So this is the 19th chapter... normally its not supposed to end at the 20th one, there should be some extras & others... But as i said on tumblr, if you want to know what happens with the 8059 pairing, with 8018, D18 and all, can u leave a request plz because i didn't really plan to write anything abt them in the first place

Enjoy !


Yes, one had to put an end to that hateful play. Xanxus seemed he grew somewhat accustomed to the status quo, but he had to admit it was tiresome to make the silverette keep on coming every night. The strangest fact was that Squalo was agreeing on it; it was weird he would actually obey him.

And the old Gokudera was becoming more and more stubborn about that shitty wedding. It was an exchange of friendly services, the geezer would always say. Xanxus could understand that point for the refined broke family, but in the end, what did he win in the bargain apart from the lovely image of a happy couple? The raven wondered how they would look like later… Maybe with a house in the chic suburbs, a charming little family with the kids, the dog and the cat lying in front of the fire-place and a MPV in the garage? And don't forget the life subscription to the nearby country-club. This would make a good picture for Christmas.

'Shit, I'm really getting old…' The raven mumbled in silence.

Well, old or desperate for procreation, Ieyasu would have said. Otherwise he wouldn't have agreed on an arranged marriage or, as it was the case that night, an arranged date with the Mrs. Vongola-to-be.

This time, it was coinciding more with the idea of a 'date', that is no chaperone, no curfew. Xanxus was stuck with Bianchi for the entire evening in a restaurant specially chosen for their second rendezvous, in other words a more decent and luxurious one. The elegant and dazzling room with its crystal chandelier and the bunches of flowers at each corner of the place, the wonderful view from the bow-window, the soft humming of the chamber orchestra playing some soft and melancholic melody, and the unavoidable boring, aimless and suicide-inducing conversations; those were what the raven had to face this evening.

If the trash had been there, the tanned man thought, they would have been arguing, insulting each other, then they would go back home angry, and yet have sex… and the day after, none would even remember why they had been fighting over that night. Of course, until one of them would touch the tender spot again. But in the end, everything would be alright because he knew no matter what stupid stuff he would do or say, the silverette would put up with it and… 'love' him? In his own way, at least.

And that Bianca chick was precisely the type of women who could make their husbands' life an inferno.

So Xanxus was pondering on his seat as he was glancing at the lights of Tokyo behind the huge bay window. On the opposite seat, Bianchi was more or less silent, only talking when the waiter was asking something or when she would show a minimum of civilities to the raven: 'Good evening', 'Thank you', 'The duck here is exquisite' or so, and no more.

Such a boring evening. And to think that every evening, every day of his life until the day he dies would be so boring…

A low chiming sound from his phone drew Xanxus' attention. It was a message.

"Oh, you look a little happier, all of a sudden." Bianchi addressed the raven.

The latter locked the screen and put the device back on the table. "Aa? What are you talking about?"

"Your phone. Or I should say the message you received on your phone. Good news?"

Xanxus stared derisively at the young woman. It was the first time since the dinner started they had a true conversation, yet Xanxus wasn't sure he wanted to have one, not on that subject. "It has nothing to do with you."

"My, I think it has." Bianchi retorted serenely. "I agree on the fact that your job, your company and how you treat your employees have nothing to do with me. Actually, I have absolutely no interest in those things. But if it comes to my betrothed's lover, I think it does have something to do with me."

A glacial silence settled between the two. The tanned man was considering the young woman with an impassive disdain while, at the other side of the table, Bianchi was sipping tranquilly at a glass of white wine. How come that frivolous dinner turned out to be his inquisition? Oh, so this was also part of marriage, that there would always be someone to know everything about you: your dreams, your hopes, your passwords and security codes… The only annoying part for Xanxus was that that someone wasn't the one he had wished for.

That damn dinner was starting to get out of control. Few minutes ago, the raven was bored. At the moment, he was bored to tears. "It doesn't. Hurry up and let's get over with this shit."

"Please, I'm sorry if I said harsh words." Bianchi smiled at him. "My intention hadn't been to fluster you, far from it. But your attitude really made me wonder."

"Attitude? What the fuck are you blabbering again?"

The young woman simpered. "Didn't you notice it? My dearest, we're going to get married and you've been angry the whole evening before you received that message from your lover."

To this, Xanxus replied nothing, as a man who was used to give an account of his choices or 'attitudes' to no one. Even less to some chick he practically took in out of charity.

"Sorry. It was completely out of place." Bianchi said as the look on the raven's face grew drastically darker. Her simper slowly faded, replaced by her usual kind smile. "But since we're having a conversation for the very first time, I wanted to say I… I'm thankful, for what you're doing for father. Not exactly for him, but what you're doing for our family, especially for my brother. My father dilapidated the family's fortune for Byakuran, to launch WHS. But even after it started to grow bigger, father could get no money out of it. Byakuran's lawyers told him it was a usual fact, that we shouldn't worry about anything, so father let go and waited. But then WHS's growth started costing too much, even for our family. Soon, there was no more left. Only the mansion and half of the family's private incomes, which would have never been enough to cover our debts. But at least, with your compensations, they can be written off. Aa, just how things turned out that way, I can't tell…"

Bianchi had talked in a crystalline voice and with so much aplomb and elegance it was almost as though she was the one helping out the raven. Those damn rich people. But something indeed triggered his curiosity in the young woman's discourse. What she was talking about, Xanxus wanted to know to what extent the damages were in WHS exactly. And seeing that perfectly calm air on the woman's face, Xanxus understood there had to be something in the wind. He would have been the lousiest idiot of the game if he didn't take advantage of that.

"You… Are you seriously asking me to destroy your brother's company?"

"Stepbrother." Bianchi rectified, her expression not failing once. "And no, I'm not. I was just wondering if father's money is truly used in the family's interests."

"And even if it isn't, what could I do about it? I have no access to their files... not as if I had a spy inside WHS. Those people don't trust VR Co, and they would never betray Byakuran if they didn't gain anything in exchange."

The young woman shrugged. "And if I gave you that spy? Don't forget, officially I own half of my stepbrother's company. How many people inside WHS do you think could rally round me?"

How sweet those schemes tasted in the raven's mouth. Just like the ambrosia of revenge. Byakuran fought well, Xanxus had to admit, maybe to the point of being an adversary worthy of him. Starting with nothing, that white haired scum made his way to VR Co., he even had started to become a serious threat for him, Xanxus Vongola. They both used twisted ways to get what they both wanted, and Byakuran thought that if he hid to the raven the things that mattered to him – like in that Irie Shouichi guy's case – he would get out of this dual without injuries.

What a big mistake. Xanxus' man hunted him down, began harassing him at his home, at his part-time job and even when he was studying in Namimori U, enough to drive the guy half-crazy from fear and exhaustion – and Xanxus hadn't forgotten to keep the white haired man aware of any attempt on the redhead.

Xanxus however never feared even once for Squalo's life. First, he deemed that unworthy of him, and second the tanned man was certain if some low-life scums started threatening the silverette's life, the latter would have no trouble getting rid of them. But it wasn't the issue at the moment.

"Hey, scum." Xanxus leaned on the table and smirked cruelly at Bianchi. "What about changing the terms of our contract?"

Bianchi's smile widened. She extended her hand with an empty glass of champagne in it. A waiter immediately came to fill the flute. "Why not? How can I refuse anything from my dear fiancé? Father will certainly be disappointed, though."

-In the same time, few miles from there-

I'll be a little late tonight. Stupid game has no end. It was the message Squalo had sent to the raven. After he finished typing, his attention came back to the baseball play which was taking place on Namimori U's ground.

Squalo had absolutely no interest in the whole thing, however it was quite an impressive sight to see: in spite of the bad weather, a multitude of spectators was packed in the bleachers, everyone wearing their college's colors on their caps and umbrellas, and many meters below, on the grassed ground that still looked soaked and muddy with the previous day's rain, sometimes running, sometimes standing still, players in their jerseys.

In point of fact, the silverette didn't truly get what was happening. They were running all around the ground, throwing and hitting balls; the huge screen above the heads was showing names and numbers Squalo had no idea where they came from and then, from time to time, the public would scream like possessed people in the worst horror movie he had ever seen.

Oh, he did regret accepting coming to that stupid match. But the damn katana brat had insisted, and hell he did know how to. He had been practically harassing the silverette, whether after courses, after their trainings, and even sometimes at home, when he was passing by Tsuna's. But Squalo didn't get it when Yamamoto assured him that he had already accepted coming. Just when did he do that? He wouldn't do something as stupid as that. No, he wouldn't… would he? It was Dino who confirmed what Yamamoto was saying.

Thus, Squalo was caught. But he was a man, and he had given his word. He couldn't go back on it anymore, even if he felt a little swindled on the way.

Another roar in the stadium. The crowd was ecstatic.

"Shit…" The silverette mumbled. Two young girls who had been sitting next to him spilled soda all over his sweater when they suddenly got up and started skipping on the spot while applauding frantically. Well, everyone was. Damn, he hated that place. He turned to look at the girls. "Voi, stupid kids…"

"Did you see it?" Girl n°1 squeaked. "Hey, did you see it? Did you see it? Did you see it?"

"Yeah, of course!" Girl n°2 squeaked as well. "It's the most awesome homerun I've seen in my life. Yamamoto is so great!"

"That's right. They're already leading by 10 points to 3, all thanks to him. Namimori's team is at its best! Haa. But too bad he's going to leave soon."

"Buuu! Yeah, so unfair!" Girl n°1 whined. "Why does W. University always get the best players?..."

It startled the swordsman. Leave? The brat was going to another university? Why hadn't he told anything about this? "That little prick." Squalo cursed. "Had he ever thought about fencing with all that baseball shit?"

Suddenly, the match lost all its interest for the silver haired man – not as if he had had a lot in the first place, though. The supporters were growing hellishly noisy. The game was finally over and the players were scrambling all around a single one. As the helmet fell from his head, Squalo recognized his pupil, all beaming and grinning and covered with mud and sweat. It seemed they had won the match. Squalo sneered, as though he wanted to say: 'Enjoy this moment. I'll make you see hell soon'.

But when Squalo found the katana brat half an hour later – after a long and impossible fight against the swirls of the crowd and the voices screaming in the megaphones – at the field's exit, he didn't have the occasion to yell at the youth as the latter nearly choked him to death when he jumped at his neck. Fortunately for Squalo's pride, it happened when most of the people who had been in the stadium left.

"Hey! You're here!" Takeshi chimed.

"Of course, I'm here, you idiot!" Squalo unfastened the vice around his neck. "You're the one who told me to come, stupid damn trash! When did I ever say I understand anything about baseball?"

"But you came." Yamamoto shrugged, a confident smile never fading from his lips. "Thank you. I'll treat you."

"Huh?"

"My father makes the best sushi in the town."

"So what?" Squalo bristled. "Anyway, it's not why I'm here. I heard you're leaving for W. college."

Takeshi opened his eyes wide. "Ah? What's that?"

The silverette frowned. That kid was truly good at annoying him to death. "Voooi. For their fucking baseball team, you fucking brat. Why didn't you tell me anything about it?"

"Why, you say? That's because I refused their offer." The boy laughed. "I would never quit our trainings. This is funnier."

It took Squalo by surprise. He was agape, and he mainly felt silly. Very silly. Why the fuck did he have to make a fool of himself in front of a kid? His face gradually became contorted. A grimace. "It's not supposed to be fun. So, you're not leaving?"

"I'm not. Neither am I leaving you." Yamamoto added under his breath. "Thank you."

"Why are you fucking thanking me?"

The boy shrugged for the second time. "Because you were worried about me. You didn't want me to go, did you?"

"Voi. Don't push your luck, brat." The mentor threatened. "And I can't go with you. I have something to do."

"Really?" Takeshi's puppy eyes. Then an unexpected grin. "At home? Can I walk you home, then?"

In a normal case, Squalo would have told him to go to hell. Few months earlier, this indeed would have been the silverette's immediate reflex to such a thoughtless proposition. However, within those months, a lot of things had changed about him, about his life and his way of treating undesirables – first with thinking of them as being same human beings as him. This only meant that Squalo wasn't a barbarian. There was undeniably some kind of… how shameful for him to admit it out loud… of gratitude he felt toward the younger swordsman. After all, in his lonely days, the boy did his best to entertain him the only way the silverette would acknowledge, that is, with his sword. He would not have the heart just pushing the puppy-like youth aside.

"Tsk. Do as you please. And stop grinning like a fucking idiot!"

"Yes!"

Therefore the puppy followed his master at home. But when the puppy wanted to get inside the building, the master had to dismiss him. No matter how pitifully the puppy could beg and cry and push the entrance door, the master didn't let him in. Nevertheless, something else was weighing on the puppy's balance. It was the fact he was still boosted by hours spent under high pressure and adrenalin, and the effects still were working on him.

As a result, it didn't last long till the door – the thin barrier that was still separating them – gave away under Takeshi aka the puppy's weight, puppy who fell miserably on his master aka Squalo. And to add to the drama, the whole scene happened right before the puppy's friends aka Hayato and Tsuna. Tsuna who, let's remember, was witnessing this kind of stuff for the second time, so he was more or less used to it – contrary to Hayato whose face was now as red as peony.

Gokudera felt… uncomfortable. Uncomfortable and troubled and upset. First, he should have never been at the entrance of that damn building at that hour. There was a very important report about UFOs in the middle of Europe on TV, and he should have been watching it at home. But his best friend needed his help for a last swotting up before the next day's makeup test, like every day for months. And, since his best friend's other best friend was playing baseball, and since everyone else in Namimori U was at that stupid game, Tsuna was left with no other choice for his tutoring but the young silverette. Second, Hayato didn't give a damn about who the other baseball freak was dating, but why did they have to make out in broad light, right under the first passer-by's eyes? That was utterly inappropriate, wasn't it? Anyone would feel embarrassed seeing this kind of things.

And third, he didn't like it. That's all.

"You stupid baseball freak, what the hell are you doing here?" Hayato roared.

"Yeah, what the hell are you doing, brat?" An annoyed Squalo echoed, the younger swordsman still lying all over him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Takeshi sat up and looked alternatively at his master and his friends. "You were here, Gokudera? I was surprised not see you earlier, before we started. I thought you'd be there…"

Instead of calming down the younger silverette, listening to Yamamoto only angered him more. Hell, it was unbelievable how everything about the baseball freak was irritating him right at that moment. Hayato made few steps toward the dark haired youth, emerald eyes looking daggers at the latter, and his knuckles itching him terribly, urging him to hit the other idiot.

As a matter of fact, jealousy is somehow right and reasonable since it's forcing us to keep the things that belong to us, or which we think they belong to us. This is what Hayato felt as his legs were inevitably bringing him closer and closer to Yamamoto. But as he was only one foot away from the idiot, he couldn't hit him. It hadn't been because of a sudden and irrepressible rush of kindness: Squalo simply had been faster than him and kicked the boy almost ten meters away. The younger fencer flew through the air, until his back hit the wall at the other side of the hall.

"Ah! How many times did I warn you to know your place, brat?" Squalo got up with a mocking grimace on his lips under the shocked glance of Tsuna and Hayato. "You'd better not forget you still have a fucking session tomorrow afternoon. I don't give a fuck about your being stiff and shit." Then, to the attention of the two dumbfounded youths. "Voi, brats! Go see if he's still fucking alive. If that dumb ass isn't breathing, you know the emergency number."

"Yes, sir…" They both replied.

Squalo started stamping with his arms akimbo. "For fuck's sake, even a pillow can take more than this. I wonder if I'm not just losing my fucking time with this trash."

"Umm, sensei?" Tsuna raised a hand.

"Vooi, what? Can't you see I'm still talking now?" The silver haired man yelled.

"Hiii! I'm sorry!" The boy lowered his head. "O-o-oustide, sir…"

"What? What's outside?"

"Mr. Xanxus is waiting outside!"

Came the second surprise of the evening: Hayato clearly saw the colors on the sensei's face disappear as though the guy had just seen a ghost before him. No, not even a ghost could do that to that weirdo, Hayato thought. The air grew heavier, colder and the lamps on the ceiling died one by one as the raven made his way in the hallway.

"Fucking trash," Xanxus' guttural voice raised in the half-darkness. "Do you fucking know how long I've been waiting for your shitty ass?"

"V-voi, Xanxus…" The older silverette turned back, a drop of sweat dripping on his forehead. He smiled awkwardly. "I… I lost track of time. I swear I didn't do it on purpose. If you let me explain-"

"Shut the fuck up and get your fucking ass out. You're lucky that shrimp brat told me where you've been."

"Shrimp brat?" Squalo asked. Who could that be? He suddenly opened his eyes wide. "Voooi, Xanxus! Don't fucking tell me you get one of your stupid lackeys to follow me! I'm fed up of your paranoiac mind!"

Xanxus walked closer, then stretched his arm to Squalo. But when the latter expected a slap, instead he got the raven's hand caress his hair. "I'm not paranoiac." Said man said menacingly in his ear. This (his chin beckoned toward the passed-out baseball player) is the brat who gave you the hickeys, isn't it?"

Squalo sensed all the importance of the question. An affirmation would have meant Yamamoto's end. As noisy as the boy could be, it would be a shame to kill him. Squalo eluded. "Umm. Anyway, he's already half-dead. No need to do anything else. Now, let's go upstairs?"

"I said we're going out."

"W-why? I thought we were staying at home… V-vooooi!" Squalo shouted when the tanned man picked him up from the ground and hooked him on his shoulder as though he was nothing more than a sack of meat. He cried, totally overtaken by events. "Put me down, you goddamn bastard! I mean it, put me fucking down! I'll kill you, I'll fucking kill you! Xanxus, put me doooown!"

But the long haired man's pleadings were no more Hayato's problem when the raven took him out of the building, and out of his sight. Probably not forever, though.

-Later the same night-

"Put me down, ya goddamn asshole!" Squalo was yelling at him. And so did the raven, but not before they got in their hotel room.

The silverette sure can yell and shout fucking loud when he wants to. All the way to hotel – since the minute Xanxus 'abducted' him on the steps of the building, on the back seat of the limousine until the doorman greeted them – he had screamed and struggled on the raven's back. Which, once again, is the obvious evidence that apart from being stupid and blind, most of time, love is also deaf. It was kind of a funny thing to see: a grown-up man piggybacked in that luxurious entrance hallway in the middle of a somewhat shocked, somewhat condescending crowd. But it was also funny to see that no one tried to stop Xanxus as he brought the silverette (now, more fuming than loud) to the elevator.

Yet, before they could get in, a classy man with briefcase and eyeglasses and tailored suit (more than probably some sort of businessman in the middle of an urgent affair) called out at Xanxus, ran to him and rummaged in his briefcase some papers the tanned man had to sign.

Everything was happening very fast, new piece of sheet replacing the former one, and the man didn't even give the impression he had noticed Squalo's presence at all. The long haired man started to believe he had become transparent or invisible to human eye. A light pull on his sleeve however told him he was wrong.

"Hey! Hey, sir," A very young man, almost a boy, in a groom livery, whispered to him. Squalo nearly got a stiff neck as he contorted himself to look back at the boy. "You're with him?"

"Can't you see it?" Squalo replied, vexed. "Voi, make yourself useful and…I don't know! Call a fucking senior, your director or someone else…"

"I can't, sir!" The boy frowned. "This man (he tilted his head toward Xanxus) is the big boss here. He's the owner of this place. We can't do anything without his consent. So? You're with him?"

An ugly sneer twisted the silverette's lips. If he hadn't been in that shameful posture, that kid surely would have been dead by then. A cold and menacing silence covered the tedious one-sided conversation of the raven and that guy Squalo didn't know and didn't care to know.

Then, a chiming. They both got in the elevator where Xanxus finally let go of him. After all, he couldn't escape anymore. Just like the burnt child who dreads fire, Squalo backed in the opposite corner of the lift, arms folded, eyes wild and obvious malevolent vibrations reeking out from his whole being. On the wall, the levels numbers were flickering one after another. Not once did the elevator stop. Xanxus, Squalo and the groom had to bear that awful silence in the closed space.

"How long are you going to stay there?" Xanxus demanded. "Come here."

"Like hell!"

The heavy, awkward silence again. The groom was tapping with his fingers. With his back to the two other idiots, he couldn't see how high the tension was between them. That is, very, very high. And the flickering on the board that didn't stop: 12… 13… 14… 15…

"Ahem… you know," The boy suddenly uttered, almost startling the others. "Sometimes, my girlfriend and I have an argument, too. But we always overcome it, you see? We have a long talk, we cry, but in the end-"

"Fucking trash." The silverette hissed behind him. "No one asked you anything. Keep your shitty advice for your fucking blowup doll."

Xanxus burst out laughing, the boy blushed, the elevator chimed, and then they got out. But when the elevator's door opened, instead of a long and dull carpeted corridor, what they found (more precisely, what Squalo found) was maybe the most beautiful suite with the most beautiful view on Tokyo, the most beautiful woodwork for the furniture and the most beautiful drapery on the walls, everything bathed in that peculiar luminous darkness of the city by night.

Naturally, none give a damn about the oneiric sight.

"I won't forgive you this, you bastard!" Squalo shouted and strode inside. "How can I even show my face in front of them now?"

"In front of who? Those brats? It's still a wonder how you can put up with your stupid job. Why don't you resign?" Xanxus went to sit at the bar and poured himself a glass of whisky. The orangey-brownish liquid was glistening charmingly under a small light, its mighty scent already burning the raven's nostril.

The silverette knitted his brow. It was always funny to annoy him, Xanxus thought. His reactions were starting to get predictable, yet he could never get enough of them. It could be the oh-so pathetic fit of tamper that made the silver haired man look like an old housewife; or only the way he would ruffle at his long and shiny hair, so feathery and soft to the touch.

"Voi… I'm not going to give up every time things don't go the way I want. Don't lump us together." Squalo sat next to the raven and help himself with the bar. A half glass of white wine, slowly gulped down. Petit joueur. "You damn spoiled brat." Squalo's greyish orbs were reprimanding, yet barely one second later, was kissing the tanned man.

TBC