Naples, Italy

Recent Past

The story goes a little like this:

Giotto Sawada frowned as he aimed another kick at the head of the idiot who called himself his father. He'd often wondered how he'd managed to escape the stupidity this man excluded.

(At the end, he concluded along with Reborn that his mother's genes of obliviousness simply ignored Iemitsu's and he was left a new child to shape and mould. And that Reborn did.)

At the age of sixteen, he was very different from the little boy who had formed a family of hot-headed children and refused to let anyone separate them. Not that many people tried, what with Alaude's handcuffs gingling and Daemon's eyes flashing red every time someone advised their Sky to pick less...destructive Guardians. Giotto had simply smiled at the well wishers and told them to fuck off very, very nicely.

(It seemed that possessiveness also ran in the Vongola blood. Far away, seven utterly terrifying children sneezed. They'd come into the story soon.)

"Say that again," he said, kneeling down so that he could see his father's face, handcuff imprint and all. "Where do you want to send us?"

Iemitsu still looked dreamily upon the miracle that he and he precious had created. Oh, his son! So strong! So leader-like! So-

An arrow lodged itself next to his face, tidily slicing his cheek.

-utterly terrifying. Honestly, he thought as he looked at the annoying pink ('It's magenta, you bastards!') haired guardian who corrupted his cute son. How dare he interrupt his father-son bonding time!

"Oi, idiot," Giotto spoke, able to follow his father's single-track mind without much effort. He sighed before raising one hand to hit the sperm donor on the head. "Don't just get distracted by your delusions, baka!"

"Mou," Iemitsu pouted, completely unaware of how creepy that expression looked on his face, "My cute son has become all old and serious and wrinkly. Reborn, you've turned him into you!"

Killing intent flooded the room. "What did you just say Dame-Iemitsu?" the hitman leaning against the doorway said softly. He had been enjoying the show so far. The Vongola would not permanently harm the CEDEF leader, but blood rights were well acknowledged in the mafia, to the extent where some people were allowed to judge the punishment of lesser criminals provided they were connected by blood. His precious student was well within his rights to kick the shit out of this useless creature.

The people in the room smirked at hearing a fully grown man being called 'Dame' by the world's greatest hitman, while said loser cried about his (non-existent) pride. The Guardians and their boss were once called by the same title, before they proved their mettle to the Arcobaleno. Now they had the honour of being called his 'cute' students.

When Reborn called you 'cute' it was a compliment. When someone like Sawada Iemitsu called you the same, it was an insult to your manliness - #fact universally acknowledged.

"No-nothing, Reborn," the loser stuttered.

"Hm. Naturally. To say something you must first have the brains required to remember a language, hai Dame-Iemitsu?"

"Hai, Reborn-sama. Wait, what? Reborn, don't insult meeeeeeee."

Twitch. "Stop whining, Dame-Iemitsu, and answer your son's question. Now."

"Oh. What did you ask again?"

Hitting his head at the familiar frustrating byplay, Giotto repeated his question. "Where. are. you. planning. on. sending. us. and. why." he enunciated carefully, as if speaking to a small child.

"Ohhh, that! Well, Gio-chan your Maman is asking for you. She can't come here that often, you see, so the Ninth and I think that it's only fair that you go to her!"

"...so let me get this straight, you block any access your son had to his hometown, refuse to let him communicate with his mother when she's there, refuse to let him communicate with his brother periodand then decide to send him home because of budget problems?" Alaude asked dryly.

"...if you put it like that, anything sounds stupid."

"You always sound stupid, Dame-Iemitsu. Look, you've driven your son to brain damage. Maman would be disappointed."

"Oi, Giotto, stop hitting yourself."

"No. I'm going into a coma. Avenge me."

"Hai, hai, boss."

Staring down the crazed eyes of his son's (perverted! He had proof!) Mist, Sawada Iemitsu gulped.

Reborn watched happily from the doorway, having somehow gotten popcorn, previous annoyances forgotten. The CEDEF head had been one of the loudest protestors to Giotto's Guardians. To say that they did not like him much, would be like saying that the Sky was a little wide.

Vongola Skies are beloved above everything. To insinuate that they were not protected was to sign your death certificate - #fact universally acknowledged.

(Far away, a certain brunet sneezed again and was quickly forced to go to the nurse's office, wherein he was molested, only for one of his Guardians to show up (no doubt a result of those creepy 'Boss Detector' senses they'd all developed) and bite the molester to death. He was then declared too precious for this world and sent home to rest with the words 'We can't trust anyone with you, Tsunayoshi.' It was as sweet as it was disturbing. These people would come into the story right about-)

Now.

Far Away (a.k.a. Namimori)

Past

The story went something like this. In the aftermath of one of the Young Lion's visits, his family was taken from his house. The people who did this of course, had no idea what they were getting into, just that their target was rich and wealthy and wasn't home that much. One of the goons followed him to the airport while the other took the chance to observe and break down the defences shielding the CEDEF leader's wife and his 5 year old son from the world.

The rest, to say, was history. When the ransom request was patched through the CEDEF headquarters, complete with Nana's sobs and Tsunayoshi's whimpers, subordinates spoke for months of how furious their boss was. Calls were made to locate the perpetrators and then, with one single video chat with the Varia's leader, 13 years old and scary as fuck, their fate was sealed. Having been in Kyoto, the Varia made the journey to Osaka in record speed.

The entire rescue attempt was full of energy and fast paced. It was also completely wasted, as when the Varia arrived in the city's underground, they only found the base in flames and a 6 year old scary as fuck child, who had Nana and Tsunayoshi deposited right next to him. Upon being patched through the CEDEF headquarters, he was promptly recognized as the brother of the future Decimo's cloud Guardian by the heir, who had plastered himself to his father's side when the news came. No one quite had the heart to remove little 7 year old Giotto from the room which had become the centre of information.

Watching them all with judging eyes, the little boy's face twisted in a surprisingly bloodthirsty smirk and he announced that anyone abducting Namimori's citizens would be bitten to death. While others in the vicinity shuddered, the CEDEF head quickly proclaimed that it wasn't enough. In an amazing 72 hour time period, the town was cut off from the underworld completely including the men who were giving reports regarding the Vongola tenth gen's siblings. The Guardians would have protested this, but the image of little defenceless Tsunayoshi, with his wrists bleeding and face bruised, was still present in their heads.

While all of this was happening, Tsuna's bedroom was broken into again, dear god his father's defences were pathetic. Although, it wasn't fair to pit the defences of the strongest mafia family in the world again Hibari Kyoya. They never stood a chance.

Gently touching the bruised cheek of the sleeping boy, Kyoya frowned. The defences around the house were too weak, he noted, and vowed to better them tomorrow.

The figure on the bed hummed lightly before cracking his eyes open. He yawned. "Kyo-kyoya-nii, you're here!"

Chuckling at the sudden tone change that the little boy showed, Kyoya uncharacteristically climbed on the bed and pulled the boy in a hug. "Are you well now, Tsunayoshi? You still need to sleep more."

"I'm o-kay, Kyoya-nii!" the brunet exclaimed. "Although, now that you mentioned it, I could sleep some more," he yawned again.

"Kufufufu..." laughter emanated from one corner of the small room, "You are amazingly adorable, Tsunayoshi. " Mist converged in the corner, only to dissipate and reveal the broken and battered form of Rokudo Mukuro, *Certified Disappointment to the Vongola and one of the most infamous figures in the underworld presently. He had hailed his Sky's pleas 4 months ago, when he made a run for it from the Vendice and hid in Namimori, fed and nurtured by the Sky and his elements. Kyoya called him a freeloader, but no one quite had the heart to turn away the scarred criminal and the bambino he had brought with him, who he had found abandoned on Italia's streets when he had made a run for it.

Tsunayoshi's gleeful face when he looked at the child had told him that he had made the right choice.

('He'll be our lighting one day,' the child told his Family. 'But until then, we'll do what we can to absorb the damage inflicted on him, okay?'

No one ever questioned how Tsunayoshi knew some things. The brunet's orders and suggestions may seem strange, but they all knew that in the end, they were for the best. It was with this in mind that Mukuro allowed himself to be looked after by the strangely feline Cloud^, grinning even as his wounds were wrapped, because there was something about listening to Tsuna take charge that made you feel invincible (if you were on his side, that is.)

Rokudo Mukuro fell asleep, feeling utterly safe, to the sound of his Sky saying, 'I don't care if they're related to the future Decimo's lightning Guardian, Byakuran, you don't just abandon a child in a town as terrifying as Messina*. I want the Bovinos to pay.' )

"Mukuro-nii," the brunet spoke, as he jumped from bed and rushed to his Mist's side. "What happened?!"

The Italian smiled gently at the panicking child. "I have someone I want to introduce to you, Tsunayoshi. The mission you sent me on revealed more than one gem. Fran, could you please come out?"

Even as the space next to him began to distort and collapse, Mukuro's eyes were firmly on his Sky. He sighed dramatically. "Tsunayoshi-kun...you knew there was someone all along, didn't you?"

"Mm...hai!" the little boy exclaimed, shaking his head enthusiastically. "I asked Irie-kun to clean out one of his storage rooms yesterday, so you can stay with him!" he addressed the bewildered looking boy.

Mukuro felt his eye twitch. "Ahh...to know about this since yesterday...Tsunayoshi, my darling, you are absolutely terrifying sometimes, you know that?"

"Eh?"

"It probably wasn't that hard to figure out, herbivore. Every time you go out, you end up gathering some other herbivores to herd with."

Twitch. Twitch. "Why you..."

"Mukuro-nii! Kyoya-nii! If you fight here, you'll wake Mama up!"

"Senpai is such a weirdo. Geez."

(It was true though. Mukuro gathered broken children to his side faster than Tsuna converted would-be assassins. Still, when Ryohei called him okaasan ananas years later, he happily beat the shit out of him. Hibari said that he was in denial. Mukuro replied that Hibari had no room to talk given how he gathered injured animals in need of TLC near him faster than a magnet attracted nails. Before leaving them both pinned to the ceiling of the basketball court, Tsuna called them idiots and told them that they would only get their meals when they made up.

The legends of the 'Mother Pineapple' and the 'Nurturing Disciplinarian' would ring in the mafia for years. Everyone would agree that the story of the 'Tuna-hen' was way scarier.

Hearing this in the afterlife, Tsuna then proceeded to crush his rain for the degrading nickname before going out on a hunt for the one who leaked it. He wasn't able to corner his Guardians for days and immediately froze them when he did.)

That day, Iemitsu Sawada shut out his family for their own good. Years later, the mafia would praise him for doing so, as the idea of 'Tsunayoshi Sawada and the Tenth Generation Rejects'/ growing up with all the resources of the Vongola was fucking terrifying.

Naples, Italy

Present

Giotto sighed. "What information can you give me about my brother, Reborn?"

Rebron made a noise of discontentment. "I barely have anything on him, Giotto. Or indeed, any of your brothers." he added, looking at the Guardians.

"So you're saying that my brother is there?!" G demanded. The sudden vanishing of his younger brother had a deep effect on him, partly because he knew that no matter what anyone said, he definitely had a hand in it. Sure, Bianchi had fucked up by poisoning him. Shamal had been an insensitive dick who gave him explosives to play with and then, out of some twisted want to protect the innocence of his godson, refused to teach him more, leaving a, startlingly brilliant if the tutors were to be believed, child to raise himself out of the guilt of nearly ruining Hayato's childhood.

Even his father was at fault. If he had done his job and raised him instead of wallowing in grief, maybe he would've wanted to stay with the family when he realized the truth about his mother. Hell, it would've even worked if he just asserted his presence and shut the staff from gossiping near Hayato. Then he would not have realized it in the first place!

And, if G had listened to him- had believed him when he said that Bianchi had nearly killed him, had taught him to be more careful around bombs, had comforted him when his new-found mother died, then maybe, just maybe, Hayato would've turned to him.

Instead, when he was seen again, he was the Hurricane Bomb, someone who G couldn't recognize, Shamal couldn't face and Bianchi couldn't look at without sending to the hospital. News of the Hurricane Bomb ravaged southern mainland Italy for months. Then, just before G was going to confront his wayward sibling again, he vanished. He appeared again, weeks later, in China. Soon after that- Laos. Sightings were rare and seemingly random. The fact that he'd last been seen in Italy with Rokudo Mukuro, Daemon's little brother and dangerous escaped convict, heavily injured, did nothing to comfort his family.

"We can't be sure," Reborn replied. "But Japan does have the highest number of sightings of the Hurricane Bomb, so there's a chance."

G clenched his fist. A chance was much more than what he had had in years.

Daemon leaned forward. "And Mukuro?" he questioned, frowning.

Reborn sighed before shaking his head. "No definite information. It would make sense if he was in Namimori, though, what with it being declared Sanctuary."

It was sound logic. The idea of Sanctuary was sacrosanct in their world. Even the strongest needed a break, the reason appealed, and the weakest needed to rest. Sanctuaries could be entered with the permission of their owners and, once in, the person was practically untouchable. It was rumoured that Vongola Secendo himself had taken to a Sanctuary when he passed the mantle on.

Daemon scowled. Vendice had recognized his blood right and had given him permission to deal with Mukuro before handing him over to them. That little shit had much to answer for- traumatizing Lanchia, apparently kidnapping G's little brother and slaughtering 2 fucking famgilias in a week, being some of the charges against him.

"We'll find him, Daemon," Lampo cut in. "It's safe to say that we've all been shitty brothers, but we can fix it now."

He had his own demons to face. It was only when he contacted his family after months that anyone realized that Lambo had been kidnapped. The Bovino boss, Lampo's uncle and head scientist, had paled drastically when he recalled the note of ransom that was buried beneath piles of paperwork. The first and last results of the mass search which took place only came when the two women who were supposed to be Lambo's caretakers and instead turned out to be his kidnappers were found hanging upside-down, buck naked, from some traffic lights in Palermo.

Reborn eyed the brooding teenagers with some caution. When he had first been introduced to them, these three had presented him with the greatest challenge. The sheer amount of hatred that they held towards adults for failing their little brothers had posed a serious obstacle in getting them to trust him. After nearly 2 years tutoring them, he happened upon them trying to make out a pattern in Hayato's movements. When they awoke the next day, having fallen asleep when discussing, they found a report of who saw the silveret, where they saw him and when the sighting happened. Attached to the map that they'd using to track him was a note in Reborn's writing- "I am not your enemy."

Even now, they had problems adjusting to people older than them helping just for the heck of it.

"All of you," Giotto spoke, "Just...calm down, okay? What Lampo said was true, but till now we've never had the opportunity to try. Now that we do, let's not waste it."

He surveyed the room before gently suggesting that they sleep and wake early in the morning to discuss the covers for their childhoods that they would require when they entered Namimori High.

"Sleep well, everyone!"

(G really shouldn't have worried that much. Mukuro had indeed encountered the stubborn Storm all those years back, and he had been injured, but the injuries had not come from Mukuro himself. Upon recognizing someone that his Sky wanted, Mukuro had picked Hayato up by the scruff, scolded him for ignoring Tsunayoshi's calls and then dumped him in front of his Sky with all the eagerness of a cat bringing back a dead mouse for his master.

(Hibari Kyoya always has animal analogies for a situation or person - #fact universally acknowledged.)

Tsuna had promptly taken over, mothering his weary storm and fanning the winds even more. He never tried to strap him down- except for when he was injured, of course- and soon after Hayato had the opportunity to participate in a Yakuza takeover. Then Tsuna found himself a mother hen, when his Storm knocked him on his ass when he tried to get up after severe flame exhaustion and then immediately apologized for speaking so rudely to 'Tsuna-sama.'

Hayato was fine. Really.)

Far Away (a.k.a. Namimori)

Present

When Tsunayoshi Sawada woke up, the first thing he saw was the body of Yuki floating in the fish tank in his room. As he flushed away the tuna which Mukuro, with all his fucked up sense of humour had gifted him on his thirteenth birthday just a few days ago, he concluded that he should go back to sleep.

The sweet sound of Daft Punk distracted him from his journey back to the bed and he diverted to go pick up the phone. "What is it, Takeshi?"

"Tu-na, Mukuro's acting weird again!"

Sigh. It wasn't a good idea to not go to school, then. The first time he had ignored the sentence had been...memorable.

"I'll be there soon."

"Hai, hai!"

000000000000

"Good Morning, president!"

"Hmm...good morning, everyone," Tsuna replied back, not even bothering to lift his eyes from the paper in front of him. He felt the back of his jacket get grabbed as he was lifted, out of the way of a basketball, he noted as he quickly lifted his eyes from the paper, and was placed safely back on the ground. Meeting the eyes of the boy who had saved him, he let a small smile come on his face. "Thank you, Makoto-kun."

The basketball captain blushed and murmured a quick 'welcome' before walking away from Tsuna quickly. The brunet's eyes watched him go, a puzzled frown on his face. He would never understand why people refused to meet his eyes when he smiled at them, or at least to smile back. It was rude, and mean.

"Tsunayoshi."

"Oh, hi Kyoya-senpai," he chirped as he met the exasperated grey eyes of his Cloud. "How are you this fine morning?"

"Are you...well, Tsunayoshi?"

"Of course I am."

"...why are you holding a banned item in your left hand?"

"Oh, the champagne? It was just lying in the fridge. It looked lonely, so I thought that I should bring it to school today."

The crowd behind him immediately began whispers of 'Sawada-sama's grace and beauty', 'his kindness', the 'empathy he showed to even inanimate objects.' As the whispers started to increase to shouts, Kyoya lifted his eyes to the sky in a 'Kindly give me fucks to give' expression (TM) and sighed. "I'll allow it this once, Tsunayoshi. I do not care about your alcohol tolerance, if I hear rumours of you or anyone drinking that while in school, I'll bite them to death."

"Hai, senpai."

00000000000

(Incidences happened throughout the day:

-"Tsuna-sama, is that-"

"Italian champagne? Why yes it is, Hayato-kun. My useless father sent it for my mother a week ago. I thought I should put it to good use."

"...and you're going to put it to good use here?"

"Yes. Yes I am, Takeshi."

"...okay, then!"

-"Don't tell me you've become an alcoholic now, Sawada."

"I won't tell you that, Kurokawa-san."

"...Sawada I was just joking. The paperwork isn't that much surely-'

"Don't talk to me about the paperwork, Kurokawa."

-"Sawada-san?"

"Hai, Hanimura-sensei?"

"Is Hibari-san aware that you have an alcoholic substance in school?"

"He is."

"Alright then. Continue on doing what you're doing.")

00000000000000

"Oya, oya, which of you heathens drove my Tsunayoshi to drink?" Mukuro drawled out when the brunet appeared on the roof, one hand unwrapping the bento while the other one shook the champagne bottle.

"Your Tsunayoshi?" Hayato growled out. "Don't just talk like Tsuna-sama is your toy, bastard!"

"Sigh. I can't believe that the puppy I brought in would turn into this rabid dog."

"I'll show you rabid, you-"

"Mukuro, do have something you want to tell us?" Tsuna interrupted, locking his eyes on the convict's tense frame.

Mukuro sighed again, relaxing minutely. "Still utterly terrifying."

"So I hear," Tsuna replied back. "Eat." he said, nudging Mukuro's unwrapped bento towards his Mist. "You're still too thin for my liking."

"It's all the stress," Mukuro nodded sagely.

"You should have a massage then, senpai," Takeshi grinned back.

Mukuro leered. "Only if my dear skylark offers."

As one, their heads turned to where Kyoya was resting on top of the water tank. Slowly, deliberately, a pale hand came up and calmly raised its middle finger before slowly sinking down again.

Bursting into laughter, they all began to dig into their food with gusto. Tsuna caught Mukuro's eyes again. "So," he began casually, "Should we be expecting something to turn up the stress levels anytime soon?"

Everyone was still eating but the atmosphere lost some of its spark. Mukuro closed his eyes before muttering, "You can't just give me openings to back out of a conversation and then take them away, Tsunayoshi."

"Watch me," Tsuna shot back. He stopped eating, grabbing the champagne bottle and starting to juggle it, letting it twirl in the air before catching it again, "Mukuro, what's going to happen?"

"The Vongola is opening the town back up."

"What does that mean?" Hayato demanded. "Do we lose our status as Sanctuary?"

Mukuro shook his head. "Not as far as I can tell," he said. "All that is confirmed at the moment is that the Vongola and its allies can also seek Sanctuary."

"Goddamit," Tsuna muttered. "Every B grade criminal will be heading here. What is the no-good family of mine thinking?"

"Ano, Tsuna-kun," Shoichi began, "I don't think that will happen."

"And why is that?" Takeshi questioned, his tone and posture at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

"If the information channels in England are to be believed," Shoichi licked his lips nervously, "Then the Vongola Tenth Generation is coming here."

There was a moment of silence before-

"Senpai, you're fucked."

"Yeah, Mukuro, you're pretty screwed over."

"Actually he isn't," Hayato cut in before the illusionist felt the need to take his apprentice and the baseball captain out. "We placed your case before the Council 3 weeks ago, Mukuro," he replied to the Mist guardian's questioning looks, "While they deliberate over the case no one, not even the Vendice, will attack you. To do that will be like saying that they're more fit to deliver justice than the Council."

"Not to mention, this is still Sanctuary. The Vongola has a special reason to uphold its protection, considering that they're why the idea of Sanctuary first came into place," Tsuna added, twirling the bottle at a faster speed than before.

Before Mukuro could reply to their going behind his back (something which he was sure that fucking skylark took pleasure in, given that his aunt was one of the heads of the Council) he was interrupted as a "Die, Vongola!" rang out the roof.

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today," Tsuna commented, as he smoothly uncorked the bottle when it finished its last twirl and aimed it. The assassin screamed as quality champagne sprayed into his overly large eyes, curling up on the ground and rubbing them with his tie to get it out. Feeling unusually bitter, Tsuna then tossed the rest of the bottle on him too, watching with satisfaction as it broke on his head and cause him to scream more.

"Herbivore," Kyoya spoke, awake from his (cat) nap and pissed, "For being in possession of an unauthorized weapon, attempting to attack students of Nami-chu and for attempting to attack the council president you will be bitten to death. Thrice."

"I'm pretty sure that he drank some of the alcohol that sprayed on him Kyoya. You said in the morning that you would bite the person that drank it in school to death."

"Four times, then."

"Also, that champagne belonged to my mother. She most certainly did not allow him to drink it."

"Thievery is not tolerated in Namimori. Thieves here are bitten to death. State your last will quickly, herbivore, your punishment is unlikely to end soon."

Watching as the irritable Cloud attacked the intruder with frightening ferocity, goaded by the Sky who pulled more reasons to bite him out of thin air ('He snuck in wearing a school uniform, senpai.' 'It is forbidden for any but Nami-chu students to wear the uniform.' 'He also managed to get it dirty.' 'Dirtying the uniform is forbidden by school regulations.') Mukuro smiled.

"Utterly terrifying," he spoke, even as he reached for the popcorn that the Rain guardian had somehow managed to procure.

Mukuro was okay. Really.

He had full faith that his family would protect him from the coming storm.

("You know, when Tsuna said that he would put the bottle to good use, even I didn't think of this."

Mukuro laughed.)

^telling the Cloud guardian of this fact is perhaps what started the most complicated hate-love relationship seen in the mafia world. After this, Kyoya deliberately did cat-like acts in front of Mukuro, as if to save him to say something. Mukuro, of course, always did. Thankfully, Tsuna learnt how to deal with them both (coughSprayingthemwithwaterworkedcough)

*contrary to popular belief, Naples wasn't the epicentre of some mafia earthquake. The entirety of South Italy had been affected by the underworld, in differing degrees.

/surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, it was Takeshi who coined this term. He always wanted to be in a band, he said when later asked.

I have no idea where this came out of. Really. Zero idea.

This may seem like too many details, but fear not. There are more details to come!

Read and review!

Until next time,

Arwana13