Another Path Part 22 : That faced the wrath

I will stop apologizing about any late updates. I have real life to deal with, as do many writers on this website, and none of you ever blamed me for it (you guys are all awesome). Thank you very much for that; encouragements help me write, but orders pretty much stop me.

Also, a warning : my updating schedule might (and I mean might nothing is sure) grow even more hectic in 2019. I have important exams and, more importantly, Kingdom Hearts 3 will finally be available on January the 29th (#fangirl squealing#). Fanfiction will have to be secondary to KH, I'm afraid. But you can still expect at least one chapter every two months and I will never drop this story. I have invested way too much time, thoughts and sheets of paper to plan the script for that.

About Xanxus : I think that despite his violent behavior, Xanxus truly cares for his subordinates and family in his own way. During the Ring Battles, he was just completely furious that his father had lied to him all this time and that he would never be able to have what he had been promised for years (the Vongola throne). In the future arc, he is clearly shown siding with Tsuna, even though he doesn't like him. He usually puts his family before anything else. I also don't think he's the type to attack or let his subordinates attack children unless there's a good reason. He's also much smarter than his behavior shows (how else could he have led a organization the size of Varia?) and more calculating when he doesn't let his temper get the better of him.

As for the fight in the previous chapter, Bel is still a newbie in Varia, he's strong, but not yet at the others' level. Levi is probably the weakest elite (with Bel) and the small rooms and corridors are not the best place for him to fight. The battle might have turned out differently had it taken place outside. I felt that I needed to explain this : the Caeruleus children are strong, but they are still children (much like Bel). They wouldn't stand a chance in a one-on-one with Squalo or Lussuria for instance. Yet.

The positive outcome of Levi and Bel's attack was that Caeruleus was no longer as restricted inside the villa as before. The close watch of the Elite had been as much to prevent them from discovering Mafia secrets as to protect them (from outside dangers and Varia itself). Now that they had proven that they could defend themselves reasonably well and that they were at least aware enough of the Mafia to know about Flames, the surveillance was much more casual.

They were still followed by an Elite (although Bel and Levi had been thankfully relieved of that duty) and they had to tell their minder in which section of the mansion they were working, but the latter was usually only distantly watching them and they were allowed to move around. The work moved along faster and they no longer felt as oppressed as before.

That was how they realized that they had been greatly mistaken upon their arrival. They had all assumed that the damage to the house had been mostly due to outside attacks, from people who had a grudge against Varia. After encountering a few lower-ranked members, they quickly realized that almost all the destruction had been caused by Varia itself!

Of course, that discovery had caused some tension between Caeruleus and the Mafiosi; who wouldn't be enraged to see a room they had worked on for days be returned to the decrepit state they had found it in because a bunch of drunk and trigger-happy criminals decided it would make good target practice?

As one can expect, some members of Caeruleus took it worse than others and went to directly threaten the Mafiosi to be more mindful of their hard work, or to simply beat them to the ground until the message got through. The Elite didn't seem to mind (they actually found it hilarious to see their subordinates be trashed by kids) so the lower-ranked quickly understood that it was in their best interests to not destroy a room that had just been renovated. They were not given much of a choice, what with not only Kyoya, Mukuro, Ken and Hayato beating them up if they caught them, but also I-pin, Chikusa and Lambo. Tsuna himself had felt the urge to punch a few of them on occasion and he was sure that he had heard Shoichi mutter darkly about something that would shock perpetrators into unconsciousness if they shot at one more wall, or that would reflect the bullet right at them. The inventor had scary ideas sometimes...

()()()()()()

With most of the lower-ranked Varia too cowed to dare to immediately destroy their hard work, things proceeded much more smoothly. Three months into the contract, Caeruleus had almost finished.

Tsuna, Hayato and Shoichi were putting the finishing touches to one of the last rooms, the rest was already starting on the next one. Unfortunately, they would not have enough paint to cover the whole wall, which meant that one of them would have to go and get some more in the shed where most of the construction materials were stored. It would not be such a pain if leaving the room didn't mean exposing themselves to the rest of Varia. The elites (minus Bel and Levi who were apparently under strict orders from their boss not to bother them) were mostly OK, but the rest was generally made of battle maniacs that had no qualms whatsoever about fighting children to the death or just slaughtering them when they turned their backs.

Sure, most of Caeruleus had enough fighting experience and/or power to get out fast enough and reach help if the lower-ranked Varia wanted an open fight, although most of the kids would rather simply avoid the blood-thirsty morons if at all possible. But there was always a risk that one of them would stab them in the back, and no amount of power and preparation could ever completely protect you against that.

Hence why Tsuna was usually the one to go and get any small enough material when they needed it. His Hyper Intuition would at least warn him about any incoming assassination attempt. This time was no exception, and the brunet left his two friends to bring back some paint.

Unsurprisingly, he was half-way there when his Intuition whispered to him to take a different road. The Sky didn't think much about it and simply turned left where he would have turned right. He had spent more than enough time in the building to be able to navigate its corridors by now.

He was, however, much more wary when he felt a powerful Flame coming straight towards him. However, he had been lost in his thoughts for too long and it was too late to turn around or hide; the furiously burning Flame was already around the corner. He readied himself and slipped his hand into his pockets to don his gloves, in case the newcomer was hostile.

A visibly raging Xanxus appeared. The man had never directly interacted with anyone from Caeruleus apart from their first meeting and when Bel and Levi had gone haywire, which explained why Tsuna had not recognized the feel of his Flames.

Still, the young man was obviously in a terrible mood, his guns were out and he looked ready to shoot down anything that stood in his way, Tsuna included.

The sensible thing to do would be to stick to the walls and wait until Xanxus had left. Unfortunately, the brunet had always been a bit lacking in the common sense area. His intuition kept prodding him, supplying that something was wrong with the older man and that he had to do something. Tsuna could see it : there was more than rage in Xanxus' eyes, although it was well-hidden. There was grief too, and loss. He was less facing a rampaging rabid beast than an injured animal that growled and showed its fangs to keep threats at bay while it licked its wounds.

So, disregarding all and any thoughts of self-preservation, Tsuna walked slowly towards Xanxus, bare hands visible to clearly show that he was not armed. The man's eyes focused on him and he growled. "Out of my way, mini-trash." He ordered.

It was official, Tsuna was terrified. But he was also way too kind-hearted to leave alone someone that looked so desperately in need of support. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked softly instead, his voice barely faltering. When Xanxus made to stride past him, he jogged by his side, far apart that he would not be considered a threat. He rather doubted that the older man would tolerate him walking behind him, facing his exposed back.

Xanxus shot him a glare, but didn't stop. He took a deep breath and squeezed his guns, which the brunet interpreted as an attempt to restrain himself and not just shoot him. "This is a Family matter." He eventually snarled when it became obvious that Tsuna would not leave him alone. "It doesn't fucking concern civilians, so piss off."

But the shorter Sky was bull-headed and had already decided that he would not leave the other alone until he had calmed down. He kept jogging besides him to keep up with Xanxus' much longer stride and waited for him to explain.

The leader of Varia grunted angrily, but didn't shoot the boy like he half-wanted to. He still had enough morals to know that killing civilian children that had technically done nothing wrong was a bad idea. Since the brat was not letting him go any time soon, he had no option but to speak, so the boy would be satisfied and leave him be. "I just discovered that I have been fucking lied to all my life and that I would never have what I have been promised. My bastard of a father is actually not my father and just picked me up out of pity." He admitted, wrath dripping from every word. "I'm about to rain fucking hell on him and all the trash he keeps." He added, because it was what he has planing and he wanted to scare away the annoying brat .

Unfortunately, it didn't have the expected effect, and the brunet just hummed his understanding. "Why do you think he told you you were his son, then?" He even had the gall to ask.

"'Cause he pitied the poor boy with a demented mother?! 'Cause he wanted to use my Flames?! 'Cause he had a laugh out of it?! How the fucking hell would I know?!" Exploded Xanxus. "I just know that he will pay for it." He growled threateningly.

Tsuna was silent for a long moment. "Maybe he actually cared about you and didn't want to hurt you?"

That got Xanxus to stop and whirl around to lower his face to the brunet's. He red eyes burning with intense fury and his lips curled back to expose his clenched teeth. "Why the fuck would he care?! I'm nothing to him! Just a piece of trash he picked up in the streets! If he cared about me, he would have never made me believe I was Vongola and had a claim to the throne now that my not-really-brothers are six feet under! I don't have any fucking family, so there's no way he gives a damn about me!"

Ah, so this is what it is about. Realized Tsuna, who was too caught up in his epiphany to think about stepping back. He thinks that since they are not really related, his father doesn't care about him. The terror he had been feeling since he encountered Xanxus melted away some more. He's angry at the world because he believes that he has no place to belong to anymore.

It was a feeling he understood. Tsuna had always been estranged from his family. Nana and Ienobu had never acted as family with him. Iemitsu had loved him, that he knew, but he also knew that he would always come second, and that the man had never managed to behave like a father towards him.

But despite all that, Tsuna had a family, only one that he had built himself rather than been born to. They were not related by blood, but they were not any less close for it. And Xanxus had one as well. The brunet didn't know enough to judge his relationship with his father, but he had seen the reverence and the hidden fondness that the elite displayed when they were around or they were speaking of their Boss.

Now to make the furious man before him see this as well... "I don't know your father or your relationship with him, so I can't say anything about that." He admitted in a whisper. Xanxus' face was close enough to his that he heard every word. "But you do have a family! Just like I have one! A family doesn't have to be related by blood, just like being blood related doesn't make you a family. My blood-mother hates my very existence, and my father never believed me or trusted me enough to help! My own brother tried to kill me multiple times for no real reason! They are not family to me! But all the others at Caeruleus are! They always have my back and care about me and give me presents for my birthday and Christmas! They listen to me when I have something to say and they are always willing to help me if I ask, just like I am for them! I can't say anything for your father, but at least it's obvious that the Varia is your family!" His words grew more and more heated as he spoke, and Xanxus had actually taken half a step back to look at him with wide eyes.

Tsuna's eyes were starting to glow orange, but he didn't notice and kept speaking. "Lussuria always has a kind word about you. Squalo looks very, very proud to be your right-hand man and for all that he complains about your attitude, it's obvious that he's also very fond of you. Mammon stays here and makes sure that everything runs smoothly, even if she earns no money for it. Levi was so focused on gaining recognition from you that he actually attacked us when he believed we had your attention, and Bel respected you enough to step down from a fight when you told him to. They would give their lives for yours, and I'm sure you would do the same for them. They are your family, whether you see it or not." He concluded, panting lightly from his passionate rant.

Xanxus was looking at him even more heavily than before, like it was the first time that he saw him. The wrath was gone, replaced by a calculating stare.

He opened his mouth, and Tsuna was sure that he was about to be insulted and threatened for the way he had spoken to the Varia Boss. He did not expect the words that came out. "You are Iemitsu's lost son, Tsu-something, aren't you." It was less of a question than a statement.

The brunet blinked a few times, having not caught the change of subject. He eventually regained his bearings. "I don't know what you are talking about." He lied. How could Xanxus of all people have known?! He looked nothing like his father!

The older man scoffed. "Yeah, right. You have Sky Flames, are about the same age as the son of the CEDEF trash and you obviously have Vongola blood in you. Stop pretending, you won't fool me." His eyes narrowed. "Why did you run away from Japan to Italy." He demanded to know.

Tsuna shifted a little, assessing his options. Xanxus seemed way too sure that he was Iemitsu's son for some reason to be convinced otherwise. It was also probably not a good idea to be caught lying by the head of Varia; at best he would drag him back to his father, at worst he would just kill him here and there. And who knew what would happen to his friends, whom Vongola had no reason to leave alive since they knew too much. No, his best chance laid in telling the truth and persuade the older man not to hand him over to Iemitsu or speak of this to anyone else. His Intuition seemed to agree.

"My mother, Nana, never cared about me because she always doted on my younger twin brother, Ienobu. At first it was only neglect, but it slowly turned into abuse the older I grew. Nobu also seemed to hate me for some ridiculous reason. He always made sure that I was miserable. I only made a friend in Kyoya because he was more than strong enough to fight back against Nobu and all his friends. When Nobu tried to kill me the first time, Kyoya and Shoichi -another friend I made now that Kyoya was there to protect him- we thought it was just something he did on the spur of the moment, and I would be fine. But he tried again to kill me and we realized that I would never be safe as long as I stayed around. No grown-up believed me over Nobu, so we could not ask them for help, not even Iemitsu.

We started to plan. Kyoya and Shoichi decided to come with me abroad, and thought that Italy was the best place to hide. We knew that Iemitsu was in the Mafia because I heard him speak about it. We also knew about Flames after I summoned them by accident when I was little, and I taught my friends. Then Nobu tried to kill me again, this time he had plotted everything, and we knew it was time to leave. We arrived in Italy and opened Caeruleus with some money Kyoya had gotten from his family. The others joined us over time." He finished.

Xanxus stared at him for a minute before huffing. "Huh, and a brat with a past like yours still speaks about family!"

"Because we have a different definition of family." Argued Tsuna. Xanxus seemed to believe his story, and had yet to actually act on it. "You at least have Varia, and maybe your father too."

"That man doesn't give a damn about me, or he would have never told me he was my father!" Growled Xanxus, anger in his eyes, but not nearly as much as a while ago.

"Or maybe he wanted you to have a family, even if it was not by blood!" Replied Tsuna heatedly, all fear of the older Sky gone. "Maybe he though that you are still his son, even if you were not born to him! He at least cared about you for years before today, this is more than my blood-father can say; you should give him a chance to explain himself!" He shouted.

Xanxus ground his teeth but did not answer immediately. Tsuna's words were finally reaching him. "I guess." He eventually conceded grudgingly. "I will ask him directly what he intended to do with me before I make him pay."

Tsuna nodded, still tense, but inwardly glad that this was the outcome of their argument. Minutes went by with both individuals lost in their thoughts and memories of the time spent with their families. But one thought was nagging at the brunet, and he voiced it, now that he was almost positive that the other would not shoot a hole between his eyes.

"How did you figure out that I was related to Iemitsu? I don't look like him at all, it was why Nana never bothered with me, and I know he doesn't have any recent picture of me."

The older sky snorted. "It's obvious : you are the right age and you have some Vongola blood. Which by the way, gives you a claim to the title of Vongola Decimo." He added darkly and with narrowed eyes strained onto the brunet.

Tsuna was quick to understand what this was about and to wave his arms wildly in denial. "No, no, no, no, I have no intention of having anything to do with the Mafia, let alone Vongola! You don't have to worry about that, I won't ever be a candidate for the job!" He promised. Honestly, he had no desire to ever be associated with Iemitsu's Famiglia. Or any other Famiglia for that matter. "But that doesn't explain how you knew that I have Vongola blood." He reminded.

To his great bewilderment, Xanxus actually burst laughing. "You honestly don't know, mini-Sky?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking." Huffed the brunet back, feeling much more at ease after their little heart-to-heart. "But I really need to know if it's so obvious. I don't want people to be able to figure it out so easily. I'm kind of in hiding, you know."

Xanxus chuckled and asked. "You do know that you are directly descended from Vongola Primo, right?"

Apparently not, because the brat looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "What?!" He shrieked. "You're not puling my leg, are you?"

The older man raised an eyebrow. "How the fuck could you know about Vongola and your father's job and not that?"

"I don't know a lot about those, since I wanted nothing to do with the Mafia!" Defended Tsuna. "I did learn that I came from a specific bloodline of Vongola and that I was somehow related to the main line, but I never thought that I was a direct descendant of the first Boss! How the hell do you know that?!"

Xanxus sighed, but it was more amused than annoyed. The suffering of others must be entertaining for him, thought Tsuna uncharitably. "The current main line is descended from the second Boss of Vongola, Primo's nephew or something, not directly form the founder. The Hyper Dying Will -you know about that, right?- without relying on pills is a characteristic of Primo's line. When you were ranting, your eyes started glowing orange and a tiny flame appeared on your forehead. Plus, you're a Sky, and Skies are rare, but Primo's line is known for birthing only Skies. And finally, you look so oh-fucking much like your ancestor that it would have been hard to miss that you were related."

"My ancestor?" The brunet could feel dread mounting inside him.

"Primo. There are a few portraits of him around the world, most of them in Vongola mansion. He was blond with blue eyes, but apart from that, you damn well look like his clone."

"I can't actually look like such a distant ancestor!" Argued Tsuna in a fit of panic. If he was that recognizable, it was only a matter of time until someone identified him and reported him to Iemitsu. "I mean, I'm related to him through my father, and I look nothing like the man, there's no way I can look like that Primo guy!"

"Hell if I know how, but you fucking do. But there are not that many portraits and very little people have seen it often enough to immediately link you to Primo. You should be fine as long as you don't purposefully mingle with high-ranked Mafiosi." Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief. "You might want to be careful, though, 'cause you're not the only one that looks like he was cloned from the first generation."

"What do you mean?" Asked the younger Sky, but his panic attack had thankfully subsided. "And was the resemblance the reason why you and Squalo kept staring at me?"

"Yeah, it was. Fucking weird to see a living kid look so much like a painting of a long-dead guy we had walked in front of countless times. I used to live in Vongola mansion and Squalo visited me there often before I became the Varia Boss, so we're familiar with the portrait, but the other elite trash never saw it, or not often enough to leave an impression. That's why the scum never recognized you. And don't worry so fucking much, none of us like Iemitsu, so we won't tell the bastard about you. Can't risk the only company that managed to stay long enough to finish the construction, can we?" He grinned. It was not a pleasant smile.

"Yeah, and some of your little friends really look like the first generation too. The silver haired brat with a mouth on him looks like the first Storm Guardian, G, and the scowling one that trashed Bel is like a copy of Alaude, the Cloud Guardian, with black hair. Mukuro Rokudo -yeah, we all know it's him, and I don't wanna know what you did with Vindice to have them cleared- looks like Spade, the Mist Guardian. It's kinda creepy. Hell, even the baby with a ridiculous afro looks like Lampo, the Lightning Guardian. You only need to find two morons that looks like Asari and Knuckle, the Rain and Sun Guardian, and you'll have a whole fucking set."

Tsuna had no idea how to answer that. Xanxus did not seem to be lying, but it was quite hard to imagine that five of them looked like the dead first generation of Vongola. The type of Flame was actually the same too. Still, it was nice to be warned. "I didn't know about that. It's not like we recruited based on our looks. And in fact, we never actively recruited either, things just turned out the way they did."

They both drifted into silence after that, though it was not uncomfortable. They had reached an understanding of sorts (and Xanxus had finally stopped trying to glare a hole into Tsuna's head) and there was nothing left to add. The brunet finally remembered the purpose of his trek through the Varia villa and quickly left to bring back paint to his no doubt worried friends. He waved Xanxus goodbye and asked if he could be kept updated about the evolution of his relationship with his adopted father. The older man just grunted noncommittally.

()()()()()()

A week and a half later, all the renovations had been over for two days and the members of Caeruleus were all lounging in the Office. They had received their salary and an offer to call on them the next time the villa needed working on. The children had agreed, it was good money and not so difficult apart from the one incident with Bel end Levi.

They did not see the Varia Boss again.

Tsuna had recounted his encounter with Xanxus to his friends. He had not gone into too many details, but Shoichi, Mukuro, Kyoya and Byakuran had sent him knowing glances when he had brushed the topic of his blood family. The three formers were not entirely unexpected, since they had witnessed the situation back in Namimori in one way or another, but Tsuna couldn't figure out how Byakuran could know anything about it. He eventually settled on believing that Shoichi had told the white-haired teen something (it certainly wasn't Kyoya or Mukuro).

They were all in the Office, working at home, studying or waiting for a new job when the laptop Tsuna was typing on announced that they had received an email.

Surprisingly, Xanxus had listened to Tsuna's request and was keeping him updated on his relation with his father. He had talked to his adoptive father and had learnt that the man did indeed see him as his own son after all this time, although he had taken him in knowing full well that they were not related. Xanxus was still a part of his family, but he was not eligible for the title of Vongola Decimo. It clearly pissed the Varia Boss off, but it was nowhere near the all-consuming rage that Tsuna had found him in.

Added to the email was a picture taken from the inside of Vongola mansion. It was not very clear, and had obviously been taken discreetly, so that no-one noticed, so the details were hard to see but it was still easy to guess that this was a photo of a painting of the first generation of Vongola.

In the center, sitting on a throne was a man that looked eerily like Tsuna despite the poor quality, if not for his hair and eye color. Standing guard around him were six men, four of which looked like grown-up Kyoya, Mukuro, Hayato and Lambo with different coloring.

None of the members of Caeruleus really knew what to think of these strange resemblances.

So, who do you think will appear next, now that Varia is done? I will post the names of those that guess right. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!