Reborn! fic - Blood of the Covenant (Chapter 4)
( Prologue | 01 | 02 | 03 )
Title - Blood of the Covenant
Rating - PG-13 for language and violence
Characters - Gokudera, Tsuna, Reborn, Yamamoto
Notes - You know what, I have so many notes at the end of this chapter that I’m not gonna bother with anything up here. No warnings for this chapter either.
Target 04 - Contact
“So tell us about your contact,” Ganauche said.
“His name is Trucco Inganno,” said Gokudera. “He’s an associate of the DiSanto family. Not a full-fledged member, but he’s worked with them pretty often over the years, and they trust him.”
“And you think he’d be able to arrange a meeting with your brother?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s our best bet.”
“Do you trust him?” Reborn asked.
“…Well enough. We did a couple of jobs together a few years back. I think he’d hear me out.”
“Good. Then the next step is getting in contact with him.”
Gokudera hesitated. “There’s a bar downtown that he frequents a lot. Or at least he did back in the day.”
“…That’s it?” said Ganauche. “You know what bar he likes to go to? No offense, but that’s pretty iffy.”
Gokudera glared. “You have a better idea?”
“No, but I still reserve the right to complain.”
“So what’s the plan?” broke in Tsuna.
Gokudera looked uncomfortable. “I think… it might be better if I go alone, Boss.”
“Nope,” Ganauche said immediately.
“That’s not happening, Gokudera-kun,” Tsuna said.
“Look,” Gokudera protested, “if we all go and Trucco sees a bunch of Vongola guys there, he might get spooked and run off-”
“Then we’ll figure something else out.”
“Tsuna’s right, Gokudera,” Yamamoto chimed in. “You going in alone is way too dangerous.”
“This is a group operation,” Reborn said decisively. Then, before Gokudera could open his mouth to object again: “Unless you’re going to question the Boss’s final decision?”
Much to Yamamoto’s surprise, for a brief moment it looked like Gokudera actually was considering just that. But finally he grunted an assent and folded his arms.
“Good,” said Reborn. “Then, Gokudera, you’ll give us your contact’s description. You and Ganauche will wait in the bar, and Tsuna, Yamamoto, and I will find a nearby location and watch from the outside. We’ll use Giannini’s wireless headsets to communicate.”
“We should station a few other men in disguise around the area just in case,” Ganauche said.
“Agreed.”
“Ha ha, it’s almost like a spy operation,” Yamamoto said, bemused.
Gokudera shot him a glare. “You better fucking take this seriously, Baseball Idiot.”
“I am!” He paused. “…Can we make up code names, though?”
And although he really was taking it seriously, he had to fight not to crack up at the look that Gokudera gave him.
“No, because this is real life and not a side mission in Call of Duty!”
“Okay,” Yamamoto said before turning to the kid. “Reborn, can we have code names?”
“Sure,” Reborn said.
Gokudera threw his hands up exasperatedly as Yamamoto grinned and said, “Then in that case, Tsuna, you can be…” He considered. “Nova Prime.”
Tsuna just nodded, looking like he really didn’t want to get involved in this discussion.
“Ganauche-” Yamamoto said.
“So this is really happening?” Ganauche muttered.
“-You’ll be… Aftershock.”
“I’ll be Thanatos,” Reborn said brightly.
“Fine,” sighed Gokudera, “then I’ll be Cyclogenesis. And the baseball moron can be…” He fixed Yamamoto with a sardonic look. “…Puddle Jumper.”
“I was thinking something like ‘Battousai,’” said Yamamoto.
“Too late, it’s settled. This was your stupid idea. Now can we focus?”
Since he didn’t really mind, and especially because he felt relieved that the tension had finally defused for the first time in what felt like days-even if it had been brief-Yamamoto nodded.
He just hoped the relief would last. He had a feeling things were about to get serious.
---
Anthony leaned against the veranda’s stone railing. “You’re sure?” he said into the phone. “…All right; good work. Notify me right away if anything changes.”
He could see that Luca’s interest had piqued from where he sat a few feet away, but he waited until Anthony had hung up before he raised an eyebrow expectantly.
“That was Pazza Luna,” Anthony informed him. “I sent him to Namimori to keep tabs on the Vongola’s whereabouts.”
“And?” Luca pressed.
“Well, as you know, a jet arrived in Punta Raisi yesterday and entered the Vongola’s private hangar. We weren’t able to confirm who was on board, so Pazza has been tracking the ones who are still in Japan. Based on process of elimination, your brother was almost certainly on the plane, along with the young Vongola Boss, and one more of his Guardians.”
“Only one?”
“Pretty sure,” Anthony said. “The only Guardians not accounted for were Storm and Rain. And Reborn is most likely with them also.”
“Of course,” nodded Luca. “Wherever Tsunayoshi goes, Reborn goes.”
“Seems to be the case.”
Luca was quiet for a long moment, seemingly in thought. Finally he said, “Well then, Anthony, how would you feel about a night on the town?”
Anthony sighed. “Guessing that’s not a suggestion.”
“And bring your wife as well,” Luca added. “We’ll have need of her particular skillset.”
“Sounds romantic.”
“Not that romantic,” Luca said with a smile. “I’ll be going with you.”
Anthony shot him a disbelieving look. “…I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
Anthony bit back another sigh. “So when you made me Consigliere, were you already planning then to just never listen to me, or…?”
“I’ve made my decision,” said Luca, standing up and walking over to the edge of the veranda steps.
“Luca,” said Anthony, frustrated. Luca glanced back over his shoulder. “They’re waiting for you to leave the castle so they can make a move.”
Luca looked contemplative for a moment. “…Maybe you’re right. But I don’t think so. That’s not really the Vongola’s style. At least not since they started bringing the kid into the fold.”
“Even if that’s the case,” Anthony pressed, “that kid is still strong enough to wipe out our entire family if he wanted to. I heard he defeated a Vindice, for God’s sake. You can’t go in underestimating him.”
Luca turned back toward the steps, looking out onto the gardens as they bathed in the late afternoon light. “…He’s the one who’ll underestimate me.”
Anthony folded his arms and closed his eyes, rubbing tiredly at his forehead, and then at his not-quite-a-beard. Then, after about a minute’s silence, he exhaled very slowly and moved to stand beside Luca.
The other man didn’t look back at him again, but he acknowledged the gesture with a smile.
“Don’t worry, Anthony,” he said. “I do listen to you. I’ll play it smart. But I’m still going.”
“…Fine. I’ll call Bella. But if we’re going to do this, Boss, then we should do it carefully.”
“I’m open to ideas.”
“For starters, considering who we’re up against, I’m gonna suggest we bring along a few more people.”
“What did you have in mind?”
Anthony considered.
---
Although the plan had called for Reborn, Yamamoto, and himself to keep eyes on the bar’s entrance while blending in as tourists dining at the bistro across the square, Tsuna couldn’t help but feel like they were taking the definition of “blending in” very loosely.
For starters, Reborn was the only one of the three who actually spoke Italian. This was bad enough considering that he was actually an infant; it only got worse when Reborn insisted on ordering, among other things, a bottle of wine for the table. And for some reason that Tsuna couldn’t fathom, the restaurant had actually obliged; and so the other two now sat sipping contentedly, while he himself sat hunched in awkward embarrassment.
“It’s a beautiful evening,” Reborn said.
“It is really nice, isn’t it?” Yamamoto agreed. “Look at that sunset. I know it’s a mission, but right now, this really does almost feel like a vacation, doesn’t it, Tsuna?”
“Sure,” said Tsuna weakly, and Yamamoto laughed.
“You should try it!”
“Tsuna’s too young to drink,” Reborn said parentally.
“You’re one to talk!” Tsuna sputtered, red-faced.
“Hey, hey,” said Yamamoto with a smile. He leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand, meeting Tsuna’s eyes in that seemingly-carefree-yet-peculiarly-insightful manner that he had. “Try to relax, okay, Nova?”
“…Are we really doing the code names?”
“Puddle Jumper wanted to do them, so we should humor him, Boss,” crackled Gokudera’s voice over the headset.
Yamamoto laughed. “Do you guys see anyone yet?”
“Not yet.” That was Ganauche. “But the night is still young.”
“We might be here a while,” Gokudera admitted.
“In that case,” said Reborn, “we’ll need more wine.”
Tsuna groaned.
---
“Describe him again for me one more time,” Ganauche said.
Across from him, the kid sighed. “About five-foot-ten; early twenties. Big forehead, bushy eyebrows, thinning hair, and a mustache.”
“I wish it wasn’t so damn dark in here,” Ganauche muttered. “Don’t know why these meeting spots always have to have such terrible fucking lighting.”
“Isn’t it so that nobody can see what you’re doing?”
“If you’re good enough, they either won’t notice anyway, or they’ll be too intimidated to stop you.”
The kid muttered something vaguely conceding, then fell back into silence.
“He might not show,” said Ganauche after they had sat like that for a few more minutes.
“…Mmm,” said Gokudera noncommittally.
Ganauche sighed. In his earpiece he could faintly hear the lighthearted chatter coming from Reborn’s group.
“…Look, kid-” he began.
And that was when another voice suddenly exploded in his ear.
“Boss!”
Ganauche’s hand shot to his ear. That was San Remo, one of the Vongola subordinates that had accompanied them to keep watch from nearby. “What is it?!”
“We’re-aargh!-we’re under attack-!”
In an instant, Ganauche was on his feet. “Where are you now?”
“We-aagh!”
There was sound of a crash, accompanied by screaming, and then the comm went silent.
“San?” Nothing.
“Damn it!” he shouted, all thoughts of keeping a low profile forgotten. He turned around to tell the kid to forget the plan for now-
-but the kid was gone.
“Gokudera!” He cast around, but there was no sign of him.
His earpiece, though, lay abandoned on the table.
“Shit,” Ganauche said.
---
Across the piazza, Tsuna and Yamamoto had also immediately leaped to their feet following the commotion.
“What’s happening?” Tsuna asked Reborn urgently, but just then, a shriek emanated from one of the nearby tables. Tsuna spun around to see a man slumped over.
At first glance, it might almost have looked as though he had simply had too much to drink and had passed out. The dripping red liquid could have simply been some spilled wine.
Except that a woman wearing a leather jacket was currently standing over him, holding a sword dripping with the same shade of red.
Tsuna suddenly felt cold.
The air was suddenly filled with the sounds of chairs being scraped back and more screams, as the surrounding patrons panicked and started to flee. In contrast to this chaotic image, the woman stood utterly calm and still; and Tsuna now noticed that one of the men standing nearby was also doing the same.
In roughly fifteen seconds the entire piazza had almost cleared out, leaving only Tsuna, Yamamoto, Reborn, and the two strangers. Reborn had drawn his handgun.
“I’m surprised to see you again so soon, Anthony Franco,” he said.
Tsuna had a brief moment of confusion, during which he tried to recall just why that name sounded so familiar. Then, in a burst of movement so quick that Tsuna couldn’t even see, Yamamoto activated his Vongola Gear necklace and drew his sword.
And then Tsuna remembered.
An instant later, he had activated his own Vongola Gear, and as the Dying Will flame kindled to life on his forehead, he immediately felt his thoughts become clearer.
“You’re the one who attacked Gokudera-kun,” he said.
The man didn’t move an inch. “Oh, you heard about that,” he said.
Tsuna felt a bright flash of anger, and just like that, before any of the others could do or say anything to stop him, he had launched himself at the man, all thoughts of negotiation and peaceful resolution suddenly forgotten.
But just before he could reach him, he was suddenly forced to swerve and dodge, as the woman with the sword launched a sudden attack that nearly took his head off. He veered away at the last second, landing in a crouching position. Then she was coming at him again.
He was taken aback by the speed and accuracy of her movement, and before he could move to counter this time, he was interrupted by a burst of blue flame.
“Tsuna!”
A moment later, Tsuna’s thoughts caught up with him and he recognized the shape of the flames as that of one of Yamamoto’s Shigure Souen Ryu defensive forms-Surging Rain.
Yamamoto himself now stood crouched in front of him. “I’ll handle this,” he said. “You get the other one.”
Tsuna immediately shifted his focus back to the other man-Anthony Franco. “Got it.”
“I get the big fish, huh?” Anthony said. “But you’ll have to catch me first, Vongola.”
And an instant later, he was gone.
No, not gone, Tsuna realized, snapping himself out of his startled confusion. He was escaping down the street up ahead. But-he comprehended with a sudden jolt-he was fast. Almost inhumanly so. Without hesitation, Tsuna fired up his X-Burner flames and shot after him. “Be careful, Yamamoto!” he shouted as he rocketed off.
“Don’t worry about him,” said a voice in his ear, just as he felt a familiar weight settle on his shoulder. “Focus on your own target, No-Good Tsuna.”
Tsuna just nodded, and together they gave pursuit.
---
Yamamoto watched from the corner of his eye as Tsuna and Reborn vanished out of sight, but kept most of his focus on the woman who now stood calmly before him. She was tall, with long, cascading hair and striking dark eyebrows. She wore a matching leather jacket and shorts, with long boots and sunglasses. It was an aggressive, almost intimidatingly sophisticated look; although Yamamoto didn’t know much about style, to him her appearance reminded him of a high-fashion model.
“So,” she said as he slowly rose to his feet, “you’re Yamamoto Takeshi. The boy who defeated the second Sword Emperor.”
“Heh,” he said as he took a single step to the side, and then another, keeping his sword at guard. She mirrored the movement, matching his timing and pace, so that the two of them were now slowly circling each other. “I guess I am. But it feels a little weird, you knowing my name but me not knowing yours.”
“Bella Roma,” she answered after a slight pause.
He grinned, though he didn’t drop his guard for even a moment. “Nice to meet you, Bella. I have to admit, this is my first time fighting… uh.” He hesitated.
“A woman,” she finished for him evenly.
He laughed awkwardly. “…Yeah. Sorry. To be honest… I’m not quite sure that I can do it.”
“It has no bearing on me either way,” she said with a shrug. “But it will be your funeral.”
“Ha ha, maybe,” he admitted as he mentally assessed his options.
He could tell from her posture alone that Bella was dangerous. Definitely not someone to underestimate. Chivalry or not, if he was stupid enough to take this fight anything less than one hundred percent seriously, she would probably make short work of him.
Despite that, he honestly wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to go all out with an attack, which was definitely a problem. Best, then, to try and finish this quickly. Then he could rejoin Tsuna and the others.
Having settled on his course of action, he shifted his stance and angled his blade down to the right.
Bella did not move to respond, but simply stood there in place, waiting.
Steeling his resolve, Yamamoto charged.
---
Tsuna didn’t understand how Anthony could be so fast without using Dying Will flames or any other obvious method of propulsion. He had faced off against speeds of this caliber only once before, and that had been against the Vindice, who had utilized the flame of the Night in order to create portals that allowed them to warp at near-light speed.
Yet as far as Tsuna could tell, Anthony was doing this without the use of any flame, which was a feat that Tsuna had seen performed by only one other person. That man was currently seated in his infant form on Tsuna’s right shoulder.
Though if Reborn could do it, Tsuna supposed that meant it was indeed possible. It made him wonder, though, just how strong the man he was pursuing actually was.
But he couldn’t worry about that now. First he had to catch him. The route Anthony was taking had quickly led them away from the piazza and down a winding route of narrow pathways, away from the busier main streets. Although Tsuna was primarily focused on just keeping up, he was glad that the other man seemed to be leading them away from the more crowded part of the city. He followed as they diverted over a wall, into another alley, up a set of stone steps, and then down yet another alley.
Tsuna was slowly but surely starting to get his bearings now, and as Anthony veered off down another path up ahead, he had a sudden burst of intuition. Kicking his X-Burner flames into high gear, he shot off down a different path, intending to try and cut the other man off.
A few seconds later, he emerged onto a street and glanced about-but Anthony was nowhere in sight. Nevertheless, his instincts screamed that he was somewhere close by.
Cautiously, he took another look around. He was standing across from another square now, this one a much wider and more open space than the piazza they had recently vacated. The sun had just cleared the horizon, and the sky was now a bright purple-gold expanse, with darkness looming just beyond. Directly in front of him loomed a massive, castle-like structure with gothic arches, several towers, and a great dome that protruded from the main body of the building.
And up on that roof, directly in front of that dome, a wiry figure stood silhouetted in the receding light.
Tsuna ignited his flames again, launching himself over the courtyard and onto the opposite end of the long, angled rooftop, directly across from Anthony Franco.
“That’s better. Just you and me, now,” said the other man, shoulders hunched nonchalantly and his hands resting casually in his pockets.
That was when Tsuna realized with a start that Reborn was no longer there.
---
“Reborn!” Although the exclamation came in the deeper, more mature tones of Tsuna’s Dying Will mode, Reborn could still pick up on the apprehension in his student’s voice.
“Something came up,” Reborn replied over the headset. “You’ll have to handle Franco on your own for now.”
“What happened?” Tsuna questioned. “Are you all right?”
Reborn glanced around mildly.
Somewhere off to his left, he heard the telltale clicking sound of a gun being cocked. Then another, this one coming from behind. Then another, and another. Left; right; directly ahead; and all around him, until the surrounding air was reverberating with the sound.
He estimated there were more than a hundred in all.
“It’s a minor inconvenience,” he said in response to Tsuna.
Then, without missing a beat, he cocked his own gun in response.
Time to get to work.
---
Slowly Tsuna moved his hand back down from his earpiece and glared at the man standing across from him. “What did you do?” he demanded.
“No need for that face,” Anthony replied. “Just brought in some backup. I’m sure it’s nothing your tutor can’t handle. If anything, I’m the one who should be worrying right about now.”
“You’re right about that,” Tsuna said, and charged.
Anthony dodged with frustrating ease, leaping aside and landing on one of the nearby turrets. “In fact, given his reputation, we probably don’t even have more than a few minutes.”
He was too fast, Tsuna realized. Too fast for him to be able to target him like this.
He needed Reborn. With a Dying Will Bullet, he’d be able to enter Ultimate Dying Will mode, and then he’d be able to turn the tides here. But as it was, he wasn’t even going to be able to land a hit on Franco, not at the rate that things were going.
Something about it was odd, though. By now, Anthony should have realized that with his speed, he currently held the advantage. So why, then, was he not actually fighting back? He’d been on the defensive this entire time, Tsuna realized, simply evading Tsuna’s attacks, and leading him away from…
Shit.
“Gokudera-kun!” he said urgently into the headset. “Are you there?”
There was no response. “Ganauche!” he tried next. Same thing. Then: “Yamamoto, are you still there?”
“I-yeah,” came the response after a second or two. “Somehow.”
Something felt a bit off about that reply, but there was no time to get into it right now. “Do you have eyes on Gokudera-kun? Is he still in the bar?”
“I…” Yamamoto’s voice was uncertain. “I don’t know.”
“Damn it!” He focused his attention back on Franco.
He needed to find a way to finish this now, somehow-and fast.
---
Night was fast approaching as Gokudera made his way through the rambling alleys of Palermo, moving as quickly as possible. He had no real goal yet, other than to put as much distance as he could between him and the others.
He wasn’t so stupid as to think it had only been luck that had caused the distraction allowing him to get away from Ganauche.
By now, word would have reached Luca that Gokudera was back in Italy. If he really did want him dead, he wasn’t going to get a better opportunity than this. Gokudera had been expecting him to make his move soon. That it had happened before the others had finally called his bluff on his made-up “contact” was just a fortunate coincidence.
Of course, this also meant that his life was now in very real danger. He had no plan to handle it, and considering Luca’s abilities, he was very possibly about to walk into a situation from which there would be no walking out of.
But right now, that suited Gokudera just fine. All he cared about was that the rest of the Vongola be kept out of it.
(As a Vongola Guardian, you have a responsibility to more than just your Boss. It’s your duty to keep this whole family safe.)
That was what Ganauche had said. And he had been right.
Luca wasn’t after the Vongola. He wasn’t after Tsuna, or Yamamoto. It was only Gokudera. Just him.
He knew what Luca was capable of. And he knew that when push came to shove, the others would not hesitate to defend him. Neither party would back down, and Gokudera feared that when that they finally collided, one of the two would not survive that encounter.
He couldn’t risk that happening to Tsuna. He would not risk it. Never, ever, no matter what.
So he kept running, as darkness fell over the Sicilian capital.
---
The instant he enters the luxuriously appointed bedroom, Gokudera has the distinct, unsettled feeling that something is off.
At first, he tells himself it’s just nerves. Of course he’s nervous. Tsuna and the others have come all the way here to the Vongola HQ in Italy just for his sake, and the person they’ve come to deal with is none other than Gokudera’s psychotic brother. Hell, “nervous” isn’t a strong enough term for that.
That’s when he notices that the windowed door leading out to the garden terrace is slightly ajar.
After a moment of hesitation, he steps out onto the stone balcony, his left hand hovering carefully over his Vongola Gear, ready to launch the Sistema C.A.I. at a moment’s notice.
He waits, on high alert, as he sees a figure approach. And then finally suppresses a quick sigh of relief as he recognizes the other person on the balcony. It’s one of the Ninth’s Guardians… his Lightning Guardian. Ganauche III.
He lets himself relax, but is careful not to completely drop his guard. They may be part of the same family, technically, but the past forty-eight hours have set him on edge, and just now he isn’t exactly in a mood to be particularly trusting of anyone. Let alone a guy who decided it would be fun to just sneak into someone else’s room for kicks.
“What do you want?” he says, trying to be at least grudgingly polite, without much success (though he feels he can hardly be blamed for that).
“Just to say hi,” Ganauche replies. “I know we’ve been formally introduced before, but that was under pretty different-and highly unusual-circumstances.”
“The Inheritance Ceremony.” Gokudera remembers perfectly well.
“That was pretty crazy, wasn’t it?” says Ganauche. “I’ll admit, in the end you kids didn’t do too badly, though.”
“Of course not,” Gokudera replies. Then he adds, “But you didn’t come just to talk to me about that.” Because it’s obvious that Ganauche isn’t just stopping by to reminisce about the botched ceremony from four months ago, and Gokudera doesn’t feel like standing around all day waiting for him to reveal his true intentions.
“Straight to the point,” Ganauche says, and suddenly his whole demeanor changes. It’s not unfriendly, exactly, but it’s like he’s sobered up, become more serious. It reminds Gokudera oddly of Yamamoto. “No, I came here because I wanted to ask you a question.”
“What is it?” Gokudera asks.
“Why did you decide to join the Vongola?”
For a split second Gokudera is taken by surprise, but it’s an easy question for him to answer. “Because of the Tenth.”
“Tsunayoshi-kun,” Ganauche says, nodding. “What was it specifically, about him?”
“…He saved my life,” Gokudera says after a moment of debating whether to be honest.
“So that’s why you’re loyal to him?”
“Yes.” That should be obvious, but more to the point, Gokudera doesn’t see how any of this is relevant.
“I see,” Ganauche says. “Then let me ask you a follow-up question: Is Tsunayoshi-kun the only reason you’re loyal to the Vongola?”
This time Gokudera really is caught by surprise. “W…what?” he stammers.
“I’m going to be blunt,” Ganauche says suddenly, moving in closer, and Gokudera has to stop himself from automatically taking a step back. “I know your background, Gokudera Hayato. I know you ran away from home when you were only eight. I know you went from family to family for the next several years, but no one was willing to take you in.”
Gokudera clenches a fist tightly as Ganauche continues. “So you tried your best to live with it, like anyone would in that situation. Acted like you didn’t care. Went around picking fights with everyone you met. Made a name for yourself, eventually, the Smoking Bomb, but still no one ever actually believed in you, or was willing to stick their necks out for you. Not till you were finally recruited by the Vongola.”
Gokudera can feel his nails digging into his palm but doesn’t take much notice. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out; and anyway, Ganauche is still going on.
“And I know from personal experience,” the other man says. “When you live a life like that, and then all of a sudden someone comes along and plucks you up out of it, that person becomes your savior. And you’re willing to do absolutely anything for them, just as I’m sure that you’re willing to do anything for Tsunayoshi-kun.
“But as a Vongola Guardian, you have a responsibility to more than just your Boss. It’s your duty to keep this whole family safe. Just like it’s my duty, as the Ninth’s Guardian. I need to make sure that the decisions we make are the ones in the best interests of the family.
“So I’ll ask you again,” Ganauche concludes. “Is your loyalty only to Tsunayoshi-kun, or is it to the Vongola?”
He finally goes silent, then, and for a moment it’s utterly quiet on the balcony except for the sound of birds chirping in the gardens below.
“It’s true that the Ten… Neo Vongola Primo… is the one that saved me,” Gokudera admits at last. “Everything that I am today… everything good,” he pauses to clarify, “is because of him. And it’s true that I would do anything for him, like you said.
“…But the Ninth is the one who first invited me into the family. And Reborn-san invited me to Japan. And the Boss’s father… he gave me my ring.” He paused. “Well-it’s not actually a ring anymore, but. The point is, he chose me, to be a Guardian. And I know how important that is.”
He hesitates, then ends with: “And I won’t let them down.”
Ganauche regards him thoughtfully for another long moment.
“Good,” he finally says. “I’ll hold you to that.”
And with that, he steps past Gokudera back into the room, and then out the door into the hall, leaving Gokudera alone with his thoughts.
---
Gokudera couldn’t help but feel that Ganauche-and possibly Reborn too-had seen right through his attempt to sneak off from the rest and take care of things himself, after that. But he had managed it anyway in the end. Now he just had to finish this before anyone else got hurt, and before he himself lost his nerve.
Because he was afraid. He could admit it, if only to himself. Probably more than he was actually allowing himself to process. He just kept telling himself that as bad as this was, it could still get worse. And that was why he had to act. To stop ‘worse’ from ever happening.
As these thoughts raced through his head, he rounded another corner. By this point he had passed through the nicer parts of town and had made his way into one of the seedier areas. Graffiti of various origins dotted the walls of these alleys; bits of scattered trash lined the streets here and there, and many of the buildings had a darker, more rundown look to them, which was only helped along by the fact that full dark had finally set in. Streetlights now illuminated the winding angles of the paths up ahead, giving them a more sinister feel, and for a moment, Gokudera was vividly reminded of the attempted assassination only two nights ago.
And just like on that night, a lurking figure was now stepping out toward him from the shadows.
His breath suddenly caught tight in his chest.
“Hello, Hayato,” Luca said.
---
Continue to Chapter 5
( Prologue | 01 | 02 | 03 )
Additional Notes -
Title - Blood of the Covenant
Rating - PG-13 for language and violence
Characters - Gokudera, Tsuna, Reborn, Yamamoto
Notes - You know what, I have so many notes at the end of this chapter that I’m not gonna bother with anything up here. No warnings for this chapter either.
Target 04 - Contact
“So tell us about your contact,” Ganauche said.
“His name is Trucco Inganno,” said Gokudera. “He’s an associate of the DiSanto family. Not a full-fledged member, but he’s worked with them pretty often over the years, and they trust him.”
“And you think he’d be able to arrange a meeting with your brother?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s our best bet.”
“Do you trust him?” Reborn asked.
“…Well enough. We did a couple of jobs together a few years back. I think he’d hear me out.”
“Good. Then the next step is getting in contact with him.”
Gokudera hesitated. “There’s a bar downtown that he frequents a lot. Or at least he did back in the day.”
“…That’s it?” said Ganauche. “You know what bar he likes to go to? No offense, but that’s pretty iffy.”
Gokudera glared. “You have a better idea?”
“No, but I still reserve the right to complain.”
“So what’s the plan?” broke in Tsuna.
Gokudera looked uncomfortable. “I think… it might be better if I go alone, Boss.”
“Nope,” Ganauche said immediately.
“That’s not happening, Gokudera-kun,” Tsuna said.
“Look,” Gokudera protested, “if we all go and Trucco sees a bunch of Vongola guys there, he might get spooked and run off-”
“Then we’ll figure something else out.”
“Tsuna’s right, Gokudera,” Yamamoto chimed in. “You going in alone is way too dangerous.”
“This is a group operation,” Reborn said decisively. Then, before Gokudera could open his mouth to object again: “Unless you’re going to question the Boss’s final decision?”
Much to Yamamoto’s surprise, for a brief moment it looked like Gokudera actually was considering just that. But finally he grunted an assent and folded his arms.
“Good,” said Reborn. “Then, Gokudera, you’ll give us your contact’s description. You and Ganauche will wait in the bar, and Tsuna, Yamamoto, and I will find a nearby location and watch from the outside. We’ll use Giannini’s wireless headsets to communicate.”
“We should station a few other men in disguise around the area just in case,” Ganauche said.
“Agreed.”
“Ha ha, it’s almost like a spy operation,” Yamamoto said, bemused.
Gokudera shot him a glare. “You better fucking take this seriously, Baseball Idiot.”
“I am!” He paused. “…Can we make up code names, though?”
And although he really was taking it seriously, he had to fight not to crack up at the look that Gokudera gave him.
“No, because this is real life and not a side mission in Call of Duty!”
“Okay,” Yamamoto said before turning to the kid. “Reborn, can we have code names?”
“Sure,” Reborn said.
Gokudera threw his hands up exasperatedly as Yamamoto grinned and said, “Then in that case, Tsuna, you can be…” He considered. “Nova Prime.”
Tsuna just nodded, looking like he really didn’t want to get involved in this discussion.
“Ganauche-” Yamamoto said.
“So this is really happening?” Ganauche muttered.
“-You’ll be… Aftershock.”
“I’ll be Thanatos,” Reborn said brightly.
“Fine,” sighed Gokudera, “then I’ll be Cyclogenesis. And the baseball moron can be…” He fixed Yamamoto with a sardonic look. “…Puddle Jumper.”
“I was thinking something like ‘Battousai,’” said Yamamoto.
“Too late, it’s settled. This was your stupid idea. Now can we focus?”
Since he didn’t really mind, and especially because he felt relieved that the tension had finally defused for the first time in what felt like days-even if it had been brief-Yamamoto nodded.
He just hoped the relief would last. He had a feeling things were about to get serious.
---
Anthony leaned against the veranda’s stone railing. “You’re sure?” he said into the phone. “…All right; good work. Notify me right away if anything changes.”
He could see that Luca’s interest had piqued from where he sat a few feet away, but he waited until Anthony had hung up before he raised an eyebrow expectantly.
“That was Pazza Luna,” Anthony informed him. “I sent him to Namimori to keep tabs on the Vongola’s whereabouts.”
“And?” Luca pressed.
“Well, as you know, a jet arrived in Punta Raisi yesterday and entered the Vongola’s private hangar. We weren’t able to confirm who was on board, so Pazza has been tracking the ones who are still in Japan. Based on process of elimination, your brother was almost certainly on the plane, along with the young Vongola Boss, and one more of his Guardians.”
“Only one?”
“Pretty sure,” Anthony said. “The only Guardians not accounted for were Storm and Rain. And Reborn is most likely with them also.”
“Of course,” nodded Luca. “Wherever Tsunayoshi goes, Reborn goes.”
“Seems to be the case.”
Luca was quiet for a long moment, seemingly in thought. Finally he said, “Well then, Anthony, how would you feel about a night on the town?”
Anthony sighed. “Guessing that’s not a suggestion.”
“And bring your wife as well,” Luca added. “We’ll have need of her particular skillset.”
“Sounds romantic.”
“Not that romantic,” Luca said with a smile. “I’ll be going with you.”
Anthony shot him a disbelieving look. “…I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
Anthony bit back another sigh. “So when you made me Consigliere, were you already planning then to just never listen to me, or…?”
“I’ve made my decision,” said Luca, standing up and walking over to the edge of the veranda steps.
“Luca,” said Anthony, frustrated. Luca glanced back over his shoulder. “They’re waiting for you to leave the castle so they can make a move.”
Luca looked contemplative for a moment. “…Maybe you’re right. But I don’t think so. That’s not really the Vongola’s style. At least not since they started bringing the kid into the fold.”
“Even if that’s the case,” Anthony pressed, “that kid is still strong enough to wipe out our entire family if he wanted to. I heard he defeated a Vindice, for God’s sake. You can’t go in underestimating him.”
Luca turned back toward the steps, looking out onto the gardens as they bathed in the late afternoon light. “…He’s the one who’ll underestimate me.”
Anthony folded his arms and closed his eyes, rubbing tiredly at his forehead, and then at his not-quite-a-beard. Then, after about a minute’s silence, he exhaled very slowly and moved to stand beside Luca.
The other man didn’t look back at him again, but he acknowledged the gesture with a smile.
“Don’t worry, Anthony,” he said. “I do listen to you. I’ll play it smart. But I’m still going.”
“…Fine. I’ll call Bella. But if we’re going to do this, Boss, then we should do it carefully.”
“I’m open to ideas.”
“For starters, considering who we’re up against, I’m gonna suggest we bring along a few more people.”
“What did you have in mind?”
Anthony considered.
---
Although the plan had called for Reborn, Yamamoto, and himself to keep eyes on the bar’s entrance while blending in as tourists dining at the bistro across the square, Tsuna couldn’t help but feel like they were taking the definition of “blending in” very loosely.
For starters, Reborn was the only one of the three who actually spoke Italian. This was bad enough considering that he was actually an infant; it only got worse when Reborn insisted on ordering, among other things, a bottle of wine for the table. And for some reason that Tsuna couldn’t fathom, the restaurant had actually obliged; and so the other two now sat sipping contentedly, while he himself sat hunched in awkward embarrassment.
“It’s a beautiful evening,” Reborn said.
“It is really nice, isn’t it?” Yamamoto agreed. “Look at that sunset. I know it’s a mission, but right now, this really does almost feel like a vacation, doesn’t it, Tsuna?”
“Sure,” said Tsuna weakly, and Yamamoto laughed.
“You should try it!”
“Tsuna’s too young to drink,” Reborn said parentally.
“You’re one to talk!” Tsuna sputtered, red-faced.
“Hey, hey,” said Yamamoto with a smile. He leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand, meeting Tsuna’s eyes in that seemingly-carefree-yet-peculiarly-insightful manner that he had. “Try to relax, okay, Nova?”
“…Are we really doing the code names?”
“Puddle Jumper wanted to do them, so we should humor him, Boss,” crackled Gokudera’s voice over the headset.
Yamamoto laughed. “Do you guys see anyone yet?”
“Not yet.” That was Ganauche. “But the night is still young.”
“We might be here a while,” Gokudera admitted.
“In that case,” said Reborn, “we’ll need more wine.”
Tsuna groaned.
---
“Describe him again for me one more time,” Ganauche said.
Across from him, the kid sighed. “About five-foot-ten; early twenties. Big forehead, bushy eyebrows, thinning hair, and a mustache.”
“I wish it wasn’t so damn dark in here,” Ganauche muttered. “Don’t know why these meeting spots always have to have such terrible fucking lighting.”
“Isn’t it so that nobody can see what you’re doing?”
“If you’re good enough, they either won’t notice anyway, or they’ll be too intimidated to stop you.”
The kid muttered something vaguely conceding, then fell back into silence.
“He might not show,” said Ganauche after they had sat like that for a few more minutes.
“…Mmm,” said Gokudera noncommittally.
Ganauche sighed. In his earpiece he could faintly hear the lighthearted chatter coming from Reborn’s group.
“…Look, kid-” he began.
And that was when another voice suddenly exploded in his ear.
“Boss!”
Ganauche’s hand shot to his ear. That was San Remo, one of the Vongola subordinates that had accompanied them to keep watch from nearby. “What is it?!”
“We’re-aargh!-we’re under attack-!”
In an instant, Ganauche was on his feet. “Where are you now?”
“We-aagh!”
There was sound of a crash, accompanied by screaming, and then the comm went silent.
“San?” Nothing.
“Damn it!” he shouted, all thoughts of keeping a low profile forgotten. He turned around to tell the kid to forget the plan for now-
-but the kid was gone.
“Gokudera!” He cast around, but there was no sign of him.
His earpiece, though, lay abandoned on the table.
“Shit,” Ganauche said.
---
Across the piazza, Tsuna and Yamamoto had also immediately leaped to their feet following the commotion.
“What’s happening?” Tsuna asked Reborn urgently, but just then, a shriek emanated from one of the nearby tables. Tsuna spun around to see a man slumped over.
At first glance, it might almost have looked as though he had simply had too much to drink and had passed out. The dripping red liquid could have simply been some spilled wine.
Except that a woman wearing a leather jacket was currently standing over him, holding a sword dripping with the same shade of red.
Tsuna suddenly felt cold.
The air was suddenly filled with the sounds of chairs being scraped back and more screams, as the surrounding patrons panicked and started to flee. In contrast to this chaotic image, the woman stood utterly calm and still; and Tsuna now noticed that one of the men standing nearby was also doing the same.
In roughly fifteen seconds the entire piazza had almost cleared out, leaving only Tsuna, Yamamoto, Reborn, and the two strangers. Reborn had drawn his handgun.
“I’m surprised to see you again so soon, Anthony Franco,” he said.
Tsuna had a brief moment of confusion, during which he tried to recall just why that name sounded so familiar. Then, in a burst of movement so quick that Tsuna couldn’t even see, Yamamoto activated his Vongola Gear necklace and drew his sword.
And then Tsuna remembered.
An instant later, he had activated his own Vongola Gear, and as the Dying Will flame kindled to life on his forehead, he immediately felt his thoughts become clearer.
“You’re the one who attacked Gokudera-kun,” he said.
The man didn’t move an inch. “Oh, you heard about that,” he said.
Tsuna felt a bright flash of anger, and just like that, before any of the others could do or say anything to stop him, he had launched himself at the man, all thoughts of negotiation and peaceful resolution suddenly forgotten.
But just before he could reach him, he was suddenly forced to swerve and dodge, as the woman with the sword launched a sudden attack that nearly took his head off. He veered away at the last second, landing in a crouching position. Then she was coming at him again.
He was taken aback by the speed and accuracy of her movement, and before he could move to counter this time, he was interrupted by a burst of blue flame.
“Tsuna!”
A moment later, Tsuna’s thoughts caught up with him and he recognized the shape of the flames as that of one of Yamamoto’s Shigure Souen Ryu defensive forms-Surging Rain.
Yamamoto himself now stood crouched in front of him. “I’ll handle this,” he said. “You get the other one.”
Tsuna immediately shifted his focus back to the other man-Anthony Franco. “Got it.”
“I get the big fish, huh?” Anthony said. “But you’ll have to catch me first, Vongola.”
And an instant later, he was gone.
No, not gone, Tsuna realized, snapping himself out of his startled confusion. He was escaping down the street up ahead. But-he comprehended with a sudden jolt-he was fast. Almost inhumanly so. Without hesitation, Tsuna fired up his X-Burner flames and shot after him. “Be careful, Yamamoto!” he shouted as he rocketed off.
“Don’t worry about him,” said a voice in his ear, just as he felt a familiar weight settle on his shoulder. “Focus on your own target, No-Good Tsuna.”
Tsuna just nodded, and together they gave pursuit.
---
Yamamoto watched from the corner of his eye as Tsuna and Reborn vanished out of sight, but kept most of his focus on the woman who now stood calmly before him. She was tall, with long, cascading hair and striking dark eyebrows. She wore a matching leather jacket and shorts, with long boots and sunglasses. It was an aggressive, almost intimidatingly sophisticated look; although Yamamoto didn’t know much about style, to him her appearance reminded him of a high-fashion model.
“So,” she said as he slowly rose to his feet, “you’re Yamamoto Takeshi. The boy who defeated the second Sword Emperor.”
“Heh,” he said as he took a single step to the side, and then another, keeping his sword at guard. She mirrored the movement, matching his timing and pace, so that the two of them were now slowly circling each other. “I guess I am. But it feels a little weird, you knowing my name but me not knowing yours.”
“Bella Roma,” she answered after a slight pause.
He grinned, though he didn’t drop his guard for even a moment. “Nice to meet you, Bella. I have to admit, this is my first time fighting… uh.” He hesitated.
“A woman,” she finished for him evenly.
He laughed awkwardly. “…Yeah. Sorry. To be honest… I’m not quite sure that I can do it.”
“It has no bearing on me either way,” she said with a shrug. “But it will be your funeral.”
“Ha ha, maybe,” he admitted as he mentally assessed his options.
He could tell from her posture alone that Bella was dangerous. Definitely not someone to underestimate. Chivalry or not, if he was stupid enough to take this fight anything less than one hundred percent seriously, she would probably make short work of him.
Despite that, he honestly wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to go all out with an attack, which was definitely a problem. Best, then, to try and finish this quickly. Then he could rejoin Tsuna and the others.
Having settled on his course of action, he shifted his stance and angled his blade down to the right.
Bella did not move to respond, but simply stood there in place, waiting.
Steeling his resolve, Yamamoto charged.
---
Tsuna didn’t understand how Anthony could be so fast without using Dying Will flames or any other obvious method of propulsion. He had faced off against speeds of this caliber only once before, and that had been against the Vindice, who had utilized the flame of the Night in order to create portals that allowed them to warp at near-light speed.
Yet as far as Tsuna could tell, Anthony was doing this without the use of any flame, which was a feat that Tsuna had seen performed by only one other person. That man was currently seated in his infant form on Tsuna’s right shoulder.
Though if Reborn could do it, Tsuna supposed that meant it was indeed possible. It made him wonder, though, just how strong the man he was pursuing actually was.
But he couldn’t worry about that now. First he had to catch him. The route Anthony was taking had quickly led them away from the piazza and down a winding route of narrow pathways, away from the busier main streets. Although Tsuna was primarily focused on just keeping up, he was glad that the other man seemed to be leading them away from the more crowded part of the city. He followed as they diverted over a wall, into another alley, up a set of stone steps, and then down yet another alley.
Tsuna was slowly but surely starting to get his bearings now, and as Anthony veered off down another path up ahead, he had a sudden burst of intuition. Kicking his X-Burner flames into high gear, he shot off down a different path, intending to try and cut the other man off.
A few seconds later, he emerged onto a street and glanced about-but Anthony was nowhere in sight. Nevertheless, his instincts screamed that he was somewhere close by.
Cautiously, he took another look around. He was standing across from another square now, this one a much wider and more open space than the piazza they had recently vacated. The sun had just cleared the horizon, and the sky was now a bright purple-gold expanse, with darkness looming just beyond. Directly in front of him loomed a massive, castle-like structure with gothic arches, several towers, and a great dome that protruded from the main body of the building.
And up on that roof, directly in front of that dome, a wiry figure stood silhouetted in the receding light.
Tsuna ignited his flames again, launching himself over the courtyard and onto the opposite end of the long, angled rooftop, directly across from Anthony Franco.
“That’s better. Just you and me, now,” said the other man, shoulders hunched nonchalantly and his hands resting casually in his pockets.
That was when Tsuna realized with a start that Reborn was no longer there.
---
“Reborn!” Although the exclamation came in the deeper, more mature tones of Tsuna’s Dying Will mode, Reborn could still pick up on the apprehension in his student’s voice.
“Something came up,” Reborn replied over the headset. “You’ll have to handle Franco on your own for now.”
“What happened?” Tsuna questioned. “Are you all right?”
Reborn glanced around mildly.
Somewhere off to his left, he heard the telltale clicking sound of a gun being cocked. Then another, this one coming from behind. Then another, and another. Left; right; directly ahead; and all around him, until the surrounding air was reverberating with the sound.
He estimated there were more than a hundred in all.
“It’s a minor inconvenience,” he said in response to Tsuna.
Then, without missing a beat, he cocked his own gun in response.
Time to get to work.
---
Slowly Tsuna moved his hand back down from his earpiece and glared at the man standing across from him. “What did you do?” he demanded.
“No need for that face,” Anthony replied. “Just brought in some backup. I’m sure it’s nothing your tutor can’t handle. If anything, I’m the one who should be worrying right about now.”
“You’re right about that,” Tsuna said, and charged.
Anthony dodged with frustrating ease, leaping aside and landing on one of the nearby turrets. “In fact, given his reputation, we probably don’t even have more than a few minutes.”
He was too fast, Tsuna realized. Too fast for him to be able to target him like this.
He needed Reborn. With a Dying Will Bullet, he’d be able to enter Ultimate Dying Will mode, and then he’d be able to turn the tides here. But as it was, he wasn’t even going to be able to land a hit on Franco, not at the rate that things were going.
Something about it was odd, though. By now, Anthony should have realized that with his speed, he currently held the advantage. So why, then, was he not actually fighting back? He’d been on the defensive this entire time, Tsuna realized, simply evading Tsuna’s attacks, and leading him away from…
Shit.
“Gokudera-kun!” he said urgently into the headset. “Are you there?”
There was no response. “Ganauche!” he tried next. Same thing. Then: “Yamamoto, are you still there?”
“I-yeah,” came the response after a second or two. “Somehow.”
Something felt a bit off about that reply, but there was no time to get into it right now. “Do you have eyes on Gokudera-kun? Is he still in the bar?”
“I…” Yamamoto’s voice was uncertain. “I don’t know.”
“Damn it!” He focused his attention back on Franco.
He needed to find a way to finish this now, somehow-and fast.
---
Night was fast approaching as Gokudera made his way through the rambling alleys of Palermo, moving as quickly as possible. He had no real goal yet, other than to put as much distance as he could between him and the others.
He wasn’t so stupid as to think it had only been luck that had caused the distraction allowing him to get away from Ganauche.
By now, word would have reached Luca that Gokudera was back in Italy. If he really did want him dead, he wasn’t going to get a better opportunity than this. Gokudera had been expecting him to make his move soon. That it had happened before the others had finally called his bluff on his made-up “contact” was just a fortunate coincidence.
Of course, this also meant that his life was now in very real danger. He had no plan to handle it, and considering Luca’s abilities, he was very possibly about to walk into a situation from which there would be no walking out of.
But right now, that suited Gokudera just fine. All he cared about was that the rest of the Vongola be kept out of it.
(As a Vongola Guardian, you have a responsibility to more than just your Boss. It’s your duty to keep this whole family safe.)
That was what Ganauche had said. And he had been right.
Luca wasn’t after the Vongola. He wasn’t after Tsuna, or Yamamoto. It was only Gokudera. Just him.
He knew what Luca was capable of. And he knew that when push came to shove, the others would not hesitate to defend him. Neither party would back down, and Gokudera feared that when that they finally collided, one of the two would not survive that encounter.
He couldn’t risk that happening to Tsuna. He would not risk it. Never, ever, no matter what.
So he kept running, as darkness fell over the Sicilian capital.
---
The instant he enters the luxuriously appointed bedroom, Gokudera has the distinct, unsettled feeling that something is off.
At first, he tells himself it’s just nerves. Of course he’s nervous. Tsuna and the others have come all the way here to the Vongola HQ in Italy just for his sake, and the person they’ve come to deal with is none other than Gokudera’s psychotic brother. Hell, “nervous” isn’t a strong enough term for that.
That’s when he notices that the windowed door leading out to the garden terrace is slightly ajar.
After a moment of hesitation, he steps out onto the stone balcony, his left hand hovering carefully over his Vongola Gear, ready to launch the Sistema C.A.I. at a moment’s notice.
He waits, on high alert, as he sees a figure approach. And then finally suppresses a quick sigh of relief as he recognizes the other person on the balcony. It’s one of the Ninth’s Guardians… his Lightning Guardian. Ganauche III.
He lets himself relax, but is careful not to completely drop his guard. They may be part of the same family, technically, but the past forty-eight hours have set him on edge, and just now he isn’t exactly in a mood to be particularly trusting of anyone. Let alone a guy who decided it would be fun to just sneak into someone else’s room for kicks.
“What do you want?” he says, trying to be at least grudgingly polite, without much success (though he feels he can hardly be blamed for that).
“Just to say hi,” Ganauche replies. “I know we’ve been formally introduced before, but that was under pretty different-and highly unusual-circumstances.”
“The Inheritance Ceremony.” Gokudera remembers perfectly well.
“That was pretty crazy, wasn’t it?” says Ganauche. “I’ll admit, in the end you kids didn’t do too badly, though.”
“Of course not,” Gokudera replies. Then he adds, “But you didn’t come just to talk to me about that.” Because it’s obvious that Ganauche isn’t just stopping by to reminisce about the botched ceremony from four months ago, and Gokudera doesn’t feel like standing around all day waiting for him to reveal his true intentions.
“Straight to the point,” Ganauche says, and suddenly his whole demeanor changes. It’s not unfriendly, exactly, but it’s like he’s sobered up, become more serious. It reminds Gokudera oddly of Yamamoto. “No, I came here because I wanted to ask you a question.”
“What is it?” Gokudera asks.
“Why did you decide to join the Vongola?”
For a split second Gokudera is taken by surprise, but it’s an easy question for him to answer. “Because of the Tenth.”
“Tsunayoshi-kun,” Ganauche says, nodding. “What was it specifically, about him?”
“…He saved my life,” Gokudera says after a moment of debating whether to be honest.
“So that’s why you’re loyal to him?”
“Yes.” That should be obvious, but more to the point, Gokudera doesn’t see how any of this is relevant.
“I see,” Ganauche says. “Then let me ask you a follow-up question: Is Tsunayoshi-kun the only reason you’re loyal to the Vongola?”
This time Gokudera really is caught by surprise. “W…what?” he stammers.
“I’m going to be blunt,” Ganauche says suddenly, moving in closer, and Gokudera has to stop himself from automatically taking a step back. “I know your background, Gokudera Hayato. I know you ran away from home when you were only eight. I know you went from family to family for the next several years, but no one was willing to take you in.”
Gokudera clenches a fist tightly as Ganauche continues. “So you tried your best to live with it, like anyone would in that situation. Acted like you didn’t care. Went around picking fights with everyone you met. Made a name for yourself, eventually, the Smoking Bomb, but still no one ever actually believed in you, or was willing to stick their necks out for you. Not till you were finally recruited by the Vongola.”
Gokudera can feel his nails digging into his palm but doesn’t take much notice. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out; and anyway, Ganauche is still going on.
“And I know from personal experience,” the other man says. “When you live a life like that, and then all of a sudden someone comes along and plucks you up out of it, that person becomes your savior. And you’re willing to do absolutely anything for them, just as I’m sure that you’re willing to do anything for Tsunayoshi-kun.
“But as a Vongola Guardian, you have a responsibility to more than just your Boss. It’s your duty to keep this whole family safe. Just like it’s my duty, as the Ninth’s Guardian. I need to make sure that the decisions we make are the ones in the best interests of the family.
“So I’ll ask you again,” Ganauche concludes. “Is your loyalty only to Tsunayoshi-kun, or is it to the Vongola?”
He finally goes silent, then, and for a moment it’s utterly quiet on the balcony except for the sound of birds chirping in the gardens below.
“It’s true that the Ten… Neo Vongola Primo… is the one that saved me,” Gokudera admits at last. “Everything that I am today… everything good,” he pauses to clarify, “is because of him. And it’s true that I would do anything for him, like you said.
“…But the Ninth is the one who first invited me into the family. And Reborn-san invited me to Japan. And the Boss’s father… he gave me my ring.” He paused. “Well-it’s not actually a ring anymore, but. The point is, he chose me, to be a Guardian. And I know how important that is.”
He hesitates, then ends with: “And I won’t let them down.”
Ganauche regards him thoughtfully for another long moment.
“Good,” he finally says. “I’ll hold you to that.”
And with that, he steps past Gokudera back into the room, and then out the door into the hall, leaving Gokudera alone with his thoughts.
---
Gokudera couldn’t help but feel that Ganauche-and possibly Reborn too-had seen right through his attempt to sneak off from the rest and take care of things himself, after that. But he had managed it anyway in the end. Now he just had to finish this before anyone else got hurt, and before he himself lost his nerve.
Because he was afraid. He could admit it, if only to himself. Probably more than he was actually allowing himself to process. He just kept telling himself that as bad as this was, it could still get worse. And that was why he had to act. To stop ‘worse’ from ever happening.
As these thoughts raced through his head, he rounded another corner. By this point he had passed through the nicer parts of town and had made his way into one of the seedier areas. Graffiti of various origins dotted the walls of these alleys; bits of scattered trash lined the streets here and there, and many of the buildings had a darker, more rundown look to them, which was only helped along by the fact that full dark had finally set in. Streetlights now illuminated the winding angles of the paths up ahead, giving them a more sinister feel, and for a moment, Gokudera was vividly reminded of the attempted assassination only two nights ago.
And just like on that night, a lurking figure was now stepping out toward him from the shadows.
His breath suddenly caught tight in his chest.
“Hello, Hayato,” Luca said.
---
Continue to Chapter 5
( Prologue | 01 | 02 | 03 )
Additional Notes -
- “Trucco Inganno” literally translates to “trick hoax” because I couldn’t resist, but we’ll pretend the words mean something different in the story-verse. But anyways, Gokudera is a duplicitous, self-sacrificing little shit.
- Speaking of fun facts that no one actually asked for: all of the other OC names (aside from Luca’s) are taken from the names of local pizza joints! Because if Amano can name characters after desserts and sports cars, then I can muck around with my own stupid naming conventions, damn it.
- Not sure how well this came across in the chapter, but as far that flashback conversation goes, just to be clear, Ganauche was just doing his own little check to make sure Gokudera really was loyal. Gokudera is the one who interpreted it in entirely the wrong way and decided he should “protect” the family by handling this shit on his own. (If it’s not obvious yet, Gokudera isn’t exactly handling this whole situation with a particularly clear head.)
- Lastly, I just want to acknowledge that Yamamoto is kind of an idiot here (during the fight scene, I mean), but him being who he is (read: a 14-year-old boy in shounen), I didn’t think I could keep it IC any other way. He’ll learn soon enough.