Double Asterisk
by wyrvel is a continuation of Dead-Eyed Tsuna. Now in its second book, it details the merry misadventures of Tsuna and Hibari in Varia, the ongoings of the Federico Household as well as the shenanigans of the Bovino family...for now. As the author puts it, now that the backstory bits are over and done with, it's time for character plot development...and a nice helping of myths. Dead-fic as of 26 November 2018.
As usual, summary by the author: Tsuna has decided to latch onto Hibari, and Hibari has decided they ought to go to Italy. This would be nice, if it weren't for the fact that Hibari is a danger to society, all of his friends are almost as traumatized as Tsuna is, and the job Tsuna is in Italy for? Committing treason. The mafia is eating itself, the yakuza is in disarray, and at the top of it all, Hibari Kyouya has decided he's going to rule over everything, using the Varia, Tsuna, and a delightful group of emotionally unstable magical teenagers as stepping stools. Some are more okay with this idea than others.
Can also be found at FanFiction.Net The wiki can be found here. This is the second of a multi-story behemoth: The Abalone Funeral Dirge.
Tropes
- Acceptable Breaks from Canon: Hibari is in Italy. The coup is going through in Italy. The Bovino have been blown off the face of the planet.
- Adult Fear: Your child has been smuggled into the country that you work with by the colleague you're at loggerheads with, and has agreed to cooperate to bring about the downfall of the company you work for with the help of people you dislike. Also, most of your distant relatives are dead due to a disaster.
- The Alcoholic: Xanxus wakes up from his coma via the smell of alcohol when Tsuna takes a swig.
- Ambiguous Gender: Tsuna tries to discuss his gender identity with Lussuria. He settles upon drag.
- Amusement Park: Lambo decides to take his 49 kids there after hitting a snag in his plans.
- Big Eater: Xanxus glares at the tray, but gives up on trying to convince Tsuna that everything he is doing and ever will do is wrong with only his eyes, in favour of attempting to swallow a steak whole.
- Body Horror: His entire head feels like its plunged in ice, something like terror without the dancing nerves along his spine and clutching his heart. His breathing comes in short, and he feels like he has to push out a clog just to get the Flames to show up on his hands. He can hear Hatachi scratching fervently at the door. Tsuna when trying to bring out his Ashes, if you will.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Lussuria wants to do this so badly in releasing Xanxus. Instead, he speeds up Squalo's timeline by melting Xanxus out early with Tsuna, hastening it with further skin contact.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The Varia are attempting to launch a coup...again. Mammon thinks that 'The most valuable person in the mafia' as Oregano puts it would be useful in freeing their currently frozen leader.
- The Clan: Forty-one of Lambo's cousins are told by TYL Lambo that they have been sent to an alternate dimension, allowed to run about Italy with no adult guardians, and no repercussions once they get back to their dimension. This cannot turn out well for either them, or the rest of Italy at large. It's not the truth; Lambo permanently extracted himself from his own timeline. He cleaned out the tech room, locked everyone in the bunker where the kids sleep, and bombed the entire base to kingdom come, murdering around 250 adults to ensure no one knows how to operate their dimensional tech.
-
Covered Up: Hibari hopes that by killing anyone else involved in the Green Door project, he would be able to repay the life debt. - Crapsack World: The Bovino adults are all dead.
- Tsuna is far away from home for the first time, and his newly put together support sytem does not know he's out of the country. So does his family. And beating down a path is a boy who's gone Flame Active, and has his mind on an Assassination Squad.
- Creepy Child: The last time we saw Gi U, he was spending some cool down time in Vendicare. He turns up, fussed over by a Vongola Heir because Reborn's sharing the same house.
- Later, he moves to search for Tablets that react with the Arcobaleno Pacifiers.
- Squalo views Tsuna as this, but he sees Tsuna's possible usage. And is mighty gleeful about it.
- Dances and Balls: In Chapter 4, Lussuria is gladdened to have Tsuna for him to dress up because the alternative would be Levi.
- Delayed "Oh, Crap!": Lambo has a delayed reaction upon encountering Skull on the Carcassa Ship. He gets this reaction once Skull declares war in the name of Reborn (assuredly not dead) after finding the Sun Pacifier on Lambo. Newly grieving Lambo realizes how much shit Reborn's death would cause in Mafia Land.
- Disguised in Drag: Tsuna is wearing a wig, and the Varia uniform on top of that. Surprisingly, one layer of makeup is enough to keep Squalo from noticing that Giotto's Japanese clone is walking about in Vongola territory.
- Dismotivation: Lambo goes through a period of this after confirming Byakuran's death, Zeni's death, and the collapse of all his plans.
- He's only here because there's nothing to go home to. Maybe here is fine.
- Dissonant Laughter: Hibari is impressed at Tsuna's abilities, and lets out a 'Wao'.
- Drag Queen: Lussuria goes through an entire conversation on clothes, gender identification and what not with Tsuna at 1 in the morning in Chapter 3.
- Eldritch Abomination: Squalo and Oregano views Tsuna as this due to his Ashes/Dead Will Flame.
- Elemental Powers: The flames are themed according to the weather. Hana, Gokudera and the rest of the Miyazawa Team as well as Kyoko decide to come back later to experiment with them. As well as potentially blackmail whoever knows about them. Also, Gokudera firmly puts using them to defend Tsuna as the next step after blackmail. Miki's response?
- Miki raises his hand, looking away even though dumbass is already blind. "I-I, uhm…I think…I could help with step two."
- The Farmer and the Viper: Vongola seemed to have let the Varia off once for their betrayal. Squalo wants to make sure there isn't a second time... by taking over the Vongola and thus making Xanxus the new Don. Oregano might object to this. But it's not as if her protests would have done anything except for straight lies to her face anyway.
- Freak Out: Tsuna is experiencing a Manic Episode throughout his conversation with Lussuria. The Varia Sun Officer either doesn't notice, or is polite enough to skirt around it.
- Generation Xerox: The Bovino group takes this up to eleven.
- Classic: Black hair, green eyes like Mattia and TYL Lambo.
- Vintage: Think Lampo. Pietro, the five year old with a handphone is this.
- Average: Normal, not a copy of anything.
- Good Is Not Nice: Iemitsu is a loyal and competent CEDEF head. However, he is not a good father.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Mukuro can do more than one kind of possession, as could be seen by poor Lancia.
- It Never Gets Any Easier: Iemitsu's vacation grows even worse:
- Timoteo needs Iemitsu to cover him.
- Oregano's complaining about Squalo
- The Bovino have been blown off the map.
- Ki Manipulation: Tsuna's ashes.
- Life Energy: What flames are. The flame lore is heavily built up here, and forms the basis of what could have created Tsuna's Ashes in the Wiki.
- Loads And Loads Of Characters:
- Cast Herd: The Bovino group, forty-one members in total.
- The Varia
- Tsuna Protection Squad, back in Namimori. Now with Miura Haru.
- Cast Herd: The Bovino group, forty-one members in total.
- Loose Lips: Reborn implies that being turned into a baby had turned him more reserved, leading to long creepy silences on the phone.
- Yuna is this, courtesy of a big ass sword on her neck. Thanks Takeshi.
- Loyal Animal Companion: In a figurative sense:
- Tsuna to Hibari
- Varia to Xanxus
- Mind Hive: Mukuro is powering through his recovery by doing this to Lancia and his two other subordinates.
- Not Brainwashed: Kunihiro confirms this with Mukuro; gaining the Kokuyo Gang's trust with his mention of the Estraneo.
- Plot Point: The one who gave Dying Will bullets to Gi U was Reborn. On the instruction of Timoteo
- Precocious Crush: Tsuna has one on Hibari.
- Psychic Link:
- Fuck, Hayato was so off-the-mark. She had all but told him outright. Tsuna was right to get mad at him. He probably knew already. "…Okay we'll, hm. We'll put you in under Mist, that seems like the only one that fits."
- The Reveal: Tsuna realizes that his makeup and disguises are off.
- Then he remembers the last thing that happened before he blacked out, and his hand whips to his hair. His black, unpinned, unslicked hair. Squalo attempts to murder the Primo lookalike as Oregano tries to avert the ongoing explosion. Hibari fans the flame further by insisting that Tsuna would not die as he owns Tsuna.
- Still the Leader: Lambo assumes leadership of the Bovino by virtue of being both (one of) the oldest and of having travelled outside of Italy. He quickly realizes that his 49 kids have incremented after a headcount. Tries to assert control by making sure that he gets informed if said kids multiply further.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Tsuna may be feeling this for Hibari.
- The Strategist:
- Squalo: The plan's still in motion.
- Tantrum Throwing: Xanxus throws a vase and other objects at Tsuna upon realizing that Primo copy is in his bed. . He repeats this once Tsuna brings it up in conversation.
- Technicolor Fire: Due to the Ruins, all of the main characters (except Kyouya and Kyouko) have obtained flames during Dead-Eyed Tsuna. Without Reborn to explain it to them, they are forced to resort to other means of finding out. See Elemental Powers above for Miki's reaction.
- Took a Level in Cynic: Perhaps because of being half dead due to exhaustion, but Miki's mother spreads her depression all around after finding out that her son and her son's friends have gone flame active.
- With Friends Like These...: Squalo and Oregano.
