Hey guys!

New chapter in a week. I've tried my best. Hope you enjoy it.

Today is my birthday, could you please give me some reviews on what you think about the new chapters? Pretty please with cherry on top! They're great motivation.

No beta.

CHAPTER 12

A few weeks passed peacefully in the Mansion, or as peacefully as Vongola Mansion could get.

The staffs were informed about the new occupant and told to keep their mouth shut. They hadn't seen the teen yet, only knew that he was related to Giotto and would be treated as such. The Guardians were exceptionally tight-mouth about him. Some of the lower-ranked subordinates were curious and tried to sneak in the West wing- where most of the Guardians' private quarters, and the mysterious boy's, lied- to investigate but never got past Alaude's ever watching hawk-eyes or greeted by Daemon's gruesome Illusions. They were all sent back on their merry ways with several impressive bruises and crack ribs or severe trauma. Alaude and Daemon were extra hard on them this time. They all soon gave up in fear of their Boss' wraith and instead tried to gather what little information they had by gossiping. Rumors exploded around the Mansion. Everytime Giotto stepped into the main house, a wave of whispers and giggles followed his every step, at which point he just stopped and stared all his so-called subordinates and staffs into silence then shooed them back to work.

Giotto was beyond annoyed. However, he was also pretty impressed with how creative the rumors went.

Some said the mysterious boy was Giotto's illegitimate son, which was pretty close to what his Guardians had guessed. It was pretty much what anyone would detect first time laying eyes upon Tsunayoshi.

Others insisted that wasn't a boy at all but Giotto's secret woman, heavily pregnant with his child. Giotto had been hiding her all along in fear of assassination.

One maid sworn that Giotto was secretly gay and had been hiding a man inside his bedroom, and that she would support him unconditionally regardless of his sexuality. She said and he quoted "Man with looks like that is either gay or taken". This theory had amused him most so far.

One of his trusted guards laughingly said, maybe it was an alien Giotto came across by accident and had been experiencing on like a closet mad scientist.

He chuckled. Human imagination was limitless.

Nonetheless, as amusing as this went, he had to find a way to squad down to rumors soon. If words got out, he might put Tsunayoshi in grave danger, which was what he tried to avoid at all cost. He wanted to make sure the teen feel safe and at home. Giotto mused as he tried to come up with a plausible explanation for the brunet's striking resemblance to him.

Speaking of the brunet, he had been a little worry. Knuckle had said the boy's injury wasn't serious and checked for any sign of infection nevertheless. However, his immune system was messed up due to long-time malnourishment and exhaustion, which made Giotto wondered what kind of life he had led before. Anyway, he caught a bad case of flu and got bedridden for a whole week, most of which he spent sleeping. Even in sleep, the boy couldn't find his peace: every few hours the boy would wake up screaming and kicking because of whatever haunted him in his nightmare. As the boy struggled in his sleep, Giotto could only stand by the boy's bed, feeling helpless, ready to wake him up at the sign of a new nightmare starting. Fortunately, Giotto's touch seemed to have a calming effect on the boy. But it didn't work out as both Giotto and Knuckle had worn out by the second night and Tsunayoshi's condition seemed to worsen. Also Giotto had his armful with his Boss' duty and Knuckle with his Church. All his other Guardians were occupied and couldn't watch over the miserably sick brunet. In the end his Sun Guardian had to slip the boy some sedative so that the teen could get some proper rest.

By the end of the second week, his health showed sign of improvement as he was finally able to keep down solid food, which was such a feast according to the priest. He was awake and lucid at least half of the times he visited. Knuckle also reported that brunet could finally stand up by himself and made a small journey around his new room. Tsuna had gotten used to Giotto and Knuckle by now. He took to Giotto's present like a duck to water, soaked up every moment Giotto spent in his room. Giotto's heart just warmed and melted at this and he made an effort to visit the younger boy as much as he can, bring him some books and board games so he wouldn't be too bored stuck alone in the room.

His Guardians made their appearance now and then. Most were Alaude's, surprisingly. G came close in second place followed by Asari's visits. As for Lampo and Daemon, he was lucky that if they even swung by once. They had proven him wrong by visiting the brunet twice, each.

As the boy got better and allowed to get out his bed, he began to wandering around. He was glad his Guardians had made a notable effort to get to know the brunet. They seemed fond of him, though, especially Alaude considering the little affectionate gestures he had been showering the teen. Hah, he always knew his aloof Cloud Guardian had a soft spot for cute little fluffy things. That or human with face looks like his. At which he blanched and shuddered.

Knuckle was kind and unusually gentle to the boy. G only grumbled and growled in the boy's present, but Giotto knew he just tried to hide his fondness. No one can resist the Sawada's charm after all. Asari and the teen got along just fine, found mutual interest at their shared heritage. They can be found conversing deeply or hunching over the Go board in several occasions. Lampo hang out with him sometimes in the backyard or just showing him around the Mansion. He was also responsible of informing the staff in the Mansion about Tsunayoshi's new living arrangement. Daemon, being who he was, just creep the hell out of the poor brunet every time he appeared, chuckle darkly and left behind ominous comments. However, that was how Daemon normally showed his affection.

They couldn't help it. Somehow in such a short span of time, the young boy had them wrapped around his little fingers, especially Giotto. The boy was like the cute baby brother he never had, which was irony. Technically the boy was his half-brother on name now.

One night, as he finished his work early, the young Don dropped by his new charge's room for a bit, watching him slept on peacefully for the first time in several days. The brunet was on his stomach, one arm fold under the pillow, his other arm sprawled across the bed sheet. His face turned to one side, mouth parted slightly in even breath. He moved to the side of the sleeping boy's bed, pulled up the cover to the his chin, tucked him in carefully before brushing his fingers into the boy's soft brown hair. His lips curled into a gentle smile as the boy's mirrored his in his sleeps.

As for Tsunayoshi, he was really confused and untrusting during the first few days. He tensed up every time someone stepped into his room, instantly went into defensive mode and only let some of his guard down around Giotto. It was understandable, considering he was alone in an unfamiliar place full of strangers, with no memory to call his own but his name. He was faring quite well in Giotto's opinion, seeing just how well and quickly he made acquaintance with all of his Guardians. He also took the news about him being Giotto's half-brother in strides. Quite a force to be reckoned with, actually.

He had talked to both Knuckle and Daemon about the boy's mysterious case of amnesia since he had suffered no injury on his head. Knuckle had pointed out it had something to do with mental trauma. Daemon tried to coax his memory back with his Illusion. However, it didn't go well as the boy passed out from pain and woke up catatonic for half a day. Later, Giotto forbade him from trying again. Daemon responded with a dramatic pout. Giotto reminded himself to keep an eye on his Mist Guardian just in case.

Giotto came to a conclusion that it was due to the glitch happen while he was "time-traveling". The other him- Primo had also confirmed his suspicion as they spoke in many of his dreams-but-not-really-dreams.

"I also think that was the case. Tsunayoshi wasn't in the coffin when you found him. It wasn't according to my plan at all. The coffin served as his protection from any side-effects time-traveling may cause and it was meant to be opened by you. I think something went wrong and tossed him out of the coffin prematurely, shrunken his body and wipe his mind in the progress. We were lucky he wasn't turned into an infant."

"Shrunken? Does that mean he is not really a teenager?"

"Not at his timeline, I suppose. He was somewhere around your age, I'm not sure. Time is very different in the Ring."

Giotto nodded as he chewed his lips, trying to process this new information. If he wasn't a teenager mentally, he would have to approach him in different methods.

"Speaking of time-traveling, how did you even manage such a feast in the first place? I know you said Vongola Rings are powerful and all, but even miracle has its logic."

Primo sighed Giotto's little suffering sigh as if he had expected him to eventually blurt out this question.

"It's hard to describe but the Rings, they… sort of create this medium axis which is separated from space and time. We just call it N-Zone. There isn't much in there. Only us, the resident spirits and some kind of windows represent many timelines. The timelines go as far as the existence of Vongola Rings, started from the moment Talbot gave you the Rings. I was created shortly after. As for how I brought Tsunayoshi here, we- I used the Sky Flame to create a portal through N-Zone, straight from the window of his timeline to this one. The coffin was used to protect him while going through N-Zone, since he wasn't a spirit."

Giotto stared at the other him with wide eyes and open mouth. Primo stared back coolly, equally unimpressed.

"That was… impressive. So time-traveling is a thing now? Is this only like… a vacation or something to him?"

The other him shook his head at this "No, we- I can only do it once. The Flame it took to bring him here was enough to blow up a whole country to cloud nine."

"He can't go back?"

"He can't go back unless someone back there finds a way to bring him back."

"SO theoretically, he might stay here, at my timeline for the rest of his life?"

Primo looked at him oddly, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle.

"What's wrong, Giotto? You don't like Tsunayoshi?"

"No no, I like him. He is a good kid. I just… I just start to think that maybe it's a good thing he doesn't remember."

"Why?"

"It'd be a fresh start for him if he stays for good. Less pain, less misery. Trust me. I have seen how bad his nightmares were some nights. I honestly don't want him to live through them when he is awake, too."

They stared at each other as Giotto faintly heard the sound of his name being called again, probably by G.

"Maybe you are right. Maybe this is just what he needs."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"What do you do for a living, Giotto?"

Giotto glanced over his files at the brunet on the opposite couch. His complexion looked better and much healthier than the first time they met. He had also put on a little weight. His cheekbones didn't stand out as prominent as before. He was also given some clothes that actually fit: some button down light color shirts and some pair of slack. He looked well-rest and comfortable, if not a little bit thin. Giotto gotta talk to Knuckle about the young boy's diet soon.

A small blush color his pale cheeks as their eyes met. It occurred to Giotto that Tsunayoshi didn't expect himself to blurt out that question. The teen played awkwardly with the little ribbon of a book he was reading.

The last couple of week had Giotto observed the young boy closely. He faintly remembered how they had met, how scared he had been then but still tried to keep such a brave face. He had admired him then, seeing how much strength the small boy possessed despite the fragile and innocent look.

"Well?" the boy inquired, an eyebrow raised questionably.

Giotto suspected the boy already had a hunch of who he was and just trying to confirm it.

"I told you before, remember? We are all businessmen…"

"That do you sell then?"

"Whatever sold well, mostly furniture or such: wool, rugs, porcelain, silverwares,… the whole nine yards." Giotto had a whole meeting with his Guardians just to discuss whether they should tell his new "brother" about their involvement with underworld. The result wasn't pretty. All his other meetings had to be held somewhere else while the main meeting room was being rebuilt.

"Couldn't you come up with something more convincing?" the boy scrunched his nose distastefully "Furniture doesn't bring this kind of money and respect."

"What do you think I do then?" Giotto wove his fingers together, curious at what the boy had to say.

"You are a mafia boss."

Giotto laughed, amused. The boy looked dead serious and so sure of himself as if he didn't just blurt out something which half people heard would question his sanity, the other half feared for his life. He wondered how the boy clued everything together that fast those. It'd only been like half a week he was up and about, plus he never left the Left wing, only ventured a couple of times to the garden. Giotto also took care to order the other subordinates away from this side of the Mansion. Did he have mafia boss aura ooze out of him or something?

The boy, however, didn't look amused.

"You and your friends don't look like business partners." The small stared him down coolly, as if daring him to deny "It's something more. They look at you like soldiers look at their general for orders. They look ready to follow you into war, Giotto. This show of loyalty, this chemistry, I know. I am familiar with it. Call it a hunch or something, but I know you are telling me less than the truth."

It was actually too little to clue things together, and the boy he had amnesia to begin with. Was it possible that Tsunayoshi actually had connection to some mafia boss, knew the inside of a mafia organization well enough to pick up the signs of a mafia boss? Or maybe he could even be a mafia boss himself, hypothetically speaking Vongola lasted longer than 2 generations.

He never had the chance to ask Primo-the other him. The man was always tight-mouth about anything future-related. Couldn't believe they were the same person, the other man was way too uptight.

Nonetheless, the man sure had implied more than once that the brunet is someone important to Vongola. So presumably, whatever got the boy running away had to be Vongola-related. And if the boy was one of his successors, a "Vongola Boss", this whole mess might have started from some major screw-up. The boy was brave. He didn't believe someone like him would choose to run away from anything other than guilt.

Agh! He needed more information. The other him had to learn to be less cryptic and more helpful.

"And even if it's the truth, and I didn't say it was, what would you do?"

"I want to be part of your Famiglia."

Okay, that wasn't what he had expected. But the way the young boy tossed his words out irked him just a little bit.

"Why? It's dangerous! Mafia is not something to joke around."

"So you're saying you are mafia now?"

Giotto slammed his hands on the table between them, the loud noise made the young boy flinched visibly much to his satisfaction. However, the boy stood his ground, stared back at him stubbornly.

"Don't toss something like joining mafia around so casually like that. This is not a game, there is no winner and loser. You are still a child, Tsunayoshi. Don't you want to enjoy a normal, safer life? Your parents would want it for you."

"I never want to be part of mafia if I have a choice. But I'm already involved" Tsunayoshi stated, slowly and carefully "the moment you brought me to a mafia Mansion, Giotto. It's all about blood in the mafia. Do you really think that I can just hide out in your Mansion, dreaming about a "normal life" when you already declared that I am of your blood? Be realistic, Giotto. Use your head to think."

"Tsunayoshi!"

"It's Tsuna!" And now he was yelling at him, shot up from his place on the couch to try to match him in height. Sadly, he barely reached the older man's shoulders.

"Don't you understand? I just want to help. I really like you and your friends, Giotto. You take care of me while nobody gives me a glance. You give me a roof over my head when I have nowhere to go. I can help. I don't wanna be treated like something fragile and breakable. I'm not weak as I look."

"And I just want you to be safe."

"That's not your decision to make. It's my…"

"Ahem…" Someone cleared their throat loudly from the direction of the door.

"G." Giotto nodded, regained his posture quickly and dusted some imagine dust off his slacks.

"Something comes up. I need to talk to you."

"Ok. Just a sec." He turned to the youngest occupant in the room "Stay in your room, Tsunayoshi. We are not finished."

Just as the door closed behind them, Giotto heard a loud 'thump' of something hitting wood followed by a muffled yell "It's Tsuna".

"Teenagers."

G gave him a side-eye glance.

"Okay, okay. Maybe I am being a little bit childish but he started first."

His best friend snorted "What are you two? Five"

"You're dead wrong. I'm six. He's five." He deadpanned.

The other huffed a laugh just as they rounded the final corner head to his office. His best friend's antics never ceased to amuse him.

"It's not a smart move to tell him to stay in his room, ya know? Did you ever listen to a word I said when we were his age?"

"You are not my mom."

"Point. You are not his dad. He can make his own decision."

"I just want him to be safe!"

"By lying to him? Keep him under wraps and bubbles? Keep him confined in his room. If he is anything like you, this would not end well. I warn you." Giotto winced. Yeah, he had a valid point.

The trusted right-hand man kept silence as his best friend raging war in his own head. Giotto had never changed since the faithful day they met. There were always two sides of him that clashed. He was warm-hearted, kind and loyal to a fault. He loved strongly and protected what he loved with everything he had. At the same time he was brave, strong-will and charismatic. He was willing to take risks for better good. He ruled his own kingdom with an iron fist. This was what had brought Vongola to its glory these days.

Tsunayoshi, his supposedly half-brother, was similar to him in many ways. Just a few weeks under the same roof, G and his fellow Guardians all picked up some traits in the young boy fit to those of a leader. He was resourceful, calm and collected. He was mature, a little too mature sometimes. The little tantrum he threw today was the first time G saw the boy acted his actual age. He was a natural observer, notice single details as he spoke with others. Entering a new room, his eyes would unconsciously dash around as if to look for any possible ways to escape. He was a charmer at heart, easily won over every single staff he interacted with. He was kind and gentle at soul, much like Giotto himself, seeing just how much he fussed over his wounded friends in plenty occasions. Their heart melted as the boy greeted them with bright little smiles like they were his whole world.

However, he also noticed the differences. Giotto was playful and a little childish where the younger boy had snarls and bites to his words and the sass level of a master. It was as if the boy had dealt with bullshit and nonsense his whole life.

"Is this what you want to talk to me about?" Giotto inquired, having given up on dealing with a moping teenager.

"What? No! However, what I want to discuss with you does concern Tsunayoshi." G said, flipping quickly through the multiple files on his arm until he find the one he needed. "Words has gotten out, Giotto. I don't know how but at least half the mafia world now knows about Tsunayoshi. He can't really lay low anymore, Giotto. It's time we made it official."

Giotto massaged the bridge of his nose as he groaned.

"They want to know if you're gonna name him your heir. The rumors apparently have reached Ricardo. He's probably throwing a fit somewhere. I could imagine he won't like the competition."

"There won't be any competition."

G glanced up from his file, clearly startled. "What?"

"Tsunayoshi can't be my heir."

"But… he is your brother. Don't you want him to follow your ideal? He will be a great leader."

"G, you know I have never wanted to be part of mafia, let alone the head of an entire underworld organization. You can't expect me to do this forever."

"I thought…"

"I just wanna to marry the girl I love, build my own family, living a completely normal life. I…"

"You want to move back to Japan" Giotto nodded, slow and sure. G knew him too well.

"And with Tsunayoshi in the picture, I even want it more. This is not only my chance to get out, but also his."

"What about Vongola? What about us?"

"It's your choice, G. I don't wanna force you into anything."

"Giotto."

Just as Giotto moved to speak again, a shrilly noise pierced through their ears, sound dangerously like what Daemon had created to notify the other Guardians when the need arised.

"Intruder alarms." G cried out, hands covering his ears.

"Tsunayoshi!" Both man shared a brief glance as they both moved to the door, faster than one could blink.

They all ran out, joining their panicked subordinates and fellow Guardians to the source of noise, praying what they feared stayed, a fear.

End of chapter~