Chapter 2: In Which a Mistake is Made OR: Emilio becomes Xanxus and Realizes Things OR: The (Shipped) Gold Standard

You can only blame your problems on the world for so long

Before it all becomes the same old song

As soon as we hit the hospital I know we're gonna leave this town

And get new passports, get out now

Emilio was not a stranger to fighting. He had, often, fought off feral animals and children who had deemed it smart to go after his cats.

(He also had memories of tussling with a brother-Her brother, who was nasty as hell and spat hateful words towards his caring sister-and more often that not winning. Emilio's pain tolerance was stupidly high.)

So when a strange man threatened to attack his mother, well, Emilio had to defend her. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to her.

The man loomed at the entrance to the dead end, cornering the six year old and his unstable mother. His grin was sharp, deadly, and a knife glinted off the sun's scarce rays. Emilio stood in front of his mother, his cats crowding the alley and hissing at the intruder. One of the dogs-an older mutt missing his tail-growled lowly but the man didn't spare a glance at them.

"Time to pay you back, bitch!" the man snarled, twirling the knife expertly. Emilio scowled. Of course this intruder was a knife expert.

"Get the fuck out of here!" Emilio hollered, his small form shaking slightly. The man snickered at the sight of the dirty, thin child.

"Why don't you run along, ragazzo, and leave your whore mother to get what she deserves," he sneered. Emilio stiffened as the man walked closer. He'd never been more scared in his life.

(And the thought that he was mostly helpless against this-this insignificant man who sought revenge-sparked an inferno of rage inside his heart.)

(Emilio was anything but helpless.)

(And he would prove it.)

Before the man could even blink, Emilio was in his face. He recklessly grabbed the man's wrist and squeezed, hard. Somehow, the man's wrist broke and fell apart. He cried out in pain and horror as his stump hand bled freely.

(Emilio, of course, hadn't noticed his hand was on fire. But, oh, his mother did.)

The man barely had time to scream before Emilio's cats all pounced on him. The animals bit and scratched savagely, and Emilio joined them. His thin fingers with his sharp, sharp nails pinched and scratched, dug into the man's skin and pulled. In his blind rage, Emilio didn't notice the man's skin disintegrate as it made contact with the Flames he emitted.

"Don't you ever come near us again!" he shouted as the man scrambled on his limbs, trying to escape the crazed beast that was Emilio. The man was sobbing hysterically, screaming about a devil child and his horde of evil cats.

(Emilio hadn't cared but he'd found out sometime later that the man had died, his body turning to dust and scattering.)

Emilio spat out a glob of blood-the man had panicked and swiped at him, clipping him sharply in the face-and a loose tooth. His cats began calming, taking the time to groom themselves. A few pawed at his legs and he kneeled, allowing them to lick off the blood that littered his skin.

"Emilio, my Emilio," his mother cooed, bypassing the animals and pulling Emilio to her chest. Emilio hugged his mother carefully, trying to keep her somewhat free of blood.

"I'm ok mother. He's gone. He's not gonna come back," Emilio soothed the frantic woman. She hugged him tighter to herself, fingers digging into his tangled locks.

"My Emilio," she murmured again, lowly.

(Emilio didn't know what was going through her mind.)

(Then again, he never really knew what his mother thought at any moment.)

His cats began ushering out of the alley one by one, eyes wide and alert. Emilio knew that they'd be vigilant for at least another week or so. They always were, especially after attacks to their own. The boy turned back to his mother, who was watching him with an unreadable look in her eyes.

(If only he knew the consequences of the mistake he'd made.)

"It's ok mother. We'll be alright," he told her. His mother didn't seem to hear him. Her hands continued to weave patterns in his mangy hair.

(She wasn't looking at him, he knew, not anymore.)

(Emilio tried to squash the hurt that he felt at the action.)

(He failed.)

"Emilio," his mother cooed at him, a few days after the attack, "come here." Her voice was sweet, not at all tired as it usually was. She hummed at him-actually hummed!-as he walked closer. Emilio stopped in front of her, unsure whether he should feel happy or wary.

(On one hand, his mother was humming.)

(On the other, she was humming.)

(She never hummed.)

"What is it mother?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly. One of the smaller dogs whimpered softly at his distress, nudging the six year old's leg with his paw. He gently patted the animal before turning his russet eyes towards his mother.

"I want you to show me your Flame, dearie," she said gently, an almost crazed look on her face. Emilio froze.

(How did his mother know about it?)

(The fight with the strange man, his mind supplied, having made the next step in logic.)

"Alright," he replied numbly. Anger at himself for being so careless rushed forward and his hand was alight with the maroon Flame. His mother's eyes widened and she fell to her knees in front of him. Emilio shuffled awkwardly as she took his wrist in her palm, staring reverently at the Flame.

"Do you know what this means, my child?" she asked him. He shook his head, his gut curling in apprehension.

"What do you mean, mother?" he questioned curiously. Her smile was wide.

"I mean, you are the child of the Ninth Vongola boss. You shall henceforth be known as Xanxus, my little one. You are destined to be the Tenth Vongola boss, for your name has two X's, the number of ten. No one else is fit to hold the position," she told him, voice whimsical. Emilio froze.

(He was Xanxus.)

(He should've known.)

(His Flame manifested when he was angry-the Flame of Wrath, wielded by the Secondo di Vongola.)

(Holy shit, he was Xanxus.)

(His father wasn't-wasn't his father, not really. Xanxus had no father.)

(He was going to lose, lose, lose to Sawada Tsunayoshi.)

(The Vongola Ring was going to reject him for that-that trash!)

(Byakuran was going to take over the world, was going to die by Tsunayoshi's hand.)

(The Simon-a weak family with a weaker, scummier boss-were going to attack and unlock something dangerous.)

(His legs, his arm, they were going to be sawed off by that damned Vindice! Oh, how angry that made him.)

(His entire future was flashing in front of him, the memories rushing from ages back. Xanxus wasn't going to be Decimo. He didn't even have the right blood!)

Xanxus wailed as he fell to his knees, his head pounding in agony. His Flame died down and vanished without so much as a smoke trail. His mother caught him, her smile widening.

"Good, my child, I am happy you accept this duty," she told him. Xanxus grit his teeth and pounded his fists against the ground.

(He was going to be a failure before he'd even live!)

(But, his mind whispered, he had Her memories. She would lead him to greatness. She had all the cards in Her hand, and Xanxus would use them to his benefit.)

(He-She-They would be Decimo, no matter what.)

A/N: Woo, managed to crank out the second chapter! So, Xanxus is now officially Xanxus. I know this chapter was light on the paragraphs but eh. Who really needs a consistent writing style, huh? Hopefully, with time, the chapters will get longer but idk. I'm a fan of getting To The Point. Longer chapters also take longer to write, as well, and if I write a super long chapter then it will reveal far too much and I don't wanna show my hand just quite yet.

That last scene, where Xanxus is going through the future thing? Yeah, his memories from his past life are flooding his brain, just to clear that up. He's always known he had a past life but there wasn't much to trigger the memories. His name, however, is a different story. The 'She/Her' refers to who Xanxus was before. Xanxus will continue to make references to Her throughout the fic, though only in his mind. And idk, maybe I'll have a chapter about Her life before she died or something, or an omake about Her.

Xanxus is now determined to become Decimo, regardless of what he knows. While most people would probably be depressed about something like this, Xanxus is only angry and determined, a deadly combination. He's always angry lol. (Except his anger isn't the stupid, impulsive kind. It's the deadly kind that shouldn't be taken lightly.)

OH! Xanxus prefers he/they pronouns but flip flops between them. Only the current POV will incorporate this and p much only Squalo and Mammon will know about Xanxus' pronouns. So basically, I might switch it up between chapters(though I'll wait till Xanxus is older in story). If you see the pronoun 'they' it will be referring to Xanxus(or two or more people-depends on the context). Characters in-story will strictly refer to Xanxus as 'he' except Squalo and Mammon on occasions. ALSO: When Mammon enters, they will also be referred by the pronoun 'they'(I def subscribe to non-binary Mammon).

(BTW Xanxus has 33 alley cats-he doesn't name them cause there are too many-and 3 dogs, which he doesn't name cause he sucks at naming things.)

Next chapter: Timeoteo arrives to take Xanxus. Xanxus isn't leaving without his cats OR mother.
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