The house phone rang and Reborn went to get it. "Yes? Yes… I see. Thank you sir." and he put the phone down. "Twerps! Good news! Taiga's not coming!"
"WHAAAAAT?!" they yelled, "SAY SO SOONER!"
"We'll have to call the guys for a home delivery now!" Shirou sighed.
The men shared looks. They can even call some men over from the Yakuzas?
To be honest, the Vongola would prefer she not come here...
And so, dinner… was… well… WOW.
Sure there's no Aperitif and Digestivo, but can they expect kids to own a stash of alcoholic drinks? Seriously? So yes, they can overlook that. It'd be weird if they could provide the liquor!
So there's the Antipasto which was a colorful batch of Crostini, Primo was Kenchinjiru, Secondo was a skillfully-arranged and decorated slabs of "small steaks" with a fragrant sauce and a garnish of parsley, and what sashimi is that on the plate, arranged like Chrysanthemum Flowers? Contorno was an arrangement of Salad also with its own dressing. Formaggio e Frutta is a Cheese Fondue with cut, thick bread into squares set on a small gas stove on a "heating" setting on the side, and the fruits were choice berries with also, a chocolate dipping bowl. Dolce is a picturesque bunch of small round pastries, and Caffe is Bicerin.
"W-wow… you're more skilled in the kitchen than chefs back home." the men could only STARE. It seems if not for the structure of Italian Meal, they could make other desserts look like a painting.
"Well, it's just us, we have to be good cooks or life will be expensive on takeouts," said Haruka wryly.
"By the way… this isn't Fugu is it?" Brow Nie Jr. asked worriedly, looking at the fish dish that was arranged like a flower and only one dish fits the description. "Only Fugu is ever prepared and arranged this way."
"Heck no!" Shirou did a double-take. "Reborn stocked some white Tuna! Not even I would touch Fugu even if you give me all the money in the world!" the adults sighed in relief and Reborn's eyes glinted in amusement. He knew full well that Shirou likes his food highly aesthetically-appearing he predicted this, and the boy thus was an unwitting accomplice in his idea of a joke.
Haruka glanced at Shirou. Unlike typical human licensed chefs who still worry and are justifiably fearful, he, a magus, can skillfully avoid the deadly parts of Fugu and prepare it skillfully with no fear of toxin. The only reason he didn't, is because a lot of people would freak out if a kid made a Fugu dish. Thus they never bought Fugu… they simply "steal some" by magicking it out of thin air and let Shirou do his work.
Delicious and no one's the wiser.
But for now?
Yeeeeah...
Once dinner was done with the guardians offering to take the dishes to the sink...
"So we'll begin," said Timoteo. "Five years ago… all my sons are systematically murdered." he said grimly. "If you know that the Fujimuras are Yakuzas… we are the mafia." the kids gulped. "As you are the youngest heir and are a civilian, you'd normally be the last and as per your father's wish, you and your mother wouldn't have anything to do with the mafia at all. My sons are all in their late twenties, unmarried and without heirs at that." he sighed. "They prefer to be reckless, adventurous and slacked off on duties they must do as my successor and they don't even have a complete set of Guardians!"
"I have an adopted son but he is ineligible because the Proof of Heirship, is blood-locked." he said, showing them his ring. "If one not of Vongola wore this, not even our founder, Giotto di Vongola knew what would happen. All he was told by a shamaness who gave him and his family these rings, is that 'he was better off not knowing' thus was never in records and I'd rather not lose him too." he sighed. "It's ironic that he, my foster child, has traits of an ideal, dutiful heir who made me so proud yet my own blood sons…" he shook his head. "Perhaps it was due to his beginning that he was so dedicated and hardworking. It's no wonder much of the Dons in our alliance favored him despite not knowing how to inherit Vongola as it's a secret from predecessor to successor through these set of rings."
"Your father who is of Vongola blood is ineligible as he is already the Head of the Vongola's External Advisor family branch… so that leaves… you." he said, looking at her. "However when I wanted to see the little girl my irresponsible sons damned to this fate… enemies tracked down our destination, found your home and gunned down your mother to kidnap you by force. It took us five years to know who, how many, and locations. We waged war on the culprit family and searched for five years, only to learn you never left Fuyuki all along, and ironically saved by a Gas Explosion."
"... and where's my parents?"Haruka asked him. "I thought for years I was twice-orphaned with Oniichan…"
"Erm, I'm your dad, Tsuna," said Iemitsu nervously to her. "Your real name is Tsunayoshi Sawada."
"Eh?! But isn't that a guy's name?!" Shirou yelped as the kids looked stunned and Iemitsu was sheepish.
"You think? Well mama was insistent on it… she said she just can't imagine her daughter having a typical girl's name for some reason and thought of the name Tsunayoshi." Iemitsu told her. "And also… Mama just woke up from her coma, Tsuna." said Iemitsu with a pained smile. "Due to the extent of her injuries, she was comatose for five years. She thought she woke up from a bad dream only to learn what happened was for real when she saw she was hooked up to monitors… and that she's been sleeping for five years. The nurses had to call me lest she panic."
"Oh…"
Iemitsu took out a laptop and played a video. It was of a sterile room with a bed, and a weakened woman who resembled Haruka. She has long, disheveled hair and she had a lot of tubes and wires connected to her.
"Tsuna-chan, it's mama." she said with a weak smile. "I heard from Iemitsu who heard from a friend that you're somehow amnesiac from too much smoke inhalation and trauma so you won't remember me and papa… but we really are your parents." she said with a sad smile. "I think the memory loss is a blessing at least so we can start over… and I don't want you to have a bad last memory since you saw what the bad guys did to me." she croaked out. "No parent would want their child to have such a bad memory…"
Haruka audibly swallowed. Sure she heard it by word but can she really imagine her mother bullet-ridden and blood flowing out of her?
"I'll be in Italy for a while under protection and rehabilitation. Papa says he works for an Intelligence Agency… that he lied to us about his job for our safety but bad guys always find a way don't they?" she sighed gloomily. "I can't see you for a while since I can hardly move… All I could do was eat, watch TV and sleep. I can't even hold a magazine so I asked papa for cable TV." she giggled. "Then again, bending my arms would be uncomfortable with all these needle-dextrose anyway." she grumbled.
"Well, they will be gone in a week and I'll be in intensive rehabilitation… and papa will take you to a safe place. I'm stuck here until I can move normally again but one day, we'll be home again so be good, alright? I'm also looking forward to meeting Shirou-kun… papa and I decided to adopt him so you'll still be with your big brother so both of you won't be lonely and papa will take care of you both." and the video ended with Haruka trying hard not to cry. Shirou on the other hand, was astonished that his sister's family would adopt him.
"Well…:we won't be seeing mama for a long while." Iemitsu sighed. "The doctors gave two years minimum."
"...intelligence agency?" Haruka raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms.
"I can't say we're mafia! It's for mama's peace of mind, OK?"
"So uhm, how are we going to do this?" Shirou asked them. "We don't have travel papers and all that."
"Well, it's already dealt with, all we need, are photos," said Timoteo. "You can easily go to a photo shop to get some Travel Photos and it's safe as nobody knows your faces but ours are a little… known… we can't really accompany you." he said with a wince. "We'll do it tomorrow but for now, we'll do a clean sweep of this city. If it is safe, you kids can safely stay here by yourselves but we will be doing periodic check-ups. If not, you'll be going to Italy with us."
"That's alright." said Haruka. "By the way, Kiri-tousan has a weird rule for some reason." she said.
"Weird rule?" Iemitsu blinked.
"Don't go to the Church." the kids chorused.
Cue poleaxed looks.
"For some reason, he doesn't like the priest there and told us never to even look at him," said Haruka with a frown. "He wouldn't say why but since he used to be a mercenary, he must've seen something nobody else did so we avoided that part of town. The priest must be bad news if even he's steering clear of him."
Now that, is concerning.
Kiritsugu Emiya of all people? Avoiding someone?
"We'll be back in our hotel for now," said Timoteo. "It's safer if your father is with us, and this district is Fujimura Territory. You'll be alright."
Once even Reborn left… which Haruka ensured they all leave the house and stay in the hotel...
"...now what?" Haruka griped. "Mafia… I consulted the Root… dear me, I can see how and why his sons all died, they were all morons." she said flatly before groaning. "And now I have to be a mafia donna? Really now?" she moaned in dismay. "And let's not get started into the powers the Mafia possess… there's a kind of mafia whose type of supernatural is based on Deathperation Flames, a portmanteau of 'dying will' and 'desperation', and I know now how my Sorcery Trait works." she sighed. "For now, we'll pretend to be clueless."
"I guess to make that effective, you won't tell me a thing." said Shirou wryly.
"Yup. You can't tell a lie to save your life, you know."
Shirou just sighed.