A/N BAM, Update!

We have some progression, though I hope you guys know to never expect a decent fighting scene from me (we are going to struggle through the ring battles).

I'll probably also mention my characters might develop out of character (or rather toned down e.g. Hibrari's violence, Takeshi's...ignorance whatever you want to call it and its fakeness, Gokudera's blatant devotion [and I say it has more to do with how he shows it than his outright loyalties], and Ryohei's uh excitement. Mukuro's still creepy, Chrome's still shy and Lambo's still a bit of a crybaby, though everything has been tweaked according to years gone by and the flapping of the butterfly effect of Tsuna) This stretches to all characters, as per the writer's mystic powers.

The title's a giveaway here for what to expect :D


~Chapter 11 – Sanguine Solstice

It was for her. Everything had been for her since the start.

Ieyoshi let out a wheezing breath, his entire body bruised, battered and hurt. "That's it for today," He father told him, towing over him untouched, and impassive, "You're getting better." There was approval in his voice, and maybe a little bit of pride if Yoshi really felt like dissecting the simple praise… he didn't. He growled and pushed himself up, resolving in his heart once more, never to become like the man.

Iemitsu was his, their father, in name and blood only. He was a good husband when around his wife, and a family man in public appearance but that was only for a fraction of a year, sometimes less. The rest of it Iemitsu was a mafiaso as cold-blooded as the rest, a liar and a killer; take your pick, he was still both to a fault. Honestly, Ieyoshi couldn't blame him. Well he could, and he had, but by now those feelings had long since faded. He had been all rage once, upset with no outlet like a simmering pot ready to boil over, and then with a simple phrase, his father had turned the metaphorical stove off.

"Protect your sister, Yoshi." And he would, better than his father who had so clearly chosen the famiglia over his family.

He was doing this all for Tsuna's sake. For his sister who he refused to let even step into these murky waters he was just about drowning in. It tasted like iron, chilled him right to his bones, and pulled at him with a vicious viscosity, but this is where he would stay if it meant Tsuna kept her freedom and her safety.

That day, like many others before, he dragged himself home. Dead on his feet yet still able to follow his father into the welcoming house. Mama was cooking something that smelt incredible, humming a gentle tune that brought back the warmth. The only thing, person, missing was his sister, and the smile she reserved for him that made this whole thing worth.


Tsuna was running, and had been for a long time now, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. She must have looked a mess, sweaty, untidy, her hair flying all about the place. In fact, she blamed her hair for blocking her vision when she eventually collided with someone. "Sorry." She shouted, quickly scrambling to her feet as she nervously looked around her. There were no cars in sight, but that hardly meant she was in the clear.

"It's my fault for not paying attention." The stranger replied loudly, helping her up with a firm arm. He was sturdy enough that he had barely stumbled when she had flown into him. If anything he was curious as to why she seemed to be running herself into the ground. "Are you alright?" He asked in concern, checking for any injuries.

"I'm fine," She took the time to catch her breath, all but freezing as she heard the sound of a car approaching, "I'm really sorry but I've got to go." Her words were hurried out as her eyes darted around. She could already see the ominous black van rounding the corner.

"Wait!" He caught her wrist, not allowing her to flee. He had about five seconds to realize his mistake, three of which were spent wondering about her identity before he noticed the gun aimed at him.


"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," She repeated lie a quiet mantra as the sound of footsteps faded away. The situation seemed bleak. She was tied up, trapped in a room of an abandoned building somewhere in Namimori, but the worst thing was that she had gotten a civilian involved.

"I told you its fine." The boy replied, his grin looking out-of-place on his injured face. His mind had all but given up on understanding his current situation and the fear had yet to truly set in. All he really knew right now was that bad guys happened to capture them and a cute girl was apologizing to him.

"It's not fine." Tsuna snapped, wondering how he could stay so positive, "Because of me…you…" She turned way, neither of them were a pretty sight after the men had landed a few hits. She felt terror creep into her mind but that was nothing compared to the guilt. He was wearing the same uniform as her, but as far as recognizing him went, she only drew blanks.

"I've been in more extreme situations," He assured having no trouble remaining optimistic, "We just have to wait for the police or something." She didn't want to tell him how unlikely that was, or that their situation could get a lot worse in a very short amount of time, but in the end she didn't have to.

"Don't say a thing," She whispered under her breath at the civilian, listening for the creak as the door swung open, and what appeared to be the kidnapper's leader stepped in.

"You are Ietsuna Sawada," He stated rather than ask, waving her student ID in front of her, "Really if you had just answered our questions there would have been no need for the rough treatment." She highly doubted his words, knowing that his men had enjoyed the feeling of hitting others from the smiles they had worn.

"W-what do you people want?" She asked, arms and legs tucked in, looking utterly vulnerable as she stared up at them with wide eyes. She would make sure she engraved all of their faces in her mind.

"I want to know about the Decimo," He began, "Who came to Japan with him? And where are they right now?"

"Decimo?" She feigned ignorance, which wasn't hard considering she only had a suspicion that it was mafia related, accenting the word heavily with a Japanese accent, "What is that?"

"Don't play dumb," The kidnapped clicked his tongue in annoyance, "You must know that your brother is to be Vongola Decimo." His words managed to surprise her as she put two and two together, no wonder it had sounded so familiar, though it led her to wonder about the man who should've already claimed the title.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," her voice rose in her panic, her speech full of stutters and stops, "Yoshi is just a normal student. He said he came back to Japan because he missed it." She hung her head low and her voice trembled. She was ultimately satisfied when the man's demeanour seemed to change.

"Then the rumours where true?" He said more to himself than her, "The head of CEDEF was really naïve enough to keep a civilian family?" She stayed silent, her eyes cast down, and he took it for confusion and fear. "I guess you're worth little more than a hostage, but it will do." He took one last disappointed look at her before leaving the room, letting her finally relax.

"What was he going on about?" the civilian asked shifting over to her.

"I promise to tell you if we get out of here," Tsuna replied as they sat back to back, feeling the ropes around her wrist tense as a sharp blade tore through them, "For now let's just worry about escaping." The small blade she had hidden in the heel of her shoe was doing wonders. Sure their hands were a little scratched up in the process, but they were free, and a moment later their legs were too. "Are you alright?" She asked again as she retrieved the measly knife, watching as he rubbed the red lines around his wrist.

"Yeah..." The white haired stranger had no idea if her act had been completely false, but right now she was calm and composed, quite the opposite of his own. buzzing feelings, "What should we do now?"

"I don't know." Tsuna, pressed her ear to the door, slowly turning the handle to find it unlocked. Leaving it closed she walked towards the window, disappointed to see they were somewhere on the third floor, "There are four men, including the leader and we can't go out the window. It's likely if we try and go through the door, that we'll run into at least one of them, and we know for a fact that they are all armed with guns." Unease began to grow inside her at the thought. She was fine with being beat up, okay with threats held at knife-point, but the moment she saw a gun she froze. She was supposed to have gotten over it years ago, but apparently that incident still haunted her. Tsuna was overwhelmed with the simple feeling of frustration.


"Just let me go!" Ieyoshi all but screamed at the man that was supposed to be his father. He had gotten the gist of the situation but what got to him the most was the fact they expected him to stand down whilst Tsuna was in danger. And oh God it was his fault, all of this was his fault. They should've never come back to Japan, never put Tsuna or their mother in danger, never been so greedy to assume they would be safe…

"You can't." Iemitsu repeated firmly, with hard eyes and words resounding with force. He knew exactly how his son felt, after all it was also his daughter that was in danger, but his mind was resolute. The safety of the heir came first before anything else and he only wished Yoshi would understand.

"If I don't go, and if you're here 'keeping me safe' then who the hell is saving Tsuna?" The boy shouted, sarcasm dripping off his words even in their desperation. He couldn't believe he was standing here arguing instead of raiding the kidnappers' hideout.

"Isn't it obvious?" A voice that neither of them particularly cared for, cut in, sounding both sharp and lazy at the same time. Reborn folded his phone shut with a soft click, rolling his eyes at the both of them. "I've already tracked down where they're hiding, and I hardly think that a handful of grunts could pose a problem."

"Take me with you then." Yoshi demanded, trying to get past his father.

"No," Reborn denied him instantly, "You'll just be a hindrance." He could have easily dealt with extra baggage, but it wasn't like he wanted to. The gears in his mind were turning and his idle thoughts and musings were becoming something closer to actual possibilities. Things could be a lot more interesting and he would not allow Iemitsu or his son to interfere.


"You really thought you could escape that easily?" One of the henchmen delivered a painful kick to the civilian who was already curled up on the ground. He had put up a tough fight but sadly that only made them angrier.

"Stop it already, it's my fault so hit me instead." Tsuna pleaded, trying to free herself from the uncomfortable hold of bruising hands.

"I'm fully aware it's your fault," Their leader said, playing with the knife he had snatched off her, "And that is precisely why he is taking the beating." He was annoyed he had fallen for her act, even more irritated that she had cut him, regardless of how shallow the wound was.

"Stop it." She begged, watching the boy cough up blood, "You'll kill him."

"So what?" He asked with bored eyes, "In the first place he was unnecessary. In fact…" He pulled out his gun, a simple revolver, and took aim.

"Don't!" Tsuna felt herself freeze as per usual and the world seemed to slow down. She remembered her childlike self, and the question that had gnawed at her mind years ago. Now being put in this situation she could clearly see her answer. She felt a burning sensation rise from inside her, sending her blood into a boil. She never heard the surprised shout from the man holding her as his burnt hands were forced to let go, her eyes focusing on the trigger as it was pulled. By the time he had fired her body had already moved.

"What the fuck, man!?" The civilian who had his eyes scrunched shut slowly opened them and was entranced with what he saw. The pain in his body became insignificant as he stared into warm amber eyes. Struggling to his knees he barely managed to catch her light body just as she fell against him, blood already flowing freely from her abdomen. His teeth gritted, grinded against themselves, as his shaking hands pressed themselves against the open wound. Her blood was hot, staining his hands red and assaulting him with the smell of iron, but he never even thought about lessening the pressure.

"You shot her…" One of the men uttered in shock. There went their hostage.

"I wouldn't have if someone had managed to hold her down," Their boss spat out, glaring at the offender, "Shit, we're so screwed."

"You couldn't have said it better." A dark voice commented, the deadly tone sending chills down their spine.

"Who the hell are you?" The suited stranger stepped through the door as if he owned the place, giving them a disgusted look as if he were looking down at bugs.

"Who cares?" There was no warning before he fired, a satisfied smile spreading across his face as he heard the screams, "You'll be dead in a second anyway."


Ieyoshi wanted to cry. From resentment of his inability to keep her safe, to self-hate at his weak and powerless self, and even sheer relief that she was still alive, her heart still beating in the same rhythmic pattern as his own.

"You healed her right?" He asked for the umpteenth time, never quite tearing his eyes away.

"I did what I could," The hitman replied with a frown, "Physically she's more or less healed, though she ought to be sore for the next couple of weeks." He didn't mention how the bullet wound almost cauterized itself with her flames, because he wasn't ready to deal with the mess that sort of info could cause. Nor did he tell the brat and his father how even before got to her, there were traces of Sun flames already lingering where the ashen-faced civilian pressed his bloodstained hands, the partially knit-together wound an impressive show of instinctual flame use and an awakened potential no one expected.

"Dammit." The boy cursed softly, hanging his head in shame and sinking into a feeling of futility. They had come here for his safety, but if that means Tsuna and his mother would be in danger, then he didn't want any of it. Too bad his father was too damn set in his beliefs. Although to his credit, one kidnapping was far better than several assassination attempts. He cursed again, louder this time, for rationalising Iemitsu's thoughts. "I need to return to Italy." He spoke aloud, more to himself than the hitman, "Go, and never come back…" And once he was rightfully the Decimo he would set up some protection for his family, something he wished their father had thought about earlier. The first step would be to find his guardians, though how he was expected to do so whilst in Namimori baffled him.

Reborn easily gleamed his intent off the changing expressions on his face, but hardly felt like telling the boy that by his count, Tsuna was more than halfway there.


A/N Thank you for reading,

I actually had various ideas of how to get Ryohei into the mafia (hint, that's who the unnamed civilian is guys), being a complete civilian, even more so than Takeshi (because man, his father had to pick up those sword skills from somewhere).

This was one of the more straightforward, thrown into the deep-end, options (rather than fluffing around in school and such).

There's also some more insight into Ieyoshi this chapter :) even if it's slightly angsty 'protect my sister' feelings.

Only two more guardians to go before the eventual Varia arc.