Game on

Chapter 18: Inheritance Arc 2

"That's a lot of people..." mumbled Kozato-san to Tsuna the next day, as most of the Vongola X pilled into the ice cream parlor
"Ah, yes..." the teen reddened "At first, it was supposed to be only those of us that goes to the same school, but then Lambo heard we were going to get ice cream so we had to take him or we wouldn't have heard the end of it..." he pointed to the cow kid loudly asking to be served "And of course, if we took one of the kids, it was a bit cruel for the others not to come, so we took I Pin and Fuuta too... Before I knew it nearly everyone was coming..."

Meanwhile, Kyoya was glaring at Adelheid, who was glaring back, Takeshi laughing by his side and trying to make Mizuno talk, Ryohei and his fellow boxing freak were already clashing loudly under the stunned eyes of the ice-cream vendor.
"Well, your Famiglia is..." the transfer student was struggling with the words to use, and finally settled on "Lively?" in a more interrogative than affirmative tone

Tsuna smiled fondly "That they are. You can even say chaotic if you want, they are that too. But I wouldn't change them for anything in the world."

Kozato was once more surprised by the other teen – and yet, he understood at the same time, that was made clear by the gentleness that entered his eyes as he looked at his own Famiglia, most members butting heads with the Vongola in a friendly manner.
As for Kazami, still controlling carefully her aura in case the one playing with the Simon's mind was nearby, she took a look at the one member they hadn't see yet – a tall, heavy-boned teen with golden-brown hair and a big nose looking surprisingly gentle for his height, wearing the same school uniform as the other transfer students and headphones around his neck, that had somehow been roped into playing with the young kids...

[Goal update: 6/7]

Like the others, she could feel that someone had touched his mind, and after having two days to familiarize herself with the feeling, she was now pretty sure that the one that was doing that was exacerbating negative emotions, particularly anger and resentment.

Anger and resentment aimed toward the Vongola.

As Tsuna was introducing the Vongola X to Kozato, Kazami hid her frown – even with their mind messed up, the Simon seemed to go along with the Vongola usual madness so naturally it felt like they had known each other for years instead of days. And yet, someone was trying to mess with this harmony and encourage the Simon to antagonize the Vongola.
The who, why and how were for now still eluding her, and it was worrying – because her Soul Art could literally feel how fast the bonds between the Vongola X and Simon were being made, and if they didn't stop their prey, like Kyoya had put it, fast enough, everyone would suffer if they had to fight against friends their souls had latched on so swiftly.

"So, isn't the last transfer student a Simon member too?" wondered Tsuna looking around
"Julie is skipping, like always." snarled Adelheid – her anger clearly aimed at said Julie and not Tsuna "This guy has no sense of discipline!"
Kazami chuckled at the put upon face the tall girl was making , that somehow didn't manage to completely hide how fond she was of the absentee...

"He wasn't in class either was he?" wondered Takeshi loudly "I mean, I haven't heard anyone talk about new students that weren't you guys..."
"He's been skipping the whole time to stalk pretty girls in the mall." sighed Kozato, his shyness recessing while talking about a familiar matter
"Wow, you've got your own Shamal!" laughed Tsuna, then seeing the interrogative glance of his new friend "Trident Shamal is a doctor and hit man of the Vongola that came here some time ago... He is good at his job, but he's got a real problem with pretty girls."

The Vongola and Simon ended up spending several hours chatting in a friendly manner in the ice cream parlor, then the park – and soon, Kazami noted something strange. The longer the Simon spent with them, the faster the mind meddling they seemed to be affected by was fading...
She smiled – this was good news, it meant that a confrontation could maybe be avoided, or at least casualties.