Chapter 8 tells of joining the mafia and an invitation

"For the last time, I'm telling you that it is absolutely necessary for me to meet this person named Giotto!"

G twitched and glared coldly at the teenager with light green hair who was cowering in fear. "And for the last time, I'm telling you that you have to tell me why you want to see him first!"

"Now now," Asari chuckled as he stepped between the two. "G, don't treat the guest so badly."

G rolled his eyes. "Guest? He's just a stupid troublemaker who demands unreasonable things without stating his reasons!"

"T-That's why I-I have been saying from just now that my n-name is Lampo and I'm here on my f-father's orders to talk about the c-contract that G-Giotto didn't come over to our house to sign y-yesterday...!" Lampo looked as if he was on the verge of tears, busy thinking about the reason why his father would even consider sending him to such a place filled with creepy people who looked so scary and shouted at him all the time.

He would rather stay at home and study four hours straight instead of setting even half a foot into this building!

Asari put a comforting hand on Lampo's shoulder, trying to calm the whimpering boy down. "See G, he has already given you all the essential information. Why can't you just let him see Giotto?"

"That's because he just said the essential crap!" G retorted angrily. "All that he would speak before this was that he had to meet Giotto!"

"I-I-I-I-I'M SORRY!" Lampo wailed loudly as he jumped and immediately hid behind Asari's back. "PLEASE FORGIVE ME! DON'T HIT ME!"

Asari immediately tried to assure the frightened boy. "There there, G might look intimidating but... he isn't that scary at all. He's actually quite a nice guy and don't worry, he wouldn't bully you."

"R-Really?" Lampo peeked out from behind Asari to see G glaring darkly at himself.

At that exact same moment, the door to the lounge in the inn where the trio were in, slammed open and creaked dangerously – announcing the poor condition of the hinges.

Knuckle, who was standing in the doorway, stared straight into Lampo's face before walking forward and pointing an index finger straight at his nose, declaring in a loud voice, "You are a coward TO THE EXTREME!"

"I don't want to hear that coming from a guy who holed himself up in a small room for the whole of yesterday in fear of the officials coming after his neck!" G snapped. He was very irritated by the continued wailing of Lampo and Knuckle's endless shouting – in order words, noise pollution.

"You are EXTREMELY wrong! I was working yesterday!"

"As a priest?" G scoffed, and Knuckle immediately punched the air in agreement.

Giotto who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, having just came down, sighed in disappointment before smiling in agreement. "That's sad to hear. I thought that you would join me in the building up of Vongola too. I heard that you are a strong fighter who never lost in any boxing match before. But, if this is your choice, I'll accept and support it, Fist."

"Thank you TO THE EXTREME!" Knuckle roared in happiness. There weren't many people who would support someone who tried to make a living from fighting at illegal boxing competitions but there were fewer people who even spoke to people who are trying to become priests and Knuckle was glad that Giotto didn't mind being friends with someone like him. "But, who's Fist?"

G did a mental facepalm at that.

Seriously, he expected Giotto to think clearly before speaking, especially since the blond himself knew that he faced a lot of trouble trying to remembering names – in fact, G was certain that the only name Giotto manage to remember within minutes was the brunet's. Heck, that was probably the reason why Giotto decided to name him 'G' instead of some long and fancy tongue-twister type of name that all those nobles seemed to have.

"It's..." Giotto trailed off and glanced over at G, whose dark look made Giotto sure that 'Fist' was certainly not Knuckle's name. "...Another friend of mine. He likes boxing too and used to take part in matches in the past."

Knuckle's eyes twinkled at the mention of someone who shared the same interest as him. "Where's Fist now? Can I meet him? I want to meet him TO THE EXTREME!"

Giotto backed away. It was blatantly obvious that he hadn't expected that reaction at all. "No. He's out of the country at the moment and won't be coming back anytime soon."

Tsuna's eyebrows twitched while he watched what he thought was fire burning in Knuckle's eyes die out. He wondered if that meant that Knuckle really believed what Giotto said. How was it possible for an almost twenty year old man to believe such things? It was so obvious that that was merely a silly little lie! Was Knuckle really that gullible?

"That's EXTREMELY sad to hear," Knuckle showed a look of genuine sadness and Giotto felt a little uncomfortable for lying to him even if it was only to cover his own mistake...

"Then I'll be sure to convey your message to him when he returns the next time?"

Meanwhile, Lampo stood at the sidelines, looking at how everyone was interacting happily and feeling very left out.

Wait – why was he feeling left out? Heck, he wasn't even part of the group of lunatics to begin with! He came here on his father's orders, on business! This people were merely clients – nothing more – and yet, they certainly don't seem like bad people they first seemed to be and maybe, just maybe, the negotiation with them will go smoothly?

"Lam... Who are you?" Tsuna scratched the back of his head awkwardly while he asked the green haired boy. The brunet had been a little too relaxed since he finally told Giotto about his real identity yesterday but he definitely had to pay a little more attention to what he was saying – if Giotto kept his promise, no one else would know that he was from the future and it was definitely not a good idea to blow his own cover.

Lampo cleared his throat when he realised that the person who just spoke to him looked about the same age as him and rather weak too, if he might add, and began speaking in a haughty tone. "My name is The Great and Mighty Lampo and you can call me Your Highness!"

Giotto propped his face up with a hand and grinned widely, disregarding the fact that Lampo wasn't speaking to him at all. "How about a king?"

"Of course that's good too. Anything of Royal Status suits me!"

"Even a concubine?" Giotto offered.

"But of cour- Wait, WHAT? HELL NO!" Lampo shrieked in shock and Giotto burst into laughter, clutching at his stomach in pain.

After a two minutes worth of laughing fit, the blond used the back of his hand to wipe away the tears that accumulated at the corner of his eyes and decided to continue speaking.

"So, let's see. I'm the King and you are the Prince, G fits the role of the overly-cautious head of the imperial army and a very good friend, Asari is the forgiving older brother. And Tsuna is... Which important role did I miss out?"

Lampo rolled his eyes. "Isn't that obvious? You skipped the Queen."

'Yeah,' Tsuna agreed with Lampo in his mind. He too, realised that Giotto didn't mention anything about a Queen at all. Even though it was impossible for normal people to forget about that important position. Usually.

"Right," Giotto announced happily, glad that he finally solved the mystery. "So Tsuna will be my Queen!"

"Yes, I'm your Queen..." Tsuna muttered softly before freezing in shock when Giotto's words finally sunk into his head. "HIEEEEEE? WHY?"

Tsuna gaped at Giotto in shock. He really didn't get what the blond was thinking sometimes! Tsuna was sure that he didn't look like a woman in any shape, size or form – okay, maybe just a tiny little bit – so why did he have to be the Queen? No one else had a female role too!

D-Did Giotto just like to tease him so much?

"That's such a simple question," Giotto chuckled while patting Tsuna gently on the head. "It's just because you are so cute that I can't help but- OW! What was that for, G?"

Said man turned slowly towards him with a menacing aura. "Don't you think you should stop acting like a pedophile and hitting on young boys? You are creeping all of us out, so can you please hurry up and start work already?"

Giotto made a face. "Okay... So tell me what brought you here today, Lampo."

Lampo snapped back into reality and went into his 'working' mode. "Oh, I'm here on my Dad's request. We heard that your familgia was an arising power in the mafia world and even took out a major division of the Jozue familgia yesterday, so my father would like all of you to work for us. In exchange, we will fund all your projects."

The slight smile on Giotto's face vanished and he was glad that the other people living in the inn were out working right now. If they were present, Giotto wouldn't know how to answer. If he accepted the job, there was no doubt that they would be officially recognised as part of the mafia – not that they weren't seen as such right now – and that seemed like he was betraying everyone's trust in him.

"Familgia?" G growled angrily and grabbed the piece of unsigned contract that Lampo placed on the table in front of Giotto. "There's no way that we'll ever accept this deal. We don't care about your dad and we certainly aren't part of the mafia!"

Giotto put a hand on top of G's, preventing the latter from ripping the piece of paper into pieces. "I won't sign the contract. I prefer not to be bound by time and rules since our familgia has an exact and united aim in mind. However, it is a fact that we need the money so we'll be taking up on your offer for the time being."

Lampo heaved a sigh of relief and opened the suitcase he brought along to reveal tons of bills. "It's great to hear your agreement. This is the payment for the first month and I'll make sure to inform you when the first job comes in."

o0o0o

"Wait, Giotto," G insisted. "Was it just a slip of tongue when you said 'familgia' earlier? You can't really mean that Vongola is going to join the Mafia, right?"

"What are you saying, G? We are already part of it. Didn't you hear what the person from Jozue said yesterday?"

'Uh oh,' Tsuna gulped nervously. It was obvious from G's expression that the red haired man didn't like the idea of entering the mafia world at all. An argument was about to break out and Tsuna hoped that it wouldn't turn into a fight.

Both guys were skilled in combat and if they were to use their weapons... the entire building would be reduced to dust. Literally.

"And you believed him?"

Giotto shrugged. "Why not? He had no reason to lie. Besides, being part of the mafia isn't all that bad either. We can get our hands on more weapons and protect the town better."

"Better? So now you are trying to justify your reasons for becoming part of the mafia by using the town as an excuse? Did you even consider about the others' feelings when they hear that you would be turning this into a mafia familgia? Everyone here hates the mafia and... I can't be bothered with you anymore!" G retorted and stormed out of the inn without hesitation.

Asari blinked twice after G made his flashy exit. "W-What's wrong with G today?"

Tsuna looked from Giotto to Asari then back to Giotto again. The blond was already making his way up the stairs and was certainly not intending to go after G.

But G was his friend right? Was it really okay to leave him alone?

Resisting the urge to chase after Giotto, Tsuna ran out of the inn to look for G instead. He knew that it was useless to attempt to persuade Giotto since he was the one who told the blond of the fate of Vongola and made him promise that he would never do anything to change the future no matter how large the temptation might be.

Hence, there was only one single option left – to make G understand Giotto's viewpoint and accept the fact that becoming part of the mafia was the only way left.

o0o0o

"Why the hell are you here? Go away!"

Tsuna grimaced. There was no doubt that G was indeed far more scary that Gokudera, but what he was going to do had to be done and he certainly wasn't going to give up right now. "I'm here to speak to you."

"If it's about the mafia then I don't want to listen."

"It is, but I still want you to listen. Giotto isn't an unreasonable person and I want to tell you his reasons for joining the mafia."

G sighed in defeat. "Of course I know that he had reasons, but suddenly saying that he wanted to join in the mafia without saying anything beforehand... It felt like he forgot how the town suffered under their hands." It was as if Giotto forgot the reason why his own father died and...

Tsuna fell silent, not knowing how to reply. He just came to this era recently so he had no idea what the town been through under the hands of the mafia, but it certainly wasn't a nice incident and Tsuna had no idea how to comfort G – or anyone.

"You know, my parents died when I was six... I was over at Giotto's house so I didn't see anything but it didn't really take a lot of guessing to find out what happened when I opened the door and looked into a room splattered all over with blood. Those bastards just burst into our home all of a sudden, stole everything and killed everyone. They didn't even let my three year old sister go... I hate the mafia and I don't want to see Giotto killing any innocent victims."

"He won't," Tsuna replied in a firm tone. He was sure of this fact. "Even if you guys get into the mafia it doesn't mean that Giotto's aims are going to change. He still loves this town as much as you do and I'm sure that he is still striving to protect it. And... Giotto probably thinks that if there is a large familgia in the area, the others would be too frightened to approach it. Sometimes it's necessary to do what you don't want to for the sake of protecting what you truly love."

G pulled out a cigarette and lit it before smiling slightly as he looked up at the brunet. "You do say some encouraging things sometimes."

Tsuna blinked twice before quickly beginning to freak out. He never once thought that G would thank him – well, that was the closest thing to a thanks that Tsuna knew he would ever get.

"You should go and encourage Giotto too since he is probably upset right now."

"W-What about you?"

"I won't apologise this very instant. If I go and look for him now, we'll probably start arguing again. I'll make up with him tomorrow."

o0o0o

'Sawada Tsunayoshi's counselling session part two,' the brunet thought bitterly as he knocked repeatedly on the door of the bedroom which he shared with Giotto, Vongola Primo.

Moments ago, he had just been with G but now he had another role to play because he had to create a chance for Giotto and G to make up again.

"Can you open the door?" Tsuna asked, knocking louder this time in case Giotto didn't hear it the first time round.

"It isn't locked."

Tsuna took two seconds to scold himself for his total lack of intelligence before opening the door. Inside the room was pile after pile of extremely thick books and it took a moment before Tsuna finally spotted Giotto cuddled in one corner of the room, reading.

"What are you doing? Come in."

Tsuna tried his best to squeeze in without knocking over anything. 'Come in? How?'

Giotto flipped another page as he continued to sulk in one corner of the room. This was probably one of his worst arguments with G and he was not exactly coping well – choosing to drown his sorrows in knowledge.

"Um, G finally understands the situation and isn't angry already but he said that he'll make up with you tomorrow."

"Why not today?" Giotto raised an eyebrow in confusion and Tsuna gulped nervously.

"I... don't know?"

Sighing in defeat, Giotto tossed the book in his hands over to its companions on the floor. "Jeez, that guy has always been stubborn like that."

Tsuna laughed awkwardly while trying to mask his relief that Giotto wasn't really mad at G. "W-Well, I guess this is all that I came up to say so I'll go down for dinner now. You should come down soon too, okay?"

"Wait Tsuna," Giotto grabbed Tsuna's hand and the brunet froze immediately.

"Y-Yes?" Tsuna tried to say but the sound came out sounding more like a whisper and Tsuna prayed Giotto couldn't feel his pulse since his heart was beating rather erratically right now. The spot on his hand that Giotto was holding and even his face felt warm – burning.

Giotto swallowed once before speaking. He was staring hard at the blanket, anywhere except for the brunet. The next thing he was going to say was embarrassing enough already, he didn't need anyone to see his steadily reddening face. "There's a festival tomorrow. It's kind of a tradition in this town. So, basically what I'm asking is... Tsuna, do you want to come along with me?"

A sharp intake of breath, accompanied by the blush on his face increasing in another shade. "But isn't there other people that you can ask along?"

"Of course. But I want to go with you."

Tsuna felt his heart skip a beat. In his life, there had been many people who wanted him to be gone, like his classmates and those people who felt that he was nothing more than a clumsy idiot who failed at everything; but for someone to tell him that he wanted his company... it was no doubt a first for him.

"You don't want to?"

"I..." Tsuna trailed off, unsure which was supposed to be the better choice.

After he heard that there was going to be a festival, the brunet couldn't help but be curious, but he didn't want to be the person holding Giotto down. There must be another person Giotto preferred to go with. And that person was definitely not him.

But I want to go with you.

"If you don't mind me... I'll attend the festival together with you."

Giotto smiled brightly even though Tsuna was facing in the opposite direction and wouldn't be able to see his face. He was feeling genuine happiness – a feeling that sent warm vibes to every part of his body, leaving warmth in its trail.

"Thank you, Tsuna."

Author's notes: Sorry that it took longer this time. I'll try my very best to update as quickly as I can but my examinations are coming up again (wishing that I can just shut the door and keep them away) and I'll probably prioritise my studies since it's the year that I have to sit for my entrance exams. So, please spare me if I take a little bit longer to update sometimes because I have my hands full here.

I really appreciate your understanding.