384It started as something trivial. Well, trivial in hindsight after everything spiralled out of control. But at the time it seemed like the end of the world for poor Enma.
Tsuna liked cats more than dogs. More than him.
"But-but-but Tsuna-kun! Dogs are better!"
"Natsu is Better." Tsuna replied, (he was always quick to forgive his father for his transgressions and even rolled with them. (Un)fortunately.) "Vesta is Bester and Scuderia is Good."
"What am I?!"
Tsuna frowned, "I don't know."
So this was true betrayal. Enma thought he had experienced it when he was taken from his childhood home and put in a box but this. This.
He will remember this for the rest of his life. (He forgot about it rather quickly actually. Because everything spiralled out of control afterward. But regardless. Life-scarring incident.)
"I hate you, Tsuna-kun!"
Tsuna's eyes widened, "w-why?"
"You said Natsu is better!"
"But Natsu is Better-"
Enma pushed Tsuna away and ran off. Or he tried to at least. Bermuda's chains wrapped around him before he got very far.
"Giotto and Cozart have sworn an undying friendship. Vongola and Shimon must never cross swords." Bermuda gleefully said as Tsuna and Enma watched in confusion. Mammon frowned thoughtfully. "When that oath is broken, we, the Vendice, have a law that will erase the losing side from existence!"
The children blinked and stared at him blankly.
Bermuda swung his arms out dramatically. "We declare a draw. We shall entrust you with the 8 keys!"
What subsequently followed was a long movie sequence about two boys as they grew up and became stronger. At least, that's how Tsuna and Enma interpreted it.
"I understand." Enma solemnly nodded, not understanding a thing, "right now, Natsu is still better. He is stronger. I'm sorry Tsuna-kun, I don't hate you."
"Enma-kun!" Tsuna cried as he gave his friend a hug, "I'm so glad. Thank you for the movie, Dada. We are gonna go play now."
Mammon floated over as the kids ran off. "Invoking blood oaths because you were bored."
"Negative. You bore witness yourself: the Shimon and Vongola had broken-"
"Well since you are so bored," Mammon cut him off, "you can look for the Shimon ring."
"...Pardon?"
"You heard me. It will be like a scavenger hunt, very fun."
"Why would I do such a thing?"
Mammon didn't even blink, "because you'll be able to prove that Tsuna's flame mastery wasn't a fluke."
"Excuse me?! T'was not a fluke. My guidance was necessary."
"Did you teach him to fly?"
"...no."
"Hone his hyper intuition? Harmonization? Any other Sky qualities?"
"I have taught him how to channel his resolve."
"By happenstance."
"It was not…!"
"Well, this would be the chance to prove it. Enma has Shimon blood, so he will have earth flames. If you can teach him how to use these flames then that would prove that you aren't all talk."
"All talk!?"
"And it will cure your boredom."
Bermuda lifted his chin and gave an audible sniff, "I am not bored."
"You said that Tsuna and Enma broke the oath," Mammon reminded him, "both Tsuna and Enma are neither Vongola nor Shimon. Even if your hypothetical law and the oath do exist, it wouldn't apply to them."
"Hypothetical?! You have witnessed the memories. They have not been fabricated. There is nothing 'hypothetical' about this situation. As to your second point, they are both direct descendants by blood and flame."
Manon hummed. "Imagine what the Young Lion would do after he learns that his baby is recognized as Vongola in the eyes of the Vendice," he nonchalantly mused.
Bermuda froze. "I am bored."
Mammon grinned. "Good to know. Since you are so bored, why don't you go get the ring for Enma? I know it's a flame ring and you know how to find those."
Bermuda stared at him. If he were any less prideful, he would have clarified that he could only search flame rings while they were being worn by a flame active. He would have complained about how difficult searching for a buried rock that he couldn't sense would be. How he would literally have to search by hand. How boring it would be to literally sift through dirt. However, his pride dictated that he must remain silent.
Mammon waved at him gleefully. "Off you go now. You're bored, aren't you?"
Bermuda stepped through his portal without another word.
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(The first course of action was of course to create a schedule so that all of his Vendice could participate in this scavenger hunt.
It should have been trivial to create such a schedule.
Should have been.
Mammon, as a 'gift' to cure Bermuda's boredom, had somehow managed to arrange a week-long festival dedicated to the Vendice. One that all of the underworld and a lot of the civilian world ended up participating in.
One that caused a lot of people to fumble and break the omerta, creating work for the Vendice and consequently, reinforcing their presence.
(Mammon even managed to merchandise Bermuda's image.)
(This was later dubbed as the first annual VendiFest.)
The ring was found almost a month later, 3 weeks behind schedule.)
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"Child, you desire to grow stronger."
Enma nodded hesitantly.
"Your days of wishing are over! With this ring, I will teach you how to become the strongest flame user in the world! Yes, you will be my worthy successor!"
"H-huh?"
"I will show the former Mist Archobaleno that it was not a fluke! I am capable of teaching!"
("I don't understand what Bermuda-sensei is saying half the time" Enma quietly confessed to Tsuna years later, "mostly whenever he's not talking about revenge," he clarified.
Tsuna leaned in and whispered, "I think the only person who understands what Dada is saying is Mama."
Enma's eyes widened, "really? Only?"
Tsuna nodded solemnly. He opened his mouth to start speaking but abruptly flinched and fell backwards.
"Tsuna-kun?" Enma asked in concern before he felt it too. There was something dark nearby. Right below him. He, too, flinched and fell backwards,
"You are the earth!" Bermuda's voice boomed as he rose from a portal right below where they once stood, "listen to the leylines! Feel the abominations!"
Tsuna and Enma both started at Bermuda blankly.
With a sigh, Mammon materialized into Enma's view, "he's trying to teach you how to detect him faster." Then, he went invisible again.
"You are succeeding, my protégé. Soon you will sense all that hunts you!" With that, Bermuda slunk back into his portal.)
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"…" Tsuna threw more flour onto the floor and frowned, "Mama, I think something bad is going to happen."
"…" Mammon agreed, "shame your dada is off 'teaching' Enma. Let's see if Xanxus is busy."
Xanxus was absolutely busy.
Iemitsu had convinced Lal to escort him and Nana while in Mafia land. Normally, Lal would let the two of them sort themselves out during their anniversary trip, but Colonnello had begged the former head of CEDEF for help. Lal feigned ignorance of this exchange and accompanied the couple under fake false pretense. She fooled no one but herself.
Adult romance was weird.
Anyways, as a result, Xanxus found himself actually in charge for the first time.
He could handle everything with no problem. (Un)fortunately, that didn't extend to handling Tsuna's sudden requests.
And so, as any leader would, he delegated.
…
"Do you see anything Levi-chan?" Lussuria asked as they took a fourth lap around the castle gates, "Xan-chan said it was here but…"
"Boss is always right," Levi-a-than replied without hesitation. "We need to look more thoroughly. We need to enter the castle."
"Great idea!"
"What are you peasants doing here?" A child behind them asked.
The two CEDEF members dodged the moment they felt the bloodlust.
"Ushishishi," the boy said as his knives pierced the ground where they once were, "I am the prince. Entertain me, peasants."
…
"Remember to step away once it's lit."
"Yes, mama," Tsuna carefully lit his palm on fire and brought it down to the flour. He quickly fell back once it ignited. The two of them stared at the flames until all of the flour was burnt. "Something bad is still going to happen. Is Xan-nii still busy?"
Xanxus was concerned about whatever Tsuna was worried about but that was overshadowed by a surprise meeting. All he knew was that all of the upper Vongola echelons needed to attend to discuss something. Judging by the vagueness of the summoning, he could guess that the meeting probably wasn't going to be significant in any way, but as the proxy External Advisor, he couldn't choose to not go. (He was right. The only reason why Vongola Nono approved of this meeting was because he wanted to spend more time with his fourth son.)
"I'll deal with it after the meeting," Xanxus promised as he hurried off.
Tsuna worried his lips, "but something bad…"
Mammon guided him back to his room. "Let's call Iris. The varia can deal with it."
…
"Hurry up," Iris said as she examined her pedicure.
"Don't order me around," Genkishi snapped back, "I'm here to fulfill my lord's mission."
"And I'm here to babysit you so the ring incident doesn't happen again," Iris said disinterestedly, "I really don't care, but my little brother still gets nightmares over it."
"No…! I am a failure of a servant. Oh, my master! Forgive me for my sins!"
"You are not begging hard enough." The two of them dodged right after they heard the young voice behind them. A set of knives pierced the ground. "Ushesheshe," the boy threw another handful of knives, "you are intruding on my land. Know your place, commoners!"
…
"Why is something bad still going to happen?" Tsuna moaned as he and Mammon examined the burn marks left by the previous divination, "Are Iris-nee and the others in danger?"
"They should be fine. This 'bad' situation shouldn't be that severe."
"I'm worried. Mama, could we go make sure they are ok?"
Mammon shrugged. "Let's see who's free."
Squalo, who wasn't allowed to join Xanxus at the meeting (because, in Xanxus' words, it was a waste of time), was more than willing to take Tsuna.
He would have too if Dendro wasn't cleaning nearby and (un)fortunately overheard them.
Dendro Chilium, the poor man, was still mildly traumatized from that first incident at school years back and was determined to not repeat past mistakes. So he called in reinforcements.
Moments later, Squalo prepared the trip for himself, Tsuna, Mammon, Dendro, Bianchi, Lancia, Basil, Ken and Chikusa.
Even before they arrived there proper, Tsuna's worries were assuaged.
On one side, Genkishi and Levi were what could be described as a stan off. They were loudly competing over who was the better fanboy #1. Squalo, who spent years hearing Xanxus' woes, immediately ran to them screaming to break it up before they inspired one another again.
On the other side, Iris and Lussuria silently stared at one another. Bianchi ran off to back up her best friend in this "epic duel of love". Lancia quickly followed to act as a peacemaker in case of escalation. (Or, since Bianchi and Lussuria were involved, another catfight.)
Then in the middle, there were a pair of twins trying to kill each other. Basil, being one of the only people to still remember that the reason why they were all here in the first place was to prevent something bad that Tsuna foresaw, assumed it was about the twins and tried to intervene with their fighting. Ken joined him because it looked fun.
That left Tsuna, Mammon, Dendro and Chikusa standing around watching the ruckus.
Well the three of them except Tsuna were.
Good little Tsuna, who was determined to stop the bad thing from happening, did another reading to devastating results. "Hie! The bad thing is still going to happen!"
Chikusa glanced at the ashes Tsuna threw on the ground, "here?"
"Yes!"
"When?"
"Soon!"
"Maybe we have to stop those two," Dendro suggested, making no effort to step toward the twins. Basil and Ken were fighting back ferally and he didn't want to get scratched.
"Maybe," Chikusa agreed, spinning his yo-yos up and down. He also remained where he was but unlike Dendro, he had the excuse of being mid-ranged.
"Maybe," Mammon said. Then, in a moment of rare ex-arcobaleno solidarity, he kicked Dendro into the fray and glared at Chikusa to join them.
The additional support did bring the fight to their favour but "…Mama…"
"Still the same reading?"
"Mmhmm…" Tsuna fidgeted apprehensively, "could you call Xan-nii again?"
The call to Xanxus went straight to voicemail.
"How about Fed-nii?"
"Isn't he in the same meeting?" Mammon muttered but called anyways. Surprisingly, it went through on the first ring.
"Wonderful, I was looking for an excuse to ditch," Federico, the obedient 3rd son of Vongola Nono said brightly, "I'll be right there."
Federico came right away as promised, but he didn't come alone.
"Why is Reborn here?" Mammon hissed.
Federico just gleefully pulled out his camera, "Dino followed me out."
"Muu…" Mammon grumbled, "Tsuna, stay close. I don't want Reborn to know about you."
"Ok, Mama."
("Oi, pipsqueak Dino," Reborn cocked his gun, "go stop the fighting."
Dino made a face and got shot at for his cheek, "why?! I didn't even want to come. You made me follow Federico!"
"And you're supposed to be his boss," Reborn reminded him. To give some extra motivation, he took out his trump card, "Xanxus would break it up in no time."
"Xanxus would…" Dino muttered. He gripped his bullwhip with fire in his eyes and ran. "Squalo! Stop fighting!"
"VOOOIII ARE YOU BLIND?! I'VE BEEN TRYING TO STOP THEIR FIGHTING!"
"IT'S MY JOB NOW!")
"Oh!" Tsuna gasped softly as he read the clouds, "bad thing is over!" He cheered, "we can go home now."
"Excellent," Federico said. He made no move to put down his camera. Rather, he was setting up a second tripod as he continued to avidly film.
Mammon did the opposite. He was very much in favour of leaving before Reborn noticed them. "Oi, if you're planning to stay, we are taking your car back."
Federico paused and grinned at him, "we came by horse."
"…"
("Break it up, guys!" Dino yelled as he threw himself into the next fight. Lancia helped steady him.
Iris rolled her eyes and walked off without a word. Bianchi followed but still turned around occasionally so she and Lussuria could continue insulting each other.
They joined the ring of young adults circling a fight between a man in his late twenties and five children whose ages were all in the single digits.
Peak entertainment.)
Unfortunately for Mammon, there were no spare vehicles.
Levi had ridden here on his very… flashy motorcycle, while Lussuria sat in an equally flashy sidecar.
It was only marginally less eye-catching than the rickshaw Iris sat on that Genkishi ran.
That left the limo Squalo borrowed. It was a regular black limo, but there was no way Reborn wouldn't notice its absence.
How annoying.
"Mama," Tsuna said, tugging on his robes, "I can fly."
Mammon genuinely considered this suggestion for longer than he should have (especially since Mammon at this point was almost as tall as the boy) before he remembered that Reborn was flame sensitive. While they were far enough away from him to not be spotted or identified, it would still be troublesome if he gets curious.
Muu. How very annoying.
Mammon reluctantly messaged Bermuda.
(Chikusa immediately removed himself from the battle the moment Dino entered because he had both foresight and self-preservation. And since he was Ken's best friend, he pulled him away with him. The two of them took a spot next to Iris.
Basil, attuned to Tsuna's will, had settled down peacefully after Tsuna stopped freaking out and stood next to Squalo.
Dendro dropped out because he was outmatched.
That left Dino in a three-way brawl between the twins.
Dino, whom Reborn had paid a lot of love and attention to over the past few months, was doing quite well in the fight. He was much more successful than Chikusa, Ken, Basil and Dendro combined in keeping the twins at bay. His only problem was that he was having difficulty keeping both of them pinned down at once, so he had to constantly bounce back and forth between the two like whack-a-mole.)
"Tsuna-kun!" Enma cried as he ran out of the dark portal. Tsuna quickly ran over to meet him halfway and hugged him tightly as Enma began sobbing on his shoulder.
(Tsuna was extremely alarmed the first few times Enma's cried after his lessons with Bermuda. He only stopped fretting after Enma explained through hiccups that these were tears of frustration and Dada staunchly defended his position as an educator.
Sometimes, Enma just needed a hug and a person to vent to.)
Bermuda remained in his portal as he huffed at Mammon, "I do not recall offering travel services."
"It's in your contract." Mammon huffed back. He paused as his phone rang. Looks like Xanxus finally noticed the situation, "Tsuna and I are heading back," he said as he ushered the two kids back into the portal, "I'm not paid to deal with the others. Especially Reborn… Yes. They are all there. You didn't notice them ditch the meeting? Federico-"
Right there, behind several trees, was the unmistakable form of Massimo. Staring right at them.
…How very, very annoying.
Mammon hung up on Xanxus and took a deep breath.
"Mama?"
Mammon waved Tsuna off, "I'll be there in a second. I just need to cast a quick curse."
"Ok."
Moments later, the four of them returned home without any further annoyance.
("TRASH!" Xanxus screamed as he stepped out of his black generic run-of-the-mill sedan. "WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!"
Levi obediently ran over to him and handed him a wine glass.
Xanxus picked it up and threw it at Squalo, "GET BACK TO WORK!"
"You're late," Iris informed him.
Federico was grinning behind his multi-camera setup, "what took you so long?"
Reborn tugged on the brim of his fedora, "an effective External Advisor would know when to end a pointless meeting."
Xanxus was not in the mood. "GET IN THE CAR!" He pushed his beloved friends and family aside as he cleared his view of the fight in the middle of the ring.
He didn't know why everyone was watching Dino fight two kids and frankly, he would never be interested to know. He shot a large beam of sky flames into the fight and ignored the three of them as they fell to the ground, "I SAID, GET IN THE CAR!")
Not even a week later, the Varia gained a new recruit. Raisel, his knives glinting as he pointed them at Dino, vowed he would defeat Dino and reclaim his honour.
Reborn thought that Dino would greatly benefit from having some competition on his road to becoming the boss, so he accelerated Raise's induction.
Meanwhile, Belphegor broke into CEDEF to vandalize Xanxus' room. Xanxus caught him by the scruff of his neck and threw him out, but he came back the very next day. And the next. And the next.
Iemitsu, fresh off his anniversary trip, thought he should spread the love by officially accepting Bel into the CEDEF, since his disciple was obviously too embarrassed to admit that he had bonded with an 8-year-old.
.
(In a world where only Squalo, Tsuna, and Mammon went, Mammon would've ended up being the obsession of two children and he would have made Squalo's life miserable as revenge. However, the bad thing would've ended up resolving itself.
Squalo had inadvertently exchanged his pain for Xanxus and Dino's.
How fortunate of him.)
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This fic has been cross-posted to AO3. That version has been edited so there will be some minor differences
Thanks for reading!
Next time: The story of the 'bad thing'.