After Alaude had left the room, there was a long, awkward silence.
The first to break it wasn't any of the adults; in fact, it was Tsuna's stomach growling.
When everyone turned to look at the little brunette, his face flushed bright red and Giotto let out a small laugh.
"Well, until we find a way to get you guys back home, why don't we all have some food?"
All the Japanese kids (sans Hibari) eagerly nodded their heads, absolutely famished.
The two Italian kids, meanwhile, looked on confusedly until Asari translated for them. "Would you guys like some food?"
Mukuro's face brightened and he said immediately, "Definitely! I'm starving!"
Gokudera even smiled a little, which was soon replaced by a scowl. "Some food would be good; I still need to get my sister's poison cooking out of my system."
Not even choosing to comment on that, G instead said, "Okay, but first, I really think we need some introductions! And we need to get straight which kids speak which language."
Nodding, Giotto turned to the six children who were huddled close together. "My name is Giotto, and this is where my friends and I all live. There are seven of us in all, and a few hundred staff. Welcome to our home, and I hope you enjoy your stay here!" Then, switching to Italian, the man repeated the whole thing. "So," he said, switching back to Japanese once more, "I'd like to raise your hand if you speak Japanese." When he said this, three hands went up, and the fourth belonged to Hibari, who was still, unfortunately, handcuffed.
Turning to the last two children, Giotto said to them, "You two only understand Italian?"
Gokudera and Mukuro nodded, and after a long introduction from all the adults and children present (which was made longer by the fact that everything had to be said twice, once in Japanese and once in Italian), Giotto took out the key to Alaude's handcuffs which he always carried with him, freed Hibari, and they all made their way to the dining room.
"So, do you know how you got here, Ryohei-kun?" asked Knuckle conversationally, hoping he could get some answers from the boy.
The white-haired boy merely shook his head saying, "I EXTREMELY went to bed in my own room, but when I woke up, I EXTREMELY found myself here!" At that moment, the boy's eyes widened, and he said, "I have to get home soon, or else Kyoko will get worried to the EXTREME!"
"Kyoko?" asked Knuckle curiously.
"My EXTREME imouto!"
"I see…" said Knuckle slowly. "Well, Ryohei-kun, until we know how exactly you got here, I'm afraid you'll have to stay."
Ryohei looked dismayed at this, but, never one to dwell on anything too long, a wide smile crossed the boy's features and he said, "Okay! But, would you happen to have some EXTREME food? I'm hungry to the EXTREME!"
Letting out a laugh, Knuckle said, "Of course. But after we get you something to eat, we have to go see some of my friends, okay?" The priest knew that he should probably let Giotto know about the "intruder" right away, but it was so easy to get swept up into the kid's pace, and even though he knew that there was absolutely no way this kid was in any way dangerous.
"Hai!" said the boy. "Now, let's go to the EXTREME!" As he said this, he grabbed Knuckle's arm and pulled him to the doorway of his bedroom.
Letting out a chuckle, the priest led the five-year-old towards the dining room, all the while listening to his chattering about his wonderful younger sister.
When he threw open the door to the dining room, he was about to head straight for the kitchen, when he froze in the doorway at the sight before him.
Giotto, G, Asari, and Daemon were sitting 'round the table, talking amongst each other while six kids sat in the spaces between them, happily digging away at the food sitting in front of them.
The first to notice him was Asari, who smiled widely and said, "Ah, it looks like Knuckle has found his doppelganger too! Now the only one that's left is Lampo."
Knuckle, confused at what the Japanese man meant, took another look at the kids and noticed that they looked like each of the guardians, except for the only girl, who was probably Daemon's, if her pineapple hairstyle was anything to go by.
"So, does he speak Italian or Japanese?" asked G.
"What?" asked Knuckle in confusion.
"Well," explained Giotto. "Tsuna, Nagi, Takeshi, and Kyoya here all speak Japanese, and Hayato and Mukuro speak Italian," he said, gesturing to the kids as he said their names. "What about him?"
"Ah, this is Ryohei, and he speaks Japanese," said Knuckle, still not fully understanding the situation.
Giotto nodded, and looked as if he were about to say something when Tsuna tugged on his sleeve.
"I'm done eating, Giotto-san," said the kid.
Giotto couldn't help but laugh when he saw the kid's face. Picking up a napkin, he gently wiped the boy's face, saying, "Did it taste good?"
"Hai!" said the boy enthusiastically.
"Ne! I want some to the EXTREME!"
After that, as Ryohei was eating, Giotto and the others explained to Knuckle exactly what was going on, and, surprisingly enough, the priest believed them.
After a few minutes more, it was decided that each child would stay in the room of the guardian they resembled. There was a bit of controversy on whether Nagi should stay with Daemon, but in the end, the guardians came to the conclusion that not even Daemon would sink so low as to torture a defenseless little girl (not that they didn't have their doubts, of course).
"Anyways, this is our room," said Giotto, smiling down at Tsuna, who was looking at the room in awe. After everyone had finished eating, the guardians had split up to show the children to their rooms.
The blond watched as the four year old walked tentatively inside, trailing his hand along the walls, and poking at the blanket on the bed. To Giotto, he looked like a puppy that was seeing its new home for the first time. Fighting back the urge to cuddle the brunette to death, Giotto opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by a loud scream from the room across from them; Daemon's room.
His eyes widening, Giotto threw a glance at Tsuna, then ran to where he had heard the scream come from with Tsuna following him.
When they got to the room, they didn't see Daemon torturing poor Nagi, as they had expected. Instead, they saw the pineapple headed girl staring in horror at a mirror.
"Nagi-chan?" said Giotto in confusion. "What's wrong?"
SkyGem: Haha, so what did you all think of the long awaited fourth chapter? Anyways, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, but I promise, the next chapter won't take nearly as long, ne? Anyways, please leave a review and tell me what you thought!