Hello, everyone! Long time no see, hope you guys are safe and healthy! I am sorry I haven't updated in such a long time, here is the chapter 36. As always, hope you guys enjoy it, thank you!

Title : Famiglia

Genre : Family, Friendship, Adventure

Rate : T

Chapter 36 - Christmas Holiday (1)

-Last day of the school year-

"Mukuro!", Tsuna waved his hand widely when he saw the boy came out from the school. "Mukuro!", he ran to him, his hand holding the list of the test scores belonged to him. "Mukuro!", he shouted again.

"Kufufu, I heard you from the first call, Tsunayoshi. What got you so excited?", Mukuro chuckled at the silly boy's antic.

"Look!", Tsuna showed him his scores.

Mukuro scanned the paper, well, the brunette passed the whole exams, good. English 77, Civic 80, Math… 100?

"Wow. Perfect score for Math, huh? Kufufufu…"

"Yeah! Amazing, right? See, I promised you I will do my best! I did it!", Tsuna grinned then hugged Mukuro, "Thank you, Mukuro!"

Their surrounding suddenly became too quiet, most of the students were staring in shock when they saw what Tsuna did and they were more shocked when Mukuro had chuckled and patted Tsuna's soft brown lock lightly.

'Is that really the Rokudo Mukuro from our school?!'

Takeshi noticed the stares from around them and chuckled, clearly knowing what was on their mind.

"Well, you have done a good job, Tsunayoshi. You deserve a reward, huh?", Mukuro said.

"I want ice-cream!", Tsuna shouted eagerly.

Chrome pulled on her brother's sleeves, "Nii-sama… I want one too.", she mumbled shyly.

"Mukuro! I want one too!", Takeshi returned his attention back and raised his hand, followed by Lambo. "Lambo-san too!"

"Extreme! Me too, Mukuro!", Ryohei pumped his fist into the air.

Mukuro sighed, seemed like treating someone in Vongola meant treating the whole pack but that was Vongola, that was them. He chuckled, "Fine, lead the way then."

"YEAY!", the boys all cheered and turned to lead the way while Chrome giggled, pulling on Mukuro's hand to follow.

Mukuro sighed in content, living in Vongola had softened him so much. His life seemed to be so peaceful after he and Chrome joined the Vongola. Honestly, he was quite scared to receive so much happiness because he was afraid that someday it might slip from his hands and then he would be pushed into the hell again.

"Mukuro, what flavor do you want?", Tsuna asked once they arrived at the ice cream shop, everyone's eyes were also on him. "Oh! I know! Chocolate with chocolate chip, right?", Tsuna grinned cheekily.

Mukuro blinked and before he gave his reply, Takeshi pointed on the menu, "Hey, they have double chocolate with chocolate chip!"

"Oh! Then let's order that for Mukuro.", Tsuna turned to the boy in question. "Is that okay for you, Mukuro?"

Mukuro chuckled, so they knew him well huh, "Of course, as long as it's chocolate."

They all grinned. "Alright, then one double chocolate with chocolate chip please!", Takeshi said while Tsuna nodded beside him.

After everyone got their ice cream, they walked back to their school, an extra ice cream cup for Kyoya who was still at school.

"Aww, it is such a pity that Hayato is not here, ne. He missed on lots of fun things.", Takeshi chuckled while imagining Hayato's reaction when he learnt of what has happened while he was staying at his father's home.

Takeshi's words brought lots of chuckle from most of them, a smirk and a soft smile from Mukuro and Chrome.

All of a sudden, Tsuna felt a sudden prick on his neck and looked to his left, stopping at his track.

"Tsuna?", Takeshi looked back at the brunette in confusion, followed by the others.

They all looked to the empty intersection where the brunette was looking so intently.

"Tsuna, what are you looking-…?", before Ryohei could even finish his question, a very large apple, or is it a balloon?, appeared, rolling on the empty street. "Uh? What's that?"

"Tsuna-kun!", Chrome shouted in worry when Tsuna suddenly ran to the suspicious apple-like ball.

"Are you alright?", Tsuna asked when he got near the ball that was actually a kid wearing a large apple-shaped hat.

Tsuna felt another prick and looked up, "HIEE!", Tsuna screamed when he saw few knives flying to his head and could only turn his body around, crouching, hoping that the knives would miraculously miss him and the kid.

CLING CLING CLING CLING

"Tsuna, you alright there?"

Tsuna opened his eyes and saw Takeshi hovering over him, his brown eyes looking at him in concern.

Tsuna nodded and looked behind Takeshi to see Mukuro at the front with his trident in his hand, the knives lying harmlessly on the ground around them.

"Tsuna! That's dangerous! Don't run out like that!", Ryohei frowned when he got to Tsuna's side, Chrome nodding beside him, Lambo was also looking at him worriedly.

"I'm sorry.", Tsuna apologized and looked at the shivering kid. "Urr, are you alright?"

The kid looked up and his clear green eyes blinked innocently, "Ah, the fairies have come to save me.", he mumbled, his expression and tone flat.

"Fairies…?", Tsuna tilted his head.

"Kufufu, for your own safety, you better not take another step forward anymore.", Mukuro said with a cold smile.

"Ushishishi, who are you to threaten me, the prince, huh?"

Tsuna blinked, 'That voice sounds quite familiar', he stood up straight and tried to look past Takeshi's towering figure. "Ah, it's you!"

"You know him, Tsuna?", Takeshi asked in surprise, still keeping Tsuna behind him. The blonde-haired boy who was standing few steps away from them seemed dangerous.

"Oh, err…", Tsuna chuckled nervously, he did not know how to answer to that question.

Belphegor's gaze stopped on Tsuna, a smirk blooming on his face "Ushishishi, I see the bunny has not learnt his lesson from last time, hmm.", he raised his knives threateningly.

Belphegor's words and stances made the Vongola kids around Tsuna stiffened, all of them unknowingly formed a circle around Tsuna to protect him against the possible threat.

Belphegor's smirk widened at this, thinking he had got a better entertainment other than the previous frog and was about to launch into action when Lussuria disturbed him.

"Belphegor!", Lussuria stopped beside Belphegor, a frown marring his face, "What are you doing here?", Lussuria scolded him in a whisper, "Don't you recognize where this is? Boss will not be happy to know you are causing problem around here, what if they found us?"

"Ushishishi, the prince is bored and I was having fun with the frog when the bunny got in my way.", Belphegor's hands were itching to throw his knives but he knew what Lussuria meant, of course he had realized that he was currently near the Namimori school, the school that he owned.

"Frog, bunny?", Lussuria's furrowed his eyebrows and looked to where a group of kids were standing, looking ready to fight them if they attacked.

Tsuna peeked from behind Takeshi and greeted him nervously, "Hello."

"Oh, it's you again.", Lussuria sighed. He clearly recognized the brunette and now that he was looking carefully, he noticed one of those kids, the white-haired one looked a lot like Knuckle, the Vongola's Sun Guardian, that had helped them the other day.

Connecting the clues, Lussuria knew they were the rumored Vongola's kids. Getting into trouble with them now would not be good.

"Let's just go back, they are not worth our time.", Lussuria said, pushing Belphegor back.

Both sides did not lower their stances for a moment, keeping their eyes on each other seriously. Tsuna was looking at both sides in worry, he could sense the tenseness in the air.

"Ushishishi, consider yourself lucky then.", Belphegor hid his knives back into his sleeves. "Next time, the prince won't be this merciful."

His words made Tsuna sighed in relief but Mukuro and the others were still keeping their guards up. They knew the two boys they were facing were dangerous, it was different from the kind of dangerous from those from their school. If they used Kyoya's choice of words, it was that the two boys gave out the aura of real predator.

"Just forget about today then, everyone~ Good bye~", Lussuria chuckled and gave them a flying kiss, turning around with Belphegor to leave.

"Ah! W-wait!", Tsuna called all of the sudden.

"Tsuna?", Takeshi called the brunette when the said brunette stepping in front of him.

Tsuna turned to give Takeshi a reassuring smile and looked back to the front, meeting Lussuria's sharp gaze.

"What is it, boy?", Lussuria asked with a sweet smile.

"Err, a-are you guys alright now?", Tsuna's question brought confusion to his friends and surprise on the other side.

Lussuria blinked in surprise before he chuckled, this time more genuinely, "Yes, we are, thanks to you, little boy."

Tsuna smiled when he heard it and watched the two boys left quietly.

"Tsuna, who are they?"

"Do you know them?"

"Where do you know them?"

After they left, Tsuna was bombarded with lots of questions.

"I met them when I was staying at the hospital.", Tsuna decided to tell them the half truth.

Takeshi was exchanging looks with the others, all of them were worried of the same thing. 'How come Tsuna come in contact with those dangerous boys?'

"Hey, sorry if we have scared you, do you need some help?", Tsuna asked the kid who was silent through the whole exchange.

The green-haired kid shook his head, "I am doing fine even without the help from the fairies, nee~", he said, his head swaying right and left.

"Ah, t-that's good then.", Tsuna smiled and offered his hand. "I am Tsunayoshi, what's your name?"

The kid stared at Tsuna's offered hand warily, "Tuna fairy? Why do you want to know by the way?"

"Oh, i-if you don't want me to know, it's fine then.", Tsuna chuckled nervously.

"Maa maa, you don't have to be afraid of us. We won't harm you.", Takeshi slung his arm on Tsuna's shoulder and smiled to the kid.

"Hmm… The pineapple fairy looks kind of scary though.", the kid pointed out, his gaze on Mukuro.

"What did you just call me?", Mukuro asked with a eerie smile.

The kid immediately hid behind Ryohei, staying as far as he could from Mukuro. "See~ The pineapple fairy is scary nee~"

Ryohei laughed out loud and patted the apple-shaped hat on the boy's head continuously, "That's because he doesn't like people calling him pineapple! Mukuro is nice to the extreme!"

"Aww, aww, it's hurt. You are making me dizzy~", even while saying so, the kid's expression did not show any discomfort at all.

After finishing his words, he hopped away easily from Ryohei's grip and stood on one foot, his body swaying to the sides, "It's already late, I can't accompany the fairies anymore~ Good bye, fairies~~", then just like that, the boy hopped away from them.

"Ahahaha, he is an interesting kid.", Takeshi laughed in amusement.

'It's faint, but I could sense Mist flames from him.', Mukuro thought to himself.

"By the way, Tsuna.", Takeshi looked at the brunette in curiosity. "How do you know he is going to show up here just now?"

"Uh?", Tsuna blinked. "I don't know?", he answered hesitantly.

"Huh?"

"Urr, I just suddenly have this feeling?", Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, he did not know exactly how to explain it.

'Again?', Takeshi blinked.

Actually this was not the first time something similar had happened. He noticed it had started from after Tsuna woke up from his abnormal fever a week ago.

There was one time when the maids were putting their breakfast on the table and Tsuna suddenly got up from his seat to catch a falling plate in time, he had thought it was a coincidence.

But then, there was one time when Tsuna, Takeshi and Lambo were playing a game in the playroom. Then in the middle of playing, Tsuna suddenly went rigid for a second and pulled Lambo who was near the door at that time, saving Lambo from being hit by the door which Ryohei opened with so much strength.

When Takeshi asked, Tsuna would always answer in hesitation, "Urr, it's a feeling?"

He did not think much about it at first because the supposed 'feeling' was helpful but after what happened today, Takeshi was starting to worry.

"Hey, Tsuna.", Takeshi called when they had got back to the school ground, he and Tsuna were behind the group, following Ryohei's lead to find Kyoya in the disciplinary room.

"Yeah? What's wrong, Takeshi? You seemed worried.", Tsuna looked up at Takeshi, concern in his brown eyes. He had noticed that even though Takeshi was still smiling and laughing beside him like usual until now but he looked like he had something in his mind.

'So Tsuna noticed, huh?', Takeshi blinked and chuckled for a bit. "Err, actually…", Takeshi bit his lip, he did not know how he should tell Tsuna without him misinterpreting it.

It was great that Tsuna had this intuition?, but he was hoping that Tsuna could be more careful when attending to it, he did not want Tsuna to endanger himself. But if he said so, it would be like telling Tsuna to doubt his intuition, wasn't it? What if one day it ended up bad for Tsuna because he had doubted his intuition?

"Takeshi?", Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, seeing Takeshi ruffled his hair in frustration.

Takeshi sighed, "It's nothing, Tsuna. I guess I was still worried about those two boys just now."

"Ah.", Tsuna chuckled. "Don't worry, Takeshi. I was scared of them too at first because they look scary."

"But I think they are actually not that bad?", Tsuna tilted his head up and offered a nervous smile to Takeshi.

Takeshi stared at Tsuna for a moment, Tsuna might not realize it himself, even though he sounded uncertain but his eyes were not. The way those warm brown eyes were looking at him unwavering, silently asking for his trust gave Takeshi a feeling of peace in his mind.

Takeshi chuckled and ruffled Tsuna's brown lock, "Okay, I will trust your judgement then, Tsuna."

Tsuna blushed, "Ah, saying it like that is a bit…"

"Aww, you are blushing, Tsuna? Ahahaha, how long has it been since I last saw you this shy, huh, Tsuna.", Takeshi grinned cheekily, making Tsuna reddened more.

"Takeshi!", Tsuna pouted, a tint of blush still on his face.

"Oh, there's Kyoya!", Ryohei shouted from the front, looking out from the window at the hallway. He was about to call the boy but stopped himself and frowned when he saw the boy had himself surrounded by so many students.

The others also looked out and saw the same scene. Thinking that Kyoya was in trouble, they all started running down to where he was but by the time they got there, only Kyoya was left standing there, tonfas on his arms. The students were all sprawled on the ground, grunting in pain.

"Kyoya! Are you alright to the extreme?", Ryohei ran to the boy, checking whether he has any injuries.

"Hn. Weak herbivores, wasting my time.", Kyoya put away his tonfas.

"Another challenger, huh?", Takeshi asked, taking a look at the boys sprawling around.

"Hn. Not challenging at all.", Kyoya huffed and left the place, going back to his office, the others followed him naturally.

"Then how about we spar to the extreme when we get home, Kyoya?", Ryohei offered in excitement, after giving Kyoya his ice-cream on the way.

Kyoya smirked, "I am going to bite you to death."

"Extreme spar! Who else in?", Ryohei asked, raising his fists.

"Me, me!", Lambo raised his hand high, did not want to be left out from the fun.

"Kufufufu, last spar before the holiday, huh? Interesting.", Mukuro smirked.

"Ahahaha, sounds fun, I am in.", Takeshi turned to Tsuna. "Do you want to join us, Tsuna? Without Hayato here, there are only the five of us, we still lack one person."

They kind of expect Tsuna to refuse like he usually did, but his respond surprised them this time.

"But I won't be good enough to be a sparring partner for any of you.", Tsuna looked down and furrowed his eyebrows. "It would not be challenging at all for you guys.", he continued, remembering Kyoya and those supposed challengers' fights just now.

Tsuna blinked when he heard nothing in reply and looked up to see all of them, even Chrome, were staring at him in surprise.

"Uh? Urr, what's wrong guys?", Tsuna asked nervously.

They all blinked and came out of their stupor.

"Ahahaha, Tsuna, do you really want to spar with us?"

"Uh? Aren't you the one who asked me, Takeshi?", Tsuna tilted his head in confusion and then murmured, "And urr, if you guys are fine with someone like me joining…"

"Kufufufu, what are you saying, Tsunayoshi?", Mukuro smirked.

"Hn. Finally I get a chance to bite you to death, huh.", Kyoya smirked too.

"GYAHAHAHA, Lambo-san will win against Tsuna for sure!", Lambo jumped on his spot, grinning.

"Extreme, Tsuna!", Ryohei pumped his fist.

Seeing their reactions, Tsuna could not help but fidgeted nervously, 'They look so excited but they would absolutely feel disappointed later.'

As if knowing what Tsuna was thinking, Takeshi slung his arm on the brunette's shoulder and grinned, "Maa maa, Tsuna, we are only sparring, it's like doing an exercise. Don't think too much and just enjoy it, okay, Tsuna?"

"Takeshi…", Tsuna murmured and then nodded firmly. He had decided he was going to be stronger so he could not hesitate anymore.

-At the Vongola's house-

As usual, they decided on their sparring partner by paper-rock-scissors and it was decided that Tsuna was sparring against Ryohei, Mukuro against Kyoya, Yamamoto against Lambo. They would all spar separately but at the same time on the yard.

"Tsuna.", Chrome called when Tsuna was getting ready, putting on his boxing gear as Ryohei had requested. "Be careful, okay?"

Tsuna nodded, gave Chrome a nervous smile and followed after Ryohei.

"Are you ready to the extreme, Tsuna?", Ryohei asked, standing a few feet away from his opponent.

"Don't worry, Tsuna! This is very easy to the extreme, you just have to dodge my punch and throw your own punch!", Ryohei said while throwing a few of his punches as an example.

"O-Okay then…", Tsuna smiled a bit, trying to calm his heartbeat.

Ryohei grinned, "Then here I come, Tsuna!"

In a heartbeat, Ryohei was in front of Tsuna, "Extreme punch!"

"HIIII!", Tsuna could not help but shriek, moving his head away to dodge Ryohei's punch. 'HIIEE, I was certain I heard the sound of the air being sliced open by Ryohei's punch, it's so scary!', Tsuna shrieked in his mind, dodging another punch clumsily.

"Oww!", Tsuna tripped by his own feet but he did not have the chance to take a breath at all, "HIEE!", Tsuna shrieked again while rolling away to avoid Ryohei's kick.

"R-Ryohei!", Tsuna clumsily get up and trying to ask for a break but Ryohei's fist was already coming.

"HIII!", Tsuna once again dodged the punch clumsily, "R-Ryohei!"

"What's wrong, Tsuna! You can't keep dodging, you have to fight back to the extreme!", Ryohei shouted, throwing another punch.

"HII!", Tsuna dodged Ryohei's right punch but could not get in time to dodge the left one, so Tsuna used his hands to block it. But then Tsuna had clearly forgotten to take Ryohei's strength into account and ended up being pushed five steps back from the force.

'Ouch, that hurts!', Tsuna only had the chance to take a glimpse at his reddened arms before Ryohei came again with another inhuman punch of his.

And so they continued on their spar with Ryohei going full offense and Tsuna dodging and blocking it.

Takeshi, Lambo, Mukuro, Kyoya stopped their spar midway because they could not hold in their curiosity and ended up watching from the side with Chrome.

In the end, Tsuna's feet finally gave out and he fell to the ground, no energy left to get up anymore, "I-I-I give up~!", Tsuna moaned.

"You okay there, Tsuna?", Ryohei asked, offering a hand to him.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine.", Tsuna accepted the hand and let Ryohei pulled him up, wincing in pain as his body hurt a LOT, especially his arms which were numb from having to bear the force of Ryohei's punches quite a few times.

Ryohei half dragged Tsuna's limp body to the side where the others were watching.

"You okay there, Tsuna?", Takeshi asked when they got near enough. Tsuna could see worry and ,strangely, awe in those brown eyes.

"Here, I will help you stretch to the extreme! Or else it's going to hurt more after this.", Ryohei let Tsuna down onto the ground and started helping him stretch.

"Ouch ouch ouch.", Tsuna winced when Ryohei did not hold back on his stretching, saying that it was for his own good.

After that, the others continued their spar while Tsuna and Chrome were watching from the side, soon after, Lambo joined them too.

"They are really amazing ne.", Tsuna knew they were strong but he had never really put attention on how strong they were until today, moreover experiencing it himself.

Tsuna stared at his hands, remembering the spar he had had with Ryohei just a moment ago. He knew he was so lame and weak, all he did was run away from Ryohei but other than the pain and fear, somehow in the middle of the spar, Tsuna had started to feel… excitement.

The feeling of adrenaline pumping in his vein felt foreign to him but he kind of like the feeling. Tsuna looked up at the four who were still sparring against each other, 'Do they also feel what I felt just now?'

"But Tsuna, you are quite amazing too.", Chrome suddenly said in a soft voice.

"Huh? Me?", Tsuna turned to look at Chrome in surprise.

"Lambo-san thought so too, ne~", Lambo smiled at Tsuna.

"Uh? B-But why…? All I did was running away from Ryohei just now, i-it's so lame.", Tsuna looked down and frowned.

"Nuh uh, you are not lame at all, Tsuna.", Lambo laid his head on Tsuna's lap, looking up at him with a grin. "Ryohei is different from Kyoya or Takeshi or Mukuro, you know?"

"Out from the four of them and also Hayato, Lambo-san honestly think that Ryohei is the scariest one ne…", Lambo hummed.

"Uh? Why…?", Tsuna asked in confusion, he honestly thought Ryohei was much better than Kyoya or Mukuro.

"Because no matter who he goes up against, he will always go all out without holding back at all.", Lambo answered easily.

"Oh." 'Now that I think about it…', Tsuna pondered.

"And you managed to come out safely, Tsuna! Now that I think about it… Ryohei did not land any clean hit on you just now too! That's amazing, Tsuna!", Lambo smiled up at him in admiration.

Tsuna blushed from Lambo's honest praise and out from the corner of his eyes, he could also see Chrome nodding in agreement, a smile on her face too.

"I-I'm not that good.", Tsuna murmured, trying to hide his reddened face.

"You are, Tsuna!", Lambo said loudly, Chrome nodded sternly.

"Though it's too early for you to beat Lambo-san!", Lambo huffed proudly. "You have to try harder if you want to win against me, Tsuna!"

Tsuna chuckled and nodded.

"Oh! How about you train with me, Tsuna?", Lambo jumped up and tried to pull Tsuna up. "Come on, Tsuna, quick ,quick! Watching is boring! Come on! You too, Chrome!"

Chrome nodded and followed after Lambo who was pulling Tsuna to one side of the yard. Then the two of them listened to Lambo's lecture on how to throw a good punch, as what Ryohei had taught him, Lambo had stated.

Giotto was watching them from the window on the second floor, smiling to himself contently. He had completely missed Tsuna and Ryohei's spar and just came around when Lambo was lying on Tsuna's lap.

"Nufufufu, what make you so happy, Primo?"

Giotto glanced to his right and saw Daemon there, "Come and see by yourself, Daemon."

Daemon approached the blonde and looked out, "Oh? The kids, huh?", he chuckled. "Oh, Tsunayoshi and Chrome are participating.", his gaze stopped at Chrome's smiling face. "Time sure flies fast, right, Primo?"

Giotto stared at his Mist Guardian and smiled solemnly, "When are you going to tell them the truth, Daemon?"

Daemon chuckled humorlessly, "I don't have the courage to, Primo. I was not there to protect them and…", Daemon's breath hitched as he remembered the only woman he ever loved in his whole life. 'Elena…'

"Daemon…", Giotto grabbed his Mist's shoulder as a gesture of comfort, "I honestly think they should know. You can't continue letting yourself suffer too, Elena would not want this."

Daemon shook his head and smiled sadly, "No, I deserve this."

"Daemon…"

"It's enough, Primo.", Daemon turned his gaze away from the window to face Giotto. "I'm actually here to let you know I am leaving."

"Right now?", Giotto asked in surprise.

Daemon nodded, his eyes stern as he said, "Something has come up."
Giotto frowned, "Be careful then, Daemon. I kind of have a bad feeling about this."

Daemon smirked, "Nufufufu, don't worry, Primo. I will come back for New Year's celebration."

Giotto smiled, "I will be waiting then, my Mist."

And so the holiday started...

"Look, Tsuna! There's where I used to play at with the other kids.", Takeshi pointed to the park filled with lots of children running.

"And there's where I used to buy sweets when I got back home from school.", Takeshi pointed to the small traditional shop at the front."Let's take a look there!", Takeshi pulled Tsuna along with him.

Asari and Giotto chuckled, following after their children.

"Takeshi looks so excited.", Giotto commented.

Asari smiled, "I'm glad we have come back here this year.", the sight of Takeshi's genuine smile brought joy to him.

"Tsuna, what do you want? I used to buy this one and this one, oh, they have something new. Should we try it, Tsuna?"

Tsuna chuckled, "Up to you, Takeshi."

"Then let's just buy it all then.", Takeshi looked up to the old man watching them, "Hello, Oji-san! Long time no see! I want to buy this, this and this."

"Ohoho, wait a moment.", the old man wrapped all the things that Takeshi wanted and gave it to him.

"By the way, are you from around here? You look quite familiar.", the old man pondered, accepting the money from Asari.

"Ahahaha, it's me, Yamamoto Takeshi! I used to come here with Oyaji!", Yamamoto grinned.

"Yamamoto? Oh! You are Tsuyoshi's little boy!"

"Yep! That's me~"

"Oh, it has been so many years since I last saw you. Where do you go?"

Giotto and Asari looked at each other while Takeshi answered the question easily, "I am staying with my father now.", he grabbed Asari's hand and smiled up to him.

Asari felt warm in his heart, he was happy that Takeshi did not hide the fact about him.

"Your… father?", the old man blinked and looked at Takeshi and Asari. 'They do look alike.'

"Ahaha, sorry, we have to go now so see you, Ojii-san!", without waiting for any response, Takeshi went out from the shop, pulling Tsuna's and Asari's along with him.

Giotto gave the owner a polite nod before he went after them.

"Takeshi?", Tsuna called, the two of them were walking side by side with Takeshi still grabbing his wrist. Their fathers were following behind.

"Yes, Tsuna?", Takeshi turned to look at Tsuna with a grin.

"Urr… Just now…", Tsuna bit his lip in hesitation. He was certain he heard the man said that Takeshi was Tsuyoshi's son? Or did he hear it wrong?

Takeshi seemed to know what Tsuna was thinking and he ruffled Tsuna's brown lock lightly, "Maa maa, don't worry, Tsuna! I will tell you once we arrive home.", Takeshi took a glance at Asari and smiled shyly.

Asari returned the smile and nodded, he did not mind Takeshi saying the word 'home' at all. For him, Tsuyoshi was Takeshi's dad forever and he was grateful for everything he had done for Takeshi and his beloved.

After walking for another five minutes, they finally arrived at their destination.

TAKESUSHI

Takeshi breathed deeply, 'It's still as I remembered it to be.', he thought with a smile and then he slide the wooden door opened and stepped inside.

His brown eyes immediately took in the image of the small restaurant and the customers in it.

"Welcome!", someone shouted from the counter.

Takeshi's eyes immediately went toward the familiar voice and he choked back a sob. His dad did not change much but he looked so much… older.

Tsuyoshi heard the sound of the door being opened and shouted out, "Welcome!"

When his eyes landed on the teary boy, his breath hitched. He was much taller compared to the last time he had seen him but other than that, he did not change at all.

"T-Takeshi…?", Tsuyoshi whispered.

Takeshi gave out a teary smile before he ran toward the man and hugged him tightly, "Oyaji!"

Tsuyoshi was surprised but he quickly overcome it and hugged his precious son as tight as he could, "Takeshi… My son, my little son, you are back.", he whispered softly.

Takeshi kept nodding while murmuring, "Yeah, I'm back, Oyaji. I'm back."

Giotto and Asari watched the reunion with a soft smile while Tsuna blinked in confusion. Some of the regular costumers could also recognize Takeshi and soon the restaurant was filled with lots of cheers and welcomes.

Takeshi pulled away from his Dad and rubbed his neck in embarrassment while Tsuyoshi looked up to greet Asari and Giotto.

"It has been a long time, Tsuyoshi-san.", Asari greeted him with a warm smile, both of them shared a short hug.

"It sure does, I'm glad to see you, Asari-san.", Tsuyoshi smiled and after that he nodded at Giotto, "Glad to see you too, Giotto-san." Then he looked down onto the little brunette who was staring at him curiously. "And this is…?"

Giotto smiled and put his hand on his son's lock, "This is-"

"Wait! Let me introduce him~!", Takeshi shouted and went to Tsuna's side, pulling him in front of Tsuyoshi, "Oyaji, this is Tsuna, Uncle Giotto's son. He is one of my best friends~!", Takeshi grinned widely.

Tsuna blushed a bit and smiled at Tsuyoshi shyly, "H-Hello.", he bowed his head.

"Aww… I don't know Giotto has such an adorable son! Hahaha.", Tsuyoshi patted Tsuna's head gently.

"Ahaha, right?", Takeshi grinned and turned to Tsuna, "Tsuna, this is my Dad."

Tsuna blinked while Takeshi rubbed his neck and Tsuyoshi seemed to understand the situation and said, "Maa, don't just stand here! Let's go inside! It's been a long time since you all had a taste of my sushi, right?"

Takeshi's eyes twinkled, "Wah~ I have missed your sushi!"

Tsuyoshi grinned and ushered them inside to the back of the shop where the dinning room for family was.

While Tsuyoshi was preparing the sushi for them, Takeshi brought Tsuna to see his bedroom upstairs, the two fathers stayed downstairs.

"Wah~ It's still the same as I last remembered it.", Takeshi looked at his bedroom, feeling nostalgic. All of his things were still there, even his old baseball glove and bat were also there at the corner of his room.

Takeshi went there and picked up the gloves, 'It's too small for me to use now.', he smiled.

Takeshi looked around again and saw Tsuna staring at the pictures pinned on the wall above his desk.

Takeshi approached Tsuna and looked at the pictures one by one, "Aww, it has been so many years. I even forgot ever taken some of these.", he chuckled.

Tsuna glanced at Takeshi's nostalgic face quietly for some seconds, "So… You lived here before, Takeshi?"

Takeshi nodded and took one of the photos, "Before I started living in the Vongola, it was just me, Oyaji and… Mom.", he showed Tsuna the pictures where he was sitting on his dad's shoulders, laughing with his dad and mom.

"Is this your mother?", Tsuna stared at the bright woman in the picture in awe. 'Woah, I thought Takeshi took after Uncle Asari but I could see that Takeshi took after his mother's smile. It's so cheerful.'

Seeing Tsuna's reaction, Takeshi felt warm inside and then he started to tell him the story about his parents, the lives he had before knowing about his real father, when he lost his mother (Takeshi cried a bit when retelling the story), the first time he met Asari up until when he decided to go with him to Vongola.

"Why did you not ask Tsuyoshi-san to live together with us, Takeshi?", Tsuna suggested when Takeshi told him that his Dad must be lonely without him here.

Takeshi smiled wryly, "I think it would be safer for him to stay here."

"Oh.", Tsuna immediately understood what Takeshi meant, he was not as clueless as he was like in the past but… to be separated from your own family was so… sad.

"Maa, it's alright, Tsuna.", Takeshi patted Tsuna's brown lock lightly, "I guess I will just spend more time with Oyaji to make it up for him."

Tsuna stared at Takeshi, trying to read past his nonchalant front, sure, there was sadness there but Tsuna could also see determination there. 'At least Takeshi is not forcing himself.' , Tsuna smiled at him.

"Takeshi! Tsuna! The sushi is ready, come down here!", Tsuyoshi shouted from downstairs.

Takeshi laughed, "Come on, Tsuna! You have to try Oyaji's sushi~ It's the best sushi in the world!", he grinned proudly.

Tsuna chuckled, "Let's go then."

- Daemon -

"Where's your pass?", one of the two guards guarding the door stretched his hand out.

I handed him the silver token with flaming bird icon on it and waited for him to see whether it was real or not.

"Okay, you may go in.", he handed the token back to me.

I put it back onto my cloak and stepped into the dark room.

"Welcome.", a brown long haired woman wearing a very provocative dress greeted him from the desk.

"I haven't seen you here before.", the woman's gaze roamed along my figure openly.

"My first time here.", I smiled at her politely and leaned onto the desk, whispering in a small voice "My friend told me that the goods here are… valuable."

The woman chuckled and put her hand on my shoulder, rubbing it slowly, "Oh yes, it is. So far everyone has been very satisfied with what we provided."

"I'm glad to hear it. I can't wait to see it for myself.", I chuckled and leaned back naturally, getting away when her face was too close.

The woman smirked, "Let's go then.", she took her card and led me into the hallway on the left. She scanned her card onto the scanner beside the door and glanced back at me, "I am sorry but please look to the side for a second. You know, for security's purpose.", she smiled at me.

I smiled back and pretended to look away while trying to peek at her but as soon as I moved my gaze, her hand moved so fast and then there was a beep and the door was opened.

'Tsk. I failed to see the passwords.', I thought darkly, following behind her into another dark hallway. 'But it is fine, by the end of today, this place will be standing no more.'

They came onto a seemingly dead end and the woman leaned down and knocked onto the stoned wall.

"Sir, a customer."

Not too long, something clicked and the wall slide open to the right. I followed after the woman with anticipation and the woman seemed to misunderstand the reason of my anticipation.

"To who am I speaking?",the man sitting down in front a desk filled with lots of papers, looked up when we got in.

"Greetings, Mister Xevius .", I nodded at him shortly with a smile, "I am Loki, I come here by the order of the head of Fridishe Famiglia to retrieve the… goods.", I secretly scolded myself for the hesitation I had when I mentioned the 'goods'. The real Loki would not hesitate, any of them who had been in this business for this long would not.

Xevius regarded me closely, "Can you prove to me that he is the one who ordered you?", he asked sharply.

I took out the same token I showed to the guards before and also an envelope and put it on the table, "Boss told me to show you this."

Xevius took the two things and looked at it closely, after looking at the token for a minute, he took out the letter inside the envelope and read it.

He hummed and folded the letter back, "Alright, I get it. Follow me.", he got up and led me out from the room, walking on another dark hallway.

I noticed that the two underlings who had been standing by in Xevius's office were following behind me, guarding me closely.

"How is the condition of the goods?", I tried to ask as nonchalant as I could.

Xevius chuckled at the front, "Well, you come late by a day. The best ones had been purchased by someone, let's hope that those left could satisfy 's needs. Here.", Xevius turned and gestured for me to continue forward.

I stepped past him and bit my lip when the sight of lots of cells greeted me. There were around six cells there, three of it was empty and the other three were filled with three to four children. Some of them were looking at me in fear, some suspicious and some just… empty.

I tried to quell my boiling rage down for now.

"Only these lots? I thought there should be hundreds available to choose.", I forcefully turned my eyes away from them to look at the bastard Xevius.

"Well, I did say you have come late. Yesterday my regular come and purchase fifty of the goods.", he shrugged and approached one of the cells, smirking at the way the children all tried to stay as far as they could from him.

I froze, imagining fifty children in the mercy of these sick bastards.

Calm down, Daemon.

"Fifty? But then the numbers are still less.", no, it was not, at all, I thought in my mind.

By this, Xevius sighed deeply, "Well, business have been kind of hard lately. A lot of competitors have come up and there are also those damn Vongola interfering into our business."

I tried to stop myself from smirking, indeed, we the Vongola had been tracking and arresting those related to these illegal human trafficking for years now.

I wonder what reaction would you make when I release my illusion, it must be very entertaining.

"I see.", I hummed in response and looked around these children. Who knows what torture they have to endure before today.

"We will take them all.", I stated firmly.

"Oh? Without any inspection in prior?", Xevius looked at me in surprise.

I shook my head, "There's no need. Boss told me to get as many as I could."

Xevius blinked and smirked wickedly, "If I may know, why would your boss need so many this time? He only purchases one or two every few months. Oh? Is he intending to share them with his underlings?", he chuckled.

"It's none of your business.", I snapped at him coldly. Of course I know what that sick Anderson used those children he had bought for from the investigation I had done.

Xevius flinched in surprise before covering it by chuckling nervously, "Yes yes, what my customer plan to do with the purchased is not my business, I'm sorry for being curious."

"Doesn't matter, just be quick and get them to my transportation waiting outside.", I looked at him coldly. I could not wait to let go of my illusion already and start to deliver some punishment.

"Alright, alright, then let's go to my office to settle the payment, I will ask my men to deliver them out now.", he ushered me outside but not before giving sign for his underlings.

"Please handle them gently, my boss doesn't like damaged goods.", I stated when I heard the children screaming.

Xevius stopped at his track, "What?", he furrowed his eyebrows and looked at me.

"You just said your boss doesn't like damaged goods, didn't you?", he narrowed his eyes at me. "As far as I know, he never mind whether the goods were damaged or not, he once told me that the signs of scars on their body turned him on."

I blinked and stared back at him, "Oops. Nufufufu, then I guess my cover was blown, huh?", mist started to surround my body and when my illusion completely went off, Xevius immediately backed away in fear.

"Y-You…! You are Daemon Spade, Vongola's Mist Guardian!"

"Nufufufufu, hello there, Xevius. I'm glad to know that we have managed to cause some trouble to your business.", I smirked.

"Tsk!", he took out his gun and fired at me which I easily dodged.

But the sound of gun shout had attracted the attention of his underlings.

"Nufufufu, it's no use. None of you could escape from our grasp no more.", my scept took form in my hand.

The situation quickly got under control after that, they were no match for me and my unit. I had my unit took the children and the unconscious men outside.

"Sir, we have taken the children into safety. Where should we take them?", Paul, one of my trusted men came into Xevius's office where I was scanning through the documents there.

"For the time being, bring them to Knuckle. Tell him the situation and ask him to check for any sign of injuries on the children.", I answered, taking another document to look at.

"Alright, Sir. What about the men we captured?"

"Bring them to Caine, I want information."

"Alright, Sir.", Paul bowed and left to get my orders done.

I sighed, putting the document away. "Where the hell does he put the list of his customers?", I could not care less about my choosing of words now as I was so irritated at the present.

I took a look around the room, "He must have it here somewhere, or maybe he put it in another secret place?", I thought back to the normal wall just now which had turned out to be the door into Xevius's office.

I walked along the wall, tracing for any kind of signs but found nothing. I sighed, I could only wait for after the investigation was done then.

I was about to turned for the door when I noticed the pattern of the floors.

It was checkered pattern with a silver transparent lining of a horse-head on each of the black tile.

I was simply sweeping my gazes on it when I noticed something odd.

I knelt down to the tile at the left corner of the desk, moved the desk just a little bit and saw no pattern on the black tile. If someone was not paying close attention, they would not have noticed it.

But my surprise did not just end there, I heard a click somewhere in the room and when I looked up, a part of the wall behind the desk, around 10cm each side, had pushed out, revealing a safety.

Ah, found it.

I could not help my smirk as I walked there and took out the documents hid in there. I took a quick look and realized this was what I was looking for. Finally…

I was about to close the document and looked into it more at the chamber when my eyes swept across a name.

I felt a stone drop on my stomach as I re-read one of the names on the paper.

"No…", I whispered, wishing I had seen it wrong.

But the words were clearly there for me to see, the name that I was not completely unfamiliar with since Chrome had told me she and Mukuro were going there for this Christmas.

"Estraneo…"

-To be Continued-