The black haired man was glaring daggers at her. Tsuna felt herself petrified in place. There, in front of her, was the one man who she wished she would never have to meet again. And did she hear that right? He was the supposed Timoteo's son? How was that possible?! That's too much of a coincidence!

She risked a glance at her grandfather, who was looking between them with a worried expression. Suddenly, she flinched and almost fell off her chair, the booming voice ringing in her ears.

"Old man!" the voice growled. "What the fuck is that scum doing here?!"

Timoteo frowned and looked at his son disapprovingly.

"Xanxus, that's not a very nice thing to say. You should apologize" he said in a scolding tone.

Xanxus, however, didn't seem to agree with him.

"I don't give a damn! Get her outta here!" he sneered.

Timoteo rose from his seat, an angry frown visible on his face.

"That's enough! I know that your manners leave much to be desired, but that's rich even for you! What's going on here?" His eyes wandered from Xanxus to Tsuna. "Tell me… did you happen to meet before?" he asked, this time gently.

Tsuna twitched nervously in her seat. What should she tell? Would this man be angry if she told them that they indeed met? But, even if, with his behavior like that, that would eventually come out anyway! She finally made up her mind.

"I bumped into him earlier in the city" she mumbled quietly, deciding that taking all the blame on herself would be the best. She didn't want to upset him even more.

Xanxus snorted.

"Pathetic trash couldn't find her way back with a map in her hands."

Tsuna's hands clenched and she looked down at her plate, ashamed. Yes, she knew she was useless (No good Tsuna! No good Tsuna!). He didn't have to remind her of that!

She didn't dare a look at her grandfather. Seeing his disappointed face yet again was the last thing she needed right now. With this in mind, she was a little surprised to hear him speaking in a kind, almost soothing voice.

"She's new to this city, Xanxus. She has every right to get lost, even having a map- it's not always that helpful."

"Yeah, you need to know how to use it first" he remarked in a mocking tone, but at the glare from his father only rolled his eyes and took a seat at the table, almost instantly drowning a glass full of a red liquid (how did it get here?!).

The patriarch clapped his hands and once again put on a happy smile.

"Now that's settled, we can go back to the dinner."

More food were served, but Tsuna lost almost all of her appetite. She was poking a carrot with her fork, silently observing everyone else. The two of her grandfather's friends (she had heard someone calling them guardians. Were they his bodyguards or something? He was rich, after all…) didn't say a word during the whole incident, behaving like nothing happened. The said grandfather was also sitting calmly, not paying attention to them. When she finally found courage to look at Xanxus, her jaw dropped. He looked… just wild! He was eating…. No, devouring was the right word, like an animal. She was staring at him like that for a few moments, until these terrifying red eyes locked with her golden ones, and she had to look away, blushing deeply.

When everyone were finished, Timoteo cleared his throat.

"Xanxus, as you know, I called you today because I have a task for you" he started.

All attention was diverted to them and Xanxus was looking intently at his father, waiting for him to continue. In Tsuna's opinion, he was strangely calm.

"I want you to take care of Tsuna while she's in Turin. I'd like her to have company of someone closer to her age than us old geezers" he chuckled.

…

Silence, then…

"WHAT!" roared Xanxus.

"T-that's not necessary!" squealed Tsuna. "I-I can take care of myself just fine! T-there's no need for y-your son to do that!"

Her grandfather gave her a hard look.

"Like today?"

Tsuna turned her head, not meeting his gaze.

"It won't happen again" she murmured.

"Old man!" growled Xanxus, and Tsuna cringed, because he looked like he would kill everyone in this room at any moment. "There's no fucking way I will waste my time on that trash! I thought you were going to give me some mission or finally talk about my inheritance, not that crap!"

Timoteo didn't seem fazed at all, only looked sternly into his eyes.

"It is an important mission. Your future may depend on that" he stated firmly.

Tsuna could see that Xanxus didn't like it one bit, but well, neither did she. However, after that last sentence, his attitude has changed a little. He was glaring at his father, but not as hard as before. The girl started to wonder what was that with this 'inheritance'. She understood that Xanxus was supposed to take over his father's company (or whatever it was, she didn't really know), but to make her the final trial? That didn't make any sense at all.

"I won't babysit that brat" grumbled the younger man, though his defiance has decreased.

"I'm only asking you to keep her safe and maybe show a little of the city. I'm sure you can manage that. Or… can't you?" Timoteo raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I can!" snapped Xanxus, but quickly realized his mistake, as a wide grin spread across his father's face.

The old man clapped his hands happily.

"Wonderful! I'm trusting that you'll take good care of her. Now, please excuse me, but I have to go. Duty calls" and, like that, with a smile, he left the room, completely ignoring Tsuna's protests and Xanxus' swearing, with Coyote Nougat and Ganauche in tow, the later with an almost apologetic smile.

Atmosphere became tense again. Tsuna was fidgeting in her seat, not knowing what to do. Leave or stay? Should she say something? Assure him that he doesn't have to do what they were told? Yes, that was a good idea.

"A-ano. You don't have to keep me company. I'm fine by myself. So, you're free to go, I'll be on my way to my room, and…"

"Trash" she heard the harsh voice and turned her head in its direction. "If the old man says that I should protect you, then I will do it. You have no say in that matter."

Tsuna furrowed her eyebrows, irritation slowly creeping into her face. Who he thought he was to speak to her like that?! Besides, where that sudden change of demeanor came from? Two minutes ago he was as much against it as she!

"Thank you very much for your concern, but I will be fine" she snapped, rising from her seat and turning to the exit. She half expected him to make some sort of retort, but, to her surprise, she was only greeted with silence. Nervously looking over her shoulder, she made it to the door and quickly bidding 'good bye' disappeared behind them.

She made the right choice, she was telling herself. She doesn't need a companion who doesn't even want to be one.

But, a friend would be nice…

The next day, when she made it to the breakfast, she was relieved to see that Xanxus wasn't there. With new found energy, she started to eat happily, the events of the previous day quickly forgotten. Unfortunately, she was snatched from her thoughts by the voice of her grandfather.

"This time I'll make sure that you see all the places worth visiting."

Tsuna blinked and raised her head, two large brown pools looking confusedly at the patriarch.

"Huh? What?"

Timoteo folded his hands on his lap and spoke with a calm voice.

"I said that today, when you will be out in the city, you shouldn't get lost and see more places than yesterday."

The brunette's eyes widened.

"You're letting me to go out again?" she asked in a disbelieving tone.

Her grandfather smiled gently.

"Of course. After all, it would be a great waste if you spend all your time in Italy staying closed in the house."

Tsuna jumped from her seat and hugged her grandfather, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you! This time I promise I won't get lost! I'll memorize the name of the street and study map first!" she babbled excited.

Timoteo only chuckled and tilted his head.

"I'm sure it will not be necessary. Xanxus knows this city quite well."

Tsuna froze, dread slowly settling in her stomack.

"Xanxus?" she managed, her voice suddenly dry.

Timoteo gave her a surprised look, before answering.

"Why, yes. He will be guiding you through the city today. I told about that yesterday, didn't I?"

"No" was the blunt answer.

The old man scrunched his eyebrows, as if trying to remember something.

"Oh, well" he said. "I must've forgot that. My memory isn't as good as it used to be" he laughed, but stopped seeing that Tsuna wasn't joining him. A look of concern crossed his face. "Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

The girl shook her head and said slowly:

"I don't think that he will come today. He didn't seem pleased with that idea."

Timoteo waved his hands dismissively.

"Nonsense. He will come." There was such certainty in his voice, that Tsuna felt a little pity for him. First she, now his own son will let him down.

"If you say so…" she said, though still clearly not convinced.

She was about to restart eating her meal, when familiar sounds of crashing and cracking down the hallway reached her ears.

She didn't need to look at the beaming face of her grandfather to know what was happening, and when the massive figure showed up in the doorway, there wasn't any strength left in her to do as much as protest. So when the angry red eyes fixed their gaze on her and she heard "Trash" coming out of the mouth of the newcomer, the only thing she could think about was:

It's going to be a looong day.

Ah, I just relized that I ended this chapter in almost the same manner as the previous one. Well, never mind. Anyway, thank you for all the reviews! I hope that also this time you'll let me know what you think about that chapter.

Also, I have a question for you: would you like to see some other characters, such as Gokudera or Basil, in this fic as well? If so, please tell me who exactly (just keep in mind that I won't bring, for example, Yamamoto, all the way from Japan to Italy).