp began to inhale deeply and slowly exhale as he connected his own magic with the environment. Little by little, he began to resonate through the forest as he felt the burning sun, the heavy ground, and the firm grip of the forest holding his entire being. The runes' circles lightened, shining over the forest of white dreams, calling upon forces that were stronger than any human.

No word escaped his lips as he focused on the spiritual side. He stayed on the ground during the next hours, connecting the circle to the power of the forest.

He continued to draw power. The world shivered as waves of sheer power went through it as it was nothing. Somehow, Usopp found the weird solace of being back with the Strawhats. He reinforced his determination to save Tsunayoshi. Unconsciously, he started feeding his drifting flames to the circle of runes.

The day was ending when he stood up, boiling of energy, and the first part of the ritual was done. Whispers followed his way home.

"The preparations are done."

"Great. Are you tired?" Dr Anya asked as she put her cup of tea down.

There was something in Anya that Usopp could not ignore. Her eyes always tickled when he mentioned his past as if she knew something. Despite being careful, Usopp always noticed her odd behavior towards him. At some point, the pirate knew he would have to speak with her.

"It's time for me to free your son, Nana," he announced, feeling nervous.

To free him from his chains that are killing him, the pirate thought, the sadness hitting his heart as the burning sky flames were hurting the young boy.

Nana straightened her back as she showed determination in her future, "When his seal will be gone, I'll mend my mistakes. My birth family deserves to know the truth. I'm such a disappointment…"


"Scum!" someone screamed at Usopp, scaring away from the market, "no rate deserves food!"


"I eloped with the first newcomer. I became less than a human, a mindless doll unable to take care of a child…"

Yamada Nana was a haunted woman. Her hollow eyes brought the worst of her memories to the surface. Her smile held all the sadness. The father of her son nearly destroyed her entire being.

"I will make sure to explore everything, to let them know of what happened to me… and that they have a grandson, a nephew.. I will make peace with them," she trailed off, thinking of her past for the next few minutes, "and I will say goodbye."

To end one chapter.

"We will all support you through this moment. Mistakes happen."

She nodded, the tears forming in her eyes.

Usopp tensed up as he quickly added, "Your son needs you at the moment. It will be difficult for the three of us, but we will make it. Believe in you and your son."

"I trust you, Anton."

I trust you, Usopp, he corrected in his mind, sad. Perhaps that one day he would be strong enough to not care about the Family Oath. Nana followed him as he climbed the stairs and entered her son's room. The pirate knew that something was off.

Tsunayoshi laid in his bed. He was sweating profoundly, and his sealed sky flames were trying to break free. The fever had worsened in such a short time. The flames were killing the teenager. The pirate thought of his dear friend, Chopper, as he took the brown-haired boy in his arms. He ran downstairs, passing past Dr Anya, ignoring Nana's questions as he went outside in the dark.

He could not wait any longer.

"Don't enter the zone."

He laid the sick teenager in the middle of the circle. Beside him, the pirate kneeled, feeling once more the grasp of the forest. And to some extent, he could feel the burning hands of death. Usopp opened his mouth, chanting in an odd and yet melodic voice words that Nana could not comprehend - and yet she found peace in them.

Queen of the South

Hear my burning plea

King of the North

Feel my freezing rage

Queen of the East

Shatter my windy heart

King of the West

Accept my flow

I call upon thee Magia

To erase from existence the unfair suffering

To heal the broken soul

Free the burning power

I call upon thee Hesta

To bless the shattered soul

To shatter despair

Accept my flame

Tsunayoshi wasn't moving, his breathing sounded so slow that it scared the adults. His flames, however, were rising and even more burning his skin off. The core cried as the seal slowly disappeared in thousands of brown filaments, and the teenager screamed. Power filled the forest of white dreams as sky flames shattered for a few seconds the world. From a bright orange, it turned fade and almost gray as the moon appeared out of its knights in the form of clouds.

The teenager screamed until his voice gave out. The flames continued to implode because of the raw power that had been building under the seal. All runes illuminated and spread the power in order to tire out the newly free sky flames.

"He's unconscious," Dr Anya muttered as she kneeled beside the teenager, "let's put him inside the house."

"Seems like our little show attracted people," the pirate mumbled to himself, "come out!"


Hibari Kensuke was a dangerous man.

He was born in Namimori forty five years ago. He was the leader of the Hibari clan, a vassal clan to the Taizai. Kensuke was married to a Chinese woman, a former hit woman from the Triads, and had three children. Two of them were out of age while the third one was still in school. He acted most of the time like an information broker that had ties with Viper, the greatest information broker of the world. He was a former assassin.

He never thought that Vongola would send one of them, or most likely a Varia assassin. That man did everything for a family that the town never did. The arrival of that newcomer in the town had caused little impact on him. It wasn't common for newcomers to move in Namimori. But the fact that the stranger was an active cloud user made him feel uneasy. He wondered why Vongola was interested in a mother-son duo such as the Yamada. The newcomer was a home tutor, and he did miracles. With further research, the clan had discovered how the public schools of Namimori had treated the child. He had been bullied by his peers, none of the teachers had stopped them and they had even encouraged them to continue. Considering the suicide rate in Japan, it was a miracle that Yamada Tsunayoshi hadn't tried to kill himself. Kensuke felt like he had failed a member of his territory. One thing was sure; they failed to reign over Namimori.

The Yamada had moved out of town. The son wasn't attending school anymore, but seemed to be still learning through an online schooling. The mother wasn't really seen in town anymore. But whenever the duo was seen, the locals noted that they looked better.


"I've come here to know what you're doing to those poor people," the newcomer demanded as he stopped a few meters away from the pirate.

"Poor people? A bit late to care about people that are hated, bullied, and rejected. You probably know that I'm here on Vongola's demands."

"That's right. What does Vongola want with them?"

"It's our business, Hibari," Dr Anya stepped out of the shadows, having given the teenager to his mother, "those people are Vongola first."

Hibari glared at them, not liking the response.

"My territory, my laws."

"Laws are meant to be broken."

"Skodde!" Dr Anya hissed while Hibari narrowed his eyes at his words.

"Hibari, do you feel that ? You are a flame active, so feel. "

The man hesitated. The flames were still so strong as they spread through the forest. The sky flames were faded and barely orange.

"This…"

It made sense. Feeling was all needed to know the differences that the two Varia agents knew. Hibari straightened his back as he remembered something that his grandmother was saying. If sealing was taboo, it didn't mean that it was forbidden.

"You're kidding me. And I didn't see anything !"