Chapter 9: The Cloud! The Revealed Truth!

"Took you long enough."

Tsuki ignored the bite in his tone, she sat down beside his head, lifting it and letting it rest on her thighs, "Thank you."

Xanxus didn't open his eyes when he replied, "The fuck are you on about?"

She pouted and began poking at his cheek, giggling when the older man grabbed her hand in annoyance. The younger of the two leaned down and pressed their lips together, pulling back before the man could deepen the kiss, causing him to open an eye and glare at her.

"I can't disintegrate things just by thinking it. I'm amazing, but not that amazing."

"Hn."

Tsuki raised an eyebrow when the older man continued to stare, "What?"

"Nothing," the Varia Sky replied, threading his fingers through her hair, he pulled her head down and reacquainted their mouths.

The gymnasium was silent as a grave after the young Sky left.

Hayato sighed and turned to the quiet hitman, "Reborn-san, Juudaime... she has a lot of secrets, probably more than that bastard over there," he said nodding at Xanxus' direction, "she won't talk unless you give her a reason too. If you want to know who she really is..."

"Trust and loyalty," Takeshi said, "Tsuki value those more than anything in this world. If you can give her that, there's nothing she wouldn't do for you."

Ryohei nodded in agreement, "Sawada doesn't give her trust so easily though, but she's an extremely smart girl."

Kyoya yawned, "The Small Animal knows bull when she sees one, no one can fool her. In every decisions and choices that she makes, there's always a reason for it."

"Bosu doesn't trust you, Sun Arcobaleno," Chrome blurted out, "despite all the times you guys spent together, she's never once trusted you. It's not because she doesn't want to, it's just that..."

"Kufufufu. Never underestimate the power of Vongola Hyper Intuition, combine that with her Woman Intuition, it'll be impossible to get past her defenses."

"Xanxus?"

Her voice pulled the Varia Boss out of his thoughts, he opened his eyes and was met by her curious gaze.

"Where did you go?" she asked, nuzzling her nose against his.

"Hn." He sat up and pulled her in his lap with her back resting on his chest, "Memory lane."

"Hmm?" She leaned her head back and ignored the mark the older man was slowly making on the junction between her neck and shoulder, she figured it was the least she could do after what he did earlier, and everyone already knows about their tryst anyway.

"Something about what your trash Guardians said," he grunted when the girl pulled away, leaning an arm back, he raised an eyebrow when she turned her head to face him.

"What?"

Xanxus smirked, "Hn."

"Xanxus," Tsuki whined when the man ignored her question in favor of kissing her.

"Well?"

"Bosu, you were right."

"As always, byon."

"Are we going to change tactics, Juudaime?"

Tsuki turned to them, "Iie."

Kyoya sighed, "You're going to make me hold back."

"Gomen, gomen. But it'd be a pain if you accidentally killed him. Just end it as quickly as possible."

Mukuro twirled his trident between his fingers, "Kufufufu. We're about to hit the climax of this game both you and Xanxus created. What happens after, Hime-sama?"

All heads turned to her.

"My main concern is what happens during this Conflict. What happens after... I'll leave that up to that person."

Takeshi whistled upon seeing the battlefield for the Cloud match, "This match's battlefield looks fun."

"This is the field for the Cloud Guardian's battle. The Cloud Ground," the Cervello announced.

"They extremely messed up the Sports Field."

"Che. They even have gatling guns."

The Cervello continued explaining, "The mission of the Cloud Guardian is to be aloof—a drifting Cloud whom cannot be bound. Protecting the Famiglia from an independent standpoint, and whom nothing can ever bind. Therefore, we have prepared the most extreme field for him. The field is surrounded on all sides by barbed wire, as well as eight automatic batteries that will shoot at any mobile object it detects within a 30M radius. Furthermore, there are countless pressure-sensitive mines buried underground, once activated, an alarm will sound followed immediately by an explosion."

"Kufufufufu. What a crazy battlefield."

"If you're scared, run away," Levi taunted.

"Why would we be scared?" Tsuki raised an eyebrow, "There's no point in that. Kyoya is our ace."

Xanxus' eyes narrowed dangerously.

Squalo looked at him from the corner of his eyes. This might get ugly...

"And..." sunset-amber eyes soften, "Kyoya's my strongest Guardian. He won't lose."

Kyoya smirked, "Hn."

7 years ago

Hibari Kyoya was a Carnivore, and everyone else around him, all of them are Herbivores, so it's his job to make sure that the precious place he grew up in will always be peaceful—by biting those who ruin the peace in Namimori to death. While he was making his rounds, his heightened instincts led him to where the trouble is, he expected to find the usual herbivores who never learned their lesson, but instead what he saw was far worse.

His eyes widen in shock at the scene in front of him. Growing up in his household, he thought he's seen all kinds of things, torture, discipline, punishment, his Carnivorous parents ensured that their heir will grow up with his eyes wide open to the reality of the world. But he was never prepared for this.

The small girl—and she was so, so small, was being held down by two men bigger than her, one was holding a knife to her neck while his partner was...

Hibari Kyoya, for the first time in his life, felt his entire body shake in rage, "What... are you Herbivores doing?"

The one holding the knife scoffed, "Kill the brat. We don't want him shouting for help."

The other man glared, "Why me? Why can't you do it? I'm busy here."

Kyoya's eyes narrowed at the foreign words being spoken. Italian...

The girl's eyes widen when she felt the knife leave her neck, "Please! Don't involve him! He has nothing to do with this!"

The man in front of her slapped her so hard, his hand left a glaring red mark on her cheek, "Shut up."

The eight-year-old saw red, "Herbivores who would hurt a girl... deserves to be bitten to death."

He charged towards the man making his way towards him, crashing his tonfa against his stomach, he jumped back to avoid the knife the herbivore slashed towards him, not giving him time to pull his arm back, Kyoya slammed his tonfa on the hand holding the knife, sending it flying out of his hand and breaking the man's bones.

"You fucking brat!"

The girl watched in awe as someone close to her age fought her assailants, he moved with such grace despite his young age with not a single move wasted. He's... amazing. She flinched back when the kid started making his way towards her, one look and she knew that those men were dead, and the fact that a kid killed them without any hesitation, didn't bother her at all.

Kyoya stopped right in front of her, staring down at her unique colored eyes, he took off the jacket he was wearing and threw it at her. "Cover yourself."

Her face turned so red, he was worried she was going to pass out.

"T-Thank you..." she muttered while putting the jacket on. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes at the unfamiliar scent that washed over her. Warm, he's so warm.

"Who are they?"

"I... I don't know... I... always don't know..."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow, "Always? This isn't the first time..."

The girl shook her head, "Iie... I've been attacked before, but this was the first time they managed to..." her cheeks turned redder.

Kyoya's fists clenched, "Did they...?" he let out a sigh of relief when the girl shook her head.

"Iie," she tightened the jacket around her, "you arrived before he could..." she looked down and bit her lip to stop the tears from falling. Her eyes widen when she felt a hand on her head.

"Small Animal..."

The dam broke, tears started falling from her eyes without a hint of stopping.

Kyoya watched as the Small Animal broke down, her small body shaking from the force of her tears.

"I... (hiccup) I... don't want this... I (hiccup) don't want this to happen again."

She looked up and grasped the hand on her head, "Please... I... I want to get stronger... I want to have my own strength..."

A hard look spread across her face, making Kyoya's eyebrow raise.

"I can't count on that person to save me, he will never come, the only one who can save me... and Okaa-san... is me. So please... please help me get stronger... I... I don't want to be so weak anymore!"

His eyes widen when her eyes began to glow, he felt something inside of him shift, he felt like he was being pulled by the strange orange glow in her eyes, "Who are you?"

"Sawada Tsukiyomi."

He smirked, "Sawada Tsukiyomi," he leaned down and grasped her chin, "from now on, you're going to be mine."

Tsuki's eyes widen, "Wha—?"

"Until you acquire the strength to break free from me. You. Are Mine."

Sunset-amber eyes hardened, "I'm not an object, Hibari-san."

The smirk on his face widen, "Hn."

"But..." she stood up and held his gaze, "if being yours means that you'll train me... then ok. I'll be yours."

Gray eyes and sunset-amber ones locked.

"But one day, I'll break free, and no one, no one will ever claim me as easily."

Tsuki raised an eyebrow when she caught the hard look that passed the Varia Boss' face. What's up with him?

"Tsuki, come on."

She shook her head and wrapped an arm around Takeshi's waist while her other one was wrapped around a still reluctant Cloud.

"Hibari! Fight!"

"Oh!"

Kyoya looked down and raised an eyebrow at the girl whose arm was still around him, "Small Animal?"

"I know you won't, but I'll still say it," she looked up and locked eyes with him, "don't you dare lose."

The Cloud grinned, "Who do you think I am?"

The younger Sky grinned back, she pulled away and watched as he began making his way to the battlefield.

Xanxus glared at the hand on his shoulder, "Scum..."

"Don't," Squalo glared back, "if you attack the brat, we lose, if you want to kill him, wait until the match is over, or better yet, let Gola Moska do its job."

The Varia Sky shrugged his hand off, "Hn."

Squalo breathed out a sigh of relief when his boss removed his hand from the inside of his jacket. Looks like I managed to stop him, still... he glanced sideways at the other Sky. I wonder if there's something going on between the brat and her Cloud, she doesn't look like the type to two-time though.

"Then we shall begin," the Cervello announced.

"The Cloud match, Hibari Kyoya vs. Gola Moska. Battle start!"

The back of Gola Moska's legs opened up, revealing two rockets hidden on each leg, allowing him to charge forward. Its fingers opened up as he charged, firing at the blank-faced teen.

"Kyoya must be really pissed," Dino commented as he watched the Gola Moska attacking his student, "the Gola Moska isn't even..."

Tsuki grinned when her Cloud ripped the robot's arm off with one swift hit of his tonfa, rendering the machine useless.

"In his sights," Dino finished with pride leaking out of his tone.

Both the Varia and the Cervello stared in shock as the teen pieced the two Half-Rings together.

Takeshi clutched his stomach, "Hahahahahaha."

"Oya? That was faster that I thought."

Hayato rolled his eyes, "What did you expect? He probably released all his irritation in that one strike."

Chrome, Ryohei, and Raven nodded in agreement.

Kyoya turned his head and gave the amused Small Animal a look, "Happy?" he asked sarcastically.

"Very," Tsuki replied with a grin on her face, "as an apology for making you go through such painful experience. After this whole thing is over, I'll fight you. No holding back."

Kyoya smirked, "I can't wait. But first..." he turned his head and looked at the Varia Boss, "the one sitting over there, come down here. You and I..." he raised his tonfas, "we have some business to attend to. Until I bite you to death, Monkey Boss of the Mountain Monkeys, I can't go home."

Levi's eyes widen, "What!?"

"Not 'what', Tako," Bel rebuked.

"Tako!?"

"We've lost this conflict," Lussuria said in a grim tone.

Mammon turned to the silent man, "What now, Boss?"

Squalo sighed in defeat, "There's no stopping him now."

His fellow Varia turned to him in confusion, before the Rain could say anything, his boss jumped up, heading straight for the teen who challenged him.

Kyoya smirked and jumped up, blocking the foot of the Varia Boss using a tonfa, said boss—using the tonfa—propelled himself up, back flipping in the air and landing on the ground, crouched down.

"My foot slipped."

"I'm sure."

Xanxus smirked, "No, really," an alarm sounded below him, he jumped to the side just as the mine exploded, "I was just going over to retrieve that piece of shit. We've lost."

Kyoya's face remained blank, "Hm? Your face tells a different story." He made his way towards the older man, stopping only a foot away, he smirked and said in a low tone, "You really think I'm going to give her to you? Monkey King."

Xanxus' fingers twitched as he glared at the smirking teen, "Scum..."

"Oi Xanxus! You can't raise your hand against him!" Squalo bellowed.

Levi gritted his teeth, "That brat is mocking the boss."

"Hold it, Sulky Face," Bel said.

"Sulky Face!?"

"We've already lost the battle, if we get into a fight, it'll be seen as mutiny against the soon-to-be Decimo, they'll have our heads along with the Boss'."

"You're saying we should just let that impudent brat do as he pleases?" Levi demanded indignantly.

"Well, he seems to be scheming something, our boss," the prince said, he turned his head to look at the silver-haired man, "Right, Squalo?"

The young Cloud smirked, "Heh, you won't raise a hand? I'm still going to bite you to death."

A hand grabbed his tonfa before he could attack.

"Kyoya."

Hayato's eyes widen, "Juudaime!"

"I didn't... even see her move..." Dino muttered, staring at the battlefield in shock.

"What are you doing?" Tsuki asked with an unreadable look on her face. Ignoring the stare of the other Sky, she kept her gaze focused on her Guardian.

Her Cloud shrugged, "Nothing. I was just telling him something."

His Sky rolled her eyes, "Don't think I didn't hear what you said. I don't belong to anyone, not to him, and not to you, Kyoya," she let go of his tonfa and gave him look. "Not anymore."

3 years ago

Takeshi stared in disbelief at the sight in front of him, "S-Sugoi... Tsuki..."

"She defeated the Skylark," Mukuro said with the same look on his face.

Ryohei watched speechless as his little sister threw the tonfa in her hand away. Both pre-teens were covered in sweat, bruises, and blood, their clothes had various tears here and there. The two had been fighting for almost half the day, their appearance matched those who just came out of a war alive.

Tsuki stared down at the Skylark lying on his back, "I won, Kyoya... I no longer... belong to you..."

"Wao," the Skylark closed his eyes and smiled. "You're free, Omnivore."

"I stopped being yours three years ago."

"What!?" Dino exclaimed in shock, he turned to her Guardians, "Those two were...?"

"Iie, iie, iie," Mukuro, Takeshi, and Ryohei denied.

"Umm... it's kind of complicated," Takeshi said sheepishly.

Mukuro and Ryohei nodded in agreement.

Kyoya smirked, "Hn."

Tsuki shook her head, "Stop suggesting that something's going on between us just to piss Xanxus off. You're going to make Chrome cry."

"What!?" the Cavallone Boss exclaimed again.

Chrome blinked, "Iie, Bosu. I'm fine. It's kind of amusing."

"Wait... was Boss..." Bel trailed off in disbelief.

"That's why he attacked!?" Lussuria exclaimed.

The young Sky looked skyward, "This is so not the time for this shit." Her eyes suddenly narrowed, "Kyoya."

"Hn."

The Cervello watched in confusion as the young Cloud started running towards the fallen machine without triggering anything, "What's—"

"Ah, those," Raven cut off. She raised a hand and showed the remote she was holding, "I deactivated everything after Kyoya won."

"Eh?"

Tsuki met his gaze and said, "First strike."

Xanxus smirked, "I thought so."

Kyoya's eyes narrowed when the machine's head looked up at him, "Useless." He began striking at the machine, ripping its other arm off, he watched in boredom as it stood, "You're wasting my time," with one final strike, he sliced the Gola Moska in half.

Dino's eyes widen, "Inside the Moska... that's..."

A gun clicked.

"It's not nice to point with that thing," Tsuki said, not bothering to look at him, "Reborn."

He ignored the sword and the two trident pointed at him, "What have you done, Tsukiyomi?"

The girl blinked, "Me? I didn't do anything," she turned to the grinning boss, "this is all on him."

Ryohei walked towards the field and kneeled beside the fallen body of Vongola Nono, "He's alive, he should be completely fine after I'm done healing him, but he'll need tons of rest."

Tsuki rolled her eyes when she saw the hitman watching intently as Ryohei healed the old man, "You really think Onii-san's going to do something?"

"You're his boss."

Tsuki's face turned impassive in an instant, "You seriously think I had something to do with this. You think I'm in cahoots with Xanxus."

Reborn stared back just as impassively, "Shouldn't I? You were quick to fuck him."

"O-Oi, Reborn—" Dino flinched when his ex-tutor turned his gaze on him.

"Be quiet. This has nothing to do with you."

"So that's your answer," she muttered. She shook her head and met her tutor's eyes, "I had nothing to do with this. If you don't want to believe that, suit yourself. I don't have to prove anything to you."

The Varia Boss' laugh resonated in the field, "I didn't know the so-called number one hitman in world was so easy to fool," he grinned as the hitman glared at him, "the brat had nothing to do with this. If anything, she ruined everything."

The hitman's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about?"

Xanxus continued to grin, "She ruined my plan."

"Voi, Xanxus, why the hell do you look so amused? You're plan fucked up," his right-hand man pointed out.

Dino was officially confused, "Plan?"

"The plan was for Juudaime to beat the Gola Moska until it breaks..."

"Killing Nono in the process..."

"With Nono's death by her hands..."

"Kufufu. Xanxus can kill her without having to worry about anything..."

"Since he'll be doing it an act of vengeance for his father's death."

Squalo's eyes widen in surprise, "You... how did you...?"

"The Small Animal told us. She knew everything, right from the very beginning," the Skylark answered.

Tsuki grinned, "Second strike."

Reborn's hand tightened around his gun, "You knew? And yet you still allowed everything to happen."

"I am curious though, Vasílissa," the older Sky ignored the look the nickname got him, "how did you know?"

"I told you last night that I also did my homework. After I found out that the Varia was on their way, I sent Ken, Chikusa, and Chrome to Italy to investigate. Imagine my surprise when I heard that you planned for a machine to be your Cloud," Tsuki smirked, "Gola Moska, I became curious, why would a man like Xanxus choose a piece of junk as his Cloud Guardian? At first I thought you did it to mock us, but then, you could always do that yourself."

Xanxus smirked, "Hn."

"So I asked a friend of mine what kind of a machine it was, that person told me that Gola Moska was a machine that requires a human life force that could use a strong Dying Will Flame to fuel it, otherwise it won't work. Now that really got my curiosity going, why would Xanxus need something like that? How would that benefit him? As strong as the machine is, if you don't meet its requirement, it's just a huge piece of junk. Unless, of course, you already had the means to meet the said requirement. A human with a strong Dying Will Flame, a life force that he wouldn't mind sacrificing especially if that life force belong to someone he despise..." Tsuki nodded towards the body her Sun was still healing, "Vongola Nono."

"If you knew all that, why didn't you say anything? You could have ended everything before it came to this, why didn't you?"

The Sky sighed, she turned to her lover and asked, "Would that stop you from your goal?"

"Iie," Xanxus scoffed.

"Thought so," she turned her attention back to her tutor, "even if I prevented this Conflict from happening, Xanxus would find other ways to become the boss, and that would be even more troublesome. It was better to play in a game where I have control than to play in one where he has all the cards."

"Tsuki, you put, not just Nono's life, but also your Guardians' life on the line, just so you could have a few cards to play?"

Tsuki glared at him, "Their lives were already on the line, Reborn. The moment you arrived in my life and told me that I was going to be the boss of fucking Vongola, our fates were sealed. They wouldn't have left even if I told them to. And as for Nono's life, what does that have to do with me? Xanxus kidnapped him, Xanxus was the one using him as a battery, Xanxus was the one who wanted him dead, not me."

"And you kept quiet about it! That's the problem, Tsuki!"

"Yeah, well, that's not my problem."

Reborn's eyes widen at her nonchalant answer, "What?"

"You, Iemitsu, hell—Vongola, how is it my fault you people were oblivious about everything? You always claim to be the world's number one hitman, Nono himself sent you to Japan to train me to be Decimo and yet, you immediately believed 'Nono's' letter. Iemitsu's the young lion of Vongola, the CEDEF's boss, Nono's external adviser and yet, he was so quick to believe that Nono suddenly changed his mind and decided he wanted Xanxus to be his heir after all. You and him didn't even find that a bit suspicious? After the shit Xanxus pulled eight years ago? You really believed Nono would suddenly name someone who staged a coup against the Family his heir? And how in the world did Vongola not know that the Nono they have was fake? If the Varia was able to attack Nono without alerting anyone, not even his Guardians, you really gotta tighten the security around him. You'd think they would have done that already after the whole Cradle Affair. So really, Reborn, you're blaming this on me?"

Xanxus stared at the young Sky with a mixture of desire and awe in his eyes, his subordinates were staring at her with respect, her family didn't bother hiding the smirk/grin on their face, Dino was staring at his little sister with a look of wonder, Raven was watching everything with an amused look.

"You knew about the Cradle Affair."

"Oi, you shouldn't extremely move yet."

Tsuki turned to Nono and nodded, "Aa."

"Ano... what's the Cradle Affair?" Dino asked, rubbing the back of his head.

Raven nodded beside him.

"Eight years ago, Xanxus led the largest coup d'état in Vongola history, the fact that it was led by Nono's son, the entire thing was treated with utmost secrecy, the only ones who know the truth are the Family's upper echelon and the Vongola's highest elite who fought in the battle, he failed though."

Tsuki shrugged at the scandalized look on Reborn and Nono's face, "Mukuro's really good at finding this sort of thing. He was more than willing to share this information after we sorted out our differences."

"Kufufufufufu."

Nono sighed and closed his eyes, "Reborn, none of this is her fault, the one at fault... was me..."

"Nono..." Reborn looked down and clenched his fist, "she's right though... we should have notice—"

"Iie, Reborn," Nono cut off, "I'm sorry... all of this happened because of my own weakness... my weakness that... allowed Xanxus to wake up from his long sleep..."

"What do you mean by sleep? After the Cradle Affair, Xanxus was cast out of the Family and kept under strict surveillance by the Vongola, wasn't he?"

Nono coughed, "Xanxus was stopped eight years ago... since then, he'd been asleep, while his hatred and his grudge grew to frightening proportions..."

Tsuki raised an eyebrow.

Nono began coughing.

"You really shouldn't be talking that much. You're wasting the Flame Onii-san used to heal you."

"Tsukiyomi, you hate me..."

"Not really. I don't care about you enough to actually hate you."

"That maybe so, but... I've always wanted to meet you, I've been hearing news about you from Reborn. I was as shock as he was when I found out that Iemitsu's information about you was wrong, but despite that, I still wanted you to be my heir."

"Not a wise choice I must say. I've said it before and I'm saying it again, I don't care about Vongola. You don't know me. The girl you named heir, she's not me, because as you can see, I'm not as innocent as you'd like me to be."

"I know that now. I know now how different you are, but..." Nono smiled, "I still choose you to be the tenth boss of Vongola."

Tsuki shook her head, "Careful, Nono, you might end up regretting that decision."

"If that happens. I'll blame no one but myself."

"What now, Tsuki?"

"Hm?" she turned to her tutor with a raised eyebrow.

"You can end all this now. You foiled Xanxus' plan. So what now?"

"You're leaving that decision to me?"

"Do whatever you want. My patience has ran out."

Dino and Raven's eyes widen.

"But you're still my student, so I will honor my promise to the ninth boss and not interfere with your battles. Having said that, Tsuki, you're not going to do it, are you?"

Tsuki smirked, "Why would I do something like that?" she turned and locked eyes with the Varia Boss, "Knowing how the Cervello's mind work, the Sky Battle will probably involve everyone, an all-out battle between us and them? Doesn't that sound fun?"

Xanxus grinned.

"I don't do things half-assed. The game's still on," the younger Boss declared.

"Shishishi. An all-out battle, the prince approve."

"A chance to have a rematch against you. It will be my pleasure."

"Haha. Hayato's sure fired up."

"Vooooi, brat! Don't think you'll be able to beat me again!"

"Oh, a rematch, that sounds fun!"

"Aa. I'm extremely looking forward to fighting you again, Lussuria."

"Kufufufufufu."

"Hmph, I'm not getting paid enough for this."

"Hn, I'm going to beat that brat again and show that I'm the only one worthy of the Lightning Ring."

"You'll be bitten to death before that happens."

"Bosu, everyone's all fired up."

Xanxus chuckled darkly, "Look at what you started, Vasílissa."

Tsuki gave him an amused look, "Don't act like you're not looking forward to it."

The older man shrugged, "Never said I wasn't. Cervello."

"Hai? Xanxus-sama?"

"Declare it," he ordered, gaze still focused on the girl.

"Hai. Then tomorrow night, will everyone please assemble at Nami Chuu? Tomorrow night's battle will be declared as the Sky Ring Battle."

Tsuki raised an eyebrow when the older Boss walked towards her.

"Tomorrow will be the final chapter in this happy comedy," he opened his palm in front of her, "look forward to it."

Tsuki took the Half-Ring with a smirk on her face, "Trust me. I will."

Xanxus smirked back.

"We have company" Xanxus grunted against her lips.

"Hmm," Tsuki moaned as she pulled back. Looking over her shoulder, she asked the expressionless hitman, "Aren't you supposed to be with Nono?"

"We need to talk."

She met the hitman's eyes and stared.

Xanxus watched lazily as the girl got off his lap, grabbing the Varia jacket he took off before standing up as well. He began buttoning his shirt while watching the student and tutor's staring contest.

"Brat."

Tsuki turned her head to him and blinked when her lips met his, she sighed happily before pulling back, rolling her eyes when the Varia Boss' eyes flickered to her tutor tauntingly, "Don't start. I'll see you later."

"Hn. Don't tell me what to do," the older man drawled, giving her one final peck on the lips, he smirked at the hitman before walking off.

"What do you want to talk about?" Tsuki asked the moment she was sure he was out of earshot.

Reborn continued to stare at his student with an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Reborn?"

"Why?"

Raven and Dino looked at each other in confusion before looking back at their former tutor.

"What are you talking about, Reborn?" the older of the two asked.

"Why did you give her your loyalty? After the whole stunt earlier, are you two planning on betraying Vongola?"

Raven shook her head, "Iie. The Vongola Famiglia and the Sinclair Famiglia have been allies since Primo's time, I don't intend to break that alliance. The Sinclair will continue to be their ally no matter who becomes Decimo. But... I will support Tsuki with whatever she decides, I'll stand by her even if she doesn't become Decimo."

"Me too, Reborn." Dino agreed, "You're asking us why? You already know the answer to that. Tsuki is your student."

"You know... it's not a sin to bond with a new Sky," Raven said, her eyes softening when she saw her former tutor freeze, "the more you try to keep her at arm's length, the more you try to reject her, the further you will push her away. Tsuki's not going to chase after you, she would never force you to accept her. That's the kind of girl she is, she won't act unless you give her a reason to, and you've never once given her a reason to, because every time you feel the warmth of her Flames, you run."

"Reborn, you're making both yourself and her miserable. You really can't blame her for not telling you anything. I'm upset too, I've lost count of how many times I've been surprised and confused ever since I met her," Dino shook his head in annoyance, "don't even get me started on her relationship with Xanxus. But the thing is, I may not know everything, all I know is that I trust Tsuki, I trust that she knows what she's doing, and that one day, she'll tell me everything. That's enough for me to stay loyal to her despite all her secrets."

Raven stared at the quiet hitman, "Is that enough for you, Reborn?"

The Sun Arcobaleno looked down, "Dame-Tsuki..."

Tsuki's eyes widen, "Reborn..." she muttered staring at her tutor in disbelief. "You..."