A/N How long has it been ;D

This chapter is mostly for set-up than anything else so there isn't much pzazz. We're finally moving away from high-school pals and onto Varia development...not sure how that's gonna go down though but I'm excited.

Oh god, so many things to get done yet so little time...

~Chapter 21 – The Familiarity of Strangers

It was as if they were meeting each other for the first time again. Tsuna felt the strain in her eyes as she took in the radiant blaze of colour, so vivid she could almost feel the heat of the fiery shade. It hurt, as if staring directly into the sun, so much so she almost couldn't bear to look. She noticed the aura first, how the once smouldering orange was now cracked by vicious crimson, before her own amber eyes moved onto the man behind it. He hadn't aged much, with a litany of burns that now marred his tanned skin and a fierce intensity behind his red eyes. "Xanxus…" She was unsettled, because aside from his physical appearance, she couldn't recognize the man before her.

"Ietsuna." For him it was different, as if he had gone to sleep dreaming of a child and woken up to see her grown. It was a testimony of the years that had passed by when he had been imprisoned, as if his officers hadn't been evidence enough. And yet aside from this, she was exactly the same, because the years could never take away the foolish kindness in her eyes.

"Why then…?" She had never asked Reborn, probably because the hitman would refuse to answer. She hadn't thought to ask her father ether, because when had he ever told her anything? Yoshi was picking up the same horrible habit so instead she had kept her questions within this entire time. This man would tell her though, had told her the truth from the very start regardless if she had been a child. "Why is Yoshi trying to become Decimo when it should be you?" It started soft but came out with the force of a shout. Incredulous, disbelieving and desperate.

"Voi!" Squalo cautioned her with a tap, staring wide-eyed at his boss as if awaiting an explosion. Gokudera took this as a sign of trouble, quietly raising his guard and awareness as he stepped ever so slightly in front of his own boss.

"Because Timoteo found me unsuitable," Xanxus snarled out through gritted teeth, the benevolent father all but erased from his mind and heart, "After all the lies he fed me, he thought I would back down and give up what is rightfully mine." The scars on his face and hands seemed to darken with his mood. He breathed deeply as if to calm himself, but the whiteness of his knuckles said otherwise, "I'm glad I'm no son of his, and regardless of what he thinks, I will take the title for myself." There was a chain around his neck, holding one half of the Vongola Sky ring, and marking him as a candidate for all to see. In response, Tsuna couldn't help but feel the lightning counterpart in her pocket as inadequate.

"And my brother?" She didn't necessarily want Yoshi to win and would prefer if her were safe and out of the way. After all who was she to judge who would better lead the Vongola famiglia.

"If he gets in my way he'll be dealt with like everyone else," Xanxus warned uncaringly, "That being said, will you be a problem Ietsuna?" His eyes narrowed warily. He hadn't forgotten her, hadn't forgotten what he had promised the small nightmare-ridden girl.

"All you need is to win the ring battles, and it's 'majority rules' so if your side is strong enough, neither you or Yoshi will have to fight." She remembered the brief rundown Reborn had given her, and how around now there would be an influx of last minute tutors for Yoshi's side. "When the rounds start I'll forfeit this one to you," Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the lightning half ring, glinting slightly under the lights, "Unless you can take it right now?"

"You're supposed to be his Lightning Guardian?" He barked out a bitter laugh. As if she would be anything other than a Sky.

"Iemitsu wanted it to be Lambo, the Bovino heir," She lit the ring regardless, showing off the green sparks she could wield, "How could I let a kid get wrapped up in all this?"

"He's mafia," Xanxus answered, "Has been since the moment he was conceived. He's not getting out of it that easily." His words reminded her of Mukuro, of how hard he had run only to turn back for vengeance. She couldn't even say that had he stayed away, he would've escaped the mafia for good.

"He at least shouldn't be forced to fight grown assassins." Tsuna remedied. She could let him be just a kid for a little longer.

"Hold onto it for now," The scarred man said, turning the topic back to the ring in her hand, "Now that your brothers' distributed his set, it won't be official until the fights start." It wasn't that he trusted her, it was that he knew her, and the type of person she was. Currently, keeping her brother safe was the same as making sure Xanxus came out victoriously. What reasons could she have to actually help her twin succeed?

"Tsuna!" Currently Bronco Dino was masquerading as an English teacher, with her father's subordinate Basil also finally enrolling into their peaceful school, both scouring the student population for any young, outstanding talents. No one would have known that the two charming foreigners were in fact, dirty-handed mafiaso, still going about their days in blissful ignorance.

"Sasagawa-senpai," Regardless of the recent happenings she attended school like normal, her prior absence noted down as sickness and nothing more, "I would like to speak with you." Before the older teen could continue his usual antics, she drew him out of the classroom and away from any sharp, calculating eyes. "I owe you answers." She felt settled, reassured and confident of the path she had chosen.

"Hm?" It wasn't like he had completely forgotten, just simply pushed the matter out of his head. He had after all, never been one to linger on the bad, "I understand if you don't want to talk about it-"

"You say that now…" Had anyone else said that she would say they were trying to avoid knowing. Ryohei though, with his experience as a senpai and older brother, knew a large deal about being considerate towards others. "What you got caught up in was a kidnapping attempt." Tsuna dragged him to a relatively isolated part of the school yard, still within seeing distance of others, but far enough their conversation would not be shared. "It wasn't random, they targeted me and picked you up because you were a witness."

"I see…" She gave him a brief moment before continuing, relieved he appeared more surprised than anything else.

"My father is part of the mafia and my brother is training to succeed one of the most influential families in Italy. They're dangerous, I'm dangerous, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from now on." She explained it bluntly, feeling as if it was the most effective way to get through.

"But-"

"It's not worth it," She interrupted, eyes ablaze, "I don't want you pulled into this mess anymore. So stay away, and keep your sister away while you're at it." She had kept her friendship light for a reason, ready for the inevitability of the mafia to come ruin the life she had built up. At the mention of Kyoko his eyes seemed to light with awareness. "You get it, don't you? The more closely related you are to us, to me, the more danger you'll be in," Moving her gaze away from him she stared out at the school and the students idly going about their day, "The mafia isn't a good place and I'm asking you not to throw your life away for it."

Ryohei was more of a 'doer' than a 'thinker', and he was just as aware of that as everyone else. While watching Sawada Ietsuna leave with a polite farewell, he stood there thinking, only because he had no idea what he was supposed to do in this situation. He hadn't felt this conflicted in a long time, not since that incident with Kyoko and the high schoolers that apparently hated his guts. On one hand, he understood Tsuna's concerns. When the adrenaline had worn off after the kidnapping he had needed a good session with his sandbag before the trembling in his hands stopped. The feeling of warm and cooling blood though, lingered. She hadn't meant to get him caught up, his involvement nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence. He probably would have died had she not jumped in front of the bullet for him. Even if her presence was the cause of the dilemma, she had certainly done everything to protect him.

That, brought him to his current problem. He wanted to protect her, wanted her to rely on him, and couldn't be more sure of his feelings that happened to go above and beyond any of his past crushes. But she had taken him aside and told him that it all meant nothing, that what he felt wasn't worth the strife it would bring. Logically she was right, the mafia was dangerous business and she was offering him an out, a chance to turn around and forget it all. A smart man would take her pardon, but he never claimed to be one of those. He simply didn't have it in him to ignore his feelings. What could he do with these fists of his though? Well he knew at least one person who could throw his questions at… even if he got another door slammed in his face.

With the singlemindedness of a man who didn't know how to stay down, he sought out the ever infamous Hibari Kyoya.

Ietsuna hesitated on knocking, not knowing if she would be welcomed in the first place. Had a passing maid not noticed, she surely would've have been stuck loitering outside, Hayato to her right and Takeshi to her left. As it was they were graciously allowed in, treated with a cautious yet unearned respect, and led towards the boss' lair. Xanxus had been less surprised of her return than his righthand man. He had been waiting, and didn't need the Vongola Hyper-Intuition to know she would show.

The introductions were brief between the two parties. She had been briefly introduced to the array of colourful personas that were his guardians, and he had been shown the two that followed as simply her guards. It went better than expected, with all the explosive personalities mellowed and forced into harmony by the two skies. Hayato was perhaps the snappiest, but tolerated them all just as much as he did Takeshi. It was only Xanxus' own Storm Guardian that got a proper rise out of him, with his barbed comments and sly looks towards Ietsuna. Their verbal fights never escalated to something physical though, even with the threats they viciously traded, neither willing to have their respective boss lose face due to reckless actions. In Takeshi's case it was his ignorance, whether feigned or not, that generated animosity itself. Varia's flamboyant sun didn't mind answering his questions, easing the civilian's own transition in.

At one point there had been a fight, a spar between the two resident swordsmen, instigated by Xanxus' right hand as he wandered passed Takeshi diligently practicing his forms. As non-lethal as it was supposed to have been, the spike of bloodlust and killing intent from both sides had been real. Squalo had been reluctantly impressed, never minding the nicks and scrapes he collected. Tsuna had been appalled, all too aware of the gashes and cuts to Takeshi's uniform. No one could deny though, the ease of which he had thrown away his civilian status, or the small budding talent he held for cutting others down.

"This can't really be what you want…" She told, rather than asked, him, slapping plasters on as many cuts as she could find. Glancing to the side she pinpointed Hayato's own bandaged hands, always raw and burned from his own choice of weapon. Perhaps she should look into sun flames.

"Mmm, y'know Tsuna," He began softly, tilting his head to catch her gaze, "In my ideal future you finally say yes and agree to date me. Somehow, I manage to scrape through to the same college as you, and end up playing ball for the Giants. I'll win all of my games and at the end of the season I'll propose and you'd say yes again. Then at some point I'll retire and take over Takesushi, and maybe we'd have a couple kids I could teach to play catch." She was red, blushing at the earnest way he described it to her, and couldn't say she hadn't had a similar daydream flit through her mind once before. Before this whole mess began. "But that's unrealistic, even for me," He continued, with a winning grin, "Honestly I'm happy enough with the fact I get to stay by your side, because sometimes you get this look in your eyes and I feel like you're going to go far away. Now though, being here and taking this path, gives me a means to follow. So really, this is what I want. I'd always choose you and you can ask me as much as you want, but my answer won't change."

A/N Thanks for reading~

How do I Xanxus? And also Ryohei? Looks like we'll. have guardian-guardian bonding time next...

I think Takeshi makes me a sappy romantic, and I'm not sure how I feel about that haha...

Oh boy, we have a long journey ahead guys ;)