Disclaimer: I wish I owned Reborn and all the wonderful character but I do not. How sad.

"Hi boss." I approached our boss carefully.

Now let me tell you. I don't talk to the boss because I'm not a masochist but I was thoroughly bored and on top of that Squalo-senpai asked me to look after the boss today since I was going to skip the match anyways. Xanxus was apparently in a bad mood from the minute he woke up today and no one knew why, especially since he was in a good mood just yesterday.

He didn't verbally answer me but his eyes followed me around the room as I tidied up his mess.

"Do you want vodka?" I asked, normally I wouldn't offer the boss drinks since he demanded them when he wanted them but I didn't have anything else I could talk about so I was technically just making conversation.

The boss didn't reply. He just glared at me as I swept up the broken glass from his bottle from last night. The boss's room looked like a hurricane zone. I wonder what happened. The boss was quiet all night and this morning he woke up before anyone else and made a giant fuss, waking everyone up. That was at six in the morning now it eleven at night and the boss was still in a crabby mood.

"Then do you want me to call room service for steak?"

Still no answer from the boss except the rumble of his stomach. I looked up and the boss just stared back at me like it was my stomach that had cried out. We stared at each other for a good ten seconds before I gave up on getting a verbal answer and went for the phone.

The boss must be hungry since this would be his first meal all day but exactly how much should I order and what should I order. I glanced over my shoulder at the boss while waiting for room service to pick up the phone. Xanxus was staring intently at my backside and it looked like he wanted to kill something… anything and I was about to be his target. I ordered a steak, a few sandwiches, a hotdog and fries and then some wine instead of strong alcohol because I remembered hearing that alcohol on an empty stomach was bad for a person's health.

When room service wheeled in the food, I set the steak in front of our boss slowly, assessing his reaction so that I would be able to run if he decided to kill something right at that moment. But surprisingly, the boss was silent as he watched the food come down around him.

"Anything else you want, boss?" I asked quietly as the maids set down the wine and turned get the bill.

Xanxus looked me dead in the eye and said, "Potato."

"What kind of potato?" I asked, handing the maid my credit card.

As if I had asked a rude or stupid question, the boss just stared at me silently and expectantly.

"Umm… Can you bring up a baked potato and mashed potatoes?" I added to my order as I footed the bill for the entire meal.

I snatched the hotdog off the table and went to sit in the corner. I wouldn't dare sit at the same table as the boss, at least not by myself. If the other officers were around, it would've been okay since it would count as a business meal but no one ever eats one on one with the boss unless they want to get killed.

Xanxus watched me like he was looking for an opening to shoot me but he never moved. His eyes were trained on me for the longest time before he decided that the food needed immediate attention. He glared down at the cuisine in front of him like he was unsatisfied before opening his mouth to say, "Give me that."

"What?" I asked through my bite of hotdog.

"You heard me." He growled, glaring at my hotdog.

"Okay." I shrugged, getting up to answer the door with the hotdog in one hand, "I'll order you another one."

"No." He said, his deep voice filled with a mysterious aggression.

"But you-!"

"I know what I said." He growled, scaring the crap out of the maid that brought up his potatoes.

"Alright boss. I'm sorry." I muttered, taking the plate from the maid so that she could run for her life. Too bad I couldn't do that too.

I set the plate of potatoes in front of our boss and tore off the part of the hotdog that I bit, handing him the rest of it.

He glared at the food that I had just put in his hand and then at the chunk in my other hand, "Give me that."

"But… this is the part I bit already, boss."

He glared at me for telling him something he already knew.

"Alright…" I shrugged and handed that part over too. Jeez. The boss is probably just trying to starve me because he's in a bad mood. I guess I'll just have to eat later. I swear, Squalo better treat me to something good later.

Surprisingly, Xanxus snatched the chunk that I had torn off and shoved the rest of the hotdog into my hand.

"Can I eat this, boss?" I asked, looking down at the food in my hand like he had handed me something fake.

He glared at me for the millionth time that day but it wasn't a harsh glare, it was more of a 'don't ask stupid questions' glare. Why is our boss so mean and complicated? He handed me a knife and tilted his head toward the steak sitting near him.

I rolled my eyes, shoving the hotdog as far into my mouth as it would go, and snatched his fork from his fingers, cutting his steak into smaller pieces. This big baby just can't do anything himself but don't tell him that I was thinking that or he'll kill me.

The boss leaned forward like he was watching me cut his steak and opened his mouth like he was going to complain again but instead he put his mouth on the other end of the hotdog like it was the most normal thing he could've done. I dropped the utensils in surprise and instinctively tried to back away but the boss's slapped his hand to the back of my neck as he shoved his tongue into my mouth and dug out the rest of the hotdog that I had put in there. He made a satisfied grunt and let me go, leaning back against the chair like he hadn't done anything wrong.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" I screamed and I think, at that moment, my voice was louder than Squalo's could ever be, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Xanxus' eyes slid up from my feet to my face and his lips curved into a smirk, "I never gave you permission to eat it."

My heart was pounding loudly and erratically in my chest. Oh great. It looks like our boss is in a better mood now. Great. Except for the fact that he had to piss me off to do it.

He smirked, taking up the fork I had dropped onto his plate, "Be grateful, trash."

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I BE GRATEFUL FOR THAT?!"

His lips seemed permanently curled up into that cruel smirk, "That's the only way someone with your figure could get me to do that."

"XANXUS, YOU BASTARD!" I screamed much louder than I had ever screamed in my entire life as I curled my hand around the collar of his shirt.

His expression changed from confidence to boredom, "Don't talk to me that way, trash."

The door nearly flung off its hinge as the other members of the Varia made their entrance. Bel was bandaged up like a mummy but it looked like he won and that's what's important.

"VOI! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Squalo roared, ripping me away from our boss, "WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!"

"FUCK YOU!" I screamed and I think I punched him in the gut but it might've been his balls since he let out a pained scream and let me run away.

Stupid Squalo. Stupid Xanxus. Stupid everything! What a bunch of assholes? I didn't know where I was going but before I knew it I was on the roof of the hotel. It probably sounds stupid, but I was crying by the time I got there. I don't want to die yet but my heart was pounding against my ribs so hard that if someone punched me in the chest my ribs would probably press back against my heart and blow it up or something. No matter what I did my heart just kept throbbing. I tried taking deep breaths, I tried crying my eyes out, I tried to stop crying, I tried to stop breathing but nothing helped.

"Hey." Squalo's voice came from behind me.

"Go away." I mumbled, still trying to calm my pulse.

"I heard from the boss. It was just a kiss nothing more." Squalo explained, "If it's about the hotdog, I'll buy you one."

"I need to go to a hospital." I told him seriously.

"What?! Did he bite your tongue or something?" Squalo's eyes narrowed on my face, probably trying to figure out what part was wrong with me.

"No but it hurts."

Squalo's expression twisted into one of horror as his eyes went from my face down to my hips, "VOI!"

I gestured to my chest, "Not there. Here."

Squalo's face turned bright red and my eyes opened wide as I realized what he was thinking.

"NO! Not like that… He didn't do… that." I corrected myself.

"Oh god. Thank god." Squalo breathed out shakily both of us remembering what Lussuria had said about Xanxus' past… lovers, to put it in a kind way.

Xanxus wasn't romantic nor was he gentle with any of his past "lovers" and he usually only put up with them for one night, or so said the rumors.

"Then what hurts? Your match is in a few days, you can't skip out just cause you're hurt somewhere!" Squalo continued.

"I think I'm having a heart attack." I mumbled.

"You'd be dead by now if you were having a heart attack." The swordsman snorted, "You're just fine."

"Uhh… No. If I was just fine then my pulse would be slow. I know what it's supposed to feel like." I complained.

"You're just fine." Squalo repeated, "Go back inside."

"Aye sir." I rolled my eyes at his apathetic response and made my way back down into the hotel.

The boss was nowhere to be found when I returned and that was a relief but the rest of the members were gathered. I grinned as I munched on a bar of chocolate and listened to Squalo rambled on about how he was the next fighter and if I really valued him as a senpai I should at least watch him mop the floor with some Yamamoto Takeshi kid.

"Why should I have to go if you're going to kill him in five seconds?" I complained.

"THREE!" He roared, "It'll be the best three second murder you've seen in your entire life!"

"Boring." I rolled my eyes, "And I'm busy. I still can't seem to find Kyoya."

I knew something was off right away. It wasn't just Squalo-senpai that turned his head, Levi, Mammon, and even Bel were silent.

"What?" I narrowed my eyes on them, "Something happen?"

"Your brother's the Cloud Guardian for the other side!" Squalo snapped.

I laughed. That's hilarious and impossible. Kyoya hates being with other people. He hates it when people crowd together and he thinks anything more than two is a crowd. I was the only one laughing though.

"It's not a joke." Belphegor tilted his head toward the Gola Mosca, "Check his cameras if you don't believe us."

"Okay, Mammon. The jig is up. If this is all an illusion, now is the time to let it go because I'm going to kill you if you keep it up."

"It's not me." The money-loving Arcobaleno shrugged, "But if you want me to make an illusion I'll do it for cash."

"You better not quit on us." Squalo grumbled, "We're not going to forfeit any of the rings so you better show up to your match at least!"

"Yeah. Whatever." I was not about to take this. Kyoya as my opponent doesn't sound fun at all. Let's get this straight. I'm not scared of Kyoya and it's not that I'm afraid of hurting my brother either but the problem is that if I start a fight with Kyoya, it's going to last forever. We're pretty much even.

One more thing. I haven't seen Kyoya in two years. I don't even know what he looks like anymore but if he changed a lot I'm going to cry, instead of fight like I'm supposed to.

Oh well. We'll see in the future.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O

"He what?" I'm going to die before my match. I swear, I'm going to have a heart attack.

"That trash bit the dust." Xanxus snapped.

"..." That can't be. Squalo's the strongest of the officers. If he had fought Kyoya and lost I might've believed it, but what the fuck?! What was the name of the guy he was supposed to fight? Yamato? Oh right. Yamamoto Takeshi. I'll kill that guy even if it's the last thing I do. Oh, don't get me wrong. I could care less that Squalo-senpai's dead. I just want to show the world that I'm stronger than Squalo.

You can think whatever you want but everyone in the Varia thinks like that. If someone stronger than you dies, you have to be realistic. It's a chance to get promoted, there's no time to cry or be sad. We're assassins. We kill people and get killed in return. That's about it.

"Someone tell Lussuria." I cheered, "One of us is going to take Squalo-senpai's spot now."

"Shishishi." Belphegor snickered, "Lussuria already lost his match though."

"Oh…" I grinned, "Screw Lussuria too then! I'm about to be the boss' right hand!"

Xanxus snorted at me but didn't say anything against it.

I guess it's time for me to make a choice then.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O

The day of the Cloud Battle had arrived and at first, I didn't recognize Kyoya but he recognized me. His face went from pure confidence to momentary indecision then back to confidence.

"Kyoya!" Hugs first. Battle later. Scratch that. Hugs and kisses now, no battle later.

"Off! Get off!" My brother complained, his tonfas coming up to defend himself.

"Oh Kyoya. Just say you missed me and get it over with." I couldn't help but tease my cute little brother. Hey. He may look like a murderer but he's cute to me. "You're so tall now!"

"You're still as short as ever." He grumbled, swinging at me half-heartedly.

"You're so cute." I grinned. The only person in the world who can get away with calling me short is Kyoya.

"I'll bite you to death." He growled.

"Tch." I clicked my tongue, "What did I tell you about that?"

"Not to say it unless I mean it but I don't care what you say." He growled, swinging at me much more violently.

I ducked down and spotted the strangest thing in the world through the gap made by Kyoya's legs, "DINO?!"

Kyoya gave me a look that said he saw this coming, "Someone you know?"

Bucking Bronco Dino was staring at me with wide eyes. He rubbed his eyes with his fists and looked back at me and then rubbed his eyes again. I couldn't hear him from the distance I was at but his lips moved to form my name, "Hibari… Kira?"

I abandoned Kyoya and went straight for Dino. I couldn't kiss Dino like I kissed Kyoya because that would just be awkward so I settled for strangling the crap out of him with hugs and then punching him in the nose, "Bastard!"

Dino's hand held his bloody nose as he stared up at me from the dirt in shock, "What was that for?!"

"You haven't talked to me in nine years! I hate you! I'm going to bite you to death right here." I growled, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up to eye level.

Dino's eyes went wide again, "W-Wait!"

There were a lot of people here not just the Varia but Sawada's guardians too. And in front of all these people, I opened my mouth and bit down on Dino's neck as hard as I could. I'm not a vampire but I do like the taste of blood. Unlike Kyoya, when I say I'm going to bite someone to death, I mean it quite literally. The taste of Dino's blood filled my mouth and I heard several people, on Sawada's side, scream in disgust or confusion.

"W-Wait. Kyoya!" Dino's voice was panicky again, "This… This isn't…. KIRA! GET OFF! KYOYA'S GOING TO KILL ME BEFORE YOU IF YOU DON'T MOVE!"

My eyes narrowed. Oh no he's not. I don't like it when people steal my prey even if it's Kyoya I won't let it happen. My teeth left Dino's skin as I turned to meet Kyoya head on, "Kyoya~ Wait patiently so I can kill Dino quickly and fight you afterwards."

He looked tempted to obediently do what I said for the heck of getting to fight me but then he looked up at Dino and started to debate which fight would be more fun.

"Ahem!" The Cervello had arrived at the worst time possible, "Please don't start without our permission. Follow the rules."

I licked the blood from my lips and growled, "Gola Mosca! Take my place and fight Kyoya. I want to kill Dino."

I tossed the robot my ring and turned to chase after Dino, who had gotten a head start running away.

"Kira!" Kyoya called after me in an irritated voice but the stage was set and I was long gone, forcing Kyoya to fight Gola Mosca and win if he was going to come after me.

I could feel Xanxus glaring at me as I chased the Bucking Bronco but I didn't look back, lately whenever I look the boss in the eye my heart starts to go crazy and beat twice as fast as it usually does. I think it's probably because I'm either scared of the boss now or his face just pisses me off. Terrible, right?

"Is it really okay to leave the fight to that robot?!" Dino screamed, not looking back as he tried to persuade me to leave him alone.

"I don't care." I growled, "I just want to kill you first. I can fight Kyoya anytime."

"You guys are going to lose!" He screamed, "Kyoya doesn't like fighting weaklings."

"I don't care. That has nothing to do with me."

"This is not how a reunion is supposed to be!" He let out a choked scream as he tripped over his own feet and fell onto his face.

I slammed my foot down over his back to keep him from getting up again, "This is what you get for leaving without saying good bye and what you get for not replying to any of my messages."

"Fucking Romario." He mumbled when he realized that he was alone and then he sighed, "I guess I should've worn better shoes."

My eyebrow twitched as I glared down at his back, "Is that all you have to say?"

He made a sorry attempt at getting out from under my foot and the only thing he managed was turning over onto his back, revealing his bloody nose to me, "Kira. It's good to see you again."

"Too late, Haneuma." I growled, pulling my gauntlets over my hands, "I'm going to kill you now."

"So you joined the Varia?" He smiled up at me.

My eyes narrowed, moving from his smile up to his eyes. If he's smiling, why does he look so sad? Is he starting to realize that he's a dead man now?

"How have you been?" His searched me head to toe and then back up again, "I don't see any scars."

"..."

"Let me up, Kira." He wasn't demanding it nor was he begging for it. Dino was just suggesting it.

"Why did you stop talking to me?" I asked him quietly, even though there was no one else around I didn't want to seem weak for asking something so petty in a tone that suggested that I had been hurt by his decision to stop talking to me.

He was quiet for a minute before saying, "I didn't want you to get hurt."

My eyebrow twitched and I motioned for him to continue talking.

"I understand that most of the people who attended our school were members of the mafia but you weren't." He smiled at me so sadly that I thought he might cry if I teased him even a little, "I didn't want to involve you in mafia affairs so I talked to Squalo about it and he told me that I should decide for myself. I couldn't think of any other way to keep you from getting dragged into our world. I'm sorry."

"That's not enough. I was stronger than you when we first met. I wasn't mafia but I was stronger than you. Who do you think you are?"

"That's why I was scared. We were young and you were so confident in your strength that you stood between me and anyone who tried to bully me. That scared the crap out of me. If it was just the bullies, I might not have cared but I'm in the mafia. I was afraid that you would get hurt trying to save me from other Families that came after me. I was weak until I met Reborn. I had no other way to protect you."

My eyebrow twitched once more, "So you cut me off completely and you ignored me and every effort I made to talk to you? I thought you were mad at me for the longest time. You couldn't have just told me back then that you were scared of my weakness?"

"Your weakness? Not at all. I was scared of my weakness." He tried to explain, "Really. I never thought of you as a weak person in my entire life. Not now, not then, not ever."

"Then why would you think I would get hurt trying to fight the people who came after you? If you thought I was strong, you would never worry about those things. You must've thought that I was weak if you were afraid of stupid things like that. Thanks for nothing, Dino." My voice came out weaker than I thought it should so to cover up the weakness in my voice, I kicked him in the jaw and marched back towards the school so I could fight someone else.

"Kira! Wait!" He called after me.

I didn't look back as I continued toward the school but if I had even glanced back I would've ran because Dino was scrambling after me. Once he caught up, he threw his arms around me from behind. I froze, his breathing was ragged as he clung to me.

"I'm really sorry. If I had known that my decision would drive you into the Varia, I would've just asked you to join my Family. Please, forgive me." His apology seemed sincere but for all the wrong reasons.

My eyebrow twitched twice this time and I lifted my hand and drove it right into his forehead, "Piss off, herbivore."

Dino made a face of pure shock as he registered my words and then he began to laugh, "You know… You're much more intense than Kyoya."

"Stop calling my brother by his given name." I demanded, "Or else I'll bite you to death right now."

"Ehh…?" He scratched his cheek awkwardly, "It's alright, isn't it? I mean… I call you by your name too."

"Then stop calling me by my name too. We're not on friendly terms so you can't call me that." I snapped and turn to leave again.

Dino threw his arms over me once more, "Kira. I want to be your friend again. So I'm going to start talking to you again. Even if you decide to treat me the way I treated you, that's okay. I'll faithfully make attempts to talk to you for nine years to make up for the nine years that I ignored you for. Okay?"

"I don't care."

He let out a sigh of relief, "Your number changed, right? Give me your new number."

"No." I said simply, "I'm going to ignore you for nine years so you can get my number off of someone else but I highly doubt that anyone would be dumb enough to give my number to someone like you."

"Ouch." Dino winced, "I really hurt your feelings, huh?"

"No. I don't care enough about you to have my feelings hurt by anything you do."

He winced again, "I'm sorry. I'll say it as many times as it takes. One day, let's be friends again."

"No."

"Oh boy…" Dino sighed, "Please?"

"NO." I think it's going to be a very long night.