The Holy Roman Emperor

warnings: p much just swearing

disclaimer: I don't own KHR, like, at all.

Leda and the Swan

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.

How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?

A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.
Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?

-W.B Yeats

X X X X

"Dear, how do you take your tea?" Giotto asked, smiling. While she watched him pour, the teapot seemed to melt, dripping on to the the table and drying into shiny glass puddles. In a moment, however, time had reversed itself and the teapot was whole again, once again pouring steaming liquid into her cup. She noted that it was a particularly terrible shade of powder blue and wondered if she had ingested any hallucinogens.

"Two teaspoons of honey, please," she said, but noted that none was present on the table. She was vaguely disappointed, but a second after a pot of honey appeared in front of her like it had always been there. Then she blinked and it was hovering in midair five feet from the table. Then it was back in its original position. Was this some weird version of a bugged-out Skyrim?

"I drink my tea plain, by the way," Xanxus said. She had almost forgotten he was there since the Primo's reveal and all of the strange glitches in the fabric of the universe. She turned to look at him but he didn't look like he'd noticed anything suspicious at all. Tsuna was genuinely concerned about her mental state now. "Thanks for asking."

"Would you mind explaining how we got here?" Tsuna asked after watching Giotto's facial features twitch slightly off of his face. Beside her, Xanxus sipped his tea, perplexed, maybe, but ultimately nonchalant. Perhaps he was used to situations like these. "Or, exactly, what here is?"

"Just a moment, sweetheart," he said, but did nothing immediately following the statement. She noticed that his eyes were glasslike and at times his silhouette would become hazy. At the moment, he faded slightly into the blue sky behind him while he stared blankly into the distance. Tsuna was definitely getting weird vibes right now, though her intuition was conspicuously silent.

"Old man?" Xanxus prodded. Giotto blinked and stiffened suddenly, his eyebrows furrowing and his mouth pressing into a hard line.

"Oh, how rude!" he said. She noticed that when he spoke so angrily his eyes would grow bigger than they naturally were. For a moment, the big blue sky around them darkened to pitch black, not a star in sight. Not even the moon existed. The meadow of wildflowers and tall grass had deteriorated into an empty field. Tsuna felt like she was being watched. And then, suddenly, the meadow was back like it had never left. "Why, back in my day-"

A cloud moved from covering the sun, and Giotto blinked. His eyes seemed more alert and he eyed them with alarm. "What? How long have you been here?" he asked.

"What the actual fuck," Tsuna said, though it came out more like a hysterical laugh. Xanxus continued to sip his tea. In her mind, she wondered if Xanxus was real or if he was just another hallucination of this charming hellscape. Just to make sure, she pinched him.

"Ow! What the hell, brat?" Xanxus complained.

"You're taking this way too calmly. Clearly you're AI," Tsuna said. "I've seen and written fanfiction about Ex Machina." The second part wasn't true because she hadn't really liked it enough to write fanfiction about it, but he didn't need to know that!

"How is that a way to see if I'm real?" Xanxus said. He seemed rather whiny to Tsuna, but if she told him that he would kill her so she refrained. "You're supposed to pinch yourself if you're dreaming, dumbass."

"I already know I'm dreaming, obviously," she said. Jeez, this AI guy really didn't know shit. "I wanted to know if you were really here, and if wacko McGee over there is any indication, the fake people of this world aren't very good." She continued, "So obviously they wouldn't be very good at reacting to pain. See, simple as that!"

"Did I pass the test, asshole?" he asked. She was tempted to say no, as that was exactly what an AI would say, but she nodded instead and was about to elaborate when-

"If you people are done, I'd like to know what you're doing here," Giotto ordered.

"No, we're not done, you-" Tsuna started.

Xanxus intervened, "Actually, we don't know that either." Tsuna pouted at the interruption and sipped her weird glitch tea.

"You're Timeteo's boy aren't you? The one with the, um…" he trailed of. "It was an X name...Like Xander but with more X-es involved…"

"Xanxus," Xanxus helpfully supplied.

"Yes, Xanxus! So nice to meet you," Giotto said. "And you're Tsunami, right? The next boss?" he asked. "I'm sorry your accommodations have been so...unreliable. Things in here have been a little unorganized ever since his last visit. And, of course, I'm certainly affected considering I'm just a projection of a dead man's general personality. But still, I've been losing days a lot lately."

"So...what is this place?" Tsunami asked. This time, she'd hopefully receive an answer.

"Here?" Giotto pondered. "I suppose the easiest way to explain it would be to say that your consciousnesses have been projected inside of the Vongola ring. This landscape and myself are artificial programs designed to help the next ring bearer and boss adjust to their title. That's why I, the first Vongola leader, was placed here—to instill the values of our famiglia. Though, that hasn't really worked very well…I'm sure you know of the Second boss."

Tsuna nodded.

And so Giotto—or the weird construct of Giotto—wove tales of vigilantism and honor and everything the mafia was not. Tsuna knew that the Vongola had such roots before, but hearing it from the Primo himself...she thought, for the first time in a while, that everything might turn out okay. The mafia was involved in a lot of things Tsuna didn't want to touch: sexism, murder, sex trafficking, human experimentation, etcetera. For a long time she doubted whether she'd be able to change the system from within the system, but hearing Giotto's message, her resolve strengthened.

"And that's why-" Giotto abruptly cut off, eyes widening. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you!" he exclaimed as the sky turned to pitch behind him. In the darkness, his blond hair and blue eyes became so bright that Tsuna could actually see him as a construct instead of the man he was supposed to be. "Tsunami, you're in grave danger."

"What," Tsuna said.

"The ring, it didn't used to be like this. These glitches are abnormal; my programming is faulty. I've existed in this state for centuries. This isn't normal deterioration. Someone has been confusing the ring." His voice seemed almost distorted and a blood red moon drifted above the horizon.

"Who? Who is it?" Tsuna asked, gripping Xanxus' hand in hers. She was afraid to be trapped here. Agonized screams began to echo through the meadow and the greenery withered and died.

"I'm..not...sure," Giotto said, blinking away the glaze over his eyes. "Somehow, he feels familiar to me," he smiled like a reanimated corpse. Who was speaking now, Giotto or the man behind the scenes? Tsuna wondered. "Be careful when looking into the mist, dear Tenth, my virgin queen. You just might lose yourself in it." There were the screeches of tens of millions of the damned.

And then she was back in the hospital room.

"What the fuck," Tsuna said. Xanxus was silent and when she looked over at him he was dead asleep. His head was a heavy weight against her thighs. If Xanxus was asleep the whole time…"Holy gnome fucker, that bastard was totally an AI!"

Xanxus lazily swatted at her, presumably to tell her to shut up.

Tsuna pouted.

X X X X

"Alright, suspect is a mist, presumably aware of the ring's properties. Also, he doesn't like the Vongola and, by extension, would appreciate my death. Also he's a man," Tsuna explained. Her guardians, except for Lambo because he probably wouldn't get it anyway and Ryohei for whatever reason, and Reborn were gathered. Xanxus was still hanging out in her chair and they currently played a game of Go Fish. She was losing pretty badly.

"It's the pineapple," Hibari growled, refusing to elaborate further. He leaned on the wall beside her bed, away from most of the room's occupants. His hand, however, rested on her shoulder and every once in awhile he would pet her hair like she was a cat. It felt pretty nice and it wasn't like she was gonna fight him over it. She was already in the hospital.

"Awww, is the skylark angwy?" Mukuro mocked. "And it couldn't be me. As you know, I'm out of town pretty much permanently. Besides, the little Vongola is my ally now," Mukuro purred, eying her. She sent him a thumbs-up. Hibari's hand tightened around her shoulder in anger and he took a step closer to Mukuro. She placed her hand over his and surprising a deathmatch did not start. Yet.

"Any twos?" she asked Xanxus over the room's heavy atmosphere.

"Go fish," Xanxus said. He was laughing at her pain. His next turn, he got like four matches in a row. Tsuna took a deep breath as an ugly flush crept up her neck. Today was really not going her way.

"SORRY I'M LATE. THERE WAS A BOXING CLUB MEETING," Ryohei busted in, almost knocking the door of its hinges. "TSUNA-CHAN! I'M EXTREMELY GLAD TO SEE YOU'VE EXTREMELY RECOVERED!" She was flattered that the sentence garnered more EXTREMEs than usual.

"Thank you, dear. That means a lot to me," she said. She hadn't been able to hang out with him in a while since she was so busy being a mafia man. They should go see a movie together after she's cleared from dying. "Ryohei-kun how do you feel about Oscar-nominated Wes Anderson movies?"

"WHO?"

"Great!" she said.

"How can you tolerate a turf-top like him?" Hayato sneered.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, OCTOPUS-HEAD?"

"I SAID-" Hayato was interrupted.

"My guys, my dudes, my comrades-in-arms, who cares about any of this?" Tsuna cut in. "Like, for real, you guys could have no hair and I would still like you. It's like how Xanxus stole my jello yesterday. Did it make me angry? Kind of. Am I too busy worrying about this mist guy to retaliate? Yes. Will I do so anyway? I think that answer to that is also yes. But that's not the point. The point is that sometimes you get offended, like when the Primo called me the queen of the virgins, but you also shouldn't hit them because they are AI or something. That one really got away from me…"

"I'm sure Primo did not call you the queen of the virgins. And if he did, he did not mean to offend. Being a virgin was good back in the day," Reborn said. "And what Dame-Tsuna is trying to say is: she's very stressed and would really appreciate everyone's cooperation and cordiality." Wow, Reborn was such a great guy to have around. She curved her hands into a vague heart shape and smiled at him. "You're welcome, Tsuna."

She secretly thought that his caffeine addiction meant he didn't have to sleep so he was twice as efficient as a normal man. That was a bad conspiracy theory though since she had actually seen Reborn unconscious before. He snored pretty loud.

"Yeah, let's be nice around Tsuna-chan!" Takeshi grinned. Tsuna watched in dread as his input launched another round of loud and violent squabbling. Takeshi's voice really ticked Hayato off, and Hayato ticked Ryohei off, and Hibari got angry because of the noise and fought Mukuro who fought back with little resistance, and Tsuna also lost the game of Go Fish. She closed her eyes tried to forget everything that was going wrong. Xanxus probably cheated anyway.

"Guys," she called. Amazingly the fighting paused. Hibari was still clutching Mukuro's neck like he was a rubber chicken, but you can't win 'em all. "We're not done yet."

"The Ninth just called to inform me that the Inheritance ceremony will take place in a week," Reborn announced. "Tsuna will officially be declared the tenth successor of the Vongola Boss title. The title can only be taken from her in the event of her death. Although she is the only person who can physically be the next boss, there will be assassins there. Just a warning so everyone can prepare themselves adequately."

Tsuna wondered whether he meant for them prepare themselves for fighting or prepare themselves for her death.

"Thank you, Reborn," Tsuna said. "Xanxus has also promised me that the Varia are no longer trying to murder me since we're homies now. Right?" she asked him only to find his eyes on her newly-distributed hand of cards. "That's how you won! I demand a rematch and a reshuffle and a re- a re-!" she struggled in anger.

"You were holding them completely parallel to the ground, brat. It was hard to avoid looking at them. It was honestly kind of pathetic; I thought you were doing it on purpose at first because it was so weird and terrible," Xanxus said. "Also, no one allied with me is going to try to kill any one you unprovoked. Except Bel, maybe, but that guy's a loose cannon at the best of times."

Tsuna tried to remember who Bel was.

"It's not my fault my mom thinks playing cards is satanic! I haven't had, like, any practice." It was true. While Nana was easy-going in most areas, she had been raised by very conservative parents. Tsuna had never even been inside a church, but some stuff just stuck in Nana's brain. That was why Tsuna had only played cards a couple times in her life. Not even Uno!

"Tenth!" Hayato exclaimed. "How are we even supposed to trust this guy? He's the one who put you in here in the first place!" His ears and cheeks were flushed red and his eyes were almost tearing up. Tsuna actually respected Hayato a lot for being so passionate all the time. It must be pretty exhausting.

"Hayato-kun, you know I love you and respect your opinions," at her words, he flushed a much more becoming light pink all over "but Xanxus isn't the one who put me in this hospital. A steel beam did," she nodded very sagely. "Indeed, I can't even be mad at that steel beam, because it was probably just as uncomfortable being inside of me as I was with it being inside of me. And I was very uncomfortable. Sincerely. Can I blame it? No, I probably should just be better at landing.

"Although Xanxus tried to kill me, I still trust him. A good portion of this room has also tried to kill me, or at least grievously injure me. I don't really blame any of you, nor do I distrust you. In fact, if I hated everyone who tried to murder me, I wouldn't have very many friends. Which might say something about me, now that I think about it. So it's time to stop this train of thought! Have any fives?" she asked Xanxus.

"Sometimes I wonder how someone as stupid as you managed to stay alive for so long," Reborn muttered.

"Yep! It's a mystery!" Tsuna smiled.

X X X X

Eventually, Tsuna was released from the hospital and allowed (read: forced) to resume Reborn's training regime. It mostly included daily marathons and trial by hellfire. Consequently, she ate almost exclusively superfoods and protein in an effort to maintain her body weight. She had, like, five full meals a day and she was pretty sure if she didn't eat that much she would die. Like, she was not making gains. She was toned for sure, but she was certainly not big. Tsuna assumed that part of Reborn's job was to make her appear traditionally pretty and feminine.

If Reborn was taken as an example, then image and style are very important form mafia men.

So she was walking to school one morning, drinking a spinach and peanut butter smoothie that was mostly spinach while Hayato and Takeshi argued behind her about nothing. She would have made a kale smoothie, but kale does not chop smoothly or nicely. It's like the Judas of smoothie ingredients, since you expect it to be okay but it actually totally ruins the whole deal.

Was that blasphemy?
So, there she was, walking as usual, when she heard a commotion in one of the alley ways. This particular alley housed some rough memories for Tsuna, as some boys used to beat her up pretty frequently there on her walk home. Being a certified strong person™ now, she went to check it out and found her same old harassers beating up a redhead boy. She motioned for Hayato and Takeshi to be quiet and follow her lead.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" she said.

The taller one looks up and smirks at her.

"Eh? A cute little girl has come to save the shrimp?" His eyes travel farther and widen as he catches sight of Takeshi and Hayato, both significantly more intimidating than her. "Yamamoto? What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that, senpai," he said. "After all, if the coach found out about this-" he gestured to the scene "-you'd be off the team." Tsuna never knew that the asshole senior was on the baseball team. There were some perks to hanging out with a jock.

"Yeah, Yamamoto. Is she your girlfriend?" the shorter one asked. "If so, I have seniority so I call dibs-" He's cut off by Hayato's punch to the face.

"Hey, what the hell-" the taller one shouts. Takeshi quickly seizes his collar.

"Don't you ever talk about the Tenth, or any woman, like that again!" Hayato snarls, stepping on the shorter's chest. Tsuna walks past them to the boy as Takeshi knocks the other one out cold.

"Hey, do you need help standing up?" she asks. "Those guys used to beat me up all the time. It was pretty rough." The boy looks to the alley's entrance as if to escape, but turns to look at her with distant eyes. "My name's Sawada Tsuna."

"Kozato Enma," the boy says quietly, and takes her offered hand.

Tsuna didn't even have to spill her smoothie to deal with those guys, she thinks as her lips curl.

"It's nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends."

X X X X

Things were quiet for the next few days. There were no fights, no one died, and Xanxus hadn't even shown up once. (Though that wasn't very reassuring. It was better for Xanxus to be in her presence where she knew what he was doing than for him to be MIA so she could only imagine the chaos being wrought on Namimori. Perhaps that was also why she hadn't seen Hibari in a while.)

It turned out that Enma was actually a transfer student to the school and he brought some strange friends along with him. (Speaking of the strange friends, they were probably another reason for Hibari's strange absence. The tall girl seemed pretty sus.) Although she liked Enma, she could never have too much trust in a transfer student, especially one that came in a group.

"Reboooooooooorn, are the new students here to murder me?" she called, pulling on some running shoes. Today was the day she graduated to running a billion miles to running a billion miles while dodging bullets. Reborn said that this time they would be rubber, but tomorrow...She wondered if his entire budget was devoted to the sole purpose of torturing her. Maybe that was why he required food and board.

"Probably not, if you don't do anything stupid," Reborn answered. Tsuna felt that was pretty vague. Who were these people? How did Reborn know them? They were almost certainly from another famiglia, and the timing did coincidentally line up with her inheritance ceremony. Also, what counted as stupid? She did stupid things all the time! When she was about to ask, Reborn said, "Your boyfriend is here!" which totally interrupted her thought process.

"Which one?" she muttered under her breath. She was still worried about dying at any moment, but not as much as she was previously. Thus, she had far more time to concern herself over her "romantic issues." Her maybe falling in love with five boys and maybe Xanxus, though he didn't really count, kind of Chrome though she didn't see her much, and, of course, Dino that one time, was problematic. Even though she was biologically programmed to have a lot of romantic partners, she didn't really have time for them.

Like, she was almost constantly in a position of fighting for her life and her right to party. She didn't even have time for one boyfriend! Like, Hayato and Takeshi were fine since she saw them at school all the time. Ryohei was maybe pushing it since he was in the grade above her and so involved with the boxing club. Hibari was almost a definite no because he was so busy ruling the school with an iron fist. Mukuro was trapped in prison, though she guessed he did have a lot of time to astral project to her. Xanxus and Dino, though they didn't really count, lived on a completely other continent. And Chrome went to another school and lived in an abandoned theme park.

Maybe this was what Giotto meant when he called her the Virgin Queen? How was it even possible for her to exist in the state of having multiple people interested in her while she couldn't even give them the attention they deserved? How was that fair to them? And furthermore, emotionally she was experiencing a weird double standard (made by herself, no less!) of liking multiple people romantically, but not being okay with someone she liked liking someone else. Even the thought of it made her sick to her stomach. Sincerely, how was any of this okay?

What kind of boss am I? she lamented, covering her eyes for a moment and breathing in. Then she went downstairs and tried to stop thinking for a moment.

"Oh, hey, Ryohei-kun!" she greeted. She'd forgotten that she invited him on runs with her, but seeing him made her smile. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard if she could combine her famiglia duties with her romantic entanglements.

"I am a master of time management," Tsuna said. She noticed that in her doorway's frame, he seemed taller. Had she not noticed him growing? Instead of responding, Ryohei leaned down and kissed her. It was very extreme.

X X X X

Glaring at the students emptying out of the classroom, Tsuna leaned against the teacher's desk. Although teacher's switched classed every period, Hyuuga-san always brought little decorations with her. On her desk currently was a little statue of a snowman. Its beady eyes mocked her relentlessly.

"Sawada, I'm sure you're aware of why I asked you to stay after," Hyuuga-san said sternly. "You never turned in the last book report, your grades have taken a recent dip lately, and you've been tardy almost every day this week. I'd like to know what's going on. Is it drugs? The Yakuza? Boys?" Personally, Tsuna thought that was a weird escalation but chose not to comment.

"I'm sorry, Hyuuga-san," Tsuna said. "I'll turn in the book report as soon as I can. I just- I've had a lot on my mind lately." Hyuuga-san was actually very understanding and kind to her. She didn't make her make up all of the work she missed during her hospital visit (unlike other teachers) and only selected a few key assignments she thought crucial to Tsuna's learning experience. She meant to finish the book report and had already written most of it, but she'd been so tired lately...It was really a wonder that it slid under Reborn's radar. But he had also been busy with the inheritance ceremony…

"I've done my best to support you as a student," Hyuuga-san said. "I know that school isn't your favorite thing, but I think you have some real talent in reading comprehension and literary analysis. You're a smart kid, Sawada, even if you're not the greatest scholastically. I was glad to see you make new friends and come out of your shell, but don't forget that school's important too. I know it might seem like you're learning things that don't matter at all, but there are lessons hidden in there somewhere and it will help you advance further in the world.

"I don't know if you know this, but I had your mother in school too," she said. Tsuna had not, in fact, known that. "She wasn't the greatest student but she had a good heart. I think that's something you inherited from her. This is just some advice from an old woman, but don't forget the kindness she instilled in you.

"Now, with that being said, I'm still going to punish you for your poor performance in class," she sighed. Tsuna was mildly affronted but didn't protest. "I've seen you around the new student Kozato Enma. I'd like you to show him around, make him more comfortable here. He reminds me a lot of you, actually." She smiled and winked, "If you turn in that book report tomorrow, I'll see what I can do about those late deductions."

"Of course!" Tsuna smiled. It was nice to be a teacher's favorite for once!

X X X X

"How's it going, Kozato-kun?" Tsuna called, lengthening her strides to catch up to him. His shoulders were slumped and his face seemed permanently etched into a grimace. Like, he didn't even react at all when she talked to him! "How are you liking Namimori so far?"

"Um, it's fine…" he said. Tsuna wondered whether he hated her or was just antisocial. At the moment, she was assuming he was shy and trying her best. He paused for a long moment and seemed to be thinking of something else to say. "H-how are you today, Sawada-chan?"

"You can just call me Tsuna," she said, smiling. "I'm actually pretty good. Ya know, like, I'm living my best life! Trying not to be horrifically murdered for circumstances outside of my control and all that!" Enma blinked in confusion. "You know what, forget that last part. You doing anything after school today?"

"Tsuna-san, you're not too bad," he said instead of answering. She didn't know whether to be flattered or offended, but she still caught him when he tripped over nothing. Looking at his meek posture and bandages, maybe, just a little bit, he reminded her of herself. And her heart softened once more.

X X X X

Annoyed, Tsuna waved away the pink smoke surrounding her to find herself in a very large bedroom. Sincerely, the bed must have been, like, two kings pushed together or something. Looking around, she was glad to note that at least the bed was empty except for her. Suspiciously, she exited the room and tried to figure out where the hell she was.

Opening a set of heavy double doors, she found herself in a familiar boardroom filled with the same cast of characters from last time. Only now, she recognized them all. It was strange to see all her friends aged, though they didn't really look that different from their teenage counterparts.

"Little Vongola?" Mukuro asked.

"Sup, my guys," she greeted. Looking down, she realized that she was dressed in a cow onesie, which was actually pretty embarrassing. It wasn't her fault that Lambo liked to play dress up! "So sorry I'm not dressed for the occasion. I left my business formal outfits at home." In the cow world, this would probably be considered business formal though. And it would be considered casual. And every other category, since cows don't usually wear clothes.

"It's fine, Tenth!" Hayato exclaimed. Glad to know he hadn't changed much. "If I had known, I would have also worn a cow suit! I'll go change right now!"

"Please do not do that, Hayato-kun," she said. "Now, I may not know all that much about the mafia, but I am a pretty hip teen! If you have any questions about social media or, I don't know, how to turn off autoplay on Youtube, I'm here to help!"

"Dame-Tsuna, you're not funny," Reborn said, suddenly appearing behind her. She squeaked. Sometimes she wondered if her intuition was so shitty around him because it wasn't adapted to recognize literal demons. "I heard that."

"That doesn't even make any sense!" she cried.

"Maa, sometimes I forget how small Tsuna was," Takeshi laughed. Tsuna resented that. "Well, not that she's grown much now…"

"Don't speak about the Tenth that way!" Gokudera growled. "She could be the tallest woman in the world if she wanted to be!"

"OCTOPUS HEAD, THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY EXTREME SENSE!"

"You don't make any extreme sense, asshole!"

"Maa, maa, calm down!"

"For crowding and disturbing the peace, I will bite you all to death."

"Why don't you just calm down, Skylark? You're always so harsh, it's a wonder why the little Vongola likes you at alllll."

"Die."

Honestly, not much had changed in ten years.

"Hmmm?" by now, Tsuna would have usually been sent back to her own time. Maybe she was just off? But she waited a few more minutes and nothing happened. Before she was sent here, wasn't Lambo talking about some new developments in the tech his famiglia made? And the bazooka had looked kind of strange this time around…

So there she was, trapped in the future in a cow onesie while a boardroom raged with violence and magical fire all around her.

"Damn, this probably isn't good," she said.

"Kufufu," Mukuro laughed weirdly.

"What a cool development!" said no one, as this was not cool. She had school tomorrow!

X X X X

"Sooooo," older Tsuna said. "Seems like I'm still here."

Reborn smacked her in the head.

A/N: Hi! Sorry it's been a while. I have no excuse; I've just been feeling a little blocked lately. As the story draws closer to the end, I'm going to try and focus a bit more on the romantic elements. Like, I don't think the romance between Xanxus and young Tsuna will be super explicit or even really noticed by him. At this stage, it's pretty much gonna be her crushing on an older man. Older Tsuna and Xanxus, however…

And I know I don't mention Chrome a lot. I'm sorry if she's your fav, she's just not mine. I like her well enough, I just don't think she and Tsuna would have a very interesting dynamic and idk I just lose track of her a lil bit. Besides, she's, like, busy going to school and being a squatter.

So, yeah, I've got some plans and stuff. Love you all, see you next time, all that jazz! I'm blowing you all kisses but you just can't see it!

Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed!

Special thanks to Pixiecropse, lovelydragonfly, and AdictaMoon for reviewing since last time! 3