Word Count: 2,090


Young Adachi Koga shuffled in his kneel, the fourteen-year-old shamelessly terrified of the mass of pitch-marred life before him, royals of underground castles staring him down from their luxuriously plush perches. His pale hair was pulled into a ponytail, and he was now startling aware of the constant tugging that seemed to try and drag him away from the humidifying danger of the room.

Especially the man of molten golden eyes who gazed down at him with criticising omnipitancy.

"You are?" The Lord rumbled, nearly shaking the room itself with his voice alone.

"Adachi Koga, my Lord." The swordsman uttered, keeping his eyes low, fixed at the pooling of the Ladies kimonos on the floor. "At your service, my Lord."

There was a choking silence, the quiet palpable and clotting his throat, strangling him of breath. The man continued to recline on perfumed pillows, the young form of the first Watanabe lady youth curled into his side lazily as he draped a copper arm around her shoulder, keeping the child Honda close. Cousins in blood hovered close as well, draped about a richly coloured, cushioned mound of luxury, bowls of fruit and sweet things placed about for the darkened royals to nibble and redden their lips on.

"Adachi Koga," The Lord repeated slowly, tasting the name and making the swordsman clamp down on a shudder - either fearful or another. "You choose to come here armed."

Adachi felt his stomach sink like a stone in a river, his sword suddenly pulsing on the floor beside him, as if it had its own heart, thundering in fear of being called out.

"Yes, my Lord- Though I mean no ill-will! Only to- to...I did not think it would threaten you so-"

"'Threaten'?" The golden orbed man repeated, startling the pale boy into silence. "You think the mere presence of your sword threatens me, Adachi Koga?"

The boy bit his tongue, heart lurching as a hollow of anxiety gouged itself in his stomach. Then, the man's lips twitched in the corner, and Lady Honda closed her coal eyes, like she was trying to hide something within the obscurity of her own head.

"Nevermind that, I'm sure you didn't intend for anything." He hummed, very obviously amused by the heavy atmosphere that choked the kneeling youth. "Did you now?"

"Of course not, my Lord. You are exactly right."

"I thought so," The copper being chuckled, before turning his gaze on his closed eyed cousin, letting silken strands slip through his fingers like black water. "Tell me your intentions, Aachi Koga."

"I am here under the orders of our Oyabun to serve and assist you in any way you should desire, my Lord," Adachi answered swiftly, keeping his breath steady despite how it fought to shallow out.

He felt eyes burning into him, carving trails of judgement into his skin. There was a shift, fabric rustling in the incense hazy room, before the swordsman gathered the gall to look up, eyes landing on the stumbling visage of a child, the young Lady Aoi, who was tottering unsteadily over to the Lord's lap, crawling into it. He held his breath as the infant settled down in the crevice, cuddling up to the man with an unreadable expression.

Adachi wasn't sure how the Heir was raised or in what orientation his morals pointed, and he found himself fearing for the naive daughter who had made a nest of the Yakuza's lap.

The Lord's hand raised, and his own twitched towards his blade, then copper fingers combed through dark hair, lips turning upwards in a soft smile of paternal blossoming.

"Aoi-chan, you haven't had dinner yet. Try to stay awake, darling." He rumbled warmly, like a hearth, though he continued to lull the girl with light touches.

"I think you're the one who is going to put her to sleep, Daiki-nii." Lady Honda huffed, opening her eyes again. "Have you finished teasing your new handmaiden, then?"

The swordsman jolted and his eyes grew wide, but any utterance he may have made was silenced by a humoured laugh that tumbled from the man's vocals.

"Teasing? I do no such thing, cousin."

"I'm sure," She scoffed, cupping his cheek for a moment with a fond expression, which he reflected without persuasion or hesitation.

Adachi watched the interaction with his brain spinning within his cranium, trying to understand and comprehend the situation. He had been...played with, by the Heir. 'Teased'.

When he looked up again, he found himself the subject of searing golden eyes, feeling his skin burn under the touch of melted down jewellery.

'Teasing'. More like 'warning'.


"Hibari-sama," Daiki hummed in greeting, pausing his drink to turn to the lady, seeing her imposingly dainty form taking up the door to his Dorm. "How can I help you today?"

The woman turned slate eyes upon him critically, making the Sun smile in amusement, metallic orbs boring into him unrelentingly, precious gold glimmering with humour. Their gazes held for moments, neither going to be the first to back down, both of them knowing what the other was doing. She huffed and turned on her heel, abandoning the scene, satisfied with what she had found.

Hibari Kyoya dropped in through the window after making sure the coast was clear, giving a small grunt upon the impact with the ground.

Daiki huffed a laugh at the tiny cub before turning back to the paper on his desk, scrawling looping cursive onto the page, Italian slipping from his fountain pen with just as much ease as his mother tongue. He glanced up as a small body shuffled up beside him, making the Sun raise an eyebrow, but nothing more as the tiny carnivore glared over his shoulder to peer down at his writings in a disgruntled manner.

"You're dodging your mother, Kyoya-san."

The small Cloud grunted dismissively before pattering about the room, peeking into places of the Sun's privacy, uncaring of the invasion. Daiki was already used to such violation, and so didn't bother halting the curiously bored child, continuing to compose his letter to the flamboyant man across the ocean.

He paused, however, as his arm was nudged and pushed out of the way, allowing for a carnivorous Cloud to slip between the cracks and settle in the valley of the brass man's lap. The Sun gazed down at him for a moment, before huffing when he noticed the tiny predator cub balancing a large textbook across his own lap, Italian peeking out of old highlighter ink, European notes and quips dancing about the margins of the pages and documenting a term of Daiki's academic life and his interplays with his fellow deskmates.

The young Cloud looked between the pages and his written script upon the desk, black pen scratching the paper as he leant back into the warmth of the solar man.

"Tell me, what language is that?" Hibari demanded, glaring over the large cover.

Daiki glanced down at him for a moment, before doting the end of a sentence and gathering another sheet for the next segment of his letter.

"Italian, Kyoya-san."

"Why do you know Italian?"

"I was raised in Italy," He hummed, beginning another paragraph, addressing Belphegor specifically, and his habit of avoiding homework.

"Since when? At what age? Were you born there too?"

"You ask many questions, little Lord," Daiki commented lightly, taking the book from the child and closing it, placing the tome on his desk.

"Answer the question." The Cloud grunted, trying to reach for it again, only to have it nudged just out of his reach.

"Very well," Daiki sighed with a bit of a laugh, amused by the demands of the Guardian-to-be. "Let's see...Since eleven years ago. So, I was seven, and I was born in Japan, Namimori."

Kyoya's head turned as he looked up at the Sun with slate and slanted eyes.

"Namimori is my territory."

"Is it now?" The Heir uttered, finishing the letter and folding the pages gently. "Ah, yes, I do think I remember the Hibari's being quite the force upon the town. Your mother still has it under her thumb then?"

"Of course," He grunted, like it was simply common sense.

Daiki hummed to himself for a moment, flipping the stuffed envelope in his fingers, feeling the rough paper that held a blank address but would always find its recipient.

"Perhaps," He breathed after a moment, getting to his feet and forcing the child to move from his lap. "I should pay that old bakery a visit."

Kyoya eyed how the man placed the envelope down on the window sill, surface unblemished by instruction, and left it there, a light breeze glancing over the sealed letter.


Daiki slid his hands into his pants pockets as he stood before the eyesore of a structure, out of place in the nice neighbourhood. Its windows were boarded up and shattered, graffiti smeared about its brick walls like badly applied makeup. A layer of dust caked the floors when he peered inside, needles and stains littered about.

The sign that was once a rich white on green constraint, was now sun bleached and faded, plastic and paint cracked and peeling, the rust of nails discolouring it further. The remnants of spiders gusted about in the corners, even vermin and pests recognising that this wretched place wasn't a piece of the world where life could flourish without being warped and malformed.

What a place his home had become.

"Adachi-san," He started lowly, jacket hanging off his shoulders freely.

"My Lord?" The swordsman acknowledged, watching as the man walked past him.

The Sun approached the rumbling car, tinted windows wound down to allow Goto to receive instructions. He paused at the opened door, hand on the gentle arch of the top, expression a mutilated kind of serene.

"Burn it down."


Old Bakery In Shopping District Burns Down

Article written by Nakashima Nhi

Last night the Namimori Fire Brigade was called to put out the fire which had consumed the abandoned Yamaguchi Bakery which had long stood in the community. But by the time they had arrived, the inferno had consumed the building and had reduced it to ash; they were, however, able to save the surrounding buildings from receiving any damage.
"It's such a shame it's burnt down, some of us were hoping someone could have put that place to good use!" says a local.
However, not everyone will miss the vacant lot, with others happy it has fallen to flames.
"Good riddance," says another local. "That thing's been falling apart for ages, the kids keep going in there to shoot up! It's been enabling them!"
Neither Police nor Fire Brigade has made a comment on whether they believe the fire was deliberately lit, however, evidence of its hasty ignition and thorough destruction has the people of Namimori on their toes.

"Oh, gosh!" Nana gasped, putting down the paper.

"What's wrong, Mama?" Tsuna asked looking up from his plate, legs kicking idly as they hang above the ground.

"The old bakery burnt down," She sighed, placing a hand on her cheek as she looked out the window of their dining room, still baffled by the information. "My friend used to be the baker there. Oh, I hope she's doing well; she's in Italy now."

"Italy? Isn't that really far away?"

"Yes, honey, other side of the planet!"

"Wow!" The little boy gaped, food sticking to his lips in his awe, making his mother laugh.