I managed to post this right before Christmas ends! Woo-hoo! Now, I know you guys wanted to know what happens next (and you will, perhaps even later this week. Before the end of the month in any case), but with it being Christmas and all...I really felt like doing a Christmas special. And then this came to life...so here we are!

I don't own KHR.

Tsuna gazed at the barely decorated Christmas tree and smiled. He remembered how at his first Christmas here at the orphanage he felt really sad. Not only was the tree and the orphanage itself sparsely decorated (just like this year), but the caretakers weren't any nicer despite it being the holiday season. In fact, it was like they got even meaner.

To a very young boy who just lost his parents, all of these were particularly low blows.

But then Kyoya saw his depressed state, he just sighed and left for an hour or so before coming back not only with holly leaves and red berries, but also a real life bunny. Tsuna remembered how delighted and happy he was, and repeatedly thank Kyoya as they quickly sprinkled the leaves and berries all around Tsuna's bed (Kyoya's idea, since not only did it actually look nice, but it will keep the annoying herbivores away). Then they played with the bunny on Tsuna's bed for practically the rest of the day.

While they did end up letting the bunny go back to the woods so the caretakers wouldn't find out and possibly hurt it, that Christmas still has a special place in Tsuna's heart.

But this year...Tsuna doesn't care about the clearly dying Christmas tree and the ugly brown wreath on the front door of the orphanage. Not only does he have Kyoya now, but he now also has Mukuro and Chrome. While it would be nice to be in a more festive place, Tsuna is just grateful to have his family with him.

A loud, shaky sigh interrupted him out of his thoughts and Tsuna looked around the room, expecting one of his brothers to either slightly criticize him for spacing out (Kyoya) or tease him (Mukuro). But to his surprise, there was only one other person in the room, and he definitely wasn't one of his brothers.

It was Ryohei.

The white-haired Japanese boy had just arrived a few days ago, and already just about everybody in the orphanage evaded him like the plague. Tsuna was a bit confused at that, since Ryohei wasn't the first foreign boy in the orphanage to not speak a lick of Italian (he's pretty sure that was Kyoya).

After some time observing Ryohei, Tsuna really couldn't figure it out. Ryohei seemed to be a nice boy, especially when he saved Tsuna from tripping down the stairs. He even gave some of his dinner last night to Chrome, even though like everybody else, he hadn't been given that much.

When Mukuro questioned him why (thankfully, even though he has never been to Japan, Mukuro knew fluent Japanese. Tsuna thinks he learned it from Chrome), Ryohei told him upfront that Chrome was too thin and needed the food more than he did. He then squinted at Mukuro before dubbing him too thin as well as giving him the rest of his pasta.

Mukuro was too speechless to protest.

After all this happened, Tsuna was more confused than ever. Ryohei acted like an older brother who looked after his younger siblings, and everybody liked being looked after in some form or another. So why didn't people like Ryohei?

Tsuna finally went to Kyoya and Mukuro about this, and it was then that he learned the truth. The kids and the caretakers didn't avoid Ryohei because of the language barrier, but because his parents had traveled all the way to Italy to just dump him at the orphanage.

Why they couldn't just abandon Ryohei at a Japanese orphanage, no one knew but this was for certain: if Ryohei's parents were desperate enough to go all the way to Italy to abandon him, then he must really be worthless and unwanted.

Which was poppycock in Tsuna's opinion. Chrome, who was also there, agreed with him. And though they didn't exactly voice it, Tsuna knew his brothers believed that the orphanage's treatment of Ryohei was poppycock too.

In fact, Tsuna had taken upon himself that the next time he saw Ryohei, he would cheer him up. Tsuna didn't know exactly how, but he was going to do it. Kyoya cheered him up during his first Christmas here. So why shouldn't he do it for someone else?

"C'mon, get it together," Ryohei mumbled to himself as he rubbed his eyes with the bottom of his palms, seemingly oblivious to Tsuna being in the same room as him. "It's Christmas. You're supposed to be extremely happy at Christmas time...not extremely sad."

Tsuna feels he has an idea of how he can cheer Ryohei up now.

Steeling himself with a deep breath, he walked over to Ryohei who was sitting in front of the tree. It wasn't till he was standing next to Ryohei that the older boy noticed him.

"Oh hi...Tsuna right?" Tsuna nodded, as he wondered what he was about to do was actually a good idea.

Then he got a clear look at Ryohei's misty gray eyes and decided, in short, what the heck.

So before another doubt could cloud his judgment, Tsuna plopped right down in Ryohei's lap without warning and snuggled against the taller boy. Ryohei stiffened in surprise, but after a few moments, his body relaxed and he wrapped his arms around the boy as he laid his chin on Tsuna's fluffly brown hair.

They didn't talk. Tsuna thought about it but decided against it, having a feeling that talking wasn't needed, at least not right now. Ryohei knew why Tsuna was here, what he was trying to do, and that was enough for now.

The two boys stayed liked that for some time, till Chrome quietly entered the room. She stayed at the entrance for a minute or so till she shyly walked over and sat next to Ryohei and leaned her head against his arm. Ryohei didn't waste time in scootching Tsuna to the side and dragging Chrome over till she was sitting in his lap too.

A few minutes later, Tsuna heard Mukuro calling out for him and Chrome, so he answered without budging from Ryohei's lap. When Mukuro entered the room a few moments later, he stared at them sitting in Ryohei's lap before rolling his eyes.

"I know it's Christmas, but that doesn't mean we have to get all lovey-dovey," Mukuro sighed as he walked over to them and sat down with his back right against Ryohei's back.

Chrome just giggled as Mukuro situated himself till he was comfortable. Ryohei didn't protest, in fact as Tsuna looked up, he saw a little smile.

"We're just sitting in front of the tree right? Not talking?" Tsuna looked over past Chrome to see Kyoya (he must entered the room without him noticing. Again) standing a few feet away from them before laying down. "Cause I want to take a nap."

"Aw, are you such a light sleeper that you can't take some mild chit-chat, skylark?" Mukuro taunted.

"Just shut up pineapple."

"Oh? Did..."

"You guys are extreme," Ryohei suddenly said out loud. Tsuna and Chrome looked up at Ryohei, who looked down at them with a slightly bigger smile and eyes full of appreciation.

"Very extreme," Ryohei stated as he hugged Tsuna and Chrome closer to him.

"Yeah sure...whatever," Mukuro responded, still not really used to being complimented as Kyoya just smiled before closing his eyes.

Tsuna smiled widely as a strong feeling informed him that he just gained an older brother.

This is turning out to be another great Christmas.

So...what did you think? Did you feel the Christmas spirit, felt for the characters, etc.? In any case, please leave a review and have a Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holidays, whichever you prefer.

Note: This is canon to the main story-line, in case any of you were wondering. So yeah, poor Ryohei...at least he is with people who genuinely care about him now (because his parents do not, let me tell you that much).