Turning Point
Author : 27x18
Warnings : Some language as always
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Tsuna slid out of the bed and quietly snuck across the room, quietly twisting at the handle the child peeked out and up and down the hallway, everything was quiet in this wing of the mansion. Slipping out the six year old padded down the hallway. Reaching up at yet another door handle Tsuna twisted it and poked her head in, sitting over near the window was Massimo staring up at the stars silently.
Tsuna had heard that he was not coming out of his room, Tsuna knew he was sad, like Xanxus was, he needed a hug too. Tugging at the cuff of his shirt Massimo blinked down at her before silently pulling her up into his lap and hugging her tight in his lap and turning his eyes back out to the night sky.
"I don't want to be the eldest." Massimo murmured "Enrico was meant to the be eldest. I was going to join CEDEF, not take over the famiglia..." Tsuna didn't say anything even though she had questions, there were words that she didn't understand, "I don't think I can do this." Tsuna didn't ask him anything though, instead she continued sitting in silence while Massimo held her tight. Slowly his shaking stopped and he just propped his chin on her head staring outside still. "You should head back, Xan will freak out if he wakes and you're missing." Tsuna craned her head and looked up at him before smiling, reaching out she pet the top of his head.
Hopping off his lap Tsuna left him alone and headed back to her room, slipping into the bed as quietly as she could and curling up with a smile she nodded off. Xanxus cracked open one eye and looked down to check she was unharmed, he had heard her sneak out, but he assumed she had a reason, Tsuna always did. The little girl had returned before dawn so he would leave it be.
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"So...Hayato is to be her Storm?" Lucian was ecstatic, Nono had called him unto a meeting regarding his son staying by the Vongola's granddaughter. His son had secured the place as Storm, it was a done deal in his mind.
"No. He's not." Lucian opened his mouth but Nono cut him off "If you would recall she is currently being raised outside the Mafia, she will not have Guardians until such time as she enters our world." Lucian was itching to say more, so Hayato wasn't to officially be her storm yet. He was still to be her Storm surely. "However, Tsuna has taken a liking to your son, so for now he will be sent to Japan with her and attend school as a civilian while receiving training for a post that may one day be open. Keep in mind Lucian, he is not her Storm Guardian."
"Of course Nono. I understand." yet, it was implicated that he was not her Guardian yet.
Timoteo could see what Lucian was thinking, his eager eyes were giving him away, he already considered Hayato to be a Vongola Guardian, that gave a huge prestige boost to his famiglia. With his nine year old daughter stepping into the world of hitmen with her innate talents and his son to be a Vongola Guardian...Everything was looking up for him. As long as Hayato didn't mess this up.
A matter he would bring up with his son before he left for Japan with the Vongola princess. For once he was glad for all the trouble he had gone to in making sure everyone believed Hayato was his legitimate son, finally the gamble was paying off.
"Will I be allowed to visit Hayato in Japan?" Nono's sharp eyes grabbed him then, Lucian forgot to breath as the pressure pressed down on him, he had pushed too far now. "I take my leave." Lucian whispered before retreating, he needed to make himself scarce or face up to Timoteo's wrath.
Like hell Timoteo was going to let a viper like him anywhere near Japan, they didn't have someone keeping an illusion on her there, and he might find out where she lived, that exposed Tsuna and Nana to more danger than they were already in.
Timoteo had failed his own son, but he was not going to fail again, he wouldn't lose any more children, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let Tsuna be dragged in until there was no other option. If that meant Hayato going to Japan and never contacting his father again he somehow didn't think the kid would mind.
Timoteo would use everything at his disposal to make sure his children, and the ones important to them would not be attending any more funerals. He had been clumsy, he had been so confident in their security he hadn't kept as close an eye on the threats surrounding them, he hadn't been watching the police. This would not happen again.
He had left the security to others for too long, it was time the core Vongola took care of their own.
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"...You sure we can't just lose the brat?" Squalo muttered to Xanxus whom sighed heavily running a hand through his hair,
"Fine by me, but you're explaining it to the Tsuna." Squalo winced, well shit, that wasn't going to happen,
"We're stuck with him then." Squalo sighed in defeat, no way he could stand up against Tsuna, he'd end up giving in before he even started to talk. "Fuck...how many more of these brats is she going to take in..."
"Stop whining and get on the plane you trash." Squalo snarled over at his boss when the drink Xanxus had in his hand moments before slammed into his face,
"Voi! Fuck you, you piece of shit bo-" Squalo switched his glare to Tsuna when her drink followed Xanxus' and hit him square in the face,
"Bad words." Squalo struggled with himself so as not to screech even more unsightly words at the kid
"Fu-uh-dge, fine, no bad words. Bullshi-i-z. Xanxus gets poked I get hit with a freaking water bottle." another bottle followed, this time the top was open, turning his furious gaze on Xanxus whom had just plucked the drink from Hayato and thrown it at his second in command.
"Stop whining and get on the plane trash."
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Mukurou couldn't help but groan when Tsuna got back from Italy with yet another child in tow, every time the girl went somewhere with Xanxus she ended up picking up another stupid kid. This one had silver hair and green eyes that were glaring right back at the glaring Mukurou.
"Mukurou-kun, this is Hayato-kun, he's going to stay with nii-san now too." Tsuna introduced while Mukurou flicked his eyes back to Tsuna,
"Again?" he noted before sighing "You keep collecting brats." Tsuna smiled brightly at him while tugging Hayato forwards,
"Mukurou-kun...can I call you...Mukurou-nii?" the child blinked out of his glare and stared at Tsuna startled while she gave him her deadliest puppy dog eyes, she could pull off the puppy look much better than Ken could, and Ken was basically part dog.
"What brought this on?" Mukurou asked confused trying to hide how flustered he was, if he yelled out yes as he had felt like doing it would look too eager, he was meant to be the leader of his trio of children, he wasn't meant to be yelling out like some brat because Tsuna asked him something cute.
"Grandpa said something about lot's of nii-san's and it got me thinking, that Mukurou-kun, Chikusa-kun and Ken-kun are like nii-sans….am I not allowed?" Mukurou was squealing in his head, the brat was turning him into a little girl, but he was not allowed to show that, he was the serious one.
"It's fine." Tsuna brightened so suddenly that he was completely unprepared when she pounced on him and hugged him tight.
"Thank you Mukurou-nii!" damnit how had he lost to this brat? So small and soft, not intimidating at all, but he was her loyal slave even though she held none of the coldness and strength he had always regarded as power. Instead she was a warm soft light that had burrowed beneath his skin and given him no choice but to submit.
"I'm going to ask Chikusa-kun and Ken-kun!" Tsuna called bouncing deeper into the mansion leaving Mukurou with the new brat. Eyeing this new addition Mukurou smirked over at him, he hadn't missed the fact that this kid was Hayato-kun while he had been upgraded to Mukurou-nii.
"Tsuna was ours first, keep that in mind brat."
"How dare you speak about Tsuna-sama so informally!" Hayato protested emphatically his small fists clenching while Mukurou sneered back at him,
"Unlike you we're Tsuna's friends, not her pets like you. You just wait here like a good little dog." Mukurou hissed before turning and heading into the mansion. Squalo standing behind Hayato from where he had been watching the child greet Tsuna and the new addition. All in all he thought it had gone quite well, Mukurou didn't get along with anyone but Tsuna and the two that had been brought home with him. Mukurou still didn't talk to Nagi, so speaking to Hayato was progress as far as he was concerned.
"Come on brat, the rest are inside." Hayato fell in step behind Squalo determination on his small face, he would not make a negative impression on Tsuna-sama's famiglia.
Hayato had been warned about mentioning the Mafia when Tsuna was present as she was being raised as a civilian. The first time the illusion had been let down on her had been on the plane to Japan, Hayato thought the soft brown suited her much better then the dark and red. Hayato knew she was being kept out of the Mafia but he could only think of the person that saved him from his father and taken him in without hesitation as the most incredible and amazing boss. Until Xanxus and Nono talked to Tsuna about the Mafia he would call her Tsuna-sama, even if he was calling her boss in his heart.
"Lussuria is teaching the brats Japanese and Tsuna Italian, you'll join them for lessons. Nono said you're some sort of genius, we have one of those too...Storm as well, if you get in his way he'll probably try gut you...where was I going with this?" Hayato just stared at Squalo while the teen tried to pick his train of thought back up. "Anyway, not sure who's going to teach you about Flames, all the others bar Nagi are currently learning." Squalo nudged the kid into one of the sitting rooms, Tsuna was there with Ken and Chikusa dubbing them both now nii-sans as well. "Someone will pick it up."
"Yeah, you." Squalo dodged the glass of juice heading his way,
"Ha you mi-" mid gloat a bottle of mineral water smashed into his face "Fu-uhdge, you... you poo head boss!" the entire room froze and turned to Squalo,
"P-Poo...poo-head…." Tsuna was giggling uncontrollably, "N-Nii-san...Sq-Squalo-n-nii c-called you a p-poo head." Mukurou couldn't hold it any longer, and Ken didn't even try as they burst out in laughter,
"How old are you anyway? Poo-head?" Ken snickered Squalo threw a shoe at the laughing brat. Damnit, Tsuna and her no swearing rule, now he had made a total fool out of himself and even responded like a five year old slinging insults in the schoolyard in front of all the brats. Forget Mukurou and his posse, Belphegor had heard...and even recorded it on his fucking phone!
Squalo knew he would never be able to live this down.
"FUDGEYOUXANXUS!" Squalo snapped before making a less than graceful exit to go and slash at some underlings for a while to cool his temper.
"Mou, Squ-chan is so short tempered~" Lussuria pouted while waving over at their new cutie "Yahoo~ Hello cutie~ Call me Luss-nee~"
"Nee...is sister correct?": Hayato asked with a serious frown,
"Oh such a cutie~"
"Lussuria-nee is Lussuria-nee." Tsuna smiled without a twitch, Hayato had questions, but Tsuna had given her answer with conviction he once again had no defence for,
"Yes, Tsuna-sama!" Hayato all but yelled, Tsuna disappearing from before them, Xanxus rolled his eyes while Lussuria pouted,
"Bel-chan~ Don't hog Tsu-chan~" sighing Lussuria looked over to Hayato "Mou, we'll have to do without for now, poor Bel-chan's been sulking~" swooping down on Hayato he smiled brightly "Come on Haya-chan-"
"Hayato." the child corrected but it didn't seem that this flamboyant man was listening to him in the slightest
"Let's get you settled in~" Lussuria tugged the child off, Xanxus settling back into his chair with a heavy sigh, it was over, he had made it through the whole time in Italy without killing a single person, he was much calmer now.
"Should I alert Nana-san to Tsuna being back?" Levi asked of Xanxus, the teen looking at the dark hallway where Belphegor had kidnapped the child,
"Tomorrow, otherwise the brat will be more of a bastard then normal." Levi bowed to Xanxus before going back to his reports, he had personnel watching everywhere for any Mafioso that might sneak in and search for Tsuna, especially from the Gokudera Lucian's famiglia.
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Belphegor finally stopped dragging Tsuna and pushed her into a cushion on the floor "You've been forgetting the prince lately!" Tsuna blinked up at him with her huge brown eyes.
"Sorry Bel-sama, nii-san needed hugs." Belphegor made a face even as he pushed a controller into her hands
"Bel in private, remember?" Tsuna nodded with a smile before hesitating and peeking at him,
"B-Bel...can...can Tsuna...call you...Bel-nii?" the controller he was holding cracked, the child quickly discarding it and grabbing another, it wasn't unheard of for him to break them by accident, the company made them so fragile, they really needed to reinforce them for use by assassins.
How did he answer something like that? She had even reverted to third person, she knew that he had no way to deny her then. She had to be manipulating him, yet as every other time he looked he didn't see a single hidden motive, speaking from the heart in such a cute voice while giving him those enormous brown eyes.
"Fine, the prince gives you permission to refer to him as such instead of Bel, principessa." everyone already knew that she called him Bel in private, might as well do away with the sama entirely since he was so very much her servant should she ever ask.
The prince conceded to her, but only her, the Varia's principessa.
"Play the game principessa, the prince ordered it specially for you." Tsuna gave him those big eyes again while bouncing in her seat on the cushion,
"Bel-nii did? Thank you, Bel-nii." well shit, this might be dangerous, calling him Bel-nii, it made her even cuter. If such a thing was possible, which apparently, yes it was. Tsuna had taken her adorable-ness to yet another level.
"The chest there, it gives you a special weapon." Tsuna nodded listening to him giving her directions and tips all the way through the RPG dungeon game, laughing and playing with her Bel-nii into the night.
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Xanxus sighed heavily as he scooped Tsuna into his arms, Tsuna had been asleep in Belphegor's room cuddled into a cushion after playing games with Belphegor until early morning.
"Don't keep her up so late." Xanxus growled over at Belphegor, the prince glaring at him from his place in front of the computer, flicking his knife between his fingers while ordering more custom knives online,
"The prince does as he wants." Xanxus waved him off and carried Tsuna out, he would take her home now, it was nearing lunch time and Nana deserved to have her daughter home, plus, Nagi was probably lonely without Tsuna, especially at school. Though reports told him that Tsuna and Nagi had made two friends of sorts, a cold dark haired girl and a bright one, they had been keeping Nagi company while Tsuna was away, but it would do the timid girl well to have Tsuna back. Xanxus needed to remember to talk to Mammon about training Nagi as well, the girl had a decent Mist Flame on her, though much softer than Mukurou's, it meant another person around Tsuna would be able to keep an eye on her should anything come to town intending to hurt the young girl.
The more they had at school with her the better, Tsuna was getting pretty good at hand to hand combat, but she was still reluctant to use it. Xanxus knew that if worst came to worst she would fight if she had to, but he would prefer to have people around that who wouldn't let it come to that.
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Hayato stood before the class glaring at everyone, he had heard from Lussuria that these creatures had bullied Tsuna, if one of them even dared look at Tsuna wrong he'd kill them.
"Ne...sensei, why do we keep getting all the transfers?" one brave kid questioned lifting his hand up while the teacher glanced over at Tsuna,
"It doesn't matter, this is Gokudera Hayato, he's from Italy." everyone looked over at either Mukurou, Chikusa or Ken, they were also from Italy, Tsuna had quite a collection of Italians around her now. "Hayato-kun, do you want to say anything in greeting." Hayato looked over the children in the class, civilians, all of them, none of them were worthy of being in Tsuna-sama's presence, in the last three days he had crammed Japanese until he had been physically sick, but he was not going to leave Tsuna in the hands of the other children at the mansion, he had promised himself to follow Tsuna-sama and protect her smile, and he was not going to lose out to three other Italian brats.
"I am here to keep Tsuna-sama safe, I will not allow anyone near her!" after his announcement he strode to an empty seat and threw himself in it, glaring at all the students around him, he would protect Tsuna-sama from everyone.
The door to the class slammed open before the teacher could get underway, the whole class froze staring at the demon of Namimori in terror. Glancing around the class Kyoya set his eyes on Tsuna, stalking up to her desk he glared down at her,
"Ah, Hibari-kun." Tsuna murmured before looking through her things, pulling out his bento with a smile, Kyoya snatched it from her and grabbed her wrist dragging her out of the class. Hayato stood to defend her but Chikusa who was sitting behind him reached out and pushed him back into his chair.
"Hibari Kyoya." he murmured knowing Hayato would recognize the name. The child deflated sinking back into his chair, while he didn't approve of how the other had grabbed Tsuna and dragged her out of the room, he knew that Tsuna knew and trusted the child, so he would stay quiet and instead see what this school had to offer in the way of stimulating education for children.
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Tsuna opened her mouth to say something but a swift glare from Kyoya shut her up, Tsuna just following along behind him while he dragged her to his office and pointed to the couch, Tsuna retreating and settling down there peeking at him, he was mad.
"You took a leave of absence without prior notice." Kyoya growled while Tsuna began fidgeting. Tsuna knew that he was mad, Tsuna made his lunch every day, and without telling him had disappeared for a week, "You have one chance to explain yourself." Tsuna peeked up at him before looking back at her hands,
"I'm sorry, Hibari-kun, Nii-san's nii-san died….I didn't want to leave him alone….nii-san took me to the funeral for Curly, uh Enrico-san." Tsuna explained softly "I'm sorry….I'll make sure mama tells you next time-"
"You're planning on a next time?" Tsuna blinked startled and looked back at him with wide brown eyes,
"N-No." Kyoya narrowed his eyes further at her while she looked back at her hands, "I won't go away without telling you again, I'm sorry." Kyoya studied her for a few moments before turning his attention back to the lunch sitting before him,
"You cooked this by yourself?" Tsuna nodded to him with a bright smile,
"Mmm, Mama let me use the frying pan all on my own today. Tsuna made it all herself!" Kyoya twitched at the sudden reversion to her third person, he had thought he broke her from that habit,
"I, remember your words." Tsuna nodded in response with a bright smile,
"Mmm, I made it all myself. Please tell me if I made it right!" Kyoya nodded over to her setting the lunch aside, pulling out some paperwork he tossed it at her, the papers scattering to a stop on the low table in front of her, "Eh?"
"Homework, tests and notes from your time away. Catch up in two days or else." Tsuna nodded with a bright smile, Kyoya studying her quietly for another moment,
"The new student. Another pet?" Tsuna tilted her head at him confused,
"Pet?"
"Gokudera Hayato, Italian, at the...request of Vongola Xanxus entered into your class." Tsuna smiled at him in response,
"Mmm, Hayato-kun is nice." Kyoya dragged his steely eyes from the student profile to Tsuna "Was I bad? Helping him?" Kyoya narrowed his eyes at her, he knew manipulation when he saw it, he also saw that Tsuna was oblivious, as always, to her own manipulations.
"I'm not here to judge your actions as to the collection of your pets, I am merely reminding you of our agreement. I allowed this interruption in the transactions, but you will not be given this chance again." Tsuna nodded with a bright smile, looking down at her homework the girl scooped it up into a pile and hugged the papers to her chest.
"Should I go back to class?" Kyoya studied her for a few more moment before nodding and waving her out. Tsuna bowed to him once more before trotting out of the office and back to her class.
Kyoya sighed and threw the student profile back onto the pile that was slowly growing, the pile of students outside the reach of the police and his father, the children the Mafia were collecting.
"Troublesome….crowding in my school." Kyoya muttered slamming his tonfa on the pile "Entertain me more little animal, entertain me and your crowding shall be allowed."
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It was Sunday, a day that didn't normally involve trespassing on school grounds, but there was a match scheduled for today, a baseball match. So there in the stands sat Tsuna and her collection of children, the so named Paladins by Vongola Nono.
Xanxus had sent Squalo as his proxy to the match, having been confined to his desk by Levi to complete the paperwork he had been avoiding for the last month.
Normally he would tell Levi to shove the paperwork up his ass, but Timoteo had called him personally and asked that he at least complete the paperwork that only the leader of the Varia could.
Instead Squalo was sitting beside her running a grumpy commentary of wanting to leave. Tsuna kept her eyes on the match, she still didn't understand the rules, but she understood how much of himself Ken put on the line when he slammed the ball with that bat, his everything in the swing. Running from base to base with every bit of energy and power he had.
Tsuna liked watching it, it was like seeing Ken's heart, he put everything he had into each swing, every step. Tsuna liked to watch that, the others on the team were the same, everything they did screamed out the last ounce of energy they had.
Tsuna was mesmerized by it, these classmates, the same age as her, devoting every part of themselves to something as simple as a baseball match. There was one student in particular that like Ken gave every last inch of himself to the sport, the boy was about her age but taller than her, as most people were, always smiling and always moving. Ken called him Takeshi.
Today he and Ken were neck to neck for the most energy, bouncing around the field and showing their hearts through the game, Tsuna was fascinated by it, she didn't understand the game, but she somehow understood their hearts just from how they played.
Ken, open and energetic, throwing himself into the fray and pushing himself to the limit just to make the smallest difference in the scores, as long as he was able to do his best that was all that mattered.
Takeshi was a lot like Ken, he was moving all the time, giving advice on batting, warming up with the basemen and running all over the field, a smile on his lips at all times while he ran around, always smiling and giving his all. Tsuna normally enjoyed watching him and Ken running around, but today….something seemed forced. Tsuna had no idea what it was, but there was something about him today that just rang false, his energy wasn't the same, his smile was off. Tsuna didn't like it.
Normally she enjoyed watching them run around the field, today though, Tsuna couldn't smile, she just kept watching Takeshi while the young man ran around the field smiling a fake smile, bouncing with a fake energy.
"It's wrong." Nagi looked at Tsuna confused while Tsuna stared down at the field with big brown eyes glowing with a hint of gold "It's wrong."
"Tsuna?" the girl refused to take her eyes off Takeshi while following the child around the field "What's wrong?" Chikusa asked while Tsuna finally moved her eyes, flicking up to Chikusa's bright blue ones,
"His smile, it's wrong." Mukurou could only groan and nurse his head in his hands, he knew exactly what this meant, it meant that Tsuna was about to pick up yet another brat.
"Wrong?" Chikusa pressed, Tsuna nodding her brown eyes flicking back to Takeshi her eyes following the smiling child.
"His smile….it looks like he's crying." Tsuna whispered gripping her hands together and studying him closer "Something's wrong."
"Maybe he's feeling sick?" Chikusa ventured, Tsuna narrowing her eyes further at the boy running around the field.
"No, it's something more." Tsuna murmured finally dragging her eyes from Takeshi "He's sad."
"No...please don't…" Squalo sulked, please, no, don't let her take on yet another brat, surely they had enough, why did the kid keep searching out other brats and taking them in.
"What do you want to do?" Chikusa asked while Tsuna frowned down at the children running around, her small hands clasped together looking down on the child her age pretending to be happy, the child that was so far from happy.
"I don't know….but….it's not okay." Tsuna whispered tearing her eyes from Takeshi again and looking over at Chikusa "It's not okay to be that sad."
"Might as well get ready to greet another one." Chikusa murmured while Tsuna blinked at him confused, the child was sharing a look with Mukurou, Tsuna just didn't see it at all, but in the end their bright Sky brought home more and more elements to protect her. This would be no different.
"Surely we have enough, god this kid is more trouble than her worth." Yet even though he said that Mukurou still didn't understand why he felt the need to make sure that she was happy, the need to see her smile and the pure drive to know that she cared for them. Something he had never imagined back in the care of the Estraneo, needing to feel the smile and know the love of a small child only six years old. Mukurou would never understand how she managed to find them and bring them all in to be her companions and friends. Their personalities were all so far from one another, yet Tsuna brought them all in together with a smile. He fought with Hibari Kyoya on a daily basis yet still, when it came to someone stepping too close from the Mafia or anywhere near Tsuna out came claws he never knew he had.
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Ken tilted his head at Tsuna his attention drawing away from his manga, they were sitting in her room reading some manga after the match, he and Tsuna were reading a baseball manga to try and teach Tsuna the rules, she still knew nothing about it, but the manga made it look like fun.
"Takeshi? Ah, Yamamoto." Ken closed his manga with a frown, "Is having a mother a good thing?" Tsuna blinked at him in confusion "We never had one...I mean, Nana-san is nice and all but is it really that great to have one? Yamamoto's mother is in hospital. He's all down and his game is off. Is having a mother good or bad? If you only lose them in the end."
"We lose everyone." Tsuna noted her mind turning to Enrico, "I don't know if it's good or bad Ken-nii, but...I love mama, that's what matters." her eye had a flickering gold sheen lighting up from deep inside, the six year old looking at Ken with a total calm. "I love nii-san, and you, and Mukurou-nii and Chikusa-nii. If any of you were sick I'd be sad too...but that doesn't mean it would be better if we didn't have one another." Ken chewed at his bottom lip while thinking it over,
"I'd be sad too." Ken noted "If you were sick." opening his manga again "Yamamoto's pretending to smile, he smells like tears, and sickness." Ken crinkled his nose, there were times he hated his sense of smell. "Are you going to help him?" Tsuna nodded without hesitation putting her manga down and pulling her knees to her chest, propping her chin on her knees while looking out the window, the rain was coming down hard, it was nearly October, one year since she had met Xanxus.
"I'm not sure how yet, but I'm going to try." smiling brightly at Ken, Tsuna jumped to her feet "AH!" Ken was on his feet fast looking around desperate to find what had startled her and kill it "Nii-san's birthday!" Ken tilted his head at her confused, Tsuna scurrying across the scattered manga on the floor to her desk, pulling out a small book, Mammon updated it every time she went to the mansion, Tsuna hadn't really paid it much attention, Mammon had told her it was money she had earnt somehow, Tsuna wasn't sure how, but Mammon did like taking lots of pictures and recordings. Tsuna had no idea how that translated to money, but Mammon had continued updating the little book every time she went to the mansion.
"Last year, nii-san got me something really pretty, this year I want to get something for nii-san. But..."
"But?"
"I don't know what." Tsuna pouted looking down at the numbers in her little book "Mammon-nee said I can use this for anything I want." Tsuna noted showing the book to Ken "This can get something nice for nii-san can't it?" Ken blinked down at the book his eyes widening,
"Holy shit-" he got a flick to the forehead "Tsuna, you could buy a small country with this!" Tsuna blinked in confusion while taking the book back, the numbers had gotten big, but she hadn't understood just how big until now.
"A whole country?" Ken nodded again "But...nii-san wouldn't want a country." Ken tried to stop it but he couldn't help but burst into laughter, grabbing his stomach while he tried to stop, he was laughing so hard it hurt. Tsuna had the money to do literally anything she wanted, and all she had even considered was spending it on someone else.
"As for getting Xanxus something, just get him something that he likes." Tsuna frowned in thought looking down at the little book in her hands a smile slowly twitching over her lips,
"Mmm, thank you! That helps!" Ken had no idea what she had decided, but if it helped then that was fine. Picking his manga back up he pushed it into her hands,
"Now, back to baseball!" Tsuna giggled and sat back down before freezing, wide eyes flicking over to Ken,
"Ken-nii….when is your birthday?" Ken blinked at her in confusion, he didn't understand the importance of birthdays, there had been the huge party for Nono, but he was the head of the Vongola and people wanted to celebrate, why would it be important at all when his birthday was.
"According the the file the Estraneo had on me-" Tsuna looked confused but he didn't elaborate "July 28." Tsuna looked devastated, Ken was panicking, if Xanxus found out he upset Tsuna….wait scratch that, if Mukurou found out.
"W-We...we missed your birthday…" Tsuna whispered tears welling "Did we miss Chikusa-nii and Mukurou-nii's too?"
"Uhhhh…." Ken was drawing blank and all he could do was panic. He had made Tsuna cry, he was dead. "C-Calm down, please, it's okay Tsuna….ahh, what do I do?!" Ken panicked and nearly fainted from fear when the door opened and Mukurou was standing there.
"What did you do Ken?" Mukurou growled glaring at the child while Tsuna grabbed his hands dragging his attention off of Ken,
"D-Did we miss your birthday too Mukurou-nii?"
"Eh?" Mukurou froze before those tears and could only stare at her "Birthday?" Ken began to explain for the startled leader of their little group,
"She was talking about getting something for Xanxus' birthday and then asked about ours, she's uh...upset that she didn't celebrate it I think." Mukurou turned his dual eyes back to Tsuna and pet her head gently, calming her down while those tears brown eyes looked up at him finally,
"Mukurou-nii?"
"Where we came from, no one celebrated our birthdays." Tsuna's tears slowly disappeared while she looked up at him "We didn't know it was important to you." Mukurou kept petting her hair a soft smile stealing across his lips, this little light that had wormed her way into their hearts, she was worried about missing a simple date of change in their lives, something they didn't care about or notice.
"Did Tsuna miss all of them?" Mukurou scanned his memory for the date on their files back in hell.
"No." he noted Tsuna brightening "Chikusa's is in October." Tsuna was all but bouncing now a bright smile crossing her face,
"Really? Nii-san and mine are too! We can have a big party like we did in Italy, nii-san combe-com...combined the dates, we can have a party with everyone! For Mukurou-nii, Ken-nii and Chikusa-nii too!" Mukurou was stuck for words, no one had ever worried about their date of birth, it was a number attached to a file listing all the things that had been done to them, it was never something they worried about, nor even knew that it was to be celebrated.
Another year survived in the Estraneo, another round of experiments.
Tsuna however was still showing them just how many things they had to learn. Not just the things at school, but simple things like the celebration of another year in this world. Yet another thing Tsuna had taught them, their lives were worth so much to her she wished to celebrate their life every year with them.
"...You don't want to?" Mukurou snapped from his thoughts and went back to petting her soft hair,
"We'd be honoured to share a birthday with you this year." Tsuna brightened and began bouncing again, darting past him down the stairs to tell her mother about the joint party.
"You think Xanxus will let her?" Ken asked while Mukurou snorted in amusement,
"You think he'll be able to say no?" Ken snickered to himself at that, true, if Tsuna asked it, it was going to happen. "Ne, Mukurou-san….what are we going to get for Tsuna?" Mukurou blinked at Ken completely confused "For her birthday." Ken had never seen Mukurou panic before, but right now, he was.
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Nana was beside herself, not only were they having a party for her lovely daughter and the young teen that had made such amazing changes to their lives, but also the three small children that had been so skittish in the beginning.
The Sawada matriarch was in full planning mode with Lussuria, the young man had become a constant companion of hers, they both had the same love for cute little things like Tsuna and her friends.
Xanxus had just sighed and nodded when Tsuna asked him about the joint party, he had been hoping to get by without any party at all and just a small private thing in the mansion, but as soon as Lussuria and Nana got a hold of the joint party idea it exploded, especially when Lussuria called Xanxus' father and brothers.
Now they had yet another huge party, people were going to come to his home and pay attention to his brat, he hated it, but as soon as Tsuna turned those big damn eyes to him there was no way he could say no.
Xanxus would never never tell his brothers this, but he was glad they were coming, Enrico's death had been a violent reminder of how easily people could lose their lives, even if his pride still didn't let him tell his brothers that he appreciated everything, he was working on his pride, Tsuna was slowly helping him overcome it, but until then, he would grumble and grump about his brothers coming, while appreciating their constant attempts at being family.
"Any idea what they're planning?" Xanxus asked while Squalo sighed heavily tossing some paperwork onto his desk "Do I want to read that?"
"Dino, Reborn, your brothers, father, all of Nono's Guardians, Nana and some of the kids from school, Nagi and those two girls….Hana and Kyoko, also….Iemitsu and some of his men." Xanxus couldn't help the sneer at the mention of Tsuna's failure of a father.
"He's actually going to show his face? That bastard didn't even come to the funeral." Xanxus growled, he had looked for the bastard, but nothing, Iemitsu hadn't come to the funeral of Nono's son. Xanxus hated Iemitsu with a passion, the CEDEF leader had always rubbed him the wrong way, then the simple act of losing his daughter had led Xanxus to a bright Sky that just needed a chance to shine. The Sky that had become so much to Xanxus. Iemitsu had neglected his child and Xanxus had taken her in. Iemitsu had tried again and again to tear Tsuna from him even to Tsuna's detriment and harm. Xanxus could never and would never approve of a father like Iemitsu, someone that had prefered to possibly break Tsuna just to have his way.
"He's not allowed in the mansion." Xanxus growled while Squalo sighed at his boss,
"He's still her father you shitty boss. Nana's husband, you gonna ban him and upset the woman?" Xanxus scowled down at the papers Squalo had on what was planned so far.
"Fuck." Xanxus growled, it would be so much easier if Nana didn't love the bastard, but Squalo was right, he wasn't about to do something to upset Tsuna's mother.
"Oh yeah, Nono said he's inviting all the Paladins, any idea what that means?" Xanxus answered with a clunk as his forehead hit his desk "That good huh?"
"All the brats, he means all the brats...fucking old man has got it in his head that they're her Guardians, I told him to fuck off so he renamed the little shits."
"Paladin?"
"Some fucking shit about evil or something, who cares, it means he's inviting all the brats, that birdy brat is invited as well." Squalo sighed heavily slumping into a chair,
"We're fucked aren't we?" Squalo noted softly "All these kids, we're really going to be some sort of Mafia babysitting service?"
"As long as we don't expose her to more brats she can't expand the collection. But we both know neither you nor I are going to try take any of them off her." As much as it annoyed Squalo, Xanxus was right, none of them had the balls to deny Tsuna.
"How the fuck did the Varia, the fucking Varia, end up in a six-"
"Nearly seven-"
"Year old's pocket?"
"Stop whining like a bitch and just get on with it, let's get this fucking party out of the way and go back to our lives." even if that life was at the beck and call of a child.
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Kyoko didn't know what to say when she first arrived at the mansion, she had been given an invitation to her new friend's birthday party, from what Kyoko knew of Sawada Tsunahime she lived in a normal two level house in a nice neighbourhood, at no point did anyone mention a mansion.
The address had been on the outskirts of Namimori, and when they came into view of the building she couldn't stop her jaw from dropping at the enormous mansion before them. Hana for her credit kept her composure before the mammoth mansion awaiting them.
"...Tsuna said this was for family and friends right?" Hana noted while Kyoko nodded silently still in awe of the building before them,
"Mmm."
"What sort of family does she have?" Hana asked dryly, who the hell was Tsuna really? This place was amazing, and the security she could see from here around the mansion, including the police and Hibari Kyoya's disciplinary committee. Tsuna had friends in very high places. This was nothing like a normal birthday party.
"Ah! It' Nagi-chan!" Kyoko cried jogging towards the building fearlessly "Nagi-chan!"Kyoko ran right up to the girl, not even noticing as security all stiffened and narrowed in on the seven year old running at Nagi. "Isn't this place amazing?" Nagi smiled shakily, while Tsuna had been away Kyoko and Hana had both been very kind to her, Nagi was almost starting to trust them.
"T-Tsuna's b-brother." Nagi stuttered shyly "Tsuna's brother lives here." Hana caught up to Kyoko, her eyes flicking around at the security that were still watching them much too closely for comfort.
"We should head inside." Hana urged pushing both children to the mansion doors her eyes flicking around at all the eyes focused on them "Come on girls, move it!" Hana wanted to get them inside and out of those eyes, as soon as possible.
Whoever Tsuna really was, there were dangerous people around her. Hana had yet to decide whether or not they should be distancing themselves from Tsuna, they had heard all the rumours about the dangerous man that picked Tsuna up from school, the so called Tsu-baka that everyone was scared of. Hana hadn't put anything on the rumours, all she saw was a little girl that had let everyone push her down until she had nearly broken. A little girl that had been forcing herself to get better than she had been. If that was dangerous she didn't know, but Hana would observe for now.
"Ah! You cuties~" Hana flinched looking up at the tall teen with multi coloured hair "You must be Hana-chan and Kyoko-chan~ So cute~ Tsu-chan didn't tell me you were both so cute~" Hana couldn't help but notice all the security eased off when the flamboyant man grabbed them into a hug,
"L-Lussuria-san….t-they're overwhelmed." Lussuria blinked down at the two girls in his hold,
"Ah, sorry~" letting them go he tugged them inside, pulling them through the halls until he opened a huge ballroom. "Welcome to our home cuties~" Kyoko gasped in surprise at the room before them, it was huge, there were beautiful people all around them, the party was so much more extravagant than she had thought.
"Tsu-chan!" Kyoko bounced into the room fearlessly once again to greet Tsuna, Hana wished she could be so fearless, but she was much too aware of the danger all around them, "This place is amazing!" Tsuna smiled shyly at her new friend "Where do you know all of them from?" Tsuna glanced around at the surrounding people,
"Nii-san's family." Tsuna explained "Those are his brothers, and nii-san's father." Tsuna pointed over at the surviving Vongola children and Timoteo, the three talking with Xanxus, "That's Dino-san, Squalo-nii's friend, and his friend Reborn-san." Tsuna pointed to the blond teen and the baby sitting on his shoulder. "Hmmm….That's Levi-nii, and Mammon-nee, ah, you both know Hibari-kun….he doesn't like lots of people, but he and Mukurou-nii are friends." Tsuna didn't notice the glare tossed her way by the temperamental child.
"Tsuna, you're fearless." Hana noted while Tsuna tilted her head at the child in confusion, "Don't worry about it, here, happy birthday." Tsuna's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open, Tsuna looking at the small parcel in her hands. A present….from her friends, Tsuna had actually been given something from her first friends at school, other than Mukurou and his gang, or Nagi, someone that she met through the place that used to be her hell had given her something.
"Th-Thank you." Tsuna whispered her eyes tearing up "Thank you, Hana-san, Kyoko-san-"
"Chan." Kyoko reminded "Kyoko-chan." Tsuna nodded with a bright smile,
"Mmm, Kyoko-chan."
"My darling Tuna~" Tsuna flinched when she was grabbed by someone and swung up into the air "Your papa's here." Tsuna stiffened and pushed at the prickly unshaven face pressed to her cheek,
"N-Nii-san!" Tsuna whimpered, strong hands grabbing her away from Iemitsu, Xanxus glaring at the man while pulling Tsuna to rest on his hip.
"Tsuna doesn't like that Iemitsu." the blond glared back at Xanxus,
"That's my daughter Xanxus." Tsuna wrapped her arms around Xanxus' neck and held on tight "Hand her back."
"Fuck you Iemitsu." Xanxus growled, Tsuna not even flicking him for the language, "Stay the fuck away from my brat." he could see Iemitsu stiffen at that, Xanxus was laying claim to Tsuna
"Your brat? That is my daughter." Iemitsu froze when a hand clasped onto his shoulder, glancing back at a frowning Nono,
"Do not start this here Iemitsu, Tsuna-chan is having her birthday party, no one will disturb that." Iemitsu didn't like to retreat, but he had Nono behind him all but ordering him to stand down, so he had no choice but to let it go. Xanxus glaring after him while settling Tsuna back on her feet with her friends.
"What was that?" Hana asked while Tsuna glanced over at her father,
"It-it doesn't matter." Tsuna murmured, Mukurou turning up out of nowhere and grabbing her wrist, tugging her around so that Iemitsu was behind her, "Mukurou-nii?"
"Hurry up and start smiling, Ken's getting depressed." Tsuna blinked over at Ken, normally the kid didn't let anything phase him, but he looked worried. Tsuna smiled brightly with a nod, Mukurou was right, this wasn't just her birthday, it was all of theirs, Tsuna wasn't going to be sad on the night of their party.
"Mmm, thank you Mukurou-nii!" Tsuna bounced back over to her female friends, she wanted to open her present and thank them properly, Kyoya nudged the Mukurou his eyes on the blond man that had just assaulted the small animal,
"That is?"
"Her father, genetically speaking." Mukurou noted softly while Kyoya narrowed his eyes at the man, "He's not the family type, he's an asshole." Kyoya cocked an eyebrow at the annoying illusionist, Mukurou never swore, but it seemed it wasn't from lack of knowledge how to, being around Tsuna meant that it was probably from the little girl.
"If he harasses the little animal again he becomes my prey." Mukurou could only chuckle at that, he agreed completely, for once, if Iemitsu continued to make an ass of himself and harass Tsuna, Mukurou would gladly join up with the birdy and hunt down the old man.
"Aren't they cute?" both children turned their glares on the smiling young man, one of Xanxus' brothers, they remember him from the last time, they had stolen Tsuna away while she was under their care, and now this...referring to a carnivore such as himself as cute, "They get along so well~" Kyoya and Mukurou both exchanged a disgusted look before glaring back at the man,
"Herbivore, I'll bite you to death!" Kyoya's tonfa slid into his hands as he threw himself at the man, Mukurou hated agreeing with Kyoya more than anything, but he had to agree that this perky bastard needed to die.
"Monkeys." Hana sighed frowning over at the two children chasing after the full grown man, "Nothing but monkeys."
"Ah...Should I stop them?" Tsuna murmured in worry, Kyoya and Mukurou both looked really mad, Hana just shook her head,
"Let's not involve ourselves with those primates." Hana muttered pushing Tsuna, Kyoko and Nagi over towards the other side of the room away from the immature adults and angry violent children.
"You have really fun family Tsu-chan!" Kyoko giggled while watching the show, Tsuna smiled with a nod.
"Fun is one word." Hana noted dryly, not the word she'd choose for the clearly dangerous group around them, even the baby looked dangerous, the look the little kid was giving her was making her skin itch.
"Happy birthday Tsuna." Tsuna smiled up at Dino, the blond teenager petting her hair before flinching at the glare being sent his way from Squalo and Xanxus for touching Tsuna. "U-uh…" Reborn kicked Dino to the floor with a smirk,
"Bosses don't cower Dino-baka." Kyoko was gushing over the baby sized hitman,
"Uwa, you're so cute in your little suit and hat."
"It's a fedora nee-chan." Reborn smiled sweetly up at the civilian, Dino shuddered at the expression on his tutors face "Doesn't it look good on me?"
"Mmm, you're so grown up too, Reborn-chan right?" Kyoko complimented while Dino picked himself up, the Arcobaleno jumped up to sit on Tsuna's small head, the small Vongola principessa had soft hair, made a nice little nest "Who's this little one Reborn-chan?" Kyoko asked as a small green creature scurried off Reborn's fedora brim and down to Tsuna's shoulder.
"Ah, this is Leon, Reborn-san's friend." Tsuna gently pet the small chameleon on the head while Reborn sized up the new additions Tsuna had found, the red head seemed oblivious, but he could sense something very sharp in her. The dark haired one was very observant, he had seen her on guard from the moment she entered, she knew how much danger they were in just by being here, maybe not to the full extent, but she knew danger when she saw it.
Reborn approved of her choices in friends, they would be valuable to the famiglia one day, even though they hadn't awakened their Flames yet, he knew potential when he saw it.
Hana was eyeing the baby carefully, while he had yet to puke or sneeze or drool, it didn't mean she was wanting to be close to it for too long, kids annoyed the hell out of her, one of the main reasons she didn't interact with their classmates unless she had no other choice, bar Kyoko and now Tsuna and Nagi.
"Sorry to interrupt ladies." Hana frowned at the man bowing to them, from what Tsuna said this was one of her so called brother's brothers "We're stealing this~" Massimo grabbed Tsuna and made a run for it, Reborn jumping off her head with a sigh, while it was nice to see Massimo back to his normal self….it was Massimo back to being his normal self.
"Your order just arrived kiddo." Massimo whispered while Tsuna grinned brightly up at him,
"Really?"
"Yup, Federico is wrapping it up and smuggling it in right now." Massimo promised managing to get her near a side door, Federico slipping in and pushing a package into her hands.
"Xan-alert, 10 o'clock." Tsuna blinked in confusion looking over at the clock
"It's only seven, mama said I had to be in bed by ten." Massimo petted her hair and set her down,
"We'll explain it late sis, go give him his present~" Massimo chuckled nudging her towards Xanxus, Tsuna brightening with a smile.
"Mmm, thank you Massimo-nii, Federico-nii." the girl trotted off while they both grabbed one another to giggle like children as they jumped up and down squealing,
"She called us nii"
Tsuna trotted over to Xanxus peeking up at the tall teen, Xanxus cocked an eyebrow at her, she was never this shy with him, did his brothers do something to her?
"N-Nii-san….Tsuna...Tsuna got you this." had he not been in front of way too many people, Xanxus was sure that he might have actually had a nose bleed. Fighting back his shock from the cuteness Xanxus cleared his throat and took the package from her.
He recognised the wrapping style as Federico, the man had no ability to wrap presents, his brother normally just used a lot of tape on a scrunched piece of paper wrapping,
"Federico…" Tsuna nodded with a smile,
"Mmm, I asked Massimo-nii-" Xanxus twitched "and Federico-nii-" Xanxus twitched again "To help, Tsuna didn't know where to get it from." Xanxus tugged off the paper his eyes widening, Tsuna had gotten her hands on guns, Tsuna had gotten him guns. "Massimo-nii said they work with Flames, nii-san's other ones broke." Tsuna however skimmed over how she was the one that broke them, apparently her Flames were not compatible with his guns. "Tsuna drew a picture and Massimo-nii and Federico-nii helped me get them." Xanxus ran his fingers over the red X on the sides of his new guns.
"You did good kid." Xanxus murmured ruffling her hair "Thank you." a crash sounded, Xanxus grabbing Tsuna in close and whipping his gun up to glare at his brothers "What the fu-hell." Xanxus growled while Massimo and Federico both burst into tears hugging one another
"Our baby boy is growing up~ He said thank you~"
Bouche sighed while keeping the illusion on the guns, he was lucky Massimo mentioned the present to Timoteo, there were two civilian children here and there goes Xanxus whipping his guns out at people.
"They're smiling again." Bouche blinked over at Timoteo, the old man smiling gently over at his sons "All my sons are smiling again."
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Nana sat on the bed with Tsuna chuckling while trying to calm her down, it was now past ten and all the children had been sent to bed, Tsuna was still bouncing with energy, Nana trying her best to calm down her only child, Nagi was already asleep on the bed but Tsuna couldn't stop moving.
"I'm glad you had a good night." Nana chuckled petting Tsuna on the head "But it's time to calm down now." Tsuna wanted to, she really did, but she just couldn't "Why don't you tell me what you got." Tsuna blinked in confusion,
"But mama, you were there?" Nana petted Tsuna on the head again,
"I know little one, but tell me all the same. What book was it that Hana-chan and Kyoko-chan gave you?"
"Mmm, Hana-san said it was a story she likes, Hana-san tells really good stories, so it must be good." Nana bundled Tsuna under the blanket, as long as she was talking she wasn't bouncing around.
"And what about Mukurou-kun, Chikusa-kun and Ken-kun?"
"Mmm, the headphones and music player, Chikusa-kun recorded lessons for me to learn Italian better. Mukurou even made some for English….he's really smart." Nana had her lying down now, Tsuna couldn't help yawning a little,
"What was your favorite present?" Tsuna blinked sleepily up at her mother,
"Mama's 27 jumper." Nana chuckled, of course, even if it was just something simple, Tsuna always treasured it "And nii-san's gloves." Nana smoothed Tsuna's hair back while the child yawned again. "Mama….I'm not sleepy ye…" and out, one she stopped moving it always caught up with her. Turning to the door hearing someone chuckle Nana smiled over at Timoteo,
"You know your daughter well." Nana snuck over to the door and closed it gently, tonight they were staying in the mansion, Hana and Kyoko went home but Nana had decided to stay here since it was late.
"I try my best, sometimes that's not enough." Nana admitted looking over at Timoteo she bowed low to him, the Vongola head looked startled.
"I don't think I have ever said it….I just want to say thank you, for letting Xanxus-kun be here for Tsuna. I failed as a mother when Tsuna needed me most, he saved her. Thank you Timoteo-san, for raising Xanxus so well, and letting him be part of our family too." Timoteo urged her back up with a kind smile,
"You never failed Nana, Tsuna was able to save Xanxus too, and she was able to because she had such an amazing mother." Nana's eyes welled with tears and she could only smile,
"We did raise some good kids didn't we?" Nana giggled, Timoteo chuckled and linked their arms, leading the mother back towards what was left of the party.
"We did."
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Well, I couldn't stop writing after last chapter, so this was out sooner then I thought, now to try work on the other ones I should be working on. Ended up 6 pages in before I stopped to look.
Enjoy everyone~
I spent some time working on a list of birthdays...hence a bit of a focus this chapter.
Thank you as always for everyone that took the time to give this story a read and a huge thanks to every single person that has favorite or followed, I'm glad I can give you something to read.
Huge thanks and hug to everyone that reviewed, you all encourage me more then you know. I think I missed some last chapter, I hadn't moved them outta my inbox yet which normally means I haven't noted them yet, apologies if I did miss anyone, we're starting with them :)
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