Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs.

The old man that was called the boss of the Vongola Family stood before us. To my left was Squalo and to my right was Lussuria. The rest of the officers slumped behind us. The boss was behind Vongola Nono, encased in a sloppy block of ice, unmoving, unseeing, unfeeling.

The Guardians who had defeated us were glaring down at us, all except one. We only managed to defeat one of them. It was the worst of all humiliations tonight. We traded our boss for the temporary defeat of one of their useless Guardians.

Due to the Ninth's forgiving nature, the rest of us were freed from punishment on the agreement that we would continue to service the family with our own skills. But to us, the greatest punishment was the blow to our prides.

Getting out alive while the boss was trapped within an icy prison in the basement of Vongola Main Base became our biggest regret. There was a silent vow between the officers of the Varia to train and wait for our chance to free Xanxus.

I took one last look at the boss as we were sent away, a punishment for children. My heart gave a pitiful twang. Why was he the only one to receive such a punishment? I wanted to take his place.

That was the first time I felt such compassion for a person outside my family.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

The training commenced. One year went by and we could do nothing. We weren't so much as allowed outside of the ancient castle that was our headquarters without supervision. We were untrusted.

The boss was much too far away.

Squalo and I sat together often, planning the days when we would use our skills to rescue the boss.

Our physical wounds had healed but the mental ones had not. It was a loss we could not accept. We hated it each and every minute of each and every day. Often, I looked back and wondered if the boss would have won if he had picked a Cloud Guardian with more strength. But then again, what options did he have other than me? The dead Silvio? Ottavio who can't fight?

Speaking of Ottavio, I never said a word about him. He was still in our service. In Xanxus' absence, Squalo took up the role of leadership and Ottavio was his right-hand but I felt like he didn't belong there. Ottavio had not been devoted enough to fight with us and I was almost absolutely certain now that Ottavio had been the one to tell our plans to Vongola Nono. The reason those intensely powerful guardians had been recalled to base was because Ottavio had ratted us out. There was no other explanation.

But it would do us no good for me to reveal him now. We need his informational skills. It wouldn't help us if we lost our informant and connection to big resources while our boss was away. His time would come and I would personally make sure of it but for now, we'll make use of Ottavio like he made use of us.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

I scowled at the ballroom that was our physical education classroom for the next few months. Apparently, it was an actual requirement in this blasted school to learn formal dances. But I suppose people do dance at mafia parties.

I sighed heavily.

I wasn't over our loss but time was going on and so did our daily lives. Squalo was telling me about how he had to go through the same class last year. Squalo was now in his last year of high school and I was just one year below him so we were both soon to be freed from this prison that was called our school.

My fingers were intertwined awkwardly with Squalo's and his hand was shaking against my waist. My left hand was floating above Squalo's shoulder just as awkwardly. Our eyes met and we shoved each other away as big blushing messes.

I had asked Squalo to be my partner for this stupid project. We only had to dance with someone and make it good. I didn't want to dance with a stranger so I took my chances and asked Squalo but I hadn't thought about how strange this would be.

"V-Voi…" He grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. His short hair was now grown well passed his shoulders, "Don't get the wrong idea, Kira. I'm just awkward."

"It's no different for me." And I meant it. I had never (before this moment) considered Squalo as an ordinary guy but this was just so weird because it was an "ordinary guy" kind of activity.

I can conclude that it was disastrous but it was fun. I'm glad I shared the experience with Squalo-senpai.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Alcohol was never something I had any interest in so when, at Squalo's graduation, Lussuria had suggested that we all return to headquarters and celebrate I hadn't expected alcohol to be a main staple of the party activities. I paused hesitantly as Lussuria shoved a can of beer into my hands and said I had to down the whole thing.

"V-Voi!" Squalo screeched, "Kira's underage!"

"No she's not!" Lussuria shrieked back, "You said that last year! Stop protecting her, Squ-chan!"

"I-I'm not!"

I rolled my eyes and popped the can open, "I just have to drink it all at once, right?"

I ignored Squalo's protests as I opened my throat and poured it down. It tasted terrible but it wasn't at all what I thought it would be. I felt nothing at all so when I looked around and found Levi giggling all weird, I rolled my eyes and assumed that alcohol must be an excuse to act strange.

"How boring!" Lussuria complained, yelling in my face about how he wanted to waste me and so the heavy drinking began.

Sure enough, I realized that the beer was either late at hitting me or the clear liquid in those tiny little shot glasses were killing me. My face felt hot and I realized that Squalo was now sitting much too close to me. He was also extremely drunk.

"Squ-chan!" Lussuria cooed, "You're finally out of high school. Tell me! Have you had a girlfriend yet?"

"VOIII!" Squalo roared, lifting his fist in a useless attempt to get Lussuria away from him but he just ended up losing his balance and leaning heavily against my shoulder, "Fuck off!"

Roaring with laughter, Lussuria pressed the demanding personal questions all the more, "So you're going to die a virgin? Squ-chan, so innocent!"

"Shut your trap!"

"Kira-chan, Kira-chan!" Lussuria now had his arm draped around me and was breathing into my face with every syllable. My nose crinkled at the smell of alcohol, "Let's make a bet! You take two shots for every time I can knock Squ-chan over and I'll take two for everytime you can knock me over!"

It was a bad bet. I should've known. But I blame the alcohol. I really do. And I take back that comment about people using alcohol as an excuse to do weird shit. If I had known that beer had the lowest alcohol content of anything I would put in my mouth tonight, I wouldn't have assumed such a thing.

By the time Lussuria felt kind enough to let me off the hook, I had inhaled more alcohol than I could even process. I was shaking in my disheveled clothes and Squalo was standing over me just barely sobering up. His hand settled so easily on my hip, something he could never do even when we danced together. I stumbled as he pulled me towards the door. I couldn't hear what he was saying but I sure wished he would give me some water. It was extremely hot.

Impatiently, he tugged at me and I pressed my full weight against his chest. I looked up, clumsily trying to gather myself. His cheeks immediately turned red and I paused, noticing how close we were for the first time. I grinned at him and threw my arms around his shoulders and just hung there. I had no thoughts in my head at the time and I don't know why I did it so don't you dare ask me.

Squalo looked down at me and I don't know what exactly happened here but before I knew it, our lips were pressed together. I didn't know what I was supposed to do and I didn't actually know why we were even doing this right now. It was not a one time thing either.

I pulled away, feeling a little sick. A moment later, I felt him weave his hands into my hair and kiss me a second time. It was not an accident for Squalo. I felt my heart fall into my stomach and I shoved him away.

"I feel sick." I groaned and I turned and proceeded to empty my stomach's contents onto the floor in the most humiliating display I had ever made in my entire life.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

I groaned and rolled over. I had a skull splitting headache. I was dying on the inside and I couldn't remember anything passed drinking those first few shots. I was disgusted with myself. I showered and paced about in my room for a few minutes feeling continuously nauseous. I was debating on eating or not when I heard the whispering outside the door. It was very, very sad whispering because it was actually quite loud.

"Squ-chan, everyone saw! There's no way you're going to get away with that." Lussuria's voice sounded extremely frustrated, "And I don't see why you have to be so stupid about it! You should have confessed sooner if you felt that way about her!"

"Th-That's why I can't go in there!" Squalo's voice sounded panicked for the first time since I had met him, "I don't feel anything! It was an accident!"

"You don't do it twice if it's an accident! You tried to take advantage of a drunk-"

I yanked the door open and watched the pair panic and scream at each other to shut up. I arched an eyebrow at them and then spotted the plate of pancakes and bacon in Squalo's hand.

I paused and pointed at it, "Can I have that?"

"I-It's for you." He grumbled, handing it to me along with the fork in the other hand.

"H-How are you feeling, Kira-chan?" Lussuria asked cautiously, "Are you alright?"

I thought about it for a few moments as I turned and retreated back into the room to eat what I had just managed to steal from Squalo… well, not steal because he said it was for me. I motioned for them to come in if they wanted to and proceeded to stuff my face with pancakes.

"Squ-chan!" Lussuria tried so hard to shove Squalo into the room and run but they were stuck together because Squalo had his fingers weaved into Lussuria's shirt in a deadly vice grip, "GO! This is between you guys!"

"Hey!" I called out sharply through a mouthful of food, "I don't remember anything after yesterday's bet started so spare me the pleasantries and let me know what happened."

They exchanged looks that screamed, Holy shit we're lucky.

I rolled my eyes, "What? Did I beat one of you up?"

Lussuria giggled awkwardly and waved his arms about in a dramatic manner, "Yes! Kira-chan you were complaining so much last night about how we don't let you go home to Japan and then you flipped Squ-chan over your shoulder and onto the floor!"

"M-ME?!" Squalo complained and then took it back, "Y-Yeah… VOI! Wh-Whatever!"

I paused, memories of the night coming back to me. Our bet was very specific. For each time I could knock Lussuria over he would drink two shots and for each time Lussuria knocked Squalo over, I would take two shots. So how many shot had I taken?

I rolled my eyes, "So how many times did you knock Squalo-senpai over?"

"M-Me? W-Well…" Lussuria paused, "I don't remember. Ohohoho!"

I paused, the drinks coming back to me slowly, "Senpai, you're such a loser. How could you let him knock you over so many tim…?! …?!"

I dropped my fork, slapped a hand over my mouth, and proceeded to shriek like I had seen a ghost.

"Well, you're fucked." Lussuria didn't stutter once. He just shoved Squalo into the room and ran for it screaming, "Kira-chan remembered! RUN!"

Squalo scurried over saying how it was all his fault and he would never do it again but oh, no. I would have none of it. I slammed my closed fist into his nose and kicked him out, slamming the door in his face, "I can't believe you! I'm not talking to you!"

"Kira, it was you! We-Well the second time it was me but the first time it was you for sure!" He slammed his fists against the door for me to open it, "It doesn't have to be a big deal! Just get over it!"

That. Was. My. First. Fucking. Kiss.

"What do you mean?! You get over it!" I snapped back, "How could you?!"

"How could I?! I just told you! You did it the first time! Open the door and face me!" He demanded, "Kira, we work together and I know you're in love with Cavallone so get over it!"

"?!" Me? In love with Dino? Is he kidding?! I haven't talked to Dino in years! Why would I be in love with that lunatic?!

"...? Are you not in love with Cavallone? Were you in love with Ottavio for real?!"

I turned and yanked the door open, making Squalo stumble into the room and right himself awkwardly. I slammed the door shut behind him and hissed, "I can't be in love with Ottavio. I told you. I think he's suspicious."

"... So then what? It's the boss?" Squalo was clearly just tiptoeing around the possibilities.

"Whoever it is, it's not you!" I snorted.

"Well, good!" He snapped, "It's not like I had feelings for you in the first place."

"Fuck you. That was my first kiss."

"... Mine too." He grumbled, "And my second. So you know what? Fuck you too."

"..."

We glared each other down and huffed an annoyed sigh. Just a moment later we were laughing quietly to ourselves.

"Whatever happened, I'm okay with it." Squalo chuckled.

"Better be." I shot back, trying not to smile like a crazy person, "Cause I am too."

"Just so you know there's nothing more to be had."

"Herbivore." I huffed.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Just as Squalo had graduated, so did I. On my graduation day, there was no party, there was no celebration. I quietly returned home to Japan to see my family. I hadn't been home in a long time. In fact, I had never been able to go home in these seven long years that I spent in middle school and high school. My hometown, Namimori, hadn't changed much at all since I had left but it felt so small. Squalo put a hand on my shoulder as I stared at the door of my family home.

I sighed, glancing back at him, "You don't have to go inside with me."

"I don't intend to meet your family. It's not like I'm anyone important anyways." He huffed.

Indeed, in the year between his graduation and mine, we hadn't had a change in relationship. I don't think I've ever seen Squalo as anything more than a friend. I can safely say that Squalo thinks the same about me. I think Squalo is physically attractive sure. I mean, who wouldn't think a tall, long-legged, lean swordsman isn't attractive? But that's not the point.

I think he's annoying. He can never do anything quietly and when we're together he makes me scream right back at him because he's the type of guy that thinks if he can talk louder than me he gives the orders. … Actually, no he's not. He's just like that with me but you get the point.

"I'm only here to make sure you don't get cold feet about being in the Varia after seeing your family." He grumbled, "So I'll come back to pick you up at nine o'clock tonight."

"Why would I get cold feet at this point?" I snorted, waving him away. I took a deep breath and stepped through the door. I was nervous. I didn't even know if I would remember what my family looked like let alone be able to talk to them. If I was about to get cold feet about anything, it would be going into this house to talk to my parents.

My parents aren't much different from the ordinary. My Dad is a government employee. Well, I mean, he's someone important that works for the government. I don't know the details much but it's a line of work he chose for himself where he feels like all his skills shine. All his skills meaning his combat abilities. Yeah. Maniac fighting skills run in the family.

My mom is… well, my mom is my mom. I don't know what she does aside from the fact that my father's job as a government worker has gotten her excused from so many crimes punishable by death-like murder. But I also know that my mom has a very strong sense of justice. Even if it is just her own kind of justice, she won't stand on the sidelines and watch someone ignore her morals.

I slid the door open and the minute I did so a tonfa came flying towards my face. I ducked down, letting it swing over my head before reaching out to grab the second one. My violet eyes met steely cobalt ones and I huffed, "I haven't seen you in years and this is how you greet me?"

My brother scoffed at me in distaste and backed away, "So your time in Italy has made you an herbivore?"

"Now I didn't say that…" I blinked at my brother awkwardly for a moment making him give me a funny look, "Kyoya, are you…. Taller than me?"

My brother is five and a half years my junior so can you imagine thirteen year old Hibari Kyoya. Well, if you can't that sucks. I don't even have to imagine him. He's cute.

"You can't expect me to be the same height forever." He snorted, turning to peer down the hall in faux-disinterest, "Mother just went out and father's not home yet."

"That's good." I sighed, eying my brother curiously, "How have you been?"

He shot me a dirty look and stormed away. I was left to stare dumbly after him. Oh, puberty. Why did you make my brother so moody? I mean, it's kind of cute but still… I didn't expect him to be so much bigger than he used to be.

"Hey!" I called out, "I joined the mafia, Kyoya! Don't tell dad!"

My brother paused and looked over his shoulder at the very end of the hall with a deadly looking smile, "So you're not an herbivore?"

"I told you I wasn't! I'm-?!" I flinched back, barely stumbling out of the way as he came barreling back down the hall towards me with his tonfas up. I tossed my bag to the side and took up my gauntlets.

His eyes narrowed on my armored hands and he let out a low hiss, "You joined the mafia. Where is your real weapon?"

My nose crinkled at the implications behind his words and I dove for his abdomen. Tonfas protecting his forearm, he lowered them to match my blow. Speed had always been my virtue and so I struck again, this time aiming for his face. The left hook zoomed by as he stumbled backwards in surprise.

"Clumsy." I berated him and swung again.

He barely managed to regain his footing to block the next blow. In succession, I got my body off the floor and planted a roundhouse kick in his shoulder. If it hurt, he made no signs that it did. He turned about and swung right back at me. The sound of his tonfa clanging against my armored hands startled him as much as it startled me. He was strong. Much stronger than when I had left Namimori.

The door slid open before we could make our next moves and we both froze in place much like we did as children. My mother stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. She was just as I remembered her. Hibari Fuu was a woman with jet black hair flowing down her figure down to her lower lumbar, clothes tight against her body's soft curves, an intimidating red-eyed glare, and most of all a scowl that seemed to be her permanent facial expression.

"Kira." She said, her voice leveled and controlled not to betray any ounce of emotion in her soul, "You did not tell me you would be coming home today."

"A-Ah… Well, I just came because I wanted to…" I felt my brother stiffen beside me. We didn't know if we were in trouble just yet. Quickly, to placate my mother, I added, "I graduated from high school so… I thought I might come to tell you that I'm not attending university."

"In that case, I have a matter of business that I want you to take care of for me." She smirked a devilish smirk that could only mean one thing, "In Italy, there is a man that I want you to find for me without letting your father in on any of the details. I'm looking for a man called Domenico Cavallone."

"Domenico… Cavallone?" I paused. Wasn't Cavallone… Dino's last name?

"Yes. He should be a man about my age. If you need specifics, I can describe him for you. I can even tell you where he, no, we went to school."

"You studied abroad? Or he came here?" I questioned in a quiet voice. I didn't know this about my mother before today. Who was Domenico Cavallone? And why was she trying to find him?

"I studied abroad in several places. I'm initially from a small countryside village in China. I studied martial arts in China in my elementary school ages and then traveled to Europe for middle school. Eventually, I got to Italy where I tried my hand at kickboxing. I met Domenico at a-" She paused here and smirked that same smirk, "Well, I met him doing something I shouldn't have been doing. When I met him, he was dirt poor and his parents were ailing from some form of illness that developed from malnutrition and sloppy medical aid after fights."

Kyoya was paying full attention to my mother's words despite the fact that he was facing the opposite direction in an attempt to pretend he wasn't concerned with anything she was saying.

"So then Domenico is…?" I paused. Had my mother heard me saying that I had joined the mafia or was this some sort of coincidence? Domenico Cavallone must be related to Dino.

"Domenico is the leader of a mafia family." My mother said, eyes growing cloudy with wary thoughts, "He should have a son about your age."

Oh, yeah. Domenico is for sure Dino's father. There is no other assumption I can make.

"And why do you want to find this man?" I asked darkly, "Depending on your answer, I might have to refuse your request."

"...!?" Both Kyoya and my mother seemed totally shocked to hear such words falling from my lips. I was not one to refuse requests from my mother as much as I was not the type to take orders from anyone.

"Domenico owes us a debt that I intend to collect." My mother said sharply, "Italy is an unreachable place for me as long as I have this family to take care of so you must go in my place. It's imperative."

It was my turn to be surprised. A debt? Dino's family was dirt poor. Whatever debt they owe us cannot be paid back. It's absolutely certain that Dino's family doesn't have the financial means to repay any debt. In fact, they're attempting to borrow more money to keep their family from burying itself but they're just burying themselves in more and more debt. I might not know much about their inner workings but I'm pretty sure there's no way the Cavallone Family will let me walk up to their boss and demand payment.

I'm in trouble here.

XxXxMuseXxXx: =)