Chapter Text
One month after Kokuyo, at the baseball team's autumn game...
It had been a very quiet month, with Tsuna and his gang having been recuperating in the hospital for most of it. I did wonder why they didn't just use sun flames to heal the lot of them, but really, it was none of my business.
It was a bit unexpected that circumstances didn't conspire to have me meet Mukuro, but hey, you didn't hear me complaining. With my luck, I'd probably be thrust into Mukuro and Chrome's shared mind space or something in the near future.
...I just jinxed it, didn't I.
"If you guys don't work hard, I'll start a riot!" Gokudera yelled, holding several sticks of dynamite in his hands.
"That's not what you're here for!" Tsuna yelled back in alarm, trying to get his future Storm Guardian to put his explosives away.
"WHY DON'T YOU QUIT BASEBALL AND DO BOXING!" bellowed Ryohei, hands cupped around his mouth to amplify his already ridiculous volume.
"That's wrong too!"
Poor Tsuna. He had to deal with such loud friends. Then Bianchi turned up, Gokudera fainted and Tsuna panicked.
"That area is so noisy..."
"Yeah, your brother and his friends are really loud..."
"Why do you think I'm sitting with you guys instead of them?" I replied.
Akira laughed and Yuki chuckled. I finished off my popsicle and chucked the stick into the bin without looking. My friends didn't bat an eyelid at the feat. They'd been around me long enough that stuff like this just didn't faze them anymore.
"Anyway, I seem to recall that your birthday's coming up soon, Yuki."
"Oh yeah! You're turning 14, aren't you? Are you doing anything special?"
"Yeah, I am. And um, well, actually…" Yuki stalled, glancing at our faces, "My mum suggested I could invite a few friends over for a sleepover. So, um…"
"We'd love to come!" Akira cheered. "Right, Ietsuna?"
"Absolutely. I'll get you the best present ever," I assured Yuki. Akira squawked in protest.
"What? No, I'll get her the best present ever."
I smirked at Akira. "You can sure try, heh."
Akira puffed up, but before she could get too worked up, Yuki spoke up shyly.
"Thank you."
Akira immediately turned to her. "You're welcome."
I flipped my hair over shoulder. "Of course."
Now, what would Yuki want...?
I pondered the question as I walked down the streets of the Namimori shopping district.
Yuki was a rather feminine person, so bath products? Plushies? Cute clothes?
BOOM!
A building on my right exploded.
Ah, but those were all too generic. They were all good, but I wanted mine to be the best. I couldn't get something too expensive either, or she'd feel guilty.
There was a lot of screaming and yelling as people scrambled to get away from the explosions.
I crouched down and ruffled my hair in frustration, getting out of the flight path of a piece of debris. Why was choosing presents so hard?!
The explosions were getting closer now. I covered my ears as another one went off.
Can't they keep it down? I'm having a crisis here!
Plus my nice clothes were getting covered in dust. I cursed myself for not remembering that today was the day that Squalo and Basil made their explosive (heh) debut. It was also the manga chapter in which readers first learnt about the Vongola rings.
Hm? Wait... That was it!
Jewellery!
Yuki had been into jewellery recently, showing off new necklaces and charms on her bracelets to us. I skipped to a shop I knew sold the best affordable bling in high spirits. Then they came crashing down when I realised it was closed.
I sighed.
Right. Normal people would run away from explosions, not pretend they didn't exist.
I'd come back tomorrow.
"Hm? Oh, this? It's water! Drink up, drink up!"
I got home just in time to kick the bottle of sake out of Fuuta's hands.
"Iemitsu. You can't give alcohol to minors."
Look, it's not like I hated Iemitsu. He was an interesting character. A good Family man, but not a good family man.
But now, he wasn't just a character I had no connection with. He was my 'father', or more accurately, my sperm donor.
"Tsu-chan! My baby girl! Come here and give a kiss to your daddy."
He made a kissy face at me. I planted my foot in it.
"In your dreams, old man. Where's mum?"
"Out shopping."
While Iemitsu played the fool, lamenting the loss of the loving and adorable daughter who had never existed, Bianchi appeared.
"Oh, Bianchi, hi."
"Maman went out to buy food, since Papan finished all the food she'd made."
The large dirty platters scattered around the room were proof enough of that.
"I see. Just call him Iemitsu or old man. 'Papan' isn't a title he deserves."
"Tsu-chan! How could you?! Ah~ when you were young you ran around calling 'Tou-chan, Tou-chan' so cutely!"
"I never did that."
"When did you become so cold? Quick, give your Tou-chan hug!"
He lunged for me. I planted my foot in his face again.
"Aren't you having too much fun playing the fool?" I muttered. "Well, it's none of my business. I'm going to my room and I'm taking the children with me. Disturb us and die."
"Tsu-chan!" wailed Iemitsu, and was answered with the slamming of my bedroom door.