Chapter Text
The day was perfect, almost more so than Des could have expected. The warmth of the sun on her skin would have been too hot, if not for the soft, slight breeze coming off of the water. It reminded her of home, the smell of salt water and a scent so unique to the ocean, and it made her very soul feel calm. The clouds in the sky were large, puffy, looking like little scoops of whipped cream to her eyes as they gazed up at the sky. One sneakered foot raised slightly to itch at the back of a well-toned calf, trying to soothe the itch of a bug bite, but that was the only thing that marred the experience in the slightest.
Raising her hand up to her mouth, she took a long drag off the cigarette in her hand, her lips curving into a smile around it. She couldn’t help it, the smile wouldn’t stay off her face, especially as her eyes turned towards the end of the dock she was standing near the entrance of. The ship anchored at the end of it was huge, larger than any of the schooners, ferries, or sailboats she’d ever been on in her life. There were multiple decks and the bright white of the boat gleamed in the sun. Shading her eyes with her other hand only helped a little, the sun still casting a glare on her glasses, but she could now make out the name of the boat, The Fortuna. Though she’d already known the name from when she’d booked the trip, something about seeing it in person felt thrilling…she could barely wait to board the ship, her body moving a little, fidgeting in its desire to run towards the boat.
It wasn’t time yet though. Not quite, though she knew it would be soon. Tetsuya had been sweet enough to allow her to stay here while he went, waited for, and then escorted all the others down to the dock. Des really did appreciate him; she had never thought, growing up, that she’d ever find anyone who would treat her with such consideration and care. She still had trouble believing she was worth that level of love that he showed her. Tetsuya knew her well enough, after their years together, to know that, despite how excited she was to go on the trip with so many of her friends, despite how much fun she’d had planning out this whole trip for them and how much fun she was sure she was going to have, Des was someone who got overwhelmed at the thought of so much time with people. Her mind didn’t like it, and without the little breaks she took to just be with herself, she would have panic attacks. She knew that was the reason Tetsuya had offered to go wait and gather everyone up, to give her this little break before everything got going.
Des’s mind kept going over everything. As excited as she was, she was also a born worrier, who always fretted and wondered what was going to go wrong. She had a niggling in the back of her mind, something telling her to wait for the other shoe to drop, but she was doing everything she could to put it to the back of her mind. She mentally double-checked everything, going through the list. She was sure she’d packed everything for both her and Tetsuya that either of them might need. She’d sent out all the invitations months ago, heard back from everyone in plenty of time, and had given them all the information they would need…not to mention, she’d managed to hide the whole surprise of the trip. They would all know where to arrive, where to come, no one would be late or show up at the wrong place, she had to believe that. The weather would hold out nice, and even if it didn’t, she knew there was plenty on the ship to occupy them if it rained. Everything would go fine, no matter what her mind said.
It was while she was crushing out the last of her cigarette in the portable ashtray she always carried that she could start to hear the sound of many different voices, carrying through the air, overtaking the previous sounds of the lapping water against the docks and the occasional loud cries and talk from the direction of the ship, which contradictingly sounded both near and far away. In that instant, something in her switched on. She’d been excited already, sure, but she’d also been reveling in that little quiet alone moment, very happy to have it. Now she suddenly couldn’t wait to see her friends; now the excitement overtook her in earnest. It was really going to happen.
Snapping the portable ashtray closed, she whirled around, quick on her feet, almost bouncing in her movements, wanting so desperately to see the crowd of her friends coming to greet her. Though she could hear them, she couldn’t quite see them yet. It only took a few more moments for the first of them to crest the top of the hill that lay between the parking lot and the dock but the moments felt like eons to her. Her grin was large, merry, and toothy as her hand went up to enthusiastically wave at her friends as they each came into view. Hayato was first, his long, lanky body fully animated, hands gesturing wildly as he talked to the woman beside him. He missed Des waving at him, completely engrossed with the pretty brunette at his side. Rena, despite keeping up the conversation (probably bantering, honestly, knowing the two of them), did notice and was quick to raise a hand in a return greeting. That drew Hayato’s attention from whatever he was saying, as he looked away from Rena and noticed Des before promptly flipping her off. Des’ laughter was loud and carrying as she quickly turned her wave into a double salute of her middle fingers…just in time for Martha, her dark hair shining under the bright sun, and Reborn to come walking over the hill. Martha had noticed Des right away, grinning and starting to raise a hand to wave, though her smile faded quickly, replaced by a look of confusion and a little bit of hurt. Martha and Reborn paused, her free hand coming up to point at herself, as if to say ‘are you flipping ME off? Why?’ Des felt her face heat up to almost boiling, nothing at all to do with the bright sun, as her hands fell down to chest level, rapidly signaling a universally understood no, though her head rapidly shaking from side to side would also have clearly spelt that out. Beside Martha, whose smile was returning, Des could almost hear Reborn sniggering, though he was still too far away for that, and she knew she was going to be getting teased about this later.
She was immediately distracted though by the sight of Yamamoto coming up over the hill, piggybacking Cat, who was peering over his shoulder, all her attention focused on whatever it was he was saying to her. Des’s bright, happy grin came back onto her face, though it was much more mischievous this time. Good, good, that was what she liked to see. She was such close friends with Cat, and had been for a long time, and she was the one who had brought her into the Vongola. Though Cat denied it and though Yamamoto seemed oblivious, it was pretty universally agreed upon by all their mutual friends that the two definitely had some strong romantic chemistry there and Des was definitely going to do her best to play matchmaker during this trip. And not just for them…well, if she could get away with it, not just for them. Cat, who had just seemed to notice Des down below, threw up her own hand in greeting and Des went back to waving cheerfully, both at Cat and Yamamoto and then at Tsuna, Lambo, and Kusakabe as they brought up the rear.
“Oh my god, I’m so glad you all made it!” Des cried out, darting forward to greet her friends as they made their way onto the dock, Yamamoto letting Cat down gently. Though notoriously against physical contact of any sort with strangers or people she barely knew, to the point it could set off mini-panic attacks, with people she felt safe with, Des turned very affectionate. Hugging each of her friends, the people she felt safe with, was something that she didn’t even think about. Knowing how important this really was to the girl, her friends all put up with it. Hayato was the only one to still stiffen under her hug, even though she kept it short, more a little side-hug with a pat-pat on the shoulder, but she knew how he felt about physical gestures of affection, especially in public and didn’t take offence.
“How were the flights? Did anyone have any difficulties getting here?” she asked.
There was lively chatter, people speaking over each other, all sharing their trips and any funny stories they’d had along the way (Lambo had made a new friend on his flight with Tsuna, a little six-year-old who had declared she was going to marry Lambo, Yamamoto had thought his connecting flight was earlier than it really was and had full on sprinted across a huge airport because he was convinced he was going to miss it, Rena and Gokudera had had to put up with a lady who not only painted both her fingernails and toenails beside them on the plane but had asked for help in doing so, Martha had lost one of her suitcases and had to badger the airport staff, etc.).
“Don’t worry. I even made sure Dame Tsuna packed his seasickness pills,” Reborn said, glancing at Tsuna with a smirk, almost as daring him to sass back. Dame Tsuna…that was a blast from the past. Really, only Reborn, Lambo, and his mother called him that anymore, Tsuna thought, as his cheeks went pink.
“I won’t get seasick anyway! I didn’t the last time I was on a cruise!”
“You’ve been on a cruise before?” Cat asked, genuinely interested.
“Yeah. Once, but it was a really long time ago.” Tsuna raised a hand to scratch at his neck, a little awkward now that he was the center of attention.
“Oh yeah! I remember that trip!” Hayato’s eyes lit up as the memories came back to him. “That time we all went to Mafia Land, right? That was so much fun!”
“Mafia Land?” a trio of feminine voices rang out, almost in perfect synchronization, the girls looking in between the boys. Kusakabe just shrugged but Lambo smiled fondly, as if the name itself held beautiful memories for him.
“Lambo-san had so much fun on that trip…swimming with Maman, eating delicious foods, beating up those security guards, almost winning against Reborn…oh, to to go back to those times.”
“Ehhh? I…I think I’d rather this trip go completely different,” Tsuna muttered out, his eyes looking just a little haunted, something Cat noticed.
“Oh, did you not enjoy the trip, Tsuna?” she asked quietly, smiling at him.
“I mean…I guess it looked fun and it was definitely eventful. I’m hoping for a quieter cruise this time though,” Tsuna admitted to her, causing Cat to look curiously at him. She’d been about to open her mouth, ask for the story, when she was interrupted.
“A quiet cruise? With this group?” Reborn jumped in, as his hand flipped upwards, gesturing at all gathered, everyone chattering, laughing, playfully bickering, and just generally having a good time with each other. “Dame Tsuna’s being really selfish again. You should just be happy to be going on a trip with your Family, especially when one of your Family members went out of their way to plan it for us all.”
Reborn’s words seemed to reach everyone’s ears, because the chatter died down, all eyes going to Des. Her own eyes widened, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed and uncomfortable with the attention. She was glad when Tetsuya threw his arm around her waist, pulling her back flush against him. She felt stronger, steadier like that, an unwavering support against the eyes looking at her. She knew logically that they were all her friends, and they were all looking at her so kindly, but her own head and hang-ups sometimes made her doubt they liked her, made her fear they were judging her or going to say something bad.
Of course, they weren’t her friends for no reason. Every single one of them were amazing people who simply smiled at her.
“You’re right, Reborn. Umm, thanks for planning this trip for us all,” Tsuna said. His words were followed by the others offering their thanks.
“It was really sweet of you to pay for the trip too,” Martha said. “Are you sure we can’t pay you back some of the money?”
Des giggled at this, out of nervousness, yeah, but also because this offer had been made, and refused, dozens of times now. There wasn’t a single one of her friends who hadn’t offered, and she found that level of consideration kind of cute and charming, honestly.
“Nah, it’s all good. You know me – I’m frugal, so I had a lot of dough saved up. Thank god I have a generous boss who pays really well, right?” she said, grinning at said boss and trying to wink at him, failing spectacularly, which just made Tsuna laugh.
“Thanks, I guess. I was just always taught that, if I had to be a boss, I had to treat everyone under me really well, and make sure they’re well taken care of.”
“So really, the one you should be thanking is me then. After all, Tsuna would know nothing of being a good boss if I hadn’t been around to teach him,” Reborn said, his chest puffing up just a little bit.
The conversation continued, but through it all, their eyes kept going towards the boat, as if they were magnetically drawn towards it. At some point, they were all just staring at it, the conversation kind of dwindling away.
“Why a cruise though?” Hayato asked, seemingly out of nowhere. “What the hell made you think of trapping us all out on the ocean together?”
Though his words were harsh, Des had known the man long enough to know they really held no malice, though, unbeknownst to her, Tetsuya was glaring holes in the back of Gokudera’s head. Thankfully, Hayato didn’t really notice either, but beside him, Rena most definitely did. She bumped him with her hip, catching his attention. He locked eyes with her, Rena raising an eyebrow as if to say ‘hey, maybe watch the words’. Hayato, used to these little heads up from her that he was coming off maybe just a tad harsher than he’d meant, shrugged his shoulders a little before nodding, a silent ‘yeah, okay, you have a point.’
“Oh! So, I was looking into all these different trip ideas, just daydreaming about things I could go do, right? And a lot of them looked so fun and my brain kept imagining us all going and doing them. I did honestly try to get everyone,” Des said, her words coming super-fast as she rambled on, “but Ryohei’s training with Lussuria, Apple is on a trip back home, Spanner, Irie and Nix are all working on some ‘top secret’ shit, Kyoko and Haru are at a convention, and we all know, despite how much you two love him,” Des looked at Kusakabe and Martha with a teasing smile, “that Hibari would kill us all if he was stuck on a cruise ship with this many people. So, none of them could make it, though I really wanted them too…”
Everyone was kind of staring at Des as she rambled, going off on tangents, but she was so caught up in telling this story that she barely noticed.
“Anyway, like I was saying, I was looking at all these different trip ideas and I had about four or five I really liked but then I stumbled across this cruise and it just wiped all the other ideas away. Like, I really do think it’s the best option and I’m just so sure we’re all going to have an amazing time. Please, just trust me on that and if you hate it, I’ll find some way to make it up to you, okay?”
“Well, I’m a little worried I’ll get seasick or something like that, but it’s such a fun idea that I couldn’t help but want to try,” Cat said, smiling at her.
“I’m cool with the idea of a cruise. It sounds like a ton of fun! What I don’t get though is that email you sent full of all those weird things you wanted us to pack?” Yamamoto said, laughing as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Wanted you to pack?? You mean you didn’t?!” Des said, her words coming really quick, her face a little panicky.
“Nah, don’t worry. I got Cat to help me out and I packed everything.”
“I hate to say it, but I’m with the baseball idiot here…what was with that weird list? Period clothes that look like they could come from film noir? If you hadn’t have shown me all those stupid old black and white detective films and if my girlfriend wasn’t so used to doing costuming for her troupe,” Hayato said, everyone noticing the extra emphasis and pride in his voice, “I wouldn’t have had a fucking clue what you wanted.”
“Yeah, and some of the other miscellaneous things were kind of odd too…I can’t think of any right off the tip of my tongue, but I know I had to use the theatre’s prop room for one or two of them,” Rena agreed, grinning just a little bit larger now in the wake of Hayato’s praise. “Thank god Hayato’s about the same size and height as Pedro, so no adjustments needed to be made.”
“They were fun to shop for though…Big Sister Cat and me had a fashion show while we shopped,” Lambo said, his large hand ruffling Cat’s hair.
“Hey, come to think of it, Cat helped me shop for the stuff too,” Tsuna said, glancing curiously at his friend.
“We went shopping together too! It was so much fun. Any excuse to hang out with Cat, though, and I’m taking it! Plus, Martha needed to buy some stuff and Kyoko, Haru, and Apple needed to do some shopping for their trips too so it was like a real girl’s trip out and I had a ball,” Des said, doing finger guns towards her two friends, kind of hamming it up to get smiles out of them.
“Did everyone go shopping with Cat besides us?” Rena asked, laughing.
“Seems like it, doesn’t it?” Tetsuya replied. “I missed the party too though, if it makes you feel any better.”
“It does.”
“Thanks for doing that, though,” Tsuna said, awkwardly kind of reaching out to pat Cat on the shoulder, trying to show some sort of gratitude without really knowing what to do. “That must have been really tiring for you.”
“It was nothing,” Cat’s smile was contagious and bright, her hand going up to shade her eyes from the bright sun. “I had a lot of fun too, even if it did make me tired. Who can pass down a chance to visit with friends, right?”
The replies to Cat were drowned out under the screeching blares of the ship’s whistle. Cat’s body reflexively jerked away from it, her eyes going wide. She had accidentally leaned in, bumping Yamamoto and was just about to apologize. As her eyes met his soft brown ones, she just found him smiling at her though.
“That was so loud, wasn’t it?” he laughed.
“Yeah, it really was. Sorry about that…not really a fan of loud things.”
“No worries at all! You okay though? Want another piggyback ride to get your mind off it?”
Cat laughed, shrugging off the answer, though she did deeply appreciate it. Her eyes joined everyone else’s as they all gazed at the ship, all smiling and eager to get to their adventure.
“Well, guess we should board now,” Tetsuya said, already starting to grab as much luggage as his strong arms would hold. The others were quick to start grabbing their own luggage or, when their luggage was already held by someone else, helping out with other’s. Their steps were quick, sure, the chatter distinctly excited, as they made their way down the dock and aboard the ship.