The next morning Tsuna woke up with a start and looked over to the clock, seeing that he had woken up a little late as usual. It didn't surprise him either, seeing as last night was so tiring at the dinner table and even afterwards.
Rosetta had met Futa, the ten year old famous for his rankings in the mafia world, and it got pretty hectic from there, as everybody wanted a ranking read for them and things were floating everywhere. In the end, everyone got to bed late after clearing out and putting the room back in order and most of them would be sleeping in, but not Tsuna.
He got up quickly and got dressed into his uniform, then headed downstairs for some breakfast before heading off to school.
"Oh, good morning Tsuna-kun!" Rosetta greeted happily just as the young Vongola boss in training walked into the room and sat at the table. "Did you sleep well?"
"Uh, y-yeah, I guess…" he replied, a little shocked that she was up so early since she was the most energetic last night. He then noticed that she was wearing a long sleeved formal shirt under a blue vest with a dark blue pencil skirt and asked, "Why are you wearing such a formal outfit, Rosetta-san?"
"She'll be holding a special lesson on Italy for your class today." Reborn answered from his place at the table as he finished eating.
"Eh?! How did that happen?" Tsuna asked with surprise.
"I've got my connections…" Rosetta answered cryptically before noticing the time. "Oh, I've got to go now. See you in class, Tsuna-kun!"
And with that, she left in a hurry, dashing down the hall and closing the door behind her before shouting out a goodbye. As soon as she did leave, Reborn filled him in on her real motives.
"She's actually planning on meeting Hibari later to size him up in battle." The toddler hitman explained.
"Hiiee! She wants to meet Hibari-san?! In Battle?!" Tsuna exclaimed with surprise. "Does she even know how dangerous he is?!"
"She'll be fine." Reborn assured his student. "Rosetta may be a married woman, but she's also a mafia boss."
Tsuna shouted with surprise before he said, "Rosetta-san is a boss too?!"
"Yup, of the Mezzanotte family." Dino answered from the doorway, leaning on it.
"I've never heard of that name…" the Vongola boss in training mused.
"It's a top secret family, ranked first by Futa in the list of the most secret organizations." The Cavallone boss continued. "She doesn't reveal a whole lot of her job to anyone outside the family, not even to me…"
Reborn was oddly quiet while he sipped his morning cup of tea as his student commented that Rosetta was a little scary because she was so mysterious and he knew next to nothing about her. Finally he noticed that he was running a little late so he left, wondering if Rosetta was really going to be okay going up against Hibari.
"I guess I'll be heading out in a while…" Dino announced when he had been left at the table with his old tutor.
"Worried about your wife, Dino?" Reborn asked with a smirk.
"Ah…um no…Well, yes and no…" his old student replied, blushing as he fumbled with his answer. He sighed, then calmed down before continuing, "Don't get me wrong. I do believe in her but…Sometimes when she gets hurt she tends to hide it away and take it all on herself." – he paused as he reflected on his last few months with his wife – "I guess…I just wish that she would be a little more open with me and share her feelings…"
There was a long silence between the two males before Reborn decided to say, "I'm sure she will someday…"
The day went on as usual before Rosetta was due to come in and hold her special lesson on Italy. Surprisingly, his classmates received her well, especially the males. Her lecture was really interesting and she made it so for the whole class with participation. If Rosetta hadn't been a mafia boss, Tsuna believed that she would be great as a teacher, and also probably a mother. He then wondered if Rosetta had even had any kids, and before he knew it, class was over. He saw her leave, and he knew exactly where she was going.
She was headed to the roof…
"Ah, here we are…" Rosetta stated after she had scaled the steps to the door leading to the roof. She opened it, and then headed outside into the warm breeze. She strolled over to the edge and stopped before the chain link fence to look out at the scenery.
"Wow, you can almost see the whole neighborhood from up here. And the air is so fresh…" she commented with a content smile. "It's the perfect place to get some peace and quiet…isn't it, Hibari Kyoya?" She smirked with her arms crossed, noticing the tonfa in her peripheral vision.
"How do you know my name, woman?" he asked steadily from behind her, neither of them moving a muscle.
"My husband is your mentor." Rosetta answered simply.
"You're the wife of that blond herbivore?" Hibari questioned further, not losing his cool. "Hmph. You're not worth my time. Leave now or I'll bite you to death."
Rosetta then turned to face her husband's student to get a good look at him.
He was one inch shorter than her, with a mop of thick black hair and sharp grey colored eyes. He was currently wearing a long sleeved white shirt with black trousers, a brown belt around his waist, and black shoes. Draped over his shoulders he wore a black gakuran (1) jacket with a red armband that had the kanji for "disciplinary committee" on it pinned to the left arm. He had his tonfas at the ready in case she decided not to obey his order.
"Not worth your time?" she repeated, uncrossing her arms. "I'll make it worthwhile. How about a quick sparring session? I'm starting to get a little rusty and I want a real challenge."
"No." Hibari refused stiffly. "Leave."
"You may be thinking that I'm just another weakling, but I'm not." Rosetta stated seriously with narrowed eyes. "I'm actually stronger than Dino…"
That seemed to pique his interest, but he wasn't budging as he told her to leave once more.
"Very well, I guess you leave me no choice." She stated before putting her arms behind her back. She then balled her fists as she lowered her voice to a whisper saying, "Crush."
Instantly the metal of the fence sagged down as if a giant invisible hand had taken hold and crumpled it easily.
Hibari snapped just as quick, taking his first swing at her with one of his tonfas. Rosetta quickly dodged, moving around behind him so she could put some space between herself and her opponent. She then easily ripped off her outer clothing to reveal that she was wearing a grey tank top and tight blue shorts to her knees underneath. She kept her shoes on because they were just comfortable flats. Quick as a flash she had her retractable staff out and at the ready to block oncoming attacks. Meanwhile Hibari had turned around and attacked Rosetta once again, which she blocked in time.
'Whoa, he's fast!' she marveled while barely blocking a barraged of his attacks. 'Looks like I need to pick up my defense if I don't want to get too injured!'
She then made an attempt at attacking Hibari, but he dodged and continued with another barrage of attacks. Rosetta chose the exact moment and then ducked away using her Illusione ability. She used this to then attack Hibari, but he counterattacked as if he had known exactly where she would appear.
"Dino taught you well…" Rosetta commented after they had clashed.
"That herbivore is no teacher." Hibari retorted before pulling back.
He then swung his tonfa for a final attack, and struck it home before his eyes widened a little with shock. Rosetta had brought her arm up to take his attack full on. But that's not what took him by surprise. She had blocked his attack and taken that opportunity to take a swing at his side. And she hadn't missed.
"That was pretty clever." He commented with a smirk as they stayed like that.
"Thanks, but I think all of the credit goes to you." Rosetta stated in reply. "Look. My arm is still shaking because of your strong swing."
The two then took a step back from each other, and Rosetta fell to her knees out of exhaustion. Hibari looked down on her for a moment, holding his ground even though his side hurt.
He then turned with a "Hmph," and said to her, "I'll call this a draw for now, though I'm holding you responsible for the payment of the destroyed fence." – he then started to leave – "I look forward to a rematch…"
"Rosetta-san, are you okay?" Tsuna asked as he ran onto the roof with Yamamoto and Gokudera in tow. "Where's Hibari?"
"He just left." She replied before a playful smirk played on her lips. "Why, did you want to spar with him too, Tsuna-kun?"
"Eh?! N-No!" the young Vongola boss in training exclaimed before he noticed the growing bruise on Rosetta's arm. "Rosetta-san! Your arm!"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I've had worse." She stated while waving it off. "I'll just have Antonio patch it up later."
As Tsuna was wondering exactly who this "Antonio" was, someone else made their way onto the roof.
"How about I take care of it, Señorita?" he asked. "I am a certified doctor, after all."
Everyone looked to see the suave Dr. Shamal, with his short black hair and stubble, and his brown eyes, not to mention his signature look; a black formal shirt with a red tie and white suit jacket with pants and brown shoes.
"That's quite alright, Dr. Shamal, I'm –." Rosetta started, but was interrupted by the suave Italian man.
"Nonsense!" he said as he approached her. "We can't have a beautiful young lady like you walking around with such a wound."
He took her hand in his lovingly, but backed away quickly before a kunai was thrown in between them.
"Uncle Antonio!" Rosetta exclaimed with relief while Tsuna was surprised to see the man standing atop the chain link fence, wearing a green silk changshan (2) outfit.
"You may not touch Lady Rosetta before going through me." He announced after he had jumped down.
"Hmph. I knew you wouldn't be too far behind if Rosetta-chan came here…" Dr. Shamal commented seriously. "I'll leave for now but next time I expect a kiss from you Rosetta-chan!"
He then turned and left as everyone relaxed now that the playboy had gone. Antonio approached Rosetta and took care of her wounds. While he was doing this, Tsuna wanted to ask a question that was evident on his face, and Rosetta noticed this.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that my Uncle came with us too." She said casually when her arm was bandaged. "Tsuna, I would like you to meet my Uncle, and also my right hand man of sorts, Antonio Mezzanotte." – she turned to her uncle – "Antonio, this is Tsuna, the one who was chosen to be the Vongola Decimo."
"It is an honor to finally meet you, Tsuna." Antonio greeted, kneeling before the confused young boy. "And thank you in advance for allowing my lady to stay at your home."
"Oh, um…It's nothing really." A flustered Tsuna stated in reply.
Rosetta then checked her watch and saw it was almost time for the teens to get back to class, but not before she invited Gokudera and Yamamoto for dinner.
Tsuna asked why and she gave her answer with a smile, "Because I'll be making an authentic Italian dinner as thanks tonight." – she then noticed it was time – "Oh you need to get going to class. I'll see you all later!"
"Don't you need to leave too?" Yamamoto asked, gesturing to the door they were about to head to.
"Yes, but I'm going to fix this fence first." Rosetta answered with a smile, ignoring the young males' confused expressions. "You need to go on ahead to class or you'll be late!"
The three boys then left the roof and that was when Tsuna noticed Gokudera's uneasy expression. He asked what was wrong and his right hand man gave him this answer.
"You know that Rosetta invited us to dinner?" he started uncertainly. "Well, whenever she visited with our family, she would cook as thanks for us having her. Her cooking isn't as bad as my sister's Poison Cooking, but she burns it to charcoal so that it's beyond edible!"
To that, Tsuna and Yamamoto gulped nervously and the boss to be asked, "What do we do then?"
"Well, if you don't eat it…" Gokudera replied gravely, but then he went silent, making the other two males even more uneasy, and they were like that for the rest of the day, until they were standing before Tsuna's front door….
(1) A gakuran is a sort of uniform jacket, if you didn't already know. You can just google it if you want to see pictures.
(2) A changshan is pretty much a long dress like outfit for men with slits on the sides.
And cliffhanger! Sorry about that but if I had gone on as usual, the chapter would be way long. You'll see why in the next chapter. I hope you've prepared for one heck of a banquet!