Back to the Xanxus-Tsuna interaction...sort of. This chapter also features a couple minor OCs that will show up every now then, but for the most part they just hang around in the background.

Xanxus is still upper echelon Varia despite his probation and he is also upper echelon Vongola because he is adopted by Nono. All this means is that he's twice as likely to be lacking in both common sense and decent courtesy among other things.

You get a super long chapter here because I didn't want to break this up. Regular short chapters will resume after this.

Warnings: Slight Animal Cruelty

Chapter 10: The Neighbor Is the Person Your Parents Usually Set the Police On

The little brat lived right next door. How hard could it be to catch him alone to give him something?

Very hard apparently.

When he headed off to school, he was always with either an entire group of neighborhood kids who were chaperoned by at least two adults and when he came back, he was either with the same group or with a young long haired brunette who could have either been his mother or older sister.

Being somewhere around four or five, maybe even six or seven if he was stretching it, Xanxus figured that he'd be let out earlier than the older kids and would probably be brought back to the same park as it was the closest one to their respective houses.

So he spent every afternoon and early evenings after all the local daycares and elementary schools had closed, hanging around the entrance way and watching the kids running around screaming their heads off or just lounging on the same bench where he had first met the little brat.

The wrinkled old fart who ran the candy store was still squinting suspiciously at him every time he showed up, but as he had his own stock of Frutips stashed away in his jacket at all times, Xanxus could derive some minor pleasure from eating it in front of her whenever he felt his irritation rising. How did she feel knowing that he was taking his money elsewhere? Serves her right for pissing him off.

But damn if his teeth weren't going to make him pay for this later. That brat had better show up soon. Preferably before he got a cavity because he was pretty sure no amount of candy was going to soothe his rage at getting one in the first place.

Over two weeks of surveillance tapes had been recorded and compiled for their boss until he had practically memorized the day-to-day schedule of one Sawada Nana and her young and only child, Sawada Tsunayoshi.

For Yamaguchi Souta, it was all he could do not to wince whenever Xanxus went out to stare at hordes of children from a distance for hours on end or lurk like a potential flasher in some hidden alley as he stalked the two person family around town until they returned to their house. After which, he would retire to his room to watch the screens displaying footage of every possible way of leaving the little house next door. It was almost like he was staking out a target for an assignment.

Yamaguchi had offered to do background checks and arrange for anything Xanxus wanted to be taken care of, but he really didn't want to have to do anything that would throw even more suspicion and attention on them. Murder and/or abduction was generally a good way to do both. Especially in a small town like this.

Xanxus didn't want that sort of information though for some reason. It seemed like this was something personal that he had to take care of himself. He was unusually stubborn and surly about it too, but just when it seemed like the volatile teen was going to lose his temper and be drained again, he'd pop another piece of that purple candy into his mouth and swiftly return to his room. However Xanxus managed to find it in the first place didn't matter so much as the fact that it was clearly working miracles.

Yamaguchi made sure to keep an entire cabinet constantly filled with Frutips and then doubly sure to make the others keep their speculations and theories quiet enough that it wouldn't come to Xanxus' attention.

Most of it was that Cupid's arrows had finally found their mark in his tiny, if not nonexistent heart, and Xanxus had somehow fallen in love with the seemingly single mother at first sight. That she was the one who had started his obsession with that delicious foreign candy. Everyone knew that he was also somewhat socially retarded and probably didn't know how to deal with his newfound feelings so he took to stalking her as opposed to trying to court her like a proper gentleman.

Yamaguchi wasn't so sure about that however. There was a reason he was in charge of the day-to-day runnings in this household and not one of the others. Because every time Yamaguchi followed the same path as that crimson stare, he noticed that it wasn't so much focused on the woman as it was on her adorable, sweet, clumsy, innocent, and five-year-old son. That gaze that held an intensity that he hadn't seen since before the incident that had led to Xanxus being cuffed.

That gaze scared him in ways that he didn't want to think about.

That poor, poor child. What must he have done in a past life to draw the attention of a demon like Xanxus?

It had been exactly seventeen days, twelve hours, and thirty-two minutes since Xanxus had begun his crusade to pay off his debt to the five-year-old Sawada Tsunayoshi. It was a long and tedious struggle though and he was getting tired of following them around constantly. Surveillance had shown that the mother was occupied with someone on the phone to whom she was cooing back sweet nothings to. Probably her out of town husband or some unknown lover.

Sawada was an interesting name, but a fairly common one here. The head of CEDEF had that same surname, but Xanxus didn't know if he had any kids, much less a wife. Come to think of it, the shape of little brat's hair tickled the faintest edge of a memory. Why was that? Where did he see it before? Who did it remin-?

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee!"

Xanxus paused halfway out the gate of the castle boundaries and-God damn it! Why the fuck was he still calling this place a castle?!

He tore his thoughts away to focus on the shrieks of terror that was coming from around the corner, easily masking the pounding of rubber soles on the sidewalk that was fast approaching.

Xanxus continued to stand there and watch as his target finally appeared. Shrieking at the top of his lungs and moving considerably faster than the first time he was seen running as he was being chased by a terrifyingly fearsome…Chihuahua…

The teen's expression never changed as he watched the boy trip over thin air, tumble head over heels like an acrobat, and finally hit the stone wall with a solid THWACK only to knock himself out right in front of leather booted feet.

The Chihuahua who had only wanted to play with her favorite human child whined as she pawed at Tsuna's prone body and tried to wake him.

Xanxus continued to watch them for a moment before he sent a sharp spike of killing intent at the tiny dog. She instantly froze and met his narrowed eyes with a bold look, lifting her lips in a snarl as she took a protective stance in front of the unconscious boy.

He intensified it in the hopes that the dog would get scared and leave before he decided to resort to other measures. Like booting her across the street.

She was clearly terrified, her eyes bulging and rolling as she trembled and began to froth at the mouth, but she refused to leave the brat alone with the threat.

Said unconscious boy woke up, took one look at the frothing wild-eyed Chihuahua and the glaring 'King' and passed out again with a quiet shriek.

Teen and dog spared the boy one glance before they went back to glaring at each other.

Xanxus bent down, snagging the dog by the back of her neck when she lunged at him, half in panicked terror, half in some desperate attempt to keep the bigger human away from her companion. He was close enough that he could read the name on the metallic pink dog tag hanging from the Chihuahua's green vine patterned collar. The kanji for Rosebud was engraved on it.

"Listen up you stupid little bitch. I need that brat for something right now, but after I'm done you can have your baby trash back. Alright? He'll even be in one piece and everything."

It was probably the nicest thing he had ever said to anyone including his father and brothers. Fuck. Being away from active duty was making him soft. But a little bitch like this clearly had more balls than a good two-thirds of the Vongola. It was almost admirable even.

Something in his tone or eyes must have reassured her, because she stopped growling at him and even tried to lick his hand. To which Xanxus responded by flinging her far away and grabbing the back Tsuna's hoodie to pick him up.

Rosebud landed with a yelp and scrambled back up as quickly as she could. She made it back just in time for Xanxus to close the gates right in her face. Unlike the one at the Sawadas, the base of the black gates here were filled with ornate curls and intricate swirls of metal. There wasn't enough room for her to squeeze through the bars like she usually did whenever she felt like going to anyone else's house.

The threatening human only spared her the briefest of sneers before walking away with her playmate in tow.

When Xanxus returned only minutes after leaving with an unconscious familiar little boy dangling from his hand like a dead body and a clearly agitated Chihuahua barking up a storm at the front gate, Yamaguchi could only do his best to keep his face stuck in his default expression lest the horror he felt would show and cause Xanxus to do something rash or stupid. Again.

Spying, stalking and now kidnapping in broad daylight. I know that you're Mafioso Xanxus but…

Going over and beyond extreme lengths to complete your mission no matter how minor. Is this what it means to be Varia Quality?

There were so many different title choices that I went through before settling on this one. These included The Neighbor is: 'A Creeper', 'A Kidnapper', 'A Stalker', and 'Suspicious' among others. I ended up using the 'all of the above' option.

OC Profiles

Yamaguchi Souta-The man who is basically in charge of running the Varia household in Namimori. He's about middle ranked, but loyal to Xanxus and higher up than the rest of the servants that are tasked with the upkeep of the tiny castle. He's a native Japanese citizen and thus knows the customs and culture better than the others so it's his job to keep them from drawing too much unwanted attention to the house's main occupant. Poor guy. This situation is really turning into more than he gets paid to handle.

Rosebud the Chihuahua- Really really likes Tsuna for some unknown reason and keeps sneaking into his yard to play with him. Seems to think that he's playing a game with her whenever he runs away. Tsuna has no idea why she keeps singling him out of all the other children, including her owners. She also seems like him better than her owners too even though they spoil her.