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Veni, Vidi, Vici (Pt.11-15)
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Summary: Vongola thinks their biggest problem will be training one twin to become Decimo and making sure the other one won’t try to overthrow them. They soon realize it really isn’t.
(Dino meets them for all of two minutes before he wonders if the Nono has finally gone either senile or insane. Because you’d have to be one or the other to think that forcing these two Skies into a life they don’t want won’t blow up in all their faces one day.)
(Tsuna and Shion are going to tear Vongola apart for what it’s done to them.)
--
The Sawada twins in fifty snapshots.
11.
They’re still five when Iemitsu visits again. Shion is even cagier around him, and this time, Tsuna doesn’t even try to tolerate the hugs. He ducks away and hangs back with his sister, and he doesn’t care how dramatically Iemitsu cries.
Iemitsu brings someone with him. His boss, Timoteo, he says. Shion eyes the harmless-looking old man with a wealth of suspicion, and Tsuna’s flames set off enough alarm bells in his head to make him draw his sister close and spend as much time in their bedroom as possible without being rude. Timoteo gives them odd looks from time to time but he only stays that one afternoon and evening, and Tsuna is just so relieved when they can say goodbye after dinner.
Tsuna’s attention stays glued on the old man until he and Iemitsu gets into the car waiting outside – black, like their kidnapper’s car – so it’s Shion who tells him, “Iemitsu looked disappointed.”
They exchange mystified looks. But they add it to the list:
· Iemitsu
· The Lion
· Timoteo
· Construction company boss
They don’t know what any of it means, aside from the names being names. What all of that has to do with each other, neither knows. You wouldn’t really nickname someone in the construction business ‘the Lion’, would you?
Iemitsu comes back. Tsuna and Shion avoid him. It isn’t too hard – so long as the living room floor is free for the man to drink and sleep on, and Kaa-chan is on hand to do his dirty laundry and cook him meals and be mushy with, Iemitsu only inserts a few loud wails about his children hating him in-between, and there aren’t a whole lot of in-betweens.
He leaves two weeks later. Shion and Tsuna buy their mom ice-cream and a cute little tea set to cheer her up as best they can, and life goes on.
12.
They work on their flames. It’s a superpower, and it would be stupid if they don’t know what they can do with it. Shion’s already pretty good with making people see or not see things but creating real things – like the koi pond – is harder.
“Tricking other people’s brains is easy,” Shion once tells him thoughtfully when they’re sitting out on the back porch, the koi pond still there in the backyard. All they had to tell their mom was that they dug it themselves before buying fish to fill it. “Tricking the… Tricking reality is a lot harder.”
Tsuna sort of gets it and sort of doesn’t but he doesn’t have illusion flames so he leaves that area largely to Shion. Instead, he experiments with the size and power of his own flames. Burning or not burning is easy for him, but it takes a lot more control to make his fire smaller or bigger, and even more control to shape it. But he tries. He goes for gloves first because his flames come easiest as blurry-edged orbs of fire surrounding his hands or tiny little flames in his palms. It takes a full month to coax them into glove-shaped fire that coat every inch of his hands but it’s worth it when he realizes he can touch a hot stove without burning himself at all.
While he’s doing that, Shion makes a bird fountain with water that never runs out. It disappears five times before she manages to make it stay for good, and they start getting winged guests hanging around the backyard. At least they don’t eat the fish.
They both practice ‘following’ their flames around, although Tsuna is beginning to think it isn’t the flames that guides him from point A to point B because Shion can do it too. Not as well or as precisely as Tsuna, who can get them to the new sushi place across town blindfolded without ever so much as checking a map beforehand, but she gets gut feelings sometimes, about the weather, about the bus coming early, and they’re always accurate. They decide to call it Instinct.
To celebrate their successes, they treat themselves to dessert in the cake shop three blocks down, the one that Shion adores and Tsuna admittedly drools over too because their chocolate mousse is to die for.
Three days later, someone tries to abduct them again. This time, they’re both seven, they’re both stronger, and they’ve both been expecting this since the last time they dealt with a kidnapper.
This time, it’s Tsuna who’s targeted first, in a park when he’s sitting on a bench and enjoying the fresh air after a few turns on the swings. Shion is just leaving the washroom when she sees a man swoop out from the treeline, gun in hand and making a grab for Tsuna.
Tsuna gets his hands on the man’s arms and burns right through the suit and into vulnerable flesh. Shion’s already running, illusions springing up around her to hide what’s happening just as the man screams, trying to fling her brother away.
He shouldn’t have gone after them in the first place. Shion’s five steps away when the man spots her and fires off a shot that goes wide. She’s three steps away when her flames snap out, purring with vicious triumph as they distort reality, and a second later, the man’s throat simply opens up, blooming like the velvet petals of a blood-red flower.
He’s dying as Tsuna pushes away and reels in his flames. He’s dead before he hits the ground.
“Are you hurt?” Shion rushes out at the exact same time Tsuna runs over to her and frantically checks her over with a panicked, “Did he get you?!”
Shion’s brother is kind. Kinder than her. Gentle in ways that Shion can admit she doesn’t understand. Why try to placate bullies instead of retaliating when they’re the ones who hurt them first? Why be polite to their teacher when she sneers at students who get a low grade? Why greet that Yamamoto boy in their class – the one who laughs at Tsuna along with the rest of his friends when Tsuna gets an answer wrong on the board – so nicely whenever Kaa-chan takes them to Takesushi?
But here and now, Tsuna doesn’t even glance at the body. At the dots of blood that accidentally dripped onto his hoodie. He looks only at Shion, with only concern, and she doesn’t feel so much like a monster.
“He didn’t, Shion assures, hugging her brother. “But you’re okay too? You have blood on your sweater.”
Tsuna waves a dismissive hand. “Doesn’t matter. I’m fine.” He finally looks back at their hapless kidnapper before heaving a sigh. “Guess we’ll have to clean up again.”
Shion releases a breath she didn’t know she was holding and steps back to let Tsuna handle it.
13.
Tsuna is not as smart as his sister. He knows this. He’s fine with it. So long as Shion still looks at him like she doesn’t think he’s lesser for stumbling over his times tables or misspelling an English word, he doesn’t mind taking a bit longer at homework or needing Shion to tutor him.
But he’s smart when it comes to Shion, just as Shion is infinitely smarter when it comes to him, except – he supposes – in this one case.
Sometimes, his sister gets this look on her face, when she thinks that Tsuna thinks she’s stepped out of line. When she thinks she’s disappointed Tsuna. Which is stupid, because Shion could never disappoint him, no matter what she does.
Tsuna’s not a saint. Probably not half as kind as Shion thinks he is, not half as good. What he is is someone who values self-preservation, a lot. Well, ‘self’ as in him and Shion, but that’s a given.
He tries to talk their way out of being bullied because bullies will always be bullies and sometimes, if you scare them enough the way Shion does, they’ll leave you alone, but other times, if you scare them too much, step on their egos too much, they’ll just come back with friends and hit you harder. And he’s polite to their teacher because she’s grading their homework and tests, and she already dislikes Tsuna enough without Tsuna adding to it. And he’s nice to Yamamoto even though the boy likes to pretend he doesn’t see his friends jeering at Tsuna in gym class because, well, have you seen his dad? With that knife when he’s cutting up fish for sushi? Yeah, Tsuna doesn’t want to get on the wrong end of that ever, especially in the man’s own restaurant. Plus, Yamamoto is popular. Everybody likes him. If he or Shion pisses him off one day, he could very well turn a good majority – a whole lot more than just the handful or two that they have to deal with right now – of the student population on them, and that’s just a problem he doesn’t want to have to deal with and doesn’t want his sister to have to deal with either.
So he’s not good. He just really likes living, with Shion at his side, and no outsiders to bother them more than absolutely necessary. And those feelings only increased tenfold after the first kidnapper. Yes, he threw up, but it was his first time, and looking back, he thinks he was sick over the fact that that corpse could’ve been Shion just as much as he was sick about realizing that the human body could be so easily torn apart.
The second time was easier, because they were prepared. And he didn’t even deal the final blow. That was Shion, his amazing sister creating something from nothing, creating injury where there was none, and the only time Tsuna’s gut twisted with horror was when the sound of the gun went off and – for a second – he couldn’t see whether or not Shion was hit.
But that was it. Shion probably is more… unforgiving than he is. More ruthless. She judges people for how they treat the two of them now, and if it’s badly, then she sees no point maintaining any sort of decent relationship with them, even if it might benefit them in the future to be in some of those people’s good graces. It’s not that it doesn’t occur to her; it’s that she just doesn’t get why they should care.
Tsuna is more the opposite. It’s not that he forgives more easily, though that’s probably true to some degree; it’s that the less people there are against them, the less he has to worry about later on, and maybe people call him a pushover because of that, but better a pushover who’s easily forgotten than someone defiant whom everyone wants revenge on.
It’s just the way they are. Shion focuses on the present, while Tsuna focuses on the future. He moderates her more aggressive tendencies, while she ensures he isn’t so passive that other kids and even adults start walking all over them. He looks ahead for situations that might get them in trouble later while she concentrates on everything from annoyances to actual threats in the now to make sure they’ll actually have a later.
She’s practical. He’s sensible. And they balance each other out. He doesn’t want her to change because he needs her to be what she is, and he likes to think that she doesn’t want him to change either because she needs him to be what he is.
So killing someone who came to hurt them? Tsuna can’t begin to describe how completely fine he is with that. It’s not like he and Shion are going after innocents. Tsuna definitely isn’t okay with that, and neither is Shion. They’ve never attacked first, ever, in any way, and never without a good reason. The first time they were kidnapped, the second time, and all the times after that – they came for him and Shion first. Tried to harm them first. Tried to kill them first. In his books, that means killing their would-be killers before those killers could kill them is more than fair. Tsuna could kill anyone if it means his sister stays alive.
He tells all this to Shion now, after the fifth attempted kidnapping and his sister opens a hole in the ground in the forest that buries the suited man alive, only to turn to him with anxious eyes, one of which has a cut above it that’s dripping blood into her eyelashes and makes Tsuna want to dig the man up again and kill him himself. Instead, he tells her every thought, every feeling he has on this issue that’s frankly dragged on for far too long, because for some reason, this is the one thing his sister seems to have completely missed about Tsuna, if the wide-eyed looks she’s giving him are anything to go by.
“You’re my twin,” He finishes, quiet but firm. “We fit. So how could I ever want you to be anything other than what you already are?”
He doesn’t think Shion’s ever hugged him the way she hugs him now.
14.
They’re nine years and seventeen attempted kidnappings and/or murders into their lives when Iemitsu crashes back into Namimori, trailing filth and loud demands for attention into the house.
Shion’s up the stairs and out the window in a flash. Tsuna’s at her heels, ducking out while his mom squeals and Iemitsu twirls her around in the air.
“Can’t you make fake us?” Tsuna suggests when they’re a safe distance away, sprawled on the sunny bank by the river. “Like, body doubles. We can always stay in a hotel until he leaves.”
His hands weave shapes in the air, orange flames jumping easily between his fingers. A dagger, a dart, a crossbow, a gun. A scythe, a trident, a guandao, a tessen. After attempt number seven, Tsuna started researching weapons, and he’s actually pretty good with quite a few of them, if he does say so himself. They begged their mother for martial arts lessons three years ago, but training with weapons is still something Tsuna has to figure out for himself.
“I could,” Shion concedes, and when her hands sweep through the air, she ends up with a fan of bills and a smirk on her face. “It’s not like we lack the money. But…”
Tsuna cocks his head before nodding. “But.” He agrees, moulding his fire into the shape of a cat this time. “We still don’t know what dad is involved with. And a few of those people sent to kill us used fire too. Although I still don’t get why eight had red, eleven had yellow, and thirteen and sixteen had green.”
“They weren’t that tough to beat though; they couldn’t seem to do anything fancy with their flames except combine them into regular weapons,” Shion muses. “But we can assume Iemitsu at least knows about them, if he doesn’t have them himself, and if he finds out we have them too-”
“Can’t risk it,” Tsuna agrees, holding out the fire cat to his sister, who touches it with one finger, and a moment later, flesh and blood and fur shimmer into existence, solidifying as it takes its first breath, and Tsuna is left with an indigo-eyed black cat that meows and kneads its paws on Tsuna’s chest before hopping off to nose curiously at a nearby dandelion. The only indication that it’s made of flames at all are the tufts of orange fire in its ears.
“Guess we’ll just have to practice your stupid toleration then,” Shion sighs and rolls to her feet. She stretches, and her blouse lifts up to show the deep scar carved into her stomach, curving just above her belly button. Tsuna’s lip curls. He torched number ten for that one.
They both have scars. Considering they’re still alive, they’re already pretty lucky, but that doesn’t mean they’ve come out unscathed. They’re stronger though, getting stronger every day, and they’ve simply been waiting for Iemitsu to swing by to start investigating the man’s background.
Starting today.
“Tsu-nii,” Shion prompts, less a question, more a grounding force, and Tsuna nods and stands up as well. He reaches out to pluck a stray blade of grass out of his sister’s hair – a messy pixie cut this month, with a streak of indigo blue dyed along the slanting sweep of her bangs – before turning to look at their new cat.
A snap of Shion’s fingers erases its existence, and Tsuna thinks it’s just a bit sad.
15.
Shion does the distracting. Tsuna does the snooping. For one thing, Iemitsu seems pretty desperate to spend some quality time with his only daughter, who has probably spoken less than ten words to him in her entire life. For another, Tsuna’s Instinct would let him know sooner than Shion’s if his sister can’t forewarn him about Iemitsu coming down the hall in time.
So Shion plays nice, smiling prettily for Iemitsu and letting him throw her in the air for whatever dumb reason he seems to have even though every fibre of her being wants to get away from him or kick him in the crotch. She’s gotten better over the years at the whole patient restraint thing her brother endorses, and she’s always been good at hiding behind a smile, if only so her unsuspecting victims won’t know to blame her when she sneaks a tarantula into their locker or trips them up on the soccer field with invisible objects. By now, her classmates either have a neutral opinion of her or seem to like her in a distant sort of way, and all her teachers think she’s an angel, pitying her for having a brother like Tsuna.
It grates on her nerves but her brother doesn’t want her to do anything too drastic so she doesn’t. He doesn’t stop her from making one teacher unknowingly walk around with bird poop on the seat of his pants though, or another with smudged makeup that makes her look like a racoon.
She plasters on her best smile today, and clearly, she and Tsuna didn’t get their Instinct from their father if he can’t tell it’s as phony as a three yen banknote.
She tells him about school, to keep up the small talk, chattering on obliviously about math and geography and gym, inserting a few shy pauses now and then, and pointedly not rolling her eyes when Iemitsu gushes about what an adorable daughter he has. She even tolerates the stifling hugs he gives her, a tiny extra incentive being Okaa-san beaming delightedly at their interactions. She supposes this is what her mom’s always wanted – the ideal family, all in one place – and she did seem a little upset last night when she and Tsuna finally returned to the house to greet Iemitsu, so for both her mom and her brother, Shion will endure this oaf’s theatrics.
She asks – after a good fifteen minutes of talking (admittedly mostly lying) about herself and her daily life – about Iemitsu’s life. About his job.
“You’re getting enough sleep and everything, right?” She enquires innocently, and Iemitsu booms out a laugh even as Shion watches one of his hands come up to rub the back of his neck.
“Of course!” Iemitsu assures her. “Papa works hard but he definitely gets a good night’s rest every day. My cute little starfishie and my tuna-fishie have nothing to worry about!”
There’s that too. The whole referring to himself in third-person every few sentences is annoying enough, but the godawful baby talk is just- ugh. It barely makes any sense too. Changing Tsuna to ‘tuna’ is demeaning enough, but this stupid man has to leak that over to Shion’s name too, and just because hers has to do with the sea, she gets the dubious honour of ‘starfish’. What is this idiot’s obsession with fish anyway?
“Speaking of your brother,” Iemitsu glances around. “Where is he? He should come join us!”
“Tsu-nii’s in the bathroom,” Shion lies smoothly, watching for a too-fast blink of the eyes or the slightest of twitches. Nothing. Good. Tsuna would’ve caught that fib from a mile away. “Stomach-ache.”
“Oh my, I better make a lighter dinner tonight then,” Kaa-san muses from the stove where she’s putting the kettle on. “You don’t mind, do you, dear? I know you wanted fish tonight but…”
Shion squints incredulously as Iemitsu turns to Kaa-san and assures her that he doesn’t mind. Fish? Really? What are she and Tsuna to him then? Prey?
…God, she really wants to nail him with one of her illusions. Maybe a nice fantasy one where a school of piranhas learn to fly just to try and eat him.
She quickly summons another happy expression when Iemitsu turns back. It’s fortunate that both she and Tsuna inherited their mother’s smile.
“What does a construction worker do anyway-” Shion grits her teeth and pushes through. “-Tou-chan?”
He likes that. Finds it flattering or something maybe. Shion doesn’t know but it gets results and that’s all she cares about.
“Well, we build things,” Iemitsu explains, and somehow, he manages to sound proud even though Shion is at least ninety-five percent certain he isn’t a construction worker at all. The last postcard that arrived in the mail – one of the few meagre postcards he’s sent over the years – was supposedly from the North Pole, and it had a picture of Iemitsu holding a pickaxe and wearing a parka, surrounded on all sides by penguins.
There aren’t any penguins in the North Pole. Even Tsuna knows that, and his geography isn’t the best. Also, why would there be any construction sites in the North Pole?
“Hotels, beach houses, apartments, you name it,” Iemitsu continues with increasing enthusiasm.
“And what if I wanna be like you someday?” Shion presses. “Maybe I could join you in your company, Tou-chan!”
Iemitsu looks surprised for a moment before he chuckles and pats her on the head like she’s some dog. Shion swallows back a snarl and sends a mental hurry the hell up to her brother, who may not hear the exact words but can certainly sense her fraying temper.
“Then of course, Papa will be happy to teach his starfishie all about construction working!” Iemitsu exclaims.
“Cool!” Shion cheers, inwardly gagging. “One day, I’ll be just like you, Tou-chan! I could build amazing things working for… for…”
She trails off, frowning inquisitively up at Iemitsu, who generously obliges, “Vongola, Shion! One day, you can definitely work with Papa in Vongola! And we can even take Tsuna along! It would definitely make him more manly! Just like Papa!”
Shion hides the blaze of her triumph behind another eager grin while Kaa-san watches them both with an indulgent smile. In this one moment, Iemitsu isn’t lying. He honestly believes that – one day – Shion and Tsuna will join him in his work, in Vongola.
In this one moment, he gives away a whole lot more than he probably ever intended to.
And Shion is so very good at taking advantage of other people’s mistakes.
Tsuna clatters down the stairs, smiling in a way that other people would call socially awkward and Shion would call fake. Her brother can’t really lie all that well. Luckily, his attempts are always mistaken for wimpy nervousness or social anxiety.
They share a passing glance before turning their combined attention on their parents.
They have what they want. They always do, sooner or later.
no subject
Also, the two of them are going to eat Iemitsu and Vongola alive.
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And yes, they are going eat their enemies alive. Iemitsu and Vongola should've just left them all the way alone if they were already so careless with them.