A.N: Hey y'all. Thank you so much for stopping by and seryuTammi , I hope I answered your expectation in this chapter. D C JoKeR H S your reviews are such a hoot, my friend! Love you and all those readers who have placed my story in their favorites and alerts.
I'm finally back from my long vacation. Dubai is such a lovely place, y'all should definitely add her to your bucket list! Now on with the story! 3
WARNINGS: Foul language; cuz they are the Varia, duh!
Disclaimer: I do not own the familiar characters.
"Is he still tailing us?"
Xanxus fought the urge to yawn and looked over to his companion. The Vongola lightning guardian seemed just as tired as him with the whole debacle. It was supposed to be a smooth drive to Milan and a little fun of shooting down some Millefiore scumbags. Instead, they had to take a detour down the mountains to shake of a Funeral Wreath who seemed intent on scorching their supplies.
Xanxus took a second look at the rear-view mirror and shook his head. "If we see him again, do you want me to shoot his head?", he lazily inquired his companion.
"No." Lambo sighed; all playfulness gone from his voice. "Tsuna wants this done as quiet as possible."
"Which is something I can't wrap my head around." Xanxus scowled, keeping an eye on the mirror. "I get that we are at a crisis now but that's because we've been on the defensive far too long!"
"We can't face them from where we are at." Lambo intoned, glancing at his partner to take in his stress lines and hunched shoulders.
"That's just crap and you know it!"
"No, it's not."
"Give us a day and I'll have the Varia along with Squalo smoke those cretins out of their little clubhouse!" Xanxus banged his fist against the glove compartment causing Lambo to momentarily flinch. Xanxus blinked and observed him quietly.
"You are hiding something from me, aren't you?"
"Whatever gave you that impression?
"You flinched…"
"I sneezed."
"…"
"…"
"Tsunayoshi is in on this too." It was a statement and Lambo's silence answered his inquiry.
Xanxus sighed wearily, running a hand through his hair. He'd be a fool to not notice Tsuna's behavior as of late; his faraway look, his indulgent stares and outright forbidding him from the conference room was not something he always did.
"Won't you tell me, baka?" Xanxus reached out for the bottle in the compartment. "It's not like Tsunayoshi to keep things from me." He conveniently left out the 'he promised the truth' part out of his statement. That was a discussion for another time.
"Well, you promised to be honest with him and I don't see you sticking up to it." Lambo glanced at him and then back to the road.
Something in his tone annoyed Xanxus to no end. He let out a deep breath to cool down his temper and took a sip out of the bottle. "If you must know, I have nothing to hide from him." He gritted out while trying to sound nonchalant.
Lambo smirked and Xanxus instantly became alert. Nothing good came out of that damn cow when he got that face on!
"Is that so?" he drawled out; his brow raised. Xanxus felt his cheeks flush in annoyance.
"That so!" Xanxus bit out, turning back to his bottle.
"If you say so." Lambo sing-sang before looking over to give him a wicked grin. "But I refuse to believe that your far gone love for Tsuna is no secret, at least from Tsuna himself."
Lambo howled in laughter when Xanxus all but spluttered with his mouthful of water, huffing and heaving to regain his composure.
"What?!" he squeaked, causing Lambo to snort under his breath.
"You sound like a prepubescent girl right now."
"Oh, you shut it!" Xanxus shrilled, his cheeks flushing a tempting crimson. And he was half out of his seat, gaping at Lambo like he'd gone out and made a friend out of the Millefiore!
"You love him, don't you?"
"Hell no!"
"Come on now…"
"Fuck off, cow!"
"Won't you tell me?" Lambo persisted patiently, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He glanced over at Xanxus who was now heavily slummed on the seat, a look of defeat taking over his face.
"Was I that obvious?" his voice was too small for Lambo's comfort. Lambo felt the earlier cheer seep out of him.
"Well, you were always happy around him."
"I'm always happy around Squalo too." Xanxus pointed out though with very little vehemence.
"That's not the same." Lambo carefully steered the conversation away from Squalo. Silence took over their small space, the only sound being the gentle hum of the engines.
"You should tell him." Lambo declared, his eyes pointedly on the road ignoring Xanxus who sharply turned towards him.
"You. Are. Crazy." Xanxus intoned before turning towards the road.
"I know. It's an occupational hazard." Lambo shrugged, "If you must know, Tsuna loves you dearly too."
"I know." And this time, Lambo really had to stop and take a look at him.
"So, what's stopping you?" Lambo asked, genuinely curious.
"My vanity." Xanxus crossed his arms over his chest and brooded. "I'd make an ugly mate." Lambo stared incredulously at what he thought was the lamest excuse of his lifetime, all three of it!
"That is bullcrap and you know it." Lambo deadpanned.
"It's not important."
Lambo closed his eyes and counted to ten. And here he thought he was the biggest pain in the ass. But he was no lightning guardian if he let it go here. If he could figure out what was bothering the Varia leader beside him, maybe he could pull in Mama to play matchmakers for Tsuna and Xanxus.
"Look here, scar face." Lambo started, smiling pleasantly at how the name seemed to not bother Xanxus at all. Ten years before and he would've been rare steak. "Tsuna's happiness means the world to us and I'll power eject you out of this seat if you deny the fact that we feel the same way about you."
At Xanxus' snort, Lambo continued. "The feeling is clearly mutual; it's the written on the stars kinda love." He snickered, effectively dodging Xanxus' glare and reveling in his blush. "I don't see what's stopping either of you, no wait, I can get Tsuna's hesitation, what with you being a PMSing assassin and all."
"You really wanna die today, don't you?" Xanxus glared at him.
"Not unless I get answers from you." Lambo countered just as quick.
It was quiet again, Xanxus contemplating to spill the beans and Lambo fighting down his growing irritation at the man beside him. Stubborn, hot-headed, fucking pile of stone-
"I don't deserve him." Xanxus finally relented, halting Lambo's inner crisis.
"Didn't you use the loo, Xanxus?" Lambo glowered at him, "Because, that's a lot of crap you are spewing today!"
"Ever read my reputation? I look like the devil beside Tsunayoshi."
"The both of you look like the perfect couple to me, like the sun and the moon."
"You're blind; you are not seeing right." Xanxus wheezed, his nostrils flaring at the silly notion.
"And you are brain dead; clearly, you are not thinking straight!" Lambo huffed at the stubborn man.
"I JUST CAN'T, OKAY!" Xanxus all but spat on his face before turning to face the other side, "I can't…" Lambo frowned at the hitch in his voice. "I can't…what will our allies make of it."
Xanxus suddenly whipped around to face him and Lambo barely stopped himself from flinching at those sad, crimson eyes glowing at him. Shit, he didn't mean to upset him…
"Don't you see?! They will despise him, mock him and isolate him! And I don't give a shit about the rest of them but Tsuna needs them!" Xanxus shrilled, all composure lost. "I can't…I will not taint his name and that of our family!"
"The only thing you are tainting right now is your self-esteem!" Lambo raised his voice to match his, a part of him at loss for the words coming out of his mouth. "What matters to the family is what your heart desires not whom your heart desires."
"I can't give him an heir." Xanxus threw in hastily.
"Ever heard of surrogacy or adoption?! Jesus Xanxus, seriously, is that why you were dating Chrome? To help deal with your heartache for Tsuna?"
"Stop, just stop, okay?" Xanxus pleaded him with his eyes.
Lambo glared at him for a second long before banging his fist against the steering wheel with a frustrated cry. "Chrome knows this too, you know?" When he saw Xanxus silently nod his head, Lambo almost reached out and bobbed him on the head.
"She understands, and she is so delicate about all of it, and I really do love her" Xanxus fondly murmured, his voice soft. " After Squalo, she's always been there for me. Chrome is the best friend I could've ever hoped for…"
"That she is." Lambo agreed, devising plans to make Xanxus spill what was actually bothering him. The rest of their ride was uneventful through a lush, pine forest. The tranquility of the greens and the chattering of distant mammals brought an unearthly peace into their enclosed space.
"I-I don't wanna be his mistake…"
Lambo turned around so fast that he was sure he'd given himself a whiplash.
What the ever-loving hell? Lambo gaped at him in disbelief. Is that what the proud man really thought of himself?
"Xanxus…" Why did his throat suddenly feel so tight? "You will never be a mistake. You never were and you never will!" His breath caught in his lungs when he saw a lone tear seep down the silhouette of Xanxus' face. So, this was the crux of the matter…
"I fought too hard…" the gravelly voice stopped him from reaching out and wiping away the tear, "I hoped too far but I lost too much."
And then he looked at Lambo and this time he didn't hesitate to reach out and cup the distressed face. "I can't take one more hit, kid. I just can't…" his pained words carried through the soft wind and into the secret depths of the trees, lost forever.
"Xanxus, I nev-"
One second, they were looking at each other's eyes and the next, they were splat across the windshield. Whatever had impacted on their truck's container had the entire vehicle skid and steer out of the muddy road.
Lambo peeled himself of the cracked glass, breathing heavily to gain his composure and peered out the window. "Are you all right?" He hollered at Xanxus, his concern growing at the steaks of blood running down his forehead.
"I will be once I emasculate the scum who did this!" Before Lambo could reach out and stop him, Xanxus was already out of the truck, his guns posed at someone. And his trepidation grew proportionally to the widening of Xanxus' eyes.
"Go!" he heard Xanxus' clear command break through his fear.
"What?!" he screamed in horror. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"
"This truck better reach Milan or I'm coming for your hide, cow!" Xanxus bared his teeth at him before launching a barrage of bullets at the sky.
"I'll never leave you behind." Lambo struggled to take of his seat belt while reaching for his box weapon.
"You miserable, sentimental fool!" Xanxus roared at him through the window, smacking the glass pane hard enough to rattle it. "For the sake of Vongola, please!"
If there's one thing that ever got him going, it was when the fierce Varia boss begged. Biting down on his tongue to stop himself from throwing up, Lambo hit the accelerator with all his rage and charged down the road, cursing at the retreating image of Xanxus and the two Funeral Wreaths in his rear-view mirror.
"Are you nervous?"
Squalo blinked and turned around to address the fool who had uttered such blasphemy.
"How hard did the baseball hit your head for you to come up with such notion?" Squalo sneered at the grinning idiot by the door.
"I've never seen you take your time to better present yourself." Yamamoto smiled, ignoring the murderous look thrown his way. "Not that I am complaining though."
"Voi! It's not for you to ogle, scum!" Squalo gritted out, his irritation growing when the baseball freak all but ignored him and walked into the room.
"Your hair looks nice in a braid." He added with a pleasant smile. "I never knew Xanxus' opinion mattered so much to you, Squalo."
"For fucks sake, it's hot in here and I wanted a little breeze touch my neck." Squalo scowled in disgust. "And no! I don't give a rat's ass about what that bastard boss thinks!"
"It's alright, Squalo." Yamamoto suddenly turned serious, "There's nothing wrong in flaunting your looks or talents!" And then he went back to giggling like a lunatic completely unfazed about the malevolent aura enveloping the room.
"Vooooiii!" Squalo hollered. "You die today, brat!" he spat out and all but pounced on the gleeful scum only to be halted midway by a firm hand around his waist. He felt his back pressed against a toned chest and a smooth voice ghost over his ears.
"What have I told you about overstraining your muscles?" Squalo struggled to suppress a shiver down his spine at Hibari's words. Boy, that kid could sound menacing!
When Squalo stubbornly refused to answer, Hibari gave him a firm shake. "Well?"
Squalo huffed in irritation. "Not to" he mumbled softly.
"And what have we learned about communicating within the house, hm?"
The stern note in his voice completely undid Squalo. He sighed in defeat and looked over his shoulders to meet the steely gaze of one Hibari Kyoya.
"To use my indoor voice." He conceited before he felt the hand around him loosen its grip and let him go.
"You are such a jerk, you know that?" Squalo huffed but managed to keep his voice down.
"I came to take you to the drawing room." Hibari walked past Yamamoto and held the door open. "We've already kept them waiting for a minute. Come along then." And with a final stern glare, Hibari left trailing down the corridor, no doubt, to threaten the boisterous bunch into behaving.
"Don't mind him." He looked up to see Yamamoto extending his hand out to him. "If you are not ready for this, we could do this another time."
Squalo simply snorted and walked past him. His insecurity of facing Xanxus' wrath and disdain were his own. He just hoped he didn't have to see pity or worse indifference in the man's face after all they've been through.
"I'll kick his ass if he shrugs me off" He mumbled to himself, twitching at Yamamoto's booming laughter.
"If it makes you feel any better" Yamamoto smiled indulgently at the flustered swordsman "Xanxus threatened to come for my head if I didn't take good care of you. He was awfully protective you know."
His smile widened at the surprised pleasure that shone through Squalo's face. "Tch, let's just get it over with." Squalo mumbled, surprising Yamamoto by taking his hand in his and dragging the pair down the hallway.
And if he felt Yamamoto hold his hand a little tighter, well, he didn't complain.
Hopefully, it wasn't too mushy.
R&R everyone! Thank you for the read!
