INTRODUCTION.
In a dark room a man sits in an ornate chair...waiting. The only light came from an uncovered light bulb hanging over the man and it casts a small circle of light around him. A door at the far end of the room opens and closes the sounds of footsteps echo through the room.
"You called me."
A female voice rings out from the darkness just outside the ring of light.
"Yes, I have a job for you."
"Who is the mark?"
The man slides a manila envelope across the floor and a black boot stretches in to the light to stop it.
The man sits in silence as he waited for the woman to respond.
"How much is the pay?"
"Ten grand."
"Each?"
"No. I only want the Vongola dead. Anyone else is unpaid."
"Hmm...I'll take it."
Chapter One:
Hayato Gokudera was walking alongside his beloved boss, Tsunayoshi Sawada, and the tenth boss of the Shimon Family, Enma Kozato, completely unaware of the young girl with hair like fire following them. It had been a fairly boring day in Namimori; the only mildly interesting thing was Hibari and Adelheid fighting again. Takashi Yamamoto, Ryohei Sasagawa, Kyoko Sasagawa, and Haru Miura had already left the group to go to their respective homes and Gokudera was, like always, making sure that Tsuna got home alright before heading to his apartment.
"How did you manage to fall of the roof?"
Tsuna asks as his red haired friend shrugs and takes in the newest bandages on his arm.
"I just leaned against the fence and it broke."
"But the fence was just put in last month!"
Enma just shrugged again. The two boys' look at each other and burst in to laughter.
"Okay so after you fell off the roof, you fell in to the middle of Adelheid's and Hibari's fight and they beat you up right?"
Tsuna asks as once he stopped laughing.
"Yeah…I still can't decide which one is scarier."
"I want to say Hibari but Adelheid is pretty scary too."
Tsuna and Enma both shuddered at the memories of being beaten by both Hibari and Adelheid on multiple occasions.
"But you got away from them and then a dog chased you because it wanted your lunch?"
"Yep."
Tsuna stars at his friend for a second and then starts to laugh again.
"You have worse luck than me!"
Enma blinks and begins to laugh as well, they were still smiling about the incident when the trio reached Tsuna's house.
Gokudera turns to Tsuna and waves a hand.
"I'll be heading home now, Juudaime."
"Ah, okay Gokudera-kun. See you tomorrow."
Tsuna says smiling at his friend.
Gokudera smiles back and nods before turning away from the two boys. He wasn't even a block away before he heard the sounds of laughter coming from Tsuna's open bedroom window. Gokudera shakes his head and smiles once more. He knew that there were things that Tsuna did not tell him, things that Tsuna would not ask him because Tsuna already knew what Gokudera's answer would be. So Gokudera was glad that Tsuna had found someone who he could talk to about those things. As Gokudera did not want to go back to his apartment he chooses to walk around town for a while and did not make it to his apartment until the sun was setting. So immersed in his thoughts as Gokudera was, he failed to notice the envelope taped onto his door. But when he did, he quirked an eyebrow.
"What the hell?"
Gokudera asks himself as he pulls to envelope off the door. He could tell by the feel of the envelope that whoever sent it had money and a lot of it. He holds it up to the light but couldn't see anything except the dark outline of a folded piece of paper. Gokudera sighs and stuffs the envelope in his pocket so that he could get his keys out.
As he pushes the door shut and takes his shoes off Uri materializes herself and run to the fridge.
"Hold on you stupid cat."
Uri turns to the young man and growls.
"Yeah yeah."
Gokudera sighs as he opens the fridge and pulls out a small fish. Uri begins to jump up, trying to get the fish, and scratching Hayato in the processes.
"Hold on I've got to...OW! I've got to cook it first. Get off me!"
Gokudera pulls the small cat off his leg and throws the fish into a pan. The box weapon sits at his feet and stares up at the pan, its tail flicking back and forth.
"Tch. I shouldn't even bother feeding you."
Gokudera mutters as he leans against the counter. Once the fish was cooked and Uri was content for the time being Gokudera pulls the letter from his pocket. He stares at for a second before holding it out to Uri.
"Hey, you smell anything funny in this?"
Uri looks at Gokudera, sniffs the letter once, sneezes, and goes back to sleep.
"Useless cat."
Gokudera mutters before grabbing a knife and opening the letter.
Like the envelope, the paper was obviously expensive but more surprising than that was that the letter was hand-written in Italian. Gokudera examines the paper, checking to make sure that there were no powders or damps spots that could indicate poison before reading the letter.
If the Vongola Decimo was not the Vongola Decimo, what would you think of him and why? And don't you dare try to answer by saying that "The Tenth is the Tenth so it doesn't matter." If you do answer me like that many horrible things will happen to you and the people you care for, and yes, that includes Tsunayoshi Sawada. (Those horrible things will also happen if you ignore this letter.)
"What the hell! What kind of half ass joke is this?"
Gokudera went to rip the paper but the threat rings in his mind.
"If you do answer me like that many horrible things will happen to you and the people you care for, and yes that includes Tsunayoshi Sawada. Those horrible things will also happen if you ignore this letter."
He reads out loud as a small voice in the back of his mind asks.
"What if it isn't a joke?"
Gokudera stares down at the letter, his eyes drifting to the end of the page.
There is no signature and that angers Gokudera more than the rest of the letter. This person had the gall to threaten him and his boss but did not have the guts to sign their name.
"Damn it!"
Gokudera takes out a pen and begins to write his response.
A young, pale, girl walks through the dark streets of Namimori, keeping to the shadows and away from street lights. She had spent the whole day following the Sawada boy and his friends after placing the letter at Hayato Gokudera's apartment. Even now, when it was well past midnight, her job was not done.
"Why do I have to be the one that has to pick up this letter? I should be sticking on the Vongola boy but no, I am playing mailman because 'We can't spare any more people for this job.' And they're my team...tch; I better get the promised price for this."
She speaks in English and from her accent it is clear that she's an American. A gust of wind blow through the street and the girl pulls her sweater tighter around her slim frame.
"And I thought it was cold back home."
She mutters.
Gokudera wakes to the sound of Uri scratching the fridge. He groans and rolls over on to his side, trying to go back to sleep. Uri however had heard his groan and knew he was awake. She launches herself at her young owner and begins to scratch him furiously.
"OW! Get off me you damn cat! Ow! What the hell do you think you're doing this early in the morning! Ow! Uri stop it! Ow!" Gokudera manages to pull the cat off of him but by the time he did he was already covered in scratches and his blanket was in ribbons. "Damn it Uri! Now look what you've done." Gokudera holds up the ruined blanket but the cat take no notice and merely walks back to the fridge. "Stupid fucking cat."
As Gokudera prepares breakfast for Uri and himself he thinks about the letter he wrote the night before. It had taken him quite a long time to come up with a response he was happy with. He looks behind him to the place where the letter was laying on the table. As soon as he had placed Uri's food on the floor he went straight to the letter picked it up and re-read it for the hundredth time.
'I would still admire him. He's caring and he protects his family and his friends. He's kind hearted and altruistic. I wouldn't think any less of him for not being the Vongola Decimo. I'd be as loyal to him as I am now.'
Gokudera throws the letter back on the table and sighs. Whoever had sent this was going to get such a beating if he ever caught them.
"What do you think Uri? Should I tell Juudaime? OW!" Gokudera had made to pet the cat but Uri had scratched him. "Damn cat."
In the end, Gokudera decided against telling Tsuna about the letter and went about his day as he normally would. By the end of school, he had even decided to ignore the letter and just ripped up his response. At least that was his plan, until Gokudera noticed a second letter taped to his door.
"What the..." Gokudera quickly opens his door and kicks his shoes off before opening the letter.
'Strange, I was expecting a more viable threat after threatening the small and weak Tenth Boss of the Vongola Family, young Hayato. I suppose if the Tenth generation guardians are so weak and slow to action on the boss' behalf as you are...well then taking them down will be easier than I thought.'
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!"
Hayato quickly pulls out a piece of paper and a pencil.
'You can't do shit to Juudaime! I can track you down, Anoimo. I'm confident in my abilities to protect my Boss. And he's not so weak to be taken down so easily. As the Vongola Decimo's right-hand man, I assure you that you're nothing. Not even a fucking THREAT to Juudaime's great name and mafia famiglia.'
"Tch, who does this bastard think he is?" Gokudera says as he reads though his response. It was a moment before he realized that he had had left his response inside of his locked apartment. "What...How did they..." Gokudera looks around his apartment, searching for some sign that another person had been there and found nothing. Even his security system was working perfectly. "So how did they get in here?"
Gokudera went to sleep with the idea that he would stay home the next day to catch whoever it was that was sending the letters. Of course he did not count on the young girl climbing through his window while he slept. She drops to the floor as lightly as a feather and straightens.
"Hm. Too easy." She looks down at the young man who had fallen asleep on the couch. "And you call yourself a hit-man..." She quickly moves to the table and picks up his response. A small smile forms on her face as she reads it. "Oh Hayato Gokudera, you are going to make a wonderful opponent for me." She looks back over her shoulder at Hayato with cold eyes and pulls a pen, a piece of paper and an envelope from one of her pockets. "But let's push you just a little farther before breaking you, hmm."
Gokudera hears the window close and shoots up.
"Who's there!" He looks around his apartment and stands up, going to the window and throwing it open. As he looks down he thinks he sees a flash of red but when he looks again it is gone and he decides it was merely a trick from his tired mind. "Must have imagined it..." Gokudera yawns and turns back to the couch when he sees to envelope on the table. "No way..."
He quickly grabs the envelope and rips it open.
'Oh young Hayato, you do not scare me. To me you are but a child screaming at the world and never being heard. Now I know that the Tenth is not as weak as many believe him to be and that is why I am interested in him. I want to know what makes him tick before destroying him completely. And as for tracking me down, there is no need for that, for I am where you least expect me to be.'
"How..." Gokudera remembers the flash of red and runs to the window. He looks down at the streets, straining his eyes as he tries to find any sign of the red he saw before. "Damn it..." He looks back down at the envelop. "How the hell did they get in here? The security system should have gone off..." He quickly walks to the small box on the wall and it looks like it was working. "What the hell?" Gokudera looks down at the letter once more. "I want to know what makes him tick before destroying him completely."
He feels his anger rise as he rips a note book from his backpack.
'WHO ARE YOU, ANONIMO? Don't think for a second that you can ever succeed in destroying my Boss. I don't care what you say about him but don't EVER speak of Juudaime as if he is just some breakable toy. He is a man of control and honor. You can't possibly "break" or "destroy" him in any way. If I don't expect you to be in one place, don't worry. The Vongola Decimo will find you. And if he doesn't do away with you, then I most certainly will take pleasure in killing anyone who dares talk lowly of my Boss.'
Gokudera take a deep breath and looks down at his response.
"Yeah, that should show them." Gokudera places the letter by the window and smirks. "Come and get it."
Gokudera woke up on the couch, the letter he wrote still by the window.
"So they didn't come. Maybe they finally left." He stands and stretches. "Maybe they died." He grins "I hope so." He stretches again and walks to the kitchen only to hear something slide under the door. "What?" He walks over to it and picks up an envelope. "No way..."
Gokudera quickly opens it.
'Did I suggest that the Tenth is a breakable toy? I had not realized and I apologize. But it is possible to destroy him and the method for doing such is simple. If I understand correctly you have been with the Tenth since the beginning and so I ask you, the person who is by far the most loyal follower of the Tenth, what is the one thing that angers the Tenth Boss of the Vongola Family more than anything? When is it that he fights the hardest?'
"But I..." He half runs to the window and his response is still there. "How the hell did they know what I said!"
Gokudera pulls a piece of paper out and begins carving out his anger with his pen.
'Anonimo, I just can't anymore. You're obviously just fucking STUPID.
Why the HELL would I answer your dumb-ass questions?
Juudaime always fights his hardest and therefore will never lose to the likes of you!'
Gokudera glares down at the response resting by his hand, his anger rising. "When I catch who ever this is I swear I'm going to tear them apart!"