AN: I'm back! This chapter was done relatively quickly as I worked on it on the train to my vacation and back home. Apologies for the length and cliffhanger, but I thought this was a good place to stop. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
For a few seconds, nobody says anything as they process what happened, staring at Nurarihyon and the ghostly man back and forth. Then, everything explodes into chaos.
"I-Ieyasu-d-dono!" Karasu-Tengu exclaims, stuttering before promptly fainting from shock.
"Oh, dear," Giotto murmurs, looking both apologetic and mischievous at once. It seemed like the old age — whatever the old age for ayakashi is, he never figured that out due to yokai mostly not caring about said age — made his friend a little… sensitive. "Is Karasu alright? I didn't think my current state would shock him this much."
"He is fine," Gyuki assures, picking up his unconscious comrade and having collected himself rather quickly. He bows, letting genuine joy show on his face."Your appearance was just unexpected. Nonetheless, it's good to see you after all these years, Ieyasu-dono, regardless of your state."
"It's good to see you too, Gyuki," Giotto says with a small smile. "You and Karasu both," he moves his attention onto Hitotsume next, and the temperature drops between the two. "Can't say the same thing about you, Hitotsume; what was about my granddaughter being mousy, hm?" Giotto's smile is pleasant at first glance, but in reality, it's full of teeth and promise. One-eyed ayakashi and his leader and comrades — and Tsuna as well — know that meaning all too well as a shiver runs down his spine, and he gulps in fear.
"Nothing, nothing!" Hitotsume assures, becoming deathly pale and sweaty. Giotto beams at his old comrade.
"Good that we cleared that up," he says with good cheer. "Please refrain from such remarks in the future, or I might use you for target practice. I might be technically dead, but I still protect those important to me"
Hitotsume nods in rapid succession to show he understands and scurries away from the ghostly man just in case. Ieyasu-dono might have been a mere human with some special abilities when he was alive, but he always kept his word, and Hitotsume doesn't want some prank on him just because he annoyed the blond by bothering his granddaughter or looking at her wrong.
After all, he still remembers those "pranks" and how long they hurt afterward. He's not eager to become the target of this again now that Ieyasu is a ghost.
Nurarihyon snorts at this while Gyiuki's lips twitch in amusement, and Rikuo and Tsuna observe the scene with shock and confusion.
"Poor Hitotsume. Still saying threats with that smile of yours, I see," Nurarihyon cackles, reminded of similar instances in their shared past. "That protective of your family even after death, huh, Ieyasu?"
"As if you weren't protective over your family, Nurarihyon," Primo retorts with crossed arms and cocked eyebrow. Pot calling the kettle black, his expression was saying.
Nurarihyon raises his hands. "Touche," he admits defeat with a chuckle. He looks at the teens. "And I think we need to fill the kids in. They look about ready to explode due to not understanding."
"I agree," Giotto says, visibly struggling not to smile at the teens' stupor too much. It wouldn't be fair to them since they don't know the history between them.
"Thank you for acknowledging we are still here," Rikuo says sarcastically. Finally, some damn answers. "Now, who the heck are you, and how do you know gramps?"
"Snarky, aren't you?" Primo notes. The attitude was a sharp contrast to the polite, sometimes teasing boy he saw during the day from the ring all these weeks. No wonder Tsuna had trouble understanding her Hyper Intuition and its warning about her night visitor. "I'm Giotto, Tsuna's grandfather, as you already know; though the Nura Clan mostly calls me Ieyasu."
"Ieyasu?" Rikuo parrots. His ruby eyes widen in shock. "You are that guy from his story about Flames!"
"Wait, a second," Tsuna jumps in next. "If Rikuo's grandfather is that ayakashi from your story that you told me and Daniela on our first night in Ukiyoe, and Rikuo's yokai form looks like him…" everything clicks in brunette's mind, and she whirls in her ancestor's direction. "Grandpa!" Young Decimo exclaims accusingly. "You knew who he was from the beginning, didn't you!?"
"Not at first," Giotto admits honestly. "While I recognized Ukiyoe as the place where Nurarihyon and Yohime settled in after the wedding and the last name Nura reminded me of a friend I knew, it wasn't until both Rikuo and Yoru started making their advances that I made the connection," Giotto's lips quirk up in amusement. " It was amusing to watch it unravel. Especially when he pulled your move with night visits," he says to Nurarihyon.
"Indeed!" Nurarihyon agrees with a booming laugh. "You know, when you told me we'll meet long after you were gone, I didn't think it would happen thanks to Rikuo having a mutual crush on your descendant!" he says, throwing his head back.
"Fate and life work like that," the blond says with a shrug before switching his focus to the embarrassed young couple. "Nura Rikuo?"
"Yes?" Rikuo answers cautiously. From what he saw from Tsuna's ancestor just now, he is just as mischievous as his grandfather and not afraid to kick yokai ass, so he doesn't know what to expect. Anything is possible, and he doesn't want to screw up in front of Tsuna.
"I'll spare you the long speech since I see how much you love my granddaughter, both sides of you. But if she sheds even one sad tear because of you," he warns, "even one, you are done for, and I won't look that you are the grandson of a dear friend. Is that clear?" Amber eyes meet ruby ones in search of any trace of hesitation or lie.
They find none.
"Crystal, but unnecessary," Rikuo answers firmly. "I'll never hurt her."
"Then we won't have any problems," Giotto says, satisfied. The kid passed his test. Hyper Intuition confirmed his words as the truth.
"Oi," Nurarihyon says, his words mostly a jest, "Quit with the shovel talk, Ieyasu, my boy won't do such a thing."
"Just preparing him since our family is chaos," Giotto responds calmly. "And if you call this shovel talk, wait until her tutor and friends find out."
"Oh, yeah?" Nurarihyon challenges.
"Yes," Primo confirms. "Be happy they weren't here, or he would have been kicked out the second he climbed her window. Seriously, I got the deja vu when he did that."
"You're still teasing me about how I proposed to Yohime, don't you?" Nurarihyon grumbles good-naturedly, picking up on the context behind his friend's words.
"Of course," Giotto says with a chuckle. "It was like watching a play unravel. And here we are, 400 years later, your kid pulls the same thing, minus the marriage proposal. It's not something you forget."
"It's moments like this that make me wonder if you were the fox in human skin," Nurarihyon mumbles loud enough for everyone to hear. But despite the words, it's clear he enjoyed the banter.
"Who knows," Giotto shrugs playfully. Neither denying nor confirming the statement.
"Playing coy, are we, Giotto?" Daniela asks, amused as she appeared from the Sky Flames like Primo minutes before. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"You're not," Giotto assures his fellow boss. "Decided to join the chaos, Daniela?"
"Why, of course," Daniela says with a wink. "Not only you and Decimo are allowed to have fun," she turns to Nurarihyon and his comrades. "Hello! It's nice to finally meet you in person, Nurarihyon-san."
"You as well," Nurarihyon smiles flirtatiously. "Daniela, was it?"
Giotto rolls his eyes at his friend's antics, expression exasperated.
Realizing they will be like that for a while, Tsuna tugs on her boyfriend's sleeve to draw his attention. Once he hums in acknowledgment, she whispers in his ear: "Let's leave them to their reunion. It's not something we should see."
"Good idea," Rikuo agrees, whispering back. It was starting to feel awkward as the two began to banter again, with Ottavo throwing her own remarks every now and then. Best to skedaddle before anyone decides to join in too. "Let's go see Zen."
They leave with intertwined hands under the adults' gazes, but pay them no heed.
After all, much like their grandfathers, they needed to have a conversation that would reveal all secrets and decide the future of their relationship.