Title: Inclandestine
Rating: T
Genre: Crime/Romance
Summary: AU. Vongola is a notorious mafia famiglia whose influence is spread across the globe. Tsuna is a vengeful but noble cop sent to work undercover in the group's Japanese branch. But when he finds out his cover isn't exactly hidden and is laden with the Vongola's unknown agenda, he finds himself in the centre of a war. 1827

I really, really want to write this, but at the moment I'm too busy (i.e., thesis) to do so and this is the most complex series I will be ever writing. I have three chapters up right now, but the status for now is: this is just a plotdump; hence, 'complete'.

i. prologue

Tsuna exhaled slowly and gawked at the man with a large scar on his left cheek, legs on the desk as he slouched on his chair. They were in a modestly-sized room designed in the fifties' western aesthetic, and he was simply standing stiffly, awaiting the man's words. His sweat had started dropping as the man continued to bore his eyes on him.

He gulped. "Xanxus, uh, sir." Xanxus, according to the files he received, was the head of the Vongola's Japanese branch and finalised every decision made in the faction. If he wanted to succeed in his job, he needed Xanxus' approval. But with the way Xanxus was glaring at him, it seemed like he would fail the mission before it even started.

Xanxus lowered his feet. "You want to join Vongola?" His low voice made Tsuna tremble in terror, reminding him that, out of the other eight dangerous people he was doubly warned of, Xanxus was at the top of the hierarchy.

"Y-yes, sir." He had expected a lot of things: being thrown away once he was near the mansion, killed at first sight, and tortured and left as food for dogs. Because when it came to the vicious, bloody, and seemingly endless history of the Vongola, everything seemed to be possible. While he was frightened out of his wits when Reborn gave him the job, he was determined to offer any help he could in order to bring justice to these criminals.

What he did not expect was Xanxus to say, "Go outside. Yamamoto will brief you." When he didn't move due to surprise, Xanxus added, "Get the fuck out, scum."

"T-thank you so much, Xanxus sir." He hastily gave a deep bow and left the room. Outside, he released a long breath, finally free from Xanxus' suffocating aura. He looked at Yamamoto who was leaning on the wall just across the office. It was Yamamoto who caught him loitering outside the mansion early in the morning. While he was given the names and files of people to be aware about, the actual amount of information about any of them was small; the crimes of these special eight were not listed. But if they were high executives in the mafia famiglia, then it meant their list of crimes must be horridly long.

He mostly had to judge based on their appearances, and it was only Yamamoto who was smiling in the files Reborn gave him. He was grateful that Yamamoto was the one who first saw him, as he neither threatened him nor hurt him. Instead, he listened carefully to Tsuna's request and, without second thought, invited him in.

Tsuna tensed, embarrassed at being caught terrified of the person he should probably start calling boss. "Xanxus told me you will brief me, Yamamoto-san."

Yamamoto grinned and straightened his stance. "Then that means you're in. Awesome. By the way, you can drop the honorific." He started walking and Tsuna quickly ran to catch up. "There's nothing much to brief you, really," said Yamamoto. "New people are given small missions at the start and they're not allowed to do it alone. But since Xanxus specifically said my name, then that means we're partners for now. I'm looking forward to working with you, Tsuna."

"Likewise, Yamamoto." Tsuna hesitantly returned his smile, unsure how to feel about being partnered with one of Vongola's most dangerous men. On the other hand, it meant he would have several opportunities to observe him and get information to relay to Reborn. "Where are we going?" he asked as Yamamoto led him downstairs and into another room. Unlike Xanxus', the area's four walls were plated with metal and the floor was full of mechanical things Tsuna was not sure what kind of machine they were supposed to be.

"Mechanics' room," was the simple answer. "Shouichi? Spanner?" Tsuna recognised the names as the famiglia's top mechanics. As far as he knew, the two had not committed any crime by themselves, merely focusing on their work. However, it did not mean they weren't accomplices in any of them, and the very fact that they continued to work for Vongola left a bad taste in his mouth.

"What is it, Yamamoto?" asked Shouichi, who popped out from behind a metal cube wearing an orange jumpsuit clad with oil stains.

"This is Sawada Tsunayoshi, a new guy. We need a phone for him."

Tsuna blinked. "Oh, but I already have one."

Yamamoto turned to him and smiled. "This is Vongola." He shivered at the coldness, beginning to see how this man was able to become one of the most renowned criminal in the mafia world.

From underneath a table, Spanner came out, wearing the same outfit as Shouichi, and handed Yamamoto a black smart phone. Yamamoto clicked a few times before handing it to Tsuna, who thanked him. He inspected the device and saw nothing different in comparison to normal phones.

"I'm honestly not sure what's up with these phones, but they have nice security," offered Yamamoto. "I already put my contact number there, along with Shouichi and Spanner's."

"Don't bother messaging Spanner," said Shouichi. "He won't answer unless he's feeling whimsical. With that aside, I'm Irie Shouichi and this guy is Spanner." He jabbed his thumb in Spanner's direction. "Welcome to Vongola."

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna lightly bowed. "Thank you so much, Irie-san, Spanner-san."

"Shouichi's fine and so is Spanner." Shouichi scrunched his nose as Spanner went back to the table without a word. "Did you need anything else?"

"Nah, thanks, guys. Let's go, Tsuna." Yamamoto nodded at the two and exited the room. "I'll introduce you to the others. We're not complete today, but there should be two or three guys here."

Before they entered what Tsuna assumed was the main living room of the mansion, he braced himself in preparation for the next monster he was about to meet. Xanxus aside, the seven others were known as the Vongola Guardians, a special group who served directly under the boss. He wasn't sure which boss Yamamoto was serving, but he assumed it was Xanxus if he was here.

In their ninth generation, the Vongola's overall boss was a man named Timoteo, yet the police force had nothing on him – neither his appearance nor his personality. Despite their continuously growing infamy, the Vongola's methods and internal structure were unknown. He wondered how Reborn managed to acquire the tiniest bit of information about the famiglia.

He inhaled deeply and followed Yamamoto into the grand living room. In the centre was a long, white sofa with a person sitting on it. Lambo Bovino, youngest of the guardians at fifteen years old. He scrutinised him, expecting Lambo to be wearing a black suit similar to his portrait in the files. Contrary to what he was thinking, Lambo wore khaki pants and a long-sleeved black polo with its white collar splattered with black. Only the two buttons in the middle portion were closed, revealing the upper portion of his chest and his lower abdomen.

"Takeshi-nii," greeted Lambo. "Who's this?"

"This is Sawada Tsunayoshi. He's new. This is Lambo Bovino. Oh, I almost forgot." Yamamoto looked at Tsuna. "The seven of us sleep here. Since I'm your partner and I can't allow you to do things on your own, I'll have to ask you to stay here, too, Tsuna, if that's okay with you."

Tsuna felt it wasn't a request, but rather an order. "I understand." Resigned, he attempted to get information and asked, "Seven of you?"

"You haven't heard of us seven?"

In spite of Yamamoto's friendly tone, Tsuna was confident he was being tested. "I'm afraid not," he said in a steady voice. "All I know is the Vongola's accomplishments, which was what made me want to join."

"I see." He was thankful when Yamamoto opted to sit besides Lambo and gestured for him to do the same, too, which he obliged. "The seven of us are called the Vongola Guardians –"

Lambo interrupted lazily, "Lame name if you ask me."

Yamamoto shrugged. "Well, you'll meet the others soon. Who else is here, Lambo?"

"I think octopus-head just came back."

"Who are you calling octopus-head, you stupid cow?"

All three heads turned in the direction of the voice. Tsuna stopped breathing at the sight. Gokudera Hayato, the smartest out of all the guardians. Like Yamamoto, Gokudera was in a suit but with a red shirt instead.

"Hayato, this is –"

"I know." Gokudera raised an eyebrow at Tsuna, who forced himself not to cower. If he wanted to stay long in this group, he needed to be in their good graces. "You don't look much, huh. Don't die too soon. It'll be a pain to clean up your body." Sneering, Gokudera left those words and the room.

Yamamoto rubbed the back of his head. "That was Gokudera Hayato. He and Lambo are part of the seven I talked about."

Lambo scoffed, "He seemed to be in a jolly mood, more so than usual."

"His mission today had something to do with cops, and you know how much he hates cops," said Yamamoto.

Lambo took out a piece of candy from his pocket and ate it. "I guess a lot of people here hate cops. Do you hate them too, Tsuna?"

Ignoring the way he was addressed with familiarity, the way the question was asked raised Tsuna's guard, almost as if Lambo was expecting something from him. He almost gagged at his own answer. "Of course I do."

"Really?" Lambo leant forward eagerly. "What happened?"

He knew this line of conversation would come up soon. Of course it was natural for criminals to hate the justice force. Reborn had prepared a back story for him, but he decided to trust his instinct and gamble. "I'd rather not tell."

When Lambo's face fell, Yamamoto patted Tsuna's shoulder. "That's good, Tsuna. Don't give out information freely." Pleased he managed to get out of the situation in a positive manner, Tsuna allowed himself to smile in satisfaction.

"Yare, yare, so smug already. Since you're new, hand me the remote control." Tsuna wanted to protest at the logic, but nonetheless stood up, crossed the room to the other sofa, and grabbed the remote. As he walked back, he tripped on the carpet and landed on his face. Lambo erupted in a fit of laughter and he heard Yamamoto mutter "ouch." When Tsuna finally regained his composure, he gave the remote to Lambo and sat back, hands covering his face. Way to make an impression, Tsuna.

"Thanks, Dame-Tsuna." He froze and looked in panic at Lambo. Why does he know that? Reborn told me the Vongola shouldn't know anything about me. Lambo continued, "You're clumsy, so I'll call you that."

Yamamoto elbowed him. "Don't be so mean to Tsuna, Lambo."

"It's fine, right, Dame-Tsuna?"

It wasn't like he had a choice. "It's fine," he mumbled. He stared at Lambo's open palm in confusion.

"Give me your phone. I'll put my number in it since you'll be living with us." Tsuna did. "Yare, yare, you should feel special. I only ask the ladies for their numbers."

"If it's not an inconvenience to you, Tsuna, you can start moving your stuff tonight. I'll drive you, if you need it."

This was another order, not a choice. "I would appreciate that, Yamamoto. My house is far from here."

"Could you just text me your address? I'm horrible at remembering stuff." Laughing, Yamamoto stood up. "Well, Tsuna. That's that; there's nothing else to say. I'll see you tonight."

Standing up, Tsuna said, "Thank you. I'll see you later, Lambo-san."

Lambo didn't spare him a glance and kept his eyes on the television set. "Lambo's fine."

When Tsuna was a few kilometres away from the mansion, he whipped out his phone – the one he didn't receive from the mechanics – and sent Reborn a message.

I'm in.