Another path

Chapter 25: That worked for science

And if things fell through, he could always resume his former plan of launching surprise raids on them and collect data from their battles. Easy.

"I accept." He declared, interrupting the children's argument. "And I will accompany you to your residence to start gathering data on your environment." And hide sensors throughout the building, but they didn't need to know that.

The Sun looked caught between fear of his presence in his home and reluctant admiration. Of course : he was a famous figure in the scientific community. The Storm still looked irate, but restrained himself at his leader's decision. The inactive blond still seemed lost, but also eager to follow them. The older Sky was definitely amused by something (Skies could be mercurial and hide a lot more knowledge than they seemed, he knew. Luce had taught him that, so he would keep an eye on the white-haired boy) and the younger Sky seemed to deflate as tension left his body and his eyes stopped glowing. How foolish to let his guard down with just a few words.

"Kyoya is going to kill me." He muttered, looking at Verde and the inactive blond. "And Mukuro, Chikusa and Ken won't be happy either." He shook his head to get rid of distracted thoughts and turned to the scientist. "I assume you already know where we live. Could you drive us there? You did hijack our bus." He accused.

Verde didn't gratify that with an answer. He typed a few orders on his phone, and his assistant robots immediately pulled out of his underground hideout (the boys jumped in surprise when the trapdoor opened) with some of his devices and sensors before dropping them off in the bus. The scientist jumped inside the vehicle on his driver-robot's head. "Well, are you coming or not?"

He gracefully ignored the children's grouchy mutters. They should be thankful that he was not leaving them to walk the way home.

()()()()()()

As Tsuna had expected, Kyoya had not been happy to discover he had brought back two new weirdos to their home. The raven was glaring daggers into the heads of everyone involved.

Spanner had been explained the basics of Dying Will Flames by Shoichi on the way back, with a few inputs by Verde every now and then. Hayato, for all that he loved talking science, had chosen to remain by Tsuna's side and guard him from anything the Arcobaleno might do to him. Byakuran had been blissfully asleep in the back of the bus.

Anyway, the blond had not flinched when faced with Kyoya's animosity -more a proof of the inventor's mental issues than his fearlessness in Tsuna's opinion- and had chosen a room on the second floor immediately. He had thankfully been convinced to leave his Mosca turned off in one of the smaller training rooms in the basement – soundproofed and with reinforced walls.

Verde had started by inspecting the labs. Tsuna was fairly sure than he had been impressed by the devices and the research reports he had found. They had probably nothing on his own labs, but they were still too young to expect that level of technology and money.

In fact, he had liked what he had found so much that he had proceeded in choosing a room for himself and declaring it 'his workplace until he finished his study'. Shoichi was ecstatic at the idea of using some of Verde's devices for himself, so he helped him move in all his machines and convinced Hayato and Byakuran to help. The driving robot and the bus were sent back to one of the Arcobaleno's bases as soon as it was done.

Tsuna was left to explain the situation to the rest of his friends, especially Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa.

"He swore only to perform experiments with the test subject's permission." He clarified. The three former lab rats didn't look mollified at all. "You can just tell him no and he should leave you alone. Also, any test has to be non-invasive. If he tries anything you don't like, you're free to respond accordingly or tell the rest of us and we will do our best to drive him away."

Mukuro still had a thunderous expression, Ken was jittery and Chikusa was tense as a ramrod, with his eyes darting from one corner of the room to the next. Tsuna sighed. "Look, he's an Arcobaleno, even if he's a scientist. I doubt we would have stood a chance against him in an actual fight, especially on his territory. Plus, he had too much blackmail information about us. About me. He knew that Iemitsu was looking for me, and that we could not afford for him to find us. The best I could do was a bargain : willing test subjects – and you don't have to be one, I promise – in exchange for limitations and the right to reject some of his experiments. I assure you that Shoichi and Hayato are more than willing to participate in his tests as long as they are not pushed too far; you know those two. I will take part as well, and maybe a couple others, so there will be no reason to force you to have anything to do with Verde."

The three looked a bit less pale at his reassurance, so the brunet kept going. "Besides, if things still go South, we will have the option of calling Fon or Mammon for help, now that we are back home. I'm sure a fellow Arcobaleno will be able to talk some sense into Verde, or stop him altogether if need be. You know they like us enough to do that."

The tense silence stretched for long seconds before Mukuro let out a sigh. His shoulders slumped the slightest bit, telling Tsuna his point had gotten through. And if the Mist was OK, then the two others would be too; they still followed his lead. "I understand." He reluctantly admitted. "You had no other choice faced with his blackmail, and you negotiated the best deal you could. I don't blame you, only that scientist." The loathing in that last word was potent. "But if he ever tries anything against us three or he goes over the line with any of you, we call backup immediately. Is that clear, Tsunayoshi?"

The Sky nodded resolutely. He couldn't stop himself from sweeping his three traumatized friends in a group hug. They all stiffened at the unexpected contact, before allowing themselves to accept the reassurance. Tsuna would never let any of his friends be harmed, physically or mentally, so he would make absolutely sure that Verde behaved. Those three had suffered enough.

()()()()()()

Compared to the three former outlaws, Kyoya had been ridiculously easy to convince. He had glared at everyone when two more people had invaded his territory, going so far as taking a room without his approval, but one explanation from Tsuna had been enough to appease his wrath.

Verde – and apparently Spanner – were good at creating and improving weapons.

After that, the Cloud had allowed the two newcomers to set their things without protest. He still scowled at everyone, but it was back to his regular expression rather than the irate glaring of before.

For all that Kyoya could be complicated, he was also very easy to please when you knew him well enough. Fortunately, that was Tsuna's case.

More surprisingly, Verde behaved. He set up his devices in one of the underground laboratories and set to creating a protocol to test Flames in young subjects without opening them up or any unsavory operations.

Shoichi was assisting him full time, and Hayato gave a hand pretty often – once he had calmed down and realized that helping him meant he was at the best place to ensure the Arcobaleno kept his word.

Tsuna had still sent a message to Mammon and Fon to inform them of the situation and tell them of the bargain he had cut out with the scientist. They had both replied that Verde was a man of his word (it was a matter of pride, something all the cursed infants had aplenty) and that he should follow the terms of their deal. They had also added that if anything went messy or if he had any doubt, that he only had to call and they would come immediately (for a fee in Mammon's case, but she kept it surprisingly reasonable). The young Sky felt touched by their concern and thanked them both profusely.

Life went on at Caeruleus, with a few more explosions in the labs than before (as much from the experiments as from Spanner learning to wield his recently awakened Lightning Flames, as from Kyoya having fun with the newly built and improved Moscas).