THICKER THAN WATER

AN: Chapter three here. Alright, Jake's getting used to the craziness that goes on during a normal day at the Sawada household, and of course, an old friend/rival shows up, leaving Tsuna to wonder what's going on with his cousin. Anyway, I don't own KHR, Akira Amano does. I just own Jake, Joshua and the Longternos. There. ROLL IT!

Chapter Three: What Are You Doing Here?

"Well, I'd never thought I'd see you again, Jacob." Joshua said, as he got out and walked towards Jake.

"Same goes for you, Josh." Jake replied.

"Oy, boss. What's going on?" Hayato asked.

"It's between them. I don't want to get involved." Tsuna answered. It was then that Reborn appeared.

"Well, like it or not, we may have to get involved sooner rather than later." Reborn said.

"Still, it's my cousin's personal problems!" Tsuna protested. "Plus, what do you know about these guys?"

"These guys are the Longterno family from Sicily." Reborn explained. "Plus, I've heard of what this Josh character had done in the past."

"Oh?" Tsuna asked.

Meanwhile, Josh said, "You best better watch your back, Jake. Next time I see you, it's not gonna be as your former best friend."

"I'll keep that in mind." Jake replied. The car, carrying the Longternos left, and the boys walked over to school with no incident, and class even went off without a hitch, but Jake was more preoccupied than usual. He went up on the roof to think, but just as he lay down, he heard a little "ahem."

"Yes? I'm trying to think here." Jake said.

"You're in my spot." A boy wearing a black uniform, a red and gold disciplinary committee armband and also carrying two tonfas said. It was then that Tsuna came up with Hayato and Takeshi.

"Hibari-san!" Tsuna said.

"Do you know this guy, Sawada?" Hibari asked.

"Well, yes. He's my cousin." Tsuna answered.

"Hey, I got here first. Plus, I don't see your name on this spot." Jake said, as he took out his hockey stick. But as he did, he saw I-Pin from the corner of his eye.

"You left your guard down." Hibari said as he struck, but Jake saw that coming from the corner of his other eye. Tsuna saw her too, and he saw a sight which made his blood turn cold. I-Pin had hearts in her eyes, and nine pinzu on her forehead.

"She's activated the pinzu time bomb!" Tsuna said.

"The what?" Jake asked.

"She's got a crush on Hibari-san! Every time she sees him or gets REALLY shy, she does this!" Tsuna explained as the countdown went from nine to eight.

"I-Pin's heart pounding, heart rate rising…" She said as the pinzu shrank from eight to seven, then six, five, four, three, two, and just as it hit one, Tsuna threw I-Pin clear from the school and she exploded a few feet away.

"Well, you're good, but make sure you stay away from this place." Hibari said. The rest of the day was normal, and as the four boys went home, it was at the moment that Takeshi started to speak up.

"So, what's your story with that guy we met earlier?" He asked.

"That guy's name's Joshua, or Josh for short." Jake answered. "You might find this hard to believe, but, eight years ago, he was my best friend."

"Like the baseball freak and me are with the boss, right?" Hayato asked.

"Exactly. It sort of went bad two games before my knee got injured." Jake explained.

(FLASHBACK)

"Longterno." The coach said as he reached Josh's locker. "I need to talk to you. Alone."

"What's this about, Jake?" Joshua asked.

"Better do what coach says." Jake answered with a shrug. Josh just got up, and went to talk to the coach, who was sitting on the bench. A few seconds after, Jake followed them, and waited nearby.

"We found this in your locker." The coach said, as he began, and threw a pound of cocaine near his feet.

"That ain't mine!" Joshua yelled out. "I don't do this thing, coach!"

"That's right; there's gotta be a mistake!" Jake replied, as he came out.

"You do know this is against our code of conduct here." The coach said. "Look, I knew you were a bad guy, but I never knew you were this bad."

"This is absurd, coach. I was with him all night." Jake replied.

"I don't want to hear any more. Look, as far as this goes, start cleaning out your locker, Longterno. You're off the team." The coach said. He then turned to Jake. "What's the real story, Sawada?"

Jake sighed, knowing that Josh was going to hate him if he told the truth. But he did anyway. "Right before I slept, I saw him walk into our hotel room, and he had two bags of coke. He gave one to me, but I refused to take it. Then he threatened me, saying that he would tell you that I supplied him with the cocaine."

"Mmm… and you knew this was going on?" The coach asked.

"Yes." Jake answered. "A friend of ours got arrested for giving it to him in the first place."

"All right." The coach said. "Look, I don't like it, but you're still gonna play. Just pay more close attention to who your friends are."

(END FLASHBACK)

"That's what happened. I tried to apologize, but he would have none of it." Jake said, finishing his narration.

"Cousin…" Tsuna began.

"And then, he got injured, and I came to him, and told him about you." Reborn explained. "Of course, the Longternos are another major mafia family who want to knock the Vongolas off the perch, so you'll have to fight them."

"But this is Jake's problem, Reborn!" Tsuna said.

"Don't worry, Jake will fight with you, and you've got the others." Reborn replied.

'He's right.' Tsuna thought to himself.

Meanwhile, in a rented apartment, Josh Longterno looked out at the window. 'So old friend, you're on the side of the Vongola family. You're gonna realize that you made a big mistake.'

"Oy, boss." One of the Longternos, whose name was Salvatore, said. "What's our first move?"

"We strike next week. We make sure we eliminate the Vongola one by one." Josh answered.

"As you wish, boss." Salvatore said, as he walked out.

END CHAPTER

So, you're probably asking, who is this gang? Here you go:

Longterno Family: One of the most dangerous mafia families in Sicily, they have moved to Japan to further operations. It was started not long after the Vongola family started operating, and they have since considered the Vongola their most hated arch rivals. They deal in mostly murder, illegal arms dealing, drugs, internet fraud and gambling. They are also not afraid to use whatever means necessary to get a person to do whatever they want.