A Note to The Readers: I actually really enjoyed writing this, in a sense that Kusakabe and Tsuna's characters are growing to me.

Thank you so very much for: Aines445 for that lovely review she left. Bruh, you made me realize things that I have not realized myself. That was a wonderful gift.

Thank you as well for Devil'sBlade who left me a wonderful smile.

For the Anons, I tip my hat for all of you.

This is my longest chapter yet!

CHAPTER FIVE

A Family Dinner

"Yo, how are you?" Rosetta pops her head into Tsuna's room. Tsuna is on the floor, crouching over a stack of homework, grateful for her interruption. The boy's room is just beyond the hallway of hers with newly painted white walls and impersonal furniture. He has a bed that is too large for one. There's an improvised hammock above his cabinet, made from a stolen curtain in the hallway. Reborn is asleep on the hammock, or feigning sleep. She doesn't care.

"How much longer do I have to stay here?" Tsuna asks her. Rumors have been circling around the school when they saw Tsuna leaving the same vehicle she rides to school every day. Made even worse by Rosetta's persistent silence when asked. Gokudera is fuming with jealousy, the least happy with the arrangement, being unable to visit his precious Tsuna.

"Maybe another few days, a week, maybe forever at the rate the boss is going. He wants to kill Nicodemo's sons." The announcement hasn't been a surprise. Ryuusei is known to hold grudges.

Reborn shifts in his sleep.

"That-that means Byakuran will…"

"He will die if he shows his face to us," she sniffs. "Look, I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I don't like this too. If you have a grudge, the worst thing to do about it is to take the Gesso's side."

"No –I don't. I'm not taking anyone's side. I just don't want anyone to die," Tsuna says.

Rosetta blinks, incredulous. "He… Byakuran almost killed us. He almost killed you."

"Yes, but I still don't want him to die. This war isn't his fault. He is just dragged into this, just like you."

She stares at him, thrown silent from the honesty of his tone. She runs a hand through her hair, praying for patience. "Whatever. Just don't say that to the boss' face. He's only allowing you to stay because your father said so." To her disappointment, Tsuna doesn't take the bait and ask about Iemitsu's whereabouts.

"But, Hibari-san–"

"No," she shakes her head. "Sawada-san, aside from Reborn, I am your only ally in this house," she hisses. "Don't ruin it by preaching virtues I cannot afford to pay, no, virtues we cannot afford to pay. You are not a god to decide who earns your amnesty."

Tsuna sighs in defeat. She feels a stab of guilt when she sees the bags under his eyes, but she's not faring any better either. Ryuusei's been working her like a slave-driver.

"Okay," Tsuna says, though he doesn't sound convinced.

"Now, come, have dinner with us."

Tsuna lets out a choking sound. He ran into Kyoya at the hallways a night ago and hasn't left his room to explore the house since, not even to eat. The maids have been kind enough to bring him food. It's a ticking bomb, his voluntary isolation. He can practically hear Reborn churning out plans under that fedora.

"I can eat here."

"The boss wants to see you. He's leaving tonight," Rosetta sighs. "Struggling will make it worse, Sawada-san."

"No!" Tsuna grips his table, unwilling to let go. As if that will help him. She can ask Fusanosuke to carry him again, but the boss will be put off by its indignity. "I don't want to!" He nearly squeals. Rosetta kicks his bedroom door shut, curbing the sound of his voice from travelling all the way to the basement, saving Tsuna from the household's terrifyingly efficient rumor mill.

"You will represent the Vongola tonight," she says, sitting on his bed, tired and hungry from working all day.

"Why can't Reborn do it?"

She scoffs. "Because he's been doing it for you since Monday!"

Reborn rolls in his hammock. Their only warning is a flash of light –transforming lizard– and now he is armed, pointing a gun at his student.

"No, no, no, no." Rosetta drops to the floor and seizes a flailing Tsuna by his shoulders, away from the muzzle. She stares at Reborn who glares back. "No dying-will bullet please, the household is seconds away from forming a coup d'état after his yesterday's skirmish with Kyoya-san."

The sunroom is still quarantined after Reborn shot Tsuna, something about Tsuna serenading Kyoko with his dying-will. Kyoya was unfortunately on his way out when he saw Tsuna screaming and promptly decided to let out some steam. The windows were shattered, the head gardener's precious begonias stomped upon and according to Rita, there was fire.

"Dame-Tsuna will be an embarrassment if he doesn't go in with a bang," Reborn explains patiently.

"Nobody needs to go in with a bang!" She argues, pushing the muzzle away. Damn Vongola traditions! Reborn recoils when she touches him and nearly whacks her over her head. Leon transfers back into his four legged self.

"He will be an embarrassment to his famiglia," Reborn shakes his head.

"That is why he will wear a proper suit, and smile and not talk," Rosetta pinches Tsuna's arm when he tries to crab walk away from them.

"Hieeeeeeeee."

"Was there something you needed?" Rosetta sounds innocent when she asks this. She's at the hallway, trying to align Tsuna's collar.

Kyoya observes her for a second more. He's wearing a black button up, slacks and a deep purple tie. Dressed up for dinner. God forbid the family did anything without a touch of drama. She might think of him handsome if she isn't still a touch furious at him and a lot embarrassed of the way she ran off with tears in her eyes. Her grandmother would have rolled in her grave at the sight of that. Tetsuya is standing behind him, dressed impeccably as he is every day, his collar as stiff as his expression.

"The herbivore is joining dinner too," Kyoya stares at Tsuna, who swallows.

"Stop looking like prey," Reborn admonishes from his spot on the windowsill.

Rosetta folds down Tsuna's collar and lifts her chin at Kyoya, who raises an eyebrow.

"You never join dinner, what's the occasion?" She asks him, wary.

"This is my house, I do as I please."

"We're crowding like a bunch of freezing puppies. The boss ordered you, didn't he?"

Kyoya inclines his head to the right. "What if he did?"

Rosetta lowers her voice, staring fixedly at his face. "Then we have to at least act civil to one another. The boss does nothing without reason. This is an assessment."

Kyoya leans back with a small pout. A pout, not a snarl. That's positive. Perhaps he woke up on the right side of the bed this morning.

"That's not my problem," he says.

"It's definitely yours if you want to stay on his good side. He's in a foul mood, wrapped up in this reven…" Rosetta trails off, eyes widening in panic. That's all the warning Kyoya gets before she's smiling sweetly at him, batting her lashes in a way that reeks innocence and sheer adoration. She actually looks her age this way, fourteen and a half, without a care in the world. "You look good," she tells him honestly, hand slowly, tentatively reaching to his tie.

He's about to flinch away when his father appears by his elbow. Ryuusei stares at them, surprise chasing away his dark mood, humming approvingly.

"I see you two are getting along," Ryuusei grins.

Rosetta makes a show of fixing Kyoya's tie, careful not to touch his chest.

"Of course, boss." She grins. Then she greets Takenaka and Mutsuo who smiles thinly at her. Kunishige is at the back, supported by his retainers. He's leaning heavily on a crutch. He greets her back dispassionately.

"I thought I told you to call me Papa during downtime," Ryuusei shakes his head, placing a cold hand on her shoulder. Rosetta stiffens, sucking air to her lungs. She doesn't know why she bothered. False emotions doesn't work on Ryuusei. The boss leans in to whisper in her ear as she looks up at Kyoya, trying not to beg with her eyes. "I also thought I told you to stop lying," he sighs, sounds mournful.

She clenches her teeth and shuts her eyes, waiting for the incoming punch.

It doesn't happen. She exhales. Ryuusei pats her head, fixing her a sad smile before his fist connects to her diaphragm. Rosetta is on the floor before she registers the agony, clutching at her stomach, breathing in shallow breaths. The pain is dizzying, burning hot white under her skin. Someone kneels beside her with a startled gasp, a hand on her lower back.

"Why –how…" Tsuna mumbles numbly. She clutches desperately at his arm, willing him to shut up. She coughs, swallowing blood. She thinks she accidentally bit her tongue.

"She needed to learn a lesson. Rosetta, dear, if you wanted to lie, you could have at least used your illusions. You're good at that, aren't you?" Ryuusei throws a handkerchief at her when he sees blood dripping from her mouth. "And I thought I told you last time to clench your teeth."

"I did," she manages, humiliated, grabbing the handkerchief and wiping her mouth with it, smearing her lipstick. She's still on the floor.

Tsuna's face is pale. He keeps on looking at her and the boss. He's trembling like a leaf, eyes wide with something that's quite the opposite of fear. "You can't just hit someone because of–"

"Sawada-san," she croaks, digging her nails to his flesh.

"Because of–"

"Sawada-san, shut up!"

Ryuusei smiles indulgently at Tsuna as he steps into the boy's personal space. "Go on, boy. I remember how it was when I was young. You're trying to teach me something, are you not?"

Rosetta hauls herself to a kneeling position, readying to slap or punch or do anything for Tsuna to be quiet. But Reborn beats her to it. Leon transforms into a mallet in a flash of disorienting light and slams on the back of Tsuna's head. Tsuna keels over with a pained whine, prostrate on Ryuusei's feet.

"My student is foolish and stupid," Reborn says. His every word a stab to Tsuna's rapidly beating heart. "He has still much to learn. I ask for your forgiveness."

"Better teach him well," Ryuusei sniffs. "I doubt you will always be present to save him. Come. Dinner is waiting."

Reborn takes one long look at Tsuna before he follows Ryuusei. Kunishige ambles behind his father quietly, along with the heir as Takenaka trails behind them, talking animatedly to his son who keeps on looking back.

Tsuna is still shaking. When the pain is finally bearable, she puts a hand on the back of his neck.

She runs her fingers on the back of his head as if soothing.

"Shh, it's all right. It's okay," she says awkwardly, almost to herself more than to Tsuna. She's never great at comforting people. Being the person to demand one of others rather than give.

"I'm not going to be like him," Tsuna whispers.

"No," Kyoya says. They flinch, the moment broken. "You're not." Kyoya is staring at his father's retreating back, close to the way a caged wolf watches live prey. He's clenching his fists, his eyes wide and dark and livid.

She doesn't get the chance to say anything because a maid swerves to help her stand and another, Rita, brings Tsuna to his feet. "Signora," the maid says, gingerly peeling the bloody handkerchief from Rosetta's hand. "It's best if you don't keep Hibari-san waiting."

"Yeah," Rosetta agrees. "It's best not." But she doesn't make a move.

"Signora," the maid tries again. "You shouldn't dawdle–"

"Don't assume I can't think for myself. Thank you." Rosetta says, irritated because she still hasn't shaken off the embarrassment from earlier. She used to bounce back so easily. Perhaps she is not accustomed to an audience when Ryuusei assumes the role of a teacher. The maid nods, but doesn't apologize and takes leave, heading for the dining room.

She looks at Tsuna, who's staring intently at the floor. Rita is attached to him, her face pinched with tenacity.

"Sawada-san. You can stay in your room now. The boss specifically said he wanted to see you, not have dinner. I didn't want to piss him off earlier by assuming, but, now, honestly, I don't give a shit." Rosetta wipes her lip with the back of her hand, still tasting blood as she waves him off.

"I'm still going," Tsuna says to everyone's surprise.

"You're sure?" She asks. "You're actually sure."

"He might hurt you again."

Rosetta grins at him.

"Okay, fine. Same plan. Don't say anything if you can. Reborn or I will answer the boss' queries for you. Is that clear?"

Tsuna nods.

She nods back, albeit weakly and takes a step to the dining room when an unfamiliar callused hand grips her wrist, tight. She jerks back, startled by the warmth of it.

"What is it?" She doesn't bare her teeth at Kyoya, but it's close.

Kyoya curls his lip, the rest of his face is glacial, but his brows are furrowed in a way she has never seen before. For the first time, he looks unsure of what he's doing. "Give me your hand," he orders.

"Why? What are you planning?" She doesn't like that she sounds accusing. Behind them, Rita, now grinning wide-eyed, takes Tsuna and leads him to the dining room, shushing his protests.

"I want to piss him off," Kyoya says.

"The boss?" She carefully withdraws her wrist back from Kyoya. "Are you– Do you want to be punished too?"

"You think he can touch me?" Kyoya is watching her intently, his gaze lands to a smidge of blood on the corner of her lip.

"I –" she sighs, disbelieving, lowering her voice, so she's sure only he can hear her words. "You should be past the age of being so arrogant. You're even worse than I am! I ask you again. Do you want to be punished?" She says, stiffening, the static crackle of panic audible in her vowels. Kyoya doesn't answer, giving her time to think for once. Whether or not this is intentional, she doesn't care to ponder.

She exhales. Her eyes are wide and suddenly at awe. "You're not afraid of his punishments," this is said with a hint of laughter.

That curl on his lip again. She's seen it in Ryuusei too. "I am not. Now give me your hand."

She doesn't believe him. She shakes her head, perhaps too quickly, because he scowls.

"You pity me, don't you?" She concludes. Her temper flares a little. Why else would he do this? Kyoya doesn't do things for others without self-benefit. Suddenly he's being amiable just because she got punched. She's unwilling to use that as a foundation for any sort of a relationship. She brings her bandaged palms flush to the center of her chest. "This is why you're doing this."

Kyoya's eyes flash for a moment, his patience thinning. "It's not pity, Rosetta."

It's the first time he says her name, and he says it perfectly. Unlike Tetsuya or Takenaka or Tsuna or the others who butcher it with their stubborn accents. She bites her lip, expression softening.

"You're not going to tell if I ask what it is, if not pity." It's a statement, not a question.

"No. I will not," he says, narrowing his eyes. Stubborn. Guarded. As if giving her a piece of him will hurt him indefinitely. She wonders what kind of people made him to be like this. It couldn't be Ryuusei alone. The boss would have help. Did Takenaka hurt him too? Did Tetsuya enable him too much? At least she knows that he's not lying.

She studies him under a grudging new light, extending her hand which he takes and tucks atop the back of his elbow. Close like this, they look like a legitimate couple.

"I'm not afraid of his punishments too," she says, although she doesn't sound convinced herself. Kyoya scoffs. She rolls her eyes.

"How is this going to piss him off?" She asks as he leads her to the dining room.

"It will," Kyoya doesn't quite promise, but there is an unassailable edge of confidence in his stance. Rosetta rides along with it.

The dinner is thankfully uneventful as Ryuusei's formal dinners go. That means no gruesome deaths. They ate a sweet and savory chicken dish Rosetta can't pronounce properly and washed it down with decaffeinated tea. Halfway through dessert, Ryuusei blesses them with a fatherly smile and says: "Let the adults talk business, you children can lounge at the garden, talk about things suitable for your age."

Rosetta wrinkles her nose at his half-assed dismissal.

Ryuusei sweeps his eyes over to her when she doesn't move. "I said children. That means you too, my dear."

"You said business," she says, eyes wide with feigned innocence. "Your business is my business."

"Not when it's related to my family."

Rosetta looks away, her eyes landing to Ryuusei's ugly tea set, tempted to chuck a few choice pieces out in the stone garden. "So, I'm only family when it's convenient for you," she says, standing up, adjusting the flow of her skirt.

Ryuusei sighs. "I can say the same for you. Get out before I lose my patience, my dear."

"Yeah. Have a nice trip," she bows once, as perfectly as how Takenaka taught her.

"Don't let me worry about you," he says kindly with a fatherly smile, but she has heard him use that same tone to order the deaths of children. She says goodbye to the heir and to Kunishige who doesn't even acknowledge her. He's been struggling the entire night, his neck a map of bruises. It must have been difficult to swallow.

"Oh, and my dear before I forget–" Ryuusei says suddenly, uncharacteristic for him to have forgotten anything. She freezes, turning back. "–take care of your hands will you? No use cutting in yourself when there're others to cook for him. Try something else."

The rest are looking at her. Mutsuo's face is openly curious.

She swallows, flushing in embarrassment.

"I want to do this," she says.

"I can order you to stop."

"Please don't," she winces.

"Then the strays in our park will continue to fatten." Ryuusei shakes his head. He looks and sounds disappointed. "Do as you wish, you little fool."

Even under the threat of assassination, life goes on.

Rosetta wakes up before everyone else, dragging Fusanosuke from his station outside her room to the basement where the kitchen opens under a key she seemingly wills to existence. Tetsuya appears fifteen minutes in as she's chopping up peppers. He looks guilty and reprimanded.

"You don't have to do this," he discourages her. "I feed it to the dogs."

She pauses, narrowing her eyes, irritable. Her stomach still aches from last night. "Better than him throwing it away," she says and throws the peppers into a bowl. "If you're here anyway, you might as well help. See those mushrooms over there?"

"I can't help you. I'm supposed to convince y–"

She slams her fist into the wooden countertop, rattling all the utensils, overly loud in the cavernous room. She is not looking at him, eyes pressed closed in frustration.

Tetsuya shakes his head, unruffled by her display of violence.

"I'm not helping you," he says, his characteristic impassivity ever present. He feels like his day would go better if he nudges against her pushy nature.

"If I will be convinced, it will not be by you," she says simply, wiping her hands on a towel. She takes a stool from beneath one of the working tables and reaches for a bag of dried mushrooms in the pantry.

Tetsuya wanders around as she pointedly ignores him. There are handfuls of vegetables boiling on the stove. Fusanosuke is by the servant's entrance, saluting smartly when he walks by. The house doctor is present too, sitting atop a hard case, reading a pulp novel in the limited light.

He blinks, surprised. "Iwasaki-sensei, you're here–"

"Tetsuya-san, don't you have other people to bother? Why don't you find a place where you can pay to be liked?" Rosetta calls from the counter.

The doctor, Iwasaki, shoots him a pitying look from behind her glasses.

"Rosetta-san, I'm trying to help you," he says, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"By being a big fat distraction? Go on!"

"The boss asked you to stop. It's not going to work. We can try something else. I already promised to help you." Tetsuya scoffs when she glares at him. "Why are you even doing this?"

"Go away, Tetsuya-san."

"This is stubbornness at its finest. Do you know what you look like from the outside?"

She ignores him.

"You look insincere. Desperate," he says.

"Tetsuya-san. Stop it. I don't want to hear this from you."

"You're not going to hear it from anyone else."

Rosetta purses her lips. She feels small under his annoyingly discerning gaze and hates the feeling more than anything. Hot water goes into a bowl, then goes the mushrooms. There's a towel on the counter where she wipes her hands, pointedly looking away from Tetsuya who's not giving her an inch.

"I have to work with something." She says, a bit angry, slamming a carrot on the chopping board. "Do you want me to give up?"

Tetsuya leans back on the counter she's using, crossing his arms. When he speaks, it's in Italian. His accent is as terrible as his father, but it makes their conversation private.

"When I was three years old, the boss handed me an infant and told me that I would care and serve him for the rest of my life. I've done what Hibari-san wanted me to do. I've killed for him, hurt for him, cooked for him even. I know him more than anyone else. He won't like you any better for something as false as this."

"How the hell is this false?" She shuts her eyes. It hurts looking at him, it hurts looking at the truth when it's wrapped up in admonishment. "It feels real to me."

"Do you love him?"

"What?" Anger flares up. She can't believe he just said that. "How could you ask that? How is that related to anything?"

"A wife cooks for her husband because she loves him. You don't even care for him. You're throwing him bribes hoping that he'll accept! You know this. You're smart enough to know. That's why I don't understand why you persist to be a–"

"It's my duty! Shut up! Don't patronize me!"

"I'm not. Rosetta-san, listen to me."

"You think I'm going to make this easy for you?"

"I was hoping you'd be reasonable."

"Does that phrase work on Kyoya-san when he ignores you as well?" she says without thinking.

Tetsuya's face collapses in a crunch of angry features, it's an unflattering look on him, one that throws Rosetta into panic. The knife on her hand slips and she cuts her thumb with a cry. It clatters on the floor, almost as a reproach.

Iwasaki folds her novel and rummages through her case for gauze. Rosetta waves her off, pressing her thumb against her apron for the bleeding.

"I didn't mean to say that," she tells Tetsuya, who stiffens. He's clenching his fingers so hard that even in the dark the veins under his skin are visible.

"You don't," he repeats in monotone, it's between a question and a statement.

"I don't," she clarifies. "I said that to hurt you. I do it a lot when I'm angry."

Fusanosuke closes the fire below a boiling pot as Iwasaki forces her hand under cool running water.

Rosetta shuts her eyes, reaching for a spoon under the drawer nearest to her. She moves slowly, dragging an aluminum bowl towards her. She fills the spoon halfway and extends it to Tetsuya, praying that he'll take it.

"Quite a weak apology," he says, but he takes the spoon.

"It's not an apology. It's my answer, or at least part of it."

Tetsuya is studying her oddly, anger seemingly gone. But she can't be so sure. Not with him, not with anyone.

He tastes it and blinks, licking his lips, chasing the fleeting taste. He meanders to the bowl, about to dip his spoon once more when Rosetta makes a horrified sound.

"Use another spoon!"

"It's good," Tetsuya says and pauses. "What is it?"

Rosetta feels too bad to smile. "It's beef consommé."

"Con-what?"

"Consommé," she corrects. "It's the one I put in the thermoses that don't come back." Iwasaki is now rolling medicated gauze over her cut.

Tetsuya switches his spoon and tastes again. "It's really good. I feed this to the dogs?" He switches to Japanese without realizing it.

Rosetta looks away from his face. "I cook because I found that I'm not so hopeless with it, regardless of what your father has to say. It's easier to learn than piano and… it …it's fun. It makes me feel great," she whispers softly. Cooking makes her happy, as fleeting as it is, she's grateful for it. It's a small escape. "I'm not good at anything else."

"That's not true," Tetsuya says, putting his spoon down. He doesn't clarify. She's not going to wave off his words by listing all her inadequacies either. She exhales when she sees his shoulders relax. Crisis averted.

"I still disapprove," Tetsuya mumbles. "But I understand you."

She doubts he does, but she nods, resisting the urge to embrace him. "I've made too much this morning. Do you want a bento as well?"

They go to school after a breakfast of leftovers. Tetsuya receives his own bento since he helped along with her other companions in the kitchen. She's asked him to give Kyoya his own, tiring of seeing her efforts go to waste.

She doesn't offer food to Reborn or Tsuna since Nana meets them at the school gates every morning to hand them their lunches. Rosetta doesn't know what lies Iemitsu spouts to his wife to hide the truth from her. Something about sumo lessons perhaps because the mother keeps on asking her about weight gain and strength training.

"Your son is quite gifted," Rosetta would say to Tsuna's mortification. Nana seems to be happy for her son to have found a hobby he's good at.

They sweep into the classroom, ready for the grueling day. Years spent with the boss did little to prepare her for the insanity of a classroom. Sharing her husband's last name gives her unimaginable leeway, unimaginable power. She vowed not to use it, but something ticks in her when the history teacher admonishes Tsuna for the sixth time.

It ruffles her feathers.

"You're wasting class time. Expecting him to answer correctly with your methods is like expecting the sun to rise from the west. Sawada-san, sit down." She says.

The classroom nearly chokes in silence. Some are staring at her wide-eyed. She never speaks in class. Despite what she said, Tsuna remains standing, shoulders hunched and cheeks flushed.

"Hibari-chan," the teacher admonishes, clasping her hands, "don't make assumptions about the right way to teach. You're not a teacher. Sawada-kun needs to learn his lesson. We're stuck at this topic for a week. If he can't answer–"

"I guess I can make assumptions about the right way to learn. I'm a student. Sawada-san is not learning properly."

The teacher frowns, assessing her and the disciplinary committee member standing at the back.

"If you're so sure, then I guess I should be the student and you be the teacher," the teacher says, crossing her arms, challenging.

"How the hell did you come to that conclusion?" Rosetta questions after a whole minute, trying for Tetsuya's precise condescension only to sound spoiled and petulant. She stands, only for a large hand to block her path. Fusanosuke is at the aisle, holding a phone to her. "Phone call, ma'am. It's urgent."

Rosetta swallows, her throat dry. Fusanosuke shakes the phone again. She can see the screen clearly.

"Go on," Tsuna mutters, still standing. "It might be the boss."

She snatches the phone from him, leaving the room with a slam on the door as he follows. She pockets the phone and stalks to the end of the hall where the window is. Right here she has a view of the school's oval. A class is having P.E., playing baseball of all things.

"You didn't need to save me," she admonishes Fusanosuke who gives her a doubtful look as she gives him back the phone that's definitely not ringing. "You didn't need to make that up."

"Do you want me to get rid of her?"

"What, the teacher?" She asks.

"Yes, ma'am. She can be gone tomorrow."

Rosetta purses her lips. "What will you do?"

Something ugly twists over Fusanosuke's face. "Nothing permanent."

She grins, amused. "If you're going to get rid of everyone I hate, you can start with the librarian."

"If you wish, ma'am."

"I was joking," she doesn't laugh. "But don't do that again. Don't assume I need help unless I ask for it." Her tone is light, but the edges of her words are sharp.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Back to the classroom."

She eats lunch with the girls. Kyoko talks about the pros and cons of using baking chocolate for dessert while she dutifully takes down notes to Hana's surprise. She shares her consommé, emptying the mini thermos as Kyoko gives her better suggestions for skimming the layer of fat above the soup. Rosetta has half a mind to throw the expensive cookbooks in the kitchen and store Kyoko in one of the cupboards instead.

"Why don't you take some?" Hana asks her, when the soup is nearly finished.

"I bit my tongue last night. Anything hot is agony to me. You want to see?" She sticks out her tongue before Hana could reject her. The table erupts in horror.

"Shit, what did you do?" Hana inspects the muscle with dread.

"Talked too much without thinking," Rosetta slips her tongue back with a grin as Hana rolls her eyes. Kyoko starts a story about how her brother lost a few teeth in a boxing match.

Tetsuya places the bento on Kyoya's desk. There are bags under Kyoya's eyes. He looks uncharacteristically tired.

"Throw it," Kyoya doesn't even look from the stack of documents he's filtering through. There's money on the table, contributions from the school organizations. Ryuusei teaches his sons corruption at a young age.

"Vegetarian paella, beef consommé and poached pears, boss."

Kyoya pauses and pins Tetsuya with an intense stare which doesn't bother Tetsuya because he's not looking back. Kyoya frowns. He picks up bento, along with a thermos and a smaller container and dumps it in the trash.

"What are you still doing here? I don't tolerate tardiness."

"Of course boss," Tetsuya says professionally.

Rosetta copies Kyoko's assignment ten minutes before the bell rings under the guide of 'comparing answers'. Hana shoots her dirty looks the entire time. Classes in the afternoon are uneventful. The math teacher makes fun of Tsuna's grades twice, which is an all-time low. When it is time to go home, Rosetta sidles up to Tetsuya in the reception room who's signing a stack of papers and clears her throat.

"I want to see the dogs," she says. She's quite relieved that Kyoya isn't there. She tries not to stare at the trash can.

Tetsuya blinks. "I don't feed them until two hours."

"Okay," she nods. "I'll stay in the library. Sawada-san needs time with his friends too. You can pick us up later."

The man puts his pen down. "Rosetta-san. I'm feeding strays, a lot of strays. It's not like what you think."

"The disappointment shall be mine to bear when it comes to that," she sniffs, giving him no room for argument. Fusanosuke trails her as she leaves.

Tetsuya takes off his reading glasses and mutters under his breath. He picks up the phone, dialing three numbers from muscle memory. "Hello, yes. It's Tetsuya Kusakabe. We need the park secured by five p.m."

None of the dogs looked like Marco. Marco was a tall and a lean dog that operated on four gangly legs and a bent tail. Marco's fur was thin on some areas as the dog recovered from mange. She's pretty sure it was missing an eye too. Rosetta rolls on her bed, running a hand through her hair, trying to be comfortable. The dogs in the park were small animals, short furred and well mannered, likely abandoned by owners in their neighborhood. Most are already neutered by the local welfare groups. She feels sorry for them, but not sorry enough to take them home.

She sees a familiar tiny black square on the edge of her desk and groans.

"Seriously? Freaking hell." She kicks her blankets away, looking for a knife.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" Not-Fusanosuke asks from outside her door.

"I'm fine! Don't mind me!" She sings, throwing her drawers open. When she finds nothing, she closes her eyes and concentrates, putting a handout.

She conjures a knife with her flames and pries off the surveillance bug until it gives in. She looks around and definitely finds another behind her bedpost. "Dear Lord!"

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" Not-Fusanosuke asks again.

"Can you call Reborn-san?" She calls over. This is trouble. Takenaka is notorious for invading other people's privacies. He doesn't leave a building unless he's planted a bug or two, maybe fifty.

"You want him to come here?"

"Yes, please!"

Reborn strolls over just as she's dismantling the fifth bug.

"You too, huh?" Reborn clicks his tongue.

"Kusakabe-san is a menace," she seethes. "How many did you find?"

"Twelve."

"I apologize in behalf of the family," she says, wary. She is nervous, not because she thinks Takenaka did any wrong. She's nervous because she's afraid that Reborn will be angry. His tantrums are legendary.

"Don't, the Vongola would do the same if they housed you too." He replies, he should sound indifferent, but an edge has wedged itself in his tone. He's definitely mad.

She stiffens.

Reborn sighs. He's growing too comfortable around her. "It's not this. I'm not mad." He makes a gesture when she doesn't seem to believe him. "Not because of this."

"Would it be presumptuous if I asked?"

Leon crawls to Reborn's tiny palm. The lizard turns into a knife, similar to the one on her hand. He locates a bug under her bed, only visible at his height. He assesses her for a moment before he gives in. "Do you know who Fuuta de la Stella is?"

"Ranking Fuuta of the Vongola. Isn't he a hoax?" She finds a bug by her curtains.

"He's not. He's been living with Nana Sawada for the past months."

She furrows her brows at that. The only people she's met in the house are Lambo and I-pin. They don't fit Fuuta's profile. "I assume he's non-lethal then."

"He's as harmless as a sheep," Reborn agrees, crouching to peer under her bed. He sees a collection of expensive shoes. "And his presence was supposed to be secret."

"Secret's out then?" She asks.

Reborn purses his lips. "I wish. Fuuta de la Stella disappeared this afternoon without a trace. He's either kidnapped–" he looks at her, shaking his head "–or dead."

A Note to The Readers: *looks at canon Mukuro* Yeaaaahhhhh... I'm going to tweak a few (a lot, maybe?) of events of the Kokuyo arc. I don't think I'll be giving you readers any justice if I just slammed the same thing in here. See you all!