Disclaimer: MRF holds no claim over any of the characters, except maybe for some unimportant oc's. All Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters belong to Akira Amano-san and certain companies involved. I gain nothing from this, except for the satisfaction of my readers (I hope) and the reviews I may or may not recieve. Sue me and all you'll get is a paper bag with some lint...

Warnings: AU, failed attempts at humor, undecided pairings, yaoi (eventually)

(A/N: Set in Italy. Because Giotto is about fifteen here, the tenth generation Vongola guardians and co. will have modified ages. Tsuna and the others won't be mentioned yet in this chapter, unfortunately. And like I said, it will be yaoi eventually so please, if you don't like that, don't read it. And if you do like that…well, please be patient with me -fidgets-)

He was bored. Immensely so. His day had been composed of nothing more than classes and lectures. To top it off, Ricardo had abandoned him. Which is how he found himself sitting alone under a sakura tree with his unfinished bento during lunchtime. He had half a mind to just skip school for the rest of his life. If it weren't for his friend, he probably would have done it too.

But Ricardo would not let him do that. Oh no, the dark-haired bishie would sooner skin him alive than let him miss school. Because then Ricardo would be alone in suffering the endless boring sessions of blah blah blah from their teachers, the heaps of cakes thrown at them by girls fresh from home economics class, and of course, the torture device otherwise known as P.E. And Ricardo would not like that one bit. Whatever he suffered through, Giotto had to endure with him. And vice versa...in most cases.

Giotto shook his head and let out a small, sad laugh. He and Ricardo were always together in everything, be it practical jokes or detention. Like last week, when Giotto was caught in the girls' bathroom. Ricardo had been there and they had spent their weekends at school, cleaning classrooms. You could never see them apart for too long. Except today.

Today, Ricardo had called Giotto early and told him, with a few well-placed coughs, that he would not be able to make it to school due to a bacterial infection; therefore Giotto would be alone, to which the latter replied, "You sick bastard. Who said you could skip school and leave me all alone to deal with—" Giotto had flailed his free arm around, "— all this!?"

"Thank you for acknowledging the fact that I am sick. Now then, I think I'm up for a nice long nap…" A small rustle could be heard. "Oh, and Giotto? Don't forget to drop off today's homework, later, at my house, okay? Cia—"

"HOLD ON ONE GODDAMN SECOND!!!"

The end of the line was silent as Ricardo held the phone away from his ear.

"LOOK YOU—! I NEVER SAID YOU COULD SKIP SCHOOL! OR THAT I'D DROP OFF YOUR HOMEWORK!!!"

"I'm—"

"AND DON'T GIVE ME CRAP ABOUT A COLD! I'VE HAD WORSE THAN THAT BEFORE AND YOU STILL MANHANDLED ME INTO COMING TO SCHOOL!" Giotto was practically roaring into his phone.

"Giotto, I can't come to school today."

"LIKE HELL YOU CAN'T!!! YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Giotto, it is unwise to order around someone who, might I remind you, kicked your ass in...everything, for the past six years?"

"You can't leave me to endure academic torture all by myself!" Giotto's voice became whiny and...pleading almost.

Ricardo felt just a tiny, little bit guilty.

"Ricardo~!!" Giotto drew out the last syllable enough for it to sound like a moan. Ricardo sighed and Giotto held his breath.

"I can't come today, even if I wanted to, so stop whining." A pause. "I don't want you to get sick too."

Giotto's shoulders slumped. "You get to miss the 100-meter dash, you lucky bastard."

"Ciao, Giotto. And watch you mouth."

"Ciao. And it's only been five years, nine months and twenty-seven days."

After his reminiscent, Giotto packed his lunch, sat back, and relaxed under the tree, watching the clouds drift across the sky. It was a nice day, he thought. If only Ricardo were there to spend it with.

As the thought crossed his mind, a shadow fell over him, blocking out the slim rays of sunlight that filtered through the gaps in the tree's foliage.

"You poor loser," said a deep, and very familiar voice. Giotto looked up and upon seeing his dark-haired friend, broke into a grin. "Ricardo!" he exclaimed happily, jumping up and glomping the poor, unfortunate soul.

Ricardo's face remained stoic even as Giotto's immature behavior drew odd stares from passerby. When the blonde finally let go, Ricardo immediately ducked to avoid the fist coming his way and dodged the kick that followed. Giotto's expression was a mixture of happiness, amusement, and barely suppressed rage.

"Geez, Giotto. I didn't think you'd miss me this much," Ricardo commented as he masterfully dodged every one of Giotto's blows.

"You—" Kick. "Are—" Swing. "The meanest—" Punch. "Two-faced—" Low chop. "Bastard—" Back Flip. "I know—!!" Head bash.

Giotto fell back in a heap afterwards, panting to catch his breath. Physical exertion was just not his thing.

"So what are you having for lunch, you lonesome r-tard?" Ricardo asked, peering down at him and looking nothing but cool and collected.

"A bento. With octopus wieners!" Giotto grinned up at Ricardo, previous matters completely forgotten.

Ricardo gave a disparaging sigh. "What is it with you and Japanese-related things?"

"I want to go to Japan again!" Giotto exclaimed with shining eyes. "Let's bring home a panda next time!"

Shaking his head, Ricardo turned around and began to walk away, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. Japan didn't even have pandas, save for the few in captivity...

"Oi! Where are you going?!"

Ricardo turned back in time to see a light breeze lift and tousle Giotto's golden locks, make ripples appear across his uniform, and send sakura petals fluttering around him. With his luminous feline eyes, flushed cheeks, and bright smile, Ricardo couldn't help but compare him to one of the beautiful gods of the Pantheon. Apollo maybe, or Eros. But more Eros than Apollo since Ricardo didn't, couldn't, imagine Apollo, the god of light and truth, glomping anybody.

"I have to get what I missed this morning," replied Ricardo, the tone of his voice betraying none of his rather bizarre thoughts about his friend.

"Oh…" Giotto stared at him. He stared back.

"You nerd," Giotto said flatly. Ricardo stayed still and silent until Giotto burst into laughter. "Ricardo, just go. And stop looking like you just saw the Virgin Mother!"

Ricardo's gaze bore into him. "Then you should stop looking like a girl. And work on your laugh. It is too high-pitched and feminine-sounding."

"Haha—wait…Hey!" Giotto noticed the beginning of a smirk appear on Ricardo's face. "Wha— What did you say!?" He had failed to hear what Ricardo said and resorted to flailing his arms around, demanding an answer.

"I said you sound, act, and look like a girl."

"…" Giotto's hands fell to his side and he froze.

"…"

Then Giotto imitated a girl's sultry whisper. "So you were checking me out, hot stuff?~" He winked in what he hoped was a naughty, seductive way.

The older boy stood stock-still, admittedly stunned, before doing a facepalm. "You are a complete idiot." With that, he turned and left Giotto rolling on the grass, laughing.

~X~

When the bell rang, signaling the end of lunchtime, Giotto got up and gathered his things. Then he went to his homeroom class to put away his lunchbox. He passed by a group of girls who were talking about Ricardo, but was too busy to really pay attention to what they were saying. He had been thinking about something over lunch and he wanted to tell Ricardo right away. There was a grin on his face as he practically flew down the stairs and into the wide, open-hall corridor. He skidded to a halt when he saw Ricardo at the end of the shaded pathway that led to the administrative building.

"RICARDO!!" Giotto called out excitedly. Ricardo turned his head as Giotto ran down the corridor, turned the corner and headed straight for him. He held up a hand in greeting…or maybe as a gesture to 'stop before you run me over?'

Giotto jumped him, only then noticing the girl who Ricardo had been talking to. He must not have spotted her earlier because she was hidden behind one of the stone columns. Why was she talking to Ricardo? And why was she red? Did he interrupt something important? Uh-oh, wouldn't Ricardo be mad? He hated it when Giotto interrupted important conversations.

"Get…off."

Giotto blinked down at Ricardo, completely nonplussed. Apparently, clutching your friend around the neck and hanging against his back with your legs wrapped around his waist was completely normal behavior for Giotto. "Guess what," Giotto said mysteriously, breaking the pregnant pause that had followed his dramatic leap.

"What?" Ricardo hissed.

The blonde glanced at the girl. "I'm sorry; Ricardo isn't very nice, is he? He shouldn't forget to finish his first conversation before starting a new one." Ricardo's lips twitched in annoyance.

"Th-that's okay. I'll just…leave you two alone now…" The girl edged away and made a run for it at about three feet away. She turned around a bend and disappeared out of sight.

It was silent where she left the two. "You scared her away," accused Giotto in a hushed whisper.

Ricardo pried Giotto off and glared down at him at maximum intensity. But Giotto was too excited to notice. He was practically jumping up and down. "Guess what, Ricardo! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!"

The taller teen smoothed his features and looked towards the administrative building, where he should have been ten fifteen minutes ago had it been not for two little gnats..."What is it?"

Giotto showed Ricardo his most powerful smile. The one you could not, under any circumstances, turn away from. It was Giotto's persuasive beam pointed at you at max power, complete with shining puppy dog eyes, and the virtual wagging of a tail. "I was thinking...we should start a club!"

The imaginary block letters spelling D-O-O-M fell hard on Ricardo's head.

(A/N: Please, if it's not too much trouble, tell me your opinion about this plot. I'd like to know if I should continue or cease flooding fanfiction with my amateur writing. Thank you for reading!)