
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/6210250.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Katekyou_Hitman_Reborn!
  Relationship:
      Reborn/Sawada_Tsunayoshi
  Character:
      Sawada_Tsunayoshi, Adult_Reborn
  Additional Tags:
      Fluff, Smut, Mystery, plot_heavy, Mysterious, Puzzling_but_cute, Fluffy
      but_Serious
  Series:
      Part 1 of Mystery_of_Tsunayoshi
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-03-10 Completed: 2016-10-21 Chapters: 7/7 Words: 65219
****** Mystery of Tsunayoshi: Renato Sinclair's Arc ******
by Ms_Tea_Cup_(MsTeaCup)
Summary
     Reborn was known as the most desired and the most dangerous, yet he
     suddenly claimed that he wanted to stop fooling around. People
     thought it's all a joke, but what is this rumor of him playing house
     with a 16 year old boy? R27 and slight All27
Notes
     1. There is BDSM theme, underaged sex, and underaged marriage in this
     story, along with language and mild violence.
     2. This is a part of a series called Mystery of Tsunayoshi. Mystery
     of Tsunayoshi series is divided into two arcs; Renato Sinclair and
     Tsunayoshi. Renato Sinclair is the first arc of the series, but
     happened in the middle of Tsunayoshi's arc. Time skip is an element
     of this story, but I am still editing Renato Sinclair's arc to make
     it less confusing. Tsunayoshi's Arc is currently in progress
     alongside this arc.
     Renato Sinclair's Arc:
     - Will contain different pov's (mostly from Reborn's acquaintances)
     regarding Reborn and Tsuna's relationship
     - This arc's setting is 6 months away from the prologue
     - This arc will offer you a huge puzzle surrounding Reborn and
     Tsuna's relationship, which means it will be confusing and mysterious
     - I also call this arc the 'question' arc, because it will offer you
     questions rather than answers
     Tsunayoshi's Arc:
     - Will contain Tsuna's pov
     - Takes place from the prologue until the end of the story
     - Will give you the missing chunks of puzzle pieces from Renato
     Sinclair's Arc. It will be more straightforward and more of a
     romance.
     - The goal of this arc is to answer, and will focus more on Reborn
     and Tsuna's relationship progression
     3. This is defensive, but English is not my primary language.
     4. This story was first posted in my fanfiction.net account, Ms. Tea
     Cup
     Welcome to the jungle and enjoy!
***** PROLOGUE: TSUNAYOSHI'S BIRTHDAY *****
Chapter Notes
     NOTES
     1. There is BDSM, underaged sex, and underaged marriage theme in this
     story.
     2. This is defensive, but English is not my primary language.
     3. Another version of this story, with slight differences in the
     couple first chapters, is posted in Fanfiction.net. Whichever version
     you read will not spoil the main plot.
     4. If you like this story enough, please continue reading until you
     finished the Important Note under this prologue. It is for the sake
     of avoiding some (very possible) confusion.
Tsuna couldn't understand it either. People told him he is cute – and Papa even
made a specific note by saying he is as beautiful as his mother; But having a
very mature man whom Tsunayoshi doesn't know that much making a huge move on
him on his 15th birthday is just too much. Currently, Tsunayoshi was still
standing near his birthday cake; having just blown the candle a minute ago,
smile still plastered on his face even though the corner of his lips twitched a
bit. Because something else just happened under that same minute he blew the
candles.
A man just kissed him; in front of his guests.
There were gasps around, mainly from Uncle G; his Papa’s right hand man. After
that, it was a myriad of reactions; mostly screams of threats. Some ran forward
with weapons; and Tsuna was sure he heard Uncle Daemon's well-known laughter.
The last thing he saw was his Papa's calm composure; but he was sure that –
contradictory to his expression – Papa was very angry. Shortly after, his
vision was blocked by a piece of fabric he realized was a part of Uncle
Ugetsu's robe.
"HOW DARE YOU MADE A LEWD MOVE ON DECIMO!" that's Uncle Gokudera. Behind Uncle
Ugetsu's arms, Tsuna could hear the fights getting more and more destructive
with sounds of broken glasses (tableware?), explosions (Uncle Knucle? Papa?)
and clicking guns (Uncle G?). In the middle of it, he felt the chest of the
person behind his back vibrated, then came Uncle Ugetsu's calm voice.
"Maa, maa, everyone, lets calm down for a while. Tsunayoshi-kun is still here".
The commotion stopped in a flash, "And, Giotto-san, I think it’s better to
quickly deactivate your zero point breakthrough mode. It’s not wise to have it
here with Tsunayoshi-kun in the room, is it not?"
Okay, this means something if Papa went that far. Tsuna could feel himself
getting nervous. He didn't understand what exactly is going on and why people
reacted so badly to it.
"Now I'm going to get Tsunayoshi-kun out of the room for a bit then you
gentlemen can resume your discussion." Tsuna could feel Uncle Ugetsu
maneuvering his body around then getting Tsuna to walk with him across the
room. After they were out and Uncle Ugetsu closed the door, Uncle Ugetsu
instantly let him go from his hold and Tsuna could hear the commotion inside
start again. He quickly looked at Uncle Ugetsu; eyes big and panicked.
"All is fine, Tsunayoshi," Uncle Ugetsu pat his head, "Would you like to have a
walk with me?"
The implied, "Let’s get away from here. FAST." Was clear enough that Uncle
Ugetsu didn’t even wait for Tsuna’s response to put a hand behind his small
back and push him forward. They started walking across the hallway in silence;
passing through a line of expensive paintings on similarly expensive high
walls. Tsuna's mind wandered off, making sense of what just happened.
The party should be a private affair with only ten something people coming. The
fact it sound so lonely was fair, because Tsuna spent more than half of his
life confined in the Vongola Manor and kept as the Vongola's secret, so he
didn't have any friends. He never went to school; he learned everything
privately under the constant watch of tutors, mentors, and coaches. Sometimes
he went somewhere, if not with Papa himself then with one of the guardians; to
experience life outside, but even then he had to put on some disguise and have
bodyguards with him.
Attending his private dinner party were Papa and his guardians. Not all of the
Vongola's Big Ten could make it; the only ones coming were Nono (Grandpa
Timoteo), Ottavo (Auntie Daniela), and Secondo (Uncle Ricardo). The Big Ten is
the top ten most important figures in the Vongola, and they receive the best
treatment, position, protection, and all the good stuff from the family.
Grandpa Timoteo, Auntie Daniela, and Uncle Ricardo supposedly came for a
private meeting with Papa; therefore they made it to the party. The rest of the
big ten had other businesses they have to attend to; but they had sent their
regards and presents.
Aside from those people Tsuna considered family, there were also others. Mainly
some maids who babysat him, some guards, none of his mentors thankfully; but
this year there was another guy who came as Giotto's personal guest. His name
is Reborn.
Tsuna never knew Reborn at a personal level. Even so, he makes his regular
appearance in Vongola manor every 3-4 months for some business with Papa. They
rarely ever made contacts aside from short exchange every time Reborn joined
the family dinner, very few small talks every time they met in the hallway or
somewhere else, and, most often, answering questions of his Papa's whereabouts
(Where is that no good boss?). He is outstandingly handsome, clad in black
suit, with a deep voice and piercing stare. Every time Tsuna saw him, the boy
gets this mysterious and dangerous feel out of him.  Yet at the same time, he
could see how attractive the older man is. Everybody around them, Papa's
guardians included, treated Reborn with respect if not fear. And everybody,
Papa's guardians included, seemed to reckon whatever it is he does for the
family.
He is Italian, and Tsuna heard (from Uncle G) that he was born in a prestigious
family of the old royalty kind. He also heard from other guardians that Reborn
is a genius, the best in whatever he does, and, as expected, dangerous. Even
when he felt intimidated toward the guy, he couldn't help but be slightly
awestruck in a curious way by his figure. He seemed to be from another level; a
whole different planet to Tsuna's existence.
Uncle G warned Tsuna about Reborn every time the man visited; saying that the
only reason Vongola could accept the guy into the Manor is because he was
Papa's senior and close friend from high school to university. As dangerous as
he is, Tsuna couldn't blame him from being accepted wholeheartedly by Papa.
Papa is equally a dangerous figure. While known as a huge corporation by most
people, Vongola is also a family who controls the politics and most military
actions of notable countries from the background. They are many countries'
secret, the evil behind the good, the mafia.
Tsuna doesn't know the exact detail of Vongola's deeds, because Papa made sure
he was kept in the dark. And Reborn seems to be one of the things they try to
keep Tsuna away from. If he is as dangerous as they made out to be, then he
must have represent Vongola's underground business. Maybe an assassin? A drug
dealer? A spy? Tsuna wasn’t sure, but he was confident the man does something
for Vongola.
Even so, Uncle G said that Reborn isn't a member of the Vongola. Instead, he is
a contractor; because that's what people of his kind do (whatever that means).
Though, if he is a mere contractor, why did Papa invite him to family dinner
and something as private as Tsuna's birthday? If Tsuna is a secret, shouldn't
he keep Tsuna a secret from a mere contractor? Because Papa kept him away from
most of his other business partners; so why brought Reborn now?
This made things more complicated in Tsuna's mind. He just couldn't find
something that could push Reborn to kiss him. They were practically strangers
to each other. Aside from that, the man was a year older than Papa and the
perfect example of a fully matured man with lots of experience in hand. While
Tsuna was very young; cute at most; and inexperienced. Tsuna was even very sure
Reborn disliked him because that intense look he gave Tsuna every time the man
visited the manor clearly spoke of challenge and hatred.
"Don't think too much, Tsunayoshi-kun," Uncle Ugetsu's calm voice broke his
mind rant. A glass of fresh strawberry punch (from the dinner party) was
offered to him by a maid. Tsuna gladly took it, "What Reborn did is out of his
own violation".
"Violation?" Tsuna stated confusedly. Uncle Ugetsu's eyebrows were raised, "Do
you understand what a kiss mean, Tsunayoshi-kun?"
Tsuna shook his head, "Papa kisses Tsuna all the time".
Uncle Ugetsu was also having a drink from his own glass – that he spurted out
right after hearing Tsuna's last statement. "Pardon?" The man coughed, "Giotto-
san kissed you?"
"Is that wrong, Uncle Ugetsu?"
"Uh, n-no! No, of course not! ... that Giotto-san... never learned", Uncle
Ugetsu grumbled, "Ah, Tsunayosh-kun, where did he kiss you?"
"Mostly on the cheek, forehead, neck too. He kissed Tsuna on the lips twice,
but that usually means he is very tired," Tsuna answered truthfully, "But it’s
different to the kiss before. Tsuna had never kissed others beside Giotto".
Uncle Ugetsu seemed very annoyed somehow. Actually, he was looking for a hint
if Giotto molested Tsuna, but the kisses seemed to be innocent. Good; then he
didn't have to report Giotto for pedophilia or incestual relationship. "Okay,
do you understand what the kiss before meant, Tsunayoshi-kun?"
Tsuna gave it more thought. "No," he pondered again for a short while, "But
Uncle G called it lewd. Does that mean Papa is being lewd to Tsuna too?"
Uncle Ugetsu sighed tiredly, "That's a different matter altogether, that father
of yours. But back to the case, a kiss is something you share with the one you
love," a pat to Tsuna's head, "Especially the ones to the lips, they are
especially saved for the one you love. Reborn-san is someone who could share
something as special as a kiss with anyone. But you..., we have to learn to
appreciate the one we love, Tsunayoshi-kun. What do you think would a person
you love feel if you kiss a stranger like how you kiss them?"
Tsunayoshi wondered too. If someone you love shared something the two of you
have together with a stranger, wouldn't that feel as if he or she is putting
you in the same level as a stranger? That feels depreciating. Uncle Ugetsu
seemed to be able to pick up his answer through Tsuna's expression alone that
he smiled gently at Tsuna, "It feels bad, right? Then imagine if someone forces
a kiss to someone else – for example, if I were to kiss you on the lips right
now, how would you feel?"
Tsuna tilted his head, "But I love Uncle Ugetsu, so I won’t feel forced".
"Ah," Uncle Ugetsu suddenly blushed a little, "No, a kiss is something you
should save with someone you REALLY love," he stopped a while, looking at the
confused stare of Tsuna. Of course he didn’t know, Tsuna had been isolated from
a normal life, "It’s not something you share with family members, Tsunayoshi-
kun. I meant love as in more than how you love Papa".
"Oh!" That got a reaction from Tsuna, "No!" he screeched, "I want to save it!
Uncle isn’t acting fair!"
"Of course, Tsunayoshi-kun. I'd want you to save it for someone you love too,"
Uncle Ugetsu laughed, "Now, do you understand why it isn't good to share it
aimlessly? For one, you're not acting fair to the other party, because he or
she might has someone they want to save the kiss for. Then, you're also not
acting fair to the you one who loves you".
"Is that what Uncle G meant by 'lewd'?" Uncle Ugetsu answered positively,
"Then, what about Papa?"
Uncle Ugetsu visibly sweat-dropped, "Well, Giotto-san used to share that
aimlessly too. Back when he was still in school, he rebelled against the family
by having a lot of lovers. It’s unwise to have a lot of lovers Tsuna, because
they ended up feeling sad when they know you love another," Uncle Ugetsu took a
breath, "He stopped ever since you arrived into his life, right after he
finished school. I guess, some habits still stick around, and that's why he
kisses you".
Tsunayoshi nodded understandingly. He heard that Papa used to be unhappy before
Tsuna came to the manor. But then he realized something, and his expression
turned sour, "That doesn’t change anything! Papa is acting lewd toward me!"
Uncle Ugetsu answered with a nervous laugh.
===============================================================================
 
After some more talking near the gardens, Uncle Ugetsu took Tsuna to his room.
When they passed the then-empty family room – where they held Tsuna's birthday
party – Tsuna noticed how destructive the fight was. For one, he couldn't even
make out the original setting of the room anymore. Oh well, that's what happens
in the fight between Vongola Top Ten, Vongola's guardians, and... whatever it
was Reborn does. Tsuna couldn't help but blush at the thought of that man,
surprisingly. He couldn't explain that reaction himself.
Later on, a servant told him that he is summoned to Primo's office; which meant
Papa made the call. He met some guardians on his way there; coming from the
direction of Papa's office. Every time he saw each of them, he received a pat
on the head and a hug. Auntie Daniela even shed some tears. Tsuna still didn't
understand what’s going on.
For one, Tsuna didn't understand their reactions. Shouldn't Tsuna be the one
angry here? But why did they react so violently? Are they... possibly Reborn's
lovers? Well, if what was told by Uncle Ugetsu true, then they must have
reacted so strongly because Reborn shared their kiss with Tsuna, right? But
then why would they attack (uh, kill?) Reborn if they loved him? Or is it
natural to feel so angry that you'll forget that love?
And the other reason of his confusion is the fact that Reborn willingly kissed
him. He remembered how the man walked so calmly to him while he received his
congratulations after blowing the candles. At first, Tsuna thought he was going
to say something (he doubted it would be a hug because they weren't that
close), but then the kiss just came. Tsuna remembered feeling his eyes widening
along with the kiss, and Reborn held his gaze with that intense stare; the
stare he always sent Tsuna every time their eyes met.
Uncle Ugetsu hadn't explained to him why a person would kiss a stranger
aimlessly. Is it really that aimless? Why him? Is it because Tsuna was the only
one in the room he hadn’t kissed? Then why that particular time and place?
Ohhh, so many questions!
And wait, if he was Papa's lover, could he be trying to get some revenge by
kissing him because Papa kissed Tsuna?
Tsuna could feel his head pounding. His ever charming intuition, a legacy from
his Vongola bloodline, was telling him something is wrong, but his lack of
social expertise led him to more confusion. Yet, he understood that this was
serious; and things could get ugly.
He finally arrived in front of Papa's office door. Before he knocked, the door
was opened from the inside and he was greeted by Uncle Ricardo's tired face.
"Tsunayoshi!" The man exclaimed; surprised. The Ottavo looked behind and came
Papa's voice, "The sooner the better".
Uncle Ricardo sighed tiredly, "I see", he affectionately rubbed Tsuna's head,
"Have you rested before coming here?"
"No, I can’t sleep without knowing everyone's condition," Tsuna answered. Uncle
Ricardo smiled, but he also seemed... sad. Before Tsuna could say anything,
Grandpa Timoteo approached them from behind Uncle Ricardo.
"Come on, let’s get going. The sooner we left, the sooner Tsunayoshi and Giotto
can have their talk," the old man said meaningfully, "And of course the sooner
they can get some rest", he smiled to Tsunayoshi; eyes warm. His wrinkled hand
reached for Tsuna’s shoulder and with a deep voice, Grandpa Timoteo said, “Just
knows that whatever happens, we are family and we are always on your side".
Tsuna wanted to ask, "What do you mean?" But before he could make out the
words, Uncle Ricardo and Grandpa Timoteo left the office. Grandpa's words had
failed to calm Tsuna's nerve. In fact, it was making the opposite effect.
"Tsuna," that's Papa, "Come here".
Tsuna quickly averted his attention to Giotto's voice and followed the order.
Something was going on; he could feel it. Papa could be a cold and strict
leader, but he always acted affectionately toward Tsuna. He rarely ever called
him Tsuna; he usually called him Tsu; or Tsu-chan if he was being playful. The
way Giotto acted around Tsuna was so different to how Tsuna knew him from the
mouth of of others that Tsuna almost doubted if Giotto was truly a mafia boss.
But that was another story.
This time, Giotto the leader of Vongola was addressing him as Tsuna. Not Tsu.
Not Tsu-chan.
He stepped into the room, closing the heavy rich wooden door behind him.
The familiar sleek office greeted Tsuna in silence. This room shows just how
powerful Vongola really is. It’s huge, complete with shiny wooden flooring,
soft exotic carpets, fully soundproofed wooden walls, sleek wooden furniture,
and expensive leather seating. The office table Papa used to work on was
located on the farthest end of the room on Tsuna's left. On the right was the
sitting area, with five leather couches varying from single to five person
sizes and a round wooden coffee table. Near it was the huge fireplace, with a
70 inch flat screen on top of it and built in audio system around it. A bit
further than the fireplace was a minibar with artistic mirror on the wall
behind it. The lighting was very rich, with a chandelier on top of the seating
areas, to ensure you won’t even notice the time while you spend your time
working inside.
Papa didn't sit on his usual chair behind his desk. Instead, he sat on the
single chair on the sitting area, leaning to the side as if very tired. Tsuna
approached him and took a seat on the single chair right beside Giotto's. The
coffee table was very messy with a lot of dirty crystal glasses, ceramic cups
half filled with coffee and a lot of cigarette butts as if they were telling a
story of some serious meeting that had just taken place. Then Tsuna noticed
that there was another guy in the room. Reborn was leaning on Papa's office
table, a drink in hand, and his eyes straight on Tsuna's. Tsuna quickly looked
away; nervous and intimidated.
Papa was rubbing his forehead; eyes scrunched shut as if he was thinking hard.
"Reborn, I can't concentrate with you here. Could you please be respectable
enough to give us some privacy so that we can talk peacefully?" He said
sarcastically.
Reborn snorted, "Like you have a say in that after what we’ve decided".
Tsuna couldn't help but feel a bit offended for his father. Reborn sure had
enough nerve to say that to Papa considering this is Papa's office and he is
the Vongola Primo. Giotto cursed softly before he leaned toward Tsuna with a
strong willed look, "Tsuna, you see...," he hesitated, then quickly adjusted
his seat so that he directly sit in front of Tsuna with their knees touching.
The Primo leaned closer and Tsuna copied his gesture so that their forehead
almost meet.
"Firstly," Giotto started again, "I'm sorry that we had to ruin your birthday".
"Oh," was this what it was all about? Tsuna could feel some of his nerve
melting away, "That's fine, everybody has come to visit days before and it has
been very lively at home. I've had enough attention the last few days anyway,
so... I'm happy. It still is the best week so far," he finished with his
signature smile.
Then there was a loud clang from the other side of the room. Tsuna glanced to
his side to realized the sound came from Reborn. The man was getting another
drink from the mini bar very noisily. When he turned around; he looked very
pissed. Tsuna returned his gaze to his father to find how bad his frown got.
The anxiety instantly made a u-turn right back to Tsuna. "Tsu, you see, that's
not what we're going to talk about".
Tsuna frowned back, "Is this about the kiss?" Giotto became stiff when the kiss
was mentioned, "I'm sorry, I don't know you're his lover!"
"Pardon?" That's Reborn.
"What? ... No. No! You got it wrong. You..., how did you...? Where did you get
that idea?" Giotto looked at his son incredulously. When the boy mentioned
Uncle Ugetsu, the Primo shut him up and said, "Look, whatever it is Ugetsu told
you, he must be trying to explain it indirectly for you to the point it caused
a misunderstanding. Point is, I have never and never will be interested in that
guy," explained the Primo sternly. Reborn snorted. This revelation opened a lot
more mystery that Tsuna's intuition screamed 'danger' for.
"There is no easy way to say this. Tsu, the truth is..."
===============================================================================
 
Tbc.
===============================================================================
 
                                IMPORTANT NOTE
===============================================================================
 
This story is of a mystery genre in which you will have to face many questions
before you discover the real story behind what was going on. From here on, you
won’t be directly shown what happened after Tsuna talked to his father.
My readers, if you decided to stay with me in this story, please continue
reading this note.
You will face two arcs; Renato Sinclair’s Arc and Tsunayoshi’s Arc.
Renato_Sinclair's_Arc:
    * Chapter title will start with Renato Sinclair’s
    * Will contain different pov's (mostly from Reborn's acquaintances)
      regarding Reborn and Tsuna's relationship
    * This arc's setting is 6 months away from the prologue
    * This arc will offer you a huge puzzle surrounding Reborn and Tsuna's
      relationship, which means it will contains most of the mystery.
    * The goal of this arc is to question rather than answer
Tsunayoshi's_Arc:
    * Chapter title will start with Tsunayoshi’s
    * Will contain Tsuna's side to the story
    * Takes place directly from the prologue until the end of the story
    * Will give you the missing chunks of puzzle pieces from Renato Sinclair's
      Arc. It will be more straightforward and more of a romance.
    * The goal of this arc is to answer, and will focus more on Reborn and
      Tsuna's relationship progression
The_reading_order_of_this_story_is_according_to_what_is_listed_below:
    * Prologue: Tsunayoshi’s Birthday
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s Track
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s Drty Secret
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s Masterpiece
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s War
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s Last Lie
    * Interlude: Ms. Tea Cup’s Challenge Letter
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s Two Cents on First Times
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s Massage and a Drink
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s First Colar (title might change)
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s War (title might change)
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s Piece of Truth (title might change)
    * Epilogue: Renato Sinclair’s Birthday
In_chronological_order_though,_the_chapters_go_by:
    * Prologue: Tsunayoshi’s Birthday
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s Two Cents on First Times
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s Massage and a Drink
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s Track
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s Drty Secret
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s Masterpiece
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s War
    * (Renato Sinclair’s arc) Renato Sinclair’s Last Lie
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s First Colar (title might change; this
      chapter will contain Tsuna’s explanation to the happenings in Renato
      Sinclair’s arc)
    * Interlude: Ms Tea Cup’s Challenge Letter (there is an interlude story
      here)
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s War (title might change)
    * (Tsunayoshi’s Arc) Tsunayoshi’s Piece of Truth (title might change)
    * Epilogue: Renato Sinclair’s Birthday
***** RENATO SINCLAIR'S TRACK *****
Chapter Notes
     1. This is the start of Renato Sinclair’s Arc and it takes place
     around 6 months after the prologue
     2. Warning: implication of gay underaged marriage, 30 year old guy
     spying on and sexually attracted to a 15 year old boy, use of
     weapons, and drugs.
There were 9 of them at the start; each with clashing personality against the
other, but they shared a common background that keeps them united. All of them
were descendants of important names that would have had stolen their
independence if they had not escaped. It was their shared dreams to make
something of their selves without the help of family traditions.
And here they were; at that point one could call successful and still sticking
together after more than 10 years fighting for independence together; away from
families and ties. They flourished without the pressure of commitment, being
the world's best in almost anything. People call them the best or the selected;
but they call themselves Arcobaleno.
Yet, however great they are, they still had that one thing they avoid so
much; commitment.
They went as far as hiding their real name to lose their contacts with their
past lives; even refusing to use their expertise under permanent contract,
moving from one job to another, keeping their mouth shut of their prior works
as if they never done it in the first place. The only constant thing in their
lives is the club they built together in order to keep up with the hedonistic
urge born from their suppressed childhood. These lifestyles made them difficult
to start with.
"And that is why it's impossible, kora" Colonello played with his whisky, "We
are not the kinds to settle down. This news you were spouting is almost
nonsense, kora".
Luce smiled innocently as usual, "You forgot Lal left us to work permanently
under CEDEF. She is able to commit".
That made Colonello frowns. He knew exactly what happened to Lal Mirch, one of
the original 9, and decided that is a different case. "That's different and you
know it. Lal didn't run away from her family because she wanted it; they kicked
her out. She didn't hate being a part of something; she had been starving for
it, kora". Talking about how their number decreased to 7, and then, as of 6
months ago, to 6 people gave a bitter taste to Colonello. Bermuda didn't count,
for he was a traitor, but losing Lal had hurt because she had been and still
was important to him. Yet he knew that joining CEDEF was the best for her. This
last lost, however, was the weirdest of all because it’s Reborn.
Reborn's latest update to them was that he decided to settle down from The
Arcobaleno with no added explanation. This stunned The Arcobalenos as even they
thought it is out of character. One, they had a club which they co-founded
together. It’s a BDSM themed exclusive club for high end customers where Reborn
participated in a lot. Two, his life here was good; great even. He was the most
wanted Dom, the most popular, with a lot of high paying clients. Him leaving
was almost as if the club lost its sun; whatever that implied.
The Arcobalenos decided to gather to discuss the issue in their private lounge;
a lounge on the underground level of their building they called The Clam
Lounge. As the name Clam implied, this room is tightly secured from non-members
like how a clam protecting itself by hiding behind it's tightly closed shells.
The Clam Lounge is restricted to chosen and most exclusive members. And
exclusive they are. It's not for the highly designed masquerade or the
expensive clothes they are wearing to follow the lounge’s dress code. Instead,
it's because behind each mask here is a big name. These people are, in fact,
the best part of society; politicians, high end executives, and top line public
figures alike. Thus it is important to keep them behind closed doors under dim
lights. Secrecy is the highest selling point of this lounge after all. Clam
Room Members, simply called the VIP, had to swear they keep their mouth shut
from whatever sightings they find within the room and the club guaranteed the
safety of each member within signed contracts.
The Arcobalenos took their gathering on the farthest end of the room; on a
round velvet seating almost hidden from view behind translucent golden
partition. From their position, they could observe the entertainment stage
clearly, where a sub woman and a dominatrix making a show of sexual torture in
front of their guests. "Seeing these shows we have within our club make me
think we're going back to the past, making entertainment for the royalties by
torturing slaves," Verde mumbled.
"The Clam Lounge does make you feel like a royalty, doesn't it?" Viper
commented. The walls resembled pure gold with artistic engravings, the shiny
floor reflects the golden luminous lights, and the dark golden ceiling with
unique pattern held creatively designed crystal lighting. Long velvet seating
in matching colors was grouped into rounds within semi partitioned rooms around
the stage on the center. The huge crystal-chandelier-like lights on top of each
seating, the fake golden decorations, the beautiful drapery covering the
partitions, and the high taste on entertainment within this room gave all
occupants a sense of modernized royalty.
Yet, commenting about the Lounge in that fashion made them feel like a stranger
within one's own home. Fon added, "I noticed you prefer to use a more advanced
torture technique compared to the classic method that Domme uses, Sir". Sir had
been the name Verde preferred to be used by his sub to address him. He answered
with a calm smile, "Oh, yes, drugs and technology. Spanking isn't even in style
anymore".
The other Arcobaleno laughed to that. What a joke you were making, Verde. Of
course, spanking will always be in style.
"Back to discussion, gentlemen," Verde said again, "And make it quick, my
patrons are waiting. Luce?" The end of the sentence was added to hand the
responsibility of talking to the next person. Luce, who was sipping an innocent
looking drink, looked up as if surprised.
"Oh! Yes?" She giggled, "Sorry".
"You know, your calm attitude make me think you killed Reborn on accident then
made up a lie to save face", Skull noted. That comment served him a hit from
Colonello who sat beside him, "Don’t speak impolitely to your senior, kora".
"Me? I did nothing of the sort," she said, "I just told you what Reborn told
me".
"Is it okay to discuss this here? We are around listening ears after all,"
Verde looked around, "Shouldn't we be in the private meeting room?"
"The madam said we should meet here, then we meet here," said Viper
confidently. Luce, as innocent as she looked, was still their leader after all.
"We trusted her judgments from time to time, why stop now? Now madam, what
should we think about the Reborn case?"
"I had to say I still think it's out of character for Reborn to do this. He is
cold, but is also the life of the party here, kora" Colonello then slammed his
glass of drink to the table a bit loudly, "And what's with the word settling
down, kora? That's ambiguous".
"I don't think he's that great," Skull mocked, which gave him another hit from
Colonello.
Luce closed her eyes for a moment, "I am fine with any of you leaving. It's
your loss in any way I see it," she said surprisingly sounding uncaring of the
matter. This side of Luce was something the rest of Arcobaleno see as her true
self. "The explanation is what I expect of him".
What actually happened was Reborn going missing for almost two months in a
mission. It was quite normal for each of them to be gone for a while. Aside
from attending the club's events, all of them were also open for odd jobs
offered by the Club's VIPs. The club was never meant to be used as a channel to
the conglomerates at first, but these people knew the Arcobaleno's potential;
they want the Arcobaleno to take sides.
Responding to this issue, the Arcobaleno made a statement that they won’t
accept anything more than a contract; in which the Arcobaleno is allowed to
freely accept or decline the offer. Once accepted, the Arcobaleno must
accomplish the work no matter what. Finishing the work and accepting the
compensation will end the contract. There is also what they call Patrons. A
patron is someone who provided them financial support, like a sponsor. The form
of this relationship is not as strict as a contract because the Arcobaleno
doesn't always have to do or complete something to get money, but it is almost
a long-time relationship. Most patrons were affiliates of the Arcobaleno in
which they will support the Arcobaleno as long as he/she doesn't betray them to
other interested parties. Patrons sometimes ask for help or information, but it
is not always necessary.
These odd jobs were not a walk in the park. They consisted of espionage,
sabotage, attacks, and things most people with power want from independent
contractors with no ties. For this reason, it is very normal for them to be
gone for a couple of weeks to a month to finish the work. Luce made it a
warning to not spend more than a month and a half away from their headquarters;
the club. Not sending any notice for more than the specified time is equal to
distress signal. Someone will be sent to retrieve said missing Arcobaleno and
help finish the job on the way.
Of course, the retrieving part had never happened. Until Reborn. On the seventh
week he went for a mission, Luce decided to make contact with him. They hadn’t
received any response. Luce later claimed she was going to meet Reborn without
telling the exact place of meeting. After she got back three days later, she
said happily that Reborn is finally settling down. And she told everybody; the
Arcobalenos, VIPs, regular customers, and, especially, all of Reborn's clients.
All of them thought it’s a joke at first, but not hearing anything from him 6
months later made them reconsider.
"Is it work related?" Fon sighed, "He only had one patron and you all know who
it is", Vongola, "He had no unfinished contract; his former contractors seemed
clean to me..."
"I think the word settling down meant taking a break," Verde added, "It sounded
as if he was taking a retirement, or even decided to commit to something."
"No," Skull made a face, "It sounded as if he decided to have a f-fa-family
with... with 2.5 children and a dog."
Luce giggled while the rest of the Arcobaleno had a horror look on their face
from the word family. "You sure he is safe?" Viper asked.
"I don't know," Luce answered, "I can't tell you how we made contact, but it is
not face-to-face. It's indirect and untraceable, so even I am not sure if
Reborn was telling the truth".
"If he wanted to be saved, he would have told us, kora," Colonello added, "Or
maybe it’s pride? Maybe he does need a hand, but couldn't admit that to us, so
he lied, kora. And whats with you? You seemed too happy when the news came,
kora," Colonello threw a dirty look to Luce.
"I'm not," but her smile stayed, "That's why I'm here to gather you. I want
news on that guy as soon as possible," a moment of silence, "Colonello, you're
up for the job".
"Kora!? Why me?" Colonello slammed his glass on the round table. A hunch told
him Reborn would be furious if he found out the Arcobaleno is snooping out for
him.
"The rest of us are busy," Luce explained, "Skull has a contract as of this
month. Verde has a new experiment he has to work on. Both Fon and Viper has a
new patron. Meanwhile, your patron will be busy for the next months, you're
practically free".
"You got a patron?" Skull asked Fon and Viper. The two of them had the gall to
look a bit guilty for not telling the news themselves. Fon laughed, "I don’t
think it matters much. She’s just a kid training to be a hitman". Viper added,
"Mines just a kid too. He doesn't really know what he’s doing so I have to
attend to him every now and then". How Luce busted their secret was left in the
dark.
"Wait, what about you? You're free too, kora!" Colonello protested to Luce,
"This is Reborn we're talking about. I could die, kora! Don’t think you're free
from this just because you're pregnant, kora!" That huge belly underneath
Luce’s white robe is mysterious. Nobody knows the father. If it's that creep
Byakuran, the child would turn out to be Satan Spawn for sure.
"I am going to confront Vongola directly regarding his whereabouts. It's too
risky to expose a patron to more than one Arcobaleno, it needs to be done under
precautions. And if my method failed, your patron is closely related to
Vongola," Luce reminded Colonello. Colonello’s patron was the Cavallone’s – a
known relative and close partner of Vongola’s, "and you know where Lal is.
You're the best person to do this, Colonello, I know you can do it”.
Luce ended her order with an assuring look, but Colonello couldn't help but
feel like a pawn in her game.
===============================================================================
 
First Week of Colonello's Mission
Colonello had been having the hardest time tracking Reborn. That guy, as usual,
left no traces and Colonello's current patron, Dino Cavallone, couldn't be
contacted because he had family business to attend to somewhere abroad.
Thankfully, it's easy to contact Lal. She worked with the CEDEF, an
organization close to and kind of a part of Vongola.
Colonello was using a prepaid cell phone he was going to dispose instantly
after use. This method could be safe, but not 100% free from detection. When
she picked up the phone, Lal talked in a very slurred fashion, "Hello, if this
is Kyle, I am soo don’t have the time to talk to you".
The thing about contacting an Arcobaleno is that they are very careful to any
form of tracking from interested parties. If communicating using unsecured
tools, they speak in codes. What Lal was trying to say was actually tell me who
you are and what you want. I'll cut the call if it’s not important because I'm
busy.
"No, this is Rob. I wonder if you had any pizza lately?" It’s Colonello. I
wonder if you've heard of anything from Reborn lately?
"Yes, yes. I don’t recommend you to try the place though," Lal answered, "It
doesn’t taste so good". Yes, I have. I don’t recommend you togo look forhim
though
"But I really want some pizza right now. Can you send me the address?" Can’t.
It’s important. Can you send me info on where I can meet him?
"Really craving for it, huh?" Is it really important?
"Yeah, actually it’s mom. She's preggers and she's craving for it real
bad," It’s Luce. That woman wants him now.
Lal was silent for a while, and then she sighed, "I'll send you the address. Be
careful for the traffic on the way there".
Colonello ended the call, knowing that Lal meant she is going to send him a
code to the code transmission gadget Verde made for them. Yet the traffic on
the last part meant, careful on the way to meeting him, it's dangerous. What’s
going on exactly, Reborn?
===============================================================================
 
Fourth Week of Colonello's Mission
The code was a coordinate leading to a neighborhood an hour away from where
Club Arcobaleno is. At this point Colonello didn't know what to think. If
Reborn wanted to be away from them, he should have picked a greater distance.
The place is named Namimori, a calm and peaceful suburb where children walk
freely on the street and you almost never see more than 5 cars passing by each
day. Namimori has a clear view of the tall building in the city, but not close
enough you'd hear the pounding sound of the traffics. It has a reasonable size
for a suburb neighborhood; not small enough you'd know everybody on personal
level, yet it’s not too large that it'd allow you to remember everybody's names
and houses.
Which is why it’s perfect for data gathering. Colonello found out that Namimori
is a place dominated by East Asian descents. Most people here are either half
Asian or fully Asian. There were 2-3 families moving in here every year and
even those numbers usually consist of the long-time resident's relatives.
Having people of other race and of total stranger to anybody here are
considered odd.
Colonello himself was considered weird. He wasn't very good in the art of
disguise. So far, he made it in as a quarter Asian guy who looked nothing like
Asian with his dark hair and grey eyes. His appearance invited some questions
which he responded with a made up story of a person from the city who felt
overwhelmed by its busting environment. He acted as someone who is very skilled
is machinery (this is legit, considering his skill to assemble weapons), and
rented a cheap two rooms and one bedroom housing near the neighborhood's
borderline. Colonello didn't want to get too involved to the place fearing the
chances he got busted. Aside from that, this is The Reborn. He might notice any
invader within vicinity if Colonello got too close. Therefore a cheap place
used for irregular stay near the end of the neighborhood is enough. He had all
of his equipment inside; laptops, cameras, gadgets,... guns. Just to be safe.
The information regarding the neighborhood he gathered so far is that the
people here are quite welcoming; even to Colonello, who looked nothing like
Asian. Must be their Asianupbringing, Colonello concluded. The neighborhood had
no prior crime history worse than the classic burglary; no criminal offenders
nor any person of interest and no suspicious activities around that could pull
attention. Colonello still couldn't see what Reborn is doing in this peaceful
and boring place; that is if he is indeed here.
He had not seen nor heard anything about Reborn around. Reborn, though, is very
good in disguise. In fact, among the Arcobalenos, he is the expert in this
field. While Colonello could not disguise himself as Asian, there is a
probability that Reborn could. He could be anyone around here. That's why
Colonello gathered data of people who just moved in within the period of the
last one year in a yellow map.
There were three documents. The first one is on The Takemaru Household,
consisting of a husband, a wife, and two children. They are actually a relative
of a long time resident of Namimori. After a thorough investigation on their
daily life and the dynamic of their relationship with the neighbors, Colonello
decided they are free of any suspicion. It is highly unlikely for Reborn to
disguise himself in a close-knitted family for it will be easy to be busted by
fellow family members. The fact that they are very involved with their
relatives in the neighborhood made it impossible for a stranger to slip in and
replace someone as it would create suspicions.
The next ones are all suspicious. The second mover is a 20 year old guy named
Shouichi Irie, a half Japanese moving from the city. He moved in 6 months ago;
perfectly within the period of Reborn's absence from The Arcobaleno. Still,
Colonello almost lost suspicion on this person because the height of this kid
is different to Reborn’s. Technically, it’s hard to disguise yourself as a
slightly shorter person without having to look bulky from adjusting the height.
The kid is typically thin. He seemed to be a loner and a nerd, staying all day
within his room. So far, Colonello concluded that the kid is not Reborn, but is
possibly involved with Reborn or some suspicious activities. He had no
affiliations in the neighborhood, and made no meaningful contact to anybody.
Colonello had wiretapped the kid's one room one bathroom rent to watch his
activities.
The third mover is, by far, the most suspicious. The Sawada Household is family
consisting of a father and a teenage son with no prior relation to anybody in
the neighborhood. They moved into a semi modern home in block R-27 four months
ago; also within the period of Reborn's absence. So far, Colonello had not
collected enough data on this household for the reason of the house's security.
There are cameras around the house, so it’s harder to infiltrate. Data gathered
so far is the fact that the son, Sawada Tsunayoshi, attends Namimori Middle
School as a 9th grader, and the father, Sawada Iemitsu, is a doctor working in
the city.
The Sawada Household is suspicious for the reason that everybody talks about
the handsome father. Iemitsu is said to be a dark, mysterious, and handsome 30
year old man of European upbringing. "He looks like an actor, ride in batman
car, and wears tie," said a child from the park. "He is very charming. I heard
he is single, which is why he adopted a child to cure his loneliness," said a
love-struck woman in the neighborhood. The single European guy, who is said to
have dark hair and dark eyes, wears black suit, and rides a flashy black car,
adopted a Japanese child and has a very Japanese name. Firstly, what he heard
about this guy is awfully familiar to Reborn. The dark suit, hair, and eyes
were all typically Reborn. Reborn was also a genius, an expert in science and
math that could both let him pass as a doctor. Yet the idea of Reborn adopting
a Japanese child and living in a calm suburb is out of character. And
everything is too obvious. It’s weird how he doesn't even try to disguise his
look, but putting a very fake Japanese name as a front. For a guy mastering
disguise, Reborn should have realized how weird it is to have a face of a
Caucasian and a name of a Japanese. Colonello wanted to verify if the father is
Reborn, yet, strangely, he never sees the guy anywhere.
The teenage son is something else. Colonello took a bunch of photos behind the
photo of Shouichi Irie and The Takemarus. In his hand he had a bunch of candid
photos of Sawada Tsunayoshi. He took a mugshot of the teen from his school
database and traced the face with his thumb. The kid is... attractive to his
eyes. He seemed half Japanese and half Caucasian seeing from how his yellow
under-toned skin has that pinkish flush on them. His hair is brown, fluffed and
messy on top of his head, with long bangs framing his two round brown orbs.
Like most Asians, his cheek is slightly chubby, but his other upbringing made
his chin slightly jutted out, making a perfect heart shaped face.
"He'll make the perfect submissive," Colonello mumbled absently while staring
at the photo, "But not really Reborn's preference". Reborn prefer the more
mature looking subs. Dino, Colonello's patron, was Reborn's sub. Bianchi, some
other girl with attitude, was also Reborn's sub. Colonello couldn't make out
the boy's position if he is involved with Reborn. A submissive? An adopted son?
Both seemed unlikely to be true.
He found out that Sawada Tsunayoshi, shortly Tsuna, popularly Dame-Tsuna,
seemed like a normal kid. He went to school, alone, and was always a bit late.
He seemed to be slow and a klutz, which inspired the name Dame-Tsuna from his
peers. The gym teacher and the math teacher seemed to be putting some pressure
on him. He was also bullied in school.
Colonello stared hard at Tsuna's photo. Looking at him every day, it’s hard not
to do anything to him. He has that lonely and scared look that is strangely
fascinating to Colonello. Whoever the adopted father is, Reborn or not, did a
bad job at offering the kid protection. At this point, Colonello didn't know
until which point he can hold himself from making direct contact to the boy.
===============================================================================
 
Fifth Week of Colonello's Mission
And contact he did. The bullies had been ganging up on him in the back of the
school building. Colonello didn’t want to have anything to do with his targets
at first, but then he just couldn't leave this one boy alone. He looked very
scared. Blame his BDSM hobby all you like, but a look of submission could turn
Colonello on really bad. He went there to help like a hero to his maiden in
distress, shooing the bullies away.
"A-ah, s-sorry. I-I...," the boy did poorly on hiding his tears. Seeing him
this close felt so different to seeing him in those photos. He is as petite as
those photos make him out to be, though those eyes seemed more alive, sad
especially. Colonello took a handkerchief from one of his pocket and gave it to
the boy.
"What are you sorry for? Those boys are at fault," he swallowed the normally
present kora. He was undercover, remember? "What did they do to you?"
Tsuna took the handkerchief. Colonello couldn’t help the giddy feeling he felt
when their fingers touched. "I'm not sure. They t-took me here and tried to op-
open my s-shirt". Oh. Oh.
"That’s... Don’t you realize how bad what they're trying to do to you is? We
should report this to the teacher!" Colonello found himself to be... angered.
This is an attempted molestation.
"No!" the kid said, surprisingly taking a bold and stern attitude. "No! Please,
don’t tell anyone, sir!" Somehow, in Colonello's mind, that words reminded him
of a situation when a sub begged to him. How they will look up to you and
cry, "Please, don’t, sir".
"I'm new and I don’t want to make commotion. I can’t make commotion. Please,"
Tsuna continued fearfully. And somehow, after all the time he observed how sad
and lonely the boy is, granting this one wish didn’t seem too much.
"Okay, but if I found them doing anything of the sort again, I'll report to the
principal," he relented.
"T-thank you!" The boy then wiped his tears with the handkerchief, stopped for
a while to look at it and sniffed as though taking note of the scent.
Colonello’s brows met as he witnessed the weird behavior, but found the boy
nodding as though deciding that the scent is okay then continued using
handkerchief. "Oh, sorry, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi from 9-C. Sorry for making your
handkerchief dirty. I'll wash it and return it to you".
When will this kid stop apologizing, "No, no. Just take it. It’s not much,"
Colonello responded, "And I'm... I'm Nike Wakanari. I just worked here as
janitor and mechanic for the last two weeks". He used the profession to spy on
The Takemarus children, Shouichi Irie (who worked part time to teach computer)
and the boy in front of him.
The boy looked at him thoughtfully, "You're Japanese?"
"A quarter Japanese. It’s weird to have Japanese name over this face, huh?" he
said, just like your adopted father.
The boy looked down for a while, murmuring, "I guess," then continued on fixing
his uniform, "But it's not that bad. Anyway, thank you, Wakanari-san. I don't
know what would have happened if it's not for your assistance. Thank goodness
you were around when it happened”.
I am not merely around, I am stalking you, kora, Colonello thought. But he
couldn't add a word for the boy smiled so wide Colonello felt like a saint for
making the boy's life better. After the boy finished fixing up, the two walked
together into the school building where they walked apart.
===============================================================================
 
That noon, Colonello was busy in the house next to The Sawada's to fix the
owner's plumbing. Of course, the guy next to the Sawada's didn't realize that
Colonello had done something to his plumbing beforehand so that the man would
invite him inside his home to fix it. There's nothing to fix, really, Colonello
just need a reason to walk around the house and probably slip a camera or two
that can spy over the Sawada's backyard. He did exactly that.
He also had the little girl living in the house facing The Sawada's home to
hang a Teruterubozu doll on her front porch, facing The Sawada's front yard, by
telling her it's more effective to control the weather by arranging the doll
this way. The doll had a camera inside it, of course. By this, he could spy on
the house from home. Directly sabotaging is unwise for they have 6 cameras
watching outside of the house. Colonello wasn't sure if they have any
surveillance within the house.
What he didn't expect was to catch Tsuna on his way home from arranging the
cameras. He followed him from a distance to the nearby supermarket. When he
walked into the market, the boy noticed him.
"Wakanari-san!" Tsuna’s face turned so bright that Colonello couldn't find it
in him to act like he didn't know the boy, "Shopping?"
"Uhh... yeah," Colonello answered awkwardly.
"Where is your basket?"
"Uhh... I don't know, I'm not very good with this. I never lived alone before”.
Tsuna laughed, "Then let's shop together. I'm used to house chores; I can help
you".
This boy is too trusting. They walked around the aisle with Tsuna recommending
things he should buy if he didn't have the time to cook or take care of
housework. Looking into Tsuna's basket, he realized the boy bought raw foods;
there were meat, chicken, vegetables, and other stuff. "You cook?" Colonello
asked.
"Yeah, I love cooking!"
"That's quite a lot you have there, any occasion?" Isyour father home?
"Oh, no... Not really," Tsuna looked disturbed for moment, "I live alone with
my dad, but he... he is out for some... business. He'll be back next week,
maybe". It didn't seem like he is lying, but Colonello could detect something
hidden within those words. "Still, I'm in the mood for hot pot, so it's a one
man party, yay!" Tsuna continued, cheerful. The childish way this kid talks
made Colonello aware of how innocent the society outside of his usual life is.
"No worries, kid. I live alone too. Eating by yourself isn't that bad," he
said; isn't this what a normal man with a normal life would say?
"Oh! Oh! Maybe you could come over and we can have hotpot together!" Tsuna said
excitedly. Colonello was honestly surprised by the invitation. The kid had no
parents around and invited a stranger he just met earlier the day for dinner?
He seemed not to notice that he was inviting his stalker inside his house; his
only safe sanctuary. "B-but, it's okay if you're too busy, ahaha...," the boy
suddenly became awkward after a moment of silence.
"S'fine".
"Huh?"
"I'll go, you sure it's okay?"
"Yeah, it’s fine!" Tsuna got excited again. He must be very lonely in a new
environment. "It's gonna be so great!" Tsuna said again, laughing like a kid.
Colonello felt like a predator, but who is he to say no to a free invite?
===============================================================================
 
The moment he stepped into the house, he just knew; Reborn lives here. Only an
Arcobaleno could detect another Arcobaleno this way. It's the smell; the air.
He could practically sense it, REBORN WAS HERE. And the sensations of being in
the sole target’s base – their safe heaven – felt like bliss. It's that
knowledge that you've won; that feel of superiority. Caught you, kora!
Colonello roared inside his own mind. He could hear himself sounding like a
madman inside. And gazing at the innocent boy who invited him in, he felt like
a dog wanting to piss on a tree in another dog's territory. The idea of doing
something to Reborn's hidden property...
"Wakanari-san?" Tsuna's voice shattered his inner rambling. The boy looked
strangely at him. Did he notice a change in Colonello's attitude? Colonello was
sure most people couldn't sense it when he was having that moment.
"Oh, nothing, just noticing the good design of this house," Colonello answered.
It surely was a nice home. The first floor consisted of a huge room with unique
partitions to make out the rooms. The whole design was modern; with many smooth
wooden surfaces and high tech furniture. The lighting is rich and the artistic
decorations are grand. This is a high end living within a small space. "What
does you dad do to afford this kind of living?"
"He is a doctor with high pay," Tsuna answered deprecatingly, "He is the best
in what he does".
That's what everybody saysabouta typical Arcobaleno, Colonello thought. He also
noticed the three cameras watching around the corners. Somehow he couldn't make
out a blind spot of the camera's vision. This guy was very careful. "A lot of
camera in your home".
"Yeah, my dad is a bit obsessed with security," Tsuna answered absently.
Colonello turned to see the boy preparing stuff in the kitchen.
"Do you need any help?" Colonello offered.
"Are you good with kitchen work?" Tsuna threw him a questioning stare.
Colonello couldn't answer. "Thought so. Maybe you can prepare the table," Tsuna
snickered. Colonello obeyed without a word and, after fixing the table, just
noticed he did the kid's order without question. What is he? A husband? He
laughed at his own disposition. Is this what Reborn had with this kid? Playing
house? It didn't feel that bad actually; might enjoy it as much as he can
before Reborn comes around.
Things were getting clearer in Colonello's mind. 'Settling down' makes sense in
the context of Reborn playing house. This is exactly what playing house is.
Aside from the air of Reborn's dominance, the house also offered warmth and
comfortable feel. Counting on how tidy and clean the house is, and also how
efficient he is in the kitchen, the homey feel of this house must have been the
kid's doing. If this is how it feels to be spoiled by a capable housekeeper,
then Colonello could understand Reborn's sudden decision to settle down.It
wasn't a bad experience!
Still, he couldn't report Reborn's existence in this house until he get
tangible prove. That coffee machine on the kitchen island and the pack of
expensive cancer stick on top of the coffee table speak volume of his existence
(nobody in this neighborhood drink coffee and the supermarket here didn't sell
that brand of smoke), but that sounded like an assumption. Mere instinct also
doesn't count. It's also unwise to probe the kid of his dad now.
We still have time, Colonello thought to himself, we have many opportunities to
catch Reborn off-guard.
While they ate, Colonello gathered fresh data of this household. Firstly, they
move here from Japan for Iemitsu's job. And because the neighborhood had a
similar environment to their original country, they decided to move here.
Secondly, Iemitsu is an Italian adopted by a Japanese family who, because he
felt grateful for the family who adopted him, decided to also adopt a child out
of goodwill. Not a bad cover-up story in Colonello's opinion. He shared his
made-up background to Tsuna too.
Later that day when he updated the info in his yellow map, he also noted that
Tsunayoshi Sawada is a very good cook.
===============================================================================
 
Sixth Week of Colonello's Mission
By Sunday, Colonello found that there was a guy named Iemitsu Sawada, an
Italian adopted by a Japanese family, in Japan database. He did adopt a child
named Sawada Tsunayoshi from a woman named Nana. Reborn did his research to
keep a solid cover-up story then. Great job. Although, further research showed
that Sawada Iemitsu's hair is blonde, not black, and he had military expertise
background, not medical. Colonello couldn't help but smile in front of his
laptop. A loophole, Reborn, too bad.
Latest update of Shouichi Irie seemed to be normal as usual. No suspicious
activity so far. Colonello opened the window for 24 hours feed from the cameras
surrounding The Sawada's household. Teruterubozu camera had nothing except some
children playing on the street in front of The Sawadas. He heard that the dad
is driving a black flashy car. Said car is nonexistent to this day, the only
car in the garage that he could see from the camera is a jeep SUV.
Wait, the car was moving. To the backyard? Colonello quickly changed his feed
window to the next camera. The car was moved to the middle of the backyard by
Tsuna through the driving seat. So, he can drive, huh? What stole his attention
was the boy's choice of clothing. After the boy got out of the car, Colonello
found him wearing an orange shirt and a pair of very revealing short pants. His
normally unruly hair tied to a ponytail. Colonello's mouth dropped.
"What are you doing boy?" he murmured to the monitor as he felt himself
absorbed to the live feed. His face was suddenly moving closer to the view of
Tsuna getting the water hose and turning the water on. "Are you washing the
car, boy?" he didn't realize how low his voice became.
A pet – no, it's a cat? A lion? – came out from the house to get the boy's
attention by trying to play with the water. Tsuna laughed brightly and
Colonello was immersed. When the boy bent, automatically showing his butt to
his camera, the Arcobaleno unconsciously licked his lips. He zoomed to the
boy's revealed leg and noticed how nicely shaped the bottom and the legs are.
Unfortunately, the boy was being active because the pet was chasing him around.
It's hard to focus the camera on those legs when he moved so much.
"Wait, wait, stop moving, boy. Let me see you clearly," Colonello murmured to
the monitor again. At one moment, the boy stopped to pick his pet and bent
again. Colonello instantly moved closer to the view, "That's it... Good boy.
That's some nice leg".
BRRRRR
Colonello jumped. "Shit! What?"
The sound of his newly purchased prepaid phone shocked him. He frowned at said
phone. There's no way someone could find this number because he had never used
it and he just bought it two days ago. This should be a prank call, right?
He looked at the unknown number. Maybe he should pick up to check and use a
different voice to answer. Just to play it safe from any tracking. "Hello," he
used a womanly voice.
"Oh my god, is this Rob's girlfriend? Tell Rob it's his pregnant mummy!" Luce.
"Fuck, how did you get this number!?" he changed to his real voice.
"Oh, Rob dearest, mummy just missed you. It's almost time you go back right?
There's a friend at home who really wanted to see you. And bring some pizza,
okay? Bye dear, love you!" the call ended. Colonello looked ridiculously at the
phone. It's already one and a half month. Your patron is here. Bring some news
on Reborn.
Okay. Maybe he should get there. He had not found Reborn (Or was the hitman
hiding in the Sawada's house? Not sure), but he should hurriedly get to the
headquarters before Luce did something creepy again.
And wait a minute.
How did she find out the codenames used privately between him and Lal? What a
creepy lady!
===============================================================================
 
He wore a big coat, a pair of sunglasses, and a hat to hide his undisguised
appearance from the neighbors. On the way to Club Arcobaleno, he readied
himself for any kind of interrogation from the others. Problem is, he didn't
have enough prove of Reborn's whereabouts and he was also unsure how far Luce
read his moves. That woman is one of a kind.
He arrived and got to the club through the private parking lot. Verde welcomed
him, "Good grace, what happened to your look?"
"I was undercover, kora!" Colonello countered. They crossed the hallway
hurriedly.
"Okay, change now. You dress like a hobo. Luce is waiting for you in the Clam
Lounge. Your patron is also there. Quick," Verde left him alone in the changing
room. Thankfully, the room had everything he needed to look like his classy
self again. A suit, pair of shoes, huge mirror; Unfortunately, he couldn't hide
the dark buzzcut hairstyle he was sporting right then. If anybody dare mock his
head, he'd punch them on the face.
===============================================================================
 
The first thing Luce said to him was, "Look at that hair. It's disgusting."
If only it was anybody aside from her, he'd punch them. "About Reborn-"
"R-27? I know," she moved closer to him and pat his chest like a mother
grooming her son, "I think it's good enough, Colonello. Good work, keep
watching". That's Luce's magic. She looks down on you, but, at the same time,
knows how to raise your spirit. Colonello couldn't help but feel happy when the
woman appreciated his job. Although, it's creepy how far she knew stuff without
his report.
"What about Vongola, kora?"
She kept doing her grooming; tracing the collar sleeve of his dress shirt.
"They don't know where he is," she answered, "In fact; they are placing a huge
bounty for anybody who could find Reborn."
"What?" this is surprising, "Why?"
"It seems like Reborn did something so outrageous to Vongola and escaped with
it," she looked around, "People have been looking out for his head, so watch
yourself. No tracking tools could work within our walls, but the ears of people
is still a threat."
Colonello was too stunned to say anything. This is such a turn of event. Luce
pointed to the bar, "Bucking Bronco is here, looking for you," she said,
"Attend to him, then continue your mission".
Bucking Bronco is the alias Dino Cavallone uses in the club. Said guy is
sitting on the bar stool alone, body slumped to the bar counter, an empty glass
in hand. Colonello walked to him and pat his shoulder, "Whats up with you,
kora?"
Dino raised his head. Even with the mask he wore, Colonello could see that he
is in tears. "Are you drunk, kora?" He took a seat, "What wrong? Tell me,
kora".
Dino choked on his own sob, then said, "Woman problem". It’s private family
affair not connected to business.
"I see, is it Julia?" Is it within the Cavallone Top Ten?
"No," the younger man answered somberly, "Its Marie". No, it’s my sibling.
"Oh. What did she do?"
"She...," he started to sob, "She had sex with Julia, as a domme". The family
put my sibling in an arranged marriage.
"Oh, wow. I don’t see how this is a problem, kora," Colonello commented. So
what? Arranged marriage is normal in mafia, "Do you like this Marie?"
"She... she is so young! Not even an adult!" He bawled, "My precious
Marie!" No, but my sibling was so young and precious to me. "And they had it
taped in a porn video without involving me!" He continued. My sibling was then
kidnapped by the new spouse.
"Uh huh," he wasn't interested. He really hoped it was about Reborn, for the
hitman was Dino's past dom and mentor, "I can't see how that could be
considered as bad, kora". In Colonello’s man, you can’t explain how a husband
kidnaps his own wife. When you’re married, you owned each other thus it
shouldn’t count as kidnapping. Except if Dino meant that the two eloped; but
the code for eloping is transvestite.
"Shut up!" Dino choked just to go through another crying fit after. "The
director b-behind the porn video," the name of the spouse and the kidnapper,
"Is Sinclair something. Raynad? I don't know. Fucktard doesn't know what he's
facing. I'll get him," Dino growled, eyes murderous.
The alarm inside Colonello's head went off, "You mean, Renato Sinclair?"
"Yeah! That's the guy!" Dino growled, "All this happened while I was away on an
errand. You know the bastard? I swear if I find him –"
Colonello couldn't hear him anymore. His mind was going haywire. His head
turned slowly to the direction of Luce, who was sitting with her crew of creepy
people, Byakuran included. She was also looking at him, wide smile intact. A
finger on her lips, as if saying, "Hush, calm down. I know what you're
thinking".
He quickly raised his hands to his collar, and found a button-like tracking
device, the only one that could work in the lounge, made by Verde exclusively
for the Arcobalenos. This means, Luce had planted the device there when she
groomed Colonello. This also means that all of the Arcobalenos heard his
exchange with Dino. He then felt the stare from all of them inside the room;
Luce, Fon, Verde, Viper, Skull. Their eyes flashed. They all knew who Renato
Sinclair is.
It's now up to Colonello, to bust the missing man.
===============================================================================
 
A man codenamed as Reborn, who is an Arcobaleno that decided to settle down in
the period of the last 7 months, was being chased by the strongest family in
the mafia. A man named Sawada Iemitsu, who is a high paying doctor with an
adopted son who just moved to Namimori in the period of last 7 months, was gone
for a business. A man named Renato Sinclair, who was set in an arranged
marriage with a mafia family member in the period of last 7 months, was
currently gone while kidnapping his spouse.
Nobody knew, aside from the Arcobalenos, that Reborn and Renato Sinclair is the
same man. The final piece is to prove if they are also the same man with the
fake Sawada Iemitsu living in Namimori. Colonello drove quickly to The Sawada
household. He didn't care if this seemed hasty; direct attack is more his style
rather than stealth anyway; but the Sawada’s dad was supposed to be home this
week. This was probably the only chance Colonello could get to infiltrate the
house without the man, possibly the dangerous guy in this game, around.
Last time he checked, the boy was still alone in the house. It’s almost 4.30
pm, the usual time the boy went to the supermarket to shop. He knocked the
front door.
"Wakanari-san," Tsuna greeted him. No short pants, unfortunately. His pet was
hiding behind his legs. "How can I help you?"
"Yeah, I was fixing the plumbing next door. I found that it's paralleled to the
other houses in this block's plumbing. I want to check if the problem in their
plumbing has something to do with yours," he explained.
The boy looked confused. "I don't understand, but help yourself".
Without further wait, he invited himself in while looking a bit impolite. "You
use a machine to control the water, right?" He said while checking any signs of
Reborn, "Where is it?"
"I don't really know," Tsuna said, "Maybe in the small room beside the
kitchen?" Colonello opened the door to find the machine there. He tinkered with
the machine; acting as if he was fixing something while actually doing nothing.
Tsuna, he realized, stood near the door behind him.
"What?" He said to Tsuna who had been standing there idly.
"Umm..., how long do you think you'd take?"
Colonello was cautious if the boy noticed anything strange with him. "Maybe an
hour or more, what's wrong?"
"You see, I have to shop. My dad is coming home, so I have to prepare
something," Tsuna told him. Colonello's heart made a huge thump. The enemy was
close. He didn't have much time.
"I would be fine if you leave the house to me," he said; trying to sound like
this is not what he was after all along.
"Oh, really? Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he answered as lightly as possible.
"Oh, thank you! I'll be fast, really," Tsuna jumped for joy before walking
away.
"Don't make a promise you can’t keep!" He said to Tsuna a bit playfully. Please
take your time, I really don't want to hurt you. Colonello reminded himself of
the sleeping drug within the pocket of his baggy clothes. He was thankful he
didn't have to use the drug on Tsuna. It was an enhanced version, made by
Verde. Knowing Verde, you'd never know what the drug could have done.
"I'm leaving!" was Tsuna's last word before he left with his pet. Colonello was
still tinkering with the machine until a moment later where he took a deep
breath, stepped away from the machine room, and screamed to the house, "Reborn.
If you're here, show yourself, kora!"
Silence.
If Reborn wasn't hiding somewhere here, then he had free reign over the house.
He quickly moved upstairs, the most probable place for the proof he was looking
for. The first door he opened was the bathroom. Second room was a colorful
room, and the warmth and comfort of the house is centered into the
place. Tsuna's room, Colonello concluded. He decided it wasn’t relevant and
closed the door; looking for something else.
There was another hallway behind the corner, almost hidden from view. And when
he slipped there, he found a long hallway with a door at the end. He sprayed
something to the air in front of him, and true enough, there were moving red
laser lines everywhere. Knowing Reborn, this wouldn’t be the type of laser that
could ring an alarm. He took a handkerchief within his pocket, and threw it
aimlessly in front of him. When it touched one of the laser beams; it burnt to
ashes in seconds; turning to empty air without a trace. Oh yeah, this was
definitely Reborn's style.
He put on his custom made goggles, again, made by Verde. The goggles could
track any traps. With this, he could see all the laser line clearly. The floor
was covered with a blanket of red laser. Oh, well, guess he couldn't step on
the floor then. Not really a problem. He took his first jump to the wall on the
right, turning midair to avoid the moving laser. Then, before reaching the
destined wall, he made a kicking move so that he can switch to the opposing
wall. This was done continuously, almost like a dance, until he reached the
small space in front of the door that was safe from the laser's reach. He
looked at the door, knowing from the goggle that there was an electric current
on its surface. Thankfully, he wore a pair of specialized rubber hand gloves.
He grabbed the knob, trying to open it.
Locked.
Well, damn. There was no other way. He kicked the door hardly to the point that
it broke away from its frame and flew a fine distance into the room. Colonello
breathe the air and smiled like a maniac for his victory. This room had
Reborn's smell; Busted, Reborn!
From his goggle, he knew that there was no trap within the room. The dark
modern room reminded him of Reborn's room in the club. His taste of silk bed
sheets and fur blanket was intact. The king sized bed was facing a huge glass
wall covered with thick dark curtain. The room was sparse from any other
furniture beside a huge artistic floor light and bedside table. An electric
fireplace patched on the wall on one side of the bed and a walk in closet
covered by a see-through partition on the other. Inside the walk in closet were
a huge mirror and some clothes, mostly dark suits - another Reborn reference.
"I know you've been watching, Reborn," he said to the room. He started knocking
the dark walls, looking for hollow area. "When you arrived, I'd be out of here,
kora. I don’t care if you go after me, as long as I know what you're up to,
kora".
He found a hollow wall right inside of the walk in closet. After knocking the
hollow wall a few times, LED lights in the form of glowing numbers and letters
appeared on its surface. Colonello used a password cracker tool he got from a
technician named Spanner to infiltrate the secret safe. When it opened, he
found a small collection of weapons and gadgets. On the bottom part, there was
a sleek 8x12 inches wooden box that looked like a container for important
documents. Colonello took the box and put it on the carpeted floor to open it.
Inside were documents; mostly personal documents such as birth certificates and
others, on a man named Renato Sinclair and Sawada Iemitsu. There were personal
documents of the original Iemitsu, and fake ones, in which they use a photo of
a dark haired and dark eyed man he had known as Reborn rather than a photo of
the blond Iemitsu.
There were also documents of Sawada Tsunayoshi. Seemed like Sawada Tsunayoshi
was the boy’s real name, but the question would be about Tsuna's position in
all of this.
He found the answer to that on the bottom of the wooden box. There, Colonello
grabbed another important document. The paper material seemed expensive, and
the whole design of it seemed new. Colonello read the certificate slowly.
"Renato Sinclair of The Sinclair Household" Reborn used hisbirthname?
"Is married to" Married?
"Sawada Tsunayoshi..." What? "of The Vongola Household"...
The certificate was dated 7 months ago, was signed by the two of them and
witnesses, namely Giotto of The Vongola, and even Timoteo of The Vongola. There
was also Vongola's official stamp and Colonello could note its authenticity.
Who is this Sawada Tsunayoshi in the Vongola and why is he married to... to...
that Reborn?
"Wakanari-san?"
Colonello jumped to his feet and looked at the door. Tsunayoshi stood there
like a statue, mouth slightly open, eyes looking straight at him. "Look, Tsuna,
calm down. This isn't what it looked like".
Tsuna took a step back. Colonello didn't make a move; reminding himself of that
drug inside his pocket and forming a plan. The boy looked like a cornered
animal, and any move could be seen as a threat that would push him to flee.
It's wiser to approach him calmly.
Colonello opened his mouth, and tried to talk slowly, "I can explain..."
But Tsuna suddenly turned and took his flight. Colonello quickly made a grab on
one of Reborn's shirt and took out the bottle of the sleeping drug from his
pocket before going after the boy. It’s no question that Colonello was faster.
He caught up with Tsuna in the hallway. Realizing this, the boy knocked the
wall to his left a few times while running and suddenly there were shooting
spears out of nowhere targeted after Colonello. He easily evaded it while
running after the boy, making the boy scream hysterically, "WHO ARE YOU!?"
"Calm down and we'll talk! I can explain!" Colonello screamed back. He couldn't
have the boy reporting directly to Reborn now out of the time. He had to silent
the boy for a while and leave. If not, Reborn would get to him too soon and
Colonello wasn't prepared for any confrontation. The boy didn't seem to pay any
heed to his words. He pulled one of the bookcases on the hallway down,
succeeding on hindering Colonello's path.
When Colonello made it to the last turn of the second floor's hallway, he was
greeted by the sight of Tsuna holding a gun facing him. Colonello released a
breath. The entertainment of this whole fiasco had been fun so far, but the
classic gun point threat ruined it. The Arcobaleno raised his hands, almost in
a mocking fashion. "You don't want to shoot that gun. You don't know how to use
it," Colonello said, again, very slowly to Tsuna.
"Who are you?" the boy asked. Colonello decided to answer, "I'm Reborn's
friend".
"He doesn't have any friend," Tsuna countered. 
True. "Then I was his partner. The Arcobaleno, ever heard of us?"
The boy shook his head hurriedly; looking very jittery and scared. Poor thing,
involved with the wrong crowd. "Look, I can explain everything and you don't
have to -"
"DONT COME CLOSER!" the boy instantly fired away at him. But there was no way
an Arcobaleno could die in the hands of an inexperienced shooter. Colonello
made quick moves to evade the boy's entire shooting rampage, and still ended up
standing calmly in front of the boy without any sign of tiredness that could
betray his cool. The boy gawked in horror.
"So...,” Colonello tried to offer his friendliest smile, “ready to talk?"
Click. Click.
The clicking of an empty gun answered Colonello. They didn’t move for the first
five seconds, but then bolted to the stairs at high speed. Tsuna threw away the
gun and skipped through two steps at a time, but tripped on the last couple of
steps and fell to the floor. Good chance, Colonello thought. He jumped to the
stair railing and slid down, hoping to catch the boy on the way. All the while,
Tsuna was trying to get to his feet, but fell again from the impact of
Colonello's body behind him. The two rolled on the floor with Colonello making
a quick grab on Tsuna's body. Reborn's shirt, drenched with the sleeping drug,
ready in hand.
"I'm not here to hurt you, okay?" Colonello said. The kid struggled in his
hold.
They ended up with Tsuna under Colonello's huge body; Tsuna's back to
Colonello's chest. Colonello made a locking move on the boy where he couldn't
struggle much. Unfortunately, one of the boy's arms escaped to scratch on his
face making the two roll around on the floor again. "You're not Reborn's wife
for nothing, huh? You put up a good fight," Colonello grunted after he
succeeded on securely locking the boy down. He was whispering to the boys ears,
enjoying the feel of the boy shaking greatly in fear under him, "I have your
husband's shirt here, you see? Now you just have to kiss the shirt and
everything will be fine, okay?"
Tears were pouring down from boy's eyes as Colonello gave him a quick kiss on
the cheek, "No need to cry baby, everything will be fine".
He put the shirt to Tsuna's face.
It lasted for a second, but then somebody grabbed his collar and threw him away
so strongly that he stayed in midair for seconds before colliding with one of
the chairs in the living room. He spontaneously jumped to his attack position
and took a better look at his surroundings. Shit.
There he was; the missing person everybody's been looking for. Reborn stood
near Tsuna in his usual sleek appearance. His eyes dark; filled with the intent
of murder toward Colonello. A gun; Reborn's favorite magnum; was directed to
him. "Well, well, well, hello again old friend. I see that you've been missing
me," Reborn sneered coldly, "I never knew you think so highly of me,
Colonello". 
So he did know whats going on inside the house, Colonello thought, referring to
the time he told Tsuna that he is Reborn's friend.
"Hey, we've always been your friend, kora" Colonello responded mockingly,
"We're just trying to give you a surprise as a wedding present, isn't that what
friends do, kora?"
"Well, you failed on surprising me," Reborn said boringly, "I've known your
every move ever since you stepped into that old man's rent house near the
border".
Shit, that early? "And you let your wife here alone to fend for himself, kora?"
"His own fault. He isn't supposed to invite a stranger into the house," Reborn
smirked, "But you should have known your place. You're a dead man".
Colonello had gone through a lot of moments in his life where he was the target
of gun point. At those times, he always knew he would survive. And he would,
just to experience the same moment again. Nobody in this world could shoot an
Arcobaleno. Nobody. But again, there is also nobody in this world who could
survive an Arcobaleno's shot. Reborn's, especially, who is the best hitman in
the world. He never missed a target. And if he was being serious, then this is
the end for Colonello. There was no joke behind the hitman's words. He was
willing to kill.
Tsuna, on the other hand, was trying to stand. But he failed and fell.
"If you dont want to witness this, you better get to your feet quickly and
flee, boy," Reborn grunted. Tsuna seemed to try, but his feet shook so badly
that he couldn't do anything but grabbed on Reborn's pants. Reborn stole a
quick glance at the boy, then asked Colonello, "What did you give him?"
"I don't know, it’s Verde's," Colonello answered, "It didn't even last a
second. I don't think he sniffed any of it, kora!"
"It's Verde's! What do you think, idiot?" Reborn grabbed the boys arm and
pulled him roughly onto his feet. The boy now stood close to Reborn with his
back facing Colonello. One of Reborn's arms circled the boy's head, a palm
closing one of the boy's ear, and his upper arm closing the other ear. By now
you can hear the boy sobbing clearly as he hid his face to Reborn's chest.
"Can't help it, you have to be here, boy," he pointed his gun to Colonello’s
head; his nose buried in Tsuna's unruly hair "As I shoot this guy's head".
Colonello knew the look a guy has when he's out for the kill and the look on
Reborn's face was the best example for it. By the position of that magnum,
Colonello knew it was directed to a certain point on his head. He knew Reborn's
perfect record, and he knew the hitman wouldn't miss his target tonight, not
even when its target is an Arcobaleno's head. Colonello understood that however
fast he tried to evade this one, it couldn't beat the speed of Reborn's bullet.
The guy was superb with his shot. If this is the end, then so be it. He'd
rather die in the hands of fellow Arcobaleno than the hands of an Arcobaleno's
wife anyway.
A wide smile grew on Reborn's face; the man had always enjoyed the view of
blood. "Bye-bye, dear friend".
BANG.
===============================================================================
 
Tbc.
***** RENATO SINCLAIR'S DIRTY SECRET *****
Chapter Notes
     1. There is no RebornxLambo in this story,
     2. WARNING: hurt/comfort, a tidbit of fluff, BDSM equipment, mentions
     of Satan Spawn
After the news, all of the Arcobalenos just couldn't wait to see this
one Sawada Tsunayoshi. A boy of only fifteen, with a cute-ish feature that
could represent the average society's innocence, and a smile that reminds you
of the very bright sky – whatever that implied. He seemed to fancy wearing
colorful accessories and bright colored clothing, mostly in the form of
handmade bracelets and hoodies. As normal as he looked, labeled as your
everyday cute teenager at best, the boy was still a wonder for he is a person
living with the very great Renato Sinclair, said to be married with the guy,
and could make it out alive to this day, somehow.
Yet, it’s another story for the guy who brought the story back to the
Arcobaleno headquarters. "I told you he would kill me, kora!" Colonello
complained; Bandages wrapped his new ugly haircut, his body thin, face pale.
"And if this was another scenario, it would've had happened, kora!"
"Don't be such a child, Colonello," Viper hissed. "The only thing that should
be blamed for pushing Reborn to shoot you is your haircut".
Colonello didn't lift a finger. He decided he'd punch anyone for commenting on
his haircut as long as it's anyone beside the Arcobaleno. Skull doesn't count.
"Your presence was under appropriate timing," Luce made her point, "Reborn knew
there were two other interested parties spying on the house that night.
Shooting you would make the perfect statement that he wouldn't hold back on
anyone, not even an Arcobaleno".
Skull snickered, "You're that bad in espionage, huh? You didn't even notice
there were othe – OUCH!" Colonello didn't care if he meant to say anything
about his hair or not, but as long as it’s Skull talking, he would punch him
anyway, "It’s not like you're the best too, kora!"
Among them, Skull and Colonello are the best when it comes to direct attack,
mostly in large scale attac that involved a lot of people in wide areas. Verde
and Reborn excel in stealth and one-on-one attacks; they prefer working alone.
Viper is an informant, and is probably the type of a person who would know
things about you and stab you in the back. Luce? Luce is... the enigma, and
that's the only thing they can say about her. Though sometimes they think she
might has the power to travel through time or at least knows someone who can –
whatever that implied.
Back to Reborn, he was also quite the all rounder; a mathematician, an expert
in medic, a hitman, a tactician. When you think about it, there is nothing out
of character from what he had done that night five days ago. He shot Colonello
on the head alright, but he made sure to target that one tiny spot on human
head that would give near to zero damage to the human brain. It’s a 1:1000000
chance shot, 1:1258842 if you're aiming for the zero damage shot, to the head.
If there is a person in this earth that could make that 1 among millions, it’s
Reborn indeed.
The only damage Colonello suffered was blood loss and shock. He recuperated in
The Sawada’s guestroom for three days, unconscious, under the watch of Reborn.
They even shared a cup of coffee that morning he woke up before Reborn kicked
him out. The three hours he spent there being conscious, he didn't see signs of
Sawada Tsunayoshi. Only a line of, "The boy suffered grade 2 muscle weakness
and high fever," from Reborn gave him an understanding of how the kid was
doing.
"Poor Tsunayoshi; that day must be a nightmare for him," Fon said with a sad
look, "And he was making sure he can welcome his husband properly. And now he
got ill".
"Yeah, Verde was ecstatic when he heard that," Skull added, "He was so sure
that the average people would be in two weeks coma after being exposed to the
drugs for three seconds."
That sent warning to Colonello, "Wait, where is Verde, again?"
"Oh?" Skull looked innocently, "Didn't he say he want to check on the boy?"
===============================================================================
 
The danger that could be imagined from having Verde near a boy – a possible
subject for his experiment – forced some of them to go and visit Namimori. Luce
added that this was also a good chance to give their wedding gift to Reborn.
Luce, Fon, and Skull arrived at the scene some two hours later, while Colonelo
and Viper had to attend to their respective patrons. They were ready for
surprise-attacks from Reborn. However, what greeted them was a surprise.
"Oh, hello," somebody opened the door. It’s not Sawada Tsunayoshi. It’s not
Reborn. It’s Lambo.
"What are you doing here?" Skull grumbled, looking at the 20 something year old
up and down.
"Verde took me here," Lambo lazily answered, one eye closed while turning his
back to them and walking inside the house; a sign that they were welcomed
inside. Verde, of course, would bring Lambo along. Lambo was one of Verde's
patrons; the latest, the richest, and the youngest. He was related to a mafia
family called The Bovino. It was well known around the club that this youth, a
kid really, acted like he hated Reborn meanwhile actually harboring feelings
for him. When he found out Reborn decided to settle down; he was frantic.
Lambo led them into the modern house. This house very much reminded them of
Reborn from the sleek appearance and the whole efficiency of its design.
Although something else betrayed that image of seriousness; for example, how
there were two pair of small sized colorful Nikes thrown carelessly next to the
neat row of shiny black shoes in the shoes rack, there were teen magazines on
top of the newspaper and pack of cigarette, and the phone book next to the
professional looking phone was in baby blue polka dots. There were a strong
smell of musk and tobacco, Reborn's signature smell, but it was paired with a
new fruity aroma; apple. Gazes were stolen by the huge wall-like terrarium for
a chameleon – Reborn's pet; Leon – that works as a partition.
They walked pass through the terrarium to find the TV room. The group then
noticed the room was kept dark while the TV was turned on with voice kept very
low. A lithe figure was peacefully sleeping on a black leather lounge chair
with an orange blanket over his body. One of his colorful socks clad feet was
peeking out from the blanket as his head limped to the side and the lion-look-
alike pet yawned on top of his lap.
It’s the boy; Tsunayoshi.
Oh, he was such an adorable sight, but he looked like he wasn’t supposed to be
there in the middle of the black furnished room. He would fit better among
those feminine looking boys of some idol group that was currently singing on
TV.
Right next to the TV room was a room of mostly glass walls where Verde and
Reborn were seen lounging. The two were smoking, sitting on the black sofas
facing the glasses wall facing the backyard. On one of the walls was an
electric fireplace, with a book shelf on its left, and a mini bar on its right.
The seating area was placed in front of it and the office desk slightly further
from it. It was funny how the rows of high quality literature like books on
medic, politics, philosophy, calculus, and medic journal had to be in one shelf
with rows of comics and fantasy books, or how the professional looking mac was
paired with a small wireless turtle shaped mouse. Reborn, though, paid no mind
as he sat on the black velvet couch like a boss. He lacked the usual black
suit, but the dark blue dress shirt with rolled sleeves he wore didn't make him
less neat. Verde sat on another couch, without his lab coat and two of his
dress shirt upper buttons open. The two was weirdly in relaxed mood.
"Hello, Reborn!" Luce greeted cheerfully, as if her comrade didn't try to kill
another comrade days before. Reborn nodded calmly. The present boxes in Skull's
hold spoke volume. "We brought you presents," Luce continued, almost goofily.
Reborn glanced disinterestedly, "For what occasion?"
"Your wedding," her eyebrows high, chin raised in an all-knowing manner. Nobody
really knew if it was the right time to say the word 'wedding'. Reborn took a
smoke without a care. They labeled the silence as a sign not to pursue the
topic and took their seat.
Luce and Skull sat beside Verde. Fon made his way to Reborn, but was preceded
by Lambo. The youth took his place near Reborn. And by near; he sat right
beside him in a way that allowed their sides to meet. With Reborn's left arm
leaning on the backrest and how Lambo leaned a bit to Reborn, it seemed as if
they were cuddling. Fon raised an eyebrow, before uncomfortably took his seat
somewhere else. Considering Luce mention of Reborn's wedding just now, wasn't
this inappropriate?
Reborn was unmoved as if Lambo's unusual forwardness isn’t that out of the
norm. He said, "We should stop smoking. Luce is here". He put his smoke on an
ashtray on the side table right next to him. Verde followed.
"D'aww, don't make me ruin your fun," she said as if she really regretted it
(she didn’t).
"If there's someone who ruined the fun here it’s the newbie over there," Reborn
said, glaring at Skull. It’s no secret that Reborn acted protective toward
Luce, unknown if it was because she was their youngest (age wise) or because
she was the only female. He, however, wasn't in good term with Skull, had a
weird friendship/rivalry relationship with Colonello, neutral with Viper and
Verde, and got along well with Fon.
Skull didn't dare go against Reborn. He wasn’t brave enough to insult Reborn in
front of the man's face. "We're acting very chummy here; you sure it’s all
clear?" Skull changed the topic. He was talking about the fact that they were
not sure if the house was free of spies or other surveillance.
Reborn instantly glared at Skull, "Unlike you, I'm intelligent enough to be
able to make sure the area is surveillance free".
"Yes, and I re-checked just now, this area is clear from any cameras," Fon
affirmed, "Your show of power is clearly very effective, Reborn. You've truly
made the best out of The Arcobalenos".
"They are just cowards. Took their leave quickly just from seeing a gun,"
Reborn referred to the shot he gave Colonello, "So far my informant told me
there is no other suspicious activities in the neighborhood".
Luce raised her eyebrows, "Oh, but we took note of this boy in front of your
house. It was obvious he is watching this place".
"Too obvious," Reborn noted, "There's no way such a kid is a spy. Must be one
of the locals, probably just curious".
As they ended the topic, Verde got up from his seat, "I'm getting more drink.
You want some, Fon?"
"Ah, you know I don't drink these kinds," Fon calmly answered.
"I really want some of them, though," Luce jumped into the conversation.
Reborn, however, thought otherwise.
"No you don't. I'll look for some tea in the kitchen," The hitman crushed his
smoke onto the ashtray on the round coffee table, "And give me those, brat," he
took the presents from Skull rudely then made his way out. Lambo followed him
closely. If Reborn didn't want the guy to follow him, he made no word about it.
"Why does he hate me so much?" Skull's face turned sour. To that, Fon
laughingly said, "Because Reborn hates children".
"He married someone more of a child than I am," Skull raised his chin. The fact
that Luce was younger than Skull himself was left unsaid.
Verde was leaning on the mini bar counter when he put a thoughtful look on his
face, "I bet on my next contract's money Reborn is going to sleep with Lambo in
under two weeks".
"Hey! Are we going to bet on a married man's infidelity?!" Skull exclaimed
abruptly, just to add a moment later, "I'm in. I bet he's going to come back to
the club in under two weeks".
Fon was silent for a while, "Hmmm, then I'll bet he's going to crack and decide
to use BDSM equipment in under two weeks".
"Oh, that's a good one!" Skull exclaimed laughingly.
"Then I add that he's going to use that on Lambo," Verde grinned, "In one
week," he looked at Luce, "You're not interested, miss?"
Luce, who was stroking her belly absentmindedly, jumped slightly on her seat,
"Oh! Pardon?"
Verde rolled his eyes, "The bet... aren't you placing any?"
She looked down, "Oh, I don’t know. They say pregnant women shouldn't do
wretched things".
"Oh, come ooon. Looking at your whole situation, you were never pure to begin
with. We don't even know the father," Skull scrunched his forehead. He had
quite the bravery talking this way to her. The two were known to be close,
surprisingly making the mother-son duo in their crew.
"I told you times before," she said seriously, "It’s God's".
That sentence put the men to silence. It drowned in their mind how almost true
that sounded if only she said it’s the 'devil's' instead. She giggled to bless
the moment of silence, "You guys seemed to not put any thought on the boy's
position in this," she said as she looked at the prone figure lying on the
lounge chair in the room next to them.
"It’s obvious there's nothing between them that is romantic," Verde shrugged,
"At least not in Reborn's case".
"I'm sorry for the boy, but I think so too," Fon said with a solemn face, "This
circumstance just doesn't fit any of Reborn's known interest."
"And it’s an arranged marriage," Skull added his penny, "This must be a set up
by The Vongolas and Reborn was paid to be involved in whatever it is they are
after. It’s not possible there's any feelings involved".
"D'aww," she pouted, her brows almost met while she thinks. "Then I'll place my
bet for Reborn and Tsuna doing eskimo kiss?"
The men in the room sweat-dropped in chorus right at the time Luce made kissing
movements with her two hands. Skull then face-palmed just to make things more
dramatic. Dejected, Verde sighed. He shouldn’t have expected Luce to take this
seriously. "How are we going to clarify if our bet is true, though? Reborn
would know if we spy on his daily life," Skull grumbled. To that, Viper smiled.
"Oh, I would know," he said, face victorious, "Reborn agreed to let me monitor
the boy and help him recuperate".
Skull gawked, "He let you watch over the boy? That's the same as handing the
victim to the perpetrator!"
"Well, I think he let me have my ways because he is obviously interested with
Lambo. Lambo will be around for sure," Verde smirked. The scenario of a
forcefully tied free man taking the opportunity from being offered someone of
his liking just clicked in Verde's mind.
Skull threw him a dirty glance, "Cheat".
Fon, however, had other thoughts, "We all agreed to bet with the next
contract's money? Luce cannot participate in any contracts around these times
if you counted her condition". Luce's belly was already so big after all.
The only woman in the room seemed calm. "I'll bet on the baby," she patted her
bulging stomach. Nobody commented. Verde gave a sharp and long gaze at her and
there must be horror on Fon and Skull's face. Verde thought that the 'baby'
could make this bet scary if not threatening, so he let it slide by not
involving Luce in the bet; although this could be his only chance to take
Luce's baby from her and kill it before it grows into its Satan Spawn full
form. Of course, this only stayed in his mind, and maybe in Fon's and Verde's
too; because who dare say anything insulting to Luce?
Lambo made his entry just then while bringing a tray with two ceramic cups with
him; no Reborn in toe. He walked shakily to balance the tray before he bent to
offer the cups to Luce and Fon. "You know, if you're that bad with the tray,
you can just grab the cups with your two hands," Skull commented
"But the cups are scorching".
"Then use another cup".
"All dirty," Lambo threw a cold glance outside the room, "Because the house-
helper couldn't do his job". Skull could sense the rivalry Lambo held against
the boy in the other room. He entertained the idea of having Reborn involved in
a soap-opera-like situation; surely the guy would just finish the problem with
a shotgun and leave. The bike-fan snickered which gave him weird looks from
both Verde and Fon.
Luce complained on the awful taste of the tea when Reborn is walking inside.
Lambo followed him to his seat. Their conversation continued as if the bet
involving the baby of The Devil never took place.
===============================================================================
 
The next time Verde went to the Sawada Household, Reborn was cooking in his
night robe. Sadly, the kitchen looked so out of it. It’s worse than the last
time he visited. "You don't know how to take care of good stuff, I see," Verde
referred to the house. Reborn instantly sent him a glare. 
Verde took a seat on the dining area and watched as Lambo went to his place as
Reborn's shadow and asking unnecessary things in a spoiled manner. From there,
he observed how Lambo started sitting on the counter next to the stove where
Reborn cook, leaning on Reborn to whisper something. That peaked Reborn
interest, as he returned Lambo's gaze to say something, and Lambo gave him a
very seductive, if not challenging, smile. Oh, and Verde knew that's how Reborn
likes his lovers to be. It’s an easy read of situation for Verde, because The
Arcobalenos play around. They never settled with one person, they have a group
of it. Some of them have one person sitting on a pedestal higher than the
others, but that doesn't mean they don't have others willing to please them,
like in Colonello's case with Lal (everybody know they sleep with other people
while being lovers), or, maybe, Luce and that white haired creep.
Reborn used to have that person on pedestal too, his 'lover', that changes from
time to time. Once it was that Cavallone kid, but Verde was sure Cavallone was
just a phase. Bianchi and Reborn, though, used to make quite a 'couple'; but
didn't last that long either.
With this situation, there was no way he wouldn't win this bet.
"The boy is upstairs," Reborn scooped some soup into a white bowl, "Take this
with you and check on him. He hasn't eaten anything since yesterday". Verde
nodded and left the two alone to approach his current subject.
The subject was in his room. When Verde stepped in, he felt like visiting an
entirely different world. A contrast to the cold and professional feel of most
part of the house; this room was colorful and warm. It is an L shaped room. The
walls were painted light blue except one part near the bed where it was painted
in orange. The room had a lot of stuff, like the artsy wall decorations of
popular quotes, the long line of seashells connected with a thread, the typical
teenager study desk, a comfy looking chair facing out the window, and a small
walk-in-closet. The coloring and the small figurines of sea creatures made it
obvious this room was beach themed. The owner of the room was sleeping on his
bed by the window, under a geometric patterned bed cover, almost hidden between
the many colorful pillows. Verde watched him from the center of the room,
sighing.
This thing better not be boring. He only wanted to stay for the challenge of
bothering Reborn and his so called married life anyway; not to heal some child.
Reborn wouldn't allow him to do his regular experimental method. The hitman
wanted the boy fixed. Unfortunately, healing people is the epitome of boredom
for Verde.
A deal was a deal anyway. Verde approached the sleeping form and started taking
some checkup. Like the last time, the boy's temperature was so high it’s almost
abnormal. And don't start with grabbing his hands, especially on the palm area,
and forehead; they burned as if it was on fire. What weird was that the boy
would wake up and be in a different state, Reborn told him, but the man could
not elaborate on that point further because of some circumstances (Verde
couldn't get what he meant by that). Verde never saw the boy awake, but he
confirmed that the boy was not in coma like most of his subjects.
I have the antidote, Verde thought, but then I'd lose a reason to come here. He
tried touching the boy's forehead, just to flinch from the heat. Then suddenly,
the boy's eyes opened and Verde couldn't move from the shock. The boy was
looking at him so sharply and – Verde wasn't sure – but he thought that he saw
a flash of fire on the boy's head for a millisecond. As he stood like a statue,
the air was starting to feel more dense and heavy as the boy started to get
more intimidating. The light from behind the curtain of the window made the
boy's eyes glowed orange and it was judging Verde's form.
"Uh, Tsunayoshi," Verde tried to reason. The sharp look from the boy’s eyes
made the scientist felt guilty somehow; maybe from the drugging fiasco or
something else that happened downstairs. "I am Verde, Reborn's frie –," He
tried to elaborate further, but the boy blinked at him just now and it made the
atmosphere tenser instead.
Verde was an Arcobaleno for god sake; he shouldn't be afraid! He lowered his
stance and started to step back, "There's a soup there on your bedside table.
And...,” Verde said slowly as he took one step at a time, “my work here is
done”. The scientist gave up. He quickly fled from the room.
When he got to the dining area, where his patron and Reborn were acting chummy
by sitting closely and eating together, Verde didn't find it in him to feel
entertained by the sight. He was too surprised. Was that what Reborn was
talking about by the 'different state'? Verde tried to rake his brain for a
clue, but it rushed as though he was suffering from an aftershock.
"What’s wrong with you?" Lambo seemed to notice.
Verde prepared himself to speak, but a look from Reborn told him not to say
anything for now. So he took a deep breath and said, "Nothing, just saw
Reborn's dirty collection hidden in the hallway and I hurried here to report".
Lambo seemed intrigued, "You have a collection huh?" The youth said to Reborn
meaningfully. Reborn answered with his trademark smirk; eyes half-lidded; and
Lambo was smitten once again. Fools, Verde thought. He looked at the date on
his watch. It’s closing in to the deadline of his one week bet.
===============================================================================
 
It’s a day before said deadline. So far, Lambo told him he and Reborn made
progress. The intimidating man was said to invite Lambo in even without Verde
around and, most surprisingly, they almost kissed. But the house-helper busted
them; so they didn't do it.
By this, Verde realized two things; first, that Tsuna kid can now walk without
the help of any antidote; second, the boy saw Lambo and Reborn. Oh, poor thing.
Even when he had no feeling toward the older man, wouldn't he feel betrayed?
To be honest, Verde didn’t know what to think of that kid. The boy was the
reason that Reborn, a guy Verde see as somebody who can stand on par with him,
decided to do something as low as marriage. It’s not that Verde felt like he
lost a friend. The Arcobalenos don't do the friendship game. Being with the
Arcobalenos had always been about the thrill; the thrill of meeting a range of
dangerous people and the thrill of having access to the best challenges around
the world. The Arcobaleno makes Verde feel like he is the best in everything
because he does the best work and he knows the best people.
But then there was this news of Reborn settling down in a sleepy neighborhood
and got himself married with a kid. The idea of having one Arcobaleno, the most
feared among them, to do something stupid for a small fry made Verde think that
the Arcobaleno he thought so highly of may not be as great as he wanted it to
be.
And such thought is not allowed.
At one side; he hated the sight of that boy. He felt like he wanted to tell the
boy that he has no place among them. At the other side; he was very intrigued
by the boy. Who wouldn't wonder what brought the boy around these people at the
first place? After that one time the boy instilled fear on him, Verde started
to feel angry and humiliated from the mere thought of that kid. Yet, he also
wanted to know how the boy could do that to an Arcobaleno. He wanted to make
the boy cry, but would do anything to learn how the boy works his tears out.
Blame Verde’s superiority complex for this; but he was 100% sure he would smile
when the boy cracked and cried.
He didn't know if this thought of his was obvious to the eyes of his Arcobaleno
crew. Colonello once came to him to remind him not to do anything to the
innocent boy. Verde remembered telling the blond, "I'm not doing anything
different to what I've been doing all the time".
But everybody knew Verde was manipulative. Verde would set things up to the way
he wanted it. The event where the boy surprised him in his bedroom made Verde
think the boy is ahead of him in this game. He had to move ahead and make his
own move if he wanted to win. And that was why he was going to Namimori that
particular day.
Skull and Luce wanted to tag along. Verde would allow them of course, just to
let them have the first row seat to his win with the bet and his win against
Sawada Tsunayoshi. Lambo, of course, was already there. He made his visit to
The Sawada Household without Verde now. He even greeted them at the front door
when they arrived; wearing an obvious somebody's dress shirt.
"I was using the bathroom's faucet and it kind of sprayed at me," Lambo said,
"So Reborn gave me his shirt". An obvious lie. He must have wet himself in the
shower so that he could borrow from Reborn. Good job, Verde thought.
Lambo led them to the kitchen and dining area. Reborn already sat on the dining
table, an ipad in hands to read the news. Two huge plates, seemingly like a
dish of typical English Breakfast, was set in front of him. Lambo took the seat
right next to the hitman; telling them that he had been spending his breakfast
with the hitman all along.
Verde smirked meaningfully at the two other guests beside him. "That's a neat
breakfast," Verde said, "Last time I saw you, you were cooking some instant
soup".
"The cook can now function again," Lambo answered him. By cook, the young man
definitely meant the Tsuna kid.
"That seemed so good," Skull looked at the menu.
Reborn looked at them, "Luce, there are leftovers; you can get some for
yourself. You're not allowed to have any," he pointed the last sentence to
Skull. Skull made a face.
"Oh let him have it, we can have somebody cook us another meal later," Lambo
added as though he owned the house.
They ended up having breakfast together over a cup of coffee (Luce only had
water to drink). As the breakfast went, Reborn and Lambo made a show of their
intimacy. They were sitting so close with the edge of their seat touching each
other. Lambo was leaning on the table, looking directly at Reborn, while Reborn
was putting his arrogant, almost seductive, look; chin raised, eyes looking
down half lidded, and his lips in the form of a smirk. The two was talking in
murmurs, as if they were sharing some secret nobody should know.
Verde threw a smirk at Luce and Skull too, but Skull was busy stuffing his face
with the food, and Luce was spacing out while drinking her water slowly. He
should have brought Fon instead of these two idiots.
In that exact moment, somebody joined them. It’s the Tsuna boy.
He was standing awkwardly somewhere between the living room and the dining
room. His hair was very messy; making his feverish face looking smaller. The
huge shirt and the baggy pajama pants added to the look. The scientist then
realized the reason Colonello was so smitten with this boy. He was exactly
Colonello's type; heart shaped face, huge eyes, a petite frame, cute attitude.
It’s different in Reborn's case. That guy preferred someone more mature with a
tad of danger that could challenge him. Lambo was more fitting into that
category. He made a better picture beside Reborn rather than that child.
"Uhh, hello," the boy said as he bowed a little toward them.
"Hello," Luce and Skull replied together in a strange manner. They seemed to be
nervous to see Tsuna's reaction toward the obvious display of affection his
husband and another guy were having. Verde, though, stayed cool and watched the
boy's reaction.
The boy walked closer and seemed all neutral. Maybe they were never
involved?Verde thought to himself. "Are you done with your breakfast?" He asked
to the direction of Lambo and Reborn. Seeing this; Verde thought was, or maybe
he is Reborn's loyal sub who is willing to please Reborn however he wanted it.
That could make sense, and Reborn wanted Lambo, right?
Lambo only gave a quick glance at Tsuna before maintaining eye contact with
Reborn again, "Oh, we're done. You can clean up". The boy took their empty
plates without making any eye contact to Reborn. Verde almost laughed for the
show of condescending look Lambo gave the boy, but was silenced when the boy
gave them a question, "Are you guys his friends, too?"
Luce, Skull and Verde looked at each other awkwardly because they didn't have
an idea how to answer that. Friends? Of course, not. Partners? Maybe. Reborn
stepped in to answer for them, and this is the first time they ever seen him
doing any contact with the boy, "They were my partners, just like Colonello,"
he answered shortly. The boy seemed to be a bit brighter when Colonello's name
was mentioned.
"Ooh, I see...," he brought the dirty dish to the washing machine. If anybody
thought it’s over with this child, they were wrong. Tsuna continued to address
them as if they were visiting to make friends. Out of al people, eh actually
approached Luce, "You looked like you need a drink, mam. Do you want some tea?"
"Oh, no! You don’t have too!" She remembered the staleness of the tea she had
in this house last time.
"It’s okay. This is some good tea. Trust me!" The boy was smiling brightly.
Luce seemed to not have the heart to say no as she watched the cup to her doom
came. Verde snickered on how hard the boy was trying to be accepted by Reborn's
crowd.
When the tea arrived, Luce sighed dejectedly. "Thank you," she said, thinking
the boy would leave her. But the boy stayed; watching her. "Try it, it’s good!"
It was in the same cup with the last tea. It even looked the same. The woman
grabbed it, realizing it's not as hot as it was last time. Then she drank. She
quickly withdrew; just to say, "This is very good!" her face brightened, "Is
this a different brand?"
"I got that from the local tea house. It’s the only brand of tea we have in
this house," the boy tilted his head in a cute manner, "I'm glad you like it.
Although I'm sorry for the food choice, it must be too greasy for a pregnant
mom. I couldn't make anything more proper because of the sickness".
The food wasn't greasy. It was properly cooked.
"Lemme try," Skull grabbed the cup of tea from Luce impolitely and drank it
like he was drinking from a can of beer. Skull was never the type to drink tea,
really, but he stopped to say with a surprised look, "It’s good," he looked
dumbfounded, "You sure this one is the same tea?"
"You had tea in this house before?" Tsuna seemed to be a bit confused, but then
seemed to get the grasp of the situation, "You guys must be Reborn's friends
from that time! If this guy ever made you tea, I have to say he is bad at it,"
the boy laughed a bit. He seemed less sick when he does that.
"You were right. Luce even puked the thing out," Skull snickered. Reborn
suddenly paid attention to the conversation. "Shut it, newbie," the hitman
grumbled with Luce and Tsuna laughing in the backround, "I'm more of a coffee
person, anyway".
"He is right," Tsuna ended with a smile; thumb pointed at Reborn, "He is a
coffee guy. Just like those fat cops”. The boy's laughter was joined by Luce.
Reborn rolled his eyes. Lambo seemed to be annoyed for being out of Reborn's
attention.
"My name is Luce," Luce seemed enthusiastic so suddenly, "And this is Skull,
and that frowning guy over there is Verde".
"Verde?" Verde never thought the boy would be alarmed by the mention of his
name. Does he remember that time in his bedroom? Verde thought. He watched as
the boy turned to him. If the boy wanted to tell everybody that this scientist
ran away in fear from his bedroom like a dork, something he had never told
others, then so be it. But the boy would pay for it.
"You took care of me, I heard," weirdly enough, the boy smiled at him, "Thank
you!"
As the boy made a bow to him, in that typically Asian way, Verde was a bit out
of it. Does the boy know he was also the creator for the drug responsible for
his illness?
"Uhh..., you're welcome," Verde was speechless. The boy barged in and made the
room more chatty, even succeeding on making Reborn joining their conversation.
It’s not the same to the way Skull makes some noises annoyingly. No. This boy
is good with small talks.
"And also," the boy's hand was reaching out to Verde, "No smoke around the
pregnant, lady," he took a pack of cigarette from Verde's pocket and put it on
the furthest kitchen counter with a small smile. How dare he!
After the boy took his leave, Luce exclaimed, "I like the boy already!" Luce
rarely ever say that. She acts nice most of the time, but she never really was.
Reborn threw a long gaze at her as she said, "We approve, Reborn!"
Well, I clearly dont! Verde screamed from inside his head. He could see the
distaste in Lambo's face too. The youth kicked the floor under his feet, making
Skull laughed openly at the brattish way he did it. Verde looked at the boy who
was sitting in the TV room, which he can see clearly from his seat, to catch
the boy looking at them interestingly. Being caught, the boy quickly threw his
gaze away to the TV as if he wasn’t interested to join them. It’s that, or
maybe the boy was creeped out by the scary look Verde had on his face.
===============================================================================
 
After a while, he started getting sick of Reborn and Lambo's PDA. He was also
getting tired of catching Tsuna's glances at their table. He was hoping the boy
was burning in jealousy over Reborn and Lambo, but, instead, the boy simply
looked very curious. If Colonello's report was valid, then it is true that the
boy was bullied in school and was very lonely. Maybe the kid just wanted to
join them, but was too shy to approach.
He stood up from his seat and decided to go to the boy. He could feel Reborn's
gaze following his back as he started to shorten the distance between he and
Tsuna. Tsuna watched his steps, face bright like he would welcome the company.
"Whats up?" The boy greeted him.
"I have the antidote for the drug with me," Verde explained, "You can take it
now".
The boy seemed thoughtful, "I don’t think I need it anymore. I'm getting
better, actually".
Dont play with me, brat. Acting like the all-knowing, saying no to the
antidote. So far nobody have made it without the antidote.
"This is the last time I'm offering; would you like an injection of the
antidote?" Verde gritted his teeth. The boy looked at him in silence. His smile
gone before he shook his head. Verde snorted; your loss.
At that exact time, they heard the house bell ringing. Wanting to get away from
the kid, Verde made it his job to open the door. He found a tall teenage boy
standing there with one hand scratching the back of his head, the other held a
plastic bag from the convenience store.
"Excuse me, sir," the teen said politely, "I'm Yamamoto Takeshi, Tsuna's
classmate. I heard he is sick, may I see him?" Verde looked at the boy from
head to toe. He never thought the Tsuna kid had any friend. Even if he had, he
expected them to be the geeky loner type whom he shared bullying experience
with, not the popular and sporty type. The tall teen, Yamamoto Takeshi, would
fit very well under the latter category.
"He's here, follow me," Verde walked inside. As he walked in, the newcomer
looked around inside the house in awe; amazed with the house interior. Tsuna's
face instantly turned to one of surprise. "Yamamoto?" maybe they are not
friends after all, "What are you doing here?"
"I decided that I'd see you, you know," the Yamamoto scratched the back of his
neck as he stood in front of the boy, "After the incident". The newcomer got
very awkward and shy suddenly. The demeanor of a very capable and confident
youth he held right outside the door just now disappeared.
Feeling left out, Verde decided to leave the two and went to the dining room.
Luce went straight to interrogation mode when he showed himself, "Who is that?
That’s the boy we saw sneaking around this house!"
"It's the kid's friend from school, nothing big," Verde answered. They could
see clearly how the two teen started getting comfortable. Yamamoto allowed
himself to sit beside Tsuna and showed the other the content of his plastic
bag. The two then took a can of drink from the bag each, probably some soft
drink, and started chatting animatedly.
"He seemed like that kid in school," Skull murmured, "The tall, handsome,
sporty kind of guy. Possibly do martial art," Skull made his analysis, "Does
that kind of kid even exist anymore?"
"The cool guy you have in school, right?" Luce exclaimed, "The kind of guy who
would be popular with girls". At that moment, they witnessed Tsuna offering the
other teen his drink, which got Yamamoto blushing brightly. "Oh my," Luce said,
"This is too cute. Don’t you think so too, Reborn?"
Reborn was too busy talking with Lambo to pay any attention. Luce sighed and
stole a glance at Skull, who squirmed uncomfortably because of the weird
atmosphere. The two supposedly married couple in this home was paying attention
to someone else beside their couple. Sadly, there was no denying that Reborn
and Lambo seemed to be just right, and Tsuna looked so perfect beside Yamamoto.
===============================================================================
 
On the next day, Verde sent a coordinate and specific time at that very date to
Reborn; telling him Verde had something he wanted. He also added that Luce and
Skull were on their way to Namimori so there will be someone to watch over the
sick boy. It would take one and a half hour for Reborn to arrive. This place,
an area of warehouses by a lake, was quite a distance from the city.
It’s the last day for my bet, he thought, time to step up my game.
Verde and Lambo were waiting in the open parking lot when Reborn's black sport
car arrived. "Where is it?" Reborn cut any greeting away and stick to his main
goal, "The drug".
"Oh that?" Verde scratched the side of his face, "I had that delivered to you
from my lab. It will arrive to your home in three days". He and Reborn had a
deal. Reborn would allow him to collect data from the kid's condition, but he
had to give Reborn a huge amount of the drug that made the boy sick and a
complete report of the drug's effects.
"You told me you have something I want," Reborn started talking slowly. All his
time in The Arcobaleno, Verde recognized this as a sign that Reborn is annoyed.
"I was talking about something else, actually," Verde smirked, "It’s definitely
something you'd want. Take it as my present; you haven't received any from me,
have you?"
The three walked to one of the warehouses. It looked like the typical warehouse
from outside. Inside was another story. Verde opened the door and let Reborn
and Lambo in.
It was a BDSM dungeon. There was a wall with full collection of BDSM costumes
and lingeries, sex toys and instruments like spanking paddles, ropes, chains,
and, of course, a wide variety of BDSM furnitures; such as bondage bed,
spanking bench, X-frame, a lot of hanging rope and chains. Of course, there
were also a small kitchen area, a normal bed, and a huge bathroom in the back.
Verde stole a glance at Reborn. The man stepped in slowly, hands in the pocket
of his pants. The pissed look was gone, thankfully, and his eyes looked around
in interest. "How is it?" Verde asked hm.
Reborn stopped beside him, "Not bad".
"Here," Verde gave Reborn the key to the warehouse, "Take this as a present
from a dear friend".
As they were talking, Lambo was looking around curiously. He walked along the
wall where most of the equipments were displayed. The youth took one of them
and approached the two older men. It was a bondage harness; the type of bondage
equipment consisting of a series of leather strap attached to each other to
allow a person to wear them like a clothing. It was one of the most unique
designs, complete with straps to cuff the ankles. Lambo tried to wear it on
himself, but left a few straps unattached. "Hey, Reborn," he said to the guy,
"You know a lot about bondage, right? Do you know how to strap this?"
That switched something inside Reborn. The man's eyes instantly turned so dark
as he bent his body to the younger's level, their faces millimeters apart.
"You're a beginner," the man's voice was husky; "You have a lot to learn".
And suddenly the bondage harness was completely attached to Lambo's body in the
right way. Both of Lambo's arms were strapped to the front. Lambo seemed
surprised; because he was too immersed to the older’s eyes as the man did the
straps. The two then kept their eyes on each other; so very intensely.
Verde was ready to leave any time soon and let the two have their time. The
camera around the room was on, he could show the video to Fon and Skull later.
And maybe the Tsuna kid.
Unfortunately, something broke the moment.
BRRRRRRRR
Reborn cut his and Lambo's eye contact as he looked down at his phone. He
looked at the caller id, and quickly answered, "What?" the hitman snapped
before his eyes flickered, "What?"
Reborn’s face turned rigid and he walked away from the two other people inside
the room. Verde couldn't hear what’s on the other line as Reborn created a
distance that wouldn't allow them to listen. The man clad in black then put his
phone back into his pocket as Verde tried to form a plan to create the mood
between Reborn and Lambo again, until Reborn suddenly went to Verde in monster
speed to grab his collar.
"You. Told. Me," his black eyes burned with rage, teeth gritted, "That. You.
Gave. Him. The. Antidote."
Verde was made aware what this was all about. "I-I didnt, but he told me he's
recovering well!" Verde tried to explain, but that claim just made Reborn more
furious, "You see yourself; the kid was getting better without any help!"
Reborn punched him to the ground and then grabbed Verde again to see him in the
eyes. "Wait wait, let me explain!" Verde struggled to explain. The hitman
looked like a beast. His eyes took a shade darker than the time he looked at
Lambo. This was the real Reborn; the most sadistic among The Arcobalenos.
"Somebody told me he is in the hospital. If anything happened to that boy,"
Reborn said slowly, "I'll come after you and I'll torture you until you beg me
to shoot you in the head". He turned around and directly walked out of the
warehouse with long steps.
Verde and Lambo stood in silence. Lambo even had a look of extreme fear in his
eyes as he witnessed the event helplessly. He spared a glance at Verde, then
ran out of the room, "Reborn! Wait!"
The event passed by so quickly that Verde had just started to feel the cold
sweat in his palm and the shaking of his knees right after the hitman left. He
didn't hear the beeping of his code retriever until later, possibly because he
was momentarily in shock.
He found a code of coordinate from Colonello with a short message
of "URGENT" following it. Screw Reborn and his attitude; he had a destination
to go to.
===============================================================================
 
He and Lambo arrived at a hospital. Viper greeted them at the lobby, "What took
you so long?" the cloaked man complained, "Even Reborn arrived before you",
"Huh?" Reborn was going here? If this is about the boy, then why are all The
Arcobalenos here?
Lambo was awfully quiet along the way here. Reborn's name didn't even peak his
attention as usual. He was staring at his feet; his face grim. "Whats up with
you?" Verde had enough of the weird attitude people were having today, "You're
usually noisy like a brat". His patron didn't answer. Verde then decided he
would stop giving any shit to people.
Viper was ahead of them when Verde noticed the many mothers and their children
loitering around. It’s the pediatric ward. Suddenly everything made sense. The
Devil's Child was making its arrival to the world. "Luce is in the VIP room
305. If you're interested in seeing the baby, she is in the maternity ward,"
Viper looked like he was going to walk away, but stopped in the middle as he
turned to Verde to say, "And don't forget to pay for the hospital bills. None
of The Arcobalenos have insurance. Because you're late, you pay".
"What!?" Verde spatted in disbelief, earning himself glares from the mothers
around the vicinity as he did so. "Could you believe that man?" Verde hoped
that Lambo would respond to his remark, but the boy was looking at the other
side of the hall. Verde followed his sight to find Reborn standing near the end
of the hall, his back facing them, as the man looked into the glasses window of
the maternity ward.
Inside that ward was Sawada Tsunayoshi in white hospital robe. The boy was
approached by a nurse and received something in a bundle; a baby. A smile
instantly colored the boy's face as he held the small infant closer to the
window and showed the baby to Reborn. Verde couldn't guess what look Reborn was
wearing on his face, but he could see Reborn welcoming the gesture by holding
his hands onto the surface of the window.
"He pushed me," Lambo murmured.
"Huh?"
"I was making my way into his car and he pushed me out," Lambo added, "And I
fell to the ground. I wanted him to let me in, but he told me the seat is
reserved for somebody else".
Verde was reminded on how he found his patron standing alone in the middle of
the warehouse parking lot. He was looking at the distance, a part of his
clothes dirty, and Reborn was nowhere in sight. He remembered opening the
straps of the bondage harness on Lambo's body and telling him to quickly get
into his car. Around that time, Lambo already looked distressed.
The sight of Reborn having contact with the Tsuna kid at this time, especially
with a baby between them, must have hurt Lambo.
"Give me your keys," Lambo's hand reached out to him.
"What?"
"I'm taking your car to get out of here," the youth murmured. When Verde made
no move, Lambo quickly grabbed the key from his pocket, "I'm off".
"Hey wait, you have to help me with the hospital bills!" Verde screamed at his
patron; earning him another glares from the mothers around the hallway, "Shit!"
"Yo, Verde!" Skull came from behind him, hitting his shoulder cheerfully. Verde
threw him a dirty look, "Don’t act so friendly with me".
"What’s with you? Today we should embrace the love, man. Have you seen Luce's
little girl? She is so cute, I'm telling you! She looked just like her mother,"
Skull seemed happy, "And by the way, we rode a chopper here, so get ready to
pay a huge sum of bill!"
Verde hooked his arm around Skull's neck, "No. What we're going to do is you
and I sharing that bill, you hear me? Because I am sure you are the only person
responsible for getting that chopper to get you to this hospital". It was the
best hospital in the country too.
"Let me go!" Skull released himself from Verde, "You sicko. No wonder you're in
a foul mood. I saw your patron running away just now," the biker smirked,
"You're on your way to losing the bet".
Verde didn't respond for he didn't want to say anything that could satisfy
Skull. "But you know, that sight really said something about those two," Skull
referred to the way Reborn and Tsuna interacted, "Not only your brat, Tsuna's
friend from before was so annoyed by it. He went home by train."
"The kid from before was here?"
"Yeah, he was visiting Tsuna when Luce's water broke. Don't worry, we cover
ourselves as Reborn's family members," Skull explained, "Reborn was in panic
mode when he arrived here, you know? Asking where Tsunayoshi was. When he saw
Tsuna, you just can’t separate the two. They were unapproachable. Yamamoto
Takeshi was beside Tsuna before, but after Reborn arrived, he was left alone".
It can't be, Verde thought to himself. There was no sign of them ever having
any emotional attachment toward each other. "Are the two close as father and
son?"
Skull scrunched his forehead. "I don't know anything about father-son
relationship, okay? I never had a proper one," he said, "but that Yamamoto kid
was looking at Reborn's back like this, you know?" Skull made a scary face,
"Like he just wanted to kill him".
This newest revelation made its way to Verde's mind. The scientist was trying
to make sense of everything. The tall kid was definitely interested in Reborn's
boy. But Reborn was acting as Tsuna's father in the eyes of Namimori, right?
Then why would the boy look at Reborn that way?
"Looking at those two, I can understand why your brat and that Yamamoto-kid
took such reaction. I mean look at them," Skull leaned on Verde's side as if
they were longtime buddies. Verde was too stupefied to avoid the biker as he
watched Tsuna and Reborn talk. "Well, as long as I can have my chance on the
bet, I'm happy. Me and Fon have another week to go, be prepared to lose, four-
eyes," Skull then laughed to himself.
Verde was calculating his predicament. With the hospital bills and the bet, he
could lose a lot of money. There was no other way but to make sure that both
Fon and Skull wouldn't win. His instinct told him that Tsuna's recovery and
Luce's condition would take a lot of Reborn's attention as a doctor close to
the two; so it was less likely Reborn would go to the club. But Fon's bet was
another thing. Fon believed that Reborn would use some BDSM equipment; the
implication that it will be used on the Tsuna kid was unsaid.
Fon's scenario was still possible, especially with the key to the BDSM dungeon
in Reborn's possession. If he couldn't win this bet, then nobody would. And
that's why; he had to retrieve the key back.
===============================================================================
 
That evening, Verde made his way to the quiet suburb neighborhood of Namimori.
So far, today had been the worst in his life. Not only did he positively lose
the bet (Lambo wouldn't answer his calls), he also had to pay for Satan Spawn's
hospital bill. Even after he split the bill with Skull, it still cost him as
much as his contract job's pay. Must be the chopper, surgery, and 7 days stay
in the VVIP room of the best hospital ever.
It’s not like money was a problem for an Arcobaleno. He knew Luce could pay for
herself, but it’s just improper to have the woman finish the administration
work while she was recovering. Still, Verde thought that wasting that sum for
somebody else aside yourself plus a bet was just irrational. Also, Verde had
quite the pride. He just didn't want losing that money to someone.
He parked a distance away from Reborn's home. Thankfully, he had his optical
camouflage with him, a body suit that will practically make you invincible. He
also had The Sawada's front door key, thanks to Lambo's Reborn-stalking-
tendency. It was 10 pm, and he was ready to silently made his way into the
house.
The two occupants were still awake, unfortunately. But of course, it’s rare to
have people sleeping soundly at this hour nowadays. They were talking in the
study, the room where Verde, Skull, and Fon first made their bet. Reborn was in
his loose pajamas that strangely made him more attractive than ever. The other
boy was wearing loose t-shirt and short pajama pants – making the contrast
between the two more visible.
"When are you going to stop being silent?" Reborn asked the boy. The Tsuna kid
was not answering. He didn't even look at Reborn as he took an iPad from the
bookshelf and went straight to the TV room.
From the location where Verde stood, he could see the annoyed look in Reborn's
face. Verde didn't pay much attention as he started looking for the key among
the many keys hanging on top of the phone table. "Kids should sleep at this
hours," he heard Reborn said from the door to the study.
"You told me to grow up, but then you expect me to act like a kid," the boy
answered back. That stole Verde's attention. Are they fighting? Verde
approached the TV room slowly and picked a spot where he can observe without
getting found out. He saw Reborn going back inside the study to get himself a
drink from the minibar. The kid's remark must have flicked something inside
him.
The TV room was dark, but the TV was on. The kid started getting busy with his
iPad on the sofa. He didn't pay any attention to what Reborn was doing, because
that man made a lot of noise when taking his drink. After a moment of silence,
Reborn went back to his prior position, leaning on the door frame of the study
room, looking sharply at the boy.
They spent the time in silence; the boy avoided eye contact while Reborn stared
at him like a hawk. The stare was intimidating. Verde was surprised the boy
didn't seem bothered by it. "When are you going back to my bed?" Reborn started
a conversation.
"I told you I have a lot of homework I have to catch up to," the boy growled to
his iPad.
Reborn refused to take the hint. He strode to the sofa, put his drink on the
coffee table and sat beside the boy. He was leaning very forward until his lips
practically touched the boy's ears, "I’ve told you lying doesnt suit you,
haven’t I?" The man then slid his tongue over the boy's ear slowly. The boy
shivered, but tried to push the man away.
Reborn snatched the hand that was pushing him. They looked at each other eyes;
Reborn's sharp and calculating, the boy's wide and surprised. "You now have a
baby in your care. Let’s be mature and talk," Reborn threw a snide remark,
"I'll allow you to cry, princess".
The boy cracked at that moment. He punched Reborn's shoulder – too soft to
inflict anything on an Arcobaleno, really – and sobbed, "You're mean!"
Reborn’s eyes widened at the reaction before he quickly made a move to pull the
boy to his chest and whispered hurried apologies until the boy calmed down. It
was an unnatural sight because Reborn never said sorry to anyone before.
"You left me for a month!" The boy accused; fist pounding weakly at the
hitman’s chest, "I won’t forgive you easily for this!"
Strangely enough, Reborn kept on coaxing the boy with soft apologies despite
the show of childishness. Verde didn’t know the man could be so gentle toward
such a kid. Beside feeling confused from Reborn's weird reaction toward the
boy; Verde was also anxious that he hadn't heard what he wanted to hear. He was
expecting the boy to mention Lambo.
Reborn released the boy after he stopped sobbing. At the time he was sure the
boy calmed down, the man started to smirk again, yet not as fierce as the
normal one, and pat the boy's hair. Reborn asked, "You're not going to ask me
about something between me and that brat?"
Now, they were talking about Lambo.
Among all the questions Verde thought the boy would ask; Tsuna absently asked,
"Did you make him cry?"
The smirk on Reborn's face widened, but softened, as he leaned to the boy until
their noses almost touched. The boy had known all along that Reborn was just
playing with the supposedly third person in the relationship. Reborn never had
any sexual contact with Lambo aside from the almost-kiss. It was a made-up
interest in Reborn's part.
"We had to keep him around to get the drug," the hitman kissed the boy’s nose
and temple, "And I just want you to stop being so mad".
The boy, Reborn's wife, Verde dare to say after the knowledge that he was
beaten by this boy and played by Reborn, raised his chin to Reborn as he
whispered softly, "You owe me. You have a lot to earn before I forgive you".
"Yes," Reborn answered as he let his lips hover on top of the boy’s,
"Anything".
"Would you carry me around?"
"Yes".
"Would you tie my shoelaces?"
"Yes".
"Would you let me eat junk foods?"
"Yes".
"Would you let me try more alcohols?"
Reborn was silent for a while, "You're pushing what your age allows you,
princess".
They smiled. The two's face was so close now that their noses touched. The boy
closed his eyes as he drowned in the intimacy and nuzzled the other man's nose
cutely. He then opened his eyes to find the other's eyes on him, "kiss me,
Reno..."
Reborn did nothing, but the boy got him hooked by saying it so attractively,
Verde admitted. The man's eyes turned a shade darker, just like the time in the
BDSM dungeon, as he waited for the boy to approach his lips. When their lips
touched, Reborn grasped the boy’s head aggressively and the two plunged into a
full make out session. It was open mouthed and wet. The boy grasped the front
of Reborn's shirt and his head lolled to the back weakly as Reborn maneuvered
their heads. It didn't last long, however, because the boy leaned away, "Let’s
stop here".
Reborn was obviously ready for more. He was kissing the boy's neck, "What are
you on about?"
"I don’t know. I feel like we're being watched," Tsuna answered, "It's like
Verde is here".
That claim alarmed Reborn. The man stopped nuzzling the boy and glared at the
corner of the room. That look was sent directly to the direction of Verde's
eyes as if the man had spotted him despite the fact that he should be
invincible to the naked eyes. Verde, without a care for the key or the noise he
might make to divulge his presence, fled from the house out of fear of being
killed by Reborn. He ran to his car and kicked the gas. He sped back to the
club reviewing what he saw that night.
Not only did Reborn trick him and Lambo to get his hands on the drug; he also
tricked them into believing that he and his wifey were not intimate. He coaxed
the boy oh so very sweetly, lowering himself into using childlike voices and
childlike promises. And the boy had that man in his palm. Verde witnessed how
easy it was for the boy to get Reborn on his knees. Lambo couldn't even get the
man to say more than 'yes' and 'no'. And maybe..., just maybe...
The boy was a wonder to everything.
The devil behind innocence that is Luce wanted the boy to be her child's
godfather. The tough man on the field that is Colonello still planned to stalk
he boy. The ever intimidating hitman, Reborn, had done things they never
thought he was capable of for the boy.
And he got me in a whirlwind.
He himself was caught in everything that was Sawada Tsunayoshi for the last
week. It was never about annoying Reborn, it was the resentment and curiosity
he held for that boy. The boy had managed to surprise him time and time again.
He lost so greatly to this kid.
Verde stopped his car in the parking lot of the club, his home. Then he
realized something from the memory of what happened in Reborn's house that
night.
Did those two just eskimo kiss?
===============================================================================
 
It was an eskimo kiss. He searched for it and found that, yes, nuzzling another
person's nose using your nose is called eskimo kiss. Verde didn't know why
people do it; it’s gross in his dictionary. But he knew it could look adorable
when that boy, Tsunayoshi, did it.
Did he just call the boy adorable?
Anyway, the happenings from the week before, starting with the failure of
hooking up Reborn and Lambo, Satan Spawn's arrival, and something with Reborn
and Tsunayoshi (he started using the boy's name now), shocked Verde so much
that he became somewhat of a different person the next day. He focused on his
works, helped Luce with Satan Spawn, and reviewed the report for his drugs. Now
that he remembered it, he realized he never reported to Reborn of the boy's
weird attitude in his bedroom that time. Somehow in his mind, he recognizes
that state. Orange eyes, fierce look, heat, and... flames.
Reborn never explained anything about the boy's background. The only thing they
knew is that the boy was related to Vongola somehow. Vongola and flames.
Verde's mind made a very weird conclusion of the boy having the flame, the
signature power of Vongola and the sign of being within Vongola's Top Ten. But
then, it’s impossible for them to get the boy married into another family (the
boy is officially Tsunayoshi Sinclair now) if he was a part of top ten. The
overall idea was confusing and he tried to forget that theory to move on to
another problem.
Verde was avoiding anything related to Reborn and his wife for reasons, but
today he just had to confront them. Luce decided she is going to stay at The
Sawada’s until they finished the room for her baby back in their apartment at
the club. She said there were a lot of reasons to stay there. First, Tsuna can
cook for her and is capable of taking care of others. Second, it’s good for the
baby to spend more time with her Godfather. Said Godfather was Tsuna himself.
Arriving at the Sawada’s, Verde noticed he was the first person to arrive. He
had no reason to back down, because the cameras around the house captured his
presence. Avoiding the doorbell would make him seem like a fool. So he went to
the door. Tsuna greeted him happily, dressed properly in his school uniform and
all smiley-faced. He looked very healthy. Verde still wondered how he made it
out alive from the drug's influence.
"Come in! You're just in time for breakfast!"
Breakfast. That means sharing a table with Reborn.
Reborn followed Verde with his eyes as the scientist took his seat in front of
the man. They didn't say anything to each other. "Would you like some pancakes,
Verde?" Tsuna offered from the kitchen counter.
He was tempted by the idea of having a taste of Tsunayoshi's cooking, but his
pride wouldn't let him, "No, tha -"
"Who would say no to pancakes?" The boy appeared beside him like a magician,
putting a plate full of stacking pancakes in front of him, "Tea or coffee?"
His mouth moved on itself, "Tea, please".
He should've said coffee. He was not in any way curious of the tea everyone
called delicious. The tea arrived in the cup he had seen the last time. He held
the cup, smelled the nice aroma, and took his first gulp. The bitterness and
sweetness were in perfect balance; but what’s amazing from it was how the aroma
embraced your senses and the taste washed over your throat, making that
comfortable warm feel when it settled in your stomach. Verde stopped drinking
and took a careful look at the tea. That was amaz -
"How is it?" The boy asked him from the kitchen area.
"Uhh..., it’s okay". The boy smiled like he knew Verde's secret before
returning to whatever activity he had in the kitchen.
"Savor it," Reborn muttered under his breath.
Verde turned to the hitman, "Excuse me?"
"Savor that meal because it will be the last you'll get from this house,"
Reborn told him calmly. There wasn't even a hostile expression; the man was
looking at his iPad and said the words like he was commenting on the weather
report, "After eating, leave this house and don't ever comeback. That goes for
your brat, too".
Verde was speechless. They almost fought in the warehouse, true, but he didn't
expect the man to change his behavior this extremely. Just a week before, they
had breakfast together, chatted, and he was welcomed into this house. "If this
is about your boy -"
"It’s nothing about the boy," Reborn yawned, still keeping the facade of
holding an idle chat with the scientist even though he was actualy threating
Verde, "We're done. You've finished your job, I've done my part."
"I gave you the drugs. You owe me".
"I entertained your brat. We're settled, I don't owe you anything," Reborn
swapped the monitor of his iPad, "If I see you in this house, I'll kill you. If
I see you in this neighborhood, I'll kill you. If I found you anywhere near
Tsunayoshi," Reborn glanced momentarily at Verde, so very coldly, "I'll kill
you".
As if on cue, Tsuna appeared beside Reborn with two cups of coffee. "What’s
wrong? You look pale," Tsuna questioned Verde as he put the two cups in front
of Reborn and himself. The two cups were similar, except for the word Papa on
Reborn's and Mama on Tsuna's. It’s the present Luce gave them, Verde noted.
"Oh, nothing," Verde answered calmly.
The boy, however, seemed as though he noticed something and sent a disappointed
look to Reborn. Reborn made a good act of being confused, "What? I was reading
the news".
"Yeah, I told you to play nice," Tsuna muttered; almost sounding as if he was
scolding the man. At that time, the house bell rang. "That must be Luce!" Tsuna
left the table quickly to went to the door and welcome their guests. Verde made
sure the boy was out of their line of hearing and lurched to make his point to
Reborn, "Luce will never let you kill me under her watch".
"Oh, we'll see," Reborn said arrogantly, "I know she'll kill you if you ever
touched the boy". And on that moment, Verde could hear Luce's happy voice from
the entrance.
"Tsuna my deaaaar! I’ve missed you!" Verde knew at that point that Luce had
became Tsuna's number one ally, "I can’t wait to have another cup of your tea!"
Verde's mouth was still open from the shock of being threatened when the full
crew of Arcobaleno made it to the dining table. Fon and Viper helped on getting
more chairs into the table as Skull put the baby into a mobile crib near them.
Colonello invited himself cheerfully, in a new disguise to avoid suspicions on
his death. After they all settled with a plate of meal and a cup of tea (Luce
made it her job for The Arcobaleno's to approve Tsuna's tea), Tsuna took his
seat beside Reborn and later got immersed with Luce's story of her days in the
hospital. Reborn got up from his seat just to come back a moment later with a
carton of milk. He poured the milk into the Mama's cup. The boy next to him
didn't even pay any attention to Reborn's doing to his cup, but stirred his cup
without leaving his eyes from Luce and drank his coffee.
Verde, who was still dumbfounded, witnessed another chemistry the two had.
The please get me some milk or the thank you were unheard, but it sounded very
clear to him. It’s different with how Lambo had to try so hard to steal the
man's attention or show him anything. These two don't need to say a word to get
the other's to understand their actions and wants. He just knew at that moment
that Lambo never had a chance from the very start. This game was beyond his
level.
"So how's the bet?" Skull whispered to him silently. Fon, who sat on Skull's
other side, leaned closer to listen.
Verde looked at them dumbly. For one, he knew Reborn didn't visit the club nor
did he visit the warehouse. He was also sure the man no longer made contact
with Lambo. He wasn't sure if the man had any sex using BDSM instruments around
the week with anyone, or his wife, but he was sure of the whole outcome. Luce
had won this bet for that eskimo kiss.
"Um, I think the winner is...," but, thinking again, he wasn't ready to tell
what’s going on that night in The Sawada Household. He lost so many things in
two weeks that he wanted to allow himself this one chance to relieve the burden
on his pride. Beside, Luce had practically won already. She had her baby, she
had Skull and Verde to pay for her hospital expenses (which was equal to a
contract's pay), and she had Fon paying for her baby's bedroom back in the club
plus the expenses she would spend in The Sawada's (also equal to a contract's
pay). She was the true victor. "No one. No one is the winner".
"Really? Aw, man, too bad," Skull complained to no one.
"That man is still unreadable as always," Fon commented about Reborn; nodding
at himself.
"You guys had a bet?" Viper joined their conversation.
"You can’t join anyway, you're broke," Skull told him. Verde regretted how
these three couldn't recognize the glare Reborn gave them. Verde just hoped the
hitman listened well and understood that while Verde tried to bet on him and
messed with his married life, Verde kept his dirty secret; Renato Sinclair was
acting affectionately toward a teenage boy called Tsunayoshi.
===============================================================================
 
Tbc.
***** RENATO SINCLAIR'S MASTERPIECE *****
Chapter Notes
     1. Major changes have been made to this chapter. The old version of
     Renato Sinclair's Masterpiece, where Tsuna and his schoolmates
     cleaned the pool, is officially scrapped from the story and is
     replaced by this latest version. The reason behind this change is
     because there used to be two version to this chapter; the latest
     version in this post and the old one where they were punished to
     clean the pool. I planned to keep both version by posting the old
     version in AO3 and the latest version in FFnet. But after further
     consideration, I decided, Renato Sinclair's Masterpiece official
     version will be this one.
     2. Warning: depiction of nudity, murder
     3. I will be posting the next chapters in a rush. I have two unposted
     chapters with me - both are still under editing. After that, we'll
     finish Renato Sinclair's arc and move on to Tsunayoshi's arc (the
     next part in Mystery of Tsunayoshi's series). Stay with me readers!
"So I've heard," the 65 year old man muttered from behind the news paper. His
red orbs wandered to another figure on the other side of said paper; standing
just a foot away from his table in his dark colored coat. He was an attractive
young man of an Italian lineage; handsome, yet dark.
The older man continued, "That there is a new hot stud in the neighborhood". He
took some notes over the younger man's smooth looks; starting from the lack of
blond hair and tan skin, and the presence of a smug smile. "Sad to know that
this new guy is not Sawada Iemitsu. At least not the real one," the old man
concluded after a long look toward his new neighbor, "Because if he is, I've
had him killed already".
The fake Sawada Iemitsu actually let out a brief masculine laugh before
greeting him with a polite nod. "Greetings, Kozato Makoto. It’s nice to finally
meeting you here," he then added, "Or should I say, Simon Cozart?"
The 65 year old man, now known to be Kozato Makoto, snorted at the mention of
his old name. His still fit body, although slightly pale and wrinkly after
years of retirement, turned to fully face his guest. Kozato was known to be the
richest and the most generous; but he was not known to be the nicest man in
Block R. He could be quite the cocky and unpleasant old man at times. If
needed, Kozato could even show this young man in front of him how unpleasing he
could be.
"I assume you have plenty of guts to come to my domain using that name, young
man," Kozato grunted; slow but threatening, "Because if you think you can make
me submit to a mere blackmail, then you were mistaken about what I'm capable
of". The name Sawada Iemitsu meant a lot more to Kozato Makoto. That name was
the name of a man who had ruined his whole life by taking away his comrades and
his family. It was the name that could wake the scariest monster from the pit
of Kozato's hell; the name that could pull him into a rage that he had not
dared to get in touch with for the last 10 years.
The Sawada Iemitsu in front of him welcomed his short speech calmly, actually
looking down at his gloved hands to take it off and handed them to another man
beside him. This other man was even younger; looking inexperienced and a bit
overwhelmed as he took the pair of leather gloves hurriedly. His reddish brown
hair and blue rimmed glasses didn't speak of the same level of professionalism
the fake Sawada Iemitsu had. "If you think I'm here for a war," Sawada
Iemitsu said with a lift of one of his beautifully shaped eyebrows, "Then you
are also mistaken, Mr. Kozato".
"Oh?"
"Surely, you've noticed by now that we are on the same position," Sawada
Iemitsu added, "We are both on the most wanted list. You by the CEDEF, and I by
the Vongola".
To this, Kozato took a short moment of silence before giving a full blown
laugh; inviting unwanted attentions from other visitors in the small cafe as a
result. "Can you believe what he said?" The 65 year old roared for the whole
visitors to hear, "He wants to be friends!"
People were giving them looks. Mayu, one of the waitresses who were often
charged to deal with the old man, shook her head from behind the counter while
telling the guests that Mr. Kozato had a different taste of humor. But, again,
the guy admitting to be Sawada Iemitsu didn't seem to be affected by the
unfriendly treatment. Instead, he nodded calmly to say, "I believe I can offer
you something interesting than a mere," he paused with a victorious yet
suspicious grin, "friendship".
"You think you can impress me," Kozato lowered the volume of his voice to
whisper sharply, "And if you think we're on the same page just because you and
I are running, you are wrong. That's the more reason why we are anything but".
Kozato then leaned back to the back of his seat, "I am not interested in adding
more burdens to my baggage. And if you're brave enough to go against some old
names like Vongola; then make sure you're smart enough to clean your own
traces".
His guest, however, laughed a bit louder. "Just like what that waitress said,"
the man said with amusement, "You clearly have a different sense of humor".
When Kozato frowned in distaste, the other man continued, "I am Reborn. As you
might have heard, probably, Vongola put the highest bounty for my head". The
man, now known to be Reborn, turned his body slightly to the direction of the
younger man beside him, "And this is my informant".
“Irie Shoichi,” the informant introduced himself briefly; earning a ridiculed
look from Kozato.
"As a younger and the less experienced man, I've never meant to disturb your
peace, Mr. Kozato," Reborn explained, "But a problem has come to my
acknowledgement and I realized it should be brought to yours too".
Kozato raised his chin to challenge the man. Kozato was not a man with cheap
standards; he was a man of experience and taste. One should be very prepared if
they wanted to impress him. "If you're trying to involve me in some underground
shit, I'm no longer interested in that," he groused, "I'm a clean man".
Reborn added, "It’s regarding your daughter".
And that word caught Kozato's attention. "What daughter?"
The younger man, Irie or something, walked forward to put some pictures into
his line of sight. They were pictures of a teenage girl with shoulder length
dark blue hair and a pale thin body; all of them looking like the girl didn't
notice the camera. Most of them were taken at night somewhere in the outdoors.
The girl was seen sitting and walking with a white owl perched on her shoulder.
"We believe that this girl was put into your care last year, after her parents
sold her to you to pay for their debt," Irie explained
Kozato found himself gritting his teeth, but he feigned ignorance by acting
calm, "Ah! You mean that child. Yes, yes, a troublesome that one. Told her not
to take a pet, not to leave the house, and what do you know?" He glanced up at
the two men in front of him, "She leaves the house; and she took the pet. They
said she is crazy. Mental".
"My informant found these in the hands of a," Reborn glanced to Iriei,
"suspicious person who had been strolling around the neighborhood since last
week. We were careful to watch if he was interested to take advantage of my
situation, but he has made it clear that he also had something else in mind
regarding your possession".
"And what is that?"
Reborn smirked, "I'd be happy to hand you the man if you'd like to ask him
personally".
That was how Kozato ended up in the basement of the house on R-27, just three
houses away from his own. The house was nicely designed, just like most houses
in that very block. Yet, it was after Kozato got into the basement did he admit
that the house was marvelous. The stairway leading to the basement was hidden
behind a shelf in one corner in the indoor garage. There, they descended to the
moderate sized basement. It had plain white linoleum flooring and the same
white walls and ceiling. The whole room was perfectly lit with a number of
fluorescent lights, making it a reminder to a deserted lab; if not for the many
weapons displayed neatly on the walls.
A man was tied on a chair in the middle of the room; right next to a table that
seemed out-of-place. "Girl's father," the tied-up man laughed after seeing
Kozato, "Or is it employer? You have a nice place three houses from here. Don't
you know I almost got my hand on that naked statue in your foye – ".
Kozato threw his first punch at Reborn’s hostage’s already bloody nose; making
the man’s weird round rimmed glasses crack. "Don't touch my art collection,”
Kozato murmured darkly.
He could feel Reborn's smile on his back as that man leaned on to the wall.
"Have your time. We have a lot of it," Reborn said from behind him, "No one
will look for him; he’s an insane man named Birds. We have a lot of choice
regarding methods, might I add".
He hadn't realized it at the time, but that first kill he had in the last ten
years was the start of his and Reborn's somewhat friendship.
===============================================================================
 Reborn was nothing short of brilliant and intelligent; Kozato decided. The
more he listened to the man’s stories, the more he found himself immersed.
“Even before we decided to move here; I found Reborn in the middle of the
Atlantic”.
“The Atlantic?” Kozato squinted at Irie, “As in the ocean?”
Irie Shoichi shrugged in affirmation. Kozato furrowed further, “What was he
doing there?”
“I found out that it’s a vain to ponder about that. When it comes to him; no
one truly knows,” Irie glanced sideways. Kozato could only imagine; being
young, new, and getting yourself working under a very experienced assassin
could be such a pressure. Irie continued, “He told me to wait in the destined
coordinate at particular time – I didn’t expect it to be in the middle of the
ocean. And when the time came; he just... appeared from the water.”
“That’s just ridiculous!” Kozato exclaimed while getting himself another
brandy, “Appeared from the water? Did he tell you anything else?”
“Beside preparing a speedboat and leave directly? No. Next thing I knew, he
asked me to find a place in Namimori and warned me that the Vongola is after
us,” Irie actually laughed, “Isn’t he such a secretive man?”
Scratch that. Maybe for someone as young, new, and inexperienced as Irie,
working with somebody like Reborn was an adventure of its own. Kozato had been
there, of course. He was a mafia boss back then; the leader of the Cozarts.
There was nothing easy about getting involved with the mafia; but it was even
harder to let go of that involvement. Kozato spent five years struggling with
the lost of his old life, especially the lack of challenges and thrills; but
had now settled down with his normal life.
“That man seemed like he enjoys the chain of problems he is creating ,” Kozato
commented as he laid his eyes on the man in the middle of this whole fiasco;
Reborn. The man was dressed in his finest garments; looking like the latest
Hugo Boss’ summer photoshoot; while busying himself over the barbecue grill.
You could see the smirk on his face as he conversed with the neighborhood’s
ladies. “You won’t even expect him to be a man on the run”.
The hitman didn’t just buy himself a nice home and took a job as a high paying
doctor; he also kept in touch with the dangerous life. Kozato had an idea or
two about what Reborn did in his spare times. Those guns he displayed in his
garage were reek of fresh gun powder and strange things had been happening
around the neighborhood ever since the hitman moved there. While doing this,
Reborn kept up the facade of a rich single man.
Vongola wouldn’t expect their most wanted guy to be grilling sausages in
Namimori Block R’s barbecue party; a barbecue party hosted by CEDEF’s most
wanted guy especially. Kozato often hosted these sort of parties – because he
had always loved social gatherings like these before he was in hiding. Still,
that didn’t mean he was less paranoid of getting caught sometimes.
“Even I’m asking myself if we’re really on the run. Sometimes I’m expecting him
to say that it was all a joke,” Irie responded, “You know, I reminded him from
time to time to stay under the radar and keep a low profile. But this is Reborn
we’re talking about; he loves the attention and the thrill”.
Kozato snorted in agreement before sipping his brandy. “Tell me about it;
especially about the wife”.
Irie choked on his own drink. Tsunayoshi was always a touchy subject for the
informant. In fact, it was also a touchy subject for Kozato. The two of them
still didn’t support Reborn’s marriage to the boy.
Not that anybody would suspect Tsunayoshi to be Reborn’s spouse. This was not
only a child, of course; this was the kind of poster child whom the neighbors
would fawn over because he would greet everyone on his way to school. He was
the kind who would exchange small talks to you when he was on the way to the
supermarket; the kind you would call ‘the sweet Sawada boy’. Because the fact
that the boy lived with everybody’s favorite doctor didn’t seem to be good
enough. It had to be the fact that the boy was also what that cougar Mrs.
Harada from across the street would call cute.
 “Oh, I would love to charm Tsunayoshi with my latest baking skills; maybe then
he’ll get his father to recognize me as mother figure,” Mrs. Harada could be
heard gossiping somewhere among the crowd. Kozato scowled at the reminder of
that woman; she seemed to forget that she was indeed still married to her own
husband. That beside the point, Kozato and Irie, would love to disagree with
her either way. Because as cute Tsunayoshi was claimed to be; Reborn still
shouldn’t burden himself with achild as a wife when he had Vongola to watch out
for.
“Tsunayoshi actually persuaded Reborn to let him hire a maid,” Irie groaned,
“Because that woman who is Reborn’s acquaintance, Luce, suggested the boy to do
so. We all know Reborn doesn’t need to invite any more strangers into his
house”.
“Hasn’t Reborn lost his patience over the kid?” Kozato pitched in, “He was
furious that time the kid invited that suspicious Wakanari guy into his house”.
“I told Tsunayoshi to watch out for Wakanari,” Irie turned grim, “He ignored it
because Wakanari was kind enoughto save him from bullies”.
The two of them had witnessed many of Reborn and Tsunayoshi’s fights; with
Tsunayoshi crying in the end and Reborn having to manhandle the boy until he
shuts up. And they wondered why the man still kept the boy around.
“Harada has been gossiping about the kid dating that boy from the local sushi
shop,” Kozato warned. Irie suddenly became very serious. “Dont worry, I’ve
reminded the boy that he shouldn’t mess around while he is still married to
Reborn,” the informant said, “Now we can only hope he doesn’t ignore this
warning either”.
Yet, the sight of Tsunayoshi lighting the sparklers together with this boy from
the local sushi shop convinced them otherwise. The boy even had the gall to
turn to their direction and waved his sparklers excitedly. “Mr. Kozato!!” the
boy called; successfully making the nearby crowd laughing at his cheerfulness .
Kozato forced a smile. The kid had been forcing his way into Kozato’s life by
befriending Nagi lately. Nagi could be seen there with the two boys; immersed
in the fireworks.
Reborn made his appearance at that minute with a glass of whisky in hand.
“Gentlemen,” he greeted them coolly; only lifting an eyebrow to express his
mood. Kozato, out of annoyance after discussing Reborn’s poor decision to get
married, sent the man a sour look. “Welcome back Shoichi, mind giving me the
report?”
Irie’s brows went to his hairlines. He had been out of town to finish the task
given to him by Reborn, sure, but he didn’t expect to report in the middle of a
barbecue party out of all place. “We don’t have much time, considering the
situation,” the hitman explained, “better do it here while Mr. Kozato is
around”.
Irie paused in confusion, but shrugged anyway. “Sure,” he said, “I’ve
discovered that Lady Annise, and Quinton Lange had been assassinated in a bomb
explosion. Princess Ameerah Abdul Aziz survived, but is currently in critical
condition –“
“What about the paintings?” Reborn cut the chase; always efficient; always with
no bullshit. Irie stuttered for a second out of being disrupted.
“All missing from their quarters,” Irie answered finally, “Highest in the
suspect list is Smoking Bomb Hayato; the terrorist”.
There was something in Reborn’s expression after the mention of that last name
that told Irie he had done something unpleasing to the hitman; what it was, he
had no idea. All he could say though, Reborn didn’t seem too happy about this
information.
Kozato decided to snort at that moment of silence. “This is what you should
expect for messing with children of royalties. How many of them have you slept
with?” the ex mafia boss scolded, “And you made paintings of them, and made
them public. What more scandal should you expect?”
As an art enthusiast and a collector, Kozato knew what paintings Reborn were
talking about. He was talking about Reboyama’s paintings.
Reboyama was a painter known for his sadistic and lewd series of paintings. His
paintings were popular in underground exhibitions, for it left such a strong
impression of awe and eerie feeling; some of it for the amazing detail the
painter gave the paintings, the rest for the bloody and sadistic nature of the
whole theme. There were four paintings known to be made by Reboyama so far.
Painting number one has his female lover tied on a bed, eyes closed with a
shred of fabric, lying with blood covering her body. The second painting was of
a woman ted on chair with ropes, a manly hand was choking her and her eyes were
closed in midstream. Third painting was of a male with his face covered by a
very manly hand, and his whole body wrapped with plastics except his bloody
penis. Fourth painting, and what was thought as the last one, had a female with
a plastic bag covering her face and her nude body helplessly hanging by a
series of chains.
While very popular, Reboyama had somehow decided to tae his paintings out of
publicity around two years ago. There had always been rumors and scandals
surrounding Reboyama’s painting, especially regarding the idea that the
paintings seemed to be modeled by real people from high-standing society. In
Kozato’s knowledge, that rumor stayed a rumor.
Until he met Reborn – who turned out to be Reboyama himself. Kozato remembered
asking him why a hitman would opted be a popular painter as a side. “It was an
accident. I’ve always painted as a hobby and someone decided it would be good
enough to put it on display. Who would’ve thought they would be this popular?”
Kozato remembered Reborn’s well-known smirk as the hitman explained his side of
the story, “I especially love painting beautiful things, especially after I
sleep with them”.
And knowing Reborn, he would only sleep with the hard to catch ones. His models
were all heirs to important families. If that didn’t sound scandalous enough,
then Kozato would also add the fact that two of those models were killed in
similar bomb attacks; another one was in critical condition after also
suffering from a similar bombing; and now they were looking for the last one.
No official bodies had put together the puzzle pieces among the bomb attacks
and connect them to Reboyama’s paintings, of course; because Reboyama’s
paintings were only popular among the underground society.
Reborn, however, had suspected that these attacks had everything to do with his
paintings. “And while you’re running from the Vongola too; there is no better
time to haunt your lovers, isn’t it?” Kozato mocked, “You better deal with this
fast before Vongola got the wind of it and use this incidents to get to you”.
The 65 year old then added a last thought, “You sure this is not Vongola
though?”
Reborn didn’t seem to stress over the fact that someone out there – a well
known terrorist nicknamed as Smoking Bomb Hayato - was after his ex-lovers.
“Nope,” the hitman answered confidently, “Totally not”.
“Then all you have to do is find the last model; who was it? Bianchi from the
Lavina Famiglia no?” Kozato took a smoke, “Who knows; maybe after saving her
from this Smoking Bomb Hayato person, you would decide to hook up with her and
divorce that wife of yours.”
Reborn sent Kozato an amused look. “Who knows?” the hitman said meaningfully,
“Which is why I’m bringing up this topic, actually. I’ll be out of town to look
for Bianchi”.
Irie put down his glass hurriedly. “You mean...,” the informant sent a look
toward Tsunayoshi, “to Bianchi?” Next to him, Kozato rolled his eyes. “About
time! For you to get another woman and leave the boy.  Take her back with you
and introduce her to me,” the old man muttered.
They all knew having Reborn to visit one of his exes; the ones who made it to
be his model; could mean trouble to his so-called marriage. “The boy doesn’t
need to know about this,” Reborn even added, “and I am sure you two will keep
it that way”.
Irie nodded dutifully, but Kozato frowned. “Why would I talk to the boy
anyway?”
“Actually,” Reborn lifted his chin playfully, “I’ve planned to get him to visit
you more often”.
Kozato frowned further, “Why? You have Irie to watch over him”.
“Call it instinct, but I know the boy is up to something,” Reborn took his e-
cigar out of his pocket, “He’s been going out of the house more often”.
Irie’s eyes slowly drifted to the sight of Tsunayoshi sitting next to that ex
athlete; Yamamoto Takeshi. You don’t need to squint to notice the flush on
Yamamoto’s face every time Tsunayoshi’s arms brushed over his. Oh, the boy was
up to something alright. “I see,” Irie responded nervously.
“Wait a minute,” Kozato protested in his accented speech, “What do you mean by
visit more often?”
It was exactly at that moment Irie saw Tsunayoshi leaving his friend and
approaching their seat. The boy came to Reborn’s behind and poked innocently at
the older’s shoulder. “Hey!” He greeted; clueless to the adults’ conversation.
“Having a good time?” He asked Reborn jokingly.
Reborn’s face made a 180 degree turn from serious to sickly sweet it was almost
scary. “A blast, actually,” the hitman answered as he turned his head to the
boy. His tone lightened in a way you never heard on the man’s manner of speech
before. "Do you know that Mr. Kozato over here made a great idea?" Reborn
smiled to the direction of said man, "he said you can visit his daughter to
pull her out of her shell”.
"Nagi?" The boy's eyebrows lifted high in thought while Kozato could be heard
almost protesting that the girl was not his daughter but halted when the boy
exclaimed in delight, “Sure! I'm happy to be of any help! Nagi had told me
before she doesn't want to bother you by inviting friends to her house; I never
knew she was just being shy!”
Kozato’s expression turned sour. She will bother me by inviting friends to the
house, was the response he wanted to make. But Reborn’s dark smile reminded him
not to spoil this plan. “Of course we’re open to Nagi’s friends,” the ex mafia
boss said instead.
Reborn grinned to the older man’s way and turned to his so-called wife with a
gentler expression. "Isn't this good? Now you'll have something to do while I'm
gone,” the hitman patted the boy’s head, “for my business”.
===============================================================================
 
Kozato admitted that he only agreed to Reborn’s plan because he was somewhat
charmed by the fact that the hitman was also Reboyama. Not in a sense of a
romantic attraction, of course. He was attracted to Reborn in the way he was
attracted to Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Munch’s The Scream. Reborn was an
interesting character; and the fact that he was a person who shared the same
dark background as Kozato, shared the same love for art as Kozato, and was in
the same intellectual level as Kozato impressed the old man to no end. Blame
the art lover in him for this sentiment; Kozato was truly immersed with this
interesting new neighbor.
Thus, even after Reborn took many risky – even breaching stupidandwrong at
times – course of action; Kozato couldn’t find it in himself to diss the other
man.
Something told Kozato that maybe, after years of absence from the mafia, Kozato
still yearned for that dangerous life; the life that Reborn seemed to represent
even when the hitman was on the run from the Vongola. Maybe, just maybe, Kozato
yearned to make the same decisions as Reborn. Or probably he sees himself in
Reborn that he felt like he had to help this younger mafiosi one way or
another.
There were a lot of explanations for this; Kozato decided; and he shouldn’t
mull it over coffee in his office. His gaze skimmed over the view outside the
large window, and he found a bunch of yellow birds perching on the tree right
next to it. Kozato scowled. Those yellow birds had grew in number these days.
He was sure he never seen them in Namimori before.
The thought about birds reminded Kozato of the owl Nagi seemed to like so much.
He had told the girl to let the owl go. While the girl tried to keep the act of
not having the owl around anymore; Kozato also noticed that she had been
sneaking foods into her room. Kozato had his suspicions that the girl was
keeping and feeding the owl in secret. Surely, she didn’t expect him to turn a
blind eye over her sudden cravings to all those foods she brought to her room.
Kozato shook his head. He was starting to get dizzy by all these thoughts. He
made his way to the kitchen to get himself another cup of coffee, but was
surprised by the sight of Sawada Tsunayoshi sitting near the kitchen island.
"Hello," the brown eyes rounded all the more as he greeted Kozato.
"What are you doing here?" Kozato asked, "I thought you should be accompanying
Nagi in her room?"
"She told me I can use the kitchen to make something to eat. I hope you don't
mind me using your oven to bake some muffin, sir," the teen answered
cheerfully, "And I also invited Yamamoto to your house, if you don’t mind. Nagi
seemed to like more company”.
 “Sure,” Kozato coughed awkwardly and went to the coffee machine. He then
noticed the band aid on the top of Tsunayoshi’s nose, "What’s wrong with your
nose?"
"Oh, this?" Tsunayoshi pointed to his own nose, "I got into some problem at
school".
A scowl formed at Kozato’s already wrinkly face, "...bullying?"
Tsunayoshi didn't answer. His expression reminded Kozato of a similar
interaction ten years ago. It also happened in the kitchen at that time; with a
red haired five year old boy. Kozato asked the same question, to which the five
year old answered with the same look; slightly helpless, but hopeful. Enma.
"You remind me of my grandfather,” Tsunayoshi ended up saying.
"Pardon?” Kozato must have heard wrong.
"You are just like him. Serious. A bit harsh at times. A worrywart," Tsunayoshi
mumbled while playing with his own fingers, "Nonno would ask too much, too".
"Nonno, you ask too much!" that red haired boy once told Kozato, "I'm a boy; I
can handle things on my own".
At the same time Kozato started having this memory playing in his head, he
found Tsunayoshi looking up at the beautifully painted ceiling of his kitchen.
"He forgot I can handle this my own way. So I'm fine,” the brunette muttered.
The resemblance was too much for Kozato, "Why are you telling me this?"
“Dunno. Maybe I just miss my Nonno!" the younger grinned.
"He's Italian?" Nonno was Italian for grandfather.Kozato found it odd, yet
reasonable, for the kid to be a mix of Asian and Italian. Reborn was Italian,
surely he found the kid there somehow. However, Tsunayoshi didn't seem like
wanting to answer that simple question. He kept looking at his fingers as
though it was an interesting piece of art; lips jutting out in a pout as he
seemed lost in thought.
"Reborn...," Tsunayoshi started after Kozato sat across from him near the
island, "Is doing something behind my back, right?” The brown eyes looked up to
Kozato's own auburn ones. The more Kozato looked at those brown orbs; the more
he found Tsunayoshi to be the puzzle piece on the wrong frame. His young soul
was a contrast to Reborn's intense and cold one. "He’s been away from home
often. Business he said,” the brunette looked down again.
Something, in the way he stared, made Kozato wanted to be honest to the boy.
Yet, he was sure the boy didn’t want to know that his supposed husband was out
to save the ex-lover he once adored so much that he made a painting of her.
Thus, Kozato answered with; “You’re one to blame too, aren’t you, Tsunayoshi?
Reborn told me you’ve been out of the house often”.
He left that boy from the sushi shop unmentioned. Tsunayoshi pouted as a
result, but directed his frown at his hands. So Kozato continued, “And I heard
from Irie that you’ve hired a very suspicious maid without Reborn’s knowing
while he is still out for his business”.
Now Tsunayoshi lifted his head; brown eyes surprisingly burning with something
akin to annoyance this time. “Romaria is not suspicious. She is introduced to
me by Luce! I have the right to decide things,” The boy said harshly at first,
but slowed down when he ended the claim with a soft, “Do I?”
“You know what sort of situation Reborn is in currently,” Kozato reminded the
boy sternly but gently, “You should have known better not to involve more
strangers with your household. You could get Reborn into more trouble by doing
that, do you understand?”
Tsunayoshi flinched; then looked down to his hands again. Kozato felt slightly
troubled by the sight. “I understand,” the oldman said with a gentleness he
thought he had forgotted a long time ago, “that you’re lonely; that maybe you
hope Reborn can cure that loneliness; but you shouldn't cling too strongly to
him, Tsunayoshi,” Kozato had no idea if he was saying this to save Reborn, to
save this helpless child in front of him, or himself, “That man has a world of
his own".
"You mean he is hiding something from me”.
Kozato closed his eyes briefly before saying more sternly, “There should be a
clear line between what is expected of him and what is expected of you,
Tsunayoshi. We all know what kind of person Reborn is and what he does”.
Tsunayoshi’s childish pout obviously meant he didn’t understand a thing from
what Kozato had told him. Then the crease between the teen's eyebrows thinned
as he started to smile; fingers knocking the table playfully. “That's okay. I
have my secret too,” Tsunayoshi told him.
Kozato was on his way to remind the child to not inflict more trouble, but he
was disrupted when the boy added, “Reborn will be around more often this time”.
“Oh?” Kozato challenged; curious, “And why is that?”
Tsunayoshi's smile grew a bit secretive, "I'm expecting".
"Expecting?"
His brown orbs reached Kozato's again, "Yes. A child".
Kozato was silent for a second, before he asked, "Whose?"
"Reborn's".
===============================================================================
 
Unexpectedly, Tsunayoshi's words got to Kozato's mind the whole night. He was
reminded of the fact that Nagi had been eating more and had been acting weirdly
the last one month.
Could this child he was talking about, Kozato thought, was about Nagi being
pregnant?
Kozato paced back and forth in the middle of his private studio. While usually
he went there to think of a new exhibition or to target a new art piece; right
then he was making sense of the latest happening surrounding Reborn and his so
called 'wife'. If Nagi was hiding a pregnancy from Kozato, then she probably
didn't want the child. She had been keeping herself in her room and it’s been
even rarer to catch her leaving the house. Nagi usually wore loose clothing;
so, if there was any bump, Kozato wouldn’t have noticed.
" Reborn wi ll be around more often this time ".
Was Tsuna implying that he wanted the child to...
The bell rang at that moment. Kozato fumed from the sudden interruption, but
walked to the front door in his night robe anyway. "What!?" He spatted after
opening the door. The sight of Irie Shoichi, bending down from the lost of
breath, greeted him on his front porch. The informant struggled to straighten
himself.
"Is Tsunayoshi here?" The informant gasped for breath, “Reborn has been nagging
me to look for the boy. He said Tsunayoshi hasn’t been answering his calls. He
wont stop bothering me until I, at least, know where the boy is”.
Kozato was dumbfounded, “It’s early Sunday morning”.
“Don’t ask,” Irie grunted as he stepped into the house with the most tired look
on his face, “I’ve done worse things for those two while they’re quarreling.
Anyway – is he here with your daughter? He’s not home. Man, I hope I dont have
to tell Reborn he’s with Yamamoto-kun out of all people”. The bespectacled man
pursued to walk pass the 65 year old man; but Kozato grabbed him by the arm.
"Stop".
Irie glanced at the arm stopping him, "Excuse me?"
"I think," Kozato muttered slowly, "I think Nagi is pregnant, and Tsunayoshi is
going to get the child to tie down Reborn".
Irie squinted at him for a long moment; then sent him a ridiculed look,
"What!?"
"Calm down," Kozato gritted his teeth, "I haven't seen the two since yesterday
either".
"You know you’re making a crazy assumption right, sir?” Irie muttered, “This is
Tsunayoshi we’re talking about. While he might have invited that damned
Wakanari into the house and might have something more with Yamamoto’s boy; I’m
sure impregnating Nagi isn’t in his to-do list”. Then Irie snapped when he came
to worse conclusions, “Could you imagine how angry Reborn would be if that
turns out to be true?”
"We don’t know anything yet. I’m not saying Tsunayoshi impreganted Nagi,"
Kozato tried to calm the guy down, "But the boy told me something about
expecting Reborn’s child”.
Irie stared at the older man as though he was crazy. “You know what, I’ll just
check if Tsunayoshi was indeed in her room,” the informant decided as he led
them upstairs.
They climbed the grand round stairwell in the foyer, passing the room with the
gigantic chandelier; then crossed the hallway where some of Kozato's favorite
paintings were displayed. They stopped at the third door on the right; where
Kozato knocked its wooden surface twice, "Nagi?"
There was no sound. He knocked again, "Nagi, this is important. Answer me".
He heard a muffled noise inside. Kozato tried to open the door just to find it
locked. "We're going to do this the hardway," Kozato informed to no one before
kicking the door open. He might be over sixty, but years of training and a
regular exercise had always kept him fit. The sight inside, however, succeeded
to surprise him.
"W-what happened here?" he heard Irie murmuring not far behind. Nagi's room was
in disarray; looking as if there was a struggle taken place. The bed cover was
thrown over the farthest wall; some chairs and objects were thrown over the
floor. However, it was the sight of Nagi herself tied with a rope near her
closet that caught their most attention. She was screaming behind the gag of
her mouth; eyes wet in tears.
“I never knew pregnancy would involve...,” Irie glanced toward the poor girl,
“this”.
“It doesn’t, idiot!” Kozato glowered as he helped the girl out of her
confinement. Strangely enough, Irie had the gal to look surprised by the
answer.
"He took him! He took him" The girl screamed frantically after the gag on her
mouth was taken away.
"Who!?"
"He took Tsuna!" the girl sobbed harshly, "I didnt know! He took Tsuna!"
"GODDAMN IT, CHILD! TELL ME CLEARLY!" Kozato exploded at last, stunning both
the girl and Irie to silence.
"H-Hayato," she sniffed, "Hayato took Tsuna. He said he wanted the
masterpiece".
===============================================================================
 
Kozato got worked up like a mad man; like that time he found out that he was
framed; and that time when he found out that the real Sawada Iemitsu was out to
get him. Kozato found out, once threatened, he could do anything. Anything.
That particular Sunday morning, he found himself making his way to Reborn’s
house while sending glares at a very jittery Irie and screaming at the top of
his lungs toward Nagi at the same time. Oh, he also prepared some guns with him
in under three minutes.
“A boy! A BOY!” the 65 year old roared, “I would even be happier if you really
kept that damned owl with you or if you’re really pregnant! But A BOY?? Hiding
a boy IN YOUR ROOM?? A well-known terrorist in fact!! CAN YOU BE ANYMORE
RECKLESS!?” He even shouted over the yellow birds perching around his house out
of ager, “Shoo! SHOO!”
"I f-found him passed out at the park when I sneaked out," Nagi sobbed in mid-
explanation, "H-he seemed ill, so I took him home. I felt like you wouldn't
like it – what to do, right? I d-decided to hide him in my room instead. He
never woke up though – I tried my b-best, but he still didnt wake up!" She
choked, "Thankfully, Tsuna made his visits soon after. He told me he would
help, and the sick guy got better after that".
Irie was as pale as sheet. He kept on chanting mindlessly about how the Smoking
Bomb Hayato had been around the vicinity and Tsunayoshi had known all along
while taking care of the terrorist. He then shrieked about the many ways Reborn
would kill him after finding out that Smoking Bomb Hayato had his hands on
Tsunayoshi. All this happened while they were on their way to R-27.
"Eventually he woke up and told me his name, but then I realized he had ill
intent on Tsuna's dad. When he found out Tsuna i-is the adopted s-son, he got
very mad,” Nagi continued, “Then, y-yesterday when Tsuna baked some muffin, h-
he," the girl sobbed harder this time, "H-he attacked us and took Tsuna while
talking about t-this f-fifth p-painting – masterpiece – I-I’m n-not sure – k-
kept by T-Tsuna’s father. He wanted Tsuna’s father to come and give him the
painting”.
They were driving the short distance to R-27; taking the car just in case
anything happens. “What do you mean the masterpiece??” Kozato asked loudly
inside the car, “Do you mean the masterpiece exists??”
He threw the last question to Irie; but the informant was lost in his own
worries over Reborn’s wrath to respond quickly. “I-I don’t k-know what you’re
talking about!!” Irie shrieked at last, “Reborn never told me that he keeps a-
any painting! I don’t even know he made a fifth painting!!”
Reboyama was a painter surrounded by many rumors. Beside the rumor, or fact,
that his models were real life famous people; there was also the rumor that
Reborn took his paintings away from the public and gave it to the models
because he had found his masterpiece. No one knew where the rumors had
originated from; but if it was the truth, then it might have a reason to exist.
The masterpiece was said to be the fifth painting; the last and best painting
out of all Reboyama’s creations. Kozato remembered a lot of people wanting to
hunt for the painting; while he himself brushed the rumor off as false news.
Today, he might discover otherwise.
“Have you contacted Reborn?” Kozato growled at the stricken man on the
passenger’s seat.
“I c-can’t contact R-Reborn! Once he f-found out we l-lost the boy, he’d k-kill
us!!”
Kozato rolled his eyes; thinking not without me trying to kill him back from
keeping the fifth painting a hidden fact. “Nagi, call that boy’s father –
husband – whatever – using this guy’s phone,” he ordered the girl sitting on
the backseat. Kozato took Nagi with them deciding it will be saver to keep her
close all the time rather than leaving her at the house where an attack had
just taken place. “Ask him about the painting’s whereabouts. Remind him it’s
the only way we can save his boy,” he added to his order.
 
Arriving at the Sawada meant a rude call to get Irie to get himself together
and for Kozato to prepare himself for a fight. They didn’t know where this
Smoking Bomb person took Tsuna; but there was a possibility of him taking the
boy to this house instead. In fact, the boy might have an idea or two about
Reborn’s leave  from both Nagi and Tsunayoshi. A fight might happen in this
very place, Kozato concluded, so he prepared himself and walked around the
house with Irie and Nagi in toe to look for enemies.
What they found instead was a short and round figure dressed in pink and a pair
of white shoes greeting them when they reached the back porch. Kozato could see
the figure's body fat forming through the crease of her tight pink dress as she
tried to stand from her crouched position. “Senor is not here,” the woman told
them flatly as though she was not affected by the gun in Kozato’s hold, “Please
leave”.
Irie was still somewhat useless; but Kozato remembered the young man describing
the new suspicious maid in the Sawada household. She had the ugliest face one
would ever seen in this planet with the cheeks almost falling from her face
like a bulldog's and the creases around her face resembling a pug's. Her eyes
were dark colored and droopy; looking straight at people with a coldness one
couldn't explain. Her dark olive skin and brown curly hair completed her
nightmarish Spanish grandmother appearance to top notch.
The sight of her made Kozato freeze for a moment; but he planned to ignore
whatever suspicious detail Irie had informed him once and explain to the woman
about their situation. Of course, this plan was left forgotten when he heard
the news from the nearby mobile radio.
"As announced before, a convict has made an escape from a high security state
prison in Italy. The convict, known popularly as The Husband Killer, thirty
five year old Romaria Moretti, had killed four man previously married to her.
The Hispanic serial killer – "
The radio was turned off by a gloved hand and the maid in pink returned to
them. “Leave,” she repeated with that airy voice and thick accent.
Kozato had his mouth opened dumbly while he observed this obviously guilty
woman. He closed it after a while, then made his move. “... Romaria,” the
resemblance of her name to that convict in the news was left unsaid, “We’re
under a stateof emergency here. Your employer has been kidnapped. You shall let
us in; for Tsunayoshi’s sake”.
"Senor is not here," she seemed to be quite determined to keep them out of the
house in her own strange, silent, and suspicious ways. Kozato sent Irie a
questioning look, as though asking you sure this woman is not involved in
Tsunayoshi’s kidnapping? But Irie seemed too lost to notice.
“I have you under a gun point, woman,” Kozato deadpanned. When the threat
didn’t seem to bother the woman one bit, Kozato squinted at her further. "You
have to be fifty five, are you?" The half Italian accused.
"No, I thirty five”.
Kozato was almost ready to shoot this woman and force his way inside when Nagi
raised her voice for once. “U-umm,” she started; succesfully stopping Kozato
from shooting anyone, “Mr. Sawada s-said he wants to talk to the new maid”.
Irie instantly shrieked and insisted that he wouldn’t trust the maid to receive
any phone calls. A half minute of arguing later though, they gave the phone to
the very silent Romaria. It didn’t atke long for her to cut the call and walked
into the house. “Hey, hey, HEY! Where do you thin you’re going!?” Shoichi
called the woman.
"I get paint,” was the only thing she said.
The three of them tailed the maid until they stopped inside Reborn’s study. She
stopped in front of the huge picture above the electronic fireplace; her gloved
hands rubbing its surface before she grabbed the frame and pulled it off the
wall. Behind that very picture was a flat wall decorated with keypads and a
small monitor. Romaria was murmuring inaudibly; sounding as though she was in
deep concentration before she typed in something.
"Look if anything happened," Irie started, but he stopped when he noticed the
word accepted on that small monitor, "N-no, how did you..."
The hidden vault opened to reveal a painting underneath its confinement. There
was never a day when Irie would find himself looking at an under-aged kid
inappropriately. That is, until the day found himself staring at the huge frame
hidden behind the wall of Reborn's study; mesmerized at the painting of Sawada
Tsunayoshi.
Different to the rest of Reborn's painting, this one had an innocence touch to
it. And different to its predecessors; the subject of this painting has his
face uncovered. He was laying down horizontally on something resembling a bed;
a white blanket framed his naked body, but did nothing to protect the boy from
invading eyes. The face was in high definition; detailed from the contour of
the subject's bones to the shades of the subject's flush. Rather than having
the details focused on the subject's private part, this painting focused on the
subject's eyes. They were so brown and glossy; looking at the spectator as if
he was spellbound by the painter when he was being painted.
While Reborn's four paintings in the past screamed of maturity, this one was
bold with its purity. The only mature elements in this painting was the fact
that the teen was painted in nude, his private part standing high as a sign of
arousal, and his half sleepy face was a bit red, especially on the lips and the
cheeks. The way the teen was biting lightly on the blanket was an innocent act
that almost breached accidental seduction; looking like a virgin openly
displayed to a mature spectator. It was impossible to deny any indication
behind this painting for it was made with extra care and attention, proven by
the soft stroke of each lines differing to the sharp edged and harsh strokes
dominating the previous paintings. One would say, the painter was driven by
lust and aggression in his first four paintings, but was led by deep affection
in this almost believed that this was made by another painter altogether.
"No way. Is this Reboyama's?" Irie whispered in awe.
"It is," Kozato answered from beside him. The half Italian was also gaping in
amazement, but his fingers went to the painting to point at the familiar
signature of Reboyama’s on the bottom right of the frame; a number of each
painting. There was a small number of 6 there; made with that famous scratchy
style Reboyama used most of the time.
There was something here, Kozato told himself, here in this painting. Its
implication toward Reborn’s marriage and latest antics were bold enough. Yet,
the old man was not given the time to ponder upon this further when Romaria
took the painting of the wall and brushed his shoulders on her way out.
“H-hey, where are you going?” Irie called her. She didn’t answer; but she
walked as if she knew what she was doing.
===============================================================================
 
Not far from R-27; right on the rooftop of Namimori School; was a very hungry
and very sleepy Tsunayoshi. He had a long piece of rope binding him from waist
to shoulder and a very handsome silver haired teen watching him like a hawk.
They were not alone, of course. There was a battered Yamamoto lying on the
floor not far from Tsunayoshi – he had done his part as Tsunayoshi’s white
knight. But that teen was not the problem. The problem was that woman.
Bianchi.
She was standing tall in the middle of the rooftop as if she owned the place.
And if you expected her to be the victim in this story; you’d be greatly
mistaken.
She was never a victim.
“You better not lie to me about Reborn coming here,” the woman hissed to
Hayato.
Hayato rolled his eyes, but answered anyway. “I’ve told him last night that I
have his,” he sent a glare at Tsunayoshi’s form, “adopted son,” he spatted the
word, “here on the school rooftop”.
“Have you told him to bring the painting?” the woman asked again. The painting
was important. Bianchi had made her journey around the world to ensure that
there was no other Reboyama’s painting and lover beside herself.
“Yes,” Hayato answered boringly, “I told him to bring the masterpiece with him
if he wanted his son back”. The silver haired teen then yawned – because this
kidnapping was not challenging enough according to his standard – but he paused
when his eyes met Tsunayoshi. The brunette was actually smiling at him even
though Hayato had just kidnapped him and beat the crap out of Yamamoto.
“Hey,” the brunette greeted him. Hayato was thoroughly confused now.
“You should be worried for yourself now,” Hayato growled at the other teen, “If
Reborn failed to please my mom,” he glanced toward Bianchi, “Then you’ll be
doomed”.
Tsunayoshi only grinned apologetically; and Hayato wondered if the brunette
understood his own predicament. “I’ve told you that even I don’t now if Reborn
would come, right?” The brunette lifted his shoulder, “He’s been busy”.
Hayato stole another glance at the woman she called mother. He, Tsunayoshi, and
Yamamoto were positioned quite a distance from where she was standing so she
shouldn’t be able to listen their conversation if they lower their voices.
“Then you know you’d be the one in trouble if that’s the case, right?” The
bomber tilted his head and reduced the volume of his voice, “Then why aren’t
you afraid?”
Tsunayoshi grimaced a bit; but his smile was still plastered in his heart
shaped face, “maybe I have some plans”.
Hayato snorted. “If by plans you mean another savior like Yamamoto here; then
you’ll be in huge trouble,” Hayato yawned, “Mom is a very skilled fighter, you
know. Even I can’t beat her”.
Tsunayoshi frowned at the sight of his first ever friend lying unconscious on
the floor. Honestly, he never had Yamamoto in his plans in the first place.
“Maybe,” Tsunayoshi tried to smile again, “if you’re with me, Hayato-kun, then
we can escape together”.
Hayato stared at him for a long time; then cracked into laughter. It was the
kind of laughter Tsunayoshi was familiar with – the kind that Reborn had when
he was amused. “You’re not seriously trying to get me to side against my own
mom, are you?” Hayato smirked now; and Tsunayoshi couldn’t help but note how
similar his smile was to the hitman’s, “She’s my mother. I can’t go against
her”.
“You know she has been using you. She framed you for a crime you never did,”
Tsunayoshi reminded, “She is never a mother, Hayato; atleast not a good one.”
“She’s only like that because Reborn left her! Maybe if he was around, she
could be a good mother,” Hayato protested lowly, “And you’re one to talk; you
don’t even have a mother”.
“I used to have one,” Tsunayoshi muttered; surprisingly sounding more mature
then he was supposed to, “And she was a good mother; even without a man by her
side”.
Hayato looked away. “Families are supposed to stick together. You should have
one mother, one father, and at least one child,” Hayato grunted, “It is the
best way. And I only wanted for the best”.
“Reborn will kill her before you can have that, Hayato-kun. There are other
options,” Tsunayoshi persuaded; slowly, “And I promise you, you can still have
what you want by other means”. Hayato snapped his head to the brown head to
challenge the other boy to prove his stupid claim. His mother, however, busted
their interaction.
“Hayato,” she glared, “Ignore that stupid boy. Come here”.
Hayato gave Tsuna an unsure look before he left to approach his mother.
===============================================================================
 
"H-hey, woman! What are you doing lingering around?" Irie scolded Romaria
nervously.
"I put lotion," she answered while bending down to put some bug repellent
lotion to her feet. When she bent too far, a noise of torned fabric was heard.
She torned the back of her skirt; flashing Irie with her lacy grandma underwear
as a result. The informant looked disgusted.
"We’re in a state of emergency, woman! We don't have time to think about bugs!"
He spatted. There were a lot of mosquitoes in this area, especially in the
summer, but it was unacceptable to the informant that this woman still had the
thought to think of herself at this situation. Kozato and Nagi stopped ahead of
them to check on the two.
"I'm leaving her right here," Irie decided, quickly stepping through the
stairway to the school’s rooftop; the location Reborn told them to be
Tsunayoshi’s whereabouts. "Screw it; I’m going to run ahead. I'm going to prove
that nobody should mess with Reborn".
"Hey, calm down, we can’t pursue without an elaborate plan," Kozato exclaimed
and ran after the younger man in hope of stopping him. The more they went,
however, the more sluggish they became. Kozato was confident that he had kept
up with his stamina in his productive years, but the stairs had proven him
wrong.
"Stop! Don't be stupid!" He reminded the informant again. He coldn’t see the
younger man, unfortunately; at least not until he reached the end of the
stairs. The old man saw the beautiful view of the wide sky and the setting sun
looming over the plain and almost empty rooftop. The setting should be cliche
enough; especially with those damned yellow birds perching on the tall cable
fence surrounding the rooftop.
He also noted the slumped figure of Irie on the ground; and the two dumbfounded
people standing ahead of him. One of the two was a boy with striking similarity
to someone. Albeit his bleached silver hair and the green colored eyes; Kozato
couldn’t be fooled by the sght of those sharp stare on top of those perfectly
chiseled high cheek bones.
The other person of the two was someone Kozato knew so well from the times he
studied Reboyama’s paintings. The pink hair was similar to the model from the
first painting; which, if Kozato was not mistaken, should be the painting of
Bianchi Lavina. Run, Kozato wanted to tell her; because obviously her supposed
attacker should be around. But she seemed calm and in control; as if she didn’t
feel like being chased at all.
Kozato was left qestioning this until he dropped to the floor right behind
Irie. He and the informant were strangely very aware of their surrounding, but
couldn’t move a muscle to save theirselves.
“The mosquitoes you stole from Shamal are surprisingly useful,” Kozato heard
Bianchi commenting, “Hayato”.
After the young silver haired boy grumbled a, “Told you so, mom,”; the gears in
Kozato’s brain moved at last. Then everything made more sense. Kozato’s eyes
widened at the direction of the brown haired boy bound at the right corner of
the area in disbelief. He found Tsunayoshi smiling apologetically in return.
“Are these two the ones Reborn send to save his son?” Bianchi asked loudly to
no one, “Some... wrinkly old man and a glasses boy with no fashion sense?” She
kicked Irie’s body with her heeled shoe, “Reborn should have known better than
to test my patience”.
The silver haired teen; now known to be the infamous Smoking Bomb Hayato;
looked ahead to the stairway. “No, mom, there’s someone else,” he informed
cautiously; then glancing carefully to where Tsunayoshi was. The brunette
lightened up at this last person’s arrival. Is it Reborn? Hayato wondered.
There near the stairs, stood the fat and round figure of an old woman in
housekeeping uniform. She had the painting – covered in white clothing – in her
hold. Hayato sweatdropped; even more so when he heard Tsunayoshi exclaimed
excitedly, “Romaria!!”
“I pick Senor home,” the fat maid announced with a high pitched falsetto.
Hayato was honestly dissappointed. “You can’t be serious!” He groaned and
facepalmed. The rest of the room seemed to share this sentiment; except
Tsunayoshi.
“I pick Senor Tsunayoshi home,” Romaria repeated flatly with one fat finger
pointed toward the bound brunette, “Senor Reborn’s order”.
The hitman’s name seemed to hit a nerve in Bianchi’s brain. Her beautiful
visage instantly became ugly and mad; you could practically see the veins on
her face. “Then tell that man that I won’t hand his adopted son unless he come
here and kiss my feet!” She yelled. Romaria didn’t even flinch.
“No,” Romaria responded lightly, “No painting for you. Bad bad woman”.
Bianchi took her words as an insult. She quickly ordered her son to attack the
maid. “What? But she’s just an old lady!” Hayato complained; eyes looking
sideways in disinterest. Bianchi grabbed his son’s hair and pulled it cruelly.
“I don’t care even if she’s a baby; do what I told you to!!” She yelled
directly to his ears.
Hayato ended up dragging his feet to approach Romaria. Kozato, who laid so
close to the pair, noted how the boy’s scowl was an exact copy of Reborn’s
everytime he was faced with one of Irie’s boring reports. The silver haired
teen stopped a couple of feet away from his target. “Uhh, woman -,” he started
saying, but was disrupted when a pair of forks flew toward him. Luckily he made
a quick duck to dodge it.
The bomber turned his head slowly behind him. He found the pair of forks
landing to the floor with a sharp stabbing sound. He knew then that those
tablewares were not your regular ones; they were as sharp as hunting knives.
Hayato then returned to face his target. This old woman was not the kind you
should help to cross the road.
Kozato never expected the moves from the housemaid. She put down the painting
then suddenly, oh so suddenly, started undressing. Even with Irie obviously
wheezing in fear beside him, Kozato kept his eyes on the suspicious woman. What
they found in Romaria’s stead not five seconds later was a younger woman of the
same tan skin. She was taller with the perfect curvy hourglass body; but had
the exact same uniform; even had the same torn on her skirt from earlier that
day.
This woman looked like a stranger; but felt familiar.
She was Romaria herself.
“I pick senor,” the new woman said, “home”.
She had more of those sharp tablewares in her hands now; and Smoking Bomb
Hayato was equally prepared with a set of explosives in his hands and a
challenged smirk in his face. Kozato had to add that the smirk was so similar
to Reborn’s; the arrogant one he had with him all the time.
And then the two fought.
===============================================================================
 
Kozato had to admit he was amazed by the fight those two made. It was even more
interesting that it was a fight between a very young boy and an old (or was
she?) woman. Sadly, the area was instantly covered by a thick smoke; thanks to
Hayato’s explosives. It was exactly at that chance Nagi appeared to drag Kozato
and Irie away from the rooftop to the staircase.
They hid there; peeking at the battleground to look for possible ways to safe
everyone. Nagi seemed ready to leave their sides and return to the fighting
arena though. “Where do yo think you’re going?” Kozato asked her in the middle
of his raspy breaths. The poisonous mosquito bites were still in his system
apparently. The poison not only made his muscles weak; it also made his breaths
heavy and his head pounding.
“I h-have to save Tsuna and Yamamoto-kun. I’m worried Tsuna’s asthma would
relapse because of the smoke,” she answered timidly, “I was only able to give
Tsuna his medicine before I went to you and dragged you out”.
“Asthma?” Irie questioned from his slumped position, “Tsunayoshi doesn’t have
any asthma”.
“B-but Romaria t-told me he had,” she argued, “S-she even t-told me to give him
h-his medicine”.
“Oi oi, what did you give Tsunayoshi?” Irie asked in alarm albeit he was also
out of breath thanks to the poison. Nagi held out a small white bottle to their
line of sight. There was a small label on the body of a cap. It read ‘Verde’.
“I never knew this medicine!” Irie exclaimed.
===============================================================================
 
Meanwhile, Bianchi stood to watch the fight – not that she planned to do that
for long. She only told Hayato to fight the woman to create distraction. All
she wanted was that painting; that damned masterpiece.
She walked pass the fighting two and made her way to the forgotten painting.
She picked it up and, carefully, unclasped the white fabric surrounding the
frame. Once opened though, she found herself taking a long stare at the
painting. By the time she came to herself; the smoke in the area had almost
cleared. Hayato and the maid were out of any other weapons but their own fists.
She ignored those two. Her target was someone else.
It was that brown haired boy who was currently gasping heavily on the floor.
Maybe the poison she implanted on Shamal’s mosquitoes was getting into the
boy’s system at last. She was curios to why the boy was not affected by the
bite, but maybe it was merely a delay in reaction. “It’s painful right?” She
asked the boy sweetly after she crouched down to his eye-level, “That’s my
latest poison. you see. Not as lethal as my previous ones, but it can make you
weak”.
She pushed the boy to his back and loomed over him. Her eyes reddened; she was
so ready for the kill. “But no worries; I’ll end your sufferings with my bare
hands,” she kept her sickening sweet tone, “You wont feel anymore pain”. She
put her two hands on the boy’s neck; ready to snap it; crush it; squeeze it
while she watched the life out of Reborn’s damned masterpiece. Then that man
will learn not to defy her. Reborn will understand that he shouldn’t leave her
for any other person.
Of course, she knew that ,with the smoke cleared from the air, everyone would
witness this boy’s death in her hands. But they wouldn’t bother her enjoyment
because she knew the maid would had her hands full of Hayato and the three
other witness would be too weak to do anything. Their pain would be her bonus.
“Y-you’re mistaken,” Sawada Tsunayoshi was strangely still in the mood to make
idle talks. Bianchi tilted her head over the boy’s speech. "It’s not any of
your poisons. It’s my own,” Tsunayoshi told her.
The next thing they all knew; Tsunayoshi glowed with blinding orange light. It
was so bright that everyone had to squint and even close his eyes. They could
hear a screeching scream; possibly coming from Bianchi; as an unbearable heat
and pressure blanketed the whole vicinity followed by the sound of an
explosion. The force was so big that the unconscious form of Romaria was thrown
over to the staircase. As the explosion went on, Kozato looked up to the sky,
finding a flock of yellow birds scattering away from the area; running for
their lives.
===============================================================================
 
"Did you see it?" the silver haired teen exclaimed excitedly albeit the beaten
up and slightly ashen appearance, "It was a huge fire! Like an explosion!"
Kozato and Irie sat side by side in that huge ambulance with blankets over
their shoulders. They looked too stunned to respond to the teen who had
attacked them hours prior. Outside of the ambulance, people dressed in white
lab coat were walking around the vicinity where everything had taken place.
Obviously, they were not the police. Kozato decided, he had a bad day and wiped
his head, only to whiff the burnt smell on his hair.
"It was like... the flame, right?" Hayato continued in amazement. He suddenly
looked younger; at least younger than how he acted then. Kozato discovered that
the young bomber was merely a normal teenager who had been pressured to do
something stupid by his own parent. Typical.
There was another teenager who was not so typical though.
Kozato could still remember the sight he found after the explosion. Bianchi's
form fell to the floor almost lifeless with all of her clothes shred to pieces.
Sawada Tsunayoshi, however, stood near her body as if in a trance. His whole
body was covered in fire as he walked like a zombie with his eyes closed. A
trace of fire followed his trail until there was only a tiny flame left to his
forehead. The brunette opened his eyes only after he arrived near Kozato.
Kozato saw a pair of deep orange eyes before the teen fell to his embrace.
And that was how everything ended that day.
The next thing he knew; there were helicopters and ambulances surrounding them.
That sushi boy was sent somewhere along with Nagi and Romaria it seemed. He,
Irie, and the silver haired teen were put into the biggest ambulance. The
downside to this big ambulance, however, was having Bianchi in the same
transportation. She was restrained in a straitjacket and her legs were shackled
with leg irons. Her mouth was also gagged, but she had been making weird noises
from behind it. Her supposedly son didnt seem to care, though. He was still
immersed with the explosion.
The door of the ambulance was then opened wider and in came Reborn with his
full black outfit. Tsunayoshi was sleeping in his hold while covered in the
hitman’s black coat. The boy seemed unhurt; but it was obvious he was out of it
from the way his head lolled weakly to the side as the man holding him walked
further into the car. The hitman glanced coldly at the silver haired teen;
making the teen pale and nervous as a result.
Reborn stopped in front of Bianchi and crouched down while keeping a steady
hold on the unconscious teen in his hold. The man only needed to whisper to the
younger's ear and pinched the back of his neck to stir the teen from his
slumber. Tsunayoshi let out a deep breath and turned his head around; just to
snuggle back to the hitman's shoulder.
"It’s this woman," Reborn murmured to the boy's ear, "Who had been messing with
you, right?"
Tsunayoshi blinked his eyes open from the back of Reborn's shoulder to peek at
Kozato, Irie, and Hayato. He seemed to prefer his silence, but that didn’t stop
Reborn from pestering him with kisses. "I can let you have the kill if you
want," Reborn said with a low voice, "Or do you want me to let her go?”
There was a crease between Tsunayoshi's eyebrows. "No, I hate her,” the boy
sulked while refusing to lay a glance at Bianchi. He was obviously staring at
somebody else in that car.
"Then what do you want," Reborn taunted. His long fingers was pressing the back
of the younger's neck, "Tell me".
The boy blinked so very slowly; looking like he wanted something really bad; at
the direction of the teen sitting next to Kozato. "I want Hayato to get me out
of here”.
"M-me!?" Hayato jumped in his seat; half nervous; half excited, "B-but I-I -!"
he stopped hesitating when he saw the slow blink of that pair of brown orbs;
"S-sure".
Reborn turned his head around to gaze sharply at the silver haired teen. It was
then that Kozato noticed why he found the silver haired teen's face to be so
familiar. Those set of deep set eyes and high cheek bones were exactly the same
as the ones on Reborn's face.
Something re-winded in his memory; something crucial.
"I'm expecting".
"... A child".
The pair of helpless brown eyes, "Reborn's".
It was not until Hayato led the weak brunette out of the car with the
assistance of a fat and round Romaria outside of the Ambulance did Kozato
return to reality. Kozato was almost gawking, although he did so without
further change to his facial expression. "R-reborn," he heard himself
muttering, "You should know, if you're on a run, you shouldn't do anything
risky, young man".
Reborn didn't even turn away from the restrained woman. He was taking something
from the back of his suit. It was a gun.
"Who ever said I'm on the run?" The man said while pointing the gun to
Bianchi's forehead. No sound was made before Bianchi grew limp and blood
spattered from the back of her head. Reborn turned around; eyes dark and smile
wide, "I'm on a mission".
At this exact moment, a blonde man perked from the driver’s seat, "Kora, you
killed her already? Shit, now what am I suppose to tell that woman?"
"She'll understand. And the bitch would have been put to death row because of
what she had done anyway. This is more effective and efficient," Reborn stood
up and observed the blood spatters on his shirt, "Can you tell Romaria to bring
me a new suit? The boy will hate it if he found out".
"Sure," the blonde driver answered before he disappeared. Reborn then stopped
in front of the other two males in the car. He took something from the pocket
of his pants and gave it to the both of them. They were two very childish
looking invitation cards. The one in Kozato's hand said to Nonno.
"A birthday party," Kozato mentioned as he observed the card, "At September
ninth?"
"The boy had wanted to have his own," Reborn sighed deeply before he spatted
the word, "child". He then continued, "It was too bad Bianchi never took a good
care of that brat. Thankfully Tsunayoshi doesn't care about that. And yes, you
two are invited to Hayato's birthday".
"What? But, you just met him today, you shouldn't take him in instantly,"
Kozato laughed from the silliness. Reborn, however, didn't seem amused one bit,
"It. Was The. Boy's. Idea. So don't ask me". The hitman then addressed Irie,
"And you. You're fired".
"What!?" The informant exclaimed, "Why!?"
"Because you're not doing a good job, newbie".
"But I've done my best to watch your back!"
"Who said I need someone to watch my back?" Reborn sneered, "That boy was your
employer, and you let him get kidnapped today, fucker".
Iriei gawked, "T-tsuna is m-my employer?"
"You're paid with his money," Reborn glanced at his watch; hissing, "Where is
that Colonello".
As Reborn busied himself to get a change of clothes; both Kozato and
Irie seemed to share a moment reflection in that very ambulance. They didn't
care when Romaria appeared and held a relaxed conversation with Reborn. They
didn't even realize it when Nagi came to check on them.
===============================================================================
 
The birthday party on September ninth should have been a casual and silent
occasion with only a few close associates of the Sawada’s attending. However,
Kozato found Reborn’s associates to be... as dark and secretive as Reborn. They
were forming a circle in the recreation room in Reborn's house; the room right
next to the study.
"Aren't you Simon?" Said a person dressing in a dark cloak, “Cozart's Simon?
There has been a huge bounty for you put by CEDEF, right? One of our partners
is in the CEDEF, you know?"
The blonde man, the one driving the ambulance on the day of the incident,
straighten up in his seat, "Really!? You mean this old guy is the one who led
that flood of blood incident, kora?"
"That was a mistake. I was framed," Kozato rubbed his temple. He turned to the
right hoping Irie could save him, but he found the man to be involved in a
discussion with a young woman. This woman, although dressing innocently in
white, was probably the most dangerous among them all; Kozato's gut and years
of experience told him so.
"Oh, dear, he fired you?" The woman’s face formed a look of sympathy toward the
former informant, "Honey, maybe the work of an informant isn't fit for you.
You're a good technician, I'm sure there is a better job," she then gave him a
card, "How about working as a researcher in this facility? I'm sure you'll do
great".
"Researcher," Irie snorted, "I gave up on that dream a long time ago",
"It’s a huge project, sponsored by the Millefiore," she coaxed sweetly.
Shoichi laughed, "Well, sorry, I'm not interested. That is, unless your project
involves a time machine," he continued laughing, but stopped midway to say,
"Wait, you're not, right?"
Kozato found himself not willing to listen anymore. He pardoned himself out of
the room in hope of finding a calmer atmosphere in the living room. He found a
small group consisting of Sawada Tsunayoshi, Nagi, that boy from the sushi
shop, and Lavina Hayato there. The old man thought he could walk pass them but
found it weird to have Nagi, who was very introverted, wanting to socialize and
even dress up nicely. He even found it weird how the boy from the sushi shop,
although looking like he could’ve found a more popular crowd to hang out with,
preferred to stay right beside the unpopular Tsunayoshi. Last but not least, he
found it weird how the silver haired teen, who previously wanted to kill the
brunette, now looking displeased at the sight of the brunette sticking close to
anyone but himself as if afraid he was going to lose the other boy.
The brunette himself was actually watching Kozato now; those eyes blinking
slowly again in that unresistable manner of his. But Kozato resisted and walked
pass the sight of Romaria cleaning up the birthday cake by picking out the
twelve candles. He decided that maybe going back to the recreation room was the
only choice left for him. That was, until he saw Reborn.
"Care to have a smoke?" The hitman said.
They ended up standing in the middle of the Sawada's backyard facing the bright
sky. The yellow birds perched sleepily around the area, and Kozato found the
owl Nagi loved so much among them. "He's twelve," the old man started, "That
Hayato kid. If I'm not mistaken, twelve years ago was around the time you
published that first painting with Bianchi in it".
Reborn didn't say anything but hummed as he lit his own cigarette. Kozato
looked at him incredulously, "He is your son, isn't he?"
Reborn didn’t answer. "Now he is technically Tsunayoshi's son,” Kozato
continued; to which Reborn kept his silence.
The two smoked in peace; looking like two men interacting nicely with each
other while actually maintaining tensions in-betwen. "Doesn't he remind you of
someone?" Reborn broke his silence finally.
Kozato took a long drag. This conversation made him want to smoke all day long.
"Sure," he answered, "My grandson. Enma". He admitted, even as a mafia boss, he
was quite the family man. He maintained a close relationship with his two
grandchildren; the shy and sweet Mami and the troubled and introverted Enma. If
only they were around now, Mami and Enma had to be around Nagi and Tsunayoshi's
age.
"Try again," Reborn snorted, "Orange eyes, burning power, unruly hair," the
hitman mentioned one by one before looking at him, "Surely that reminds you of
someone".
Now that he mentioned it that way, Kozato felt some familiarity. There was
someone who went by those description back then when he was still in the mafia.
"He told you about his grandfather, hasn't he?" Reborn smirked, "Don't you know
the grandfather's name?"
"It’s...," Kozato stared long and hard. He suddenly lost the desire to smoke as
that name tickled the tip of his tongue; The name of the only man who stood up
for Kozato in the middle of his conflict with CEDEF; his best friend; Timoteo.
Kozato laughed to the open air. He felt ridiculed – lost – but also very
amused. "Amazing!" he said to the hitman beside him, "You..., I can’t believe
you planned this – am I right?"
The hitman closed his eyes briefly, "Planning is a wise move".
"You want something from me," Kozato said, still laughing, "And you got me". Of
course Kozato would help Reborn now that he found out the identity of that
teenager. Especially after he was convinced that the boy was not a victim of
Reborn's plot; he was probably the main player in it. "Tell me, is that boy the
most crucial item to whatever it is you're planning?" He asked, "Your best
weapon, perhaps?"
Reborn smiled obligingly, but stayed secretive, "That's too soon to decide". He
looked up to the sky before saying, "What we should talk about is your role in
this".
Kozato followed the guy's line of sight, "Sure". And the two smoked under the
bright September sky; finally having a nice conversation.
===============================================================================
 
                          Somewhere Else in Namimori
===============================================================================
                                        
A teen with jet black hair stood in the middle of a zen styled garden; right on
the largest private property in Namimori. He was holding two buckets filled
with water and there was another bucket in the back of his neck forcing him to
look to the ground all the time. The sun in that early September was bright
enough to grill him alive, but the teen would not succumb. Especially not in
front of that man who had brought up this punishment to his person.
Said man was standing under the shade of the traditional Japanese mansion not
far from where the boy stood. He was watching the teen – his own son –
executing the punishment given to him with a straight face. Hibari Akihiro was
not a bad father; but he was indeed a fair leader. There was no bad behavior
that went pass him without being punished; even when it was done by his own
blood.
"Don't you think you're being too harsh, dear?" Adelheid said next to him, "I
admit Kyoya is being too much..."
"Trust me," Akihiro answered his wife, "The kid wouldn't even regret what he
did".
The two watched over their son in silence. Adelheid laughed, "Oh my, even with
his rebelling behavior, he has gained quite a number of followers". True to her
words, next to the punished Hibari Kyoya were a number of people dressed in
black yukata. They were all bowing down to the teen, ready to cater to his
needs while he was being punished.
"Let’s just hope he won’t abuse that power too much," Akihiro muttered.
Then, a small yellow bird flew to the vicinity with its flapping small wings.
It wandered to the form of the young Hibari as though desperate to check on the
teen. The small bird danced around him; chirping frantically. Hibari Kyoya
couldn't lift his head to greet the small creature, but was strong enough to
say a little greeting. "Hello, little animal," he muttered awkwardly from his
position, "I'm too occupied to talk to you right now".
The bird, however, kept on chirping in front of him. Hibari Kyoya listened to
it silently before a sinister smile grew on his young face. "Is that so?" he
muttered to the ground under his feet.
"Kyoya-san?" Said a voice not far from him, probably reacting from Kyoya's
interaction with the bird.
"Tetsuya," Kyoya responded, "Could you start a search for somebody?"
"Ready, Kyoya-san. Who is it?"
"An omnivore," the sylark’s smile grew, "By the name of Sawada
Tsunayoshi". Just you wait old man, I'm going to show you who is therealman of
this house.
And Namimori waited for another oncoming story.
===============================================================================
 
Tbc.
***** RENATO SINCLAIR'S WAR *****
Chapter Notes
     1. If you haven't already, please check the updated version of the
     previous chapter (titled Renato Sinclair's Masterpiece). There are
     major changes I've made in that chapter which I just posted minutes
     before I posted this chapter. So please re-read that before you read
     this.
     2. This is the uncompleted version of Renato Sinclair's War. The
     complete version will be added soon.
     3. WARNING: implication of under aged marriage and kidnapping, M
     rated content (although softcore, it involved erotic asphyxiation),
     cursing, kids being kids.
     4. Salmari is a Finnish alcoholic beverage. Laura and Carrie are the
     names of popular characters (character tropes even) in the
     supernatural/horror/thriller/mystery genre, each from the Twin Peaks
     TV series and prom horror Carrie.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
 
Black and expensive; those were his first impression of the car's interior. He
couldn't see the views outside clearly, but this was certainly a limousine.
Unlike the long limousine with a long seating to the side, this limousine only
had two seating, the one near the door that Shamal was sitting on, and the
other seat facing him. There was a man with alabaster skin and platinum blonde
hair sitting there. He wore a black long coat, looking like the typical
Burberry model while sitting there with a cup of drink in his hand. The man
wasn't saying anything; he was drinking his whisky and looking at his iPad as
if there were no other people shoved into his car.
Shamal then realized he was stuck in a car with a stranger. In fact, he had
been kidnapped. He tried to open the car door, of course, but realized it was
locked. He braved himself, "E-Excu-"
"Dirty," the man cut him.
"Pardon?" Shamal asked dumbly.
"Your shoes; they’re soiling my car," the man looked at them at last. The blue
gaze was so cold that Shamal was frozen the moment those eyes met his.
"Uh, uhmm, yeah. S-sorry," Shamal looked down. He felt weird for apologizing to
the man who should have been the one explaining stuff. The doctor opened his
mouth to say something again, just to be disrupted a second time.
"Help yourself," the man pointed to the side table with a lot of crystal
glasses and an expensive bottle of whiskey in a bucket of ice.
"Uh, n-no thanks".
"I insist," the man gave them another look. Shamal hurriedly poured a glass for
himself, but took his drink slowly, as he pondered upon the car's interior. If
only this was a different situation, Shamal was sure he could relax and enjoy
the ride within the expensive car. He watched the frightened expression on his
face reflected on the glassed ceiling, then noticing the symbol resembling a
crest in the middle of its surface. It was a vintage and detailed symbol; with
curves surrounding the crest. There was something in the middle of the crest, a
bullet? Shamal wasn't sure, but he could see a writing under the crest design.
V-Vog, Vobala? Vomoya?
His attention was cut when the mysterious man coughed a bit and shifted his
sitting position. The man was seen removing a wireless headset and putting away
his iPad. Shamal realized the man was ready to talk, so he prepared himself to
question where the man was taking him. The window was too dark to let them see
where they were.
"The Trident," said the blonde man. That stopped Shamal from saying anything
because that word brought a lot to his memory. "Trishul Shamal, used to be
known as Trident Shamal," the man ignored the surprise on Shamal's face,
"Thirty five years old. A womanizer, banished from most countries in Europe for
enraging a woman of royal blood".
Shamal was frozen to the spot. This was the first in a long time that someone
used his old alias. "Are you sent by that woman?"
There was no emotion betraying the other man's flat expression. "No," he
answered Shamal, "I'm something worse".
"...Are you planning to kill me then?"
The cold man looked away as if considering the idea. He answered a bit later,
"We'll see about that". It was obvious that this man was capable of murder,
although it was unknown how that fact was made clear to Shamal. The cold man
then took something from his coat's pocket. Shamal firstly thought it’s a pen,
but then realized it was a nicely designed e-cigarette.
"W-what do you want?" Shamal asked. The cold man blew some smoke before he
smirked, "I want you to do something in return of my silence of your identity
and hideout. Or maybe your life".
Shamal had a bad feeling about this. Surely the guy wouldn't want money with a
car this nice. And if the guy could commit murder on his own; his request could
be something more difficult than a mere killing. "W-wait, I don't even know who
you are," Shamal reasoned, "I have nothing that can help you with anything”.
"You can and you will," The other man said, "In fact, it’s a job only you can
do. My identity is the last of your worries. For now, please call me Al".
Shamal didn't understand how this man could instill such fear by just sitting
there. It was at that point that the man offered Shamal two pieces of paper.
Shamal took them from the man's outstretched arm. They were photos.
The first one was an unfocused picture of a man dressing in black tuxedo. A
part of his face was hidden by a fedora, but the intimidating gaze he sent to
another place unseen by the camera, the tall and slender posture of his body,
and the high cheekbones were clearly telling that this was a picture of Sawada
Iemitsu; Shamal’s coworker.
"This is Sawada Iemitsu," Shamal clarified.
"Sawada Iemitsu!” Al ended up laughing, ”A nice name; but thats a note for
later".
Shamal gulped. If there was anybody who could be involved with shady business
among the clinic workers, it would be Sawada Iemitsu indeed. Is he involved
with some dangerouscrowd? Shamal asked himself, drugs? Or maybe... the mafia?
That last thought rang an alarm in Shamal’s mind. "W-what do you want with a
doctor in our clinic?"
"Not a mere doctor in your clinic, he is your coworker and the current leader
of your project in Namimori Fall Festival, correct?" Al blew some smoke as
Shamal nodded slowly, "So you have the closest access to him and his family,
correct?"
Wow, that was not correct, "N-no, we’re just –"
But Al didn't want to listen to any of it, "That coworker of yours is not your
focus. Look at the other picture".
It was a picture of a young boy with messy brown hair and matching round eyes.
Different to the first one, the subject in this picture was more focused. The
boy in the picture looked to the camera, puffing his cheeks and jutting his
lower lip out in a very childish fashion. "That boy will be your job," Al
explained, "I want you to take him to me without the other man's knowledge".
By the other man, he meant Dr. Sawada. "You want me to take him to you," Shamal
took a deep breath, "Did you mean this is a kidnapping?"
"The only kidnapper in this case would be that doctor friend of yours," Al
answered Shamal, "And I'm having a war against him".
===============================================================================
 
The next day in Namimori, Hayato was sitting on the ground with a plastic red
cup in hand. He was trying to get some caffeine into his system. Yamamoto slid
down beside him. "Hey, have Tsuna ever say anything about me?" The taller teen
asked.
Hayato’s tongue burned thanks to the scorching hot coffee. In the middle of
getting rid of the weird feel on his tongue, he asked back dumbly, "Huh?"
"You know, telling or saying anything... about me or anything at all?" the
handsome ex-athlete squinted his eyes; lips tight in a weird smile, "Or maybe
anything about someone he liked?"
"...There is that Kyoko girl".
"A girl!?" Yamamoto threw his head back, "For real? Man, there must be
something else. Come on, help me here," Yamamoto then leaned closer to whisper,
"Is there any indication that he might be gay?"
The silver haired teen stopped drinking his coffee and turned his head to the
side slowly in suspicion. "Why are you asking me this?"
"Oh, you know, I've been thinking of asking Tsuna out for a more serious
relationship with me," the tall teen answered easily. Once Hayato coughed
harshly, Yamamoto quicly added "Calm down, dude”.
"You're gay?" Hayato ased after he put himself together.
Yamamoto scratched the back of his head. "Well, I don't know?" He answered
truthfully, "It's not like I want to be one. It just happened. One day I was
interested in him because he had this... strange mysterious feel around him,"
Yamamoto looked far away, "And suddenly, he just became more. You know?"
The tall teen was new to this kind of stuff. He was known for dating popular
girls, like Sasagawa Kyoko and Miura Haru. He also never veered away from what
was expected of him by the society; such as being a sportman, a popular kid, a
good guy. Still, he expected his new friend to cheer for him or, at least,
laugh at this discovery. What he found in Hayato, however, was a look of
horror.
"Maa, maa, don't look at me like that. Tsuna is at fault too. He got me hooked,
really," when Hayato kept on looking at him that way, the tall teen took his
cell phone, "Look look look. Look at these photos. You see? There is no way he
has no special feelings, right?"
The photos Hayato saw were quite a bunch. Most of them were pictures of
Yamamoto and Tsuna sticking close to each other. A few of them had Yamamoto
pressing his nose to the side of Tsuna's face intimately. Hayato pushed the
home button; just to find a picture of Tsuna wearing Yamamoto's sport jacket
and a pair of over-sized round glasses as the ex-athlete's homepage background.
Annoyed, Hayato threw the phone away.
"Hey! Why did you do that?" Yamamoto grabbed his phone and wiped it from dirt
using his hand, "Oh, see? Tsuna is calling me," the tall teen showed his phone
to Hayatp, showing another picture of Tsuna, "He loves me, I know he does".
"Whatever, creep," Hayato stood and quickly stepped away from Yamamoto like a
sulking child. The new genius of Namimori Middle was a bit of a spoiled brat
when it comes to the brunette after all, "I'm going to restrain Hibari from
ruining our tent".
Tsuna was currently on a trip with his dad (Hayato's dad, really) back and
forth between the city and Namimori to help with the clinic where Reborn
worked. The clinic was going to make a free health service booth here at the
park in order to participate in Namimori's Fall Festival. The Fall Festival is
an annual occasion held once a year at the end of summer to mid fall. It was
probably the biggest celebration in Namimori. Everyone was already busting with
energy even before the event was officially opened; especially on the day
before the official festival opening. Everybody crowded the park to prepare
their own stalls.
As the new kid in the neighborhood, Hayato never thought of joining the event,
but surprisingly, somebody was quite adamant to get him to join. Not only that,
this person also had Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Nagi to join in. They formed a small
group and, after a short period of brainstorming, decided they should make an
okonomiyaki booth. With Tsuna's cooking prowess; they were confident they could
make real money.
But again, one should question the motive of the person who formed this group
in the first place. He had been a stranger to each of the okonomiyaki crew
before and was even a year ahead of them in school. None would dare question
his decision, of course, for he was labeled the strongest kid in the
neighborhood; being the sole descendant of the local Yakuza family.
His name is Hibari Kyoya.
That guy was standing in their simple white tent; right behind the huge table
with built-in teppanyaki pan. The black haired teen was doing tricks with a
pair of okonomiyaki spatulas, swinging them around offensively. "Hey," Hayato
called his black haired crew, "What are you doing with those spatulas?"
"Training," the skylark answered without stopping.
"For...?"
"Murder," the skylark answered calmly before spinning one time and stopped with
a spatula directed to Hayato's neck, "of Kozato".
Hayato didn't make any visible move. He watched the glinting tip of the spatula
inching closer to his neck, "You wanted to kill the only female member of our
crew".
"Yess".
"Why?"
"Because she took Laura and Carrie".
"... Who the fuck are Laura and Carrie?"
"My girls," Hibari inched closer, "My Tonfas". He then resumed practicing
swinging the two spatulas wildly, "Although I'm sorry that your woman will be
victimized by my blood lust; Laura and Carrie are still my priority. I wouldn't
hold back to attack you if you decided to go against me; but I can understand".
Hayato rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn't know what was up with Hibari
and Nagi, but that girl had been absent for days from their regular meet up.
"Yeah, whatever. Look, could you not practice in the tent? You could ruin
something. And killing could get you in trouble".
The other teen instantly stopped his stunt. "You're right. It can ruin our
money source. This is the only way we could make money for our military base,"
he said, surprisingly looking serious, "So that we can take over Namimori from
the hands of my Father. But that woman! She has been messing with my plan. She
stole my weapons and she planned to control Namimori using her minion, the
minion she ordered to kill my spies!" Hibari pointed at the yellow canary birds
perching on the tree near their tent.
"Birds," Hayato deadpanned, "Your spies are birds".
"Yes, and they are the best of their kinds," Hibari answered with pride, "Very
loyal and intelligent this creature is".
"Yeah, right".
"And I'm sorry for the lost you're going to experience in the future, but that
girl's death is for the best of Namimori".
"You know what, I am not involved in any way with that girl, so you can kill
her however you like," Hayato took a seat on top of a table, "But can you tell
me about Yamamoto's latest attraction toward Tsuna? You learn martial arts
together, right?"
Hibari, however, stared at Hayato meaningfully before deciding to speak.
"You're surprisingly in denial of your relationship with that girl," he
smirked, "Poor woman. I'm going to rub that on her face as she dies".
"Yeah, so..., Yamamoto and Tsuna?"
"Been a long time, actually," Hibari answered disinterestedly, "But he starts
planning to be more forward since he fantasizes," the man moved outside of the
tent and started doing moves with the spatulas again.
"Fantasizes?"
"Yes, sexual fantasies," Hibari murmured in mid swings, "You know, wet dreams?
He can elaborate very well on what he thinks of Tsuna's legs, by the way. He
even has a full collection of Tsuna's legs pictures. That straight-face could
be quite the potty-mouth when he wants to," the teen stopped for a while to see
Hayato, "What did he call Tsuna's legs again? Pink and plumpy?"
Hayato fell from the table after hearing those words. The sound attracted
people's attention; even Yamamoto started calling them from afar to make sure
everything is okay. Hibari glanced down at Hayato. "You're such a child. It's
just the legs, you haven't heard what he thought of Tsuna's ass," the skylark
smirked, "Or his cute peepee".
Hayato flailed his arms. Quite a distance away from their tent, Yamamoto was
seen kissing the screen of his phone after he finished his call with
Tsunayoshi; a dreamy smile stuck on his face.
That was the last normal day for the boys; because that very night, right when
Hayato cleaned up their booth on his own in the middle of the desolated of the
park; somebody attacked him from behind. The last thing Hayato remembered was
his own mind alerting him that the attacker was too skilled to be a mere
burglar. Then he heard a familiar voice screaming, "What are you doing to our
tent, herbivore!"
===============================================================================
 
When Hayato came to, he found pair of dark brown eyes on the handsome face of
his old mentor; Trishul Shamal.
Hayato instantly screamed - just to find a gag in his mouth - and trashed -
only to be restrained by set of bound. "Calm down, brat!" Shamal hissed sharply
to the boy’s face.
How can I calm down when you attacked me and bound me!? Hayato wanted to ask
the man. Shamal rolled his eyes, "Look, I'm going to open this, but then you
have to be calm, okay?" The doctor opened the gag.
"I'M SORRY I STOLE YOUR MOSQUITOES, I SWEAR I WAS FORCED BY MY MOM!"
Shamal quickly closed the teen's mouth using his hands, "Shut up! You – wait,
so you did steal it!"
"Shit! Is that Hibari?" Hayato said instead. He just caught the beaten figure
of the Yakuza teen slumped on the corner of their okonomiyaki tent. The skylark
was restrained from shoulder to toe with rope; head covered with a black bag.
"You didn't kill him, did you? If you did, I swear we're in huge trouble. He's
a fricking yakuza!"
"He is alive, prick! What do you think I should do?! He attacked me out of
nowhere. So I subdued him...," Shamal hesitated guilty, "...efficiently”.
Hayato swore that man must have used some of his poison, "That is out of the
matter. Look, I am blackmailed by someone to do a something and you have to
help me".
"Great, you're asking for help and this is how you do it?"
"You'd run the second you see me," Shamal emphasized, "But you have to help me
now cuz if you don't, I'm going to tell The Lavina's that you're here, brat.
You know how the elders will act". Hayato said nothing except giving the doctor
a dumb-looking gape. "Good," Shamal said, "Now listen, there is a very
dangerous man in this neighborhood and I am given the task to save a child who
was kidnapped by this man". Shamal looked around as if making sure that the
park was indeed empty. He then took a poce of photo from inside his jacket,
"Now, do you know this kid?"
Hayato gawked at the photo. "Ha!" Shamal exclaimed, "I know that look. You know
him!"
"Of course, I fucking know him," Hayato rolled his eyes, "Look, I know their
situation is suspicious and that man this boy stays with is shady as fuck, but
there is no kidnapping, okay? Because they were... they were...," Hayato paused
as Shamal lifted his brows in confusion. The silver haired teen leaned closer
to grit his teeth and whisper slowly, "They were married".
The same time Shamal made a surprised exclaim of "Married!?" A yellow bird flew
inside their tent to stop on top of Hibari's covered head. It chirped happily,
stealing their attention from the tense atmosphere. "Herbivore! Herbivore!" it
sang in between its chirps.
Surprisingly, Hibari answered it. "Another herbivore is here". Shamal and
Hayato was surprised by the fact that the black haired teen was conscious all
this time. Hayato started worrying if he heard their conversation.
"... W-what?"
"Another herbivore!" Hibari answered from behind his head cover, "Oh my God,
how can you not notice?"
Two men did come to sight from behind the far darkness of the park. The first
one was tall and blonde while the second one, the one tailing the first, was an
old man with silver hair crowning his pale head. Dark trench coat flowed behind
them as the two approached the tent, the prior's dressed more posh than the
latter. They were walking with grace and without hesitation as though they were
walking into one own’s home; not even presenting the the others a smile nor a
greeting as they stopped inside the tent.
"Al!" Shamal addressed the newcomer, "T-this kid said they were married!"
The blonde male, Al, glanced sideways to the doctor with a disgusted look.
"Which is why, as predicted, Lavina Hayato is not as clueless. Or is it
Gokudera Hayato now? Such a shame, G would have to learn that his nephew
assisted a man in committing treachery,” Al muttered.
Hayato furrowed, "What would Uncle G have to do with this?"
"A punk," the blonde male snorted at Hayato before taking an e-cigar handed by
the old man behind him. The man took a long drag from it, "I am quite well-
acquainted with your uncle. We are... coworkers".
And there was only one job Uncle G ever did, "No way you're from the Vongola,”
Hayato’s claim was welcomed with a squeak from Shamal. The doctor hadn’t
realized that a huge name was involved in this.
"Think as you like," Al blew a puff of smoke, "I’ve always prefered to be
addressed independently".
Hayato rolled his eyes yet again, "Whatever you're after, Reborn did not kidnap
anyone. I know better than you do; they were married."
"Of course I know better," the blonde man taunted him with an unimpressed look,
"I was there in their wedding, I even prepared Tsunayoshi's wedding suit,
something that I regretted to this day". Hayato had his eyebrows raised very
high. Seeing his reaction, the blonde man called to the old man behind him,
"Maximillian".
The old man quickly handed a piece of photo from within his jacket to Al; which
the latter showed Hayato by crouching in front of the teen. "You see this?"
There was a photo of Tsunayoshi, smiling brightly with his signature smile
behind a huge cake with candles forming the number 15. He was surrounded by a
number of people, and Hayato couldn't help the tickling voice of his uncle
behind his head.
"Hayato, I've found a lot of buddies and..."
"Pay attention, punk," Al grouched coldly. He pointed to the shadow of Reborn;
standing far behind the group with a drink in hand and looking as if he was
talking to someone. "This is the only photo Tsunayoshi and that man ever shared
before their wedding. If you're smart enough, young Lavina, you'd take note
that their relationship prior to the wedding is none-existent. It’s fake," Al's
eyes were emotionless, "I'm asking you to save this boy from his kidnapper. You
are not a bad kid. Despite the poor treatment from The Lavina's, you are a good
kid, so I'm sure you will do the right thing."
The silver haired teen had his mouth open, ready to retaliate as his snappy
personality usually does, but he found himself choking out of anger. One would
be nervous when faced with such a mysterious and obviously strong man, but
Hayato felt challenged and cornered. Hayato told himself to doubt, to question,
to protest, because Al had brought nothing but a piece of photo.
"Bullshit," the twelve year old started, "They are happy together in that
house".
"Happy?" Al actually laughed, "Or is it Reborn manipulating Tsunayoshi to think
he is happy? What fifteen year old would want to get married, young Lavina,
tell me? What fifteen year old would pick a scary adult as a date?"
"He's right," Hibari added.  Hayato snapped his head to the skylark's
direction, "Shut up!"
"If you remember, Yamamoto and that omnivore are involved," Hibari explained
with a matter-of-fact tone,"Mister Herbivore over there, I think Sawada is
committing adultery. That omnivore! He was indeed a rare stuff! A hidden jewel
within a weak duckling!"
Al was throwing a questioning glare at Shamal, but the doctor was too overdosed
with anxiety to explain anything about the other teenager’s presence among
them. "And someone wants him," Hibari continued; ignorant of the tense
atmosphere, "PERFECT! Now we can make a deal. Of course, there has to be a
deal, some money".
"Wrong," Hayato denied, "Don’t listen to him, he is insane!"
Al looked slightly confused, as much as his stoic expression could make him out
to be, but decided to ignore the skylark. Hibari's presence was out of his
calculation. "The only deal is you helping us," Al told Hayato, "Or you're back
to The Lavina's. We all know how disappointed they were for the disappearance
of their Bianchi. They have always favored her over her illegitimate son, I
heard".
Yes, The Lavina's treated Hayato, the illegitimate son, badly. If they found
Hayato after the paintings’ and Bianchi's disappearance, they would put Hayato
to some dorm school or maybe punish him before they did. The only person Hayato
ever liked in that family was his uncle; G; but G was never around that much.
This stranger called Al seemed to know Uncle G was one of Hayato's weak spot.
All his life, Hayato had never thought of going against his uncle nor his
associates.
"How about this? I'll give you until weekend to decide. Maybe then, you'll
decide based on your own observation whose side you're going to take,” Al stood
up from his crouching position, "It’s too bad. I thought we can make a good
team considering you are the genius kid G bragged about. Do you understand whom
you are making enemy of?"
Hayato kept his stubborness "I trust Reborn, I won’t betray him".
"Good," Al responded, "I will never betray our most precious child, too.
Tsunayoshi means a lot to me and my associates". The man was taunting, and
Hayato knew it. He was trying to make Hayato the bad guy.
If there was anyone who could ruin the tension, and make it worse, it would be
Hibari. "Mister! I'm sure you have a lot of money, so you'll be able to pay if
I can provide you good information, right?"
Al spared the skylark an uninterested glance. "Sure, sure," the blonde male
said distractedly while peeking at his Rolex watch, "Lets go, Maximilian. And,
Shamal, clean your mess. You can do on your own".
Al stepped into the shadows along with the old man and dissapeared from view.
Shamal slid down to the ground below him in shock and Hayato grunted in anger.
In contrast, Hibari exclaimed excitedly from behind his veiled head, "Didn't
you hear that, Hibird? We're going to be rich! We're going to have our military
base!"
And the bird sang the Namimori school anthem.
===============================================================================
 
When he decided to stay with Reborn and his normal new life, Hayato was up for
the ride. Of course he expected something bad to happen; knowing Reborn. For
example, he and Romaria were told to evacuate some cameras and some lingering
spies around the house once in every while or hide some things from the one and
only oblivious person in the house. Reborn, Hayato, and Romaria made up a three
people party in this game called life; trying to keep it all under cover from
young and clueless Tsunayoshi.
"Hayato?" The brown haired teen called him, "You've been watching Romaria's
behind all day".
"...Oh," Hayato anwered awkwardly, "I'm watching her," he added distractedly,
"We all know she's not good in the kitchen". Deep down, Hayato felt like
rolling his eyes at the brunette to blame him for his troubles. Because, out of
all people in this house, the troublemaker should have been anyone but
Tsunayoshi.
Then again, no one associated to Reborn should be some clean saint. There
should be something shady about them. And if there was anyone most suspicious;
it should be the one Reborn himself invited to his bed, right? But, looking at
the brown haired teenager standing by the oven, one would see an average middle
schooler who is too domestic for his own good.
What was this kid, Hayato wondered; what brought him to Reborn? Is he really a
victim? Or is he something else?
Clueless to Hayato's misery, Tsuna chirped; "Do you think Dr. Shamal will like
the quiche?"
Hayato choked on his cup of coffee, "W-who?"
Tsuna glanced back, "Dr. Shamal; Your dad's colleague from work. You know, the
one helping out for the festival?" He returned with a batch of uncooked quiche,
"They're working so hard, so I cook for them when I have the time. Oh, you have
to meet him, Hayato! He is such a nice person!"
To the cute type like you, yeah he is. Though intelligent and deathly at one
point, Shamal is such a flirtatious person. Hayato had enough of the man since
his younger years, back when that doctor mentored him in the Lavina Manor.
"Call it crazy, but he reminds me of you," Tsuna added.
"Huh?" that lercher?
Tsuna gave him a silly laugh, almost as if he felt guilty from saying it. "Or
maybe not?" The brunette’s forehead furrowed, "Of course not, right?"
Hayato lifted an eyebrow, in that similar fashion to his biological father,
"Duhh".
The conversation ended when Reborn stepped into the kitchen. He was dressing
casually, but neat enough to keep his usual sleek appearance. "Is the food
ready?" The man approached Tsuna from behind to peck the younger's head.
"Still baking," Tsuna answered, "Or how about this? Me and the guys can bring
it to your booth".
They look normal, Hayato anayzed the interaction; they look relaxed around each
other.
"Sounds fine," the hitman slash doctor agreed while getting himself a cup of
coffee. He greeted Hayato with a lift of an eyebrow; probably noticing the the
younger’s focused expression. Hayato responded with a flat smile.
"Talking about that," Tsunayoshi turned his head to Reborn, "The okonomiyaki
crew will have a meeting this Saturday; so you won't mind if we head out from
morning till noon, right?"
Huh?
"Sure," Reborn put his cup on the counter right next to Romaria. The man left
to his work for the festival right after sharing a kiss with the brunette;
leaving Hayato slightly dumbfounded on his seat.
The silver haired teen stepped closer to the other teen in the room. "You
lied," Hayato said after he stood right next to the cooking brunette, "You lied
to Reborn”. There was no meeting this Saturday; and Hayato would know if there
was any sudden plan.
Tsunayoshi's quickly hushed him in that childish manner. One finger to the
front of his mouth, "You'll cover for me, right, Hayato?"
"What are you doing?" Hayato hissed, lowly as to not be heard by the
housekeeper, "You know lying to him is a very bad move!”
"Umm, I can handle it!" The brown eyes grew troubled and he forced a nervous
laugh, "I'm just going to meet up with Yamamoto, that’s all".
"Yamamoto!?" Hayato exclaimed, "You lied to Reborn just to meet Yamamoto?"
"People my age get rebellious sometime," Tsuna pouted, "'Sides, he keeps things
from me, so why can’t I?"
"But you're supposed to be the happy and clueless one, not some liar!" Hayato
protested.
The brunette seemed surprised for the sudden outburst, but then grew
determined, "Can’t you see I'm doing this for the better!?"
Hayato was stunned to silence. It was the first time he witnessed the brunette
speaking in such a harsh manner. Tsuna seemed to notice this for he suddenly
looked down in guilt. "You're young, you shouldn't bother with stuff like
this," he gave an apologetic look at Hayato as if he was that much older than
the latter, "Sorry for screaming at you, but trust me in this one."
When he saw Hayato's troubled look, Tsunayoshi added, "Everything will be fine
after the week is over," he smiled, "I'll make sure everybody stay happy".
"Aren’t you already?"
"... I dont know, Hayato, should I be?"
===============================================================================
 
Hayato watched the brunette closely all day; especially when he saw him talking
to Yamamoto in their okonomiyaki booth. Those two, he realized, were closer
than he thought. He observed Yamamoto giving Tsuna a weird looking squid doll
and telling the shorter that the doll would fit in his beach themed room. The
more he saw, the more Hayato noticed; If there was any loophole in anything
Reborn had set up from the very beginning, it would be the very person he had
with him; Tsunayoshi.
One would think such a kid would bring close to zero problem, being such a
timid, independent, and not much of a hassle teen. The brunette preferred to
stay at home to cooking or play with his pet. Although Tsunayoshi embraced the
idea of having people around, he truly never had such a luck, especially in
school where he was constantly bullied and punished by the math teacher, Mr.
Nezu, and the PE teacher, Mr. Mochida.
But of course, they keep on forgetting how young and gullible Tsunayoshi was. A
contrast to the other two occupants in R-27, Tsunayoshi was a bright and
innocent ray of light. He would ask questions that none of them would bother
asking, struggle with math problems that none of them would, he would gasp in
surprise at the sight of weapons, and he would even call himself stupid
(something both Hayato and Reborn would never do considering how prideful they
are). There was something weird in Tsunayoshi’s naivety. Sometimes, Hayato
suspected the other boy was kept hidden from the world for a long time to
create such a clueless attitude. One would think it was this very quality that
would keep Tsunayoshi in straight line.
Wrong.
It was Tsunayoshi's innocence that would easily set him astray. He was easily
attracted to the strangest and newest thing; albeit not knowing how to approach
it; just like how he approached a terrorist suspect like Hayato, the secretly
suicidal Yamamoto, the problematic yakuza Hibari, the mental Nagi, and even the
most dangerous person there was; Reborn. And the brunette may not understand
how easily he attached himself to somebody. He may not even know that his
clueless attachments may cause some problems; just like his latest closeness to
Yamamoto does.
But what if Tsunayoshi's happiness really was Yamamoto? In the silver haired
teen's mind, he understood that if anything happened between those two this
weekend, it would only prove how fake Reborn's and Tsunayoshi's marriage really
was. And if that was proven, Hayato had to choose between betraying Reborn by
assuring Tsunayoshi's happiness with Yamamoto; or betraying Tsunayoshi's
happiness by helping Reborn pursuing whatever plan he had.
"Tsunayoshi asked him out".
Hayato turned to his company in the tent. Hibari was sitting beside him on one
of the booth's plastic chairs, "They planned to meet somewhere this Saturday.
Yamamoto thinks Tsuna is going to confess".
"No, Yamamoto is the one asking him out," Hayato gulped, "Right?"
Hibari only shook his head. By then, Hayato was reminded of how similar Tsuna’s
words was to Al's.
"Everything will be fine after the week is over, I'll make sure everybody stay
happy".
"I'll give you until weekend to decide. Maybe then, you'll decide based on your
own observation whose side you're going to take"
Could the brunette have known?
That night when he visited Tsuna's room; he asked the one million dollar
question; "You knew?"
The brunette gave him a guilty look, "Hibari told me".
===============================================================================
By Saturday, Hayato took Hibari to a one hour bus ride to a hiking trail spot
not far from Namimori. They were not there to have a nice weekend. They were
there to spy on Tsunayoshi and Yamamoto’s rendezvous.
"Herbivore, I told you I dont feel comfortable being away from Namimori without
my girls and any of my spies around!" Hibari fussed and kicked the dirt under
his running shoes.
"Can’t help it!" Hayato sulked. He just felt like he had to clarify if anything
did happen between Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi. At one point, he thought that he
wont bother if Tsunayoshi elope somewhere with Yamamoto; but something told him
he won’t feel happy about it.
"We're lost now, fucker. Great," Hayato heard Hibari's complaining. Now that he
took a good look to his surrounding; he realized they had no idea of their
location nor their target's. He and Hibari followed those two blindly with no
plans and even no wallets (Hibari admitted that he never had wallets in the
first place because money was always provided by his 'men'). These two were not
the most adaptable to situations as this. Now standing in the middle of the
forest, they looked ahead dumbly (angrily in Hibari's case).
It was then that Hayato heard a scream ahead of them. He knew that boyish voice
so well.
"Tsuna!" he exclaimed; panicked; legs quickly started to gear up and he
automatically pulled Hibari with him to go after the voice. As they went, they
found the two people they were looking for from the start. Both Tsuna and
Yamamaoto were running ahead of them; tailing another person they had not seen
for the last two weeks.
"I-is that Nagi?" Hayato said to no one in mid-run.
Hibari beat Hayato to it after hearing that name. His hands struck Hayato's
face in the throes of rush. The skylar snapped to life after catching the sight
of glinting objects on Nagi's arms. "That woman!" He ran ahead of Hayato with
superb speed, "She has my girls!"
Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi didn’t seem to notice the crazy person speeding after
them at first, but Hibari was not Namimori's strongest for no reason. When he
locked on to a target, he goes after it like a hungry animal. It was this
animal-like air that caught on to Yamamoto in the middle of running. "W-wha –
Hibari!?" Yamamoto looked behind, "Gokudera!?"
The five of them kept running; none really knowing what they were running
after. Hayato and Yamamoto were running head-to-head; both eyeing Tsunayoshi's
form. Tsunayoshi was slightly behind Hibari, screaming the name of the girl who
was way ahead of them. Hibari only had his tonfas in mind. The the strangest
thing was how Nagi, the weakest and most timid among them, could outrun a bunch
of teenage boys. She was speeding as if she was running for life, and Hayato
was sure it’s not to save her life from Hibari. She was running after something
else; even had a weapon ready for it.
The teenagers were running through the steep path surrounded by pine trees,
going up and up ahead until they reached behind a small hill. Thankfully, their
marathon stopped there when Nagi decided to stop in front of a man with the
strangest hairstyle Hayato had ever seen. "Mukuro-sama!" Nagi screamed to the
man; her hands gripping the tonfas tighter, "Give me back Mukuro-sama!"
The strange man stood on top of a huge rock with a white owl perching on his
shoulder. The owl's leg was chained to the man's hand. "Oya, oya, little girl,
how many times have I told you that this bird is not a plaything for kids?"
Nagi was biting her lips; face reddening as though she wanted to cry, "M-
mukuro-sa –"
"Woman!" Hibari cut her off by pushing her to the ground, "Give me back my
girls! HAND THEM BACK!"
Hibari tried to snatch his tonfas from the girl resulting in a struggle on the
forest floor. Hayato watched them incredulously. Tsunayoshi bumped to him;
equally breathless. It was then that Hayato heard a short gasp from the
brunette.
"U-uncle Dae!?" the brunette called. The strange man with the weird hairstyle
perked at the call. Slowly, he turned his head toward Tsunayoshi.
"Tsunayoshi? Is that you?" The man smiled like the Cheshire cat, "It is you, my
dear! Come and give uncle a hug, will you?" The man's arms were wide open.
Tsunayoshi, however, shook his head, "Uncle Dae, have you been skipping your
drugs?"
"Drugs?" The man scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, "Nufufufu. What drugs? I
don't need any drugs; I'm not crazy".
"Tsuna, who is this?" Hayato was suspicious of the stranger's behavior, "Is he
mad? A pedo?"
"N-no!" Tsuna hastily shook his head, "He's just..., what can you say? A bit
mental... probably, but he's nice, I swear!"
Hayato swore he heard the same description on Nagi, but Tsunayoshi's expression
told him not to probe. The brunette took a step closer to the strange man.
"Uncle Dae, could you please return Nagi's owl to her? She has been distressed
by his disappearance, I think".
The man, now known to be Dae, was so devastated by the request that he shook
his head in a way that allowed his hair to slap his own face. "You are
mistaken!" He said dramatically, "This bird right here is not something you
should –"
Before he had the chance to finish, a tonfa flew to his direction along with a
loud roar coming from Hibari. It cut straight to the chain bounded to the owl's
leg when it tried to flee from the weapon. As a result, the tonfa struck Dae's
head to unconsciousness. The tonfa then landed back to its owner's arms.
"Fucking minion!" The skylark didn't seem to notice his first victim of the day
for he quickly pointed his tonfa to the flying owl, "I'll get you for preying
on my spies! I'LL BITE YOU TO DEATH!"
The moment was made more ironic when Nagi jumped to her feet. "Fly, Mukuro-
sama!" she squealed in glee; jumping around in happiness, "Fly!"
===============================================================================
 
They left the pine tree forest without bothering to help the unconscious man
called 'Dae' (even singing popular camping songs on the way). By now, Hayato
was sure he was the only sane member of the crew.
"W-what unconscious man?" Tsunayoshi cut Hayato’s train of thought, "We didnt
see any strange man today, r-right?" Strangely enough, the rest of the crew
went along with Tsuna and enjoyed the bus ride back to Namimori. Each of them
was sweating and sore under their jackets even though the weather was cold. All
they could think was to go home and take a warm bath.
Nagi was sitting alone, her smile reflected on the window as she looked out to
the scenery, probably happy now that her owl was found. Hibari and Yamamoto sat
on the seat in front of her; with Hibari cleaning his tonfas and Yamamoto
glancing absentmindedly at Tsunayoshi. That hopeful look on the baseball
athlete's face reminded Hayato that he didn’t tail Tsunayoshi and Yamamoto to
fetch some owl.
"What were you doing there?" He asked the brunette sitting next to him.
"Hm?" Tsunayoshi answered sleepily, "Oh, I was...," he hesitated before saying,
"I was trying to prevent Nagi from getting abortion".
Hayato jumped on his seat; surprised. "She's p-pregnant!? Dont tell me –," he
gasped, "is the strange man from before the father?"
"Oh, I knew it!" Tsunayoshi threw himself to his seat, "Hibari fooled me with
those rumors! He told me his spies heard it!" He then threw a dirty look to
Hibari's way, "Liar!"
"What rumors?"
"The one that said you've impregnated her?" When he caught Hayato's
flabbergasted look, Tsuna gave an apologetic smile, "Hibari told me it was
true. It’s my fault for being too trusting. It’s just that, you were acting
weird, Nagi was acting weird. I really thought you two were involved back when
she kept you in her room. The fact that she sipped our meetings makes me think
she was running away from home to get an abortion!"
"How could you think so lowly of me?"
Tsunayoshi sweatdropped. "Not that I blame you, but you've been acting like
that Shamal! You know, glancing at random woman's butt and everything. Plus,
you know the circumstances of your birth...," he refered to the fact that
Reborn and Bianchi had Hayato when they were young, "And mine too".
"... yours?"
"... I was born to a very young father. He was your age when he had me and he
didn't even know it! Twelve years old!! Let’s just say, I don't think it’s the
best age to have a baby,” The brunette laughed.
"Is she... really pregnant though?"
"I dont think so, maybe," Tsunayoshi glanced awkwardly to the row of seat next
to theirs, "I feel silly for believing the rumors and Hibari. I even had
Romaria to track her! How dumb! I was so ready to prevent her from doing the
abortion," he pouted again, "I took Yamamoto to persuade her not to run away.
And I bring a tent-in-a-can with me too! I was so ready to go all spy-like, you
know? I even stole your dad's weapon".
And that was how everything clicked. "So, you never planned to leave the house?
You're not unhappy?"
"Umm, not really?" Tsuna scrunched his nose, "As long as you promise me not to
sleep with a girl soon". The two shared a disgusted look before Tsuna's brown
eyes widened in realization, "Hiee! Your dad is going to kill me. He is going
to know about this, right? Of course he will! I forgot to feed Leon too! Oh,
I'm doomed. He's going to kill me this time".
This whole fiasco was surprisingly so simple. Everyone seemed to have
misunderstood one another. Hayato was following Tsuna because he thought Tsuna
was eloping with Yamamoto. Tsuna was following Nagi because he thought the girl
was running away. Yamamoto went with Tsuna because he thought Tsuna was going
to ask him out. Hibari went because he was forced by Hayato (but then went to
retrieve his tonfa). Nagi stole Hibari’s tonfas because she wanted to save her
owl from a strange man called Dae. "And even if I did make her pregnant,”
Hayato addressed the issue with Nagi, “Why would you risk yourself?"
Tsunayoshi had that determined face again, the one that Hayato had only seen
twice; once when Hayato kidnapped him, and not too long ago after he lied to
Reborn. "I know I'm nothing compared to you and your dad, but for once I just
want to have my own responsibility, you know? When I found out you're in
trouble, I just felt like this is my war, the one I should take care of," he
flushed, "S-someone told me that everybody has their own war, the one where
they should protect their own cause. Mine may not be as cool as yours or
Reborn's, but I feel like protecting something for once, and it felt good," he
smiled, "You have your own war too, right?"
Hayato's eyes then wandered to the people around him. He realized that, yes,
they all have that war. Hibari, for example, was up to challenge his own
father’s power over Namimori. Yamamoto's war was to steal his princess in
distress from an enemy, which, in this case, happened to be stealing Tsuna from
Reborn. So what was Hayato's? What was important to him?
"What is something important?" He asked the brunette, "I dont think I ever had
something like that".
Tsuna looked ahead of them as though thinking hard before his eyes widened in
realization, "Obviously, it’s something that keeps you happy, right?"
“You said your war has something to do with me,” Hayato said instead, "Why do I
make you happy?"
"W-well, technically ," Tsuna gave him a silly grin, "aren’t you... my son,
too?"
Hayato's eyes widened in surprise. It was the first time someone ever addressed
him as their child. Something that keeps me happy, the twelve year old thought.
When he felt the weight on his right shoulder; signaling that Tsuna had dozed
off; a huge burden was lifted from his mind instead. He settled with a decision
and he never felt surer before; so much; that the lack of sleep he was having
the whole week caught up to him inside that very bus.
Yeah, that’s what it is; Hayato glanced at the sleeping brunette beside hm. He
was ready to follow Tsuna to the land of sleep, just to find the beaten hopeful
expression that he often caught on Yamamoto's face when the tall teen glanced
at Tsuna directed at himself by Nagi.
Thinking that it was too weird, Hayato glanced somewhere else. He wondered what
that girl's war was.
===============================================================================
 
"We should prepare something," Hayato started after reaching Hibari's large
room. He was staying at Hibari's house later that day to plan their comeback
against Al, "We have to avenge for the embarrassment. Some elaborate speech.
That Al is so good at speaking, so we better be prepared to-"
Hibari cut him off with a look. The dark haired teen was looking like a true
yakuza in his black yukata while sitting on a grand looking seat and being
tended by Kusakabe Tetsuya.
"This is why," Hibari started. Hayato almost thought the other teen was coming
with something wise, "You herbivores stay at the bottom of the food chain," or
maybe not, "You guys are dumb and clueless. You think you're going to win
with just something. We have to step up our game if we want to win against that
Al person, which is why, herbivore, I have something prepared".
The silver haired teen didn't even have a chance to give a witty remark for
Hibari directed Kusakabe to turn it on. The empty wall facing them then lit up
to reveal a huge monitor with a very familiar scene. "Shit," Hayato muttered,
"You didnt - You bugged Tsuna's room?"
"I did not. I only put the camera inside the doll".
"... Please dont tell me it's the silly squid doll Yamamoto gave Tsuna".
Hibari simply answered with a smug look. Hayato sighed; he hoped Reborn
wouldn't find out.
The doll was placed perfectly at one corner of the room that gave them the best
view of Tsunayoshi's L-shaped bedroom. "I've made sure that Al person will
watch this feed tonight," the skylark sounded so proud, "So I've prepared the
very best scenario".
Hayato wanted to ask the skylark what he meant by that, but was stopped by the
sound from the feed. It was of the door pushed closed in a hurry; then came the
short figure of Sawada Tsunayoshi walking to the room with hasty steps. Reborn
was quickly following not far behind him.
Reborn seemed dangerous. He looked furious.
For the very first time after his stay in R-27, Hayato witnessed a real
confrontation between Tsunayoshi and Reborn inside the younger's bedroom.
Reborn had the boy in his hold already, clearly manhandling the boy while the
latter struggled. “What did you just say?” Hayato heard the hitman asking the
boy in low voice as he tried to keep the boy in a body lock position, “What did
you say to me?”
The boy's tiny voice wavered, "I l-li –"
Before Tsuna could finish his words, Reborn dragged the boy to the wall. He
pushed his knee between the younger’s leg and lifted Tsuna’s body with it until
his legs were lifted from the ground. The boy didn’t seem to have the chance to
consider his position when Reborn locked his neck with one arm. The brunette
let out a choked sound.
"You are breaching a very dangerous territory," the hitman gritted his teeth,
eyes darkened; "So make sure you know what you are saying, boy”.
There was a long pause where Tsunayoshi spent his time struggling with his
breath. Reborn’s choking hold on his neck didn’t help him; although it’s not
lethal, it was enough to add a huge burden to the boy’s air supply. Tsunayoshi
was opening and closing his mouth pitifully like a fish, hands grasping
desperately at Reborn’s arm that was strangling him.
Reborn, however, seemed even calmer as the boy struggled further. The more he
acted calm though, the more dangerous he seemed. “I told you, boy. My world is
far scarier than you think. Can you even repeat your confession after knowing
what I can do to you?” Reborn’s voice was icy; even more so when he was looking
so directly to the brunette’s fearful eyes, “There will be no kisses to save
you, Princess. I won’t be nice to you once you say that”.
For a moment there, you’d think Tsunayoshi would struggle further. But instead,
he stopped struggling and closed his eyes as though giving up. Hayato was
almost convinced that the brunette had lost his consciousness because lack of
air; he was even ready to dash back home to save the brunette from whatever
craze Reborn was in.
However, the next thing he knew, he saw Tsunayoshi putting his two palms on
Reborn’s chest; slowly rubbing the older man’s chest gently. Tsuna licked his
lips and, for once, he seemed like he had gathered himself.
“I’m warning you,” Reborn’s muttered lowly once, “There will be no going back
once you say it, boy”.
Whatever motivation drove Tsunayoshi didn’t seem to waver. Instead, he opened
his eyes and revealed the most subdued gaze. The boy licked his lips once
again, and he whispered something so softly that Hayato couldn’t hear it. But
he could read the movement of those lips so clearly.
It was ‘I like you’.
Just like that, the hitman loosened his strangulating hold on the boy’s neck;
resulting to the boy’s chest moving up and down to catch the needed air. “Try
saying it again,” the hitman said again.
“I l-like -,” the boy continued, but his composure was sent astray because the
hold on his neck tightened yet again. The round brown eyes closed slowly,
looking drunk, then opened again to reveal a helpless gaze. Tsuna’s brows met
in concentration as he gathered his words in the middle of this test the hitman
had given him. But again, he moved his hands on Reborn’s chest slowly; as
though begging the older to give mercy. For someone standing in front of the
most feared hitman in the world, the young boy was trying so hard to maintain
his brave confession, even when he had to expose his most helpless form.
When he said it this time, he sounded more confident, "I l-like you”.
Reborn released his strong hold on the brunette’s neck, and Tsunayoshi’s
respond was to confess once again. “I like you”.
"You don't understand, do you boy," the man let his face hover closer to the
brunette’s, "The things I’ll do to you once you say that”. The hitman squeezed
the boy’s neck again, this time using his own palm rather than his arm.
Tsunayoshi didn’t even close his eyes now. He was ready; and he proudly laid
his vulnerable gaze to the man yet again.
The boy licked his reddened lips, "I-I like you".
Before anything, the older man reached inside the boy's pajama pants to grip
the boy's most delicate core. The younger's body convulsed in silence for he
was not given a tiny opening to defend himself. His brave eyes were scrunched
close and his red lips opened wide in a silent scream. His two hands reached up
to get a hold of the bigger ones gripping his neck and private part, trying to
get a bit of control.
"Do you understand," the manly voice taunted before giving a kiss to the side
of the boy's head, "The kind of man you're dealing with?"
No answer was made; not even a struggle or a move of denial was made. The
younger’s head thumped to the wall behind him once before his eyes opened. Lips
trembled as it formed silent words of, "Like You" to the man.
And that did it.
Reborn let him go, but his one hand quickly captured the boy in an embrace. The
next thing Hayato knew, he could only see Reborn's back and the small hands
fisting desperately onto his shirt. The sound of erratic breaths mixed with a
strange wet slapping noise filled the audio. As seconds went by, Reborn's right
hand moved faster and faster inside the younger pants, strong enough to shook
the smaller's body in the man's hold, and the younger's noises hitched to a
higher note.
Tsuna's desperation ended with a sharp gasp from himself, followed by a series
of groans before he fell back to the wall behind him. Reborn let him go, but
stayed in his stead to watch the mess he had made. The tension, however,
lingered.
"Do you regret it now?" the husky mature voice asked, slowly this time.
The boy opened his eyes. With his swollen red lips, he answered truthfully,
naively,"N-no".
"Do you know what this will bring you? Bring us?"
It took a while for the boy to answer for he needed time to gather his breath,
"Yes".
"Who taught you to be this...," the man put a hand to mess with the boy's head,
moving it right and left. Although it seemed like a rough treatment, there was
something endear behind it; playful even, "stupid?"
"L-luce".
There was a snort coming from Reborn. "Of course," The man then kissed the
younger's forehead so very lovingly in a rare gentleness, "Of course".
The two then gazed to each other's eyes, face closing in intimately before the
two nuzzled each other, Reborn's large hand rubbing the back of the boy's head,
moving it however he wanted. The man then muttered to the soft cheek, "Were you
afraid?"
From behind Reborn's back, Hayato saw the brown head shaking in a silent sob.
It was a nod to Reborn's question, proven by the choked answer that followed
it. "You understand this fear is to be expected, Tsunayoshi," the man took the
younger's hand, squeezing it before he gave it a kiss. The brunette only
nodded, and the sob coming from him got louder and louder.
"Y-yes," the boyish voice mewled in between sobs; but then the boy added in a
very demanding manner, “B-but don’t keep secrets f-from me anymore”. Tsuna was
sounding surprisingly spoiled. It was a tone Hayato never heard from the
independent and domestic teen before.
"You say that," the smirk was obvious from Reborn's voice, "But you cry easily.
Are you sure you're ready to really face me?"
"As long as you're g-gentle at first, it’s fine," the teen muffled his head to
the man's shoulder, "And I won’t lie to you anymore".
They started embracing and nuzzling, but then gets more involved with one
another as they started doing an open mouthed kiss. When the man pushed away
from the kiss, Tsuna settled with kissing his neck, surprisingly very forward.
"You're very... cuddly," the man distractedly, before whispering to the boy's
ears. It seemed like they were sharing a private dirty joke for the brunette
flushed before he answered with a high pitched giggle between kisses, "Mrs.
Sinclair wont mind a ride," then added, "As long as you promise him a drink".
"Wine".
"No. Salmari".
"Romaria alread threw away your stash, Princess, dont start".
After the two got out of the room and out of the feed, Hibari gave a long
whistle. "Is that what you call light porn?" he asked Hayato, but found the
silver haired teen frozen stiff like a statue with his jaw almost falling to
the ground. The skylark then addressed Kusakabe Tetsuya for approval, "That was
gold, right, Tetsuya?"
"Yes, Kyoya-san!" Hayato surprised them with an anguished howl. The silver
haired teen then ran away from the room, probably too shocked to watch his
two parents flirting with each other. After he left the room, Tetsuya addressed
Hibari, "Not to worry, Kyoya-san. The guards around the house will make sure to
catch him”.
"Good," the skylark commented, "Maybe Hibird was mistaken when he heard that
Kozato gramps said that his daughter is pregnant with that fucker's child.
There's no way such a lowly reaction could come from an experienced man, am I
right?"
"Right, Kyoya-san!"
"Oh," Hibari perked from his seat at the sight of Yamamoto Takeshi stepping out
of Tsunayoshi's walk in closet with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, "I almost
forgot about him. Che, if only I knew that omnivore is going to get it tonight,
I wouldn't have to bother setting him up with Yamamoto". Yes, he told Yamamoto
to hide in the brunette's closet.
"But, won’t this spoil your original plan, Kyoya-san?"
"Meh," the skylark snorted, a fist to the side of his cheek while he smirked at
the shocked figure of Yamamoto, "As long as the information valuable enough,
either the omnivore ended up with that shady man in R-27 or Yamamoto, I'll get
my share of profit".
"Yes, Kyoya-san".
Somewhere in the Hibari mansion, Adelhide asked her husband, "Love, what do you
think your son is doing with his friend in his room?" she smiled, "It’s the
first normal friend he ever made".
The man didnt seem interested, "Watching some porn probably". To that, the
woman straighten up in her seat, "Oh, thank God! For once, he does something
normal".
They didnt know how mistaken yet on the spot their guess were.
===============================================================================
 
Early morning the next day, Hayato was kicked awake by Hibari. The skylark told
him to wear something black (which is, obviously, the school's uniform). They
didn't get a chance to eat breakfast nor brush their teeth for it was finally
the day; the day of facing Al.
Hibari led him to breach the Hibari's security to the mountain bikes they
parked right outside of the mansion's lot. They were surprised by the
appearance of Romaria on her white vespa. "Ready when you are, Signore".
The three of them rode to their determined destination; Hibari and Hayato with
their mountain bikes, Romaria with her vespa. They arrived to the empty parking
lot out of Namimori merely in thirty minutes, thanks for Hayato and Hibari's
bicycling prowess. Arguments still happened even minutes before the official
meeting, with Hayato and Hibari fighting over the main negotiator role. "No,
fucker! I'll be the negotiator," Hibari roared, "Can’t you see? You're against
that doctor guy, I'm against that mister, and you," he stared at Romaria long
enough, "You be the one against that butler".
"Who said you can decide that?" Hayato complained.
He was given a deadly glare, "I do".
In the end, when they saw their opponent coming from the other side with
particular formation; Al on the front, Shamal behind him on the right, and the
butler called Maximilian behind him on the left; they followed; Hibari led them
on the front, Hibari on his left so that he could face Shamal, and Romaria on
his right to face the butler. Hayato knew at the time their party didn't seem
reliable. It was raining at the time, and the opposing part had these expensive
looking black umbrellas, while theirs were cheap floral ones that Romaria
prepared from home. He knew, their school uniform was nothing compared to the
other's expensive black suit and their Spanish grandma housekeeper in pink was
nothing compared to that elegant looking butler, but this was his war. He
didn't care how foolish they looked at the time, as long as he can get his
point straight to that man.
Three faced three on the empty parking lot under the heavy rain."The video from
last night decides it for us," Hibari started, "We wont be following your
plan".
"Oh?" Al raised his eyebrow in a mocked understanding, "Just because a young
boy confessed to a grown up man?" He then looked at Hayato, "You. You know
better how manipulative Reborn could be".
It was something Hayato couldn’t deny, but, "It’s not the matter if Tsuna was
manipulated or not, it’s the matter of whom he is happy with".
Al gritted his teeth, "It’s the matter of whom he is better with".
"That's where you're wrong," Hayato said with confidence, "Tsuna is the only
one who can decide that. Not you. And besides, "he smiled, "Tsuna chose me".
"You wont know that".
"Oh, I know," Hayato's smile grew wider, "Because he called me his son".
Al's eyes grew colder to Hayato's way. "Brat! Watch what you're saying, do you
want to be killed?" Shamal called out.
"I dont think he will kill me," Hayato glanced at Al again, "Because your war
is with Reborn, not with me," Al's eyes grew in recognition, "And this is mine,
because Tsuna is a part of the family I have now. He was different to the rest
of us in that house, but losing him would make that house less of a home.
Because of that, I'll do anything to keep that home just the way it is. Al, you
are a good man. If you know my uncle that is, then you'd understand". And he
also had not discover the mystery behind Tsuna's surge of power back when he
kidnapped him. It was what made the brunette interesting to him at first.
There was something in the way Al looked at him that told Hayato he understood
the 'war' he talked about, "And with this, I declare that we wont take part in
your plan," he turned to Shamal, "And Shamal, you can try to kidnap him all you
want, we will do anything to stop you –oof!"
"Stop speaking, I'm the one in charge, herbivore," Hibari grumbled after
punching his side once, "As promised, Mister, the reward for the information I
gave you?"
Al gave a questioning glance, "Reward?"
"Yes, you promised to pay me if I provided you with valuable information,"
Hibari smirked, "It’s the deal".
"The only deal I made is with that Lavina kid," The blonde male raised his
chin, eyes coldly gazing down, "Not you".
Hibari made a step back, with his face casted down. "Oh, well. Then maybe thats
too bad," he muttered slowly, almost as if he was giving up, before he suddenly
hit Hayato's back screaming, "ATTACK!"
In reflect, just as they practiced, Hayato threw some explosion powder, the one
he created, to the space in front of the opposing group. It was then he and
Romaria jumped to the smoke, throwing their umbrellas as they did, and started
attacking their determined targets. Romaria turned to her younger body
counterpart, throwing a bunch of sharp silverware to Maximilian's way.
Maximilian jumped, ready with his own golden table-knives. Meanwhile, Shamal
threw a bunch of poisoned needles, just to be avoided by Hayato. The two knew
each other's move so well because they had spent a long time learning the
other's moves.
In the end, fighters who depended on their long distance weapons tend to have a
limited time to fight for they usually lose their weapons quickly. It was what
happened with Hayato, Romaria, Shamal, and Maximilian. The four fought to the
end of their supply of weapons; Hayato with his explosions, Shamal with his
poisons, Romaria and Maximilian with their tableware. Each of them decided to
step back, watching the other warily until the cloud of smoke resulted by
Hayato's explosions subsided.
It was when the air was clear of anything but the heavy rain that they noticed
another ongoing battle. And it was surprising, because they found a sixteen
year old punk fighting equally with somebody almost twice his age and height.
Hayato gaped at the fight, followed by the other three bystanders.
The fight was not some common brawl; it was high-level high-speed combat!
"That yakuza," Hayato whispered to himself, "... amazing". He was so sure the
skylark was beaten to pulp by Shamal the last time. Then he remembered, Hibari
didn't have his tonfas that time!
The glinting tonfas in Hibari's hold moved around the two fighting men in god-
like speed, yet Al followed the quick moves with equal skill. At one point, one
tonfa flew around Hibari's head, just to come close enough to Al before the
blonde male captured it with his one hand. Then, tonfa clashed with tonfa as
Hibari fought with one, and Al with the other. The skylark gritted his teeth
when the tonfas met between him and Al. "Herbivore," he snapped, "I'll bite
you... TO DEATH!"
The skylark stepped behind, and then dashed back to the taller male. Al seemed
calm, only twirling the tonfa once before he swished just a second before
Hibari hit him. It was such a counterattack that Hibari's figure flew quite a
distance to the spot where Romaria and Hayato stood. He hit the ground so hard,
and his two tonfas followed him with clanking sound. Hayato ran to him. He
noticed that Al approached the skylark too.
"Not bad," Al muttered to the skylark's lying form, "Too bad your emotion got
the better of you. I'll consider fighting you again in ten years". He smirked
before turning around to leave them.
Hayato crouched down near Hibari, watching till the three people they fought
were gone for good. "Dude, you okay?" he asked the yakuza, "We lost for now,
but we've made our point clear".
"Who said we lost?" Hibari's face was half closed by his wet bangs, but his
smirk was quite visible. He took something from behind his school jacket,
showing him a metal handcuff, "With this, I declare myself the winner".
"What is this?" Hayato observed the handcuff. It had scratches here and there,
"It doesn't seem valuable".
Hibari sat up from his lying position, "Cant you see this is made from rare
metal? And seeing from the scratches, this is valuable to that mister," he
smirked, "Found it inside his coat pocket when I got close enough to the
mister. You know what this means, fucker?"
"This expensive," Romaria added from behind him. She just came with both of
Hibari's tonfas, "Billion dollars". Hayato's eyebrows met in confusion. A tall
male with platinum blonde hair, cold attitude, and a pair of expensive
handcuff? The description felt familiar enough that another voice started to
play in his mind.
"Hayato, I've found a lot of buddies and we all become the Primo's
guardian. There is Giotto, who is overly-nice with this unruly blonde hair and
weird golden eyes, who is the current Vongola Primo, a Japanese guy named
Ugetsu, a spoiled kid of some huge power corporation Lampo, that boxing
champion who just turned to religion, Knuckle...".
And the other two were the intimidating Alaude, whose description fitted Al,
and Daemon Spade, whose description fitted that strange man they met near the
hiking trail. Hayato stuttered, "W-we just went against the Cloud guardian?"
"No, moron," Hibari had the gal to hit his head, "We're rich, that's what it
means".
Hayato didn't realy listen to him, because next, his mind reeled. He was
reminded by how familiar the photo Al showed him last time. It was because the
whole people in that photo were a part of the Primo's guardian. And if
Tsunayoshi was there among them, right next to the smiling blonde haired golden
eyes male, could he be...
"... I was born to a very young father. He was your age when he had me"
And Primo was only 27. Is it possible..., that Tsunayoshi was Primo's child?
Then, he should be...
Hayato was reminded yet again by the weird explosion coming from Tsunayoshi at
the time he was kidnapped by Hayato. Such explosion... was too similar to the
legendary Flame, a signature power owned by The Vongola's Top Ten. There was no
other explanation.
Sawada Tsunayoshi has to be the owner of the empty spot in the Top Ten!
The Decimo!
"I AM RICH!" Hibari screamed to the stormy sky, kicking the rain in glee, "Of
course that means only me, fucker, because I am the only one who contributed to
this victory. So, this reward is mine," he told Hayato with usual snobbish
attitude.
Hayato turned his head slowly, eyes still wide under his wet silver strands,
"I-I sent Shamal's trident mosquitos to follow them". Hibari didn’t seem to
care, nor did Hayato. Because it didn't matter if he wouldn't be lucky enough
to be accepted by anybody from the Vongola Primo line of followers, he also
didn't care being labeled a traitor by his own uncle. For all he knew, he was
called a son by the Vongola Decimo!
"Fucke -?"
"WAAAAAAARGHH!" Hayato roared to the sky, ecstatic, VICTORIOUS!
Hibari was stunned for a second, but soon laughed at his so called fucker of a
friend. The two started screaming and kicking under the rain, sometimes
thumping their chest like the punk they truly were. Gone was the mature and
strong front as they came back to their young self, witnessed by Romaria who
had just returned to her older and fatter body.
"WE WON! WE WON!"
===============================================================================
 
It was unbelievable how things happened, and the world should have known, but
they ended up not knowing. Two hours later, both Hibari and Hayato sat at the
Sawada's dining table, preparing for another day to tend their booth for the
festival. Hayato was making weird faces at his plate of quiche. If it was this
bad, then Romaria had to be the one preparing this shit and the brunette who
normally cooks was unavailable. He was only reminded by this fact when Reborn
appeared, inflicting certain responses from the boys; Hibari tried to act
normal, but he stopped munching his food and was watching the man from the
corner of his eyes; the always smiling Yamamoto showed the most hateful glare
to the man, and his face got paler as the man got closer; Hayato almost choked,
but only because it was always awkward after you caught your parent doing it or
implied they were doing it. It was more awkward when Tsuna made his appearance
– in Reborn's black silk nightshirt, not that the brunette realized the damage
he caused by wearing that shirt.
Yamamoto was rubbing his face, looking more tired and depressed by the minute.
His war against Reborn was still ongoing, seeing from the heated glare he sent
the older man. For now, the only one who had settled their score were only
Hibari, Hayato, and maybe Tsunayoshi; each against Al, Shamal, and Reborn. They
have won their first war, and are going for another victory.
Nagi was another thing. She arrived to the house with a whole new appearance,
even insisting to be called Chrome instead of her real name. She had been
flushing while stealing glances at Hayato. If that was a part of a girl's war,
Hayato had no idea. He concluded that maybe girls have no such a war; they are
just too unpredictable.
Hayato wondered what Reborn's war was. That man has a class of his own. The
Cloud Guardian could possibly be his equal, but their war was delayed for now.
A cup of coffee snapped Hayato out of his thought. When he looked up, Hayato
found Reborn next to him with the cup. The hitman bent his head closer to the
teen before muttering, "It’s not bad, but next time, try using the gun".
Hayato flinched. Dang it, he knew. Of course, because he knows everything!
Romaria wouldn't be there unless Reborn told her to. "I-I –"
"As I said, it’s not bad," a pat to his back, "But tell your friend to stop
messing with my property next time". A meaningful look was given to Yamamoto
before the man left to get the phone. Hibari instantly made a point.
"Let’s name our booth Okonomiyaki Boyz," The skylark said, "The Z is to add the
young cool factor".
"What young cool factor. That’s lame," Hayato protested, instantly forgetting
Reborn's threat slash compliment, "And we have a girl in our crew".
"It’s Okonomiyaki Boyz," Hibari said, his eyes saying it was final, "Get it?"
"I dont think it’s a bad name," Tsuna chirped, "Right Hayato?"
"Right, Ts-Tsu... – Sh – shj," he stuttered, the brunette only cocked his head
in confusion, "Shju – J-jyuudaime". There, he said it. There was a moment of
silence after he said that. The one knowing the meaning behind that name, said
in Japanese, was probably Hibari. Most people in Namimori may be half Japanese,
but they didn't understand the Japanese language.
"Maa, dont you think it will be embarrassing to say that we all used to be in a
group named Okonomiyaki Boyz?" Yamamoto added, "You know, when we share our
future".
Hibari snorted, "Che, it’s not like I'll be sharing my future with any of you
lot".
Unknown to them, years later, when people know them of something greater than
what they were, they will have to tell a story how it all started. And all
comes back to that moment when they sat around the dining table of R-27, known
as nothing but The Okonomiyaki Boyz. Of course, at the time, they thought they
had only achieved something so small; selling okonomiyaki, talking back to a
cloud guardian, knocking down the mist guardian, and stole a valuable weapon
from the Vongola.
Who would've thought that somewhere else around that very same time, the
trident mosquitoes young Gokudera Hayato sent to the cloud guardian's way
succeeded on sending the cloud guardian, along with the perverted doctor and
the butler, to panic inside Al's car; sending the car to an uncontrollable
screech on the road by the pine tree forest outside of Namimori. In the middle
of that fiasco, they almost hit lonely Daemon Spade who was lost around the
forest.
Not only were these boys annoying, but they also created serious trouble for
the Vongola's guardians. Not that they knew, of course, as the only information
they received was from Reborn when the man told them by the dining table,
"Shamal got into an accident with his two partners around the pine tree forest.
Almost hit some hobo".
"What? Is he okay?" Tsuna screeched. Beside him, both Hibari and Hayato shared
a look, muttering, "They deserve it".
===============================================================================
 
Tbc.
===============================================================================
 
                                Ten years later
===============================================================================
 
"You guys are now notorious figures in the mafias," said one young Mafiosi,
"What started this group?"
"That’s a long time ago," Yamamoto laughed goodnaturedly, "Back then we were
known as Okonomiyaki Boyz".
"Okona Boys?"
"No, Okonomiyaki Boyz," Yamamoto repeated, "You know, the Japanese street food
and the boys use a Z. Okonomiyaki Boyz".
"..."
"Hibari created the name".
"The omnivore agreed to it"
"Don’t spout some lies about Jyuudaime!"
"... It’s kind of the truth, Hayato".
 
Chapter End Notes
     I think it is important to notify that I've posted this chapter in ff
     net a long time ago. I posted it in AO3 just now because I want to
     make sure that I only post the revision of the chapters here. Now, in
     my experience from posting this chapter in ff net, I realize that a
     lot of people protested for Hibari's oocness. Now, I'm a fan of canon
     Hibari and I know a lot of you are too. Problem is, while I admit
     there Hibari here is OOC and some of you might not like it, I still
     prefer to keep him this way.
     I thought of editing his character, of course. After reading though,
     I noted that we haven't given him enough credit. My complete reason
     for not editing him are:
     1. You have to consider the fact that, compared to Hayato or Romaria
     who actually have a mafia or criminal background; Hibari was just a
     teen in a sleepy suburb who was pressured to carry on his Father's
     position as the head of a yakuza family one day. Thus, he can't be as
     cool and composed when faced with some situations.
     2. I know a lot of his dialogue seemed so childish and foolish. But
     I'll say this once; his character is my wild card. You'd think he is
     making a fool of himself, but one day I'll surprise you with his
     character. His foolishness is there for a good reason.
     3. He is smart. He tricked Alaude to steal the handcuff and he even
     tricked a lot of people to get what he wanted.
     4. A lot of you might feel bummed by the fact I made him seem weak
     and childish in this chapter, but that is important to present the
     growth of his character once this whole story is completed. I like
     the typical 'zero to hero' plot, where a seeming weak person surprise
     everyone with their hidden power. Now, Hibari is one of my weapon in
     this area.
     5. Just saying, if you care so much about why he is so ooc by asking
     for money; read Hibari's dialogue once again and try to guess why he
     needs those money. That will lead you to my future plan regarding
     Hibari's main strength. Hibari's money will play a huge role in the
     story's ending.
***** RENATO SINCLAIR'S LAST LIE *****
Chapter Notes
     1. This is the last chapter of Renato Sinclair's Arc. There will be
     an interlude posted after this chapter to give you more insight
     before you read Mystery Tsunayoshi: Tsunayoshi's Arc (which you can
     find as the second part of the series called Mystery of Tsunayoshi.
     Check the link at the end of this story)
 
"You know, I thought the circumstances would be different," Dino said before
taking a long drag, "After finding you that is".
His old mentor, the one who could inflict fear on anybody just by the mention
of his name, was acting surprisingly casual. Reborn was dressing in V neck
shirt and a pair of jeans, complete with an expensive watch and a pair of
reading glasses. The lack of his black suit created a weird sensation on Dino,
possibly because he wasn't used to this relaxed Reborn. "And do tell me your
expectation," Reborn asked with a flick of his elegant-shaped eyebrows.
You in the middle of a massacre, Dino thought, but answered, "A cruise with a
hundred of beautiful virgins? Clearly I don't expect finding you in the middle
of this sleepy neighborhood. Especially at a house with this white umbrella on
their backyard," Dino glanced at the umbrella they were sitting under but then
pointed his chin at a grand looking palm tree not far from them, "But that kind
of fits you. Must be expensive".
To that, Reborn smirked widely, although Dino was sure something creepy was on
the making behind that smile. There was no way somebody, or something, like
Reborn could stop at such a peaceful suburbia, especially the ones that has the
sound of children's laughter and chirping yellow birds in the background. The
smiling gardener and the adorable looking cat playing around their feet almost
hypnotized Dino, until he realized there was something wrong with this serene
and relaxed atmosphere. It was too good to be true to have his one and only
hitman mentor be this docile.
"You know, a lot of people avoid me because they don't want to say anything
about your whereabouts. They are so confident you'd kill anyone for finding
you," Dino continued, "They even told me you won’t hesitate to shoot Colonello.
Don't you think that's insane?"
Reborn gave a ridiculed snort, "Why would I shoot that dick? A waste of bullets
in my opinion". To that Dino gave an attractive shrug as if saying, "I know
right?"
A long and peaceful silence then overcame them, as Reborn enjoyed his e-cigar
and Dino watched the man with something akin to longing. "Reborn, please tell
me you're planning something," Dino said, "This kind of life is a waste.
This neighborhood is a waste".
Reborn blew a puff of smoke, "Who knows?" he said, "You might find something
interesting in the most unexpected places". To that, Dino could only gaze in
disbelief. He couldn't imagine what made the once renowned hitman change so
much. "So it’s true you wont be accepting any jobs right now?" Dino asked
again, "Even my offer?"
...
"No".
The young man tch-ed. Somewhere inside, he was very disappointed, unknown if it
was because the man he respected so much has changed, or if it was because of
the decline. All he knew, Reborn once taught him never to act desperate, never
to beg. So he shut himself and enjoyed the silent afternoon a mafiosi rarely
experience.
===============================================================================
 
The next day, Dino decided to stick around Namimori for a while longer just to
be able to convince the hitman. Not only that, Reborn's new lifestyle just
bothered him so much. Dino couldn't leave it alone at that, thinking that he
could discover something, or anything, that could makes sense from the whole
retirement fiasco.
He was enjoying the stage performance for the local festival's closing event
when he was suddenly attacked by a group of young thugs, all dressed in their
school uniforms and sported matching 70's rock and roll hairstyle. The young
Cavallone was sent to unconsciousness with a hit on the head. When he came to,
he found his vision to be very blurry. He also noted how he was slumped on a
shiny wooden floor, and there were two rows of people dressed in black
surrounding him. Dino couldn't see any of their faces thanks to the blurriness,
but the hushed voices were clear to his ears. These guys knew Dino was awake.
"Kyoya-san!" said one person. From the sound of it, he was the one who led
Dino's attackers earlier, "We're sure this is the guy were looking for! He was
the one talking with Sawada Iemitsu yesterday!"
Shit. So someone heard his and Reborn's discussion. It would be a problem if
the information reached the wrong people. Dino wasn't sure who had him in their
capture now, but he sure hoped it wasn't anyone from the mafia. These people
were young though, Dino remembered the ones who attacked him were a group of
delinquents; some brats!
A dark figure, standing at the other end of the room, stood up from his sitting
position. He walked slowly, closer to where Dino laid. At first, Dino thought
flowing and wide dark shadows looked like that of a ghost. It was when the dark
figure stopped close enough to Dino that the mafiosi realized the flowing and
dark shadows came from a black yukata.
This person could be something else akin to a mafia. He was the yakuza.
A kick on the stomach struck Dino, and his vision instantly became clearer. He
watched the traditional Japanese room with wide eyes, looking at the faces of
young yakuzas, probably all teenagers, who were standing around him. The one
dressing in yukata, who just kicked him, was surprisingly a teenager himself.
He was very exotic looking, but in no way was he delicate nor friendly. In
fact, his slanted eyes gleamed with hidden blood-lust and his smaller stature
burned with an air of power and control.
"Oi," said the teen in yukata. His bare foot was laid on top of Dino's stomach,
"You're offering money for anyone who could find Sawada Tsunayoshi, right?"
Dino laughed in the middle of his demise, "What are you talking about? I don't
know any Sawada Tsunayoshi".
The young yakuza smirked, "A little bird told me".
"If you heard anything, me and my buddy were just reenacting something from a
TV dram – yeOUCH!" another kick on the stomach, "OKAY OKAY! I admit, it wasn't
money, but cars and women – ARGGGHH – STOP KICKING ME!"
The young yakuza grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling Dino's face closer to
his own, "You better not lie to me, herbivore," he hissed, "Tell me how much
you're offering for the omnivore!"
It’s not like Dino understood the meaning behind the yakuza's vague words.
Herbivore? Omnivore? He was sure the teen was going to beat him again, until
another teen, the one with the strange hairstyle, reminded, "Kyoya-san! He is
Dino from The Cavallone. If we beat him too much, it could get us into
trouble".
"I don't care," the yakuza growled, slamming Dino's head to the ground before
he stood to face his followers. Dino could only groan in pain, before looking
up to the proud teen in yukata. "I don't care if he was from Vongola,
Cavallone, or any of those. Nothing is more powerful than my Namimori," the
teen made sure he addressed everybody in the room, then pointed a cold look to
Dino, "Nothing".
There was a hum of agreement, and somehow Dino get the vibe of a very cliche
moment there; the moment where a hero is born or something similar. He really
hoped he could get out from this situation soon.
Like a miracle, a knock from behind the Japanese sliding door at the corner of
the room came to answer Dino's desperate wish. "Kyoya-san! Kyoya-san!" called
the knocker, sounding very much panicked. Two punks approached the door to open
it, and another punk came to sight with bruises all over his face. He was half
crawling, half dragging himself, but tried his best to look at everyone inside
the room, "K-kyoya-san".
There was a gasp from one of the punks inside the room before he exclaim
dramatically, "Who dared!?" It was answered with a loud thunder outside,
followed by a heavy rain, "WHO!?"
"S-she," the weak punk from the door lifted a shaky finger to point at Dino,
"w-want that g-guy", then he fell to a dramatic collapse.
"W-who dared to challenge Kyoya-san!?" one of the punks shouted to the whole
room, which everybody responded with suspicious and tense mutterings. Dino
hoped somebody was coming to rescue him; anyone is fine as long as he could get
out. Meanwhile, the punks had been discussing messily, before their leader,
this Kyoya-san who was wearing the yukata, raised his hand to calm his
underlings.
A warning sign was raised. Everybody in the room became silent and turned their
heads to follow Kyoya's gaze to the door, where a shadow was standing behind
their unconscious comrade. The shadow loomed over them when another thunder
strikes. A certain eeriness hit Dino as he gulped, wondering who his savior
was. That was, until the figure stepped into the room and they found the person
behind that shadow to be...
... a woman; a very old-fashioned Spanish granny dressed in a pink frilly
housekeeper uniform.
"Excuse me," said the woman with heavy accent.
Surprisingly, nobody in the room was brave enough to say anything against the
woman. Kyoya approached the woman calmly, stepping over Dino as he did so (in
which Dino gave a pitiful groan). One of the punk was worried enough to almost
stop his leader, but the teen in yukata only raised his hand again to silence
his followers.
"What do you want?" Kyoya asked the woman after a long silence.
The woman stole a short look at Dino with her half-lidded wrinkly eyes, "I pick
up guy". She then threw a brown envelope to the floor, "I offer money".
One of the punks picked the envelope and stood behind Kyoya to open it. There
was money inside. "Clear, Kyoya-san! The envelope has 500 bucks!"
Kyoya tch-ed, but didn't seem to be against it, "Fine, you have your way for
now, woman". He turned around and walked away from Dino's savior, stepping over
Dino's stomach again (in which Dino groaned, for the millionth time that day)
to reach his seat at the furthest corner of the room. The woman then dragged
Dino by the hand and left the room. Strangely enough, the rain stopped on their
way out to a traditional Japanese garden. It was as if the rainy storm never
happened.
The woman dragged him all the way to the white Vespa waiting outside the walls
surrounding the grand Japanese mansion. She put the already weak Dino inside a
big plastic box truck connected to her vehicle. By the sight of those cute
yellow birds around the place, Dino realized he was still in Namimori all
along.
===============================================================================
 
"Fuck!" a flashy silver haired teen cursed near the door when they arrived at
Reborn's place. The teen almost dropped his cup of ice cream when he threw an
accusing glare to the woman's way, "Romaria, what did you do now!?"
Half conscious Dino was dragged inside the modern house carelessly by the
woman, "This Signore's disciple".
"Disciple you say?" the silver haired teen peeked at Dino. His green eyes were
wide, "Then why didn't you say so earlier!? Quick, bring him in! Bring him in!"
And that was how Dino ended in clean clothes (Reborn's, possibly) and fresh
bandages around his body. Reborn was at work, he was told, but Dino was
welcomed for a cup of coffee. He was in the middle of fascination over the band
aid on his arm. It has that cartoon design his brother liked so much.
"Then what happened after Reborn shot your uncle, Dino?" Hayato asked across
from Dino on the dining table. It was almost cute how he was excited to hear
more. It reminded Dino of his brother..., again.
"Oh, he wasnt being nice or humble about it," Dino answered, equally immersed
with the storytelling, "I was only fourteen, but he asked me to kill his uncle
as compensation! Don't you think that's crazy?"
Hayato's jaw dropped, "So what did you do?"
Dino shrugged, but smiled proudly, "I killed him. Reborn never expect less from
the people around him".
Hayato gasped; eyes wide in amazement. He turned to the housekeeper who was
tagging along with a can of cheap assorted cookies on her lap. "That sounds
just like him, right, Romaria?" Asked Hayato. The housekeeper nodded silently.
"But that was awesome; you both killed each other's uncles – It was like – shit
– like a stamp of your brotherhood or something!" Hayato continued, "It’s so...
cool".
"I think so, yeah," Dino laughed, "Reborn taught me a lot. You know, the day I
rebelled against the Cavallone's elders, they asked Reborn to set me straight.
They didn't even know that guy was the one who convinced me to do all those
rebellious stuff in the first place! It was so dumb and funny!" He found the
old time to be entertaining himself, "I don't think Reborn admits it. He
insults me all the time, but he flaunted me over to his closest associates. He
even flaunted me to Giotto of The Vongola, you've heard of him right?" Nods,
"They laughed at me at the time because I was such a joke of a student! That
was kind of true, but you see I'm the Cavallone's Decimo now".
"So yeah, maybe I do share a special relationship with Reborn, although, as I
said, he won’t admit it," Dino concluded.
Hayato wow-ed. Romaria was watching him with a blank face, but something in her
eyes glinted in awe. "That Reborn. He is extreme thorough and thorough. To be
able to be close to him is such an honor," Hayato muttered in a daze, "I mean,
even living in his house, sometimes I experience something crazy too. Random
stuff missing, some weird occurrences. This morning for example, I lost my 500
bucks. Put it neatly inside a brown envelope under my pillow, but it was gone!
I bet that was Reborn," the teen then turned to the housekeeper again, "Right,
Romaria?"
"Sii".
"Right? Right?" Hayato smiled.
"Indeed," Dino took his cup of coffee, but frowned to find the Mickey Mouse
shaped cup; half of it from the irony of finding this type of cup inside the
greatest hitman's lair; and half because the cup reminded him of someone. He
had this kind of cup too, Dino thought to himself, a memento from his trip to
Disneyland with the Storm Guardian. The blond smiled sadly before sipping his
coffee, finding it tragic how the reminder of Reborn's new life is also a
reminder of how the only person who could help Dino find his brother won’t be
able to do so.
Though, he was surprised the kid living with Reborn would have this kind of
cup. Hayato seemed like a cool kid. Dino thought he was the kind of kid who
would act too mature for his age and who would prefer cool stuff rather than
something childish. Kids are kids afterall, Dino guessed, no matter how mature
they tried to act; they were still so young deep inside.
To distract himself from his inner rambles, Dino took some grilled peanuts from
the glass bowl served on top of the table meanwhile continuing his stories,
"But associating with him could pressu – fuck," he paused. The brown orbs then
went to the glass bowl in front of him, "these peanuts are awesome!"
Hayato perked, "Oh, that? Yeah, they were actually some leftovers from the
party my class threw yesterday for our teacher's birthday".
"Really?" Dino took another grasp full of peanuts, "Kids these days celebrate
their teacher's birthday?"
"Yeah. Mr. Shitface Mochida is popular with the students, that’s all".
"Oh wow, even I never celebrated Reborn's birthday. But now that you mentioned
it," Dino took a peek on his watch, looking for the date, "Isn’t his birthday
two days from now?"
"Yeah!" Hayato almost jumped from his seat, "We're planning to have some of our
neighbors for a barbecue party here. It’s going to be great, you totally should
come," the teen grinned, "I'll be playing the piano too. I'm quite good at it".
Brows meeting in confusion, Dino was wondering how that aloof Reborn would
agree to a birthday celebration. A low brow barbecue party at that, with
the neighbors. "Nah," Dino declined with a good-natured smile, "Actually, I
didn't pay a visit to socialize. I was here to ask Reborn for a favor. But he
declined".
"Oh, really?" the silver haired teen frowned, followed by a glance from
Romaria's wrinkly blank face as the woman took the dirty dishes to the kitchen
area. "What favor? Maybe we can help you persuade Reborn," Hayato offered.
Dino hesitated, but relented none the less. He scratched the back of his neck
as he started, "It’s some family problem. And Colonello, my contractor, is
occupied with the rest of the Cavallone's stuff. It’s been awhile since I talk
to any family members because I was desperate to look for help. If I consulted
Colonello, I'm sure he would tell my father about it and he would throw a
fuss”. A voice similar to Reborn was calling him a 'loser' inside his mind,
which made Dino sweat-drop a little, "Still, some bastard is messing with my
family. And what’s worse about it is the fact that no one is able to find him
and make him pay for it until today".
"Somebody brave enough to mess with Cavallone? That sounds crazy," Hayato
sympathized.
Dino shook his head in that 'I know right' manner and put his Mickey Mouse cup
on the table with a loud thunk. "Not only Cavallone," he hissed, "He is messing
with The Vongola".
Hayato's brows lifted higher, if possible, before he glanced quickly to Romaria
and back. Dino continued after throwing his body to the back of his chair.
"Some asshole named Raynad or Raymond, I don't really remember, kidnapped my
brother!" he started, "And you know whats bad enough? My brother is the Primo's
son! Could you believe how stupid this guy is? The Vongola was even kind enough
to marry him off to my brother on a private yacht. That had to be the most
expensive experience he ever had. I bet he is some cheap thug or something who
was stupid enough to challenge Vongola," he tch-ed, "What’s bad enough, The
Vongola haven't found him yet. I'm afraid he was out of the country or
something. Now you could only imagine what he would do to my brother?"
A sudden gloominess came over him. Dino looked down, finding the weird looking
cat rubbing himself on Dino's leg while looking up with his round eyes. That
blue bandana on the cat's head looked so funny. It was something his brother
would do if he owned a cat for sure. "My brother is a good kid! That guy dared
to touch him! I swear when I found him I will... I will...," Dino growled and
hit the tabletop with such a force that his coffee spilled over, "SHIT!"
It was then that he noted the look of horror on Hayato's face and the
unblinking gaze on the housekeeper's. Hayato, especially, had his jaw slack.
Dino sighed, "Sorry, this is emotional for me. But I'm glad you understand.
Yes, this is such a tragedy that we all should be shell-shocked about," Dino
held down a sob, "He is so young, you see? And he was married off to some
cradle-robber the Vongola trusted so much, only to be betrayed".
Dino quickly took some tissue from the tissue box in the middle of the table.
He lost his composure there. "If you can help me, just tell Reborn I'll do
anything," he continued, "I can buy him anything, I will even offer him a lot
of women –"
"Can’t!"
Dino stopped, and slowly turned to the strangely jittery Hayato, "Excuse me?"
"Reborn is married," Hayato added quickly, nervously, "So he can’t receive
any... women as uh... gift or offering. His wife is a very jealous person".
Dino was flabbergasted. In the middle of wiping his almost tears and his
flushed face, he shook his head disbelievingly. "Married?" he muttered to no
one ridiculously, "That Reborn? Seriously?" He glanced somewhere else and laugh
in irony, "Wow, he is really serious with this whole retirement crap. Then tell
him I'm offering some cars, will you? I can buy him that Bill Gates car. Reborn
likes that car so much".
"Can’t!"
Dino lifted an eyebrow at Hayato, in which the teen quickly jumped to another
explanation.
"Reborn isn’t allowed to have anymore cars, unless the one he has currently is
broken," Hayato said, as quick and as nervous as before.
"The fuck," Dino squinted, head low to the table as though suspicious, "Do you
know he has a collection of classic cars somewhere? He has like tons of them.
In your garage, I only saw two cheap cars. And he has been envying Bill Gate's
car since forever".
"Exactly the point why he is not allowed to have more cars," the silver haired
teen then added, "The wife's rule".
Dino sat back slowly, head shaking while he put on a weird disgusted face. He
almost believed that this kid wanted to help him before. "You know what, I'm
sick of this retirement bull-crap. It’s sickening how he can’t even do shit
now. This new life is lame, you guys are lame," then he concluded, "This new
wife he has is lame".
It was at that exact second that their stances changed. Dino gave in to his
reflect. The next thing he knew, he had his own hand pointing a gun he had been
hiding under his clothes all the time to Hayato's head, while Romaria had a
silver table knive (not your everyday normal table knife, Dino noted) pointed
to Dino's neck and Hayato had his hands on some kind of explosion. Dino
smirked, "Woah, woah, what is this? I know I just got a beating from bullies,
but I understand when to get serious around the right people," he glanced at
Romaria, "We're not reverting to violence, are we?"
Nobody answered for a second as the tensions seeped in. "Take back what you
said," the silver haired teen growled, "Take back what you said on his wife!"
"Pfft, Reborn's new normal life isn't as neat after all," Dino mocked, and he
could feel the real stallion inside kicking, "And no, brat, I'm the disciple,
you shouldn't challenge me".
He knew then, the arrogance he behaved with had been the growing black seed
Reborn planted in him; the one responsible for everything bad that was Dino. It
could be dangerous, even crazy. But, while being the one to blame for Dino's
every misdeed, Reborn was also the one who taught him the art of keeping the
messy stuff under a neat tight package. Because Reborn, while being the devil
himself, was also the expert of everything beautiful.
And that was how Dino could keep his calm. Dino took back his gun before
standing up, "I know my limit. This is his property; I wouldn't dare challenge
him by killing the both of you".
That man left too many dark footsteps on this Earth. One of his largest
footsteps has been Dino himself. He was possibly Reborn's greatest creation, or
probably his biggest mistake (nobody was sure what to call it). After all he
had done, it was too irresponsible for that man to walk away now.
"My last note, your housekeeper stole your 500 bucks from you. And she used it
to save me," Dino told the two before finally leaving. A fucking wife, Dino
snorted on his way out of the house, what kind of shit are you up to this time,
Reborn?
===============================================================================
 
On the next day, Dino spent his afternoon on Namimori's Park watching two kids
playing baseball from a bench not far from the field. He had been going back
and forth between the park and Reborn's home. It seemed like he wasn't welcomed
at that house anymore as he found no one answering the door. Dino sighed and
looked up to the blushing sky.
Along with Reborn's birthday, they were also approaching Tsuna's birthday. In
fact, the brunette's birthday was exactly the day after. The fact was, Dino
vowed to himself to find the boy before his birthday so that Dino can pay for
the birthday he missed last year. Tsuna's birthday had always been a silent
occasion. He was kept as a secret behind The Vongola's Manor walls. Dino
remembered how lonely the teen was, possibly because he only had a limited
number of friends. That was why birthdays were something the teen had always
looked forward to. It was the only time he could have all his friends gathered
around him.
Even then, the number of people coming to the birthday was never that many.
Dino was sad to admit that he was absent on his brother's latest birthday. He
was out to attend a family event at the time. The family event was not so
urgent; in fact Dino could have skipped it. Yet, he didn’t. How stupid he was
to miss that particular birthday because his brother was taken away not long
after that. Dino couldn't stop from blaming himself for his brother's
disappearance. If anything happened that could lead to the brunette's
kidnapping, it had to be something he could fix if he attended the birthday
party. Something must have happened in that birthday party, Dino was sure of
it.
Dino's forehead furrowed in the middle of his thinking. He was in the middle of
building his determination when a voice called out to him.
"A problem?"
Dino flinched and turned his head to a random teen sitting not far beside him.
The teen was tall and handsome; the type who would be popular in school.
"Yeah," Dino answered awkwardly, but tried to give a friendly smile
"Haa," the teen responded, "I come here every time I have something in my mind
too".
"Problem?"
"Yup"
"Let me guess," Dino entertained the idea of talking to this kid somehow, "Love
problem".
"Maa, you got me there. Am I that easy to read?" the teen grinned. Dino
couldn't help but think how all teenagers have the same issue. The tall teen
then looked to the ground, sighing, "Actually, I lost my crush to someone".
"Oh wow," Dino faked his sympathy, "That's tough".
"Not just that, I lost my life," the teen smiled before pointing to the
children playing on the field. When Dino gave him a questioning look, the teen
explained, "I lost baseball not too long ago".
"You play baseball?"
"Yeah," he answered, "I was very good at it, but I got this arm injury from a
game. They told me I won’t be able to play for a long time," another sigh, "At
that time, I think I lost myself. I believe I was technically dead."
Dino hummed, "Is that why you visit this place?" The teen turned to Dino with a
confused expression. "You know, to watch people play baseball," Dino added,
"It’s probably to heal your loss".
The teen then looked at the children in the middle of the field, "You know
what? Maybe you're right. Maybe I visit this place to see baseball," he laughed
good-naturedly, "But actually, I was over it quickly, thanks to that crush of
mine".
"She helped you?"
"Actually, it’s a he," the teen threw a victory sign to Dino, which Dino only
nodded to say he doesn't mind, "At the time, I was depressed and suicidal, but
he helped me. He regained my spirit and...," the teen showed a faraway look,
"He helped me to see things beyond just baseball. Every time I'm with him, I
believe there is something out there for me; that I am meant to do more".
Somehow, Dino could relate to that feeling. It was a feeling he got from
interacting with both Reborn and his brother. "But he is close to this
dangerous person, a very bad person. I know he can’t tell, but I can. That man
is... very bad," the teen continued, "And the nature of their relationship is
even worse. I...," he gulped, "Really want to save him just like how he saved
me from my suicidal tendencies, but I think I'm not strong enough. Every time I
caught the sight of that man, I always felt this helpless, weak feeling. It’s
like I'm powerless."
And that reminded Dino of his situation with Tsuna's kidnapper. A powerless and
helpless feeling.
"What’s wrong?" the teen asked.
"Huh?"
"You looked like you have a very bad stomachache".
"Oh, no," Dino responded, "It’s just that, what you said reminds me of my
problem".
"Really? Tell me about it".
"Nah, it’s complicated," Dino smiled. It’s not like he can share his problem to
a kid.
"Try me!" the teen insisted, "I'm willing to listen!"
Dino watched the determined and confident expression on the teen's face; then
relented to the idea. He licked his lips, trying to find a way to tell his
story, "I lost two people important to me, my brothers."
"Two?" the teen showed him the V sign again, although this time with a confused
face, "That's like how I lost two stuff at the same time too".
"Yeah, a coincidence, right?" Dino laughed. The laughter died down fast,
however, as he came to continue his story, "They were actually two different
people, but both are precious to me. The first one is a kid, a very good kid.
Too childish for his age but that was because he had special circumstances in
his childhood. And for the second one...," Dino hesitated, "He is probably the
craziest person I've ever met".
"Crazy as in mad?"
"Oh, no no! He is far from mad. Actually he is very calm," Dino answered, "He
is just... the type you shouldn't mess with".
"Aaah, I see, I know that type," the teen responded.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, the guy my crush is currently with," the teen said, "He is that kinda
guy too".
It was funny how this kid compared Reborn to some random punk. "I think your
crush should have chosen someone as nice as you rather than some mean guy,"
Dino added. The teen scratched his head as if embarrassed.
"Well, then how did you lose them, if you don't mind me asking?" the teen asked
again, "Are you here to look for them, you don't seem like someone from around
here".
"Oh," Dino noted how different they looked. Most people here, Dino noted, were
of Asian decent. Dino himself was a blonde Caucasian, "I can’t tell you what
happened to the first brother, but you probably know the second one. He lives
here".
"Oh yeah?"
Dino nodded, "Yeah, he lives in that house on R-27. Sawada Iemitsu, ever
heard?" Dino still found it awkward that Reborn chose the CEDEF leader's name
of all people, "He used to be very different before coming here. He changed".
It was strange, but suddenly the teen's face turned dark as if foreshadowed by
a certain emotion. Dino was certain it was a negative emotion. It was probably
anger? Pressure? Sadness?
"N-not like I was saying one of your people here is mean or evil or something,
in fact he used to be very popular and attractive," Dino defended, thinking
that the kid hated him for saying bad stuff on one of his neighbors, "He was
intimidating, sure, but he can still pull some attention toward himself. It’s
impossible to not be attracted to him".
And he didnt think he fixed the situation. The teen was bowing his head and
looking worse now. Before Dino could make up any excuse or anything to lift the
teen's mood, a baseball bounced their way, hitting the teen's leg before
stopping. One of the children playing on the field waved to them, "Brother!
Could you please pass the ball!?"
Dino planned to pass the ball, but the teen next to him beat him to it as he
took the ball and stood. "Attractive, huh?" the teen muttered to Dino darkly
while keeping a tight grip on the ball in his hand. Dino was surprised how the
previously all-smiling kid could have such a grim look on his face. Then the
teen took a beautiful form, the ones pulled by professional baseball players.
Dino could hear him snorting a curse before he threw the ball in god-like
speed.
The mafiosi could feel the gushing wind coming from the throw. He noticed how
the ball slapped the awaiting child's hand with unforgiving force before
hitting the trunk of a tall tree not far ahead. Slowly, the bucking bronco
turned his brown orbs to the teen next to him. He swore he could see smokes
around the perfect form of the previously baseball athlete. It was superb, Dino
dared say, a skill you shouldn't find wondering in such a small suburb.
"Ah!" the teen came to; now coming back to his senses to look at his throwing
hand, "So it is lacking power".
"W-what are you saying? That ball's speed was impossible," Dino stuttered, "Are
you sure you're injured?"
"Oh, that? Hahahaha," the teen laughed in embarrassment, "That was nothing
compared to my real throw. I was sure my throws could topple a tree before.
Guess I was too confident".
Dino copied the teen's laugh, though he started asking himself if the kid was
telling the truth. "Anyway, I feel better after that throw! Oh, man, I think I
should help my old man at the shop now," he then glanced happily at Dino, "You
should visit sometime! Our sushi shop is the best in Namimori."
"U-uh, yeah," Dino nodded dumbly, still flabbergasted after that show of power
from the teen.
"Alright! It’s Yamamoto Sushi. Remember that, okay, visitor?" the teen then
walked to a mountain bike parked not far from their bench. It was when he
started sitting on his bike that he addressed Dino again, "By the way, you
should never give up".
"Huh?"
"My crush," the teen threw a grin at Dino, "He told me to never give up. So
that's what I'll do. I think, if I give up now, it means I was never meant to
be with him from the start. So I'll do my best and never give up so that I can
be the guy he expected me to be," he gave a piggish laugh, "just thought I'll
say that to you. See ya!"
The teen left with his bike, leaving Dino alone with his thoughts. Never give
up, huh? He murmured to himself, that kid can’t be expecting me to follow such
a naive advice.
Something changed Dino's mind right at that second, of course. The tree struck
by the ball before started to give an eerie creaking sound before it cracked
into two and the upper half fell down to the ground with an angry wooden roar.
The small child who asked for the ball, who was still standing in the middle of
the field with his arm raised, suddenly fell to his knees. He was shaking
uncontrollably, tears pouring down his cheeks while he screamed for his mom.
Dino observed the situation with a gape, "M-maybe I should follow t-that kid's
advice".
===============================================================================
 
It was Reborn's birthday on the next day, and Dino was spewing the sappiest
poets to Reborn's voicemail. He didn't care if Reborn was puking himself
somewhere out there from listening to this, but Dino decided he shouldn't give
up, just like his unnamed young hero from yesterday told him to. Dino threw the
cheesy stuff like, "Reborn, it’s your birthday. You know I never had the chance
to celebrate today with you, so... friends?" to the hardcore love confession
such as, "Man, you know I love you, right?" to down right threatening like, "If
this is Hayato, you better give the phone back to that man. He's mine, fucker,
MINE!"
It was on his 56th call did he received an answer from the other end, but it
was a frantic voice that answered. "P-PLEASE HELP!" said the voice, "Whoever
this is, HELP US!"
There were sounds of gunshots in the background, strong enough to alarm Dino.
The young Cavallone instantly kicked to gear, "Whats going on!? Tell me your
status!"
"DINO!?" the voice called. Dino realized it was Hayato's voice, "Come quick!
We're almost out of ammunition! Send help, or whatever, just please help us!"
"Are you at home?" Dino was still in his night robe, hair still messy from
sleep. He quickly wondered around his messy hotel room to look for his
computer, "Tell me whats going on!”
"No, we're at a warehouse complex!" the teen answered, "We were worried about
Reborn so we followed him, but – FUCK, WATCH OUT!" A loud boom was heard from
the other's line.
"Are you okay!?" Dino screamed to his phone, but found no answers aside from
some commotion, "Just hold on to the call, alright!? Let me track you!" Dino
said in the middle of doing his thing with the computer. It only took a few
seconds before his system found them on a warehouse complex not far from the
city, "Found it! I'm on my way, hows everybody status?" Dino clicked send to
deliver the coordinates to his car's GPS tracker system.
"We...jdkjh;a... explo aodjlkm;a..."
"What!?" the line was buzzing with weird sounds before it was disconnected.
Dino cursed, quickly went to his wardrobe, pick his choices of weapons and
clothing of the day, barely brushing his teeth, then stepped out of his suit to
his private parking spot. He didn't have time to waste.
"Retirement life my ass, Reborn," the blonde spatted after slamming the door of
his car, "Retirement life my ass".
===============================================================================
 
When he arrived, he didn't instantly note anything out of the ordinary.
Instead, the whole area seemed peaceful. Dino even had an automatic rifle ready
to start the party, but was disappointed that this could all be a prank.
Until he rode pass a certain warehouse. There were sounds of gunshot inside.
With his thermographic glasses, Dino detected a lot of people inside. Two of
them were stuck in the middle, hiding behind objects that looked like vehicles.
If Dino's guess were correct, those two were Hayato and Romaria, surrounded by
men with guns.
Dino sighed, a bit bored and disappointed. "Surrounded by 50-some guys, huh?"
he muttered while making a slow turn to the safest entrance point, "That's
nothing compared to my first trial from Reborn".
And Bingo! He found the best spot to steal the spotlight. Kicking the gas, the
bucking bronco grinned before speeding to the warehouse's wall. And BAM, his
convertible was superior enough to create a huge hole on that wall,
successfully surprising the crowd inside. Of course, Dino didn't let them be
stunned in amazement for long, for he instantly started his performance by
driving pass the row of gunned men, pointing his riffle with one hand to their
direction before shooting in high speed.
And the stallion galloped in victory!
He let his car screech to a wall, stunning a few men around the area, before
Dino himself jumped out of the car quickly. Those men were too shocked by his
sudden and quick act; they didn't even shoot Dino when he rolled on the floor
and shoot them himself. The Bucking Bronco dashed to the location of the two
people he was looking for with two automatic riffles in hand, leaving the men
he wasn't able to finish off. That was fine, because he set his car to explode
where he left it.
He found the two people he was looking for hiding behind a barricade of these
weird looking objects. Hayato was glued to the back of said object, a hand
hugging a tall rifle and his shoulder length silver hair tied back. Different
to the cool stature he had when he met Dino days before, this time his whole
handsome face was covered with sheen of sweat and dirt. Next to the teen was
Romaria, as dirty and messy as the teen, although looking calmer with her blank
face. Hayato, however, was gawking at Dino. "That was you!?" the teen gasped in
disbelief, "That commotion from before, that was you?"
"I can be great when somebody is targeting my family," Dino showed a thumb
up, of course Reborn is a family, "Half of your enemies, down".
Hayato wow-ed, "You are so cool," he complimented, "Now that you're here, we
can escape this place with your ride".
"Oh yeah, about that," Dino sweat-dropped, but kept his smile intact, "I
exploded my car".
"You what!?" Hayato hissed.
"I exploded my car," Dino repeated, "Hey, dont judge! I eliminated almost
everybody on the south wing of this building!"
The teen's shoulder dropped, eyes rolling sarcastically "Great, now what do we
do to escape? We're right in the middle of the building, and there are still a
lot of people on the north wing".
By now, Dino calculated that they were located right in the middle of the
building as Hayato mentioned. The blonde concluded that the warehouse was very
big and contained a lot of strange yet familiar looking instruments, which was
located in a way that allowed them to hide freely around the center of the
room. However, because the objects were gathered around the center of the
building, that means they would be out in the open if they went to the south
and north area. In the middle of that observation, Dino was surprised to find
that those instruments were in fact BDSM equipments. The rare and expensive
kinds. Indeed, this building is not your regular warehouse, it’s a BDSM
dungeon.
And there was only one person among them who could own such a dungeon. It has
to be Reborn. "Where is he?" Dino started once he was reminded of his mentor,
"How’s Reborn's status?"
To that, Hayato turned his head upward tiredly, "Dunno. I'm sure he is safe
though. Last I see him, he gave me his phone before leaving with this wicked
smile on his face. I swear he was fucking ecstatic to find these people after
him".
That was exactly like Reborn. Dino also believed that this kind of attack was
nothing compared to what Reborn had faced before. He was confident Reborn was
doing fine somewhere around this complex. Still, Dino was now responsible to
get these two out. "Okay, I have a plan," Dino started calmly, "You guys can
follow me. We can finish off all these guys and –"
"No," Hayato cut him, "No no, we can’t finish them off now".
Dino frowned. "Well, actually, I can. In fact I can finish'em off all on my
own," the blonde said in annoyance.
"No – I mean – yes, I know you can finish them off. But, we asked you to come
for something more urgent," Hayato then peeked through a small gap on the
instrument behind him, realizing that the men were coming closer to their
hideout. The teen then sat straightly, before leaning closer to Dino to whisper
lowly, "There is someone waiting for us outside and we don't know how this
person is doing right now. He is currently defenseless inside Reborn's car".
"What?" Dino hissed, "If you have Reborn's car, why don't you escape with it
before?!"
"We can’t!" Hayato spatted back, "None of us here can ride a car okay? This
person we talked about is currently in no condition to ride too. And these
bastards shot Romaria's Vespa. With no way to escape, we hid him in Reborn's
car and went here to attract these guys away from the parking lot. We didn't
know it would be this overwhelming."
Dino watched the teen, calculating over the words. They could hear the voices
of the men targeting them coming closer. Hayato was glancing nervously at
Romaria as though they were having a private communication. The woman didn't
waver, but Hayato was taking a couple of deep breath. "... you know, maybe...
maybe we should use that," the teen told the housekeeper.
Dino was confused, "What? What do you mean by that?" Hayato turned to him
again, more determined than before.
"I need you to go outside to find Reborn's car and take this person away from
this place to somewhere safe, alright?" he told Dino seriously, "Its a the only
2015 Camaro parked on the west part of the building, but closer to the south
wing where you came from".
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, you want me to leave you guys here? You're the one who
told me you're out of weapons!" Dino protested, "Look, you have to trust me, I
can beat these guys!"
"I fucking know you can beat these guys, but we don't have the fucking time to
do that, alright?" Hayato spatted, "It going to take some time to finish them
off and I don't know how this person outside is doing. We just can’t let them
find this person, okay? It’s more important".
"Fuck, then what about you?"
Hayato glanced at Romaria nervously again. "We have our one last weapon," he
then lifted his white shirt to expose a black box with a beeping red monitor on
Hayato's stomach. Dino gasped.
"A-are you going to commit suicide with that thing?"
Hayato rolled his eyes, "No, dumbass, I just put it there to keep it with me
always. This is actually my latest invention. It’s very strong," he then
whispered, "And untested".
"Are you crazy? Using an untested bomb in such a situation?" Dino exclaimed,
"What do you think this is, some kind of a firework? Kid, this is not a
playground where you can test out the fireworks you stole. You don't know this
stuff, it can be fatal!"
"Trust me I know better," Hayato sighed again, blinking lazily before saying,
"I'm Smoking Bomb Hayato, I know this stuff the best".
Dino froze for a second, "You're..., Smoking Bomb? That terrorist?"
"Well, they like to address me that way," the teen rambled away, "But that's
not the point. I'm sure with this we can clear off most of them. Dino, you go
to the south part and escape with the car. We can deal with these guys, you
just focus on escaping. Escaping together will pull their attention to the
parking lot, so we have to go separately".
Dino nodded, "Got it, but how about you guys? Can you even escape the
explosion? And what if it didn't work?"
Hayato sighed, "Nah, I'm sure it will work. I'm just unsure how big it will
be," he then sent a look to Romaria, "I'm confident we can escape. If anything
happens, Reborn will come around. We'll be here to look for him. You just make
sure that person escape, okay?" The teen ended it by handing Dino a car key.
"Fine," Dino said, "I'll escape to the south, so you better focus your attack
to the north park. I'll make sure to clear off the south park so that you can
escape through there after exploding the north."
Hayato nodded. They were in the middle of preparation when Hayato added, "Dino,
don't wait for us. I'm sure there are still some of them somewhere outside the
building. If anything, please just focus on getting that person out of here.
Once they caught the sight of you, I'm sure they will target you rather than
us".
The message that these people were targeting the person he had been talking
about was evident. Dino rolled his eyes exasperatedly, "Yeah yeah, I get it".
The three of them stood up; Dino facing the south, Romaria and Hayato facing
the north. Before going, Dino tried to affirm something that has been bothering
his mind. "This person you were talking about," he started, "Is it Reborn's
wife?"
Hayato only gave a short nod before showing him three fingers, slowly counting
down to zero before each of them ran to their respective targets.
===============================================================================
 
Contrary to his expectation, there were less people around on his way out. Dino
was a bit disappointed, of course, as he loved the adrenaline rush. He was
running through the hole created by his car and pass through a number of
bodies. The blonde took a turn to the west parking area, where he could detect
a Camaro among a row of other cars. A key ready in his pocket, the young man
approached the car.
He took a moment to peak inside, readying himself to meet the face of Reborn's
'wife', but disappointed to find a lump of blue blanket on the passenger's
seat. The young Cavallone noted that person was probably inside that blanket,
and it’s most probable that this person was unconscious seeing from their
unmoving form.
"Unconscious, huh?" Dino sighed, "What a let down".
It was then he heard a call from behind him. When he looked back, he found a
number of those gunned men pointing at him from the direction of the warehouse.
The young Cavallone quickly got inside the car, slammed the door close, and
started the car. He regretted the fact that he had to drive a cheap
convertible, but if it was Reborn's, he was sure there would be something about
this car. It was probably customized with built-in missiles or something. Screw
Reborn if there was nothing special about this car; it was the last resort to
save his fucking wife for god sake.
The sudden turn the car made when Dino sped through the parking lot was
followed by a loud screech. By then, Dino realized that the men who noticed his
escape had already went to their respective cars and they were hot on his
trail. He kicked the gas more desperately, if possible, and made another quick
U-turn to escape the surrounding cars, resulting on the person covered with
blanket next to him to fall to the carpeted floor with a loud thump.
"Whoops," Dino muttered half jokingly to the silent figure, "Sorry there. No
time to be gentle".
He checked the rear window, counting around 7-10 cars tailing him on high
speed. Dino cursed as he tried to find a way out of the confusing Warehouse
Complex maze. He found more and more of those guys on every turn; and Dino was
on his wit's end. At one point, he almost tried to use his guns, but he knew
how risky it was to use a gun while driving with a helpless companion. By now,
the only thing he could do was speed up as best as he can.
It was on that particular turn behind one building that Dino finally found the
way out of the area. He was smiling already on his seat, now more confident
with the wheels. Unfortunately, when he was nearing the only way out, rows of
other cars came to his sight, blocking his way. In reflect, the young Cavallone
kicked the brake, in which the Camaro screeched loudly to its stop. Dino's body
was thrown forward, almost hitting the dashboard as he did so, and he could
hear a loud slam from the unconscious person next to him, possibly from their
head hitting the dashboard from below.
It took a while for Dino to recover from the shock, but when he did, he noticed
that he was now surrounded completely by almost twenty cars. He counted them by
peeking to the rear window, cursing lowly under his breath, swearing a thousand
torture to Reborn's name. He could hear a very loud boom somewhere behind him,
signaling the success of Hayato's bomb. It sounded like a momentary victory,
but Dino knew better.
With that explosion, these guys who were cornering him would be more motivated
to finish him off.
Dino gulped, but not willing to show any desperation. A mafia is never
desperate, he remembered what Reborn told him, never beg. And if they were to
die, they'd rather die struggling rather than die like a pitiful weakling.
Dino saw the surprised expression on the men's faces behind their wheels,
possibly because of the explosion Hayato caused not far from their location.
One of them was seen shouting, possibly provoking the others to shoot Dino with
their guns. To this, Dino smirked.
"Huh," he said; more to himself than to someone else, "This is it, huh, the end
of the youngest Cavallone's top ten member in history". He watched the men
coming out of their cars one by one, each preparing their guns. Their eyes were
glaring at Dino's direction with fury. Hell, Dino would be pissed off too if he
caught someone responsible for exploding his family members.
Then again, he was sad to know that his death would also lead to this other
person's death; the one sleeping on the car's floor next to him. He wondered if
Reborn would be angered to know Dino took his wife away to heaven (or hell)
with him. It’s too bad that he didn't even have a chance to properly introduce
himself to this wife.
"Pssht," Dino tried to get the wife to wake up, "Pssh, wake up. Look, I'm sorry
I can’t bring you to safety, this is the best I can do. Looks like it’s going
to be painful, so maybe you want to hold my hand while they're at it?"
A soft groan answered him from below. Dino smirked, but didn't let go of his
sight to the men outside the Camaro. "Wake up, you'd want to spend this last
moments awake, honey," Dino muttered, "At least you'd want to savor your last
breath".
"Hmm?" a voice, too familiar to his hearing, answered yet again from behind the
blanket. Dino glanced down at last. He saw a hand, a yellow toned hand,
appearing from the blue lump of blanket to grasp on the leather material of the
car seat. Dino's brows met on the sight of that arm, finding the skin tone and
the arm band circling the wrist to be very familiar. In fact, the skin tone was
exactly the color he used to make fun of at his half-Asian brother's expense,
and that arm band was made by him once for his brother.
Time seemed to stop for Dino as he watched that blue blanket. His mind moved to
gear, making conclusion of these very tragic findings. It was then that a very
familiar brown messy hair appeared from behind the blanket and a pair of brown
orbs Dino missed so much blinked sleepily at him. "Dino?" he called.
Dino couldn't say a word as seconds ticked by. He could hear the sound of the
thug's leader screaming outside, "On the count of three!"
Dino turned his head, finding all of those thugs aiming their guns at the
Camaro from all side. But Dino was not afraid. In fact, he was always the
bravest when his family is around. So he punched a random red button on the
dashboard.
Unexpectedly, the car rocketed and flew.
"Who would put a fucking rocket in their Camaro?" Dino accused that early
afternoon on October the 14th, "A Camaro! A fucking – you know what, I should
have expected that. In fact, I've expected it, but I never paid it any mind. It
was just so you to do something so ourageous".
He was sitting on of the many white seating arranged on The Sawada's backyard,
helplessly playing witness to his kid brother and that other brother's PDA. The
two were sitting on a round white lounge seat, nuzzling each other's noses like
baby animals. Feeling ignored, Dino turned his head to the silver haired teen
next to him, "And we haven't cleared up how he had Tsuna naked in his car,
parked near a BDSM dungeon. Does he think I'm fucking stupid?" He finished his
champagne in one gulp like a possessed man, "Don't answer. I know you wanted to
say he thinks so right? Just like how he used to insult me back then. Gosh, how
come I didn't realize sooner he is that Raynad!?"
Yesterday's game of chase ended with Dino landing Reborn's Camaro on a beach
close to the warehouse complex. He then realized, while pulling the car's full
hidden potential, he also broke the car as a result. Because the rule was to
have Reborn replace his car if it was ever broken, Dino ended up buying the guy
a Bill Gates' car; Porsche 959. Technically, it almost counted as a birthday
present, which was exactly why he was allowed to attend the hitman's (and,
surprisingly, also Tsuna's) birthday celebration at R27.
Yes, he also found out that Tsuna was the wife all along.
"Why are you dressing like you're going to a funeral?" Hayato gave Dino a dirty
look, "I told you the dress code is white". The birthday party was something
akin to an exclusive banquet rather than the 'barbecue party' they loved to
call it, especially with some chef involved and cheese fondue plus expensive
champagnes on the menu. The guests were all dressed elegantly in white,
complimenting the equally white decor on the Sawada's backyard. Though, Dino
violated that dress code by dressing differently.
"I'm mourning from the loss of my brother to that man," Dino answered.
Hayato rolled his eyes, "Gosh, you're over-dramatic".
"This is not a fucking retirement, I just knew it," Dino said to himself, which
Hayato ignored thoroughly. As if on cue, Miss Harada, the local scandal (slash
cougar, Hayato told him), could be heard on the background making a joke about
how the R in the name of their block doesn't stand for Retirement, "It actually
stands for Rich!"
Her joke was welcomed by a chorus of laughter, but Dino watched it with blank
face. Indeed, that crowd Reborn invited as his guests seemed to be from the
better part of this neighborhood, but they also seemed... strangely suspicious.
For example, Dino found the yakuza kid who had kidnapped him days ago lounging
a bit farther away from the crowd, talking to a small yellow bird he often
found in the neighborhood. On another corner, Dino also noted this one man
behind the grill who suspiciously resembled CEDEF's most wanted man. Not like
such a man would be here, of course, because he wouldn't be around a guy who
took the CEDEF's leader's name as a cover, right?
The thing is, he was sure Reborn's 'retirement' was not your average relaxed
life at all. There was something wrong with this neighborhood.
"Damn it, that crazy cougar Harada must be up to something!" Hayato broke
Dino's inner rambles. The teen was grumbling, but quickly changed the harsh
tone of his voice when he caught Tsuna standing up, "J-jyuudaime, where are you
going?"
"I'm getting some chocolate mousse the chef saved for me in the kitchen," the
brunette answered.
"Let me come with you!" Dino offered, hoping he could get some time alone with
his brother. The brunette agreed, thankfully, but Dino caught the sight of
Reborn's questioning look before they went to the house.
"Tsu, you should escape that man!" Dino started when they arrived at the
kitchen, "He's a kidnapper, Tsu. I know him better; he would never make baby
noises at people especially at you. He's faking it!"
The brunette didn't say anything at first, but then turned to Dino with a
frown, "Why did you leave those messages on Reborn's phone!? "
"W-what?" Dino remembered those messages he left to Reborn's voicemail, "Y-you
misunderstood Tsuna, that was –"
The brunette's face flushed now, and Dino noted how his eyes turned glassy, "I
care for you Dino, but I'm telling you he's not yours!" he stomped his feet in
that childish manner Dino knew so much, "He's mine!"
"Ah, yes yes," the blonde tried his best to calm the younger down. Of course he
wouldn't have the heart to deny anything his brother wants, especially when he
started crying. The Cavallone bent to meet his brother's face, rubbing the
smaller's shoulder, "Of course. There was nothing between me and Reborn, it was
a joke. I'm sorry, okay? I'm wrong, so forgive me okay? I never had that kind
of relationship with Reborn". Although he slept with that guy a lot back then.
"And don't call him a kidnapper again! He didn't kidnap me!" Tsuna insisted,
still pouting, "Nonno knows about this!"
"Yes, yes," Dino answered again, "I promise I wont do that again. I'm sorry
okay?" He hugged the boy. After losing the kid for almost a year, Dino didn't
want to ruin their reunion with a fight. If anything, he would rather savor
this moment as much as he can.
"Sorry," Tsuna said after calming down, "That was embarrassing. I went
overboard". Dino laughed awkwardly in the middle of patting his brother's back
softly, "I just like him so much, Dino".
Dino frowned. By then, he realized how... complex this was coming to be. There
was no way Reborn could be serious with marrying his kid brother, especially
not with the sweet way he treated the boy. Yet, Dino also trusted that man. He
knew Reborn was planning something, but he also knew the man would never hurt
Tsuna. The only problem was how far this plan would mislead Tsuna's feelings.
"I've confessed to him, and he accepted my feeling so kindly," Tsuna continued
on telling him, "This is a first for me, Dino. I never felt this way before".
It was then Reborn appeared on the hallway to the kitchen, posing casually
against the wall, but eyes sharp to Dino's form. That gaze threatened him to
say nothing. As a result, Dino gripped the fabric of Tsuna's white shirt. "Of
course, Tsu," he responded at last, "I understand that feeling. Everything is
going to be fine, you know he cares for you, right?" Dino then let the boy go
to watch the younger's eyes. He put his best smile after finding Tsuna
brightened up, "Now go. Your husband is waiting for you".
The brunette's eyes widened before he turned around to find Reborn standing nor
far behind him all along. The man reached out to the boy; the attractive smile
intact on his handsome face. "Come on, princess," the Italian man said, "Your
guests are waiting".
===============================================================================
 
As Hayato expected, Miss Harada prepared a huge surprise. She arranged a
gigantic birthday cake to be delivered at a certain time to the party. In the
end, the guests insisted the two birthday guys to blow the candles on the cake
together. Dino joined the crowd to stand around the cake, watching Reborn and
Tsuna facing the giant cake.
It was ironic to see Reborn blowing the candles. It was comical!
They clapped after the candle blowing. Dino witnessed how his kid brother's
face lit with happiness. It was the boy's first big party after all, even
though there were only four guests who were around his age. Hayato was
grumbling next to him; looking suspiciously at the cake, "I swear this trick is
too soft core for that cougar Harada".
That suspicion was proven to be correct when the cake collapsed from its center
before it splattered to all direction. Dino felt some of the cream hitting his
face, then noted a woman in bikini appearing from inside the cake.
"Surpriiiiise~!" Miss Harada said from among the guests, "I present you a
stripper in a cake, just for my favorite gentlemen in the block!"
The fiasco that followed was instant. Hayato flailed around, panicking on how
his jyuudaime would be tarnished by the sight of the half naked woman. Dino
also noted how another teen, the baseball player he met at the park, froze in
the middle of the crowd, right next to the smug looking yakuza kid. The rest of
the crowd were very surprised and shocked, especially when an owl flew to the
direction of the stripper, stopping to nuzzle on her breast.
"Damn owl! NAGI!" screamed the suspicious looking old man from before to a shy
looking girl, "How many times have I told you to lock that damned owl in a
cage!?"
Dino didn't pay attention to the much ridiculousness that happened after, for
he quickly texted to a special number Colonello gave to him. He texted; Dude,
whats your hot girlfriend doing in Reborn's house playing stripper?
===============================================================================
 
Tbc.
***** Interlude: Ms. Tea Cup's Challenge Letter *****
                      Somewhere in The Arcobaleno's Club
===============================================================================
                                        
Lal Mirch took a long drag from her position right next to her unofficial
lover, Colonello. The guy had been complaining all day about her previous
action. "You know, if you're planning to crash Reborn's party as a stripper,
you should have told me before, kora!" The rest of The Arcobalenos rolled their
eyes at his rants. They were already sick to Colonello's endless obsession
toward the woman.
"Hey, if you want to flirt, find another time and place. We didn't come here to
be friendly," Verde complained from his seat. Indeed, they gathered inside a
secret room in the club, a place where The Arcobaleno could held their private
meetings. In all actuality, they rarely ever used the room. Each of them had
their own agenda. Teamwork, at least the ones that involved another Arcobaleno,
isn't really their forte.
"True," Viper agreed. He turned to Luce, who was sipping her tea sweetly,
"Madam, to what occasion did you call us here?" He then glanced carefully to
another man in the room; the hitman who was supposed to be retiring from the
job.
The woman in white giggled, "It's not me, really. It's just our guy Reborn
here, he missed you guys". Snorts of mocking laughter instantly answered the
statement. Reborn himself smirked behind his cup of brandy.
"This is probably one of those very rare times Reborn would approach us," Fon
hummed, "I thought you're coming here to pursue with that crazy plan you told
us before. But seeing that Timoteo isn't here with us -"
"Actually, I have someone else with me," Reborn cut the Asian man.
"Huh?"
At that exact moment, Gamma made his appearance to the room. Behind him was
somebody else. It was Sawada Tsunayoshi; dressed in his school uniform and
sporting a ridiculous looking stuffed bunny bag. Skull shook his head
ridiculously, "What? Are you trying to be a party pooper Reborn? Nobody brings
their wife to a club".
The brunette looked skittish, only smiling slightly when he saw Luce and Lal.
He stopped next to his husband but didn't take a seat. Colonello didn't pay any
mind at first, until he realized how silent and serious Lal was acting all
along. The blonde man gulped, "Kora, don't tell me you guys are really
continuing with this plan".
"It's too late to step back now," Lal said.
"But where is Timoteo, kora?" Colonello threw himself to the back of his seat,
"Honestly, you said you're going to make a contract with all of us at one point
for this plan. But only Nono is rich enough to make a contract with everybody
in The Arcobalenos".
"That's the problem," Lal started. The rest of the Arcobalenos started paying
more attention to her figure. She continued, "The Vongola Nono is missing".
It was a surprising news, but none of them gave signs that could betray their
straight faced facade. The Arcobalenos was trained to keep their calm. Still,
no jokes were thrown inside the room any longer. What was left are serious
stares. "This is a joke. I'm telling you to stop continuing with this plan.
Without the Nono, you guys cant do anything," Verde gave his opinion, "Beside,
the rest of The Arcobalenos won't help you just because you asked us for it. We
don't work for requests".
Of course Lal knew that, but the woman couldn't help but think there was
another way. It was that smile plastered on the hitman sitting at the other
corner of the room. In fact it was a very victorious smile. "You have an idea,
don't you," Lal muttered, "Reborn?"
The man showed them his cold eyes. His smile wide, but crazy. "We're continuing
with the plan".
"Reborn, you should understand," Lal answered, "With Nono out of the picture,
we have no choice but accelerate with the plan. We don't even know where our
enemy is hiding".
"Oh, I know," Reborn answered back.
"W-what?" Lal turned her body to the direction of the hitman. She was surprised
by the confession.
"A bit tricky at first, but we've discovered it," the hitman took a drag from
his smoke, "That guy has been around all along".
Lal blanched, "N-no way. He was that close?"
"Still is. Isn't that right, boy?" Reborn addressed the brunette next to him at
last, who nodded nervously. The Arcobalenos started watching Reborn with
interest. Their hitman never failed on surprising them. They were intrigued,
but couldn't deny the fact that this was the most outrageous act the hitman
ever pulled. It was too risky.
"Wow," Fon commented, "I can't say I'm not interested. This is almost like a
movie and I really want to know the ending, but we cant do anything without a
contract, Reborn".
"Who said I forgot to bring you any contractor?" the hitman said before
slapping the back of his wife softly. The brunette jumped on his feet a little,
glancing left and right as if afraid before he took a step forward while
hugging his stuffed rabbit bag. The boy stopped in front of the round table in
the center of the room and turned his bag up side down. The Arcobalenos leaned
closer, just to be welcomed by the sight of many golden bars pouring out from
that silly bag.
"K-kora," Colonello gaped, "T-those are pure gold". It made sense why that kid
held the bag with two hands now. it must be very heavy.
"Uhmmm, i-it's a little of my savings," the brunette added, "I am offering you
a deal to work with me". The teen then bowed as a Japanese formal way of
greeting. The rest of Arcobalenos were surprised by this turn of events, except
for Luce and Reborn, of course. Reborn watched his 'wife' with satisfaction
while the woman in white had been giggling behind her gloved hand. "Oh my,
Tsuna, all you need is to just beg for it to get me to agree," Luce said
humorously.
"Really?" Tsuna stood up straight and glanced worriedly at his spouse. The
hitman pulled the boy closer till the boy fell next to him on his seat. "She
was joking," the hitman told the younger.  Although, knowing her, Luce could be
serious.
"Oh, I see," the brunette then looked up at his husband, "Did I do well?"
The hitman watched his boy closely, then nuzzled the boy's face with intense
pleasure and gentleness. The boy closed his eyes, allowing the hitman to dip
into his mouth with a wet sound. It wasn't the first time the Arcobalenos
witnessed Reborn's throes of passion, but it was their first time finding the
brunette held closely by that guy. Except for some lucky Arcobalenos, of
course. Reborn kissed the brunette's forehead to end their short display of
affection, "You did very well".
Skull gaped at the couple, quickly whispering to the Chinese man beside him.
"Pssh, Fon! Fon!" he called, "Wasn't that an eskimo kiss at the beginning?"
Fon cut him with a sharp look. His squinted eyes was opened wide
uncharacteristically. "No its not," the Asian man said, "We didn't see anything
in this room. We also never had a bet relating to some eskimo kiss. Nothing
happened. Get it?"
The unspoken, lets not remind ourselves about that bet, was clear to Skull. The
goth responded with an awkward laugh, "Yes, yes. Very true. There is no such a
bet".
===============================================================================
Continued to Mystery of Tsunayoshi: Tsunayoshi's Arc
===============================================================================
                        Ms. Tea Cup's Challenge Letter
===============================================================================
Dear Readers,
I have finished the first part of my Mystery of Tsunayoshi's series. As
explained before, Renato Sinclair's Arc, which consisted of the six chapters
who have read previously in this story, contained clues for the whole story.
The goal of Renato Sinclair's Arc is to question; and that means the chapters
contain a lot of blank spaces that will be filled in the next part of the
series; Mystery of Tsunayoshi: Tsunayoshi's Arc.
To help you understand this story better, here are the main questions from each
chapters in this Arc:
   1. Renato Sinclair's Track: Whatcrime have Reborn done to Vongola?
   2. Renato Sinclair's Dirty Secret: What is Reborn planning with the drugs he
      received from Verde? (the use of the drugs has been implied in many parts
      of the story, but there is something deeper than that)
   3. Renato Sinclair's Masterpiece: What does Reborn want from Kozato?
   4. Renato Sinclair's War: What is the real nature of Reborn and Tsuna's
      relationship? Are they married or is it a form of kidnapping?
   5. Renato Sinclair's Last Lie: Who is after Tsunayoshi?
In this Interlude, you even found that there is a much bigger problem happening
in the background of the story.  There was an enemy to this whole story; and
I've dropped a huge bomb somewhere in the chapters of where he was hiding. Let
me say this, the enemy is a liar, but he was too proud to hide some parts about
himself. Read the chapters closely dear readers, I have put a lot of clues.
And of course, there are still some other questions in the chapters that will
be explained further in Tsunayoshi's Arc. For example, what is Alaude planning?
What is Daemon doing? Who is Mukuro and what is up with Nagi? And what about
Hibari and his crazy plans? Where is Irie and who exactly is Romaria? Romaria
is inspired by Family Guy's Consuela, if you haven't noticed. And then, what
will Dino do now that he found his brother? What is Tsuna planning with a bag
full of gold?
Curious? Check out the continuation of this series in Mystery of Tsunayoshi:
Tsunayoshi's Arc. It will the Arc to answer everything from our dearest
Tsunayoshi's point of view as he explains what happens in his birthday, his
marriage, and his life with Reborn. It will be a series full of sexual
exploration, love story, and the full exposure of what is truly going on. See
you there, Readers!
                                                                               
                                                                    Ms. Tea Cup
                                                                             ;P
 
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