22Yamato's Point of View
How did it come to this?
I know Karin is worried about me and Taka given that some mafioso is interested in us, but this is taking it too far. It's not like they've tried recruiting us...yet. Even if they did, shouldn't it be ourdescision?
Plus, there's no proof that the mafia wants us to work for them - so there's really no point in doing this.
I groaned, "I know you're worried, Karin...but that doesn't explain why we're wearing dresses!"
She snapped at me, "The dresses will prevent those mafia bastards from knowing that you and Taka are the boys that they're observing."
I rolled my eyes at her, "Well, right now - working for them seems a lot more appealing than working for you."
She growled, "The mafia is full of greedy, power-hungry bastards."
I snorted, "And the yakuza isn't?"
She didn't reply after that...but she still had her men tailing me and Taka so we couldn't take off the stupid dresses.
Haruto's Point of View
Shin, Takami, and I were sitting in Happy Burger with Monta, Hiruma, and Sena. All of us, except Shin and Hiruma - who was typing something on his laptop - were calmly eating our food when Sena suddenly started laughing. Takami gave him a cold look and asked, "What's so funny?"
Sena pointed out the window and said, "There are two guys outside wearing dresses."
Takami quickly looked outside before he replied with another question, "How do you know those two aren't girls?"
Sena just blinked and said, "My only friend growing up was a girl - so it's not thathard to tell the difference...an actual girl seemed to be yelling at one of them earlier, though."
I asked, "Was it a blonde wearing a Teikoku uniform?"
He nodded, "I wonder why they'd be so far away from Osaka, though."
I frowned, "Koizumi Karin is here in Tokyo? That can't be good for us."
Hiruma scoffed, "Of course, it isn't. That's why we're sitting the booth furthest from the window - even if she can see us, she probably can't hear us...plus, this establishment is considered part of our territory since you work for Jari Productions again. If she even walks in here, you could have her kicked out."
I almost screamed, "What?! Why would they kick someone out just because I asked?"
He replied, "They make more money if they work with you."
I sighed in frustration, "But I don't model anymore!"
He chortled, "They don't give a damn about that. Your fucking father and Jari Pro pay them to give you special treatment. You're lucky that your father doesn't own the place - if he did, it would be empty."
I groaned, "Can we move on with the meeting already? I'd rather not be the one constantly worrying about the yakuza tailing me."
He laughed and said, "Fine. They probably already noticed us anyway...so tell us what you learned about Yamato."
I coughed and replied, "He seemsnice enough, but he's connected to Koizumi Karin which you should already be aware of. I'm not too sure we can trust him to protect Sena. But, judging by what Sena pointed out earlier, it seems like Koizumi is trying to force him and possibly Honjou-san into working for her family."
He narrowed his eyes in what seemed to be anger, "In other words, there's a chance he would choose to side with us if he was given the chance."
I nodded before I said, "However, we would have to reveal the truth about how the Vongola started in order for that to happen."
Shin finally spoke up, "No."
I gave him a look of disbelief, "Shin..."
He gave me a hard look before he said, "I usually don't condone dishonesty, but we cannot tell him anything until we know for a fact that he will become Eyeshield's rain."
Takami sighed, "It might be the only way to get him on our side, though."
In response to Takami, all Shin said, "Then we won't need him."
Before Takami and I could respond, Hiruma said, "He's right. If the pipsqueak has to tell him his family history just to gain his loyalty, there's no reason for us to want him. Kakei and all the Lightning candidates, except Ikkyu, already trust Sena to an extent which already puts them ahead of the others."
Sena said, "Hiruma's right. I'd rather have a guardian that can trust me without knowing all my family secrets than one that can't. I'd rather meet all of them for myself before making any decisions."
I was about to respond when the door chimed to signal that a new customer had arrived. I turned to see who it was and was not happy about who had just walked in. I turned back to the others and said to Sena, "Looks like you might get your chance...if we can get Koizumi away."
He looked down before he softly said, "So I was right about her coming in."
Hiruma suddenly closed his laptop and stood up, "We'll have to move this meeting elsewhere...we can't discuss this with them here."
As he stood up, Takami asked, "Then, where are we supposed to discuss this?"
Hiruma threw a piece of paper at us and replied, "Pipsqueak's underground lair."
Monta, having finally finished his food, turned to Sena and asked, "You have an underground lair?"
Sena rubbed the back of is neck and replied, "This is my first time hearing about it, actually."
Takami sighed, "Can we just leave already? Koizumi and some of her lackeys are already looking this way."
I softly said, "Takami-senpai, they already left."
Takami growled, "Fucking Hiruma!"
Sena's Point of View
We took the bus to a somewhat remote area of Namimori, one that seemed to be under construction. Once we stepped off the bus, we walked into an 'abandoned' factory. When we entered, Hiruma pulled down some sort of lever and the floor of the factory seemed to turn into an elevator .
When we reached the bottom, it seemed as if we were now in some sort of tunnel. Hiruma lead us until we reached a mechanical door.
He turned to me and said, "You'll have to do this part, pipsqueak. Shin, Monta, and I won't be in the database until the inheritance ceremony."
I gulped and asked, "What am I supposed to do?"
He rolled his eyes and answered, "Just stand in front of the door and put your hand on that panel on the right."
I did what he said and was shocked when the door suddenly opened. In fact, I was so shocked that he had to push me through the door which had now closed behind us.
I was even more shocked when some tall blond guy came running behind some robot. The guy and his robot stopped when he saw us. He had a small smile on his face when he said to me, "Welcome home, Vongola Undicesimo."
I stuttered out a reply, "Okaeri."
Hiruma brought out one of his guns and pointed it at him before he asked, "Who are you?"
The blond guy with the robot calmly answered, "I'm one of the engineers. My name's Spanner."
Hiruma put his gun away and replied, "Where's the closest conference room?"
The newly dubbed Spanner responded, "Second hallway on your right, first door on your left."
Hiruma nodded at him and proceeded to lead us to the conference room Spanner told us about. This time, the door opened without any type of scanning system. When we walked in, Hiruma pushed me towards a chair that for some reason was labeled with 'XI' despite the fact that I had yet to agree to become the boss, but I suppose I really did have no choice if I really am the only heir to this creepy family.
Once I sat down, Hiruma took the seat to my right and Monta took the seat to my left. Shin sat across from me, while Takami and Sakuraba sat across from Hiruma and Monta respectively. Hiruma connected his laptop to the computer in front of him and brought all our monitors to life.
He pulled up several documents containing notes about all the potential guardian candidates. He looked around the room and said, "Let's begin. The pipsqueak's father is probably watching us from somewhere so we need to look like we're actually doing something."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Updated poll results below.
RAIN
Kakei - 6
Yamato - 3
Taka - 1
LIGHTNING
Akaba - 6
Ikkyu - 0
Mizumachi - 0
Riku - 1
MIST
Agon - 4
Unsui - 3
I will not make my own votes unless there's a tie by the time the chapter where the guardian is decided. Not sure what order it'll be in, yet. Yamato has not come into the series at this point, which means the Christmas Bowl has not yet happened. I want to re-read those chapters before deciding what Sena will think of him and Taka. Hiruma technically has his mind made up already, you just don't know who he picks. Having the most votes does not guarantee they'll be guardian. It's mostly to see who would be well-received by writers. Your opinions are considered, don't worry about that. I'm just saying if votes are close, it can go either way. Sakuraba's choices will be the winner, but I'll be asking other Es21/KHR fans who would be best out of the candidates if votes are close. There's a poll in the profile too, so be sure to vote there! You can only vote once in the poll, but you can vote through reviews for every new chapter that gets uploaded.
The results I post here include review & profile poll results.