Don't own KHR.

Returning and a Friend

Lambo smiled lazily into the incoming wind; it was good to return to Italy after ten years away. Lambo was now fifteen and was considered the weakest and most cowardly of Tsuna's guardians. But it doesn't really matter what the other guardians thought of him. It only matters that he is able to protect them, it's honestly even better that they don't find out.

A surprised sound drew the Bovino's attention back inside the office from the balcony he was resting against. Tsuna was going over the number of Families he would need to befriend in order to solidify his place as Vongola Decimo. He was staring at one name in shock.

"What's wrong, Dame-Tsuna?" Lambo half-lidded his left eye, the right one already firmly closed. It was Reborn who had asked the question, having been cured recently and enjoying every chance he got to show how much taller he was then the still somewhat short Decimo. He was currently standing over the shocked Mafia leader, reading the document as well.

"Huh, that is odd. It seems the Coccodrillo Family is still loyal to the Vongola. I wonder why."

Tsuna leaned back to look up at his tutor, both ignoring Lambo as he walked in and laid on the couch. "Do they need a reason why?" Tsuna asked.

Reborn and Lambo both snorted, but Reborn didn't deem the question deserving of his response.

"The Coccodrillo are an incredibly aggressive Family." The Bovino explained, attracting student and teacher's attention. "To get their allegiance, most Families have to kill the Coccodrillo's strongest rival Family to show the level of commitment expressed. They make an exception for the Vongola…but blood must still be shed."

"And how do you know all of this, cow?" Reborn's voice was cold, but Lambo simply shrugged.

"The Coccodrillo and Bovino are allies, but we've always shared a difference in opinions." Lambo's smile was amused and rather self-mocking; while he pretended to hold the same opinions as the rest of his family, his actions and true self mirrored those of a Coccodrillo to the point of the Coccodrillo preferring to do business with him, rather than with the rest of his family.

Not noticing his slip (which was rather sloppy of them, Lambo noted), Tsuna and Reborn returned to ignoring him, and Lambo took this as a sign to leave.

As if to make this more apparent, Yamamoto appeared and didn't bother looking for traps or an ambush before addressing the Bovino. "Lambo, Basil is here to see you." Lambo smiled and thanked Yamamoto (though inside he tensed, displease with such lack of caution) before exiting the room, the baseball fan staying to converse with his boss and the former Arcobaleno.

Once he got far enough away, the sound of the Lightning Guardian's footsteps echoed into nothing as he slunk down the hallways, slid down the stair's banister, and returned as he stepped into the kitchen.

A fifteen year old smiled back from the kitchen table, hands cradling a glass of purple liquid.

Some time before the Vongola Family had returned to Italy, the blue-eyed hitman had been kidnapped and experimented on. The testing had merged Basil and his box weapon together, but the meld had warped him to physically look fifteen again.

Everyone else had snorted and patted his back, calling him lucky, but Lambo was close enough to Basil to know that this lack of concern had truly hurt him.

It was as if they didn't care that other side-effects could appear, and that stung the now-fifteen year old who had already felt ostracized from the others. It did however bring Lambo and Basil closer together.

"Hey, you, what's that?" Lambo asked as he opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle with his name on it. He sat down beside Basil as the CEDEF member answered.

"Pomegranate juice. You?"

"Tomato sauce, grape juice and Sunny D." Basil laughed and took a swig of the bottle, the concoction sliding down his throat. Lambo and Basil had come up with the monstrosity to keep people other than them from drinking it as some of the poisons needed to sit before becoming potent.

"Smooth." Basil said, returning the bottle as blisters appeared on the palms of his hands. Lambo chuckled and took a swig himself, the blisters, like Basil's, appearing only on his hands. He then sipped some of the pomegranate juice and frowned distastefully as his breath became short for a bit and his palms sweated, stinging the blisters.

"Rattler venom? You planning to go to the states soon?"

"No, just rather be safe than sorry."

"Agreed, I suppose. You ready to go eat?"

Basil answered the question by chugging the rest of his drink in two impressive gulps and set them down. "Yep."

"Alright, let's go, then." Tucking the bottle into a satchel over his shoulder, Lambo led Basil to the door, and together the two set out to talk and train.

Someone asked me to continue this as a chapter story. I originally planned to make it a multi-chapter but wasn't sure I should. Might as well try, I guess.

Basil is another favorite character of mine. As a member of the CEDEF, I think there's more to him than it seems. Plus, a lot of people leave him out in their fics, though they bring enemies in. I wanted him in, so I brought him in. He and Lambo could get along, as both are in some way more distant from the rest of the Vongola and could bond through that.

Please review

Ja ne!