Incontri le Famiglie

By The Mauve Lantern

Target 3: What Happened Here?

Tsuna Sawada gazed over his destroyed kitchen with a mix of shock and terror. His right-hand man, Hayato Gokudera, was curled up into a fetal position in the corner of the room, foam ringing his mouth. Takeshi Yamamoto was behind Tsuna, draped across the banister of the staircase; in his hands was a sleeping I-Pin. Plastered against the kitchen table, or what remained of it, were Ryohei Sasagawa and Lambo; the two of them were completely unconscious. Unfortunately, he did not have time to tend to his hard-partying friends, for he had to get his Mist Guardian, Chrome Dokuro, to a doctor.

As he carried the purple-haired illusionist, who was clad in a man's suit, out the door, the young Vongola boss asked himself, "What the hell happened tonight?!"

***

Several hours earlier…

"Remind me again why we're having the Mestiero Famiglia over for dinner?" asked Tsuna as he set out the extra dishes at the kitchen table.

"It's polite, boss," said Gokudera, who was busy helping Tsuna's mother to prepare said dinner. "In the mafia, when a guest comes to visit you, you must be cordial and treat them with kindness and hospitality!"

"But why couldn't we take them to a restaurant or something?!"

"'Cause that would be rude, Tsuna."

Reborn strode into the room, dressed in a fine tuxedo. In his hands was a clipboard. "Let's see," he mumbled, "Yamamoto's bringing over a platter of sushi, Ryohei is bringing a platter of spare ribs, and Bianchi is being made to stay far away from tonight's dinner Everything looks to be in order."

Tsuna asked his mentor, "So, who's coming to the dinner?"

"Just your guardians and Leo and his guardians. Also, Lambo will be needing his ten-year-later bazooka, so someone needs to find that stupid cow and shoot him."

"I'll do it!" Gokudera shouted as he flipped around the curry he was preparing. "Please give me a reason to hurt that stupid cow, Mister Reborn!" To emphasize, Gokudera pulled out a stick of dynamite from his jacket.

Before Tsuna could tell his Storm Guardian to not go anywhere near Lambo, he went to go answer a knock on the door. "Don't tell me they're here already!" he said in his mind. "It's not even four o'clock yet, and the dinner's at seven!" When he answered the door, Tsuna was genuinely surprised; not because it was the Mestiero Famiglia, but because it was Chrome, his Mist Guardian.

"Good evening, boss," she whispered. She was clad in her usual Kokuyo High School uniform, mid-riff-bearing shirt and all.

"Ah, come in, Chrome." Tsuna smiled, for he knew that the violet-haired girl was the quietest of his guardians. This meant that things would be quiet for just a little while longer until the others arrived.

Reborn looked over at Chrome from the kitchen doorway and shook his head. "Chrome, I'm afraid we can't have you wearing that at this dinner. Everyone is to be dressed in their finest clothes."

She blushed. "I-I'm sorry, Mister Reborn; this is all I had to wear."

"How cruel are those guys?" Tsuna asked in his mind, thinking about Ken and Chikusa, Chrome's unofficial guardians.

"No worries: I've got some extra suits that were for Tsuna's other guardians. You can borrow one for the evening. Leon, take her to my briefcase." The lizard on Reborn's hat nodded and hopped down to the floor. He glanced up at Chrome, making eye contact with her, before scuttling up the stairs.

Chrome squeaked out a meek "Thank you" before she ran after the surprisingly fast lizard.

Reborn shook his head and said to Tsuna, "We will need to have a talk with the two bozos that're taking care of that girl."

"Why?"

"Tsuna, she's one of your guardians but she doesn't even have a decent set of clothing. Those two, animal-guy and yo-yo freak, need to be taught some manners, don't you think?"

The young Vongola nodded. He didn't know much about Chrome Dokuro, but he did know that if she was being abused by Mukuro's lackeys, he would definitely give them a lesson in manners. "Actually," he said to his tutor, "I really don't know Chrome at all."

"Is that a problem?"

"Surprisingly…no. She doesn't feel like a threat, y'know? I mean, she may resemble Mukuro slightly, but she doesn't give off such a dark aura." Reborn bowed his head, not really paying attention to his student anymore, though he made a mental note to speak with Miss Dokuro later, after the dinner was finished. The two of them got back to work, only to be interrupted in their duties by a scream, followed by a thump, thump, thump down the stairs.

Worried that something had happened, Tsuna ran out to the foyer, only to find Brian Griffin, the Lettertura guardian of the Mestiero Famiglia, crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. His glasses were broken, and the plain brown suit that he wore was very dingy and looked worse for the wear. When Tsuna looked up the stairs, he found a very flustered and almost half-naked Chrome, whose whole face was covered in a massive blush; if he looked hard enough, Tsuna thought he could actually see steam coming out of her ears. She was in the middle of dressing, so she was clad only in a halfway-buttoned white shirt and a pair of white underwear. Chrome squeaked in surprise when she realized that her boss was looking at her, and she covered herself as best she could.

"Sorry, boss!" she shrieked in a very high voice before running back down the hallway to finish changing.

Tsuna stood frozen to the floor for a moment. A line of blood trickled down from his nose as the image of his Mist guardian flashed through his mind. He remained rooted in that spot, spaced out, before Reborn passed him a handkerchief.

"Wipe away that blood, you pervert," he said to Tsuna.

"Huh- wha-" He blinked his eyes and regained his bearings. Then, Tsuna looked down at his feet and saw the Mestiero Guardian that was lying at his feet. "Oh my god!" he shouted. "We need to help this guy!"

Brian began to stir. "Oh, don't worry about me, Vongola Decimo," he said as he ruffled his black hair, "I'll be all right."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. Just, uh, do you have anything to drink?"

"What would you like?" asked Reborn.

"I'll take any kind of vodka. Do you have any?"

Tsuna chuckled out of nervousness. "I'm afraid we don't. At the most, I think we just have sweet sake for you and the other Mestiero." Brian stared at the young Vongola boss as if he had just grown a second head.

The Lettertura Guardian sighed heavily. "Okay, I'm gonna need to see the kitchen."

"Wh-What for?"

"I'm going to make my own martini. Want me to show you?"

"I can't drink!"

"I prefer not to work drunk."

Brian shrugged his shoulders. "You're loss," he said as he wandered into the kitchen. Tsuna noticed that he seemed a little tipsy, so he followed the young man.

When they entered the kitchen, Brian walked up to Nana Sawada and asked, "Ma'am, do you have any martini glasses in the house?"

"My mother doesn't drink though," Tsuna said in his mind.

"Oh, sure!" Nana reached into one of the cabinets and pulled out a martini glass, perfect for what Brian was looking for. "Take it, I've got plenty!"

"'Preciate it," the young man said as he walked past Tsuna, who stood agape.

He shouted, "Mom, why do you have so many martini glasses?!"

"They're just perfect for when I have my parties with my friends on the weekends!" joked Nana as she returned to the kitchen. Tsuna had to wonder for a moment if his mother was kidding or not; chances are she bought them on impulse. He then remembered exactly what it was he wanted to ask Brian.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the Guardian as he watched the man pull out ingredients from the kitchen.

Brian looked up from his work and pulled out a pen. "I was gathering research for my data log. Since I'm in town, I figured I might as well build up an entry on the new Vongola family."

Reborn hopped up onto the counter. "What do you have so far?"

The Guardian removed a notepad from his jacket along with another pair of glasses. He put the glasses on and read from the journal, "Tsuna Sawada: future Vongola boss. Victorious in the battle for the Sky Ring, not so much in the rest of his life."

"Hey!"

Brian continued to read. "His room is an awkward mixture of clean and filthy. On the one side, everything is spotless, and there is not a single speck of dust to be found. The other side seems to have been decimated by an explosion of some sort: clothes spewed everywhere, bed unmade, and a stray soda can complete the perfect picture of a teenager's room."

Tsuna grabbed for the notepad, but Brian held it just out his reach. Reborn ignored this conflict and asked, "Interesting. Now, can it be assumed that your information-gathering is the reason why Chrome, our Mist Guardian, kicked you down the stairs?"

"Ah, yeah, that was…that was my bad," the spy muttered as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I kind of…accidentally, mind you…saw her while she was changing."

"You WHAT?!?" Tsuna shouted.

"Chrome Dokuro," said Brian as he read from his notepad again, "a violet-haired enigma that carries with her an aura of mystery. Her body is thin and pale, yet there are petite curves on her fragile frame. Her breasts, like-" Before Brian finished reading the entry, a trident pierced the paper and nearly struck him in the eye.

"What the hell?!" he yelled as he tossed the notepad down. Standing in the entry to the kitchen was a very red and out of breath Chrome Dokuro. She was no longer wearing the Kokuyo High School Uniform; instead, she was clad in a suit that was meant for Ryohei Sasagawa, in case he forgot to wear one. The suit consisted of a simple white shirt, black trousers, polished black shoes, a long and narrow black tie that was not put on properly, and a black jacket that was much too large for the Mist Guardian's frail form. With her embarrassed demeanor, the whole outfit made Chrome look and feel like a child wearing grown-up's clothing.

She stood there, trying to catch her breath, and tears began to well up in her eyes. "B-b-b-boss," she whispered, "I-I-I…" Chrome ran off, back upstairs, leaving behind a bewildered Brian, an irritated Reborn, and a confused Tsuna.

The Tenth Vongola knew what to do at that moment. He reached out, grabbed the notepad and trident from Brian. With a quick rip, he tore out Chrome's weapon and the page that held her information. The Lettertura Guardian snapped out of his trance and said, "Sawada, I'm…I'm really sorry."

"Don't apologize to him," Reborn told him. "Apologize to Chrome. Tsuna, go upstairs and see if she's all right; I'll take care of things down here." When Tsuna walked out of the room, the hitman turned to Brian.

He said to the spy, "Griffin, unless you want to die, you shouldn't spy on the women of the Vongola."

"They're that powerful?" the guardian asked.

"Yes, but the men are even more powerful, and they will rip you apart. Just keep that in mind while you're here for the night." Reborn left on that note. Brian just stood in his spot, hid knees trembling from fear.

***

Tsuna knocked on his bedroom door. "Chrome? Chrome, are you in there?"

There was a sound of sniffling and shoes scuffling on the floor. "B-Boss?"

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened with Griffin; he's going to apologize, so…so could you come out now?"

The door was cracked open slightly, revealing Chrome's large, violet iris. It was obvious that she had been crying. "I…I can't come out, boss."

"Why not?"

"Because," she said as her eye looked down, "I can't get this tie on properly."

The Vongola boss paused and smiled. "Is that all?" he thought. He asked the illusionist, "Do you want me to come in and help?"

She nodded and opened the door up. Tsuna walked in, taking note of how silly Chrome looked in a man's suit. "She looks sort of cute, too…" he said in his mind before blushing incredibly. "Wait, what am I thinking?! Just 'cause she's looks so awkward, yet adorable- GAH!"

"Boss, is there a reason you're hitting your head with your fists?"

"Ah! No-no, no reason! Let's help you with that tie!" he exclaimed a bit loudly. Tsuna stepped closer to Chrome and held up her tie. "Here, we just loop it over a couple of times, bring it up from the top, and then slide it through the loops. There we go!" Chrome's tie was still far from perfect, but it was not as bad as before.

The violet-haired girl bowed her head. "Thank you, boss," she whispered.

"You're, uh, you're wel-"

Tsuna stopped when he felt Chrome's lips touch his cheek. Immediately, a ferocious blush overtook his face, and he backed away excitedly. "Woah, what was that?!"

"I was just doing it to be polite, boss," said Chrome. "Do you not like it?"

"What? No! I just, er…"

Before he had to explain himself any further, he heard a terrific roar from downstairs. "WHERE'S SAWADA?! I WANT TO CHALLENGE HIM TO A BOXING MATCH!"

"Shut up, lawn-head! The boss is busy right now!"

"What did you just call me, OCTOPUS-HEAD?!"

"Tsuna!" shouted Reborn from the kitchen, "Come get your moronic guardians out into the backyard!"

The boy sighed heavily. "This is going to be very difficult for me, isn't it, Chrome?"

"Most likely, boss."

"Best to stop him before someone gets hurt." Tsuna walked downstairs with Chrome and caught Ryohei and Gokudera being held apart by Reborn and Brian, respectively. Ryohei was growling ferociously, like a caged animal. Lambo was jumping up and down on the kitchen table, shouting his head off.

"He's a kangaroo!" the infantile boy shouted. "But he's a kanga-poo compared to the mighty Lambo! BWA-HAHA-HA!"

Reborn looked up. "Hallelujah, it's the boss. Show some respect, you ingrates." Ryohei and Gokudera backed down reluctantly, though Lambo still bounced around on the table.

"You too, you dumb cow," Reborn hissed as he hurled a fork into Lambo's head. The cow-like boy began to cry heavily. He ran over to Tsuna and clung onto the boy's leg, his tears staining Tsuna's pants. Tsuna sighed and grabbed the boy by his fake horns and tore him away from his leg. It's not that he wasn't fond of Lambo or anything; it was just that some of his antics could get on his nerves.

Ryohei smiled and said, "Good to see you again, Sawada! Kyoko sends her best!"

"Thanks, Ryohei!"

"Sorry about the fighting, it's just that- I BROUGHT SPARERIBS!" Ryohei seemed to lose his train of thought and presented Tsuna with a large dish filled to the brim with meat.

"Uh, thanks."

Ryohei set the dish down on an empty spot on the counter. He then turned to Griffin and told him, "You're pretty strong! I like that in a guy! We should have a FIGHT!"

"Thanks, but I'll pass." The Mestiero took a sip from his martini glass. "I'm not the parallel to your flame element. You want the sun? You want to fight Gianetta."

"Gotcha! Hey, Sawada, who's the girly guy behind you?!"

Tsuna slapped his own forehead in frustration. This whole evening screamed of a headache, and he was fairly certain that there was going to be pain on his part.

***

Not long after Tsuna explained that Chrome was simply wearing men's clothing, Yamamoto had shown up with a dish of sushi in hand. He was greeted by a hyper-active Lambo, who nearly made him drop the dish as the little boy ran circles around his legs. While Yamamoto helped himself to some snacks and a soda, Tsuna had answered the door. Hibari had arrived, his pet, Hibird, settling upon his shoulder.

"I come and go as I please," he had said as he drank a decaffeinated coffee. "If you have a problem with that, I could just kill you and then leave." Hibari was then left to his own devices for the evening. He had nearly beaten Lambo to a pulp on more than one occasion, but so had everyone.

An hour after tying Lambo into a chair, the Mestiero began to arrive. A black limousine rolled up on the street outside of Tsuna's house. Before anyone got out of the car, the little boy that had taken Tsuna's picture earlier ran around the side and began to take picture from a large camera. A tall gentleman stepped out of the limo, carrying a rolled up carpet. He set the carpet down in front of the door near the end of the car. The chauffer gracefully stepped to the side, and the door opened up.

First came the blue-haired dancer, Gianetta, who was wearing a sparkling, blue dress, blue high-heels, and a white scarf. The dress was slit up the front, revealing almost the entire length of her white leg. Her face was done up in a nearly ridiculous amount of make-up, and when she smiled, it seemed to reflect the glare of the setting sun. She was giggling excitedly, and when she stepped onto the red carpet, she twirled around on the heels of her shoes.

Immediately following the dancer was the actress, Marilyn. She was just as elegantly clad as her friend Gianetta: a green, sleeveless gown that flowed down to her heels, forest-green high heels that had gemstones on the straps, and her emerald hair was pulled back from her face into a ponytail. Around Marilyn's neck was a golden necklace that carried a gemstone in the center, and she also wore matching bracelets and earrings. Like her friend, she also had on a ridiculous amount of make-up, and her smile was enough to blind someone.

"What a darling house!" she exclaimed. "Don't you think so, Selena?"

"Nice one, genius."

Out came Selena, the Musica Guardian, clad in brown sandals, a chocolate-colored dress that went to the top of her knees, and a shawl around her head. She was wearing her dark glasses; strapped to her back was a guitar. Her black hair was pulled back from her face by a pair of clips in her hair. She was smiling broadly.

"Evening, Miss Perez!" said Yamamoto.

"Please, amigo, call me 'Selena'."

The baseball player nodded. "Will do, Selena!"

While Selena walked to the door, a heavenly sound fell across the lawn: it was like the softest, sweetest bird singing the saddest melody on Earth. The source was Yvonne, the Voce Guardian, who was serenading the Mestiero Famiglia with an Italian aria. Yvonne was still wearing her black gown, though now she had her honey-colored hair pinned up by a pair of needles. Her voluptuous figure filled out the gown and drew stares from all of the men on the lawn, save for Lambo and Hibari.

The last ones to climb out of the car were Marie Gogh, the plainest and most ordinary Guardian of the Mestiero family. She was wearing a suit not unlike Chrome's: black tie, black pants and jacket, white shirt and a black belt. The painter was not wearing much make-up, if any. She trudged across the lawn, shouting at Leo, who had yet to climb out of the limousine.

"I can't believe you changed your look JUST before coming to the dinner!" she hollered. "We could have gotten here sooner if you weren't such a basketcase!"

"I'm taking that as a compliment."

Leonardo stepped out of the limousine in all of his splendor. He had miraculously changed from resembling an Elvis impersonator to something entirely else. Where he once looked like the King of Rock, Leo was now clad in all black: a black jacket, black shirt, black tie, etc. The Mestiero boss was now pale, and, for some reason, had a goatee sprouting from his chin. His brown hair had turned black and now hung over his face, covering his eyes in the process.

"Don't." said Marie. "You look ridiculous."

Leo pointed over to Gianetta and Marilyn. "You're just jealous because you couldn't look that good in a dress."

"You SON OF A B-"

Reborn clapped his hands. "Okay, if everyone is here, may we begin the supper?"

"Sure!"

"Of course!"

"EXTREME FINE DINING!"

"Trés bien!"

"Supper time!"

"Am I the only one who noticed that Leonardo looks like a completely different person?"

Everybody turned to face Tsuna.

"No, boss, that's how he's always looked!"

"You really ought to notice this stuff more, Tsuna!"

"FIX YOUR EYES, SAWADA!"

"I don't give a damn."

"I think you're right, boss…"

***

All in all, the dinner was a complete success. The sushi that Yamamoto's father had prepared was excellent, Ryohei's spare ribs were enjoyed by all, and even Hibari complimented Tsuna's mother on the ramen she had prepared. The one incident of the evening, when Lambo started farting, was averted when Reborn removed the Ten-Year Bazooka and shot the boy, turning him into his handsome, more mature fifteen-year-old self.

"Aw man, you guys are having a party and you invited me? You're the best." Teenage Lambo brushed aside one of his dark locks of hair. "Except for you, Reborn. You suck. A lot."

"Sit down and eat your meal, you retarded cow."

"Yes, sir!"

Leo had regaled the table in a riveting tale of how he had managed to free Gianetta from a prison cell in Paris, and Tsuna told the Mestiero family about exactly what had happened during the Ring Tournament. When he got to the part about the Cervello girls, Leo had cringed.

"You'd do best to avoid them, Vongola. The Cervello work for the highest bidder, and they can make your life a living hell if you let them."

"Really?"

"Make no mistake: if some big upstart were to raise some hell in the mafia world, the Cervello would side with him right away."

"AHEM!"

"Or her, thank you for reminding me, Marie."

When the meal finished, Reborn suggested something that made Tsuna question his tutor's sanity. "Well, shall we have a battle?"

"Are you crazy?! We're not having a fight in my house!"

"If you wanted to not have your trash housed, you should have held the dinner elsewhere."

"You never gave me another option!"

Leo clapped his hands. "Excellent idea, Tsuna! We'll split up our families by what our attributes match up with. Gianetta shall duel your Sun Guardian, Selena will combat your Rain Guardian, Brian will tussle with your Cloud Guardian, Yvonne will challenge your Thunder Guardian, Marie shall engage your Storm Guardian, and Marilyn will, shall we say, "mingle" with your Mist Guardian." He raised his arms up high. "And you, Sawada, shall have the honor of fighting ME!"

Hibari muttered under his breath, "I don't want to fight the weakling."

"I'm a lot tougher than you would think, kid. After all, the pen is mightier than the sword, or in this case, the tonfa."

The families immediately split up. Before they could engage in a battle, however, Tsuna shouted, "WAIT!" Everyone stopped in their steps.

"Instead of destroying my house, why don't you all just give us a brief demonstration of your talents?"

The Guardians looked back and forth between each other. They all nodded eventually, and Leo clapped his hands. "This works just as well!" he exclaimed. "Everyone, to the TV room!" The large group of Mafioso migrated to the television room, where they each found their seats. Gianetta did not sit down however; she chose to stand.

"LetmegofirstcanIgofirstIwanttogofirrrrrrrssssssssstttttttt!"

"Gia," said Leo nonchalantly, "why don't you go first?"

"Yay!"

The dancer cleared a space in the floor to make sure she had room. "I would like to show you my Terror Twister, if that's all right!"

"Go right ahead," said Reborn as he sat patiently on the couch.

"Here I go!" Gracefully, she kicked herself off the floor and began to spin. Soon, Gianetta was picking up speed, and she quickly became a blur of blue. She was spinning so fast that there were objects in the room that began to pick up from the winds.

"How does she stop?!" shouted Tsuna over the noise of the miniature tornado.

"It takes a few minutes!" Leo responded as he watched in apathy. "Could be five; could be ten!"

Gianetta then lifted off of the ground and leaned to the right, tearing through a bookcase and then knocking over a green vase. She spun out of control and knocked over other things in the room before she found her way out through one of the doorways. The room was left in shambles, with papers and trash scattered everywhere.

"Should we continue?" Leo asked Tsuna.

The boy sighed. "I don't think I've got much of a choice."

This time, Selena was the one to get up. She grabbed her guitar and began to strum a few notes on it. "I haven't seen any action for a while," she said, "so if I seem a little rusty, just let me know." Her fingers began to run along the strings, playing an exotic, erratic tune. The melody was unlike anything Tsuna and his friends had ever heard; it resonated in their minds, and, as Ryohei would say several days later, it was stuck in their heads.

Unfortunately, like Gianetta, she seemed to lose control over her guitar. As the song went faster and faster, Tsuna began to notice that various things in the room were trembling and shaking. These objects, like his shoes or the carpet, were warping and twisting depending on how the song went.

"She's really good!" Yamamoto said as he clapped his hands. "Can you use it in a fight?"

"Sí, amigo."

Selena strummed out several more notes and then screamed, "DESERT STORM!" The music burst from the guitar explosively, and the objects that were warping before trembled before bursting into pieces. When the guitarist finally stopped, most everyone's shoes were gone, and the carpet had several holes in it. The Mestiero all applauded, while the Vongola clapped their hands politely.

Before anyone else moved, Hibari stood up. "I've had enough of this," he said, "I'm going home. You better show up at school tomorrow." Before he walked out the backdoor, the sound of Bianchi's shouting could be heard.

"No, I-Pin! We're not supposed to go back in yet! Wait!"

The pint-sized assassin burst into the room, a ribbon in her hand. She was giggling and speaking Chinese very quickly. I-Pin looked around and said, "Nî hâo!" to everyone in the room. She then locked eyes with Hibari, who was wondering what a Chinese midget was doing in the house. A burst of red scattered across her face, and her eyes shut. Nine symbols appeared on her forehead, and her body began to glow.

"Somebody get her out of here!" Tsuna shouted.

"Whatever," Hibari murmured as he left through the back door. "This has nothing to do with me."

"Give her to me!" Marie took I-Pin in her arms and pulled out a paint set that was in her coat pocket. There were only seven symbols on her head now. Quickly, the artist drew a brush from her coat and dabbed red ink on the tip. She swiftly marked an elaborate bar on I-Pin's head.

She set the girl down. "That's the Sealing Mark," she said as she put her supplies away. "She won't do anything now."

"Marie," said Reborn, "the paint's coming off."

"What?!"

Marie looked at I-Pin and saw that the paint was indeed wearing off. She was down to just five symbols. Thinking quickly, she shouted, "Vongola! What do we do?!"

"Everyone, duck and cover! Yamamoto, try and get her out of here!"

The entire party split up, and Yamamoto picked up I-Pin and ran with her to the stairs. He did not even get past the first few steps before the symbols on the Chinese girl's head went down to one…

***

So here was Tsuna. Gokudera was curled up in the corner, having seen Bianchi run into the room just before the explosion; Ryohei and Lambo were sprawled upon the kitchen table, which had been their shield; Chrome was on Tsuna's back, since she was caught in the blast while trying to get away. All in all, the party had been a disaster.

"That was so much fun, Tsuna!"

Leo stood up off the ground and dusted off his clothes. "We really should do this again sometime! It's a shame I couldn't fight you."

"Somebody, help me…"

The Mestiero boss walked around to the side of the room and lifted a bookcase off of Brian's body. "Brian, are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh, I'll be fine in the morning," the writer replied. "I'll get the girls."

"Splendid!" Leo turned to Tsuna. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Tsuna. While on our way here, we ran into Dino, of the Chiavarone Famiglia, and he offered to let us stay at his hotel! Turns out we won't be needing to stay here after all!"

"Thank God," Tsuna said in his mind.

Brian came back into the room with Gianetta, and the rest of the family appeared from underneath the rubble. "We'll be seeing you!" Leo exclaimed as they all headed out the door. With one last slam, the bizarre Mestiero Famiglia was gone from Tsuna's house. The young Vongola sighed. How was he to fix the house for the NEXT guests?

"Worry about that later," said Reborn. "You need to take Chrome to Doctor Shamal."

"Okay, but I'm not leaving her alone with him."

"Good call."

***

When Tsuna left the house, he did not notice the large shadow that was sitting above him in a tree. The shadow chuckled grimly. "The new Vongola is weak, shi-shi-shi! He'll be perfect meat for the boss!" It leaped off the branch and sped off into the night, off towards the riverside bridge, where the boss of the Mezzanote Famiglia was waiting.