Disclaimer: Just to clarify, yeah, I don't own any gum trees, however old. Or any laughing kookaburras. Or the nursery rhyme featuring either of them. You can find fun little videos with the entire thing on YouTube, and the lyrics to the song are easily available online too. Look it up: "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree."

Summary: Tsuna shows up at the Sawada Household bearing an official letter from Xanxus, requesting Yoshi to become his External Advisor. Havoc ensues. Closely following on the heels of which, Namimori is invaded by the remnants of the Estraneo Family, on the hunt for one Rokudou Mukuro.

...everyone's in for a rough few months, to put it mildly.

Timeline: Missing scene from Does Your Amber Heart Bleed Purple Gold, and set when the cast is in their first year of high school.

Rating: T/PG-13

Warnings: Genderfluidity, Trans Character. But, not exactly? It'll make sense eventually. Also, Asexuality carrying over from the previous chapter. It should be obvious by this point, I think, but LGBTQ themes are present all over this fic, even if they really aren't the focus of the plot.

AN1: Gasp! No trigger warnings, for once! This chapter is nearly benign! That said, if anyone finds anything in this remotely worthy of being considered a trigger, let me know so I can put up those warnings.

Just How Comfy is that (Old) (Gum) Tree

Yoshi wants to say he's surprised when his brother strides in with a letter written on parchment addressed to him, one fine day. Very official and sealed with suspiciously familiar sky flames.

He wants to say he's surprised. But he's really not.

"…And what's this in aid of?" he asked mildly.

Mildly, after a long moment of silence which he spent carefully perusing the letter. From the top with its uncharacteristically polite start, to the end, signed with a flourish and with the flames smouldering sullenly. A moment which Tsuna spent slowly getting more and more awkward, fidgeting in place before him. Until, apparently, he could no longer bear the look Yoshi was directing at him.

"You're the only one Boss trusts enough to offer the post to," he said.

Which was good to know, but that wasn't quite the point, was it.

Yoshi stared at him.

"Tsuna-nii," he said, "I don't think you understand. What, exactly, is this in aid of?"

Tsuna stared back at him, expression going tight. He didn't say anything, and honestly, he didn't need to. It wasn't like the letter hadn't been obvious enough in its intent.

Which was the point at which Bel blew in, hair and coat whirling around him, a wide grin on his face but Yoshi could feel the rage radiating off him. He sighed, and turned sharply on his heel to walk up the stairs, leaving Tsuna behind to deal with his screeching fellow guardian.

X

Predictably, Hayato and Takeshi were furious on his behalf. Well, Hayato certainly was. Takeshi was too busy laughing to show any other emotion on his face.

Yoshi hadn't told anyone else yet, because he trusted that even if Hayato and Takeshi didn't like the news, at least they wouldn't go and confront Tsuna about it. He hadn't been on speaking terms with his brother since he'd brought the letter in, and it was wearing on him, but he wouldn't give in until Tsuna did. It wasn't anger as much as it was disappointment that was making him stubborn, but no one said he had be mature in his reactions. Certainly not with his brother, who was being just plain dumb if he'd expected Yoshi to just smile and give in to Xanxus' request.

"Yoshi-sama," Hayato whispered, suddenly, clearly having gotten over the feeling of indignation that had erupted on Yoshi's behalf. His tone was troubled enough that it caught Takeshi's attention too, making him sober up quickly.

"You okay, Yoshi?" he asked, the smile still locked on his face, but Yoshi had learnt to look past it within the first year of their friendship. Now, nearly three years since he'd actually gotten acquainted with Yamamoto and Gokudera, he could read the honest emotion behind that smile as easy as breathing.

"I'm fine. I think." He said, giving a tired laugh as he sank into his bed beside the swordsman.

Hayato, who'd been pacing back and forth along the length of his and Tsuna-nii's bedroom, quickly trotted forward to sit down beside him, his face showing all the cautious worry that Takeshi's didn't. Yoshi allowed his hands to be gathered up in his friend's, allowing Hayato to fretfully ease his fingers out of the clenched fists they'd settled in, and leaned into the solid band of comfort that was Takeshi's arm wrapping around his shoulders.

"I'm fine." He repeated, but he didn't say no when his friends stuck around to coddle him for the next few hours.

That they chose to stay for dinner without asking for permission first made little bursts of happiness bloom into being in his chest, even if that emotion was tempered by the fact that Tsuna didn't turn up even after they were done eating and had settled down to sleep.

"He must've stayed at Hibari-san's place," Takeshi said easily, folding his arms under his head, when Hayato voiced Yoshi's thoughts out loud.

Yoshi simply nodded, accepting the information for what it was, even when Hayato reddened a little by his side.

"Do you think Lisa-sensei's going to hit us with a pop quiz tomorrow?" he asked, rather unsubtly changing the topic.

The question predictably distracted Hayato enough to make him forget what Takeshi had said, though from the glance Takeshi shot at him, the swordsman hadn't exactly missed what Yoshi had done.

Yoshi offered him an uncomfortable smile when he was sure Hayato wasn't looking at him. It made Takeshi relax and laughingly respond to the question Hayato shot his way, testing him on a grammatical concept their English teacher had brought up in class earlier in the week.

Yoshi settled back and listened to them squabble with a smile, their arguing voices a balm to the wound that his brother's behaviour had left behind. Not that it meant Yoshi would be the one to apologise first, of course. Because he wouldn't.

Tsuna should have known better than to expect Yoshi to simply agree to be Xanxus' External Advisor. Especially after their father had tried to strong-arm him into being the fucking tenth Don. Tsuna should have known better.

He should have.

X

Bel drags himself in the next morning to grudgingly explain that he'd been the original messenger carrying Xanxus' letter. And that Tsuna-nii had chosen to take him out of the equation midway through, knocking him out and stealing the letter before hightailing it to Japan all on his own. Yoshi ignores the way Hayato's glowering on one side, and the toothy smile Takeshi's offering up on the other, instead taking the mumble for the apology it is and inviting Bel to eat breakfast and stick around for a bit before heading back. If he wanted to.

Bel looks… bemused, by his reaction. For lack of a better description.

"I thought you were angry?" he asked, once he'd tucked into the pancakes and syrup that Yoshi's mom had set out for all of them.

"Not with you," Yoshi said calmly, using his fork and knife to cut his sausages to easily chewable bits.

For some reason, his words had all three men at the table cringing uncomfortably.

"Oh, that's… okay then. Ushishishishi… well, the Prince isn't happy that he couldn't bring Boss' message to you himself, but I could wait until you have a response," Bel offered, his smile wide, but surprisingly careful, even if his tone wasn't.

Yoshi paused in the act of downing a mouthful of egg, eyes focused unerringly on the prongs of his fork.

"You don't need to wait. My answer's 'no'." he replied, voice steady.

Bel blinked slowly at that, but he thankfully didn't try to start a fight over Yoshi's response. Then again, he didn't think anyone would be willing to start a fight with him right then, not with the way Hayato's fingers were tapping on the table. Or with the way Takeshi was handling his cutlery. Even if it was just a blunted table knife, it looked anything but harmless in Takeshi's hands.

The Storm Guardian easily made his excuses once breakfast was done, and retreated without another word. Hayato and Takeshi made no move to speak about it, instead silently clearing up the table and waving Yoshi away so he could go get ready for school.

Tsuna didn't turn up at any point for the rest of the day – or even over the next few days. The only confirmation he had of his brother's continued presence in Namimori was how peaceful Kyoya-san had seemed, ever since his brother had first appeared. That, and the strangely approving look the prefect had shot him one morning, before disappearing to continue with whatever he usually did, in the course of a day.

"Guess he agrees with us," Takeshi had said, looking amused when Yoshi had mentioned it to him and Hayato.

"'Guess'?" Yoshi shot back snidely, making him laugh, delighted.

Hayato had rolled his eyes, and shuffled them off to class, yelling at Hana when she called something out from across the corridor before stepping back into her own classroom.

X

When Kyoko cornered him a full week after Tsuna had first appeared with the letter, Yoshi sagged into his seat, laughing weakly.

"Well?" she asked him pleasantly.

"Do you actually have our schedules written out or something?" Yoshi shot back.

"I don't."

Yoshi leaned away from the teeth on display in that beaming smile, despairingly wondering where the hell Hayato and Takeshi had gotten to.

"Takeshi-kun went to the vending machine, and Hana-chan caught Hayato-kun outside." Kyoko offered, smiling sweetly.

Yoshi whimpered, and ducked his head so he didn't have to look her in the eye. He heard one of his classmates whispering to a friend that Yoshi had all the luck, what with 'Sasagawa-chan' coming to talk to him all on her own during lunch, and he tried not to laugh hysterically. How none of their classmates had ever realised how vicious Kyoko could be, under those sweet, bubbly smiles of hers, he would never be able to understand.

"Yoshi-kun," she said pointedly, and he bobbed his head quickly, deciding that staying in one piece was a little more important that trying to act defiant.

From the lack of cheerful promises of death in her smile when he got up from his seat, Kyoko clearly approved. He wilted into her side when she hooked their elbows together to tug him out of class.

"You're so melodramatic, Yoshi-kun."

He made a face, laughing nervously when more than one glance was shot their way, especially when it became obvious that she was dragging him towards the roof.

"I'm not being melodramatic, I'm acknowledging the fact that you will hurt me very badly if I don't listen to you," he muttered back, making her laugh brightly.

"Good choice," Hana said, smirking nastily at him from where she was sitting up near the door leading to the roof.

Yoshi stared down at her.

"…dare I ask what you did with Hayato?"

She got to her feet and brushed her skirt off, then reached out to get the roof door open. The clang it made, slamming into the wall on the other side, made Yoshi wince.

"Oh, he'll find his way here eventually. I set him up with a guy in my class. Yamamoto's going to figure it out and drag him up in the next five minutes or so anyway, so you may as well start talking."

"Do you two have to be so violent?" he asked plaintively, especially when Hana turned around to hook her arm around his too.

"Nope, but it's fun!" Hana beamed at him, and it looked unnatural enough that he cringed back. Kyoko giggled, and steered all three of them out through the door.

"So, spill. What the hell's got the three of you monkeys looking like you're hiding secrets again?" Hana said, once they'd arranged themselves against the half walls bordering the chain-link fence. The patient, expectant expressions on both their faces had Yoshi sighing, and leaning into the wall against his back.

"…Tsuna-nii's home."

Hana's brows rose at that, unimpressed.

Kyoko, though, squinted at him, expression going thoughtful.

"Onii-chan said that Hibari-san's been a lot calmer in class recently, and that he didn't tried to split onii-chan's head open when he asked him for a match yesterday. So I had a feeling Tsuna-kun might be back." She said.

Yoshi blinked at that, and gave a nervous laugh.

"He said that, did he…"

Kyoko's expression immediately went from thoughtful to narrow-eyed.

"What did Tsuna-kun do?"

"What do you mean, Kyoko-chan, he didn't do anything, ahahaha…ha…"

They stared him down, Kyoko with a scary looking half-smile, while Hana looked plain disturbed.

Thankfully, that was the point at which Hayato kicked the door down.

"YOSHI-SAMA, ARE YOU OKA-guh-"

All three of them turned to watch as Takeshi patted Hayato roughly on the back, as though he hadn't just dragged him back by the collar and choked him to a stop. After confirming that they were actually on the roof, he turned to push the door back into place before twisting his fingers in Hayato's collar to haul him towards the rest of them.

"…nice to see that you're as terrifying as you usually are,"

Hana's voice was absolutely bland. It made Takeshi laugh shortly, dropping Hayato down so he could curl up between Kyoko and Yoshi, still rubbing at his abused throat, and then shouldering his way past Hana so he could drop down on Yoshi's other side.

"You're being rude, Takeshi-kun," Kyoko scolded, touching her fingers to Hayato's throat, their tips glimmering golden yellow. Hayato immediately breathed in deeply, clearly his throat.

He tellingly didn't yell at Takeshi, though, instead frowning at the two girls sitting opposite them. The forbidding expressions on all their faces, none of them willing to budge, were what made Yoshi give in with a sigh.

"Xanxus requested me to become his Outside Advisor."

His words made Hana jerk back in surprise, while Kyoko's face abruptly lit up with one of the most beautiful smiles he's seen on it in a while.

"He did what."

"That's not the important part, Kyoko, ugh, get that look off your face – Yoshi, did Sawada actually bring that request in? Seriously?"

Well. Obviously Hana would connect those two points together immediately. Yoshi gave a small nod, glancing away because he wasn't quite willing to face their reactions to that.

"Tsuna-kun brought the request in?"

Yoshi shuddered slightly, feeling Hayato stiffen on his right. Kyoko was flat out scary when she got angry.

"Kyoko stop that," Hana sounded absolutely exasperated, while Takeshi burst into loud laughter. Yoshi winced, and elbowed him until it stopped. This conversation was painful enough without Takeshi laughing like that.

"…did he at least explain himself?" Kyoko asked, once she'd calmed down enough to sound like her regular self.

Well, mostly, because her regular self was about as air-headed as Takeshi's, and leading questions like that weren't particularly air-headed. The question made Yoshi curl into himself, though. Because it had had a ready answer, just like the earlier questions, and none of them had questions he was in any way happy about.

"Aniki hasn't been back home since he brought Xanxus' letter to Yoshi-sama," Hayato offered in a low voice.

Thankfully, neither Kyoko nor Hana reacted badly to that. The shock of the situation seemed to have worn off, and they looked about as indignant on his behalf as Hayato and Takeshi had, in the beginning. It made him want to laugh and cry at the same time, because how the hell had he managed to make friends who understood him so well?

"…do you want us to talk to him? We could, y'know."

Hana made the offer almost absent-mindedly, when they were all walking down the stairs, headed back to class since the bell had rung midway through their conversation. Even though none of the others stopped, or turned back to listen to him, Yoshi could tell they were waiting for his response just as patiently as Hana's carefully disinterested face suggested.

Yoshi rubbed at his eyes, feeling overwhelmed, but he gave her a tight smile.

"No, it's fine. He'll talk to me when he's ready."

She nodded agreeably at that, slapping a hand to his back when they parted ways at the bottom of the stairs before casually strolling away with Kyoko.

"I could talk to Hibari-san," Takeshi offered in an undertone, when they were back in class. From the way that Hayato didn't react, Yoshi knew that he hadn't heard what Takeshi had said.

It made Yoshi laugh, part-touched and part-incredulous.

"…Takeshi, don't take this the wrong way, but he will bite you to death. And I mean that literally, not metaphorically."

"Well, yeah. But I could try talking to him. I can't promise that he'll actually be willing to ask or tell Tsuna-nii anything, but…"

His friend trailed away at that, and offered him a lazy smile that looked nothing like his usual grins. It made Yoshi want to hide his face in his hands to get away from it.

"It's nice of you to offer, but I think we'll be fine, Takeshi. Tsuna-nii'll come speak to me when he wants to. Okay?"

"Okay." Takeshi agreed peaceably, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder in a strong, steadying grip before heading back to his desk. Which was right behind Yoshi's.

There were times when Yoshi was really happy for his brother and Kyoya-san, because honestly, that had been a long time coming. And then, there were times like these, when he would have been a lot happier not knowing the exact details of their love lives, because at least then Takeshi wouldn't keep saying things just to get a reaction out of him. And Hayato. And Hana. Kyoko just giggled whenever he tried to get a rise out of her, and they would spiral away into beautiful laughter that had the rest of them backing off as quickly as they were physically capable of.

But…

He sighed, and pressed his forehead down against his desk. Thinking about Kyoya-san and Takeshi made him think about Tsuna. And he was just… so tired of thinking about his brother.

It was starting to make his heart ache.

Hayato wordlessly reached out to press his hand between Yoshi's shoulder blades, not hesitating to offer some form of non-verbal support, for once. It made Yoshi feel ridiculously grateful. To him. To Takeshi. To Kyoko and Hana.

Heck, to Kyoya-san and Ryohei-san too. Because even if Ryohei-san didn't know exactly what was going on, he'd been willing to talk to Kyoko about Kyoya-san. And, honestly, that was as good as a sign that Ryohei was worrying about all of them, since even if he regularly sought Kyoya-san out for spars, actually talking about it meant that he wanted to make sure that things were okay. And with all the frighteningly pleased looks Kyoya-san had been offering him, he clearly approved of the fact that Yoshi wasn't just giving in to his brother.

Kyoya-san was weird like that. He valued Tsuna-nii's company, enough so that he took off on hunts and patrols with him and treated him like an equal, but at the same time, he didn't like it if Yoshi blindly listened to anything Tsuna told him.

It hadn't made much sense, in the beginning. But Yoshi had eventually figured out that it was because, all said and done, Kyoya-san was the one who was his Cloud. And if Yoshi took those crazy evolutionary hierarchies of his into consideration, he didn't want Yoshi bowing down to anyone else, because it would mean that they had some kind of power over Kyoya-san in turn.

Which… was just plain crazy, with a side of ridiculous, because it implied that he had power over Kyoya-san which, no, that wasn't happening any time soon. Nope.

…say what you like, he wasn't delusional.

Kyoya-san might have been willing to accept him as a Sky, and even that was something more unconscious than not, but Yoshi could never place Kyoya-san on a lower hierarchical spot than himself. It boggled the mind to even consider it. But, the fact that he'd been willing to accept Yoshi as a Sky at all meant that he would never let Yoshi to hide behind the 'mask of a herbivore', as the prefect had put it, once. Not again, and definitely not after they'd faced off against Xanxus' men. The few days they'd spent in the company of the Varia had made Kyoya-san particularly leery of Yoshi acting weak in any way, for some reason.

And apparently giving into his brother's whims without a fight qualified as weak.

He felt Hayato's fingers press harder into his back, grounding, and he shuddered slightly, dragging his thoughts back in line. When he sat back up, he wasn't exactly surprised to find his cheeks wet.

He scrubbed at his face with his sleeves, ignoring the glances being shot at him by the rest of the class. Thankfully, they were quick to direct their attention somewhere else, Hayato's glowering face was silently convincing that way. And if that weren't enough of a reason to leave Yoshi alone, the smile Takeshi was directing at the rest of the classroom certainly was.

He gave a choked laugh and buried his face in the nest of his arms on the desk, ignoring the quiet voice of their teacher speaking to Hayato, asking if Yoshi needed to be taken to the infirmary. He had the best damn friends in the world, didn't he.

But he couldn't stop wishing his brother would just… come home. So they could talk things out. He was getting sick of this silence. He'd never had a reason to fight with his brother before, and this distance was killing him.

"Yoshi," Takeshi murmured to him in an undertone from the back, clearly questioning.

Yoshi gave a watery laugh, and straightened in his seat.

"I'm fine, really," he said.

Maybe if he said it enough times, he would actually believe it himself.

X

When a whole month passed by without Tsuna returning home, he had to accept that his brother had returned to Palermo without saying goodbye. It left a sick feeling in his gut, but he forced his way past it.

He just hoped his brother knew what was coming. Because any more of this and Yoshi was going to get past feeling sorry for himself and just be plain pissed off.

X

Predictably, things started going crazy soon after. Not only did another letter appear for him from Xanxus - borne by Lussuria this time, who was disappointed but willing to take back his refusal without any flamboyant attempts at convincing him – but people started disappearing without notice and reappearing severely beaten up.

And it was completely random, too. It was only after Ryohei got attacked that they figured out that someone was targeting the leaders of all the athletic clubs in Nami-kōkō. It didn't stop there, either, because any and all delinquents started getting taken to task too. Much to Kyoya-san's increasing displeasure. Kusakabe-san had explained that Kyoya-san felt like someone was trying to take over his territory, which he was not happy about.

When a pretty girl transferred into their class two weeks after the trouble started, Yoshi was more than a little relieved. Because, judging by all the previous ridiculous stuff that had happened to him, the 'mysterious transfer student' would turn out to be responsible for everything, so they could clear things up and their lives would go back to normal.

Of course, that was before she called him out during the lunch break, saying that she needed to speak to him in private. Much to the collective horror of every boy in their class, except for Takeshi and Hayato, who were incensed for very different reasons.

"Oh, isn't that cute. Yoshi's getting his first confession!" Hana cooed, leaning in through the door.

It made the girl – Chrome-chan? – stiffen in her seat. And she curled in on herself defensively when Kyoko leaned in beneath Hana.

"Very cute. But not very wise, Chrome-chan. You see, you don't get to speak to Yoshi-kun directly like that!" she said with a sweet smile, causing more than one of Yoshi's classmates to 'pass out', unable to take the combined impact of her lovely smile and that fact that she apparently wasn't happy with Chrome 'confessing' to him.

Yoshi stared from one face to another, taking in the sight of all his friends nearly looming over the frail looking girl, before groaning piteously.

"Come on, you guys, stop. You're scaring her."

…which was the point at which Chrome whipped around to smile at him, eye sliding shut to accommodate the stretch of her curving lips and dimpled cheeks. It was absolutely angelic, arresting when combined with the purple bangs, the cute side-tail the rest of her hair was pulled up in and the skull themed eye-patch. And more frightening than anything he'd ever seen before, bar Kyoya-san smiling. And Tsuna-nii not smiling.

"You're sweet, Vongola," she said, making all his friends choke. Even Kyoko.

And then, before he knew quite what was happening, she'd somehow managed to drag him out of the class and down the stairs. A few confused blinks, and suddenly, they were standing on the school grounds, out to the back where he'd see some third years coming to get a quiet smoke, cutting class and futilely hoping that Kyoya-san wouldn't catch them.

"Um," he said intelligently, making her laugh gently.

He got past her pretty face when he belatedly remembered just what she'd called him, though.

"…I don't know what you've heard, but I'm not affiliated with the Vongola in any way."

He kept his voice firm. Because even if Xanxus kept sending him requests, and his brother was fucking sulking, the big coward, it didn't mean he was affiliated with the Family. He'd refused all of Xanxus' requests, after all, and the old man's orders and demands before that.

Oddly enough, this just made her smile broaden. The angelic expression seemed to melt, but it didn't take away from the loveliness of her face. If anything, it highlighted it. Yoshi felt his cheeks warm, and he looked down, not quite able to meet her eyes.

"I need your help," she said.

"…I'm not sure why you would need my help, specifically. I'm not really strong enough to help people. And like I said, I'm not directly affiliated with the Vongola." He replied uncomfortably.

She seemed to find this particularly amusing, because she burst into soft, husky laughter that didn't seem to suit the fragile set of her shoulders at all.

"It's precisely because you're not affiliated with the Vongola that I need your help."

When he blinked at her, she offered him a soft, pained smile.

"I have no friends to help me, they're all dead. And the people who killed them are trying to track me down."

The words had him stiffening immediately, because they had his intuition rearing up for attention inside his head.

"Who killed them?" he asked, blunt, not wasting time on trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. His intuition was already chiming in agreement, verifying the truth of her words in a way evidence and explanations couldn't.

She looked momentarily surprised, before the emotion was buried in yet another smile.

"The Estraneo Famiglia. I was once their ward, but they hurt me. I managed to get away, and stayed hidden for years, but they managed to track me down."

…now that? That rang untrue.

He frowned at her.

"Either explain things honestly or turn to someone else for help, Chrome-san."

She blinked at him, and this time, the surprise continued to cling to the lines of her face.

"…but that is the-"

"It might be the truth, but it certainly isn't all of it. Explain things plainly or leave, Chrome-san."

She went still, nearly preternaturally so, for a full count of a minute before she curled up and burst into more of that husky, chilling laughter. It didn't suit her at all.

When she looked back up at him, her purple eye had shifted shades to a vivid, jewel bright blue.

"Well, at least now I know you aren't some kind of naïve fool," she said, and the voice sounded wrong. Masculine.

It was still the same voice, he realised after a split second of terror. But somehow, the pitch had shifted an entire register deeper.

"Why did you specifically come to me?" he demanded, feeling his hands clench into fists.

She gave him another one of those pained smiles.

"Because when we asked Ranking Fuuta who in the Mafia would be most likely to shelter someone like us, he said that your name was the first on the list."

Yoshi paused, caught flat-footed by the switch to plural from the singular. But that was when his friends finally showed up, the air nearly trembling with the force of their collective rage, so he thankfully didn't actually have to say anything in response.

X

"My name is Chrome Dokuro. But I am also Rokudou Mukuro." She said, much later in the day.

They were all clustered around Yoshi's dining table, yet again. Thankfully, his mom wasn't around. She'd had some work to do in the evening, so she had let all of them in before tugging on her coat and leaving, smile firmly in place.

The first name was apparently perfectly innocuous, but the second had Hayato going still in his seat.

"Rokudou?" he repeated incredulously.

Chrome gave him a pleasant smile.

"Yes, Rokudou. You've heard of me, then? Smoking Bomb?"

"Haha, he doesn't go by that name anymore," Takeshi cut in easily, the teeth in his smile as much a warning as his blade could be.

"Takeshi," Yoshi said, sighing when his friend subsided with a grimace. When he looked back at Chrome, he was met with an obviously appraising glance.

"…you're not quite what I'd expected," she said.

Yoshi made a pained noise, and slapped a hand over his eyes.

"Just… continue with your story, okay? Chrome-san? Rokudou-san?"

She hummed thoughtfully, and treated him to a small smile that somehow seemed more honest that every lovely expression that had found its way onto her face while they'd been in school, earlier in the day.

"You may call me Mukuro, Sawada-kun. I am Mukuro today."

…now that didn't sound ominous at all.

Yoshi forced himself to take it in stride, no matter how much he wanted to find a quiet corner to shove himself into so he could take a few moments to scream hysterically.

"Okay. Mukuro-san, then. Could you finish your story, Mukuro-san?"

She treated all of them to a beatific smile.

"Of course, Sawada-kun. I was not always both Chrome Dokuro and Rokudou Mukuro. A few years ago, we were two separate people. Chrome Dokuro was the love child of a famous actress who will go unnamed, and a dead man. When she met with a severe accident, her mother and stepfather both abandoned her to the hospital, unwilling to shoulder the burden of caring for her because they both claimed they didn't have the time to devote to a child stuck in a partially vegetative state."

Yoshi was silent. They all were. There was a leaden ball of horror sinking down into his stomach, because he couldn't feel his intuition refuting any of what Chrome-Mukuro was saying.

"Rokudou Mukuro was a ward taken in by the Estraneo Famiglia, adopted when he was still a babe. He grew up in the Estraneo labs with no company except for the few children that survived the experimentation conducted on them. Soon, he was the only child who survived, and he managed to outlast nearly every new ward brought in. The only other children who remained were two boys who were brought in when he was eight, who didn't die as quickly as the others did. He visited Hell six times as a side effect of the experiments conducted by the Estraneo, and returned every time, wanting nothing but to have his revenge. But the sixth time he returned, he found that both his friends had finally died as a result of the experiments being carried out on them."

Yoshi couldn't look away, even when he felt his eyes going wet. Hana looked sick, Kyoko had wrapped an arm around her shoulders and was staring Chrome-Mukuro down with a grim look on her face. Hayato… looked tired. Unsurprised. And Takeshi had traded his smile for a deadened expression that Yoshi had never wanted to see on his face ever again.

But none of them interrupted her – them.

"When he woke up for the sixth time, and found his friends dead, he ultimately decided that surviving to wreak havoc on the Estraneo was no longer feasible. And so, he made use of every horror he had witnessed in the times he had visited Hell, and brought the full power of his illusions down on the Family, tearing every researcher in his sight apart. This continued until he turned catatonic, and until the Vindice swarmed the Estraneo Estate and labs, putting them under lockdown and taking Rokudou Mukuro into custody.

"They imprisoned him in a water prison, hoping to keep him in a comatose state, and therefore hoped to keep his illusory powers under control. But it was too late. His body had already broken down to the point where it had begun to reject his soul-"

"Stop," Yoshi croaked, not able to take it anymore. Because Mukuro was idly recited the stories without a care in the world, as though he didn't have a personal stake in what was being said. He nearly sounded bored, however much an act it might be.

Yoshi could feel his heart aching inside his chest, almost as though it was breaking under the weight of the pain the girl, the boy, the person in front of him had been put through.

"…is there any point to this?" Kyoko asked softly, pressing her lips comfortingly to Hana's temple.

Mukuro gave them a quiet smile.

"Mukuro's soul was set adrift, breaking away from his body," he said, "and he would have remained adrift, cursed to never be whole again had he not been lucky enough to collide into Chrome's soul, slowly bleeding out of a body that was unable to sustain her. Multiple organ failure does have that nasty side effect, you see. But with me there, we were able to anchor ourselves in that body, even if it was in the process of shutting down."

"Multiple organ failure?" Takeshi repeated, voice hoarse.

Mukuro lifted his hands up and away from his flanks, in a showy gesture.

"This body isn't completely whole. It took me a while to get it right, but I'm sustaining us on organs created by Mist illusions."

"And that's… sustainable?" Yoshi asked warily. Disbelievingly.

Mukuro offered him another smile.

"For now, yes. We're both perfectly fine in here."

"And why did you come to me?" he continued, just as warily.

"Because Ranking Fuuta said-"

"Not that, Mukuro-san. Who's chasing you now? You told me that you were being chased by the people who killed your friends. Is that the truth?"

It was definitely the truth, of that much Yoshi was certain. His intuition had confirmed it, after all, even if it had simultaneously confirmed that Mukuro hadn't shared a larger part of that truth.

True to form, it sat up and took notice of the tilted smile that was tugging at Mukuro's lips.

"It is the truth, Sawada-kun. But what's also the truth is that, once I managed to stabilise our body enough to leave the hospital and start living on our own, we both decided that the rest of the Estraneo had to be dealt with. Any researchers left alive, at any rate. And there were many, who went into hiding. I could tell. The Vindice didn't bother to track each and every one of them down, since by Mafia Law, the Family had been dissolved. And Omérta hadn't been broken. So there was no reason to track down individual members of the Family."

Yoshi stared at him, along with the rest of his friends, a dizzying feeling creeping through his limbs and leaving him lightheaded.

"So, you…" Hana prompted slowly, sounding weak.

"Killed every last one of them, yes." He replied, smiling.

"Good. They deserved it." Takeshi bit out. Hayato snorted, unamused, but Yoshi could tell he agreed. Kyoko's smile certainly said that she wholeheartedly agreed with the tale of bloody vengeance that Mukuro had just spun for them.

Hana just looked sick.

"But you couldn't have killed all of them. Or else you wouldn't be running. Unless you expect me to somehow shelter you from the Vindice. Which I would love to do, honestly, but Mukuro-san, you should know better than anyone else that I wouldn't have a chance in hell at protecting you from them. Especially not when I'm not affiliated with a large Family."

Mukuro treated him to a pretty little laugh, more a delicate little giggle than anything else. It didn't suit the voice he'd been speaking in, or the grim humour in his eyes, but it did seem to suit the frame he was inhabiting rather well.

"I didn't kill the remaining members of the Family, Boss, I only killed the researchers. So they don't have any chance of restarting their experiments."

Sad to say it, but Yoshi's brain caught on her term of address before it registered the rest of the statement. That, and the fact that their voice had gone higher pitched and more obviously feminine for that one sentence.

"Chrome-san, please don't call me that," he said plaintively, in the midst of Hayato hyperventilating on one end and Hana choking on the other. Neither Takeshi, nor Kyoko really reacted, but that was because they were too busy keeping an eye on Mukuro to be taken in by humour.

Mukuro offered him a toothy grin, clearly appreciating that Yoshi had recognised the switch in registers for what it was.

"So… you want Yoshi to protect you from the Estraneo? Not the Vindice?" Takeshi cut in, voice hard.

"Yes," Mukuro said simply.

Yoshi frowned, and turned that over in his head. Before offering a single, short nod.

"Done, Mukuro-san," he said.

He proceeded to offer Mukuro space to stay in his house, since he had agreed to protect them.

Hayato immediately protested closely followed by Takeshi, Kyoko and Hana, but he cut them off with a wave of his hand.

"If you're uneasy, you can all stay too," he said.

They immediately looked mollified. Mukuro – no, Chrome immediately burst into more giggles.

She looked positively enchanted, by the time Kyoko and Takeshi had managed to put together a meal of sorts for them to eat, since Mama had already warned them that she might not be back in time for dinner.

"Do you regularly trade off like this?" he asked, later in the night when they were getting ready for bed.

Takeshi was helping Hayato get the futons out so everyone actually had enough place to sleep, while the girls were helping his mom find enough night clothes, towels, napkins and everything else. Yoshi had found himself left behind with Mukuro while everyone took care of everything else.

His mom had been delighted to return home and find that he'd somehow set up a sleepover with five friends while she'd been away.

Mukuro, now Chrome, offered him a small smile that looked unnervingly shy. Especially after how assertive every one of Mukuro's expressions had been.

"It's confusing, but we try to trade off when possible. It isn't easy, though. We're not… really a single person anymore," she said softly.

Yoshi winced.

"I can't even imagine how that must feel," he murmured, voice just as soft as hers.

"We manage. I'm happy, though. This way I'm not alone." She said easily.

Yoshi was discomfited when he realised that his intuition couldn't quite figure out who had said that – Mukuro or Chrome. Or if it had been both of them.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, lips twitching.

"I'm not alone," she repeated, and Yoshi sighed, nodding in acquiescence.

X

Squalo appeared a few days later, right on the wings of some of Kyoya-san's prefects being attacked by the unknown hunter. They were all starting to suspect that it was the Estraneo, still searching for Chrome and Mukuro. Though Yoshi had absolutely no idea why they were attacking athletic clubs and delinquents, or the prefects now.

With how furious Kyoya-san had been, it wasn't surprising that Squalo was faced with a madhouse when he checked in at Yoshi's home.

"What the fuck, Princess?" he said, bemused, watching Takeshi and Hayato roaring at each other, with Hana and Kyoko trying to break them apart.

Yoshi gave him a pinched look.

"If you have a letter from Xanxus for me again, you'd best head back with my refusal immediately, Squalo-san. I don't have the time right now." He bit out.

Squalo surveyed him with raised eyebrows before giving a low laugh, lips stretching into a harsh smirk.

"I'll take it back, alright. But what's going on here? I thought the only setting that kid came with was laugh-like-a-maniac." He said snidely, nodding at Takeshi.

Yoshi made a face, shaking his head in exasperation.

"That's you and Hayato both, Squalo-san. Takeshi was just irritable enough to actually say something about it, this time."

"…any particular reason the town's in such a mess? I thought your Cloud generally had a good handle on things."

"Ah. That would be because of me, I believe. Kufufufufu."

Yoshi was treated to the unexpected sight of Squalo jerking in shock.

Mukuro had his hair down in a low tail, eyepatch off, and was dressed comfortably in a pair of light trousers and a black turtleneck. And he looked very much like a boy, if a very pretty one. Yoshi had slowly gotten used to his and Chrome's quirks, over the last month, enough that he didn't find it difficult to take Chrome and Mukuro at face value any more, even if they habitually oscillated between insisting that they were one and the same and insisting that they were two separate people and should be treated as such.

Well, that, and the fact that both Mukuro and Chrome would always be able to sneak up on you, no matter how watchful you were.

Squalo scowled down at him, and turned to pin Yoshi with a dark look.

"When, exactly, did you add a Mist Guardian to your roster, Sawada?" he asked, and Yoshi cringed, getting up his hands just in time to shut his ears before his friends whipped around to collectively yell.

"THEY AREN'T HIS MIST GUARDIAN!"

Mukuro burst into eerie, if thoroughly entertained, laughter.

"Oh, Yoshi. Anymore of this and I'm going to think we aren't wanted here," he said.

Yoshi gave him a tired smile, and looked back at Squalo, expression going pinched again. Squalo's face had gone oddly still, before he slowly turned away, shoulders hunched and shaking.

"It's okay, you can laugh out loud. I know I do, sometimes," Yoshi said dryly.

Squalo promptly burst into helpless, heaving laughter, catching himself on the wall and bent nearly in half with hilarity.

Yoshi scowled down at him, switched the scowl to his yelling friends, and finally turned it on Mukuro, who simply smirked at him, holding up his open palms in silent defence of himself.

"I hate you all. So. Damn. Much."

"We love you too, Yo-kun," his mother said cheerfully, puttering past him to offer to hang Squalo's coat in the coat closet.

X

The situation with the Estraneo didn't reach a head for another month, which Yoshi spent wondering how exactly his life had managed to get even more complicated than before. It was becoming more and more obvious that Mukuro and Chrome didn't plan to leave, even after their request for help was taken care of. Yoshi was ridiculously grateful that they were looking at apartments, though.

Spending two months under the same roof as a girl who was sometimes a boy, both of whom seemed to enjoy seeing him squeak, had not been fun. Though he suspected that they wouldn't be leaving his home until after the problem had been completely cleared.

Either way, that wasn't the most important thing in the moment.

He stepped back from the door, folding his arms defensively and staring his brother down.

Tsuna sighed, and stepped inside, tugging the door shut behind him. And, thankfully, toeing off his shoes. At least that meant he planned to stay a while, this time around.

"Boss sent a letter for you," he said.

"The answer's still 'no'. If that's all you're here for, Tsuna-nii, you can get your shoes on and turn right back around." He said tightly.

His brother gave him a pained look. The longer Yoshi stared at his face, the more he noticed just how haggard Tsuna looked, dark shadows under his eyes and skin that looked unhealthily pale. Even his hair looked limp.

Yoshi didn't let that soften him, though. It wasn't like he looked any better.

"Well?" he asked.

"…I'll stay the night." But I'll leave soon after, was what he didn't say. Yoshi could feel it.

The silence made him want to cry, because his brother wasn't supposed to make him feel this way.

"Oya, oya. Who's this?"

Yoshi jumped in surprise, and almost crashed into the slim form that had stepped up behind him. When he looked back, he had to look up too. Mukuro had been playing with their height recently, since neither he nor Chrome felt comfortable at the height they were at. The decision had been met with sneering comments from both Hayato and Hana, though Takeshi and Kyoko had quickly taken it in their stride.

Tsuna had gone still, any trace of exhaustion tucked away fast enough that Yoshi could no longer see any sign of it. The blank expression on his face made Yoshi want to shiver in discomfort.

"Any particular reason why Rokudou Mukuro's staying at our home?" he asked, voice mild. Yoshi felt Mukuro stiffen behind him, and he gave a nervous laugh.

"Oh, did Squalo-san tell you about him?"

Yoshi curled his fingers into his sleeves to keep them from clenching, because his brother did not look happy. His comment about Squalo only seemed to make it worse, because Tsuna went from looking blank to actively frowning.

"What does Squalo have to do with this?"

"Oh, I was here when he came to visit last month," Mukuro said casually, lips spread wide in an unfriendly smile, and Yoshi had to shoulder him back so he didn't get any closer. Tsuna-nii looked like he was going to go for Mukuro's throat if the distance between them decreased, and Yoshi didn't need to see that, this early in the day. Especially not when they'd just been given Easter holidays. And to think Yoshi had been looking forward to the break.

"Mukuro, shut up. Come on, Tsuna-nii, why don't I get you a drink-"

Yoshi got a hand around Tsuna's elbow and quickly tugged him in, getting them past Mukuro before anything more could be said. Tsuna just had to come when it was a Mukuro-day, didn't he. Chrome wouldn't have been nearly as antagonistic. Then again, this might have been one of the few instances she decided to be assertive – he couldn't always tell what would inspire those episodes in her. Kyoko apparently could, and she always looked amused when they happened, but the rest of them couldn't.

"How'd you know who they were if Squalo didn't say anything, nii-san."

Tsuna glanced up from behind the rim of his mug, eyes oddly shuttered. The expression had Yoshi shifting uncomfortably, wishing he could find the right thing to say just to bridge the gap that had sprung up between them. Thankfully, Tsuna could read him as well as he always could, because he sighed and set down his mug. Coffee, which was just plain disgusting. He needed to yell at whoever had gotten his brother into that nasty habit.

"The Vindice sent out notices to all the upper tier Families when old Estraneo researchers and scientists started getting wiped out.

"They're not hunting for him," his brother added, when he noticed how pale Yoshi had gotten. It made Yoshi sink into a chair weakly, more than a little relieved.

"Then why'd they send out the notices?"

"As a warning, that there's a high level Mist user that's currently unaligned and is known for wiping out entire Families who have a penchant for immoral experimentation. They're good at making use of an opportunity, those black cloaks," Tsuna replied, his smile sharp on his face.

"Then they aren't after me?"

…Tsuna didn't even start, damn him. Yoshi did, and he'd been the one facing the entrance to the kitchen.

"No, they aren't. You didn't kill the regular Family members, after all. That was a good call." He said, looking over his shoulder to survey Mukuro with a mild expression. It made the illusionist stiffen up where he was standing, clearly ill at ease, before he visibly forced himself to relax.

"You're Yoshi's brother, then," he said.

Tsuna gave him a small, pleasant smile that didn't look comforting at all.

"That would be me, yes. Pleased to meet you, Rokudou-kun."

"Please, you can call me Mukuro. Everyone else does," Mukuro said easily, walking forward to tug out a chair beside Yoshi. It made him cringe internally, because Tsuna was starting to go blank again.

"And you can call me Chrome," Chrome added in a soft voice.

Tsuna didn't flinch this time either, though he looked gratifyingly surprised.

"Chrome-chan and Mukuro-san, then," he muttered, after a beat.

Chrome-Mukuro smiled back at him, clearly pleased. Yoshi shrugged helplessly at his brother when Tsuna shot a look at him. Strangely enough, that had his brother smiling back at him, expression going soft.

"Ah, Yoshi. What're we going to do with you," he said.

Yoshi flushed pink, uncomfortable with just how fond his brother sounded. And Chrome burst into giggles beside him, for some reason.

He pouted at the both of them, because obviously they'd find common ground in something like this, right.

"I'm not going to say sorry," his brother murmured later, when they were both curled up in bed.

Mukuro hadn't headed up yet, helping their mom with the dishes downstairs. They'd been making use of the empty bed in Yoshi's room for the last month on and off, because Mama had said that it made no sense for them to keep using a futon when there was an empty bed not in use. Chrome generally seemed too embarrassed to even consider sleeping in the same room as him when the others weren't around as a buffer, but Mukuro was all too happy to take Yoshi's mother up on the offer. There were some days when they ran together enough that Chrome didn't mind taking the bed either, but most of the time it was only on distinctly Mukuro days that Yoshi had anyone else sleeping in his room.

"I don't want an apology," Yoshi muttered back, pressing his face into the hollow of his brother's throat. He could feel Tsuna's chest vibrate with the sound of his breath whispering out in a sigh.

"He's my Boss, Yoshi, I can't exactly say no to him."

"And I'm your brother, Tsuna-nii. You could have advised him against asking me to take the post."

"I did." Tsuna bit out, sounded exhausted. "Multiple times, at that."

"And he didn't listen?"

"…It's Xanxus, Yoshi. He only listens to us when he wants to. And he didn't want to, this time. All I could do was intercept Bel and bring you the letter-"

"Because you didn't want me thinking that you'd known and hadn't told me yourself." Yoshi completed, smiling tiredly. He felt his brother's fingers curl in his hair, silently desperate. And apologetic, for all that he wasn't actually apologising out loud.

"The answer's still 'no', nii-san."

Tsuna sagged into him, burying his face in Yoshi's hair. And shook slightly, because this had always been something of a nightmare for him, Yoshi knew. Getting caught between Xanxus and him. He reached up and smoothed a hand down his brother's back, coaxing him into relaxing.

"Stay a few more days," he said.

"I can't. I have to go back- have to tell him-"

"Xanxus-san wouldn't mind, Tsuna-nii." Yoshi cut him off, brushing his hand up so he could curl his fingers around the nape of his brother's neck. Tsuna shuddered slightly, and leant further into him, taking the support for what it was.

"You can't know that." He said dully.

Yoshi shook his head, smiling into Tsuna's neck and soaking in the comfort of his presence the way a man dying of thirst might half-drown himself in a barrel of water.

"I wouldn't mind in his place, Tsuna-nii. He knows that. And he probably knows how hard this is for you, otherwise he would've sent you first, back then."

Tsuna stayed silent, obviously disagreeing. But Yoshi knew that was more stubbornness than anything else.

"Stay," he repeated. "You can shift into Kyoya-san's home if you think staying here isn't right, but stay. And spend your days at home, even if you don't sleep here."

Tsuna nodded into his hair, accepting the offer for what it was. Yoshi breathed in deeply, and got his other arm around his brother to make sure he didn't try to disappear partway through the night without notice. It made Tsuna laugh hoarsely, finally shifting enough so he could clutch at Yoshi just as tight.

"What would I do without you," he mumbled, sounding half pained, but mostly amused.

Yoshi half-shrugged, rolling his eyes as he tried to find some comfortable angle in which to curl into his brother without forcing him to let go.

"I don't know. Something decidedly idiotic and reckless, probably."

"As if you wouldn't do the same. I leave you alone for a few months, and you let a serial killer into our home."

"A serial killer on higher moral ground, nii-san." Yoshi shot back primly, making him laugh, relaxing the whole way through at last.

X

Ultimately, it was sheer coincidence that things worked out as well as they did. The Estraneo managed to track Mukuro back to their home, somehow. Possibly because of those dumb notices that the Vindice had been passing around – Tsuna had gotten Squalo to send them a shot of the one that had been sent to the Varia, once he finished yelling at his fellow guardian on the phone. And for all that it was more a picture of Chrome than a picture of Mukuro, it was a distinctive enough to be able to recognise him. Them.

…the only reason Yoshi was adamant on insisting that things had worked out well was because they'd attacked when Tsuna had been home.

Not that Yoshi couldn't defend himself, or course. Reborn had made sure that it was harder for Yoshi to not defend himself than it was to get his fists up and prepare to fight it out and survive. And Chrome-Mukuro was no slouch in that aspect. Between the two of them, they had enough firepower to defend the house and then some.

But Tsuna being at home? Meant that the Estraneo broke their doors down and came face to face with Tsuna-nii.

"…I'm starting to think it was a blessing in disguise that I chose to come and request you for sanctuary, Boss." Mukuro muttered in an undertone.

It made Yoshi jerk a bit, his gaze directed in the same direction as Mukuro's, but that address still caught him off guard when Mukuro used it. Mukuro claimed that the only time he used the turn of phrase was when he and Chrome were running together too much for him to consider calling Yoshi anything else, but from the secretive little smiles Chrome shot at him, Yoshi suspected the real answer was something quite different.

He winced, folding his arms and watching as Tsuna caught one of the men, in the process of aiming a high kick at Tsuna's jaw, by the ankle and swung him in a wide, vicious arc that slammed him into wall bordering their house.

"Yeah? What'd been plan A, then?" he asked.

"You dare invade my territory, threaten my people for no fault of their own, you bas-" Tsuna was snarling, flames bleeding up his arms in thick clouds, the deceptively fluffy wisps leaking out from between his fingers where he'd grabbed another one of the Estraneo, a woman, by the neck. He lifted her up, eyes glowing a dark purple in his head, and she started to scream, voice changing register midway through before going faint..

Yoshi could see the flesh of her throat swelling up and bulging beneath his brother's fingers.

"…to coerce you into fighting the people after me, either through a show of force or manipulation?" Mukuro's tone was ironic, and politely self-effacing.

Yoshi gave a rude snort, flinching slightly when Tsuna let go and the woman dropped to the ground, blood leaking out through her lips and nose. When he turned to the other three soldiers who'd attacked their house, teeth bared, they dropped their guns and hastily raised their hands in surrender.

"Probably a good idea you didn't try that," Yoshi said, offering Mukuro a tight smile.

The illusionist tilted his head forward in a short nod, the corners of his lips curling wryly.

"-attacking a residential area in fucking Japan, in broad daylight-" Tsuna was saying snidely, arms akimbo.

The Estraneo soldiers looked terrified, but furious at the same time.

"Whoever the fuck that kid is, he's sheltering Rokudou! And Rokudou's our business, whether or not this is your territory, whoever you are-"

"Cloud Fist," choked out the first man. Yoshi was impressed. He didn't think the man would be waking up any time soon, his head had cracked alarmingly hard against the wall earlier after all. There had even been stains of blood left behind.

The Estraneo shut up rather quickly after that, their faces going white.

Tsuna scowled down at them, unimpressed.

"Your Famiglia's been disbanded, and anyway, even the Vindice haven't prosecuted Mukuro past his initial imprisonment. And they haven't sent out bounties or notices for him even after he attacked what pitiful few of your researchers managed to escape from before. He isn't targeting you picciotti either, so simmer down if you don't want to attract the attention of the Vindice out of turn.

"You've got a right to vendetta, I accept that," Tsuna said, voice hard, "but keep my Family out of it."

"Varia," spat the lone woman in the trio, and Tsuna laughed, utterly cold.

"You've clearly been out of the loop too long. Vongola, bitch. Keep away from my Family if you know what's good for you."

"Then it's true? The next in line to administer the Vongola used to be a part of the Varia?" Chrome asked softly. Yoshi shot her a surprised glance, not really expecting her to be interested.

She shrugged at him, looking down so she didn't have to meet his gaze. Mukuro looked back up, though, and suddenly, Yoshi could tell that he was looking at a single person, patiently waiting for a response.

"…Yeah. Xanxus-san's been named the next Don. I guess they haven't declared it outside of the Family yet." Yoshi replied, after a long moment. He turned his attention back to his brother and the Estraneo soon after, though, watching as they collected their people and retreated.

When Tsuna turned back to face them, flames fading out, Mukuro faced him with a serious expression before bowing partially, raising his right hand and touching his fingers to his chest right over his heart.

Tsuna rolled his eyes, waving the gesture aside.

"If they come back here, they won't be picking a fight with either of you, they'll be picking a fight with me. If you would be kind enough to direct them either in my direction, or Kyoya's…"

"Sawada-san, after that display, I sincerely doubt they'll be coming back any time soon." Mukuro said plainly.

Tsuna gave a surprised laugh at that, lips slowly spreading in a pleased smile.

"Y'know, you aren't half bad. Come on, let's get back inside."

Yoshi made a face, trying not to grumble under his breath as he followed them in. He was happy that Tsuna didn't quite hate Mukuro's guts anymore, but why the heck were they bonding over the worst things?! He wanted to say Chrome was better, but he had the sinking feeling that she enjoyed keeping him on his toes about as much as Mukuro did.

"Yoshi!" Tsuna called out from further inside.

Yoshi shook his head, shutting the door behind himself before calling back.

"Coming!"

X

Another month gone by. Chrome-Mukuro had finally moved out, once everyone was certain that the remnants of the Estraneo wouldn't be trying for any sneak attacks again. Yoshi had been enjoying the fact that Namimori had gotten peaceful again, especially since his mother was out and none of his friends were running amok in his house, so of course this was going to happen when he least expected it.

Xanxus just looked amused, damn him.

"May I come in?" he asked blandly.

Yoshi winced, and quickly tugged the door the rest of the way open, hastily getting out of the way.

"Please. Come in," he said uncomfortably.

"You look like I just shot your puppy, kid," Xanxus said, snide, and Yoshi was surprised into a laugh.

"Well, did you?" he shot back, reaching out to take the coat that the Varia Boss shrugged off his shoulders.

Xanxus eyed him strangely, before the corner of his lips kicked up in a hard smile.

"No, but I could oblige you if you had any puppies running about underfoot," he offered easily.

Yoshi would have taken that at face value as a weird joke, but his intuition pinged off the words a split second after Xanxus said them, and Yoshi promptly choked.

"-no, I think we're okay, Xanxus-san. Tsuna-nii got rid of most of the Estraneo when he was here last month, and Kyoya-san took care of any stragglers left behind."

"The same Kyoya your brother keeps waxing poetic about? Fuck, I should really meet that kid sometime," he muttered.

Yoshi laughed nervously, automatically directing him to the kitchen, since that seemed to be where all discussions of this kind seemed to take place. Xanxus seemed willing to take it in stride without getting offended, at least. He also acquiesced to Yoshi's offer of coffee, giving a little smirk when Yoshi mentioned that the blend was Reborn's.

"At least I can trust it'll taste good, then. The last time I was out of the country, some fool tried to ply me with American(1) coffee, can you believe that shit?"

Yoshi gave him a pained smile, and wretchedly wondered how he always managed to find himself in these situations.

"…you going to say 'no' again?" Xanxus murmured, later. After he'd sipped at the mug that Yoshi had prepared for him, declaring it 'passable'. Which Yoshi took for the compliment it was, since Reborn tended to say the same all the time.

Yoshi gave a short laugh, not quite able to believe that he was doing this. But he'd promised himself nearly three months ago and counting now, unconscious decision though it might be, that he would at least listen to Xanxus' reasons if the older man ever chose to come and confront Yoshi face to face. He leant forward in his chair, and met Xanxus' intent red gaze unflinchingly.

"Convince me, Xanxus-san. And we'll see."

X

"I don't want my External Advisor to be a part of the Cosa Nostra," was Xanxus' first attempt at giving his reasons. And it made enough of an impact that Yoshi was left reeling in the aftermath.

"What? Why?" he asked faintly, once he got over the shock.

Xanxus sneered at him.

"I think I know enough of this world without having an advisor who'll just tell me more of the same, brat. I need someone who'll actually have something new to offer."

"…but isn't the Outside Advisor of the Vongola traditionally the Head of the CEDEF? Even if you don't want someone who's a part of the lifestyle, they'd get dragged into it either way."

"That's only if I insist on having you installed as the head of CEDEF. I won't."

Yoshi blinked slowly, taking that in. And barely managed to control the urge to flail when he realised just what Xanxus' words implied.

"My dad isn't going to be happy about that. Hell, your dad isn't going to be happy about it either." he said weakly, because what Xanxus was suggesting was breaking tradition.

The older man twitched, slightly, at the pointedness of what he was saying, but he gave a short, mirthless laugh, tilting his head a bit to the side with a wide grin. It made Yoshi's breath catch in his throat, because not only did the expression emphasize Xanxus' natural aesthetic appeal, it left him looking predatory. There was a terrifying amount of hunger packed into the line of that smile.

"They'll just have to shut the fuck up and accept it then, won't they. I'm the one who's the next Don."

His words were hard. Absolute. Yoshi felt his folded arms tense, his hands clenching into fists around his elbows before he forced them loose, instead setting his hands on his knees.

"Why me?" he asked, honestly curious. And confused. Because Xanxus coming here on his own wasn't so much a demand as it was a statement.

I know you won't consider it unless I come explain things myself, his presence said. Every word that had slipped past his lips since Yoshi had let Xanxus into his home had that sense of calculated intent in them. The little jokes, or what passed for jokes when you were Xanxus-san, the lazy stretch of his lips in a smirk, even the way he was leaning back in his seat screamed complete confidence.

Xanxus eyed him oddly, his eyes still gleaming with that strange look of amusement. It made Yoshi flush, and glance away.

"You, because you're one of the few people I know who aren't a part of this lifestyle and whose opinion I think I can trust." He said evenly.

"Why? Because I'm your Cloud Guardian's brother?" he bit out, not sure if he should feel flattered or insulted by that.

Xanxus gave a rude snort, waving his words away.

"Maybe partially, yes. But not just because you're his brother. It's more because you support him in everything he does without letting him walk over you."

Yoshi blinked owlishly at that. Thankfully, Xanxus chose to elaborate without him asking.

"The brat never really admits it, but he's grateful for your support. He knows that you're willing to accept him as he is, but that doesn't mean you're blinding yourself to the realities of what he does. That's the sense I got when I met you, before. After the officiation."

"…Xanxus-san, you're not making any sense. What exactly would you expect of me, if… if I agreed?" Yoshi asked carefully.

Xanxus stared him down, the amusement in his eyes slowly dying out to leave him looking perfectly serious.

"All I expect of you is to intervene if you think my administration is doing something that will have a negative impact in some way, either on the Family or on the people we watch over. From what Tsuna's said, that's what you do even when you're not officially an advisor in any sense, here."

Yoshi stared back at him, feeling a yawning sensation taking a hold of him. It was like the ground was dropping open underneath his feet, because for all that Xanxus had been sending him messengers with requests to become his Outside Advisor, he hadn't really thought that the man would be willing to respect him to this extent.

Which was stupid, he knew. If Xanxus just wanted a figurehead to manipulate, he wouldn't have been chosen Yoshi to be his advisor.

"Is the answer still 'no'?" Xanxus asked, tone low. And uncharacteristically patient.

It would have been easier to answer him if he'd yelled or threatened Yoshi at gunpoint. Yoshi shivered, and stared down at his hands, now clenched on top of his knees.

"I don't know, Xanxus-san. I was angry when Tsuna-nii brought in your letter, the first time. And I was still angry when it was Lussuria. And Squalo. And Tsuna-nii again. I just…" he found himself laughing quietly, but it wasn't a happy sound.

He didn't look up, either. He didn't think he could meet Xanxus' regard right now.

Yoshi stiffened when he felt a hand drop heavily onto the top of his head, not letting him look up even when he started. He hadn't even heard Xanxus move.

"…the shark was right. You're far too much like your brother for comfort, kid."

Yoshi laughed. Again. Because what the hell was he supposed to say in response to that?

He did feel a little calmer by the time Xanxus backed off, though. The older man was surveying him with an exasperated look on his face, but there was understanding there. Hidden in the creases at the corners of his eyes, in way his lips were completely unsmiling.

"This isn't an order," he said, voice gruff. It made Yoshi snicker, because what was being left unsaid was a lot more poignant than his actual words.

"I know, Xanxus-san. I know."

They didn't get the chance to continue their conversation, because that was when Yoshi's mother got back from the market. She looked delighted to have a guest at home, unexpected though he might have been. Xanxus bore her cheerful remarks with nothing to mark his rising irritation except for the twitch of his brows.

Yoshi didn't have the heart to convince his mother to leave, though. Since most of her glee was centred on getting to meet the man her 'Tsu-kun' worked for. Xanxus had looked nastily amused when he'd heard Mama call Tsuna-nii that.

Xanxus left soon after, though not without being forced to answer a call from Squalo and Lussuria, both of whom were yelling loudly on the other end of the line because apparently Xanxus had chosen to disappear from the Estate without really explaining where he'd gone. Of course.

Yoshi had a feeling Tsuna knew where his Boss had disappeared to, though. He offered Xanxus a smile as he saw him out, the older man still snarling irately into his phone, and was rewarded with the man roughly ruffling his hair again before turning to get into the car waiting for him outside.

After he shut and locked the door, heading back to the kitchen to see if his mother needed any help putting away the groceries, Yoshi found his mother for him, leaning against the counter with a soft smile playing across her lips. He stopped by the entrance immediately, because the last time he'd seen that look on his mother's face, his father had been in town, insisting that he take on headship of the Vongola.

"Kaa-chan?" he asked warily.

"Is everything okay with Tsu-kun?" she returned, make him shuffle in place awkwardly.

"He's fine."

"And Mukuro-chan?" she continued, making him squeak. Because his mother's habit of calling Chrome-Mukuro 'Mukuro-chan' or 'Chrome-chan', depending on what gender and identity they'd chosen to go by on that day, always managed to leave him feeling uncomfortable. The only thing worse than his mother using that specific suffix was the fact that Mukuro never bothered to tell her to stop.

"They're… they're fine too," he said, abashed.

"And with you, Yo-kun?"

He paused, and looked away. Because the kindness in her eyes was too much to bear, sometimes.

"I'm fine, Mama." He mumbled.

She sighed softly, not sounding surprised in the least, but she accepted his words with a nod. Yoshi stepped in when she started tugging vegetables out of one of the grocery bags, relieved when she didn't say anything else.

X

"Well?" Tsuna asked him, later in the night. Yoshi made a face, and burrowed into his sheets, pulling the phone away from his ear to glare at it.

"I think… I might say yes." He replied. Grudgingly.

Tsuna made vaguely amused sound that the line managed to carry over anyway. Yoshi stuck his tongue out in response, even though there was no way his brother would be able to see it.

"…you don't have to, y'know. It's not like Boss wouldn't understand." Tsuna said, after a long moment of silence.

Yoshi sighed, and turned over in bed, looking up at the ceiling blindly.

"I know, Tsuna-nii. That's probably the only reason I'm considering it."

"That, and because Boss decided he needed to come request you himself."

That? That was definite laughter. Yoshi scowled.

"Yeah, well. It was the polite thing to do."

"Boss? Polite?"

Yoshi had a hard time holding back his reflexive snickers, because Tsuna couldn't have sounded more incredulous if he'd tried.

"He was very polite." He assured, and Tsuna-nii made a wheezing noise, sounding like he was dying. Of either laughter or disbelief.

"Oh. Oh. I've got to tell Squalo about this. And Lussuria-nee."

Yoshi laughed, because his brother sounded downright gleeful.

They didn't speak for too much longer, because Yoshi needed to get to sleep. He ran the risk of being met by Kyoya-san's tonfa by the school gates the next morning, otherwise. He curled up into his pillow, somehow feeling a lot lighter than he had before Xanxus-san had come by.

X

They run me ragged, your shitty brats. Xanxus had said, sounding as put upon as he possibly could. Mama had simply laughed, and offered to fix him another drink, which he'd accepted with an irritated sigh.

Well, boys will be boys; I hope they're actually helping you at the same time, Xanxus-san, his mother had replied, and it was the answering smile on Xanxus' face, slow and more than a little bemused, that had made Yoshi stiffen where he was quietly eavesdropping on them, having excused himself to hide in the bathroom and hyperventilate for a few seconds, when Xanxus and his mother were distracted.

They are. I couldn't have asked for more honest support. He'd said, candid. Certain that Yoshi's mother wouldn't repeat it to anyone else, because air-headed though his mother acted, Yoshi had realised years ago that she wasn't anywhere near as naïve as she seemed. It wasn't surprising that Tsuna's Boss had noticed the same within minutes of meeting her.

Honest? She'd asked, curious. Xanxus had rolled his eyes, accepted the mug that she handed him with a languid nod of thanks.

Honest support is better than loyalty any day. It means they follow me because they think my actions are worthy of being followed. And even if Yoshi doesn't work for me, I doubt he's any more capable of blind loyalty than his brother is.

I need that honesty, was what he didn't say. Yoshi could see it, in the set of his broad shoulders, and in the unbending line of his back. He didn't want loyalty as much as he wanted followers who believed in what he did, because loyalty was inevitable when people had a reason to follow you. It was easier to trust an honest man than a blindly loyal one, bound by tradition.

He turned away from the kitchen, crouching down and pressing the balls of his hands into his eyes, hard.

Oh, he thought.

He didn't go back in until he heard Xanxus excusing himself to answer a call.

X

"It's a 'yes'."

Xanxus' answering laughter was long, loud and vindicated over the phone. Yoshi smiled at the sound, wondering what was amusing Xanxus more. That Yoshi had finally agreed, after being all but courted for close to half a year, or the thought of what his dad's reaction would be when Xanxus finally got around to telling him that Yoshi was to be the Decimo's consigliere.

"I'm sending your brother back for you," Xanxus said, and Yoshi could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Okay," Yoshi replied.

Yoshi knew that things wouldn't be officiated until after he graduated from high school, but this was as much as confirmation as people in the know would require. He'd somehow found himself in the position of advising a Mafia Don, after he'd turned down the post of Don himself. It was either irony or some kind of reverse serendipity at work.

And if Xanxus didn't keep to his promises of allowing Yoshi stay separate, well. They would see, wouldn't they.

1: Guys, no offence to drinkers of regular or 'American' coffee. I certainly drink enough of it myself. This is purely a side-effect of the research I've put into Italy and coffee. Any Italian readers out there, or readers of Italian descent? Do you have family and/or friends who cringe at the thought of drinking 'American' coffee?

AN2: Well, this scene really got out of hand, didn't it. Haha.

At least it answers the question of how the heck Yoshi went from wanting nothing to do with the Vongola, his brother aside, to choosing to become Xanxus' consigliere in the closing scenes of Does Your Amber Heart Bleed Purple Gold.

I've tagged Chrome-Mukuro as both Genderfluid and Trans, in the tags on AO3 for this piece. Which would be the only reason I noted it earlier in the chapter as a warning. Though neither term is completely appropriate for their situation. They're two people living in one body, and sometimes, they're a single person. I might write another piece with further details on just what's going on on that front, at some point. Not immediately, though.

Hope you enjoyed this, and consider leaving a review on your way out. I'd love to hear what you think! Even a word or so will do, as always.