"Uncle Alaude!"called a high pitched voice.

The blond cloud guardian turned around to see a toddler with dishevelled looking brown hair and chocolate brown eyes running up to him. The corners of his mouth twitched up a little into the ghost of a smile, and he bent down so that he could look the kid in the eyes.

"What do you want, Tsunayoshi? I'm about to leave on an assignment," he said, trying to keep the affection out of his voice. It had been just over three years since the little brunette came to the mansion, and as Alaude had known since the day he met him, before long, the little brunette had everyone wrapped around his little finger, including (though he was loath to admit it) the aloof cloud guardian himself.

Tilting his head cutely to the side, Tsuna asked, "Which country are you going to this time?"

Letting out a small chuckle, he said, "I'm going to a country called Japan. It's very far from here, but I don't have a lot to do, so I'll be back in about a week or two."

As predicted, Tsuna's face fell, just like it did every time he found out that one of his uncles would be leaving for an extended period of time.

Ruffling his hair, Alaude stood up and said, "Don't look like that, or I'll arrest you for distracting me from my work."

Tsuna giggled at his words, knowing that he wasn't serious. Wrapping his arms around the skylark's legs, he said, "Ciao, uncle Alaude. I'll miss you."

"Ciao, little one."

Currently, in the small town of Namimori in Japan, a young, five-year-old boy was walking home from school alone. This boy had hair the colour of ebony, and his eyes were the colour of steel.

As he walked up to his house, he had to resist the urge to cringe at the thought of what was waiting for him inside.

As he opened the door with the key hanging on a string around his neck, he cautiously pushed it open, and said a tentative, "Tadaima!"

There was no immediate answer, and the boy took a cautious step forward.

As soon as the door was closed, though, a woman appeared in front of him, towering above the small kid.

As he looked up at her, he fought to keep his mask of indifference on.

"And just where have you been, Kyoya?" asked the boy's mother, her mouth pulled up into a nasty sneer. "School was over hours ago."

"I was at a classmate's house, working on a project," replied the five-year-old immediately.

"Oh, really?" asked his mother. "And why didn't I know about this?"

The boy who went by the name of Kyoya shrugged. "I tried to tell you, but you were too busy making out with your boyfriend."

Losing her temper, the twenty-five year old slapped her son across the face. "Don't you talk to me that way, young man. Now, go to your room this instant!"

Without another word, Kyoya turned towards his room, relieved that it hadn't been any worse.

As he walked away, the boy distinctly heard his mother muttering to herself, "I swear, if there was any way I could get in touch with that boys father, he would be gone in a heartbeat."

This statement didn't faze the boy at all, he merely continued on his way to his bedroom.

Once he had arrived at his haven, he set his backpack down and opened up one of the front pockets.

Out of the pocket, he took out a very old, tattered picture . . . well, half of a picture. In the picture was a handsome foreigner with ice blue eyes and pale blond hair; he wasn't exactly smiling, but his eyes showed just a hint of happiness.

Kyoya stared for a long time at the picture; it was one of the few things he treasured.

About six years ago, before he was born, his mother and this man, Alaude, had apparently loved each other and had dated for a few weeks. According to his mother, Alaude had failed to tell her that he would be returning to Italy, and that he probably wouldn't be coming back. Predictably, his hot-tempered mother had jumped to conclusions, and had avoided the man until he had returned to his homeland.

She found out, a few months later, that she had become pregnant. Kyoya didn't know what had possessed her, but she had decided against an abortion, and so began his life of neglect and child abuse.

He'd discovered this picture last year and had decided against showing it to his mother, instead keeping it as his own, something to let him know that somewhere out there, there was someone who could possibly care for him.

Not that he would ever admit all this to anyone, but the picture comforted him.

Hugging the picture to his chest, the boy curled up on his bed and fell fast asleep, dreams of a certain blond foreigner saving him from this hellhole dancing across his mind.

For his first few days in Japan, Alaude had some free time, and his first plan of action was to sleep off the jetlag.

The day after Alaude arrived, since he had nothing to do, the blond decided to go shopping for a souvenir to bring back for the brats. It had become a custom for all the guardians (yes, even him) to buy little trinkets and toys for the kids whenever they went to a foreign country.

As he was walking out of a store, though, a shout caught his attention. Turning, he saw two yakuza guys shouting at a kid.

"Watch where you're going, brat!" shouted the taller one.

The kid, much to Alaude's surprise didn't shrink back or start crying, like he would've expected; he merely looked back at them with eyes the colour of steel.

"Oi! What's wrong with you, kid? Cat got your tongue?" asked the other tauntingly, attempting to flick the kid on the forehead.

"Kamikorosu," snarled the kid, and suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a pair of steel tonfas appeared in his hands.

The cloud guardian watched with great interest as the kid took down the shorter of the two (the one who had tried to flick him) with a well-aimed hit to the jaw. Alaude smirked as the kid then turned on the other guy, who was still in shock from seeing his friend getting beaten up by a kid.

Stepping over the two unconscious men, the kid started walking away, but before long, his way was blocked by another three guys, supposedly friends of the other two.

As he watched them advance on the kid, Alaude decided it was finally time for him to interfere.

In the blink of an eye, he'd rushed over to the kid and, before anyone could react, all the yakuza thugs were on the ground, writhing in pain.

Placing a hand on the kids head, Alaude threw them all a glare and said, "Any of you lay a hand on this kid again, and I'll kill you."

"Nani?" shouted on of them. "Do you have any idea who we are? We're from the Momokyokai clan!"

Alaude was almost at his ropes end, when one of them, the leader he assumed, said in a frantic voice, "W-we apologize g-greatly."

The man who had shouted before looked at his leader in shock. "What the hell are you saying, aniki? Why the hell are you apologizing to this guy?"

"Urusai!" shouted the leader, looking at his subordinate. "Can't you see the ring on his finger?" Then, turning back to Alaude, he performed a dogeza, saying, "Gomenasai, Vongola-san. We won't bother the kid again. Please forgive us."

Alaude tched, then turned around, saying, "Disappear."

Almost before the word was out of his mouth, the Momokyokai guys had run off. Muttering to himself, Alaude said, "I didn't know our reputation had even reached Japan. . ."

Meanwhile, Kyoya was staring up at his saviour with barely concealed awe. He had to pinch himself to make sure he was dreaming, and even then, he barely believed who he saw standing in front of him. "Alaude-san . . ." he couldn't help but murmur quietly.

Immediately, the blond looked down at him through narrowed eyes. "How do you know my name, kid?"

"My name is Hibari Kyoya," he said without missing a beat. "I'm your son."

A little shocked by the bluntness, Alaude looked the kid up and down, grudgingly admitting to himself that the kid, Kyoya, did indeed look a lot like him. "I don't have a kid," he finally said, a little uncertainly.

Kyoya was unfazed. "My mom only found out she was pregnant after you returned to Italy. She didn't know how to contact you."

"Hibari Kyoko?" asked Alaude, and Kyoya nodded.

There was an awkward silence, since Alaude didn't know what exactly to say, now that he was faced with the knowledge that he had a son. What was he supposed to do now?

Thankfully (or unfortunately, it depends on how you look at it) for him, Kyoya was the one to break the silence.

"Can I live with you?" asked the boy with an expressionless face.

For once, Alaude's confusion actually showed on his face. "Nani?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Kyoya's eyes suddenly became hopeful. "Will you let me come live with you? Okaa-san doesn't want me at home, and she's always saying that if she knew how to contact you, there was no way she would put up with me."

Alaude's eyes widened as he heard what the cild – his son – said. "She's said that to you before?" he asked.

Kyoya shrugged. "All the time," he said, then a grimace graced his features. "Not that she needs to vocalise her dislike of me for me to know about it."

Alaude, being as good as he was at reading people, didn't need to ask what he meant. Feeling anger bubble up inside him, the blond looked at his newfound son once more, then said, "What do you think of Italy?"

Kyoya looked at him curiously for a moment, then his eyes widened as he realised what his father was implying. "I think it's an interesting country and wish to one day visit it."

Alaude smirked at the kid's answer. "And what do you think of having four brothers and a sister?"

Kyoya's eyes widened at this. Did his father really have that many children? He generally disliked crowding, but if it meant getting away from his okaa-san, then it wasn't too big of a price, and he told his father exactly that.

This time, Alaude actually let out a small chuckle; he was beginning to really like this kid.

And so, they went together to Kyoya's mother's house to convince her to let Kyoya move in with Alaude (which wasn't really hard), and by the time the sun set that night, Kyoya found himself in the luxurious hotel suite he would be staying in until his father finished whatever work he had and they could go back to Italy.

Almost two weeks later, Kyoya stepped off one of Vongola's private jets and onto Italian soil for the first time in his life.

"Come along, Kyoya," said his father emotionlessly, leading him towards a sleek, black limousine.

Trying not to at everything they passed, Kyoya thought about the new siblings his father had told him about on the first day they met. Would they be like him? Or would they be completely different? How should he act towards them?

These thoughts kept running around his mind until, about half an hour later, they arrived.

As he stepped out of the limo, Kyoya couldn't help but stare with wide eyes at the mansion they were at. This was where he was going to be living from now on?

"Come along," repeated Alaude, and he followed obediently.

Together, Alaude and Kyoya made their way up the front steps, and the minute they had stepped inside, Alaude was attacked.

"Uncle Alaude!" shouted Tsuna, latching onto the cloud guardian's legs.

Kyoya stared at the little brunette who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere; he was already wishing he could speak Italian, as the kid had started babbling about something.

Then, to the skylark's great astonishment, Alaude smiled gently and bent down to ruffle the brunette's hair. Was this kid one of Alaude's new siblings?

As if things weren't confusing enough, another blond man suddenly appeared, and greeted Alaude warmly; this man looked a lot like the kid who had attached himself to his father's legs.

When the other blond noticed Kyoya, he turned his eyes on Alaude and they had a long, drawn-out conversation in Italian.

Finally, the other man looked down at Alaude and smiled. Opening his mouth, he said in Japanese, "Welcome to Vongola, Kyoya."

SkyGem: Sorry guys, I have a feeling the ending is a bit rushed, and I'm really sorry! I have somewhere to go now, and I kinda rushed to get this chappy done so I could update before I left. Please do leave a review, and I'll see you all tomorrow, ne?