Good afternoon, pineapples. This is Carlile speaking.

So I've been chipping away at this idea, here, for about a month or two short of the entire time I've been obsessing over Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Yeah. A long time. Yes, this is a next-gen, but no, this is not an ordinary next-gen (not to sound self-promoting or anything. But seriously.) Okay, okay, I know I'm supposed to be updating my already-liked fics like "Whirlwing" and "Of the Nameless" and "Souldier", not to mention the fics I've written for other fandoms. And for that, I am truly sorry. But this story is poisoning my mind and I really need to get it out there.

Hopefully, you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed developing and writing it. I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or anything related to it. All I own are the OCs I created and injected into the story to F with your minds. Oh, yeah, and my cat.

Title of Fanfic: The Dangers
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Romance, Humor, Drama, Adventure, Angst, Crime, Tragedy, Suspense YOU KNOW WHAT JUST GENERAL!
Warnings: Contains crack pairings, canon pairings, AU-ness, OOC-ness, OCs, violence, raping of the mind, adult language, sexual dialogue, drug references and use, alcohol references and use, impossible situations, death, life, things that make you rofl, things that make you cry, things that make you erupt into a mad frenzy of fangirling and above all… awesomeness. Or, at least that's what I think. I'm pretty proud of this piece of crap fanfic. :D
Rating: T (DSLFV)

Chapter One: New Year's

0o.o0o.o0

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"If this place is so special, then why are you paying us to move here?" Xanxus' voice was deep and mistrustful. "You've praised Luciano so much. We should be chomping at the bit just to vacation here, yet before us on the table there are millions of dollars."

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"It is a nice place," Leviathan said.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"Well, it's not just living here, you see," said a man with vivid green eyes and hair that blended in perfectly with the thick darkness. "As close attention as we pay, we can't totally protect them from anything that may come up because of our business. So we're paying you for bodyguard duty, basically. Your purpose would be assurance of their safety, which is more important to us than anything. Living here is the perk. Besides, Phoenix would probably appreciate it."

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"This would be ideal for Phoenix. She'd be happy, too." Belphegor turned his head in the direction of his boss.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

That disappointment on my wrist just kept going. It was ridiculing me, taunting me, beating me down. Such a wretched silver and gold thing. It pulled me into its hell and away from what should have mattered most.

A sigh came from the other side of the table. "Sounds reasonable enough," Xanxus said. He reached forward and pawed the suitcase toward him, and he and Superbi Squalo began to rifle through the cash inside.

"So you say it's a deal: we open up some homes, family comes too, Phoenix gets friends his own age and your lives are enriched beyond anything you can fathom, in exchange for keeping an eye on those precious ones, for pay," the tallest man on my side said affirmatively.

At that, everything seemed to pause. The dim lights cast their exposing shadows down on us. A surge of tension crashed over us, then dissolved into the air. The only sound that could be heard was the purr of the paper money as Xanxus and the guest next to him counted it out. That and, for me, the ticking, ticking, incessant ticking of my wristwatch. Sure, we were frozen, but time wasn't.

Every single tick meant that another shred of my sanity snapped. The walls around me suddenly felt like they were closing in and everything was shrinking and clinging closer. Colors started to change. A ringing sound formed in my ears. I licked my lips and a craving for something dangerous claimed my tongue. The ticking got louder, louder, louder. It hammered at my brain. My breathing grew fast and light. A cold sweat washed over me. And all this, this crazed and inappropriate reaction, raised a single question which quickly corrupted my entire mind, soul and body. Of all there was, all that mattered, everything…

This was the most important?

"Seems like everything's fair and in order," Xanxus concluded. "Speaking on behalf my party, I hereby accept your terms." The scarred man's announcement received approval from the rest of the Varia: Leviathan, Belphegor, Fran, Squalo and Lussuria, shown as simultaneous nods. This is all I knew of before I faded out.

Deep breath, calm down, back up. My thoughts strayed far, far away from this place, to the origins.

"My name is Tsunayoshi Sawada. I am 41 years old, and I am the tenth generation boss of the greatest crime family in the world, the Vongola. I am joined by my loyal and trusted Guardians: Hayato Gokudera, Ryohei Sasagawa, Lambo Bovino, Takeshi Yamamoto, Mukuro Rokudo and Kyoya Hibari. I also have my Outside Advisor here, Basil Sinclair. We are currently meeting with the notorious assassin squad connected to the Vongola Family, the Varia. We have a long history with the Varia and it hasn't exactly been stable, but apparently, we need them right now."

For what seemed like the first time, I looked down at my watch. This immediately put everything back in place. God, did it.

It was midnight.

An impulse of the most unbecoming kind bolted up my body and lifted me subconsciously out of my chair. I became a solid and stubborn tree. The chair fell out of the way, and I slammed my branch-fists onto the table. Every eye in the room was on me now, widened in shock.

The bark of my circumstance at that very second peeled away in bits and pieces as I analyzed what I had just interrupted. A stack of papers had been given to the Varia members, and they were passing it up and down amongst each other to sign. Right now, Leviathan had it. His hand quivered as it gripped the pen.

And finally I spoke. It was an outburst of voice that just came out of me unexpectedly, but I meant it so much, the little butterflies in my stomach burst out of their hiding places and caused one of the biggest uproars I ever felt.

"What the hell are we doing?"

My Guardians and Outside Advisor stirred.

"We should be in our homes right now, kissing our wives, hugging our kids, drinking and eating to our hearts' content! Not stuck in a dark meeting room discussing 'protection'! It's midnight on New Year's, for Christ's sake!"

Silence fell. Thick, guilty silence. Sweet silence.

0o.o0o.o0

13 hands holding 13 glasses punched the air. The liquid inside each of them sloshed a bit from the motion.

With my own drink held high above my head, I sat up arrow-straight, closed my eyes and took a long and deep breath. "To anything, everything and nothing," I exclaimed.

Everyone pushed their glasses towards mine. "Yes!"

And then the glasses lowered and poured the intoxicating nectar into our mouths.

A funny thing happens when you drink alcohol in excess. You slip into it, a state of warmth and delirium. Nothing makes sense, but you like it, and for a while everything that matters just disappears into numbness. All you can think is that you want more, and once that 'more' finally becomes too much, you come down from the careless high. The pain and repercussions hit you like a ton of bricks. Only when your body and mind crawl up from the lowliness of the pain of 'too much' do you realize that all you're doing is running away from the original issue. Then you have two choices: either keep running until you exhaust yourself, or emerge from the fog and face what's going on.

For those reasons, I usually avoided drinking. Tonight was different. Tonight my feelings came out and pushed me into a paradox I had dug myself so deep into, the honest question of what the hell I was thinking in the first place's gnawing could only be stopped by a giant dose of liquid forgetfulness. At least for now.

I held my glass tight against my chest. I could feel my drink flowing through my body like a great big tidal wave. Shudders fell down my skin. When all the glass's contents found its way inside me, I got it filled back up again. Again and again. Beautiful confusion clouded my brain and made my eyes red. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck. This was so much more glorious and glamorous than what I was occupied with before.

Hiding at the bottom of a glass of beer, I knew, wouldn't actually help anything. But it felt so good to drown like that, I was not able to stop myself.

Around three in the morning, a familiar ghost took me home. He smelled like cigarettes and talked to me in an agreeable manner. The ghost was my best friend. Of course, I was so confused I didn't realize that until the next morning.

0o.o0o.o0

A/N: The 'ghost' is Gokudera. And no, he's not dead. I just used ghost as another term for a person. Wanted to clarify!