"Ne, Giotto-nii, what is the Vongola?"
There were a few moments of silence before Giotto blurted out, "Nani?"
"The Vongola!" repeated Tsuna.
There were a few more moments of silence before Asari asked, "Tsuna-kun…where did you hear that name?"
Tsuna shrugged almost nonchalantly, saying, "I overhear people saying it all the time; even you guys say it so much!"
The three adults threw each other apprehensive glances; they really should be more careful in making sure that the kids weren't around when talking about mafia business.
Letting out a small sigh, Giotto turned to the two Italians, first asking them, "How much do you two know about the Vongola?"
Mukuro and Hayato both exchanged significant glances before Mukuro said in a meaningful voice, "Everything."
"Everything?" asked Giotto, sounding somewhat dazed.
Hayato nodded saying, "About the mafia, the guardians, the rings, the ally families," then, almost as an afterthought, "my dad's Family is allied with the Vongola."
"And I used to be a part of the Estraneo," added Mukuro, his expression somewhat dark.
Giotto and his two present guardians took a while to let this sink in before Asari said to them, "Then please don't let the others know?"
Hayato let out a snort. "What do you think we are, idiots? Of course we wouldn't tell them. Just because we're a part of this world, it doesn't mean that the others have to be!"
And the adults were amazed at the fierce protectiveness in their eyes, surprised to see that it wasn't only directed at their respective charges, but the others as well.
Nodding, the blond took a deep breath, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a plausible answer to the young brunette's question.
Looking back into chocolate brown eyes, Giotto sank down onto a pillow and opened his mouth to answer. Before he could say anything, though, Tsuna ran up to him and promptly settled into his lap, tilting his head back and looking up at him with a smile.
"Tsuna?" asked Giotto, a little confused about the shy child's sudden boldness.
The four-year-old's smile widened and said, "This is going to be a long story, isn't it? Whenever I go to visit grandpa, he tells me stories, and I always get to sit in his lap!"
"Your grandpa?" asked Giotto, wanting to stall the coming conversation as long as possible.
Tsuna shook his head; "He's not my real grandpa! I just call him that! He's my otou-san's boss! But he's really nice and once in a while, him and his guardians come with otou-san to visit us!"
"His…guardians?" asked Giotto, his eyes widening as he looked back at his friends, who had sat down beside him, not noticing that the other kids had come to sit as well.
Tsuna's young face became a little confused as he nodded at this. "But I don't really know what a guardian is," he said, looking quite perplexed. "But I do know that them and grandpa are really close friends!"
"How many of them are there?" asked Giotto, his voice just barely above a whisper.
Tsuna's face screwed up in thought as he counted the people off on his fingers before saying in a bright voice, "There are six of them!"
Giotto felt suddenly felt the blood drain out of his face. It couldn't be possible…could it? Tsuna's father couldn't possibly be in the mafia, could he? Taking a steadying breath, the blond asked in what he deemed a calm voice, "What do your grandpa's friends call him?"
"They call him Timoteo!" answered Tsuna immediately, ten added, almost as an afterthought, "But sometimes they call him Nono…"
"Nono?" asked Giotto, his breath catching in his throat.
Tsuna nodded and said, "I asked otou-san what it meant one time. He just got this funny look on his face and said that I heard wrong. He said that they didn't call him Nono, but nonno, which means grandpa. I'm pretty sure I heard Nono, though…"
Giotto nodded, exchanging unsure glances with the others. Maybe what Tsuna's father had told him was right; maybe he really had misheard…but that didn't seem too likely.
Suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Tsuna fidgeting nervously in his lap. Looking down, Giotto caught his eye, and Tsuna's cheeks became tinged with pink. "Umm, so Giotto-nii, can you tell me about the Vongola?"
Giotto, finding his sudden shyness slightly amusing, asked in a light voice, "Why so interested in the Vongola?"
Tsuna fidgeted a little more before pointing out in an almost whisper, "Your ring…"
Once again, all the adults froze, even Isabella and Alfeo, who were now also listening in. The other Japanese kids were listening with rapt attention.
"My ring?" asked Giotto in a voice just as low as Tsuna's.
The little brunette nodded again, still looking a little shy. "It looks like grandpa's…"
The surprises just wouldn't stop coming. Now, not only was Tsuna's father potentially in the mafia, there was a high chance he was in the Vongola!
When Giotto didn't say anything, Tsuna kept speaking, his voice turning a little sad. "Papa is away for work a lot, so I almost never see him. But when I grow up, I want to work in the same place as otou-san, so that I can spend more time with him! But right now, I'm too young, so I just have to learn everything I can about his job! And since Giotto-nii has the same ring as grandpa, and he has guardians too, I thought that maybe Giotto-nii's job is like grandpa's and otou-san's…"
Giotto felt his stomach tie into knots at the sight in front of him, seeing the heartbreakingly sad expression on young Tsuna's face. The boy really missed his father…
Deciding to humor him, Giotto pulled the kid closer to him, ignoring the small squeak of surprise, and smiled, saying, "Well, Tsuna-kun, the Vongola is a group that I started when I was a teenager, not too long after my parents died. We're a group whose sole aim it is to protect that weak…"
Later that night, after the guardians had tucked all the kids into their beds and disappeared for a "family meeting," the six older kids somehow found their way to Tsuna and Giotto's room.
"But you know, Giotto-nii and the others are even cooler than I thought they were!" said Takeshi with an awed smile on his face. "When I get bigger, I want to be just like them!"
"They're all EXTREME!" shouted Ryohei in what sounded like agreement, and even Hibari seemed mildly impressed with their temporary caretakers.
Chrome nodded hesitantly in agreement while Mukuro and Hayato sat quietly, watching what was going on with interest. Thanks to Asari's continued lessons in Japanese, they understood bits and pieces of what the kids were saying. It was nowhere near enough to piece together what the conversation was really about, but they were intrigued nonetheless.
Not to mention that they would probably get this gist of what was going on from their partners later on.
The conversation lasted quite a while and nobody really knew when it happened, but at one point in second hour or so, the last of the kids had all drifted off, littered all around the room in their various perches.
And that was how Giotto found them when he came back to the room at almost midnight.
Hiding his grin, the blond quickly walked over to his closet and pulled out some blankets, one of which he tucked around Kyoya, who was curled up in a soft armchair close to Tsuna's bed. Another of the blankets went around Takeshi and Ryohei, who had fallen asleep at the foot of Giotto's enormous bed, and the last went around Nagi and Mukuro, who were curled into each other at the other end of the bed.
Finally, Giotto readjusted the covers on Tsuna's bed so that Hayato was also warm enough.
When all that was done, the blond turned and walked out of the room, turning off the lights as he left.
The infirmary would have a bed he could sleep in, just for tonight.
The next morning, almost as if on cue, the seven time travellers all woke up within minutes of each other.
The kids remained uncharacteristically quiet, knowing that they all felt the same thing.
They all knew that the time had come.
They all knew that it was time to say goodbye to their new friends.
They all knew that it was time to go back home.
SkyGem: Wow. Compared to my other updates of this story, this one actually came quite fast. Only a week, if I'm not mistaken? Maybe because this segment is almost done…I'm not promising anything, but if all goes well, on Monday, I may just be able to update the last chapter of TItP: First Meeting, and post the first chapter of TItP: Gathering the Guardians. I bet you're all looking forward to that. Anyways, that's all for now, and I'll see if I can update Once a Friend (OaF) this weekend! Ciao!