#kuiqejenniferwilson | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seitosokusha · 8 years

Text

We Weren’t Born to Follow 28

ff.net link | ao3 link

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Pairings: Eventual R27 (but it’s a long way from happening)

Triggers: N/A

Important Stuff: We have a TVTropes Page! Thank you @kuiqejenniferwilson

Summary: “Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”

In which Ienari was picked to be Decimo instead of Tsuna, but that’s okay because Tsuna was always destined for bigger things than being a mafioso.

At an Undisclosed Location

Explosions rang, wiping out everything that stood in its path. The smell of blood mixed with the smoke and ash. Flashes of purple flames sparkled, colliding against each other. Dirt flew as the ground was carved away, leaving deep trenches.

Some distance away, Tsuna watched as his two Clouds fought each other with everything they had. Standing next to him, Hana rolled her eyes at the flashy display. They were the only two watching. Takeshi was off keeping a worried Ryohei calm. Ayame herself was back in Namimori, keeping an eye on things.

"They're not giving each other any room for mistake," Tsuna mumbled. It was both awe inspiring and terrifying to see his Clouds go at each other.

Another explosion shook the ground.

"I'll only fight for the Storm Ring only if Kyoko wins the Cloud Ring," Hana announced. "If she doesn't, give it to Hayato."

Tsuna gave her a sharp look. "Are you sure?"

Hana snorted. "You can decide who gets the rings just by determining who wins this match. Clouds stir up storms. Kyoko has always been the one who summons up my storm, not Kyoya-senpai. The lightning we summon together is Haru, the mist that is created is Chrome. Takeshi is a bit of a toss-up, because he's our only Rain, not counting Spanner who is too new to fit in with us yet.

"On the other hand, Kyoya-senpai has been training the bomber monkey and he's making far better progress with senpai than with me. The cow brat and bomber monkey argue relentlessly, clashing like a storm and lightning often does. Let's not even get started on Mukuro."

"Oniisan and Shoichi?" Tsuna asked.

"Toss up too," Hana said. "They're both balanced enough that they could fit into either group, but you and I both know that Kyoya-senpai and Ryohei have a stronger, if not odd, friendship. Ryohei worries too much about Kyoko."

There was a resulting boom that drew their attention. Kyoko came out of the explosion flying out before crashing to the ground a few meters in front of Tsuna and Hana. She didn't get up.

The smoke cleared, revealing Kyoya who was still standing.

"I guess that settles it," Tsuna said. "Kyoya-senpai gets the ring."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Fate Strings

The apartment was quiet. Mukuro marveled at it really. It had always been noisy here, since he and the others had moved in. Ken alone could make enough noise to wake the dead when riled up, but it hadn't been this oddly silent before. Privately, Mukuro could admit, it was making him a little unnerved.

He wasn't sure where Chikusa and Ken had gotten to, but Lancia had gone food shopping. Ayame was present; he could see her sitting at their dining table, reading and not making a sound. Chrome was out with the Haru girl. His heart constricted. He glanced at his hand, tracing the lazy wrapping of the yellow and green string, the one that connected him to Chrome.

There was something about Chrome, a mirror image of everything he was not. He was sure it had to deal with this string, but he wasn't sure what it was. And given that strange conversation she had with Daemon a week ago, Ayame knew.

Mukuro frowned, not liking the feeling of not knowing. Knowledge was power. So he swallowed his pride, wandered over to Ayame's side and asked, "What does the green and yellow string connecting Chrome and myself mean?"

Ayame didn't look up from her book. "Fate Strings are strings that connect you to people who will shape your life, for better or worse. Some are predetermined, from the moment you were born, some form after you meet people or as your relationship with them grow stronger. They can snap as you grow apart, change color or grow thicker as your relationship gets stronger."

Well, if that was one thing, Ayame never shied away from explaining things to him. She may not tell him the town's secrets, but knowledge like this, she never held it against him. For someone who didn't want to take them in the first place, she was oddly accepting.

"The color of string determines what type of relationship. The thickness determines the strength of the bond. No one has been able to accurately pinpoint if which finger means anything, but the pinky is an absolute," Ayame explained.

Mukuro stared at his hand. There had always been a thick mess of strings wrapped around his hand. The one that connected him to Chrome had been latest concern, but he had tracked the dual green and red braid that connected him Chikusa and Ken. Something was forming between him and Lancia, him and Ayame, currently colorless and transparent and thin like thread. Then, there was orange, gold, green, yellow and just a tiny hint of purple thick braid wrapped around his middle finger that connected him to Tsunayoshi.

"The exact shade of color takes on multiple meanings," Ayame continued, ignoring the way Mukuro studied his hand. "In your particular case, I'm led to believe that the shade of the green and yellow braid that connects you and Chrome represent family and friendship."

"And the fact that it's on my pinky?" Mukuro asked.

"Read the Red String Legend one day," Ayame said. "But it represents that you two are soulmates. Currently platonic in your case, most likely going to remain that way but not saying that it can't evolve into a romantic one. Of all the Fate Strings, it's the only one that cannot be broken, cannot be avoided. You always meet your soulmate. Always. There is no exception."

Mukuro thought about that. He saw the way Ayame's own was heavy and worn. How Tsunayoshi's one was so large and thick around his pinky, it was more like a rope instead of string, leading straight to Reborn.

"And the one connecting Tsunayoshi and the Sun Arcobaleno?" Mukuro asked.

Ayame growled, irritation flashing across her face. Her book snapped shut. "When it gets that thick, it means they're so intertwined together, they're inseparable. They're each other's world and everything. They herald change in each other, twin supernovas while the rest of us are merely candles in comparisons."

"Is that why you don't like the Sun Arcobaleno?" Mukuro asked. It was fairly obvious that they didn't get along. But it ran a little deeper than a past grudge and while it wasn't like Mukuro knew all of Reborn's movements, he was certain that before arriving in Namimori, Reborn hadn't known who Ayame was.

And just like that the anger was gone and only resignation remained. "Reborn was always going to be the most important person in the world to Tsuna," she said bitterly. "And my greatest fear is that one day Reborn will do something that will break Tsuna in a way that can never be repaired."

That… There was an old grief there, one Ayame was not mentioning. Had this conversation happened when he had first moved in, Mukuro would have pushed harder, trying to find a weakness he could exploit. But right now all there was a bitter taste in his mouth and the uncomfortable knowledge of what would happen to him, should anything happen to Chrome.

Silence reigned. The apartment was quiet.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Group Chat

'Dibs.'

'NO! You got the last one!"

'Are you two ever going to stop fighting?'

'Doesn't matter, I called dibs.'

'That's not fair!'

'Pot, meet kettle.'

'You two…'

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rain and Cloud

"Senpai!"

"Hello Skull," Reborn said.

"What did call us here for, kora?"

"Colonnello."

Reborn hadn't seen any of them since coming to Namimori. Time hadn't impacted them, still frozen in their cursed baby forms. He had called them, knowing they had the loosest amount of responsibilities of all the Arcobaleno… and possibly the most open mindedness as well. Colonnello wasn't so strictly attached to the mafia, despite his previous job at Mafia Land. Like Lal, he was military first. Unlike Lal, he didn't hold any loyalties to one particular famiglia. Skull as well was a civilian.

With all the plans flying around in Namimori, Reborn just wanted straightforward people who wouldn't have a secondary agenda and conflicting loyalties he would have to worry about.

"Ah, it's been awhile since so many of us have been gathered in one place," Fon said, joining the three of them.

"I didn't know you were here, Fon," Skull said.

"Reborn called me a while back," Fon said with a smile.

"I didn't think you would ever ask for help," Colonnello said smugly.

Reborn fired a bullet at him which Colonnello dodged.

"So why are we here?" Skull asked.

"The Varia are after my student and his Guardians. I need them strong enough to defeat them," Reborn said, cutting straight to the issue. "Any method is fine, just make them stronger."

"E-even me?" Skull asked. "I'm not much a fighter."

"You're actually serious about this," Colonnello said, surprised.

"They need all the help they can," Reborn said. Loathe to admit it, but he was one person and there were seven Guardians. For some reason, Tsuna wanted, needed, Ienari to win, so Reborn would do as his Sky wished, despite not knowing the full reason why.

(Frustrating so frustrating. The minute he had the chance, he was going to shoot Ayame.)

"Sounds easy enough. In a few months, they should be able to at least hold their own against the Varia," Colonnello said smugly.

"You don't have months. You have weeks," Reborn said flatly.

"Weeks?" Skull said surprised.

Fon nodded. "We suspect that they will force a Ring Battle. The CEDEF will defend the Vongola Rings as long as possible and a mutual friend has agreed to run interference, but it's only a matter of weeks before they arrive here in Namimori."

"The more you can teach them, the better," Reborn said. "Don't worry about anything. We need them to win."

"Alright," Colonnello said. "So, who are we teaching?"

"This way," Reborn said. "I'll introduce you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Training Lineup

"What's going on Reborn," Ienari asked warily. He was surprised that his tutor told him to gather his Guardians and meet at Ienari's base. There had never been a reason why Reborn had wanted to meet with all his Guardians before. He knew them of course, had met them all before, but this sounded like a formal meeting. So, for Reborn to call him and his Guardians to meet several other babies similar to him, it was surprising and something definitely to be wary of.

"What did you tell your Guardians about the Varia?" Reborn asked.

Ienari crossed his arms. "Just that you mentioned they were gunning for us and you wanted me to get stronger."

"Wait the Varia?" Fuun asked.

"Who's the Varia?" Kensuke asked.

"The Varia is Vongola's assassination squad," Reborn explained. "They are utterly ruthless. Their current leader is Xanxus, the last remaining son of Nono. He has as much of a claim to Decimo as you, Ienari."

Ienari tensed at that. He didn't know there was another person with a claim. Wait… Dame-Tsuna also a had claim too, now that he thought about it.

"They are most likely going to force a Ring Battle, which will consist of a battle between each Guardian. The winner will inherit Vongola," Reborn explained. "Since all of you need to be able to win against them, I have arranged additional teachers. A few of them have arrived."

"Right now, we'll get your Flames abilities up. Inmen, you're with Colonnello. He's also a Rain. Mochida, you're going with Fon who is a Storm." Reborn said.

"And let me guess, I'm going with the Cloud Arcobaleno?" Fuun asked.

"No, your ability to use your Flames is sufficient," Reborn said. "Matsushita, you'll be going with Skull. I want you three able to summon and maintain your Flames before the rest of the teachers arrive."

"And the rest of us?" Kaori asked.

"The rest of you will be joining Ienari and me for training. Make your excuses, you won't be attending school. If you don't get strong enough, you will be dead by the time the Varia arrive," Reborn said, smirk growing.

Ienari felt a chill run down his spine. If he didn't know any better, he would think that everything Reborn had put him through so far would be a walk in the park in comparison.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Friendly Inquiry

"So how did it go?" Ayame asked as she opened the door. Tsuna had come over once he had seen both Kyoko and Kyoya home.

"Kyoya-senpai won," Tsuna said. "Hana said she wasn't interested in the Storm Ring unless Kyoko-chan had won. So unless Hayato turns me down, it'll go to him."

"And are you okay with that?" Ayame questioned. "Don't just give it to Hayato because you feel like you have to go give it to someone."

"I know. I want to give it to him," Tsuna said, entering the apartment. "Hello Mukuro."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Mukuro said. His eyes narrowed in distrust.

"How are you Mukuro?" Tsuna asked, unfazed by Mukuro's reaction.

"What does it matter?" Mukuro asked.

Tsuna shrugged. "I like to think we're somewhere in between friends and acquaintances. I know you don't like me, but we aren't enemies anymore."

Mukuro snorted, crossing his arms. "Why don't you ask your 'neesan'?"

"I rather hear it from you," Tsuna said.

Mukuro remain silent. Sighing, Tsuna turned to Ayame. "How is Mukuro doing, Neesan?" Tsuna asked.

"Well, he hasn't been getting enough sleep. He has nightmares. I've been warding most of them off, but that's a short-term solution. He's still underweight but Lancia has been cooking more Italian style dishes, which apparently bring some comfort to him compared to Nana's Japanese dishes so I don't expect him to remain underweight for long. However, while he is still functioning, his health could be better; prison and human experimentation doesn't exactly provide good nutrition," Ayame listed off.

"Adapting to school has been an issue and I'm still getting calls about him, Ken and Chikusa skipping lessons. He's struggling with anything written because while Mukuro appears to be decently fluent in Japanese, his reading ability is not up to par to his current grade level. Outside of that, when he bothers to attend, his grades are otherwise decently high. Not perfect, but he's a good student," Ayame said. She paused to tap her cheek in thought.

"What else? Ah. Mukuro has learned all the meditative techniques to learn control over his Sight, but I suspect he is still suffering from minor headaches that he refuses to tell me about. It's nothing I can help with if he doesn't want me to. Daemon hates him for being attached to Chrome, but he managed to learn from Daemon the basics of real illusions before Daemon had to leave."

"What the hell?" Mukuro snarled.

"'He's fine' would have okay, Neesan," Tsuna said.

"That hardly covers anything," Ayame said airily. "Especially considering the fact that he is not fine. Koumei reports that people are upset that I've taken guardianship over Mukuro-"

"You've taken what over me?" Mukuro snapped.

"-and per you request, Tsuna, every person, every group who was connected to the Estraneo Famiglia, anyone who inherited their research, who helped them pull off their human experiments, who escaped Mukuro's original slaughter of them, they have either been eliminated or neutralized."

"What?" Mukuro said, stunned.

Ayame gave him an amused look. "Mukuro, no matter how independent you are. You are underage and technically illegally in this country. Of course, I assumed guardianship over you. How else did you think the paperwork so you could attend -"

"Not that!" Mukuro interrupted her. "What do you mean everyone connected to the Estraneo has been eliminated or neutralized."

"Exactly that," Ayame said. "As of exactly forty-nine minutes ago, every person connected to the Estraneo Famiglia is either dead, arrested, neutralized in way that they're no longer a threat or determined to be a victim as well. All information that could be found has been burn to the ground."

Mukuro gaped at her.

"Thank you Neesan," Tsuna said.

"It was your idea."

Wait, Tsunayoshi's idea? Mukuro whirled to face Tsuna. "I thought eradicating them was foolish."

"It is," Tsuna clarified. "But changing them is not. A power vacuum is still a power vacuum. All you have to do is replace them a variable you can monitor."

Something akin to respect reflected on Mukuro's face.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Basil

"Here Basil."

"Master?" Basil accepted the box handed to him.

"You will be carrying the half of the Vongola Rings to Japan," Iemitsu said. "Get them to my son, Ienari. Be careful. The Varia are hunting."

"Understood! I will get there as soon as possible!" Basil said.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Hard

Fuun gasped, sweat dripping down his face. Kaori had passed out ages ago. Hideki was barely clinging to consciousness but still collapsed to the side. To his annoyance, Ienari was still standing, doing just slightly better than Fuun.

There, like the demon looming over them, was Reborn. Fuun was never realized how lucky he had been that Reborn had only shot him in the leg instead of killing him outright when he had attacked Dame-Tsuna. So this was power of an Arcobaleno.

Training under Reborn was hard.

Fuun was used to strenuous training regimes. But this, this was crazy. Ienari did this every day?

"Pathetic," Reborn squeaked. "You will die against the Varia if this is your full extent."

Fuun snarled. Like hell.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Drowning

Ienari's greatest fear was drowning. If he taught himself how to be the strongest swimmer possible, strong enough that swim club often begged him to leave behind Karate and join them, that wasn't anyone's business.

If anyone ever asked Nana, Nana wouldn't be able to explain why Ienari felt like that. There had never been any incidents at the local pools or the one or two vacations to the ocean they had taken. There wasn't any cause of Ienari to be afraid of drowning and she had no idea where the fear could have come from.

But the sinking feeling, the inability to breath, it followed Ienari in the back of his mind.

In many ways, to someone like Reborn, he didn't quite understand why Ienari had a crush on Hisen of all people. Hisen was an ocean, violent and stormy. She engulfed everything, the rain that drowned. Ienari who was afraid of drowning was in love with the one girl who would drown him in everything, power, love, and pure intensity.

Ienari was afraid of drowning.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Falling

On the other end, Tsuna's greatest fear was falling.

This too would baffle Reborn. Tsuna loved the sky, found solace in high places, delicately balanced on the rooftops and drew lazy loops in the air, flying with his Sky Flames. Tsuna was comfortable high up in the air.

Tsuna would never tell Reborn, but sometimes Tsuna felt like Icarus, flying so confidently, only to get too close the sun. Falling, crashing back down to the earth with no one to catch him.

Tsuna was afraid of falling.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mirror Reality

The reality of it was the one who couldn't breathe was Tsuna. The reality of it was Ienari was the one who fell.

Where did it begin and where did it end?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Shadowy Movement

Koumei stared down at the reports on his desk. Surely this must have been karma backlash for his role against the Triads. He could already feel a headache beginning to grow and growled. Why he was the one responsible for this mess, he never understood.

He opened up the first folder, seeing a crest that hadn't been seen in years. The Shadow Court was on the move.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Deep End

"Not going to give them any warning?" Fon asked after Colonnello and Skull had gone their separate ways. The first day of training had been successful for the most part but Ienari and his Guardians had a long way to go.

Reborn shrugged.

Fon marveled at the change Reborn had gone since coming here. The idea of Reborn shrugging had been laughable before. It didn't match with his image.

"No. I figured throwing them into the deep end of the mystery of Namimori would be a good thing," Reborn said, smirk growing on his face.

Then again, Reborn hadn't changed that much at all. Fon felt a dash of pity for both Skull and Colonnello. At least Fon had a frame of reference and Kyoya to ground himself on. Skull and Colonnello were going into Namimori completely blind.

Perhaps he should warn them.

Or… perhaps not. It wasn't like they would believe him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Skull

The smell of something sweet drew Skull in. He found himself in front of a small cafe, following the delicious smell of freshly made cake. A maneki neko cat sign hung above the store, reading Lucky Cat Cafe. Skull pushed open the glass door, hearing the ringing of a bell as he entered.

"Hello."

Before Skull could approach the counter, he was interrupted. A purple haired girl bent down to his eye level. Her single purple eye looked at him, curious. The other eye was covered with a black eyepatch and Skull wondered what had happened to her eye. She looked awfully young to have such a bad injury.

"Hahi! Who is that?" Another girl with brown hair approached them.

"I'm Skull," Skull introduced himself.

"I'm Dokuro Chrome," the purple haired girl introduced herself. "This is Miura Haru."

"Hello Skull," Haru said. "Do you like cake?"

Skull nodded. "I do. I was looking for something to eat." After training with Hachirou all day, Skull could use something sweet and sugary to refill his energy. Cake sounded really amazing right now.

"We'll buy you a slice," Chrome said.

"You don't have to," Skull protested. Despite his appearance, he was the older one here.

"It's fine," Haru said. "Besides, you're Reborn-san's friend!"

Skull blinked, surprised. "You know senpai?" He had known Reborn was a bit of ladykiller, but to have charmed to teenage girls?

Both girls giggled. "Yes, we do. We'll introduce to the rest of our friends later too. You'll really like Tsuna," Chrome said.

Weird, but okay. Skull was all for making new friends.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Colonnello

"Look out!"

Colonnello jumped out of way, just in time to see a white-haired boy come barreling down the roadway. There was a crash as the wall the boy had just run into collapsed. The dust settled and the boy sat up, rubble falling to the side. Colonnello tilted his head as he realized that the boy was completely uninjured despite running straight into the wall.

"Ah! That was extremely fun," the boy said, pumping his fist. "I wonder if I go faster if I could just break the wall without having to stop."

Wait, wait. Was this boy seriously training how to run through walls?

A grin spread across Colonnello's face. He liked this kid. Sure Reborn called him to help train the future Decimo, but Colonnello could take on another protégé he was sure.

"Hey kid," Colonnello said. "I'm Colonnello, kora. Who are you?"

"I am Sasagawa Ryohei! It's extremely nice to meet you," Ryohei said.

Oh this was going to fun.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Walk Where You Go (I Will Follow)

Another day of school, another mind-numbing set of lessons. Somedays Hayato wondered why anyone even bother attending the school. The teachers were horrible, the lessons were boring. The only real upside was that he saw Tsuna-sama every day without an excuse and that thanks to Reborn's new training regime, Ienari and his Guardians weren't in class these days.

"Hayato are you free after school?" Tsuna asked.

"Of course, Tsuna-sama!"

"Just Tsuna, Hayato," Tsuna corrected him.

No. Tsuna-sama will always be Tsuna-sama. The depth of gratitude Hayato had for Tsuna was immeasurable.

"Don't you dare turn him down," Hana said, threatening him at lunch.

"Hana," Tsuna said exasperated. "Let Hayato choose for himself."

What on earth was the harpy woman going on now?! Hayato wisely didn't say anything, catching the razor-sharp glint in Kyoko's eyes. Hayato had learned that Fuuta's ranking of Kyoko was well justified. It had been weeks since the last time Kyoko had dragged him out for a spar and his body could still feel the phantom burns. It was as bad as training with Kyoya!

"Take care of Tsuna," Takeshi called out as Tsuna dragged Hayato out of the school grounds after the last bell had rung.

Hayato blinked, surprised that Takeshi wasn't joining them. Not that Hayato was complaining. The baseball idiot was far too carefree for Hayato's liking. But did this mean Hayato had the whole afternoon with Tsuna by himself?

(No, knowing the paranoia around Tsuna, someone, like Hibari was stalking them from the shadows.)

"No one is following us, Hayato," Tsuna said amused.

"Of course, Tsuna-sama."

Lucky Cat Cafe came into view. Hayato would never admit it, but he had a certain fondness for this place. Here was the first time he had hung out with Tsuna and Yamamoto, met Ayame for the first time, shared plenty of cake. Sure he hadn't known what kind of changes his life was going to go through by agreeing to come here with Tsuna for cake. But here was where it all started.

They found an empty booth in the back, carrying off two slices of cakes with them. Hayato watched as Tsuna pressed an inscribed symbol on the wall of the booth. That wasn't the first time Tsuna had done something like. Tsuna wasn't the only one who did it either.

"Privacy wards," Tsuna explained, noting Hayato's attention to the symbol. "I don't think Neesan ever got around to explaining about them to you, but she has a couple set up all over Namimori. Just a little bit of spirit energy is all that is needed to activate them. Neesan can do it anywhere, but since she isn't always around, she inscribed a few permanent, easy to activate in places we visit frequently."

"What exactly do privacy wards?" Hayato asked. That certainly explained why Lucky Cat Cafe was such a popular spot for everyone.

"Just prevent people from eavesdropping on us. Anyone who tries just hears a false conversation instead," Tsuna explained.

Ah. That was a nifty thing. He wondered if Ayame could install some at his apartment. Then he wouldn't have to worry about his neighbors hearing about his somewhat shady bomb building and stuff.

Hayato went rigid as the implications of why Tsuna was activating privacy ward around them. This was a serious conversation.

Tsuna bit his lip, not looking Hayato in the eye, focusing instead of his cake. Hayato felt his heart dropped and dread grow in his stomach. This was it. This was when he was abandoned or pushed aside.

"Hayato. Soon, Ienari and Xanxus will challenge each other for Decimo position. It's most likely that Ienari will win, cementing his position as Decimo," Tsuna explained. "I won't be Decimo, Hayato. I'm not even going to make myself a possible contender for it. In fact, I want to deal as little as possible with Vongola."

Hayato flinched. They had this conversation before, but there had always been a small voice in Hayato's head that believed that Tsuna would inherit Vongola instead of Ienari. Tsuna was so much better. Hayato still didn't know why Reborn hadn't reported back to Nono about Tsuna. If Xanxus and the Varia were coming, then the battle to secure the heir for Vongola was at their doorsteps and Tsuna wasn't making any waves.

"Won't that be dangerous?" Hayato asked. "Ienari will get all of Vongola's power."

Tsuna shook his head. "Vongola is not and will not be a threat. I'll explain that in just a minute. But, Hayato, I want to know what you plan on doing. Bianchi often use to say how you used dream about making yourself a big time name in the mafia world. Reborn had called you here with the promise of a position in Vongola. Soon, Vongola will be pulling out of this town, Ienari leaving with them. But do you plan on staying or going?"

That was an easy question.

"Staying," Hayato answered without any hesitation.

Tsuna blinked, surprised at his easy and quick answer.

"But-"

"That's an easy question to answer," Hayato said. It really was. True, those things had been his dream once upon a time. But, what he had found here, the friends he had now. This was more than Hayato had ever wanted, had ever dreamed of having. If it meant leaving behind the mafia, it was something that Hayato was willing to do.

"I don't know what the future holds or where it goes," Hayato said. "But where you go, I will follow. If you go overseas for college, I'll follow. If you stay here, I'll stay here too."

Hayato will struggle every way possible. Funding might be difficult, but he wasn't just going to leave Tsuna alone. He owed so much to Tsuna.

Tsuna smiled at him. "Don't walk behind me," Tsuna said fondly. "Just walk beside me and be my friend, Hayato."

Hayato felt his heart swell. He could do that. It would be his honor.

Tsuna laid a small black velvet box on the table. He pushed it over Hayato.

Hesitation, Hayato opened the box, revealing a ring with a red gem.

"You don't have to accept it," Tsuna said.

"Of cour-"

Tsuna held up his hand, cutting Hayato off. He shook his head. "Hayato, wait. This is very important before you accept it. This particular ring has some possible unfortunate side effects and I don't want to you blindly accept it. But before we get to that, let me explain to you everything you're missing about Namimori and the plans we put in place years ago about Vongola."

Oh.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Settling In

Tsuna stretched. Another day had begun. Ienari had already been dragged out of the house by a very determined Reborn. Shortly after that, Ayame had appeared, her wards in tow. Lancia had been dumped into the kitchen with Nana for cooking with Ken and Chikusa as her grumbling but not unwilling dishwashers and prep. Ayame on the other hand sat on Mukuro, another one of her training exercises for Mukuro to gain control over his Sight. Bianchi was wrangling the kids and while Tsuna should go help her, he wanted to have a talk with Chrome.

"How is everything Chrome?" Tsuna asked.

"It's fine, Tsuna," Chrome said softly, smiling.

Tsuna liked that. It wasn't that Chrome's smiles were rare, but lately they had taken an extra soft feel to them, like she was finally settling in. That was an excellent. He wanted her to feel comfortable and happy.

"Everything alright with Mukuro?" Tsuna asked.

Chrome nodded, smile growing wider. "Yes," she said, still soft but much more confident.

She gave Tsuna a curious look. "I won't mind if you give Mukuro the Mist Ring," she said.

Ah. See, this was why Tsuna was so much more terrified of his female friends than his male ones. Ayame knew everything, it was impossible to hide from Hana, Kyoko was Kyoko and now Chrome was following in those same footsteps.

"Who explained it to you?" Tsuna asked, equally curious.

"Hana did," Chrome said. "But it was easy to see." She looked over to where Mukuro and Ayame were deep in a meditative trance. "Mukuro-san might not understand though. He's strange like that."

"I'm not sure if he'll accept it at this point," Tsuna said. Mukuro was an odd case. Tsuna knew without any doubt that Mukuro was his. He also knew that Mukuro would be upset to realize that. They were connected, still not quite friends, but definitely not enemies, their relationship influx.

Chrome laughed. "Just give him some time to settle in."

Tsuna would trust Chrome on that.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Storm Ring

Hayato laid on his bed, holding onto the black velvet ring box. He held it up, seeing the red gem glint in the light.

Tsuna had told him everything, mostly everything. There were still something that Tsuna was holding back on, but everyone had their own secrets. It wasn't like Tsuna knew everything about Hayato after all.

It was quite the story to be honest. He had known some of it, things he had noticed and categorized without knowing the meaning behind it. But it was obvious that this plan had been in the works for many years and was so expansive. It felt like everything that Hayato had known was just a small drop in the bucket.

He wanted to accept this ring, but Tsuna had warned him caution and told him to think about it.

Sunlight poured through the crack of his curtains. Hayato sat up with a sharp realization.

Tsuna had one more Storm. One whom Tsuna had known longer and was arguably closer to. Why was this ring offered to him first?

Or was it not offered to him first?

His insecurities welled up, creeping up like the slowly rising tide.

Jumping out of bed, Hayato glanced at the clock. If he was fast enough, he would catch Hana before school started.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Clashing Storms

Finding Hana was easy enough. She grumbled but allowed Hayato to talk her into skipping school so that they could talk.

"When Kyoya-senpai comes to bite us to death for skipping class, I'm throwing you to the wolves," Hana said.

Hayato found himself back at Lucky Cat Cafe, in the same booth. Hana had swiped engraved insignia, activating the privacy ward. They had skipped the cake, choosing tea and some biscuits for breakfast.

"Why did Tsuna offer me the Storm Ring?" Hayato exploded, unable to keep to himself anymore.

He had no doubt that Hana knew about it. Her words yesterday made sense in the light of what Tsuna had revealed to him.

"Because I don't want it," Hana said sharply.

"But why?" Hayato demanded.

"Because Kyoko didn't win the Cloud Ring," Hana snapped back, growing irritated.

That made absolutely no sense to Hayato. Why did it matter that Kyoko didn't win the Cloud Ring?

Hana sighed. "Stupid bomber monkey," she mumbled. "You've trained with Kyoko, Kyoya-senpai and me. Which one of us makes your Storm Flames stronger?"

He couldn't beat any of them for starters. It was a bit more even with Hana who wasn't this overwhelming powerful fighter like Kyoko and Kyoya. But Hana still had years of Storm Flames experience on him. His street fighting gave him a bit of an edge. Despite her practiced ease with her naginata, Hayato could tell that Hana wasn't a fighter, was never going to be one. It simply didn't fit her.

Kyoko and Kyoya on the other hands were monsters who crushed Hayato like a bug, curbstomping him every time they sparred together.

But…

He supposed Kyoya was the one who made his Flames stronger. Kyoya got under his skin and irritated the shit out of Hayato. Not as much as Takeshi, but bad enough that Hayato could feel his blood stirring.

"There are additional bonds between other elements beside the one between a Sky and an Element," Hana said, once she saw it click in Hayato's eyes. "Nine of out ten times, a Mist and Cloud will never get along. We're all tied together. Tsuna called multiple elements to his side. You realize that Fon calls Tsuna his Sky right?"

Hayato didn't. A seed of doubt wondered if Fon had turned down the ring as well. Between all the storms, he was the weakest.

"Idiot," Hana said. "Fon was never offered the ring."

Probably because it would conflict with his pacifier. Hayato didn't really understand the whole role the Arcobaleno played but he knew that the pacifiers had to do with something. He felt depressed.

Hana grumbled, rolling her eyes at him. "Stop thinking like that," she commanded. "You're missing the point here. Kyoko is the Cloud that makes me stronger as a Storm. If she had won the Cloud Ring, I assure we would be having a match over who get the Storm Ring because Tsuna wants to give everyone an equal chance. Kyoko didn't win the Cloud Ring which means I'm not interested."

Oh. That made Hayato feel a little bit better.

"You're not an odd wheel out you know," Hana said.

Hayato bit back a bark of angry words, bristling. Of course, she could say that.

"That only reason why you're behind is because you came to Namimori late which given you were born in another country is an understandable and acceptable reason," Hana said.

"But," Hayato said.

"Idiot. If you want it, accept it," Hana said. "Just be mindful of the consequences. Tsuna did explain those right?"

Hayato nodded.

"You worry too much," Hana said. "Tsuna won't hate you if you don't want to accept it. If it feels like you're too moving too slow, it's because there's a lot for you to catch up on what's happening here in Namimori. Think of it this way, if you're drowning in information, Reborn and Fon are even deeper in the dark."

Oh. Hayato hadn't considered that.

"Do you plan on accepting it?" Hana asked.

Hayato felt the ring in his pocket, heavy and feeling so right. He still questioned whether it was right for him to accept it; his doubts lingering. But… if he had the choice, he wanted to. He really wanted to.

"Yes," Hayato said. "Yes, this is mines."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

For Science!

"Shoichi," Ayame started.

"If it's about the ring, I don't want it. Ryohei can have it," Shoichi said. Tsuna had asked if he was interested in having the Sun Ring for himself. While admittedly it would be nice to have a piece of the project he had worked on, Shoichi balked at the idea of having to fight Ryohei for it. His stomach throbbed at the mere thought. No. Nope. Not interested. Definitely not if he had to fight for it.

Ayame tilted her head, looking at him curious. "Very well," she said, letting the subject drop.

"Should have taken it anyways," Spanner said lazily. He didn't even look up from the gear he was wrenching into place.

Ayame handed him another gear, watching it slot into place.

"I can't fight Ryohei!" Shoichi said. "I'm not a fighter at all."

"That's why we're building mini mosca for you," Spanner said. Said robot was coming along fabulously.

Shoichi eyed it with equal amount of hesitation. While he could build robots, it was never his true forte. Not like Spanner. Ayame on the other hand had been delighted to hear about the robot and all but threw all the supplies Spanner would need to build one. She was utterly curious to see how it would work. Now here they were with a robot almost done.

"Would you challenge Takeshi for the Rain Ring?" Ayame asked.

Spanner shook his head. "No. Not interested. Besides," he said, his eyes taking on an understanding glint. "I know I'm still an outsider in this situation." He trimmed another wire and soldered it into place. Then he closed the panel.

"Alright, let's try booting Mini Mosca up."

"We're sure this is going to work, right?" Shoichi asked.

"That or it'll blow up in our faces," Ayame said with cheer.

"That's not funny Neesan!" Oh, there was a sharp pain in his stomach again.

"It might not move at all," Spanner said.

"Won't know until we throw the switch," Ayame said. She handed out protective goggles to Shoichi and Spanner.

Shoichi sighed, but it was simple a well-rehearsed reaction at this point. He did want to know if the robot worked as well. "For science, then?" he said, pulling the goggles on.

"For science!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arrival of Rings (Enter Basil)

Basil looked at the small and quaint town. So, this was the town his Master called home. Tucking securely under his arm was the box containing the half rings of the Vongola Rings. His master was counting on him to deliver these Rings.

He had to find one Sawada Ienari.

#khr #katekyo hitman reborn #sawada tsunayoshi #reborn #arcobaleno #seitowrites #wwbtf au

10 notes · View notes