DISCLAIMER: I don't own KHR or any of the associated characters aside from my OCs.

Reports came in from everyone who went out to investigate the enemy families. It became my job to write that info down for the boss and memorize it. Squalo-senpai was unable to find exactly how many families were in the enemy alliance but he was able to find out all the leading traitors. The Jessaro Family, the Walker Family, the Anstario Family, and the Sovallo Family. AKA the JAWS Alliance… as named by Bel.

Levi's squad came back telling us that nothing had been stolen but the research facility seemed to be trashed with the purpose of preventing further research on a weapon that could be dangerous for them. Thinking hard, I came to the conclusion that Levi's just a little dumb and he decided not to search the rubble excessively for missing things. I wrote in my report that there could be something missing from the Bovino Family grounds.

Belphegor and Mammon had done the best job and discovered that the hostages were being constantly transported between three or four enemy bases to keep them from being found. Mammon was on the tail of that traitor and it was narrowed down but not for certain so he refused to share anything he found thus far.

In exchange for all that, I told them that Sawada had agreed to move and was waiting for us to finish gathering the information. We had a meeting on our own first though.

"They have hostages." I repeated for the tenth or twentieth time, making Squalo stop and glare up at me from across the table, "You know Sawada's not going to follow up on our attack plan if it means risking the hostages."

"Naive." Squalo spat at me, "You're letting your emotions get the better of you. We need to sacrifice the hostages if this is going to work."

"And I'm saying it's not going to work." I said firmly, "Sawada will refuse your plan altogether and then our fighting force will be reduced to just us and there's too many locations to hit all at once with our numbers. We'll fail and I'm against failure."

"So am I!" He shouted at me, pride injured by my implication, "But there's too many risks involved with getting the hostages. We don't even have a solid location on them and we don't know if they're both alive or not. There are too many unknown variables. They'll just have to suck it up."

I shrugged, "You're the strategy captain. Go present this idea to Sawada. I'll even go with you but when we're rejected, don't say I didn't warn you."

"You have hidden cards." Squalo said in an accusing tone, jabbing his finger across the table at me, "What are you hiding? You can't keep things from us, Kira. That's not right. You're on this team even if you like those brats."

"My hidden cards are those brats." I spat scathingly, naturally sneering back at him when he glared at me, "I don't have any information. I'm on your side. I'm on this team just as you are. But do you think brats I taught will be sitting on their asses doing nothing while the adults take charge and decide their futures for them?"

Lowering his stack of cash, Mammon spoke up for the first time since the meeting started, "That's true. Reborn is there too. As much as I don't trust his shady acts, Reborn has always supported them for a reason. Let's compromise. Present your idea. Let them shoot it down like Kira says but if they don't give a better plan, force them to follow ours. If they give a better plan, trust Kira on this one and cooperate."

Squalo crossed his arms over his chest, sitting down finally to sigh, "Well, boss? What are your orders?"

"Whatever makes the Vongola seem the strongest is the right decision." He mused, not once looking at us despite having a seat at the head of the table the whole time, "If we reclaim the hostages successfully while landing a heavy blow to their alliance, we achieved optimal results but if we fail both it's the worst case scenario."

"Nothing makes us seem the strongest." I said, finally drawing his attention, "We are the strongest. That's it. And those children know it too."

"Have it your way." He said, waving us away in a dismissive, disinterested manner, "But know if you take their side and it goes wrong, I'll have you dispatched, Kira. You don't get special treatment. Failure means death."

I blew out a long sigh, standing up to go, "I never asked for special treatment and… your definition of special treatment isn't as great as you make it out to be."

Flustered by the sudden turn, Squalo was on his feet. He scrambled to push me out of the room before the boss could get angry. The rest of our officers followed suit. No one wanted to be on the other end of Xanxus' rage.

"Kira, he's just normally like that! You don't have to pick a fight every single time." Squalo hissed as we ordered a driver to take us to the main base, "He doesn't mean it in a bad way!"

I laughed out in disbelief, yanking Squalo down by his too-long hair, "He meant it exactly as he said it. The one getting emotional about them might be me but he's not completely unbiased either. Don't just nag at me when he's just as bad."

He couldn't admit I was right out loud but by falling into silence, he was giving me some peace of mind about it. We rode to main base in silence. Squalo presented his plan to mount an attack with offensive forces while protecting our assets at main base but Sawada acted just as I predicted.

"And the hostages?" He said with a fearful gaze I wanted to smear off his face, "What about them?"

"Data's uncertain. We have no finite leads. We're sacrificing them." Squalo said it clean out, making Sawada's Guardians fly into a fit of verbal rage, "We have no choice!"

Sawada's eyes narrowed on me, demanding answers, "Is that really what you think?"

"We misjudged you, Cannibal!" Gokudera began, biting his tongue when Sawada put up a hand to silence him.

"This is the least risky plan." I told him, admitting that I was not against this plan, "From our time in the Ninth's service, we used this plan time and time again to send a message to our enemies. We are the strongest. You can take the lives of the measly two or three hostages while we look at the big picture and end your famiglia all together. But it's not as if we cannot take risks. What is the message you want to send, Sawada?"

Breaking into a relieved smile, he told me the words I knew he would say, "If it's to protect the people important to me, I won't hold back. Will you help me send my message?"

"Depends, do you have a location on the hostages or have you been sitting on your ass waiting this whole time?" I knew his answer but I had to confirm it.

He gestured to a grinning and proud Gokudera Hayato who stood up sharply and cleared his throat, "In the name of the Tenth, I have that information. I'll gladly share if you provide your services, Cannibal."

"Well, it sounds like you have a plan." I turned, smirking at Squalo in a 'I told you so' kind of way, "Let's hear it, Gokudera Hayato. We can settle on which plan to take after we've heard both."

Acting as if his plan was the surefire one, Gokudera spread out a map for all to see, "See here, Cannibal. There are four main locations and four main Famiglias so my plan is to send units to distract the main forces while we retrieve the hostages. The hostages are carried from place to place in a caravan disguised as a delivery truck. Each night, they move the hostages from one location to the next in the dead of the night. Those are these red marks here."

I pressed my finger down over the circle in the center of the formation, "And what is this?"

"I'm getting there." He grumped, sneering at me without any fire, "This is the location where they're kept during the day. It's a weapon's stronghold with over a thousand guards. They leave here and circulate the streets, stopping at each of these points for two minutes to pretend they're making deliveries. Once they've been to all these points, they return to the stronghold before the sun rises."

"That's strange. Why would they move the hostages and risk being seen?" I mused, stalling Gokudera for a moment, "You didn't think that far ahead? This is a trap. They want us to find the hostages."

"Even so! We have to go!" Sawada said more firmly than anything, "My mom's there and so is Yamamoto's dad! This is important."

"It's risky." Squalo told me, a hand heavily on my shoulder with his nails digging into me in warning, "This is wrong, Kira. We have to do it my way and you know it."

"At the rate this is going, yes." I didn't miss the looks from the brats around the table and I sighed, "Let's hear the rest of your plan."

Slightly put off, Gokudera hesitated before continuing, "So the plan was to target the caravan when it's the furthest away from the stronghold. If they make it back to the stronghold, we'll have to give up. There's no way we can march into a thousand-man fort and come back unharmed."

Professional eyes seeing something these kids did not see, Squalo and I exchanged glances. He immediately shook his head at me, "I admit it's not bad but it's over. My plan it is."

"You don't want to take risks?" I took a low jab at his pride, "Scared? Or getting too old to seek new thrills?"

Irritated, he jabbed back, "This has always been our way. Why fix something that isn't broken?"

"Because it gets old and obvious and eventually, someone will find our weakness." I said in the bluntest way possible, "Don't you trust me?"

"Trust doesn't make successes, Kira." He hissed through gritted teeth but he was losing and he knew it, "God, you're just so stubborn. You have a plan already, don't you?"

"Finally someone asks what the woman wants to do." I grinned, rolling my eyes and stopping on Chrome, "Pigheaded men, always just drag us along for the ride without stopping to think I can do it better."

Giggling, Chrome shook her head at me without a word. She probably was saying she didn't have any input to give to this situation so I was the only woman with complaints.

"Who retrieved this information?" I demanded, smirking when Gokudera put up his hand and Yamamoto followed suit, "So… Two men? I have a new idea. Tonight, take me and Chrome with you and leave Yamamoto at base."

Gokudera sputtered mid-sip of his coffee, "Wha-?! What's the difference?! You don't trust me?!"

"Two things." I said, holding up my hand to stop them from steering this the wrong way, "First, the ball is in our court. The enemy has been jabbing at us left and right. The hostages are being used as bait rather than bargaining chips. They want us to fall into their trap so they decided to parade the hostages around where we would find them. Second, delicate matters should be left to delicate workers. Roughly gathering information like locations and times are for people like you. I'm trying to collect a different kind of information."

"What kind of information could you possibly need? The hostages are right there! In front of us!"

"But are they really?" My eyes narrowed at their looks of surprise, sighing as Squalo groaned out loud, "Naive brats. Why would they parade around their biggest weapon in plain view?"

"An illusion?" Chrome murmured, glancing at her taller counterpart, "Mukuro-sama?"

"My plan is easier." Squalo insisted, muttering under his breath at this point since he knew I wouldn't be convinced.

"Yes, it is." I turned a smile onto Squalo, surprising him too, "But let's make it even better. You like success as much as I do, right?"

"Success without risks sounds better." He grumbled, already throwing his plans into the incinerator in the corner, "But I suppose to you, that's herbivorous."

"Whatever it takes to prove our famiglia is the strongest."

He sighed, "You think just like the boss. It makes me sick sometimes."

That's the nicest thing I heard all day. A blush painting my cheeks, I clapped my hands together to gather the Guardians to discuss our plans for tonight. By tomorrow, we'd be moving. Towards success or failure, it would be up to them.

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

Gokudera was right about the caravan being cleverly disguised as a delivery truck but who the fuck delivers packages past midnight? I laughed at how easy the JAWS Alliance was trying to make it for our barely graduated from high school Tenth Generation leaders. I was almost insulted.

Hiding as the caravan made its first stop, Gokudera asked, "Well? Is it an illusion?"

Chrome looked troubled for a moment but she shook her head, "It feels… solid but there's something else."

"Cannibal, you're wrong again!" The Storm Guardian was slowly losing his patience with me, "You've got to be kidding me. The caravan is solid!"

"No. It's not the caravan." I murmured, watching the faux-delivery man leave a box at the door, "He's real too. And the box… Let's sit here for a moment. Stop following them."

The car was stopped. I didn't like how we were all crammed into the backseat of a vehicle that looked like it had come out of the junkyard but this was the disguise for us. I had to re-evaluate the situation.

"I think they're onto us." I mused, watching the car drive away until it was no longer visible. I gestured to the package, "Get it, Gokudera."

"Why me?" He grumbled but he followed orders properly. He had been told specifically by his precious Tenth to obey after all. He retrieved it, handing it back to me when he entered the car, "Why?"

I tore the box open, immediately jerking it shut after I had seen the contents alone. My blood was boiling but I remained calm, smirking subtly, "Interesting."

"Let me see!" The Storm Guardian demanded but I calmed him instantly with a punch to the crotch, "Bitch!"

"Driver. Take us back to the stronghold. I have something I need to confirm." I was dead set on waiting for the delivery truck to finish its rounds and return to their base. I grinned as the time ticked away. Instinctually, I was craving blood after seeing the contents of the box but I knew there was a bigger benefit to waiting it out, "There…"

We fell into dead silence as the caravan rolled up. Our car was hidden around the corner in an alleyway but the enemy was in clear view. Finally, the truck opened up and the hostages came out.

Chrome gasped, "One's not real."

Sawada's mother and Yamamoto's father had been pulled out of the truck. Neither looked like they had been treated well but I knew instantly, Yamamoto's father was an illusion. This is the male dominated mafia. Of course Sawada Nana was unharmed while Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was… either dead or wishing he was dead.

"We're too late." I said, a hand over Chrome's head as she lowered her teary eyes and my other hand over Gokudera's clenched fist, "It's the law of the mafia. An eye for an eye. They'll regret spilling blood from one of ours."

"Fuck."

"This is our world."

As cruel as the words sounded, I didn't mean it in a cruel way. I felt sorry for them. That's why the contents of the box are coming with me. I gave them much deserved rest and promised to return to them the next morning with a solid plan of action. It was now or never at this point and I had a favor to ask from someone who might kill me for asking it.

Then again, I think he saw it coming. Xanxus was waiting for me when I returned, not in the office but in my room. I clutched the delivery box close to me as I entered, uncertain about his mood. I was surprised when I saw him sitting at the table in the corner. He was sitting next to two empty bottles of liquor and when he looked up, he could hardly see me. I gasped, hurriedly putting the box on the floor to rush to his side.

Worried, I grabbed the third open bottle from his hands, "What's wrong with you? You've had too much!"

Ignoring me, he grabbed the bottle of unopened wine and uncorked it as he usually did. He poured me a glass with the steadiest hands I had seen on a drunk man and murmured, "Sit."

A rush of emotions flooded into my chest. Concern, nostalgia, regret, and fear. When was the last time we did this kind of thing? When was the last time we even slept together? We had been so busy recently, I kind of just forgot.

"Something wrong?" I asked, taking a seat as he asked, "If it's about what I said earlier about your special treatment being bad, I didn't mean it that way."

"In your world." He started, pausing to let me take a sip of the wine he had just poured, "Am I still the strongest?"

I didn't see that coming. I didn't know how to answer because I didn't know where this was coming from-this insecurity he was showing for the first time. I can't imagine how hard it must've been for him to ask in the first place. That explains the two empty bottles.

"I'd like to say I'm the strongest but I haven't beaten you yet so yeah." I said lightly, smiling when he attempted to glare at me, "What brought this up?"

He didn't answer. Then again, I didn't think he would. He never feels like he needs to explain himself. It's one of his many complications.

I felt the irritation starting to swell in my chest and I put the glass down to retrieve the box I had abandoned at the door. I opened it fully this time. There was no one to protect anymore. I could look all I wanted but it still made me sick. Sitting there in a sealed glass box was the bloody, severed hand of Yamamoto Tsuyoshi and a bloody note carelessly smeared on top: Countdown: 2 days remaining.

Sickening.

"Boss, I have a favor to ask." I didn't take my eyes off the hand in the box, "You can refuse but I'll beg until you say yes."

"I don't enjoy begging. It's annoying." He grumbled but he didn't straight out refuse to hear me out.

"This is something worth losing your affections." I said, turning to stare at him over my shoulder. I didn't think he would refuse when I found him staring back at me without blinking, "Tomorrow, I want you to march with them."

"Them?" He looked like he was holding back some anger. Clearly misunderstanding my request for something ridiculous.

"Squalo-senpai." I offered a stiff smile, "Who else did you think?"

"I see." He was calmed, realizing his mistake and then he spat the words bubbling to the surface, "You said it like you're not going to be there."

"I'm not. The plan calls for me elsewhere."

"With…" He trailed off. He didn't want to say it but I knew the Tenth's name belonged at the end of that statement.

My eyes narrowed. Things were falling into place. Sawada is actually Vongola Decimo now. It must be hitting him hard and my unnerved support for the new generation was probably not helping. I was probably acting like I was more interested in the kids who had beaten us than he would like.

"Boss…" I started, not sure how to relay the feelings in my chest. I felt unnerved by the crimson eyes staring back at me blankly, "You said it yourself. I come home to you."

"How much longer do I have?" He was seriously asking me. I couldn't believe it.

Anger surged and I stormed over, turning his face sharply to the side to reveal his neckline. I bit him. It was nothing possessive or romantic, I bite people to death. That's exactly what this was and he reacted immediately. I hissed as his fingers weaved into my hair and gave me a harsh yank away from the bloody flesh torn by my teeth.

I'm so fucking insulted by the implication. There's no place I would rather be than here!

The scent of blood calmed the anger, turning it into straight lust that clouded my judgment. It can't go like this. This isn't right. This is how it always goes with us. We have to stop having sex first, the feelings are more important. … But fuck!

We're animals. You can judge us. I would too. Honestly, I never thought I'd be so into this kind of thing in the first place but boss is a very convincing man.

I let out a quiet whine, taking a seat on his thighs, "I forget what I'm mad about."

He leaned back fully, letting me lean against his chest, "What are you a dog?"

I let out another pitiful noise and full on groaned when he reached for my ass, "Don't placate me! I'm pissed! I just… Just let me remember why real quick…"

He just wrapped his arms around me and sat in silence. He wasn't about to help me, saying it the first time must've been hard enough so there was no way he was going to say it a second time.

"Fucking turd." I sighed, lost in the feeling of warmth, "Shit. I need to go see Squalo-senpai real quick. I'm not going to remember sitting here."

"You're an animal." He chuckled and it made me perk up. He was in a slightly better mood than earlier.

I remembered. I shot up, slapped my hands on either side of his face and said, "Fight me."

"Huh?" This man didn't look like he wanted to do anything other than sleep. He was dead drunk still and although he's the type to be well controlled, he's definitely not going to be able to fight at this full capacity. This is definitely my win.

"Fight me!" I urged, standing up to drag him to his feet. I didn't bother to help him stand. I let him put on a tough face and march after me to the nearest open training room.

I hardly gave him time to gather himself. I kind of forgot why I was beating his ass halfway through. I felt this rush just knowing I had the upper hand even if this was a cheap victory. This was actually going to be my first victory over the boss period.

I was actually kind of surprised. I was just having fun with him but he seemed majorly pissed. I mean, that's how he normally is and I'd be pissed if someone was pushing me around while I was drunk but this was beyond the norm. I flinched when the dying will flames came on and he was glaring me down like a savage beast.

The hands that could have melted me only made me that much more excited about the fight. Even dead drunk, boss was the strongest person in the world to me. I laughed at him after narrowly dodging his blazing grip and planting a kick to his rear end that had him falling face first into the tiles. I thought he was kind of cute.

He was fast to recover, coming at me with killing potential. I was half amused and half excited by his will to win. He was a sore loser just like me and at times like this, I respect him more than ever.

Even when I had finally grappled him down and sat down on his back with my full weight, he was struggling. I laughed at the reversal. I remember he did this to me many times in the past. Now look at us.

"Man." I huffed, keeping a tight hold on the arm bent behind his back, "So I have to get you dead drunk to pull a victory out, hmm?"

He growled a slew of curses at me, unable to turn us over despite our weight difference. He looked like a caged animal, if I'm being honest. Not like a domesticated zoo creature but a wild, savage, untamed monster.

I leaned down and put my lips to his head in a teasing manner, "Just say you lost and I'll let you up. If not, I might break this arm of yours. You know I'd do it."

I felt it coming before he even tried it, the surging of his Flames of Wrath might've scared an average mafioso but I knew the issue with it. I turned his arm without mercy, pressing his palm against his own backside.

"Try it, boss." I smiled at the effort it took for him to calm himself, "Oh man. How funny would it be if I slapped your ass hard enough to leave a handprint? You do that to me all the time."

I felt empowered when my fingers pinched his ass roughly enough to get him to go dead stiff, gritting his teeth. I'm a terrible person. He actually looks really mad. I'll just let him go this time. This one doesn't really count anyways. I pulled away, stunned when he took his fist and smashed it into the floor the minute I had released his arm.

I felt terrible about it. My hand hovered around his back, unable to see his expression, I couldn't really tell what he was thinking, "Boss? I'm kidding. I'm sorry. You can hit me back."

"One more time." He snarled, spinning on me with nothing but desperate anger on his face. He was totally sober now, guns drawn and ready to come at me with his full potential.

I didn't think it would make him this angry. I held up my hands, shaking my head, "It's fine! This one doesn't count! You're-"

"Bester, Cambio Forma!"

"You've got to be fucking with me." Startled and confused, my flames didn't light up right away. I dove out of the way as the blazing first shot took out the wall behind me. I had no time to gawk. I spun to find his gun trained on my face.

He's going to kill me.

"Aquilos! Cambio Forma!"

I had no reason to fight him here. I hadn't intended to really pick a fight with someone too intoxicated to fight back but I guess I kind of bullied him. Either way, I spent my time on the defense and it only served to make him more and more angry.

"VOI!" Of course Squalo noticed. Boss was burning the place down with his violent rampage and he couldn't be stopped.

At his full strength, it took both me and Squalo to wrestle him down and even then he was a monster to be reckoned with. The rest of the officers were now gathered around with surprised expressions. They were trying to piece together what had happened here.

"I said I was sorry!" I shouted over Squalo's demand to know what happened. I couldn't believe the boss was so pissed over nothing but then again, he's normally like this so I shouldn't be surprised. I forget that he holds back his anger a lot when it comes to me, "What more do you want?!"

"You're being ridiculous, shitty boss! If she said she's sorry, let it go! We're short handed as it is!"

"No, no, no!" I shoved Squalo aside, letting the boss get up on his own, "Come at me, boss. If you win, I'm yours until you don't want me anymore."

Obviously, there's something extremely wrong here. It's not the fight that made him mad. It's probably got something to do with his previous questions, "Am I still the strongest?"

"And if I lose?" He snarled, waiting for Squalo to relent and step away.

"Then you're mine until I feel like you're not worth it anymore."

"So be it."

There was some sort of desperation in the way he came at me but he was hesitant. It was a clumsy exchange of blows but no one said anything even when we got bloody and bruised beyond our usual sparring. I'm pretty sure they could see it too. I mean, we live together, we work together, we thrive together so we know the boss better than anyone else. This display of violence is his inner voice screaming out. We just have to decipher it.

Even after I had him disarmed, he was still pushing me. Although, it's kind of hard to think much when his fist is grazing by my nose or jawline. I can barely keep up. The difference in overall combat strength is overwhelming. This is easily his win if he would just be more decisive about it.

It hit me. No, not the boss. The reasoning behind his blows hit me and suddenly, I realized what kind of concerns he was hiding beneath his 'there's no one better than me' demeanor. I have to win this one.

For the first time in my life, I ducked low and planted one right in his balls during a serious fight. I didn't think about it. If I had thought about how dirty a blow it was, I might not have gone through with it. I heard my coworkers groaning and going 'ouch' from the back. They had gotten a little too into it with us. Honestly, I just had to win.

When he was doubled over, never having expected me to do such a thing in a fight we had bet on, I shoved him to the floor to give him the same rough treatment from when he was drunk off his ass.

"I win." I said breathlessly, "I finally won. This is all it takes… I can beat you!"

Torn between the pain shooting up through his body and the blow his pride had just taken, he could do little more than growl at me.

I turned, pointing at my stunned coworkers, "Now all of you get the fuck out unless you want to watch."

"Oh my~" Luss was the first to catch my drift, everyone else looking awfully disturbed and horrified once they figured out what I was saying.

Poor Squalo-senpai was two different shades of red at once. It was funny… I might've laughed if I wasn't seriously trying to kick them out.

"If you think I can get it up after what you just pulled, you're absolute garbage." He snarled, "Get off me, you fatass!"

I rather like this situation. I get a kick out of watching the boss squirm.

"No sir." I grinned, patting his head roughly enough to press his nose into the broken tiles beneath his face, "Last I checked, I just won so… what was the deal? Remind me."

"..."

"Oh, that's right. You're mine." I straight up laughed at his tensing backside, "If you belong to me, doesn't that mean I give the orders from now on?"

"..."

I think he's the most adorable thing. I snickered, leaning down to press my lips to the back of his neck before biting down hard enough to leave my mark on his skin, "First order of business, march with Squalo and the rest tomorrow. We prove the Vongola is the strongest, dominate the battlefield, and come home together. If all goes well and I'm in a good mood, I'll suck you off."

He turned a glare over his shoulder, mad because he thought I was joking.

"Boss, I don't care if you're strong anymore." I huffed, releasing him with doubts that he would just violently turn on me again but I didn't want to just keep him pressed into the floor. It looked uncomfortable, "I mean, don't become an herbivore but it doesn't matter whether you're stronger than me or not. You're so much more than a powerful mafia boss. You're fun and thrilling and smart and all these other things too. Sawada's group is entertaining but this is the place I call home."

He turned and sat up, not meeting my eyes right away but when he did the doubt was all there, "Piss off."

I sighed, taking a seat right up against his left side. I made a big show out of lifting his arm and putting it around my shoulders as I leaned into him, "I like it here. Do you remember the first time you did this for me?"

"No."

It was a lie. I'm sure he wouldn't forget. I think he's a lot more sentimental than he lets on sometimes.

"I do." I smiled up at him, just as in love with him as I was yesterday or the day before and it was only great that he wasn't meeting my gaze. If he looked my way, I'd probably blush like a loser, "We've done so many things together."

It wasn't in his nature to respond to those kinds of comments. He might be a dirty pervert who has no issues with dirty talking you in bed but he's easily embarrassed by normal conversations. I admit, I do it to tease him sometimes cause it's the only time he's more embarrassed than me.

"Sawada might be Vongola Decimo but the only sky in my world is you." I assured him, kind of scared when he grew stiff. It was an herbivorously clingy thing to say but I don't think he'd be doubting my loyalties if he didn't need to hear it, "... Is that… bad?"

He didn't say anything for a long moment. Actually, he didn't say anything at all. He only turned his head and pulled me right up against him, pressing his lips over my head as usual but this time it was for sure a gesture of devotion rather than teasing. He had me so close I could feel the thumping of his heart matching mine… It kind of made me want to cry.

"After we settle this mess." He started, pausing to force me to keep my eyes lowered. He didn't want me to see what kind of face he was making, "I'm kicking your ass. I won't settle until you're begging me to make you mine."

I laughed at his unnecessary bravado because that's really all it was. Don't tell him but I've been his since the moment I realized I was in love with him.