28. Blossoms

"So, what exactly am I seeing here?"

It was a beautiful, beautiful spring day, with cherry blossoms fluttering and dancing in the wind. The fresh spring breeze blew my hair into a mess, and brought a chill to my senses.

Of course, my family and I were set out for some flower viewing today. My sisters were even more excited at the fact that we were invited by Tsuna and gang. The girls had formed a tight friendship with I-Pin and Lambo in the little times they played together.

I had set out ahead, wanting to meet up with my friends ahead of time. Dad would bring the girls over a little later when they were done preparing the food.

But as soon as the park comes into view, I hear explosions.

And when I enter the park, I see Takeshi and Hibari fighting. Takeshi was using a sword. A freaking sword. Takeshi, what have I told you about using a sword in public?

(Wait. I've never said anything.)

"Ah, Rei. Good timing." I hear Reborn at the tree branch to my right.

I turn to him, acting surprised. "Oh, Reborn-kun." I greet him, "Beautiful day, eh?" I smiled at him. "Why is it that beautiful days are always accompanied by... this?"

I nudged at the scene in front of me. Just then, Takeshi was knocked down by Hibari's tonfa, his knees definitely touching the ground.

"Rei, as a member of Tsuna's Famiglia, go fight." Reborn told me.

Eh? "Huhh-" I gaped, "Wait, me? Reborn-kun, I'm weak, y'know? and rigorous sporting is something I'm typically not allowed to-"

I quickly ducked down to avoid having the deadly metal weapon connect with my skull.

"Wai-" I held up my hands, "Hi-Hibari-senpai, wait, no-" I panicked, spluttering over and over again unable to form coherent sentences in my head, "Help!"

I swerved to the side, narrowly dodging the tonfa again. Hibari smirked, getting back into fighting position.

Dripping with cold sweat, I raised my hands to imitate his poise. Damn, I wish I had a weapon! Actually, I really shouldn't be fighting Hibari. I just had stitches removed!

My surgery scar was barely healing yet, and I've been told over and over again for the past two months to not fucking run or fight. And for once, I listened to Kuma. Please don't reopen, wound!

My eyes narrowed as I decided to get serious. That's enough wimpiness. Once Hibari gets going, you won't survive if you keep being under-confident about yourself.

I blocked the tonfa with the side of my arm, managing to lessen the injury. The block made Hibari widen his eyes in light surprise, and I took that moment to twist my arm over the tonfa and get a grip on Hibari's wrist, earning a surprised gasp from Gokudera.

"What the- he had those reflexes?"

But I wasn't fast enough. Hibari had better fighting sense than me, and so his immediately reaction was to bring his other tonfa to a hard strike at my stomach.

I took two steps back and doubled over in pain.  I groaned, my knees on the ground and my head hanging down. My arms held protectively over my stomach, I sent a sorry smile towards Tsuna and Reborn, chuckling. "Sorry, I lost."

"Then," Reborn turned to his student, "Next up is Tsuna."

"WHAT?!?" the guy was mortified, "Wait, no, Reborn! I can't! I haven't gotten a single bit stronger than I was before!" he argued desperately. After all, who would volunteer himself to get killed by the prefect?

"Ho?" Reborn sounded amused, "How can that be? Didn't you try to protect Kyoko from the lions before?" he smirked, Leon changing into a pistol in his hand, "Hurry up and die."

BANG!

"REBORN! I'LL DEFEAT HIBARI WITH MY DYING WILL!!"

------

"Wait, Hibari-senpai!" I called out to the staggering male.

At the call, Hibari turned to me, raising his tonfa again. His steps were unstable from the new disease Shamal gave him, but he was never one to surrender to stupid illnesses. "What do you want?" he threatened, up and ready to fight again.

I raised my hands up warily, but smiled. I took out a small, wrapped lunchbox from my bag and handed it to Hibari. "Actually, I made too much food. Would you take one for me?" I asked, chuckling bashfully.

He raised an eyebrow. Food? Is this herbivore offering- him- food? He eyed me skeptically, hesitant in taking the offer.

Okay, moving on to Plan number Two.

My smile dropped a little, staying on, but not reaching my eyes. I chuckled a little sadly. "Well, I guess it's alright... I shouldn't force you to accept it." I scratched my cheek slightly, "Just that, well... it's be a bit of a waste to be throw it away so..." I looked down, my face downcast, but my smile awkwardly still on my face. "Sorry for disturbing you!" I bowed in apology.

I heard a tut. Hibari was glaring at me.

I flinched.

"You scheming herbivore." Hibari growled. Surprisingly, he didn't seem angry at me. Snatching the lunchbox from my hand, he trotted away. He didn't look back.

Eh-?

Oh, it worked?

------

The other three sat down, relaxing under the beautiful petals, laughing together, with a hint of bickering here and there. I joined them after handing the lunchbox to Hibari.

"C'mon, Rei!" Takeshi waved at me.

I chuckled, making my way over. The blossoms were pretty, and this scene felt soothing. it really made me feel happy-- Then I stopped.

"What's wrong?" Tsuna asked me first, concerned about my sudden pause.

"No, it's nothing. I just thought it's right about time..." I mumble, looking left and right warily.

"Time?" Gokudera perked up, confused, "For what?"

And there it was. The familiar "REI-CHAAAN!" as Sae tackles me with all her strength. Arms wrap around my bruised stomach as a face buries into my back, belonging to a giggling child I recognized as my sister.

I staggered, but managed to catch myself in time. I sighed in relief, standing back up in time to find Sui hugging me from the front. "Rei-chan is mine too." she puffed up her cheeks possessively, antagonizing her older sister.

"Wha-" Gokudera was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the girls.

"Sae and Sui! How are ya?" Takeshi waved at them, a wide grin on his face.

Sae giggled at that, unwrapping her arms around me, leaping out of her shoes and jumping onto Takeshi instead. "Takeshi-nii!" she yelled, diving into the older male who barely managed to catch her. Sui ducked behind me, nodding at them in greeting.

I sighed. "Seriously, you two, you'll seriously kill me one day." I complained, but they ignored it, having heard this same complaint the last five hundred times. "Also, where's Dad?" I asked.

"Ah-" Sae and Sui said in unison, "We forgot about Papa."

I facepalmed.

------

"Seriously, all my children do is bully their poor Daddy." Ninomiya Yuuichirou's voice in the distance caught our attention.

Everyone was here now, including the girls (as in Kyoko, etc) and the kids. The only people who were missing at the moment were the parents-- namely, Sawada Nana and my Dad.

"My, my. But isn't that how children should be? Lively and cheerful!" Sawada Nana's voice giggled in reply.

They waved as us as they approached, carrying a load of lunchboxes made by the Ninomiya Family. Seriously, the girls left Dad without helping him carry them!

As the two settled down, Dad smiled at everyone. "Hey there, new faces galore!" he greeted, "I'm the Father of Rei, Sae and Sui." he introduced himself, "Thank you so much for taking care of my girls and Rei."

Haru fawned slightly, "Hahii, Rei-san's Father is so young!" she awed.

"It's been a while, Yuuichirou-san!" Kyoko greeted, smiling an adorable, adorable smile at my Dad.

"Yo, Yuuichirou-san!" Takeshi greeted, with a bright, wide grin on his face.

"Oh, aren't you Kyoko-chan? You're such a beauty now!" Dad smiled back, "Takeshi-kun, too. Are you taller than me?"

"Alright- Alright." I spoke up, breaking up the flow of the conversation. "Food's ready. Let's eat before it gets cold, eh?"

"THANKS FOR THE FOOD!"

------

-----

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Extra 01 (POV: Shamal)

"Well, aren't you two a pair of cuties?" Shamal approached the twins, a smile on his face.

Sae and Sui perked up. The two were racing around the trees, hands held. They lifted their heads in unison, with the exact same motion. Shamal had to smile at that. Well, that was adorable. These two are like mirrors.

"Who are you, uncle?" Sae spoke up first.

"Jamal-san," Sui answered her sister, "Reborn-chan's friend."

Shamal burst out laughing. As offended he felt about being called 'Jamal', that error was hilarious. "I'm Shamal, girls," he corrected, "Shamal."

"Then, Shamal-san, did you need something from Sae and Sui?" Sae beamed, a bright, adorable smile gracing her face.

"Nope, just that you girls were so cute, I had to stop you so I could take a closer look." He grinned back. These girl were sooo cute. He wished he could just stare at them, but he'd be labelled as a stalker and Bianchi-chan will kick him again... "Though I'm sad I can't take you two out on a date."

"Date? Why?" Sae inquired, her head tilting to the side.

"Since you're so cute, uncle here just wants to see you girls to be happy." He smiled. No, No, Shamal wasn't a pedophile. He may love all girls, but he in fact makes it a point to not go too far with his targeting on underage girls. He is, to some point, a decent human being.

So for younger girls, he's quite content just watching them and showing some cute puppy love. "Lessee, do you girls like cake?" he asked.

"Me! Me! I do!" Sae said excitedly.

"I like it too." Sui spoke up, evidently interested now too.

That made Shamal smile in victory. "Then, if your brother approves, wanna hang out with uncle some time?" he offered harmlessly.

"Sure!"

------

Extra 02: (POV: Yuuichirou)

Yuuchirou sighed contentedly. He leaned against the tree, watching the scene before him.

Nana and Bianchi laughed and chatted at the mat, while the children were all playing in alternating sides of the park. Takeshi and Tsuna were with Rei, chatting about something with Kyoko and Haru. The silver-haired boy, Hayato, was chasing after Lambo angrily. Sae and Sui were running around with I-pin.

Peace, he realized, was something he really needed every once in a while. It was an amazing feeling. Why, oh, why did he not receive it more often?

"Ninomiya Yuuichirou, was it?"

He looked up, spotting an infant wearing a suit.

"Uh... Reborn-chan, was it?" Yuuichirou recalled. 

The infant jumped down and onto the adult's lap, turning around before raising a hand in greeting. "Ciaossu!" he said.

"Ciao," Yuuichirou chuckled lightly. "You came to my house before, didn't you?" he asked, remembering the time a couple of months ago.

"Yes," Reborn replied in a squeaky voice, pretending to be a kid, "I am Tsuna's Home Tutor, Reborn!" he introduced himself again.

"A Home Tutor at your age? That's admirable." Yuuichirou praised, playing along with this childish game. His ever-present smile was never really a fake one. Yuuichirou was one that liked and loved children, so he would naturally smile whenever he sees one.

"And regarding your son, Rei," Reborn spoke in a more normal tone now, "I would like to seek your permission for him to become a part of Tsuna's Mafia Family."

The exchange was not heard by anyone other than the two.

"Mafia?" Yuuichirou gave Reborn a confused face, "Well, sure then." he laughed. "That sure sounds like an interesting game!"

"It's not a game," Reborn said simply, "My real profession is a Hitman."

Yuuichirou chuckled again. "How adorable," he spoke, his smile suddenly not reaching his eyes. His gaze sharpened slightly as his mood turned serious. "Why would you tell me about your affiliation with the Mafia, Reborn?"

Reborn paused for a second before his lips curled into a smirk.

"You know of the Omerta, don't you?" he asked, his voice confident in a sense of achievement.

"Oops," Yuuichirou faked a clumsy farce, "I guess I messed up." And boy, he sure did.

In the next instant, Leon was a gun in Reborn's hand and Yuuichirou's hand was held precariously at Reborn's tiny neck.

Neither looked like they were joking around.

"Well, I guess if you keep my secret, I'll keep yours." Yuuichirou chuckled.

"Secret?" Reborn questioned.

A hand at Yuuichirou's lips, the man blew a 'shh' in silence. "Isn't that a great deal, Sun Arcobaleno Reborn?" he asked tauntingly.

First to withdraw was Reborn, where Leon returned to his chameleon form and rested at his fedora. Seeing that, Yuuichirou removed his hand as well.

"And about Rei..." Yuuichirou put his Father Face back on, "That child's always been a mystery. Perhaps it's because I was absent in the majority of his life, but he feels-- he feels much much more mature than his age would regard him to be."

Reborn nods. He, in fact, agrees. In the little time he's known Rei, he felt something. He felt-- a connection. Ninomiya Rei felt similar to an Arcobaleno. Not in power- it was like an aura.

Ninomiya Rei felt like an adult trapped in a child's body.

"I forced him to grow up." Yuuichirou admitted. "I left home and forced my child to mature, forced him to become the adult in my stead." And he regretted it. He would kill to go back in time and redo his life with his family, to give them the father they deserved much earlier on. "Rei is my pride." Yuuichirou smiled, "Even if he ends up going against me in the future, I will believe in him and the path he decides for himself."

That was a yes, Reborn realized. It was a parent's seal of approval. Yuuichirou had just given Reborn approval to snatch his son into the bloody underworld.

"But promise me one thing." Yuuichirou chuckles, "my baby has a weak body, and I'm sure you know that. I still can't be around him all the time, so please, just promise me that you'll look after him when I'm not around."

Reborn had definitely heard about the child's lung condition. He had heard much from Maman. It was worrying to think that a child with so much Hitman potential would be weighed down by a disease as burdening as that.

But Reborn believed that Rei was a very, very useful chess piece in Tsuna's Family. And so, he raised his hand towards the man.

"You have my word." Reborn promised.

Yuuichirou chuckled at the tiny hand and shook the hand back. "I guess we have a deal."