Over the course of the following days, Shoichi observed the group Tsuna had brought back with cautious interest.
Truth be told, he had expected the Sky to return with additional people in tow, except he thought it would be one or two, not six other teens, an Arcobaleno and was that an octopus?
Tsuna often bemoaned his friends' eccentricities, but honestly? He was the worst of the bunch with his people collecting mania, and he had handpicked said crazies himself. Shoichi still wasn't sure how much of the boy's bonding was mere luck, and how much was his Flames reacting to his subconscious wish to bring these people in.
Admittedly, Tsuna had never taken in someone truly dangerous. No, that was not quite right, Tsuna had never included someone intentionally dangerous to the rest of his Elements. Saying Xanxus and his team of killers, Verde and his crazy inventions, or even Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa with blood on their hands and Vindice on their heels were not dangerous would be a bit of a fib.
Yeah, some of their members stretched even that loose definition, but all in all, none of Tsuna's Elements would put the others in danger without a very good reason, and probably not with malicious intentions.
Probably.
Anyway, Shoichi chose to assume that none of the newcomers were a threat, no matter how they presented themselves.
First, there was the purple baby in a biking suit, with piercings and makeup, that refused to leave the comfort of Tsuna's hair and apparently owned the octopus that he had named Oodako. From that ridiculous sentence alone, Shoichi decided it was an Arcobaleno; the gods help them all if normal babies behaved like that too.
(Lambo and I-pin were a fair bit older physically and therefore did not count. Yes, denial was a pretty cozy place, thank you for asking.)
Still, Strongest Seven or not, Skull obviously delighted in Tsuna's – and to an extent, the others' – company. There was no overbearing power, no true assumption of being the most important person in the room, no controlled, barely veiled threat beneath an amicable guise. Skull looked innocent and genuine, almost like an actual child if not for his choice of outfit and the way his eyes sometimes darkened. Like when he heard of Fuuta's circumstances, or when the rest of them introduced themselves and briefly explained their own background.
Shoichi had no doubt he'd fit right in.
Second on his list of most worrying new members (not written or approved of by Fuuta and the ranking planet) was Takeshi.
There was something utterly unsettling about the way he eyed them all with a pasted smile, the way he moved to keep most of them in his sights, but especially Tsuna. Always Tsuna, and Shoichi couldn't tell if that intensity was protective, predatorial or anything else.
But the Sky turned his back on the Rain (and budding swordsman) without a second thought, which eased a lot of Shoichi's concerns. Tsuna had impeccable instincts and an even stronger need to keep his Elements from harm. The brunet might not have noticed, driven by intuition as he often was, but whenever a threat appeared in their lives, Tsuna never let it out of his field of vision.
That he did it so unthinkingly with Takeshi meant that the Rain couldn't be all bad. He likely was just as weird as the rest of them, only in a very focused, probably mildly obsessional way. At least he handled the chores and questions thrown his way without digging his heels.
Chapter 36: that learned of the ranking planet
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