Chapter 10: old friends

I wonder what I gave to Zero… or what the future me gave to Zero… or what I will give to Zero in the future… past? I don't get it! Tsuna fretted while he walked to school. It was just yesterday when he arrived in the strange room filled with huge piles of paper, which gave him a foreboding feeling, and saw the picture. The picture alone was enough keep Tsuna awake for the whole night, why would anyone discard a part of a picture anyways, but the object that the future him gave Zero gave him a rather… ominous feeling. Tsuna felt a bit weak. Maybe because I didn't sleep, the teen mused.

How is Zero able to keep calm after this anyways? Tsuna wondered. Estraneo Zero was the definition of 'weird and yet normal' to Tsuna. She was, amongst his friends, the least violent one and the one with the most common sense… or the least, as her common sense was weird. Who creates a mafia Famiglia when they are ten anyways?

O right: Zero…

Tsuna sighed when he realized that he was surrounded by weirdoes. Why couldn't his life has been more normal? A life without mafia-business and crazy baby-hitman-tutors, crazy people and weird skull marks on his hand… Wait what?

BOOOOOM

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" I shouted as the explosion woke me up. I hurried out of my bed and ran to the most explosive place in the house: the basement where Seth mixes his explosive liquids.

"What happened?!" I shouted in horror when I reached the room where Seth was in, not only because of the explosion, but also because of the scene I saw. The usually green walls were covered in dirt and Seth was most likely unconscious next to his cauldron, covered in burn wounds.

"CHRIS! COME HERE!"

"Eh… Zero, do you know why Joseph is like… this?" Chris asked nervously as he treated Seth's wounds. The said man kept silent as Chris worked and was emitting killer intent for an… unknown reason. His hazel eyes behind his reading-glasses turned to our direction. The evil glint in his eyes was even visible from behind the glass.

"I haven't got a clue… maybe he's on his period…" I joked, trying to lighten up the heavy mood. But it didn't work… damn I think I made it even worse.

"Well… I'm off to school." I said when I sensed his anger intensify. Sorry Chris, you will have to handle this on your own. There is no way that I will confront a man on his period!

"Wait boss." Seth said. I froze, I was so close to the door. I sighed in defeat and turned around to the killing intend-emitting man. If something happens… I will run away, I thought as I was trying to find the fastest way out of the basement.

Seth stood up and walked to us. He squatted in front of me to properly look in my eyes and grabbed my shoulders. His hazel eyes burning in my own eyes, frightening the hell out of me with their intensity.

"Y-yes uncle Seth?" I said as I put on my puppy eyes and a hesitant flower-smile in the hope that he would spare me from… whatever he was planning.

"You should stay home today… a troublesome person just arrived in Japan." He said with an angry and yet calm tone. I wonder who the troublesome person is and why he made Seth like this, but… No matter how troublesome this guy may be, I need to get away from this maddening pressure… So I ignited my mist-flames, created a wall of real illusions between us and ran away like the devil was chasing me.

"Bye!"

"Don't leave me with him!" Chris shouted in despair.

"Kufufufu, sorry uncle Chris!"

Class was over in a breeze, but I didn't want to go home yet. Uncle Seth is… I didn't want to think about what would happen if I went home. What made him so angry anyways? Uncle Seth was always the calmer one of my uncles…

Never make a calm person angry as the calm ones are the scarier ones, I frowned.

"Hey midget, where is Juudaime?" Gokudera asked.

"I haven't got a clue Gokudera-san, and I kind of have my own problems here." I sighed.

"What kind of problems?" Yamamoto asked with a small smile on his face which did not reach his worried eyes.

"My uncle is acting like a woman on her period. And I don't want to go home yet." I answered. Both Yamamoto and Gokudera gave me a confused look and decided to not ask me about it.

"Zero-chan?" Kyoko asked.

"Yes Kyoko-san?" I asked with a small smile when I turned around to face the smiling girl.

"Do you want to go to the new cake-shop with me? Hana-chan refused to come along." She asked. A spark of hope ignited and my smile widened at my savior.

"Yes!" I jumped at the chance to escape Seth. Sorry Chris… you're on your own for a little bit longer…

"Choo" The grey haired man sneezed. He immediately froze afterwards and carefully looked in the room where the devil himself was mixing… ominous looking green liquids in a big black cauldron. Please come home soon Zero, he thought as the brunet turned his murderous gaze in his direction.

Please, before it is too late.

"Hmm, Kyoko-san… why are we at Tsuna-san's house?" I asked when we arrived at the said house.

"Well… Tsuna-kun didn't join the boxing club, but my brother wanted to give him his books about boxing. We will go to the shop after this." She smiled while she peeked through the open door. I shrugged and wanted to look through the open door too, but I felt my phone vibrate.

'Buon giorno'

'Where. Are. You.'

'H-hello uncle Seth… well… I'm bringing my ill friend some… material?'

'Come home as soon as possible boss, the person I mentioned is in Nanimori'

'I-I will be back as soon as I delivered the stuff then…'

"ROARRR PROTECT KYOKO-CHAN AS IF I WERE TO DIE!" I heard Tsuna roar. I peeked in the house in curiosity.

'What was that boss?'

'Hmm, I guess that Tsuna-san just stripped in front of people… again. And I wonder who that man is…'

'That man you're talking about… is he a doctor?'

'…He looks like one'

'Boss. Stay away from that man, he is dangerous. I'm coming. Stay there.'

"Hello? Uncle Seth? Hello…" He hung up, I frowned. And what did he want me to do? Stay or get away from here?

"Sorry Kyoko-san my uncle just called me, so I can't come with you…" I apologized as soon as she walked out of the house.

"It's fine Zero-chan, next time maybe..." She said smiled. I nodded and waved as she left and waited next to the door when she was out of sight.

"Ah, Zero-chan?" I looked up.

"Hello Bianchi-san."

"What are you doing here?"

"Hmm, I'm waiting for my uncle to pick me up… he told me to stay here."

"Come in then." Bianchi offered with a small smile.

"But I have to stay away from that man." I muttered.

"Don't worry, I won't let him touch you" Bianchi smiled. I hesitantly smiled back and followed her inside. "Are you hungry, shall I make you something?"

"Kufufufu, no Bianchi-san, I didn't skip a meal this time so I'm not hungry. But thanks for the offer."

"Ah, who is this cutie here?" the man with the same hairstyle as Gokudera asked. I raised an eyebrow, did he just hit on a ten years old?

"None of your concern pervert." Bianchi snarled.

"Aww Bianchi-chuun, don't be shy." I could swear that I heard something snap. But it wasn't Bianchi… I froze when I recognized the killing intend from the hall.

"Keep your hands off Zero, pedophile." Chris threated, but it was the other man who made me freeze in fear.

"It has been a long while Trident… now stay still so I can actually kill you." Seth said eerily calm while he walked in and picked a few vials from his belt.

"Uncle Seth? Do you know this man?" I asked confused.

"I regretfully admit that I knew him boss, he was the one who got me in debt by the Estraneo… by cheating on all the female scientists and pinning it on me." He said in a dark and eerily calm tone.

"I-it's nice to see you again too Joseph... H-how about a reunion hug?" the man tried to calm him down. But it made him angrier instead.

"Chris, please restrain him." I ordered the man who was still standing in the hall. Chris nodded, but restrained the man instead of Seth. I sighed before I tried to keep Seth killing the doctor, but it was too late as Seth threw some of his vials with a new kind of dangerous looking dark green liquid at his head.

"Hieee Zero-san since when were you here?"

This is going to be a long day, I thought as the vials broke and a huge green explosion followed.

"Excuse me, I need some bandages fo- never mind" I immediately turned around when I found out who was standing in the nurse office of Nanimori middle school. I just needed some bandages for someone who accidentally cut her hand during home economics, but I didn't expect Trident Shamal to be the new head nurse. The man who was almost killed by uncle Seth not too long ago.

"Wait!" I froze.

"Aren't you the Estraneo Primo?" he asked. "The one that Joseph is taking care of?"

"My uncles told me to ignore pedophiles… and to hurt them when they get too close." I hissed when I turned around. "And it is the Neo Estraneo!"

"W-wait stop! I-I just wanted to apologize to your uncle, but he never gave me a chance to… Please help me with apologizing!" he pleaded.

"Why would I? You kind of threw him in the hands of the one of the most cruel Famiglia's in the mafia history… give me a good reason why I should even think of helping you."

"Because Joseph is… was my only real friend and I never meant to throw him in their hands… And it was a misunderstanding! I wasn't flirting with all the female scientists, I was just trying to get information about my next patient…" he continued. I raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Patient?"

"Welcome back boss" the brunet said while he was reading the newspaper. "Did you know tha- And what is that doing here?"

"Hmm… uncle Seth? Please hear this man out." His boss, a small girl asked as she walked in with doctor Shamal. Joseph narrowed his eyes behind his reading glasses when he saw the man walking in the living room.

"No." He stated. He would never forgive that and if possible he wanted to never talk to it again.

"Joseph… please." The other man pleaded as he ran his hand through his dark brown hair. Shamal looked at his fr- former friend as he was glared at and tried to not look away at the hate he saw. He clenched his sweaty hands into fists and tried to calm down. Tried not to fall apart at the pressure.

"There is nothing to say here. Leave this estate immediately. No leave this continent." Shamal looked away from the other man who pushed his glasses up. It was a sign that his former friend was running out of patience. Maybe I should give up…

"Uncle Seth… give him a chance." Zero stated as she stared at the green floor. Earning two surprised gazes. Both the men didn't expect the girl to defend the doctor.

"Boss…"

"Please uncle Seth. Please give him a chance to explain…"

"But."

"Please uncle Seth…" She looked up at the older men, who were staring at her, with a sad smile. They both noticed the emotion that flashed in her eyes… Nostalgia? But as fast as the emotion appeared, it disappeared. Making the men wonder if they imagined the sad look.

"He was once your friend, a friend you haven't seen in years… please give him a chance. You never know when you will never be able to meet other again and you might regret that."

"…" Joseph looked at the young girl in confusion. She was clearly talking about them and yet he got the feeling that she was talking about someone else too. About herself…

"Please begin Shamal." Zero gestured to the other man before Joseph got the chance to ask the girl.

"A-around ten years ago I was offered a job by an unknown company. I was led to their base and they told me what the job was… but the only thing they told me was that my patient was a young girl who desperately needed a doctor and that the pay would be great… I should have suspected something back then, but I didn't." Shamal frowned at his own naivety.

"I foolishly accepted the job and started with information gathering. I asked everyone I could find, even the men, but I couldn't find any information… And at the day that I would have begun the job I was summoned by the Vongola. The Vongola Nono was in a critical situation and they desperately needed me at their base. That is why I asked you to take over the job for a few days, but when I returned to the base… it was abandoned. I couldn't even find a single clue about your whereabouts. Using some of my contacts, I later found out that they were the Estraneo Famiglia."

"And you never found out that they were the Estraneo before?" Joseph snapped at the man. He perfectly understood that the Estraneo was undetectable if they wanted to, the members were geniuses after all. Mad scientists, but still geniuses. But he didn't believe that his former friend was stupid enough to accept a shady job like that.

"No"

"Bu-"

"Uncle Seth… If you should hate anyone here, it should be me…"

"Boss?"

"The patient he was talking about… is me."

"WHA-"

"Please let me explain!" Shamal pleaded. Joseph looked at the man with hesitation showing in his eyes, in a way he wanted to believe his former friend and his current boss. In a way he wanted to believe that whatever the Estraneo told him was a lie, but after listening to possible lies all these years, he didn't know who or what to believe anymore. And yet he really wanted to believe his… friend.

"…I just need to know one thing Trident." He stated as he turned away from the doctor and the mafia boss. "Did you abandon me there?"

"Of course not! I have looked for you for almost five years! After that I was convinced that you were dead though…"

"As you can see, I'm still alive… Damn it, you have a bad influence on me, boss." Joseph sighed. "I will believe you Shamal, but don't expect me to forgive you if you ever pull a stunt like that again." He stated. Shamal stayed silent but ran over to the other man and pulled him in a hug.

"I-I missed you Joseph." He sobbed. The said man sighed but smiled. Though he will never admit it, he kind of missed his best friend too.

"I'm back!" a fourth voice shouted as the grey haired man walked in the living room with a big sack before he dropped the said bag in surprise. Christiano wasn't sure about what he expected to see when he returned to their Japanese home… but not this. Seeing a pervert and his friend hugging, with the said friend wearing a small smile on his slightly blushing face… It took Christiano a while before he accepted that the scene in front of him was real and not one of the illusions that Zero made. Joseph tried to kill the man who was hugging him a few days ago after all…

"Hey Zero?" He whispered to the small girl who walked to him.

"Yes uncle Chris?"

"Are Joseph and the pervert… hugging?" Christiano asked, just to be sure.

"I guess they are."

"Then… are they gay?"

""Like hell we are!""

"Kufufufu."

Omake: after that

"Boss?" I hesitantly began.

"Yes uncle Seth?"

"…Thank you." I looked at my small boss who started to smile one of her many warm smiles.

"You're welcome uncle Seth."

"Is there anything I could do in return?" I asked her. Zero closed her violet eyes and tilted her head.

"Hmm, you have done so many things already uncle Seth… there is nothing I can think of but one thing." She smiled after a while. I looked at my boss in confusion, what did I do before?

"You and uncle Chris saved me from that hell and stayed with me for all these years, there shouldn't be anything more that I want from you. But there is one thing that I selfishly want to ask you to do… Call me Zero instead of boss." I blinked a few times in surprise at the answer… That is all she wants?

"…Hahahahahahaha" I burst out laughing. Typically Zero, asking for something this simple over and over again. But for me, boss was a kind of nickname for her, like she likes to call me Seth. I guess that she misunderstood it as politeness or something. But if that is the case…

"Sure Zero" I smiled. "-sama"

Hey guys, doubleyy here.

LOOK HERE ZERO I GOT THE BESTFICEVER AWARD! AND I GOT 50 FAVORITES AND 67 FOOLOWS*runs over to Zero and hugs her.
"A-ah congra-"
Thank you guys for liking iiiittttt!
"C-calm down doubleyy-san…"
B-but… ok I'm calmed down. Thanks Zero.
"It's alright..."
Ahem, anyways, hey guys… First of all: thanks for the reviews.
"Yes, doubleyy-san really liked them"
I really did! Ahem… to Theta-McBride: we will see in the future (arc) kufufufu, I got it all planned out.
to n1ghtdr34m3r: me too! I can't wait for the Kokuyo arc! Kufufufu
and to Alice aquabld: thank you for the award, it made my day :).
Secondly, even I did not expect that Joseph knew Shamal…
"Me neither…"
At least it ended well between them… hey Zero, do you think that there is something more to their relationship than friendship?
"Hmm, possibly…, he was looking for uncle Seth for five whole years after all. But doctor Shamal is a woman-lover…"
Yes he is… And lastly: I felt like there was a lack of Reborn in this chapter…
"Hmm, that is right… why didn't Reborn-san appear in this chapter doubleyy-san?"
Well… he was busy. (with observing Zero from the shadows, so she didn't see him… but I can't really tell her right?)
"Hmm…"
A-and this chapter was supposed to focus on Joseph after all…
"…"
A-anyways, to apologize to you guys for the lack of Reborn I decided to add another omake, here you go:

Omake 2: The daily life of the Sinclairs (part 1?)

Renato Sinclair was witnessing the most horrific scene he had ever seen in his nine years old life. And all because of a joke that his father made not too long ago… The elder Sinclair promised that he would be by his wife's side when the big day came or Renato would have to take his place. Now the big day came, his father was still at work so Renato indeed had to take his place. Of course he tried to run away… which resulted in his situation now.

Not able to run anymore, because he was strapped to a chair, he witnessed his mother giving birth to his sibling. The raven haired boy didn't know what was worse, open his eyes and see the hellish scene or closing his eyes and hear his mother scream in pain. Either options made him nauseous like hell. After a short time, which seemed like ages for the now traumatized boy, his younger sister was born.

"Meet your younger sister, Renato." The golden-haired mother smiled. Renato, who was still terrified and pale, looked at his mother who was holding his baby sister in her arm. The scene somehow warmed his heart, though the images of childbirth and its sound will never leave his memories ever again.

"She looks weak…" Renato stated while he stared at his now sleeping younger sister with a small smile on his pale face.

"Of course silly, she is a baby after all." His mother, Serena Sinclair, laughed.

"DID I MISS IT?!" A man with raven hair and hazel eyes shouted as he slammed the door open.

"Ah hello dear, and yes you missed it." Serena stated softly, not taking her black eyes away from her daughter. "Meet your daughter, Renata Sinclair."

""Renata?"" The father and son sweatdropped.

"Dear, did you name our child after me again?" Renatus Sinclair sighed.

"Indeed." The mother smiled as she handed over her daughter to her husband. "So she will grow up to be as adorable and reliable as her father and older brother." The father and son wanted to facepalm, but both were unfortunately unable to. One because of the sleeping baby in his arms and the other because he was still strapped to his chair.

"Mother… if you call another future sibling Renati, Renate or Renatu, I will hit you." The raven haired boy sighed in disappointment. "And can anyone set me free right now?!"

If enough people like this I might continue 'The daily life of the Sinclairs', it was fun to write kufufufu (so tell me if you liked it). For those who don't know what Buon giorno means: it means good morning or something like that (I'm not that sure). Anyways thanks for reading and please review.

Doubleyy out.