Turn Turtle

He misses it.

Iemitsu almost can't believe it but, given the succession of bad luck he's had these past few weeks (one Famiglia wiped out completely, another two suddenly declaring war and that's not even covering the three assassins who've made it into Vongola territory)… it doesn't come as a surprise. Twelve and a half hours had passed by, he'd been sure he could afford a moment to step out and sharing the exciting news with the Boss. And he'd missed it, the birth of his precious little princess!

His cute little Turtle, all swaddled up in orange cloth (a gift from the Ninth) with her tiny, chunky little face poking out. She's even got a fine crown of light brown hair, Nana's hair. It's undoubtedly softer than his darling wife's but that's because she's a baby. Iemitsu can think of nothing better in this very moment than sitting by Nana's bedside to coo down at his baby girl.

"Oh, Honey, our baby girl glowed!" Nana croons, ruddy cheeks lifting into the smile that blesses his day, the one that waters his crops and cares for his livestock. The one that makes the world spin and the sun rise and the ocean wave.

"I bet she did, Nana." She's been cleared up by the nurses now though, all smooth skin with a healthy little glow to it. He and Nana have made the cutest kid! He'll have to keep a few people posted when she becomes a teenager; ain't no one getting anywhere near his baby girl! It's a damn good thing he's well practiced with making undesirables disappear.

"She did, Honey, she did." Nana murmurs, voice lowering and trailing off as the good drugs kick in, as sleep drags her under the replenish her energy.

Iemitsu watches his darling wife sleep with a beaming smile on his face, one that softens as he returns his attention to his child, his daughter. She's fast asleep too, thin eyelids covering her baby-blues. He wonders if they'll remain that way, or darken to match Nana's. He couldn't care either way.

.

If Iemitsu had paid a little less attention to his darling daughter and a little more attention to what his wife was saying, then he might have checked back on the hospital's CCTV, where he would have found that Nana hadn't been hallucinating. That, freshly birthed, Sawada Kamehime had glowed not just with the lighting reflecting off her freshly birthed self, but with a healthy orange flame that wasn't really seen outside of certain criminal organisations.

Alas, he carried on cooing over his sleeping infant and all was quiet.

Among the people of Namimori, there is an awful lot of gossip; there's not much else to do in a town this sleepy with this many colourful characters. There's the sushi chef with his mysterious past, the exuberate would-be-boxer who was due to leave town in the next year on a well-earned sporting scholarship. Two key figures stand out more than the others.

The first is Hibari; locals warn visitors to the town of this one, warn people to stay clear of the middle school and to be on their best behaviour. The few that do not heed these warnings soon find out why, via an up close and personal meeting with the Demon of Namimori Middle. Needless to say, these meetings are often fruitful when it comes to providing evidence towards why one sticks to the rules in Namimori (and supplementing the hospital with more patients). Yes, Hibari has been a well-recognised figurehead of the town since his take-down of the local Yakuza aged ten, a feat that catapulted him into town-wide stardom.

On the other hand, there's Sawada. Not the head of the family, who is very rarely in town due to his travel-heavy job. Nor is it the Sawada housewife, who smiles sweet enough to make a criminal repent and who cooks so well that it'd drive a saint to sin.

No, the Sawada recognised by the town is the daughter, one Sawada Kamehime. She'd always been a bit of a strange child, what with those frightfully unnerving orange eyes and unnaturally mature way of speaking. Her rise to fame had been quite the opposite of Hibari's, a slow, modest trudge to recognition. Helping people when they need it, when they don't, when they weren't even aware of it. And her strange way of knowing if something was going to happen before it does… well, the inhabitants of Namimori no longer question it, just accept it.

If Sawada Kamehime gives you advice, you follow it.

Don't buy carrots today? Oh, there's been a rotten shipment.

Take an extra fifteen minutes at the gym? Meet the love of your life.

Don't go for a walk under the Sakura trees? Oh, the Demon Prefect is having a nap there.

Yes, though they appear to be polar opposites, the one thing Sawada and Hibari share is a level of fame.

It makes her ridiculously easy to find.

.

Rocking back on his heels, Byakuran lets a low, jolly tune escape from between his lips as a whistle, smiling at the curious old ladies who stare at him. It's the hair; most of these people have black or brown or the occasional ginger. White seems to be a new one for them but still, staring? Rude.

Shoving a hand into his pocket, he pulls out a fistful of marshmallows, shovelling them into his mouth a moment later. He's outside the old people's home; admittedly, not his usual jaunt but he's hardly here for the washed-up senior citizens. No, it's the helpful Sky he's waiting on. After all, what is one to do when they receive memories of their alternate self's attempted world conquest, then their subsequent defeat, but meet the cause of said defeat? Even if she is female in this reality (and things are running a bit behind, given the lack of World-Famous Hitmen in the town?) that doesn't matter. She's female in nearly half of them; just because it was a boy that took down super Byakuran, doesn't mean that the girl various will be any less.

Or, so he hopes. Life is boring right now. It's why he hopped on a jet out of Italy and landed over here in Japan. He has no idea how long it'll take until things begin to kick off, but he's looking forwards to it.

Chowing down on another handful of wonderous sugar, Byakuran lifts his gaze from his phone and grins when he finds the very person he's been waiting on.

"Kamehime-chan!" He bounces the little stretch of walkway between public space and the care-home's front door, stopping a half foot away from the very startled middle-schooler. Awe, she's just as cute in person as what he's seen in the pictures. The eyes aren't unnerving (not to any harden Mafioso anyway) and she's still got some puppy fat left on her cheeks.

"I- er, hello? Can I help you?"

"So welcoming~ It's no wonder they call you Kogane-Kame!" Golden Turtle; it's a cute play on her given name and her golden behaviour. In this community, Sawada Kamehime can do no wrong, not with how hard she's worked to be seen in such a good light. That there's Hibari running riot around the town as the other extreme will only have helped her.

"Have we met?" The wide eyes, the soft smile and gentle tilt of her head is all a cute little act to get information out of him. Oh, she might have been playing with civilians, but he's Mafia trained so she'll have to try just a little bit harder than that!

"In other universes, we've always found each other~" Byakuran purrs, shoving more marshmallows into his mouth before holding one out to her, "why should this one be any different?"

"I think that is the weirdest thing anyone has ever said to me," Kamehime muses, accepting his treat and popping it between her lips. She's got some kind of chapstick on, the sheen makes it obvious and the slight cracks in the skin beneath give reason enough for the substance. "But cool, let's roll with it. My name is Sawada Kamehime, a First Year at Namimori Middle. Please take care of me." She bows, hands held before her. It's cute.

"Nice to meet 'cha, Hime-chan. Name's Gesso Byakuran. Now, let me tell you about the Mafia."

Yes, I am rewriting this. Yes, there will clearly be changes (a key-one being that the SI will not have read KHR before being reborn). Will I finish it? Who knows. I'm sorry I'm such an unreliable author, but we live with what we've got, I guess.

Tsume
xxx