#intcon

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15 - Future, Decimo Era

No one bothers the Varia about it.

Iemitsu's disappearance is made note of, in passing, not even unusual for it's lack of reaction.

"Trash is dead." is all Xanxus says. He doesn't give any further answers, only throws glasses, but Squalo notes that he does glance as Sawada the younger - or only one now - a bit longer than usual.

Squalo keeps his mouth shut on it.

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Intuitive Conclusions (sharp teeth of truth) - 10 - Inheritance arc

It takes them some time to meet and honestly with all this inheritance business, time is getting in shorter supply. "Sorry about that, I'm always watched." Tsuna apologises, cause it's absolutely the fault of his circumstances. "Best not say anything wrong out in the open."

Enma nods, a bit more settled than the day they set the meeting up, but the two had spent time together and his friend had learned how to read Tsuna's lies, like his Guardians had, they could sense the minute changes in his flames far better than Reborn could and being of the same age undoubtedly helped them decipher the whys.

He was just happy that these bonds, even if construed by Reborn as first, proved true and all of his friends covered for him. He'd seen Enma's guardians look at them with some confusion, but they all went along with it.

"You know what's wrong with my mom?" Indecisive his Intuition says. "Or you know my mom?" Truth.

Enma fidgets a bit, looking at the ground before visibly gathering his courage and looking to Tsuna. "Your mother is my dad's sister." Enma says and Tsuna freezes. Truth.

This. This has vast implications. His mom did not recognize Enma and from what Enma has spoken to him of his family, now obviously because they're Tsuna's family too, Enma looks a lot like his dad.

His mother should have recognized him immediately, or at least said something to the thought of him looking familiar, but nothing was said. His mother looked through Enma like she did through everyone but Iemitsu.

This also meant his mother was from a family with different flames. Truth.

Iemitsu probably knew of this. Truth.

Iemitsu picked mom specifically for this. Truth.

Tsuna could feel his hands shake.

"He lobotomized mom so he could get an heir." Truth.

Enma looked troubled and reached out to him. Tsuna took a deeper breath at the touch on his shoulder, he didn't know he stopped breathing. Enma looks like he wants to say something, something bad and doesn't want to unsettle Tsuna further. Tsuna swallows.

"It might be best I hear it now, whatever it is." Tsuna tells his...cousin. He has a cousin on his mother's side. He has an aunt and uncle and possibly more.  He's not alone. Tsuna takes a deep breath again.

Enma's lips thin, but he doesn't let go of Tsuna. "Your dad...he was after my family, our family…" Enma doesn't want to continue, but Tsuna's Intuition fills in the blanks.

"Mom stayed back to keep him back, as bait-" he chokes. Truth. He doesn't want to know that.

Tsuna puts his head in his hands, tries to breathe. There is hesitance in Enma's flames, in his body, but he still hugs Tsuna and Tsuna hugs him back, shakes.

Enma has no problem holding his entire weight and Tsuna is so grateful cause he can't stop crying. His cousin just holds him tighter and doesn't let go.

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Intuitive Conclusions (sharp teeth of truth) - 14 - Future, Decimo Era

There's a particular bonding condition that Tsuna doesn't think his Guardians fully understand, not all of them or even most of them. It did not click for them, because it was not a thing that Tusna spoke of to them, not a thing that they went through together.

It is hatred.

Specifically, hatred of one's father.

Now, it's not a secret that Tuna doesn't like Iemitsu, but - Tsuna's anger had always looked sharp and bright and loud to everyone around him. They've seen him snarl and shout and scream at Byakuran, Jaeger, any enemy who really pissed him off at the time.

His emotions are smoother these days, because he's older, but he still seems warm.

Tsuna's hatred is cold.

It's an abyss and bite of Zero-Point ice. It's cutting and precise and so very quiet.

So while all of his Guardian know that Tsuna is cold to Iemitsu, not all of them realize that Tsuna truly hates him. Ones who seem to have noticed it most clearly are Hibari and Lambo. Mukuro as well, after his last assignment.

Though only Mukuro seems to have understood that this was a bonding condition all of Tsuna's Guaridans achieved. Hatred of one's parent, more specifically, their fathers.

I makes Mukuro side-eye Yamamoto Takeshi for a full week.

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Intuitive Conclusions (sharp teeth of truth) - 11 - Inheritance Arc

Tsuna is going to destroy Iemitsu.

He knows this with cold clarity of a Hyper Dying Will mode. Tsuna is not in any sort of Dying Will mode, but he finally feels like he could enter it without any 'help'.

His future self had Iemitsu killed and Tsuna wonders if that self knew what he knows now.

His intuition hitches in a familiar way...so  that self probably suspected something, but did not know the full story.

Tsuna hums lightly and leans on the fence more. It's to be expected, because with what he knows now, with how he feels right now-

Death is too merciful. Too quick.

Tsuna breathes in.

It's not enough.

He needs more.

He wants to extract every single moment of his mother's suffering from Iemitsu's sorry hide.

Tsuna has no idea how he's functioned for the past three days, after crying half a lake on Enma's shoulder he- he must have disassociated. Enma did look concerned - and Tsuna apologized for that a whole lot though his cousin wouldn't hear of it. He dragged himself home and passed out. When he was awoken by Reborn his mind was in this state.

Cold. Cutting.

Maybe Reborn, Nono, Iemitsu- all of them were right and he truly did make a good career criminal.

His intuition says nothing. Not a hum.

Tsuna huffs.

He turns and goes back home. An idle thought crosses his mind - should hire Mukuro to torture Iemitsu to death - and he spares a moment to thank the stars that Reborn seems to find him harder to read these days and attributes this new change to the Inheritance Ceremony.

Small mercies.

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Intuitive Conclusions (sharp teeth of truth) - 8 - TYL

Shadowy figures, other Vongola Bosses his Intuition tells him, who show him the horrors of what Vongola has done, don't really know him.

His head hurts, he'd not watch something like this willingly, but they don't know that his own Intuition had given his imagination more horror material than this, closer horror material every time he glimpses Iemitsu and his mother in the same space.

Vongola killed. Tortured, blackmailed, destroyed all these people whose demise is rolling in front of his eyes. It's horrific to watch, but the thought of Iemitsu, a man who is his father by blood, keeping his mother mentally damaged and sharing space, sharing bed-space with her makes him want to vomit up his organs.

"Shut up!" he screams at them, Flames lighting his eyes. "You are dead." He tells them with a weird sort of finality in his voice. It's some kind of flame-influenced speak his Intuition sings. "You have no say in what I do with Vongola, " they shuffle. " Don't presume I won't be casting all of you off of my back."

He'd already purged himself off of Iemitsu in this future. That thought galvanizes him.

He sees them move and another move forwards. This is undoubtedly Giotto, the first, the one at fault for all of Tsuna's life. Tsuna wants to punch him.

It must show on his face since the other stops out of reach, Flame mask on his face not hiding the small smile.

"Indeed." The ethereal voice echoes in the darkness and it brightens to endless Sky, Giotto's mask vanishes leaving his with only a flame on his forehead and orange eyes, Tsuna feels his own light up.

"You are the latest, and maybe last," the remnant speaks. " do as you will with what you have." Giotto's arm snakes out to his own and Tsuna can feel him do something to the ring with his flames, some kind of unlocking his Intuition pokes at him.

The ghost of his ancestor smiles at him, but takes care to stay out of reach as he says. "Sins of the past may try to cling to you, but they've met their match."

With that things go white and Tsuna is back in the sphere. His gloves have changed. He knows what to do.

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Intuitive Conclusions (sharp teeth of truth) - 1

It comes to Tsuna like a lightning strike. He's brushing his teeth, last, having let Lambo, I-Pin and Reborn take their turn first. He's already worrying about Lambo's Ring Battle tomorrow, likes to have him where he can see him.

As he squeezes out the paste onto his toothbrush he spares a vicious thought to his father for even picking Lambo as a candidate. I'm glad he's not Lambo's father because he'd do even shittier by him then.

And that's when it comes to him. Iemitsu, his father, had no interest in being a father.

Tsuna freezes.

Being a father was never a priority to Iemitsu. His eyes in the mirror flare orange. Hyper Intuition.

It's only the peripheral sense of Reborn, or maybe his intuition that keeps him brushing his teeth on automatic and going to bed.

Tsuna's mind is still on that thought, but luckily it's taken as worry for Lambo. And he is still worried, maybe even more, but the chill running through him is all for himself for once.

He shuts his eyes and turns away from Reborn, trying to find some measure of peace and not alert the hitman to his thoughts.

His Intuition is prodding him, it won't let him forget his questions. It knows he wants to know. But he doesn't want to know.

Tsuna has never thought to question people's intentions and plans before now. Stupidly perhaps he believed that Reborn's explanations were enough for him, held enough relevant information, stupidly he did not think to dig further himself, reason things out. But did Reborn ever allow him time for that?

Tsuna has never thought himself particularly smart, but, but… was there a reason for that?

Reborn knew of the Intuition laying dormant inside him. The one prodding at him now.

How did he know?

Tsuna buries his face deeper into his pillow and tries to breathe calmly.

Did Iemitsu tell him? How did Iemitsu know?

Tsuna's heart clenches. What is Iemitsu's agenda here?

In Namimori? In mom's life even? His eyes tear up.

If it is true that Iemitsu does not think of being a father as something of great importance. Truth.

That means he never gave much thought to it. Truth. Or put effort into it. Truth.

It was not important. Truth.

Tsuna was not important.

That is where his intuition hitched, but  perhaps more damningly it did not say that the statement was untrue.

Tsuna cries himself to sleep and doesn't ask any more that night.

It's already far too much.

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Intuitive Conclusions (sharp teeth of truth) - 12 - Future, Decimo Era

Tsuna speaks as soon as Hayato's steps go out of earshot.

"The white file is for you." He doesn't stop going through his paperwork. The matter will be handled no matter what, Tsuna has waited this long, he can wait more.

Mukuro takes cue from his tone and doesn't offer a quip, not even a single chuckle. His form materializing out of thin air as the takes the file from he desk. One Tsuna had lovingly put together over the years, adding and subtracting as fit. Mostly adding though.

"If you don't want to do it I'll delegate it to someone else." Byakuran, he'll ask Byakuran for Torikabuto.

Byakuran will agree. Truth. His intuition hums.

"Read it in full before you decide." Is all Tsuna says when he feels Mukuro's eyes on him.

To his credit, Mukuro takes a seat at the visitor's couch and goes through the file - well, more of a package. The feeling in the air tells him that no one will see Mukuro or the file should they suddenly enter, like most of the family or Reborn love to do. That already speaks of the Mist's thoughts.

The file doesn't hold every single detail of Iemitsu's misdeeds and lists upon lists of what Tsuna would like done to the man, but Tsuna can tell that Mukuro can fill in a lot of the blanks with retrospective of Tsuna's actions, Tsuna's flames.

All of his Guardians have extensive knowledge of how he kept Iemitsu busy, yet rarely took reports directly. How he took great pains to subtly remove him from his mother's life - make it seem like Iemitsu's both needed and useless in turn.

Moving the goalposts further at a measured pace.

They must have thought he was returning Iemitsu's treatment of Tsuna back on the man. But Tsuna hasn't cared about his relationship with that man in what feels like an age.

He can tell by the fluctuation in Mukuro's flames that the Mist has reached the part about his mother, about Shimon. About lobotomy.

Its taken years to get things somewhat back on track with his mother. Took him years to stealthily introduce Kozato family back into his mother's life. Even if she couldn't remember a thing. Even if her memories may never return. They are still there in whatever capacity possible - in whatever capacity they wish, he's managed to give them an option.

Mukuro closes the file.

Tsuna doesn't stop writing.

Mukuro leaves with the file.

Tsuna smiles.

Cold. Cutting.

All traces of Mukuro's flames are gone from the room, dispersed beyond sense range of anyone but Tsuna.

Good.

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Intuitive Conclusions (sharp teeth of truth) - 13 - Future, Decimo Era

It takes more than half a year for anyone to realize that Iemitsu won't be coming back.

Part of this is the orders Tsuna gave him, long term missions with little contact - part of it was the man's own nature, extra detours, extra digging - trying to prove himself - he was always late, by at least a week.

It made people pity him for having his own son for a  Boss. Having made a bad ploy and only reaping misfortunes instead of benefits form it.

"Are you sure he's missing?" is all Tsuna asks when it reaches him. He doesn't even stop writing - granted this has happened before - in fact, Tsuna made sure of it, sending Iemitsu on progressively longer and longer missions.

Disguised as him being fed up with Iemitsu, it wasn't even a lie - so it was the best kind of deception.

There have been a bunch of false alarms and when there's a lot of false alarms...people stop reacting.

Hayato looks harried. "As far as we can tell." Irritation colours his tone, not with Tsuna's question -for Hayato could never be irritated with Tsuna- but with Iemitsu. Time under Tsuna's rule has shown off Iemitsu's professional inadequacies - if simply because Tsuna would not overlook a single mistake - and if Tsuna wouldn't than Hayato would go over everything with a microscope for good measure.

You spent all your life working here, you better have some actual skill to show for it - is what Tsuna had told him the first time Iemitsu tried to write off mistakes that stood out glaringly to Tsuna's intuition. I will always hold you to a higher standard - is what he said to feed the man's ego, an insult - not that Iemitsu noticed.

Tsuna hums as the places his signature on another piece of paperwork.

He glances up to Hayato and Basil, who looks drained to the bone. Tsuna puts his pen down and asks for details.

Tsuna doesn't know the details. He didn't ask for more than confirmation of a mission being finished and Mukuro didn't volunteer. Somehow Tsuna is distantly...excited to find out what sorts of horrors Iemitsu was subjected to - though it's probably better that Iemitsu never be found again.

Then again...a lack of a body may have it's own problems.

Never mind. It will be dealt with however it turns out.