Disclaimer: I own the OCs, the rest is Akira Amano's work.

Fratellanza

"I'm going to kill you."

"But why!? I brought you a 'get well soon gift'!" The pineapple was smashed on the floor, Mukuro struggling to stay on his legs next to his hospital bed. The whole Kokuyo Gang, so four people really, was staring at the exchange. "You're so rude! Did Daemon take away your brain cells as well?" A vein popped on his forehead and he stepped forward.

It was dead silent as Mukuro tried to reach me, who was leaning against the door in pajamas. He was...incredibly slow and unsteady. Not that I could blame him after what his body went through.

I also decided to make fun of him for being stuck in a bird later, it was carefully kept in a corner of my mind. Wasn't it ironic though? He called Kyoya 'skylark' because of his last name and Mukuro was literally a bird for some time.

Karma's a bad bitch.

Ken ended up muffling a laugh in his hand, turning his back to Mukuro. The latter stopped and glared at the back of the blond's head.

"Oya, is there something funny Ken?"

"N...No Mukuro-san!" I snickered quietly at the scene.

"When are you discharged?" Mukuro stopped glaring.

"In two days."

"Okay, I'll visit you at Kokuyo Land. Take care." I left the room and went back to mine.

The Shimon case had been discussed and dealt with. They would be allowed to remain in Namimori and continue their life.

However, they couldn't leave Namimori unless the Ninth said otherwise. They were under surveillance, mainly from Reborn who was allowed to deal with them if they were seen as a threat once again. As for them staying in Namimori, although it was CEDEF and Triads territory, they had to partake in surveillance duty in town. I wasn't there when they were told this, Alaric went in my place, but from what Fon told me this Adelheid girl accepted the task on behalf of the Shimons.

It was a pretty light punishment in a way, but one wrong move and they were killed. One wrong move about Namimori protection and they'd become the Chinese Triads targets as well.

Ultimately, they were powerful and that the Vongolas were keeping a close eye on them while limiting their movements was not such a bad thing.

I raised a brow when I saw Alaric in my room, packing my stuff. A winter coat, scarf, orange beanie and gloves were on the chair.

"You know I can do that on my own right?" I asked him as I went back to bed. Outside a thin white coat was covering Namimori. December was here now.

"It is my job." I looked up at the ceiling.

"You're my Mist, but did my father ask you something else?" His movements slowed down. "I know, omertà this and omertà that. It's just you've been acting like a butler or something since...for as long as I can remember. Even in the guild."

"You could put it that way," he admitted quietly.

"Are you really okay with fighting your brother?"

"I do not wish to talk about this Miss." I frowned at him as he zipped up the bag.

"I know nothing about you." He turned around, eyes unreadable.

"Why the sudden interest?"

"I don't know, I just realized I don't know anything about you but you know my whole life." He stared at the wall for a few seconds and sighed.

"I will say one thing about my childhood that might make you understand why I do not speak about it a lot."

"What is it?"

"I was born and grew up in Berlin. The East side of the Berlin Wall." I widened my eyes. He was German, I knew that, he was born in 1981, when the wall was still standing but...I don't know, I always thought he was from the West.

"I see."

"Don Cavallone has a video conference tomorrow and has to prepare for it, I will pick you up tomorrow morning."

"Understood." I grabbed my phone when it rang. Xanxus kept texting me ever since Superbi went back to Italy. He was concerned, it was his right, but if I were in front of him I might just strangle him to show him I was alright.

Life went back to how it was before we were sent to the Future. Everything calmed down, if we didn't mention Dino sleeping on my couch or Alaric watching everything I was eating. I could spend some quality time with my brother at least, and Reborn would borrow him sometime for his 'lessons'. Romario flew back home to take care of things there while my brother did as much as he could from a distance.

Although the circumstances had been bad, I felt happy to have him around. I wanted to strangle him sometimes when he was too clingy, but I felt prioritized and the brat inside of me was glad.

In my free time I would get Arro and train with my new gun and ring with him. My new ring could support all three of my Flames, it was just a matter of how to get the one I wanted out.

The day after Mukuro left the hospital, I visited him. I had bought a pineapple but took the time to empty it and put chocolates inside because I was a wonderful friend. My bag was not that heavy, but I facepalmed when I saw Mukuro fighting Kyoya. I waited for the fight to stop next to Chrome, Mukuro saw me, I gave him his gift and ran away. Kyoya caught up to me quickly and was not happy at the fact I had given something to Mukuro. I tried to kiss him, because...we already did, but he turned his head and I kissed his cheeks instead.

It was that jerk's punishment. Giving me something I had wanted for a long time before denying it to me.

Basically, we did not kiss since the hospital. We did not spend that much time together outside of school either because...Dino. I still went to his place and sneaked into his room long enough to take a picture of his bookcase.

It was Christmas in two weeks and I had no idea what to get him, so I settled for a book. He had lots of them, several of the same author so I would get him one.

I was just out of the bookstore, reading the list of presents I still had to buy when I heard a squeak in front of me. I raised my head from my warm scarf and found myself face to face with Kozato Enma. He had wide eyes at my sight, still many band aids on his face, but also fresh blood on his forehead.

"H...Hello..." he stuttered shyly. I blinked blankly at him.

"Hi." I showed his wound. "You ran into some trouble?"

"No I...I just fell..." I sighed and took a clean paper tissue from my bag, tucking Kyoya's present in it as well.

"Here, stop the bleeding." He thanked me in such a quiet voice I almost didn't hear him. I spotted my next stop, the music store, a few meters away, but Enma just stood awkwardly in front of me. "Do you need anything else?"

"Just...I just wanted to apologize..." I pursed my lips and grabbed his wrist. "What are you doing!?" he asked me with a blush.

"If you want to apologize then carry my shopping bags."

I didn't have to buy a lot of presents. I got Arro some picks from his favorite bands and a video game as well because his birthday was between Christmas and New Years Eve, Alaric would have a brand new expensive sketchbooks with pencils and stuff to draw, Xanxus would get an expensive watch…

Yeah, I asked him if we were giving each other Christmas presents. He replied with a beautiful 'Do you want a present?' to which I responded an obvious 'Well yeah duh'.

I didn't know him that well yet, and I was underage so alcohol was out of the table, but grown-up men liked watches, didn't they?

Reborn would have some good coffee from the Internet and Dino…

Dino...I was seriously considering drawing him a coupon for some sibling quality-time, maybe with a good restaurant?

I looked at Enma above my shoulder. He was carrying my stuff without uttering a word of complain.

"There's one last stop."

"Alright." His voice was so quiet.

He was completely confused when we entered a coffee shop and I went to a table.

"Do you like hot chocolate or do you want something else?"

"I...huh...there's no need to..."

"Don't worry," I told him, pulling a few bills, Japan was not big on credit card yet, from my wallet, "you've followed me without complaining while I was shopping, it's on me." I didn't let him reply that I went to the counter.

He was a blushing mess once he had his hot chocolate and a big chocolate chips cookie in front of him. I had a tea and a slice of strawberry cream cake.

"You don't like chocolate?" He jumped in front of me and flailed his arms around, almost knocking his cup down. I grabbed it before the beverage was spilled on the table.

"Sorry!" he apologized, ducking his head. I raised a brow.

"Don't worry about it, I'm used to clumsy people." He sighed and twirled the spoon in his cocoa.

"I just...I thought you hated us..."

"I don't hate you." He was clearly surprised. "I mean...I don't hate you but I don't particularly like you either. I'm pretty neutral. If Takeshi decided to forgive that Kaoru guy then I'm in no position to hold a grudge, am I? And Julie was not really himself, was he?"

"...sure but...we attacked and..." I sighed.

"I don't have the best opinion of you and your Family but I kept it to myself when I talked to the Ninth. Did I do something that made you think I hated you?"

"Not really no...it's just...I'm sorry you were sent to the hospital because of us." I pursed my lips.

"I wasn't in the right set of mind at the Ceremony."

"Because of u..." I clicked my tongue.

"Hey, if your apology is about your martyrdom then you can keep it." He looked down, hands clenched around his cup. "You fucked up, instead of staying stuck on this be grateful to still be alive." I looked around quickly. The other customers were busy with their own talks.

"What is it?"

"What?" I blew on my tea and took a sip.

"Your opinion of us?"

"Powerful, but weak. I mean, you're all powerful fighters, but your Family is weak on a political standpoint and mentally. You all have a bad past, but sorry to break it to you but people with a shitty past because of the Vongolas are pretty common, people with a shitty painful past in our world is common, but we don't all go seek revenge on the people who are 'responsible' right when we have a little bit of power. It's sheer stupidity. If you really wanted to be stronger than them, you would have started building your own strengths around your Family, little by little, so that you could then be recognized. It's slow, but a lot more solid. What you did just showed your resentment. Daemon whispered a few words and you let your new powers get over your head. None of you were truly acting for your Family or its future, it was solely for your own personal vendetta against the Vongolas. On the long term, in the case you had succeeded, the day would have come you would have paid the price. We always do. Maybe it wouldn't have been you but your descendants." I took another sip. "But it doesn't mean I hate you, I'm in no place to judge anyone's actions. I just deal with their consequences if they affect me. Enma, there is one thing you have to always keep in mind: fighting fire with fire will always get you burn. So what if you do not have a lot of water at first? At least you're doing something effective instead of feeding the inferno. Even if it takes time...if you show you want to do things differently and you believe in it, then you can achieve a lot." I narrowed my eyes slightly at the amber liquid in the cup. "That's what I think." I raised my eyes to Enma, who was stunned by my speech, and smiled sweetly at him. "Also, I have two powerful protective older brothers, they would have slaughter you all and make sure the Shimons never recover!" I added a giggle at the end.

"I...I see...thanks for the honesty."

"Always. Now eat and drink before I take them."

"Yes!" He took a sip and burned himself, his free hand on his mouth while he put down the cup.

"...it's hot."

We parted ways quickly, but I was barely alone that I bumped in a woman.

"Sor..." I blinked in confusion at the familiar face and familiar smile, kind slanted brown eyes staring at me. "Feng? What are you doing here?"

"It's almost Christmas, so I'm visiting my darling nephew. My brother is still in Namimori as well, so I thought we could have a real Christmas for once."

"Does Kyoya know you're here?"

"He wasn't home when I left my suitcase, but I'm sure he'll be delighted." Sure...Not that he didn't care about his aunt, but he didn't like not being told when she visited. Feng was...carefree that way I guess. "But who was that boy you had a date with? Your boyfriend?"

"Boy…wait, it wasn't a date and how do you even kno..." She smiled sweetly at me and patted my cheek.

"You still have much to learn if you didn't notice me keeping an eye on you from afar." I sweat dropped. What the… "But I was hoping you would officially become my niece one day, what a shame..." she said, saddened, a hand on her cheek. Right...she had a thing for being a match maker…

"He's not my boyfriend..." She raised an interested brow.

"Really? Are you still available for my dear Kyoya? You know how he is, but he truly is a sweetheart deep down." Huh...sure...let's not mention where I was standing with Kyoya at the moment. "Are you free for dinner tonight?"

"Well...my brother is in town until he decides to..." She grabbed my hands in hers.

"Then bring him!" Dino didn't know Kyoya was Fon's nephew and I wasn't sure if Kyoya wanted people to know about it...but Feng was stubborn like her nephew. "I've never met him before even if he entrusted you to us a few years ago! He was trained by Reborn-kun as well, he must be a capable young man." Wearing too casual clothing from some people's perspective but…

Right, from what Fon told me, Feng met Reborn before the Curse.

"Isn't it a little too sudden?"

"Of course not! I'm going grocery shopping this instant!" She spun around and started walking away. "And be sure to hide those presents where nobody can find them!"

"Haha...sure..." Once she was out of sight, I called Kyoya.

"What?"

"You aunt's in town and I'm coming over with Dino for dinner." He stayed quiet for a few seconds and sighed deeply, completely done with Feng's behavior.

"I should have known, she sounded weird on the phone the other day." Humph, so it was not totally unexpected. "With Haneuma?"

"Yeah, I know you don't really want people to know about Fon and you but he'll be here tonight, right? Anyway he knows Feng is his sister so...my brother's not as clueless as he used to be."

"Really?" I rolled my eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, it's annoying."

"How...never mind. See you tonight." I hung up.

Needless to say, Dino was actually delighted, although Arro and Rick, who was spending most of his free time at my place really, exchanged a knowing look. They knew about Kyoya, Fon and Feng, but Dino would have a big surprise.

"Should I buy a bottle of wine?"

"If you want to I guess..."

He was happily humming to himself all the way to Kyoya's.

"Try not to make a mess of yourself this time, okay?"

"I know, you won't be ashamed of me tonight Ana, promise."

"If you break it no Christmas present." He clenched his fist in front of his face and I sighed. "Really, you're getting...we're here." Dino raised a brow at the Japanese mansion while I went through the front gate.

"I have a feeling of deja-vu..." I rang the bell. Fon opened it, dressed as usual.

"Good evening Master." He smiled at us.

"Good evening you two, come inside." We did and I removed shoes and coat, knowing exactly where you had to put them.

"Ana...did you come here already?"

"Yeah. You'll understand soon enough." Feng appeared in the hallway in a beautiful red and black hanfu. "Hello, thanks for having us." She smiled at me and immediately greeted my brother.

"Nice to meet you in person Dino-san, my name is Feng, I am Fon's little sister." Dino shot the baby a look, then Feng and handed her the bottle of wine. "Thank you, but you shouldn't have."

"No, it was my pleasure. You took care of my sister for three years and she never had any female figure in her life so..." Feng hugged the bottle against her with a grin. I averted my eyes when she looked at me.

"It was a pleasure for me as well." I hurried around the corner and narrowed my eyes at the teenager sitting at the bottom of the stairs, his chin in his hand. He was away from his darling school uniform and wearing regular clothes, so a dark gray sweater and black jeans.

Kyoya saw me and turned his head away childishly.

Nope, if I were to go down I'd drag him down with me.

"Come on!" I told him, grabbing his hand. He refused to move and glared at me. I yanked on his hand harder and almost stumbled back into the wall when he got up. "I'm sure you're delighted, so I'm sharing my misery with you."

Dino's face when I brought Kyoya in the dinning-room by the hand was priceless. Kyoya looked away and sat down at the kotatsu. I sat down next to him, in front of Feng who was next to her brother. My brother sat down at the extremity of the kotatsu.

"I believe some explanations are in order. Kyoya is our beloved sister's, Huang, son," Feng explained calmly.

"I see..." Dino widened his eyes and turned his head to me, who was quietly warming up my hands under the kotatsu. "Wait, so Fon's relative who stayed with you for a while..." I nodded.

"I told you his name was Kyoya. It's not my fault you never put two and two together."

"How could I..." I showed him Fon, then Kyoya, then Fon, then Kyoya and stared at him expectantly. "I mean...I knew there was something but..." He sighed.

"Don't beat yourself about it Dino-san, Kyoya doesn't like it when people know we're related," Fon added, which got him his nephew's glare.

They started talking and I shared a look with Kyoya. Do you see how kids are bored when they're forced to be there when the parents are talking? It was us.

I bit the inside of my cheek when I felt a hand on my thigh. It started to go up and down my thigh and I grabbed it. Hopefully the kotatsu was hiding what was happening. I tried to push his hand away, but he grabbed mine and tried to go back to my side, but I was trying to do the same on my side and whatever he had planned on getting from touching my thigh turned into a battle of who had more strength under the kotatsu.

Did we just go from two flirty teenagers to two five-year-old kids? Yeah, definitely.

"Luciana, would you mind giving me a hand in the kitchen?"

"Me? I..." I got up anyway under her gaze. Here we go with the women stereotypes of taking care of the food while men talked and drink. Well, Fon was a baby and Kyoya was sixteen but…

I put the spices on the dish as she told me to.

"So, what is going on between you and my nephew?" I raised my head in a flash.

"What?"

"He seems relaxed around you, in a good mood." She smiled softly. "It's nice to see him like that." I looked down at the dish.

Kyoya probably didn't smile a lot after his mother passed away. Even today he didn't smile a lot.

He wasn't angry twenty-four-seven though.

The meal was nice. I was keeping a close eye on my brother to make sure he wasn't making a mess, but he was being extra careful, probably because it would not only be me angry at him if he made a mess, but also Kyoya. When the meal was over and alcohol was out, Kyoya excused himself and left the room.

I did the same shortly after.

"I can't believe you would leave me with them," I complained when I found him in another room. Every Japanese rooms were the same, with sliding doors linking all of them. Although the upstairs of his mansion was more modern, like the kitchen, the rest was pretty much traditional.

I closed my mouth when I noticed him on his knees, hands clapped together in front of him and his eyes closed, in front of an altar. I tried to be as quiet as possible when I moved closer to him and knelt behind him. On the altar was a picture of a young woman, fuming sticks of incense surrounding the picture.

I had never really seen Kyoya's mother. The woman on the picture was gorgeous, there was no doubt about it, and it was no wonder she caught the eye of a famous yakuza. She had long, straight ink-colored hair, warm slanted brown eyes, the same brown Fon's eyes were, and a beautiful, kind and loving smile.

My eyes settled on the back of Kyoya's head. He was a lot things. Everybody thought Kyoya was just a discipline maniac who liked to bite people to death without any second thoughts, even people who followed him. I couldn't deny he liked to fight strong opponents and keeping peace in Namimori. However, not many people knew the reason he wanted to protect Namimori and started patrolling so often was because his father's men were around and ready to attack if he wasn't acting like a good boy. Not many people knew if he wanted to fight strong opponents it was because it was the only way he could improve and keep his father at bay if needed. Not many people knew that even if his pride had been wounded by losing against Mukuro, that even if my brother was a clumsy moron without his men, that even if Arro and I kept messing around with him, the reason he kept coming and asking to fight was because we were reliable ways for him to get stronger.

The reason why he slowly accepted to fight alongside Tsunayoshi and his crew was probably because as they grew, Kyoya could lay back a little bit more when it came to Namimori and protecting it.

Nobody knew that if Kyoya seemed so cold on the outside toward everyone it was probably because if his father saw he had friends, he wouldn't hesitate to use them to pressure his son to do anything. Kyoya was not heartless after all. He was complex, his cleverness making him even more complex, but he was not heartless. He had a soft spot for any kind of small animals, not wasting time before nursing a wounded bird when we were kids in China. He would always give a look at what his subordinates wrote in the paperwork and if they had made a mistake, he'd bite them to death a little but ultimately, they would go back to patrolling while he would take care of the paperwork even if it meant going home late. He was patient toward people close to him. Arro had told me that although he was freaking out when I went missing in the Future, Kyoya never kicked him out of his place and let him vent out his frustrations to him. He had been a quiet, comforting presence during the VARIA conflict and I didn't know what to think of Xanxus. If he felt he was indebted to someone, then he would pay them back one way or another. He wasn't insensitive to people's attention toward him, he had appreciated I-Pin's Valentine's Day gift after all and smiled at it. He cared about others in his own possessive ways, the way he took care of me in his house after the Choice was proof enough of this. He liked affection from how he seemed to love cuddling while sleeping.

Most of time when we napped together, he was the one to use me as a pillow without me asking. I never complained, but I never asked for it either.

The one thing I admired and loved about him was how he seemed so sure in anything he did, as if he was unable to doubt himself or anything. There had been times where I had wished I could be the same, but I knew the reason why we were different about this was because I grew up with a big brother I relied on.

Kyoya was still annoying at times though. He came uninvited in different places, not caring about decency and using doors. He liked showing off and showing he was strong, he liked showing he was superior in serious situations. He knew when not to do that of course, but often he would run straight at an opponent without thinking first. He liked to tease and annoy people he knew a lot, he enjoyed being a joy killer. He loved pointing out everything you did wrong and make you do it all over again while he napped right next to you. He was bossy and even spoiled sometimes. He could be rude when he was in a bad mood, violent even if the person in front of him could fight back. If they couldn't, he would scare them off. He wasn't above lying either and used his reputation to get what he wanted. He could be bratty as well, and picky about his food or tea. There were times where he couldn't care less about someone's thoughts and he would do whatever he wanted.

He never told me any of the things above of course, they were just my thoughts, but I liked to think I knew Kyoya better than most people. He also didn't like crowding, but depending on how close he was to the people he would make an effort.

Kyoya was perfectly flawed and human and I wouldn't change him for anything in the world. I was sure of it now, I was badly in love with him.

"You're staring," he told me without looking at me.

"Sorry," I replied, hugging him gently around the waist, putting my chin on his shoulder. I smiled at the picture. "She's beautiful."

"Hn."

"You have her smile." I felt him tense slightly.

That he knew of it or not, he had been a solid, reliable emotional support for me since I arrived in Namimori. If I could give some of it back, even just a little, then I would be happy.

"I know you don't talk about her but...was she a good mom?" He stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"She was an overprotective mother who would say 'I love you' every day when I was with her," he confessed quietly. "Summers in Namimori with her were better than the rest of the year in Tokyo with my father." I kissed him under the ear.

"Sounds like a good mom to me." Thinking about it...I wondered how mine was doing.

"What are you doing for New Years Eve?" he asked me in a whisper.

"Huh...celebrating at my place I guess? Why?"

"There's a festival every year. Last year you were in the hospital, but there are fireworks when it's midnight. Feng wants us to go."

"...how much do you want to bet she already asked my brother?" He smirked.

"I'm not losing money." I chuckled against his shoulder.

"Smart move Kyo-chan."

The end of the evening was nice, even with Feng's knowing look glued to Kyoya and I.

In the following days, I gave Kyoya's Christmas present to Feng for her to give him, just like Arro and Rick did. Dino did as well a couple of days after us. Christmas flew by and New Years Eve was here. I had not seen a lot of people except for those squatting my place, Reborn and Fon.

"Geez there's so many people!" Arro exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

"Don't get lost in the crowd. Don't lose your phone either, I'm not wasting time looking for you with Miss again," Rick warned him and Arro sweat dropped.

"Haha...sure..."

Dino tried to grab my hand to keep me by his side but someone was faster. I didn't like big crowds as people could randomly touch me by bumping into me, but I had recognized Kyoya so I was fine. Dino turned around and started panicking so I took my phone and texted him I was fine.

"He's annoying," Kyoya huffed behind me, grabbing my hand.

"You can't blame him for being overprotective." He started to drag me away until we were in the woods behind the shrine. We would still see it from where we were of course.

I looked up at Kyoya when he pinned me to a tree. It was dark as the lights and festival were not at the shrine but in front of it, down the stairs.

"Did you like the gift?" He nodded. "Next time you see me creeping around your room, know it's for a good cause and not because I'm weird."

"You're weird." I rolled my eyes but he raised my chin with a finger. "I told you not to roll your eyes at me." I moved my face closer to his, enough so that our noses touched, and rolled my eyes at him. "You're asking for punishment."

"I do as I wan..." His lips cut me off.

I heard the fireworks in the distance, but I was busy kissing Kyoya back, hugging him at the same time. The cold of December, now January the 1st, was forgotten thanks to the heat Kyoya was giving me. His arms were warm around my body.

It was a way better, more enjoyable, way to celebrate the New Year than last year.

Of course, after maybe twenty minutes I went back to my brother, who shook me like a can of soda, asking me where I was. Arro's knowing grin and Rick deadpanning at Dino's behavior were also greats ways to spend the New Year.

Fratellanza

Thanks for reading this chapter! Thanks to tenimyuohtori, Alpha wolf ML and hellocherryblossoms for their reviews!

Bye!