Hotaru steeled her courage, but it seemed Timoteo and Iemitsu sensed something was up. That or their 'Hyper Intuition' as Reborn called it warned them of a great deal of Chaos was about to hit and hit hard.
Arashi was helpfully recording everything for Reborn to watch via a discreet camera, since his presence would have ruined everything. He wasn't very good at masking his flames, to his annoyance.
Since Timoteo hadn't announced to the Alliance that his last 'heir' had effectively removed herself from the Vongola famiglia, and that the breaking of Reborn's contract had been firmly kept in-house, so to speak, it was doubtful anyone there was aware of the fact that the Vongola had no other heirs save for Xanxus.
And Timoteo would never dare consider the adopted son a candidate, for all he paraded the man around as a child as his bastard son.
She had to wait for the opportune moment to unleash all out chaos.
And wouldn't you know it, Iemitsu the Idiot provided the perfect opening by bragging about how his "little bug" would soon be leading the Vongola within hearing of several important Dons.
Arashi couldn't help but feel Hotaru spent a wee bit too much time around Reborn, because the smirk on her face was almost identical to the one the Sun often had before unleashing some prime chaos.
Chrome and Arashi discreetly took formation and waited for their Sky to get to work.
Thanks to a little Mist manipulation (via Mukuro borrowing Chrome's body), everyone heard her speak in Italian, rather than the Japanese she was actually using. It was tricky, but the entertainment of what Hotaru planned to do to the Vongola more than made up for any headaches he would get from it.
"I find it fascinating that you parade your 'daughter' around as the next donna of the Vongola when you and the Ninth deliberately cast her out of the line of succession when she was five and presented as a Sky for the first time," said Hotaru in a sharp, crisp tone. "Particularly since the Vindice have already made it clear they no longer consider her a Vongola or part of the famiglia in any way, shape or form."
Dead silence as her words sunk in. Iemitsu was already up and giving her a dark look for spilling that particular secret.
Hotaru wasn't finished.
"After all, didn't Reborn cancel his contract immediately upon reaching Japan because you hired him under false pretenses of a civilian heir?" said Hotaru with a dark smile.
Inwardly she was having a panic attack, but outwardly she was a cool as a cucumber.
"May I ask what your name is, Miss..." said Timoteo, though you could tell he was pretty pissed.
Hotaru made sure all eyes were on her...before she calmly removed her mask.
"I would have hoped you would bother to do a simple background check on who your allies were bringing as their date. Clearly the Vongola's arrogance is worse than I thought possible. Then again, it's not like either you bothered to keep track of me after you so callously placed a seal on my flames for no other reason than Iemitsu's idiotic belief that keeping me a civilian was the best way to protect his so-called family. After all, he's the one gallivanting around Italy without giving a second thought about the wife who has been patiently waiting for him to come home and actually spend time with her," said Hotaru coldly.
Everyone was watching the entire showdown with baited breath. No one had ever dared to back talk to the Vongola in decades, especially not so openly. Not since Daniela's death several years ago.
She would no doubt enjoy the show...if she wasn't fuming over her son's idiotic decisions.
Hotaru looked at both of them dead in the eye. Her disdain of them both was clearly evident on their face, and to the eyes of the collective Dons, it was as if Daniela Vongola had come back to life in the form of a Japanese teenager.
She had practiced for ages with Reborn's help and observing the former Ottava rather thoroughly for visual queues and behavioral patterns so that she could successfully emulate Daniela in her prime.
The woman had managed to lead the Vongola through a world war, despite the rather misogynist view the mafia had about female Skies at the time and opposition from quite a few of her own allies...and she had come out on top at the end. No one would dare claim Daniela was anything less than a complete bad ass and a perfectly acceptable role model for female Skies everywhere.
Unlike Luce.
Seeing the Ninth's Storm and Cloud attempt to come near her, she quelled them with a glare, eyes blazing with Sky flame. Every bit of her radiated immediate violence if they attempted to come anywhere near her range.
"May I ask how you managed to remove the seal?" asked Timoteo pleasantly.
"It's none of your business how I removed the seal that would have ruined my life. You were so eager to remove a potential rival for your sons that you failed to take into account the effects of Sky attraction. Thanks your arrogance my childhood was a living hell and if not for my Storm realizing what was causing all the harassment and abuse I was going through, I would still have it on me," she said coldly. "You condemned an innocent child who's only 'crime' was being born with a Sky flame to a childhood of loneliness, harassment, and having Elements within reach but never being able connect, purely because you felt it was your right to keep them out of mafia matters."
Hotaru had no doubt that this particular party would be hitting the rumor mill the second the dons left the party.
She knew the Italians viewed Skies as damn near royalty, from what Reborn and Arashi had told her. She had little doubt that once the dons looked up the effects sealing an Active flame would have on the survivors, they would cause all sorts of trouble for the Ninth.
She was just calling them out on their behavior and actions...it was long past time someone did, in her opinion.
She made sure to look at the vast majority of the dons around her.
"If you wish to see for yourself as to my allegiance, you can request a copy of the same paperwork the Vindice sent to my Storm when he informed them of their actions. I want to make it perfectly clear that while I do hold the bloodline of Giotto Vongola, I am not part of their famiglia. Nor do I intend to marry back into it, as the Ninth will no doubt attempt after this. I want nothing to do with a famiglia so incompetent and arrogant that they lost three Skies and alienated the fourth in such short order," said Hotaru bluntly.
Because really, they should have ramped up the protection of the heirs after Enrico was killed, to say nothing of Massimo. That Timoteo lost all three of his blood sons was his own damn fault.
Dino was quick to get his date out of there, making it clear he sided with Hotaru without saying as much. Either way, Hotaru didn't feel safe until she was back in the Hibari mansion with the rest of her Elements.
Hotaru had a headache, but that was only natural considering how quick Arashi was to hand her the paperwork to establish her growing family as a group that would act as neutral third-parties for the mafia and the Triads to contact the Vindice and hopefully arrange the freedom of members who had pissed off the Underworld's law enforcers. She wasn't about to get involved in any succession issues...that would mean getting into a rivalry with the Cervello, who acted as the 'neutral judges' for that sort of thing...but it did mean regular contact with Bermuda, who tended to crash in without much warning for tea while dragging Jaeger and the others with him.
Considering the mafia and Triads were "properly respectful" (read: scared the hell out of) whenever the Vindice were around, he found her behavior rather refreshing.
Besides, Hotaru was turning out to be a very good baker and cook. She didn't mind if they just so happened to grab all the snacks left on the counter when they left to share with the others later, since it was doubtful they could buy them normally.
Hotaru felt the odd 'badge' Bermuda had given her once they finally settled on a name for their group. It marked her as an official "neutral" among the underworld and had just enough of his Flames of Night that the mafia would understand she was under their protection. Her neutrality was assured so long as that was active.
Everyone who had harmonized with her and had managed to acquire some level of actual diplomacy had a badge, but hers looked the most official.
They were known as the Yatagarasu group, for multiple reasons.
First and foremost, because Hotaru was firmly Japanese and thus a devout follower of the Shinto Pantheon, and the patron goddess of Japan was Amaterasu who ruled over the Sun. The second reason was because of Keroberos, who had been the one to properly open up her world when the cards were let out and helped her to regain her broken confidence by reclaiming them...he was the Sun guardian. Third was because of what the Yatagarasu represented, which was acting as a minor Sun-based kami in the form of a three-legged crow that provided guidance and rebirth.
Considering Reborn was a Sun and often reminded her of a particularly mischievous crow tengu, Hotaru felt that the name was very appropriate. He had certainly preened like a smug tengu when she explained about the mythology behind the Yatagarasu and why she immediately compared him to one, shortly after they established their new Family.
He did not regret bonding with Hotaru as her official Sun Element, by mafia standards. Kero was good, but he wasn't human and had little experience in the underworld.
At most the mafioso would consider him an overpowered familiar, not a Sun Guardian. And Ryohei only had a lesser Element bond with her to begin with.
The reason for her current headache was yet another subtle attempt from the Ninth generation to reclaim control over her via their allies.
She sent a politely worded "NO" that stated explicitly that she would only leave Japan personally for official family business, as their group was still becoming established as a proper family by underworld standards and as their Sky it was a bad idea for her to get out and about just yet.
Honestly, it was like Timoteo didn't take her seriously as a fellow Sky or as a threat! Yes, she was originally a civilian but that didn't mean she was unable to learn how things worked! Arashi had been very helpful when he realized the Vindice were more inclined to humor them because they were polite and did the bulk of the research that could easily be backed up by hard facts for them in explaining the politics of being part of a Family.
Sure, some of it left her appalled, but she would much rather strike out on her own than be turned into a puppet for the Ninth to stay in power, albeit from the shadows.
Considering what she had seen of his own less than stellar decision making skills of late, she wanted nothing to do with the Vongola until a proper Decimo was installed that wasn't a puppet for the previous generation.
The next letter was from the Varia, which had Hotaru straighten up and attempt to emulate Daniela a bit.
When Reborn first figured out what she was trying to do, he had approved of it so much that he started to quietly correct her whenever it slipped. Emulating Daniela was a good habit for her to get into, since she was now stuck in the underworld.
It would allow her to survive far better than her previous meek and timid personality. Hotaru hated that part of herself so much that she didn't mind Reborn's less than gentle reminders that she was stronger now and could handle the pressure.
As it was often said, "Assume the lie as the truth, until the lie becomes the truth."
Or, as Arashi put it when he first explained the concept to her, she was trying to discard her previous "reinforced" behavioral patterns for a new kind. She just had to ingrain the idea that she wasn't the same "meek and timid" girl that had been bullied extensively into her head to the point her subconscious didn't revert to that persona when she was under great pressure. The fact she chose a personality like Daniela to emulate would only help her in the long run, now that she was officially part of the wider Underworld as a growing power.
Hotaru made sure to have Mukuro check it first, for any lingering Mist traces. She was "kind", not Stupid.
"It's clean."
Reborn watched with growing approval as she took out a pair of gloves and pulled out the letter.
"Xanxus wants to meet up with me in a neutral location to discuss the offer I passed along through Squalo. He's found a loophole for him to remove most of the Varia with him and he's interested in seeing what sort of leader I am before he commits to anything. He wants to know if he can bring some of his Elements with him, if possible."
"Tell him he can bring three. That's enough to make him feel more secure with the situation, but not so much to leave the Varia without any of it's officers," suggested Arashi.
Hotaru pulled out a piece of stationary. Arashi had them specially made so that she could appear more "official" as the intermediary for the Vindice.
The symbol for their new family was simple enough. It was a picture of a smug looking three legged crow with a clock in the background.
For some reason Arashi kept calling her a "timeless Sky", though he refused to explain why.
Hotaru wrote a reply with a few dates, times and locations, before sealing it with her flames and a hint of her magic.
Nearby Meilin took the letter and handed it off to one of the strays Hotaru had taken in. It would reach Italy by tomorrow at the earliest.
They were quickly becoming an established power in Namimori. Kyouya was just pleased that he wouldn't have to claim a new territory, and that he could maintain control over his current one in exchange for allowing his men to go out and work as an information network.
He already absorbed the lone Yakuza group in the city...they submitted readily enough once Arashi "explained" to them what was going on and why.
Hotaru...still wasn't sure she was particularly comfortable with how happily Kyouya had taken to the idea of acting in roughly the same capacity that Iemitsu should have been for the Vongola. Mostly because it meant drawing comparisons between her Cloud and the man who should have been her father, but wasn't.
A few days later, she got a reply back. They would be there within a week in one of the agreed locations.
Now the hard part. Convincing Xanxus it was worth the trouble he was going to have to remove the Varia from Vongola control and put his fate in her hands.
She was not looking forward to that.