WARNINGS: There's corporal punishment of a minor in this chapter, and mentions of rape, nothing too graphic.
Disclaimer: I do not own the familiar characters.
He ran as fast as his legs would take him, keeping an eye on the ones who were chasing him down the streets of Italy's slum. Perhaps he should have stayed put when the old man had told him to stay close to the Vongola's Italy headquarters, but he had considered it for a second and a half and had legged it out the window.
Now, here he was being chased down by a bunch of goons probably from the family they were currently on a war with. The Ninth was going to give him one of his patented 'I'm-disappointed-in-you' looks that Xanxus had learned to ignore over the years but nevertheless was annoying being subjected to.
"There's that little bastard!" He heard one of the goons say from the little alleyway to his left.
But running could only help him so much, and soon he found himself cornered in one of the alleys surrounded by eight goons in suits.
"How about you give up and come along quietly with us?" The head goon told him. "No one has to die here, kid."
"How about you kiss my ass." Xanxus sneered, summoning his Flame in the dark alleyway.
The head goon tsked and gestured the rest of his men. "Get him, boys." He smirked at him. "And make it as painful as possible."
Before any of those goons could reach him, Xanxus lashed out with his Flame, burning hands and faces, and began to punch in a flurry of fists. It had been years since he had participated in an all-out brawl and the taste of it got his blood pumping.
"Who's next?" He bared his teeth at the rest of the goons only for them to pull out their guns. Shit. How inconsiderate of them, when he only had his fist and Flame.
A gun shot rang from behind the goons only for one of them to gurgle and crash down on the ground. Xanxus took that minute of distraction to hurl his Flame at the rest of the goons, laughing at them as they scrambled to get out of his way.
Which is probably why he didn't notice when the gun shot at him.
One minute he was laughing and the next he almost fell on the pavement from the force of the bullet that grazed his arm. Using his good arm, he summoned his Flame to get the bastard who shot him only to be tackled down to the pavement, a flurry of hands trying to hold him down.
"You are in so much trouble, young man." The voice holding him down admonished and Xanxus immediately stilled. He recognized that voice anywhere.
"Federico-nii, the hell are you doing here?"
Federico hauled him up from the ground and grimaced at the bleeding wound in Xanxus' arm. "Saving your sorry hide, brat." Xanxus looked up to see that they were now surrounded by Vongola guards, some giving chase to the goons that had tried to harm him.
Before he could comprehend further, he was dragged by his arm down the alley and into the back of a car waiting for them. The sooner Federico followed him into the car, the faster it lurched into gear. "Now, you want to tell me how you got here in the middle of the slums when you were supposed to be in your room in the headquarters?" Federico questioned, tearing strips out of his own shirt and pressed it against his wound, startling Xanxus out of his reverie.
Xanxus blinked at him and turned around to notice the trees passing by the window. "None of your business. I didn't need your help taking out those goons. Besides, it's just a graze."
"Of course, you didn't." Federico told him, ignoring his comment about the bleeding wound, "And, of course, it's my business; you are Family now; You have your Family to take care of you."
"I don't need anybody." Xanxus huffed and glared out the window. Stupid Federico… he seethed. Treating him like some sort of invalid child…
Federico sighed. "And you used to be such a good little kid. Whatever happened?" And then his voice rang clear and the atmosphere in the car turned stiff. Xanxus flinched as Federico's eyes lit up with his Flame and he pulled Xanxus against his side with the injured arm.
"You are not strong enough alone." His voice was firm and his Will forced Xanxus to heed an ear. "If it weren't for your Family, you would have been shot in the back in a stinking alleyway today." Xanxus struggled against his Will, but Federico held him firm. "Dead. Alone." He intoned. "You need not shoulder your burdens all by yourself anymore; That's what Family is for. Understand?"
Federico's Will gripped his soul with the question and Xanxus could do nothing but nod reverently. "I understand." He said grudgingly and tried to pull his arm out of his big brother's tight grip.
"Good." Federico closed his eyes, holding him in his Will for a moment before dispersing his Flame, and loosening his hold on his arm. "Now that's out of the way, let's deal with your punishment." He added a bit too cheerily.
"Punishment?" A shiver of trepidation entered Xanxus' voice.
And before he could so much as blink, his brother caught him by the nape of his neck and pulled him across his lap. "Did you really think you were going to walk scot-free after pulling a stunt like that?" Federico added, pulling his little brother's dress pants down to his ankles. "Eniz. The long road home." He nodded at his driver, who pressed a button but not before sending a sympathetic smile towards Xanxus, and a screen rose between the front and the back seats.
"Fe-Federico-nii, what are you doing?" Xanxus squirmed over his lap, trying to get away.
"Teaching you why it's better to listen to your elders than face this."
The first smack landed like a gunshot on his boxers, startling him out of his stupor as he lunched forward in his brother's lap. When he realized what was going on, his struggles started anew. "Stop! You can't do this!"
"Oh, yes I can." The smacks rained down one after the other on his squirming bottom, alternating between his left cheek and his right. "Comes as a part of the privilege of being your big brother."
"No! Ow, Stop, it hurts. Ow!" Xanxus tried wiggling out of his brother's lap only to have a hand on the small of his back, holding him in place.
"I'll decide when to stop, not you." Federico kept raining smacks one after the other on the wiggling bottom.
"Ow, ow, ow…!" Xanxus yelped. It seemed like Federico wasn't going to stop too soon. He wiggled his ass this way and that, trying to dodge the hand that was unyielding, only for Federico to hold him tighter and land smacks at the same spot over and over before moving to the next spot. One particular slap to his undercurve had Xanxus squeal, his hands flying to cover his abused bottom.
Federico tsked. "Xanxus, move your hand. NOW." He ordered firmly. "Or it's only going to get much worse for you."
How can this possibly get fucking worse than this?! Xanxus gulped, and shook his head frantically.
Federico sighed, moving to take his brother's thin wrist and pin it against the small of his back. Then, with his other hand, he deftly moved his brother's boxers down to his ankles.
Xanxus eyes widened, a dark blush taking over his face as he felt cold air daft against his burning exposed rear. But before he could protest, Federico's hand starts to rain down on his ass again in an unforgiving pace.
Federico, for his part, took in his brother's wiggling rear. There was a pink hue to it which Federico concentrated on turning to a lovely shade of red. Did he really want to do this? No. But the fact remained that it had to be done. He paused briefly to let his brother breath.
"Are we sorry now?" Federico lightly asked his brother. When he didn't get a response, he landed a harsh slap at the center of his brother's bare bottom watching it bounce under his hand.
"Ow!" Xanxus wailed as he gasped for breath.
"I guess we are not." Federico raised his knee, tilting Xanxus forward, and continued to land smacks on his tender sit spots.
"Ah! Oniisan, p-please." Xanxus struggled under his brother's unforgiving hand and felt tears prickle his eyes.
"Please, what, Xanxus?" Federico watched as his brother's sit spots turned a deep shade of red, matching the boy's eyes.
"I-I'm so- "Xanxus sputtered. "I'm sorry!"
Federico simply hummed, not pausing in his administration. "Do you think your little excursion in the slum was worth this?"
Xanxus shook his head frantically earning him a harsh slap to his upper thighs, making him jerk his head and squeal.
"A verbal response, please."
"N-n-no." Xanxus sniffed.
"Will we be doing anymore excursions in the future?"
"N-no, S-s-sir."
"Very good. We are almost done here." Federico paused in his spanking and nudged his brother's legs. "Spread them."
"O-oniisan?" Xanxus questioned, almost limp over his brother's lap.
"Your legs." Federico lightly tapped his inner thighs. "Spread them apart. Wider."
The first smack that landed on his inner thighs had Xanxus wailing. The second had tears seeping down his face. He begged his brother as smacks continued to mercilessly land on his inner thighs.
"Let me get one thing clear, pup." Federico was relentless in his action. "You pull stupid shit like this again…!" He smacked Xanxus' inner thighs for every couple of words. "I'll turn you over my knee and give you a spanking that makes this one feel like a gentle warm up!" Xanxus' dam broke as he cried shamelessly over his brother's knees, hiccupping and letting the smacks rain down without struggling.
"Do I make myself clear?" He gave Xanxus another strong smack to get the point across.
"Y-y... yes…" Xanxus sobbed. "Ye-yes."
Federico stopped, his gaze wandering over his little brother's limp form, studying him. His little brother's shoulders were shaking as he sobbed, and his bottom was a deep red bordering purple. His brother was sure to feel it for the days to come.
Federico sighed. Gone was the cold detachment he felt when he was punishing his brother. Instead, sympathy started to creep in, and Federico ran a soothing hand through Xanxus' hair as he let him cry over his lap.
"Shhh, now…" He murmured, pulling his brother's pants and boxers back up slowly. "Hey now, it's all over." Without a second thought, he lifted Xanxus to sit on his lap, cradling his sobbing brother and rocking him gently.
"Your big brother's here now." He murmured softly, letting the twelve-year-old cry in his arms. "I'm not going anywhere, Xanxus." He said, planting a kiss on his sweaty forehead.
Your big brother's here now…
I'm not going anywhere, Xanxus…
Xanxus…
Xanxus groaned, struggling to open his eyes. The smell of antiseptics stung his nostrils making him sneeze. He cracked his eyes open slightly and immediately regretted it. The light blinded him, sending ripples of headache through his skull, and it was a miracle he managed to roll over to his side and puke into the bin placed conveniently beside his bed.
He felt warm hands hold him and run comforting circles onto his back as he dry heaved into the bin. As soon as he was done, those hands hoisted him easily back into the bed.
"Are you thirsty?"
He saw the hand hold a spoon of ice chips to his lips, and Xanxus gratefully took them and suckled on them. His eyes searched his companion's face, and he almost winced at those dark circles that hung under his eyes.
"How long have you been here, Tsunayoshi-kun?"
Tsuna smiled, cupping Xanxus' cheek and lazily drawing a thumb over his lower lips. "Where else would I be when you are here?" He asked fondly.
Xanxus ignored how his face felt hot under the penetrating stare. "What happened?"
Tsuna frowned, pausing in his ministration and took Xanxus' hand in his. "How much do you remember?"
Xanxus shrugged, wincing when that small action pulled on his muscles. "I was fighting two Funeral Wreaths under the rain—oh, wait! Did Lambo make it to Milan?"
"Thanks to you, yes." Tsuna gave his hand an assuring squeeze. "You used Gokudera-kun's SOS system, and we found you injured close to our borders. Lussuria healed most of your wounds as soon as we brought you in."
"I'm surprised they didn't kill me or take me prisoner." Xanxus snorted, and made to get up from his bed.
Tsuna immediately stood up and placed his hand on Xanxus' chest, gently pushing the man to lie down. 'We found you naked', he wanted to tell him, 'Used and defiled.' He wanted to scream. He wanted to curse Byakuran and all his ten generations to hell. Instead, he leaned over to place a gentle kiss on Xanxus' forehead, startling the man.
"Don't say stuff like that." Tsuna admonished him lightly.
"It's funny; I had a dream or should I say, a memory about Freddy-nii today." Xanxus mused, "And going by his promise, he would have thrashed me for the stunt I pulled today. Do you know what else he said to me?"
Those red eyes turned to regard Tsuna. "He said he wasn't going anywhere." He snorted and then scowled at himself. "Just like what my father said; Funny how both are gone now."
"Xanxus…"
"You promised me the same, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Xanxus pointed a finger at him. "I hope you intend to keep that promise or nothing will save you from my wrath."
Tsuna smiled wanly at him and ran a hand through Xanxus' lush hair.
Xanxus blinked owlishly at him, making him practically adorable in Tsuna's eyes. He may have been healed but that didn't stop the guilt Tsuna felt. He had failed to protect him. Yet, there was a soft sort of expectation shining in Xanxus' eyes as he stared at Tsuna and no trace of accusation.
"You are not going anywhere, are you, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"
It was the perfect moment like no other. Tsuna had to tell him. Tell him about the plan where he was going to fake his death, bring their past selves to the future to fight Byakuran. Perhaps he could first tell him how much he loved Xanxus, how much it was going to hurt to not have him by his side when he was going to be replaced with his past self; how Tsuna would love him no matter what and no matter how far they were apart.
"Hey, is everything alright?"
Tsuna blinked, realizing that he had moved closer to Xanxus' face as he was contemplating, and now he was mere inches apart from him. Those red eyes looked at him with intensity and longing, and he gulped when he saw Xanxus subconsciously lick his lips.
"Xanxus, I…" Tsuna leaned forward, his heart beating loud in anticipation as he saw Xanxus' eyelids flutter close. "There's so much I need to tell you."
"You can tell me all about it." He heard Xanxus mumble. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
'But I am.' Tsuna thought despairingly. 'I'm so sorry, Xanxus. It seems I'm no better that your father and your brother.'
He felt a shudder of pleasure crawl up his spine when he felt a pair of soft, supple lips graze against his. He was going to kiss Xanxus! He was—
"Bossu?"
The voice by the door had the pair spring apart, each looking the other way. Tsuna cleared his throat and beat down his disappointment before smiling at his guardian.
"Ah, Chrome-chan. Came to see Xanxus?"
Chrome nodded shyly before entering the room and flung herself onto Xanxus' chest. "I was so worried." She whispered, drawing him into a kiss. Tsuna smiled, feeling Xanxus' eyes on him as walked towards the door, giving the couple some privacy. Xanxus held his gaze for a moment before turning with a smile to address Chrome, his entire attention on her.
If only Xanxus would smile at him like that one day.
"I guess not today." Tsuna shook his head, closing the door quietly behind him. "Not today."