Author's Note: Oh my goodness... I bet this never gets posted. u; I'm not really keen on updating chapter fics, so I'd probably just leave this one in the dust after a while. Let's see how it goes! Waah, no pairings. But I like to hint at them?! 8D A little bit of shounen-ai? (It has the Host Club in it, for crying out loud!) I like to keep things canon with crossovers. Unless my crack-crossovers are because of crack pairings, eh-- This will also involve some OCs, but they aren't the focus of the story. Super slow updates, if I even have time/consider writing more to this.
His golden lashes moved rapidly in a hasty manner, refreshing his vision with an unnecessary amount of blinking. "The mafia... is targeting us?" Tamaki Suou looked like a deer caught in headlights at such a statement. He continued staring at the man with said look.
"I believe he means that because we are the children of influential, rich families, that we are at the most risk of being captured and used as bargaining tools." In a voice all too nonchalant, Ootori Kyouya looked over the rim of his glasses from his blonde friend to the Italian man who had unexpectedly burst into the third music room. "That is correct, Ootori-san." The coolness that usually had its place around Kyouya was gone and his face had blanched a bit, making Tamaki look over at his friend. "Kyouya, what does he mean?"
Kyouya ran an uneasy hand through his hair and sighed, taking off his glasses in the process; it was a sign that he was truly stressed. "What Romario-san means is that we need to be protected." He glanced over at the suit and sunglasses Romario sported, reminding himself of his own personal security. "But I've told him countless times during our meeting that we could easily hire more secur--" Romario, not being one to lead people astray, interrupted Kyouya with a raise of his hand. "But this is no ordinary mafia, at least not the kind you would think about."
Tamaki almost wanted to flash back to the time when they cosplayed as the stereotypical mafia for the Host Club, but the ever-present seriousness in Kyouya's eyes intensified when he met with them. "I see, Romario-san. Have the others been informed?" Kyouya asked, replacing his glasses. Romario nodded firmly. "Yes, a few of the Cavallone men have taken the liberty to inform the rest of your friends. We've also stationed guards around the campus." Tamaki was uncharacteristically silent, his facial expression molded into a more fearful one. "It's really that serious?" he mumbled, opting to stare at the floor now. Kyouya placed a hand on Tamaki's forearm reassuringly, but his face looked grim. "I think we can trust Romario-san and the Cavallone family to protect us." At the sight of Tamaki's inclining head, Kyouya decided to remind him who their friends were. "And besides, our fellow club members have more than enough skill to deal with such nonsense." Romario stood by the door, wanting to explain that the situation was beyond the capabilities of a normal person, but he could see that the teen was trying to cheer up his friend.
He heard a familiar laughter and the sparkling purple tinted blue eyes of his friend looked into his own obsidian hues. "You're right, Kyouya." Pulling on a softer expression, the third son of the Ootori family embraced his friend in a gentle hug. Tamaki instinctively put his head on Kyouya's shoulder, muttering nonsense. "I must say, your sulky self is possibly more annoying than your jovial persona." Tamaki chuckled at Kyouya's remark and tightened the embrace. "There's the Kyouya I want to see."
Romario reached into his jacket and pulled out a compact walkie-talkie. "I've notified Tamaki Suou and Kyouya Ootori."
---
"I've notified Tamaki Suou and Kyouya Ootori."
"I've informed Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Takashi Morinozuka." Another one of Dino's men, Angelo, related in a forced, authoritative voice into the walkie-talkie. He clipped the device to his belt and fixed his suit jacket afterwards. At the moment, he was watching Haninozuka-san (or 'Honey', as the boy had instructed him to say) and Morinozuka-san ('Mori', as the same boy had said to call his cousin) in the midst of a playful spar session-- against other people, of course. Angelo watched nervously as Mori mercilessly swung his kendo sword and, in a blank silence, took down his opponent and bowed, already readying his strike for the next one. Honey was currently eating a slice of some exquisite chocolate cake (he had quickly took down his opponent with a terrifying force and declared a 'Cake-Out!') and watching his companion with a joyous expression. "Wao~ this cake is really good, Takashi! Do you want some?" Contrary to his offer, Honey stuffed a large bite into his mouth and left little cake left. Mori nodded in Honey's direction in a silent language that Angelo felt like he would never understand. The two were very close, he concluded.
Angelo grimaced and his pale blue eyes were wide; how could this kid stay so calm in a situation like this!? He had already alerted them, as he just notified everyone of his accomplishment. On a baseless assumption, he assumed the child-like senior would have been in tears, but all he saw was a quick look of distance and then a cute nod of his blonde head. "We'll be okay, Angelo-san, don't worry about us!" Honey had said, Mori standing behind him with a more serious than stoic look in his dark eyes. Angelo couldn't help but to wonder if Romario had the same thing happen to him. Running a stressed hand through his pale wheat colored hair, Angelo sighed and slumped in the chair the pair had graciously provided him with. The dojo was so kept and clean; he couldn't help but to wonder how Ouran looked like on the inside. A familiar sense of queasiness made its way into Angelo's stomach as he recalled his high school years. If that wasn't bad, Honey had resumed a dizzying sparring session (Mori stopping halfway through his own to scold Honey for not resting after eating) and he felt like he could be scared, and sick, for the both of them.
"Angelo-san, are you okay?" Honey asked from his position under Mori's hooked arm. The main in question bolted up from his chair and made a run to the dojo's restroom.
"You've worried him, Mitsukuni." Mori murmured in his deep voice, setting Honey down. Through Angelo's actions, Mori used it to try and convey how the situation made him feel. Honey smiled sheepishly and faked his childish laughter. "Ne, Angelo-san shouldn't be so worried. We can take them, right?" Mori couldn't find it in his heart to say 'No.' to the unwavering determination in his cousin's voice.
If only Honey had seen the fear in Angelo's eyes when he had stammered, "The Mafia is-- out to get you."
The man couldn't even say the word 'kill'.
---
"Eh?" Their voices were in unison.
"So you're trying to say..." One of them branched off into his own tone.
"That the Mafia is out to kill us?" The other finished the inquiry, but his amused tone irked their informant.
Combined with their tone, Duilio thought he lost it with their immature bout of mocking laughter. "You kids think this is some kind of joke?" he growled dangerously low, glowering at the twins from behind his sunglasses. His gesture of annoyance only urged on the pair. Catty grins crept along their faces. Hikaru linked his arm with Kaoru's and they both rested up their free hands in balled up fists on their hips. "Sorry, we don't believe you." was their curt reply in unison and their tone was less than sorry. Duilio's right hand twitched as he reached for his wireless head piece (he disliked the bulk of the walkie-talkies) and pressed the button to transmit his message in a smooth voice: "I've informed Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin."
"Hey, Kaoru, he even went out and got a headset just to seem 'official'. This guy's a loser!" To further his insult, Hikaru stuck out his tongue and made a 'nyaaaah' sound. Kaoru mirrored his brother's movement to the second. Duilio sharply turned around in his laced loafers and started to ramble to his work partner in Italian, "For the love of God! These children don't believe me, Ermanno!" He smoothed back his already sleeked back dark auburn hair, using the same hand to rub the bridge of his nose. "I'm twenty nine! They should take me seriously, but they don't. If you weren't here, I'd have strangled them by now." Even though Duilio's hand twitched in anger, Ermanno knew he wouldn't ever actually make good on his threat; he simply had anger issues and was prone to raging now and then. Stepping past his senior with soft steps and hands clasped behind his back, Ermanno approached the twins-- who were mocking Duilio's outrageous gestures behind his back, and smiled brightly. "Hello, I'm Ermanno!" he chirped in Japanese, ignoring the string of Italian curses pressing their way out of Duilio's mouth with little restraint.
They stared suspiciously at Ermanno, his straight posture, the lack of sunglasses, the walkie-talkie clipped onto his belt and his open suit jacket. "You..." Hikaru started. "Are you also part of his trick?" Kaoru ended, his voice exposing a bit more belief than he had intended. "This is no trick." Ermanno said, his voice a tinge of playfulness. The facade of a smile on his face was hard to see through, and his open light brown eyes made his performance absolutely creepy. The twins contemplated a bit, intensifying their inquisitive looks on Ermanno. "You're kidding, right?" Hikaru scowled with anger underlining his voice. "Nope." the younger Italian man answered after a purposely-held out silence. Both twins put their hands behind their orange haired heads and lopsidedly grimaced. Duilio looked on with a slight grimace of his own; Ermanno really knew how to get straight to the point. "You're being targeted." he relayed again after another silence.
It was silent as realization dawned on the Hitachiin twin's features. Hikaru and Kaoru shared a shocked expression, Hikaru's mostly made up of fear and Kaoru's out of worry. "Haruhi..." Kaoru tepidly whispered. At the mention of her name, Hikaru snapped his fearful eyes to Kaoru's stiff face. "Has... she been informed?" He didn't bother to hide Haruhi's gender from the Cavallone men, because if Duilio and Ermanno were right, then that was the least of their problems. Ermanno hummed to himself softly and smiled, letting his eyes glance out the empty classroom window and rest on the section across the courtyard. "Duilio will be hearing from Rainero shortly if he is on schedule."
"I wonder how Tamaki took the news." Kaoru thought aloud, pulling his brother into a comforting hug. "Yeah..." Hikaru sighed and returned the hug, closing his eyes and resting his chin on his brother's shoulder.
"How sweet." Ermanno cooed distantly as he walked over to the window and took a seat on the large sill. Duilio neared him, but chose to stand, and looked at him with faded emerald eyes over the lens of his sunglasses. "I don't understand how you can convince people with your one sentence replies." He was speaking Italian, but even then he still lowered his voice. Ermanno leaned against the window with his shoulder and let out a flat, "Ha."
"When you are confident with your outward personality, the people around you will pick up on your confidence and give into your words." Ermanno yawned near the end of his statement and disrupted the smooth Italian. Duilio was used to the casual tone he spoke in, but it still riffed him how casual his junior could be. "Don't get too cocky, Ermanno, you know the boss doesn't like it." The twins were still huddled together when Ermanno stood and hummed again, walking to the front of the classroom to now sit stare at the chalkboard. "I'm not cocky." he mused as he picked up a worn piece of chalk and inspected it. Duilio was an onlooker to the twin's silent embrace and he didn't even bother to look at Ermanno when he started to draw on the green board. "Are you trying to look cool for these kids, Ermanno? Or are you just being an ass?" Duilio side glanced at Ermanno's back and looked at the picture he was chalking up. "Even if you are being an ass," Duilio grumbled begrudgingly, "your artistic skills are amazing. Boss, right?" With a flick of his wrist, Ermanno added Dino's smirk to the drawing and a few more strands of hair, then set down the chalk, walked around the desk and stood to admire his work. "A profile view is always the best to draw." he commented happily to himself.
The drawing was a side profile view of Dino. The quick, yet skillfully placed lines gave it character and Duilio could have sworn he saw the determination in his boss's drawn eyes. Hikaru caught sight of the drawing and uninterestedly looked at it, wondering whom Ermanno just drew; Ermanno and Duilio had been talking in their native tongues. The older twin felt isolated by their language and held on tighter to Kaoru. It wasn't a new feeling for either of them, but the people who were supposed to be protecting seemed just as bad as the ones out to kill them.
"Hitachiin twins," Ermanno drawled out, as if testing the word. He turned around to face the pair but did nothing to get closer. "We are your assigned body guards." With a slight grin he had offered the reassurance, and Duilio's muscular build backed up the assessment. "Our friends..." Kaoru started. "...have bodyguards too?" Hikaru ended for his brother. Duilio and Ermanno nodded together.
"We will always be near you, so don't worry about anything getting out of control." Duilio had dropped his angered tone for a calmer one. His co-subordinate merely nodded with that slight grin, only adding an amused, "Ah."
---
"Suou-san, Ootori-san, I and my partner will always be around, so please do not worry." Romario said after a long enough silence. On cue, a somewhat short, peach skinned man with short, parted in the middle brown hair entered the room and silently closed the door after him. "Greetings, Suou-san, Ootori-san. I am Tino and I will be assisting Romario in protecting you." Tamaki pulled away from Kyouya and bowed before the two Italian men. "Thank you so much," he said in a steadying tone. Kyouya did the same, already pulling himself back into tranquility. "You have my thanks as well."
---
Upon returning from the restroom, Angelo found Honey and Mori sitting on the floor, across from each other. "Angelo-san! Are you okay?" Honey asked with a tilt of his head. Mori looked over to Angelo, asking in his own way the same thing. "Oh, yes. I'm fine. I just got a little sick..." Angelo joined them on the floor, sitting cross-legged. The mats under his socks felt comforting. The three sat there for a moment before Angelo piped up with a quivering, "I am your bodyguard. I will do my best to protect you both. I'll be around at all times, so don't worry. Please don't worry at all." They let Angelo's almost pleading statement linger in the room-- all three of them knew the danger of Mafia business, but only two of them showed it.
"Would you like to have cake with us, Angelo-san?" Honey asked in his cute way, resting his head between Usa-chan's soft ears. The small boy caught the reprimanding look in Mori's eyes, for what he knew not, and withdrew into his own little shell, but Angelo answered his proposal with an unsteady smile. "I'd love to, Honey-san."
---
"Hey everyone, I warned the girl already."
Duilio rolled his eyes at the arrogance in the voice, even Ermanno's smiling face twitched lightly. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at Duilio's walkie-talkie, hoping that the Italian voice on the other end was safely guarding Haruhi. "Your friend's alright." Duilio grumbled in Japanese, sounding unpleasant since it made him sound even more intimidating. "Thank goodness!" the twins exasperated. They lit up at the news and brightened up considerably. "So, do we just do what we always do?" Ermanno 's mouth twisted into a curvaceous grin and his eyes narrowed. "A host club is the perfect opportunity for an assassin to sneak in." He took pleasure in delivering the news and looked over to Duilio to continue his explanation. "We'll explain once everyone's gathered." Ermanno already started to head out of the class, whistling a cheery tune as he did so. His partner sighed and muttered curses at the man's back before turning to the twin's and nodding curtly to them. "Wait!" Kaoru hesitated in his speech. "The people around us, will they be targeted too?" Hikaru had been giving Ermanno's back a dirty look when his younger brother asked the inevitable. Duilio's mouth was pulled into its usual straight line and he supplied them with a quiet, "Perhaps."
End Notes: I attempted to create original characters from Dino's family, as you can plainly see. I hope you got the vibe from them I was aiming for~ Next addition should be focus on the Reborn! cast now. Hopefully I have it up as soon as I write it.