Once again, this is an extremely late update, something I seem to have a penchant for. I can somewhat honestly say that it is not my fault but I unfortunately have to admit that right after I put up the next chapter for my story Overprotective Dragons I was cutting something and accidentally let go of my strength, causing the knife to go straight through and slice my finger pretty badly. Luckily, no one else was home save for myself and my little brother, but he was playing his DS so he didn't know. Normally a knife wouldn't go so damn deep, but I was using my own personal stainless steel surgical knife that cuts through meat like it's whipped cream (which is not what I was actually cutting unless you count my finger) and it nearly reached the bone. It wouldn't stop bleeding and after over thirty minutes of putting pressure on it to try and stop it, I just wrapped it up, washed the towel, and told my family I accidentally cut myself trying to chop up strawberries so they could have a good laugh and forget about it. My mom noticed the knife though and realized it was worse than I made it to be so I wasn't actually allowed to do much, especially because it hurt like a b*tch whenever someone so much as touched it.
It's been over a week though, and it's healing fast. Strangely enough, even with all the cuts and bruises I get, only the serious ones seem to heal fast while the little ones stay for over a month. One of my best friends looked at my finger before throwing his hands in the air. It was kind of funny at first because it was the seventh cut I'd gotten in a week but then I started getting exasperated with my own body when I grazed myself against the bathroom counter and it gave me two more.
Injuries aside, my brother is back in town and he's a right prat when it comes to me having any access at all to any electronic device of any kind so I've had my phone taken away and my laptop confiscated three times but I got them back because of what a wonderful beautiful child I am. I do have good news though! I'm on spring break right now, so I should be able to update everything within this week unless shit happens, so yay for me!
On a more important note, I know that many of you are confused as to why Mikoto would call Kyouya Hi-kun if she herself is a Hibari, and I just wanted to let you all know that this will factor into the story. It'll be interesting, and also has a lot to do with the fact that I have decided that His Son will not be yaoi and everything will stay strictly platonic, but if you wish, you may read my story Playing With Fire because that will sure as hell not be platonic. I even got a cute little kiss in the second chapter. :3
Enjoy the newest chapter!
Mikoto sighed happily as the little ball of warmth next to her shifted and hair brushed against her neck, tickling her slightly. Opening her eyes blearily, she gave a small yawn before instinctively looking for Hi-kun, a soft smile growing on her face as she stroked his hair gently. Carefully slipping out of the bed so as not to wake him up, she walked to the bathroom and had been washing her face when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Right next to the sink were two toothbrushes, a bottle of mouthwash, strawberry flavored toothpaste and a hairbrush, gratitude swelling inside of her for Tsuyoshi's kindness and thoughtfulness. Exhaling slowly, she used the mouthwash and was thankful for the minty taste sweeping through her mouth before she reached for the hairbrush and ran it through her hair after releasing it from its braid.
Feeling significantly cleaner and fresher than she had in over three days, she re-braided her hair and gently closed the bathroom door behind her so that it wouldn't wake up Hi-kun before setting off. If she was going to be here for a while, she would need to get comfortable with her surroundings enough so that she knew where to go and how to get there. Ambling through the halls, she heard the sounds of water rushing and quiet footsteps. Finding light coming for a doorway up ahead, she opened it and peeked through the crack to see Tsuyoshi drinking a glass of water. There was a sink and a stove as well as an oven and a large fridge, one of the largest she'd seen next to a wooden door she assumed led to the pantry. The cabinets were a nice oak, sturdy and looked glossy in the light, the knobs decorated with white lilies. It was a very clean and nice kitchen overall and as she stepped in she admired it, her eyes roving over everything.
"Good morning," she greeted Tsuyoshi once she'd finished looking. "How was your sleep?"
"As good as yours was apparently," he said as he grinned and raised his glass of water towards her before lifting it back and taking a large gulp. She laughed and nodded.
"It's the best sleep I've had in a long time," she answered honestly as he opened a cabinet to give her a glass and filled it before handing it to her. She accepted the glass and drank a few sips before asking him a question as she realized something.
"Where's Takeshi-kun?"
"Oh, he's still sleeping right now," Tsuyoshi answered as he put his glass in the sink. "He's been fitful lately but he seems to have gotten over whatever it was yesterday because he slept like a log. I was beginning to worry it was something serious, but it seems it was nothing after all."
She nodded, swirling the water in her glass for a moment, lost in thought. How much longer would it be before Alaude came? Now that she was safe and rested, she could think more clearly and was worried for her husband. There was a lot of men out there right now and while he wasn't in Namimori often, no one could miss the relation between him and Hi-kun; save for his hair and eyes, Kyouya was a carbon copy of his father. The only way you could tell she and Hi-kun were related was because they had the same black hair. Even that, however, could be passed off as something from her brother-in-law, Fon. If Hi-kun and and Alaude were carbon copies, Fon was Hi-kun's original. Biting her lip, her brown eyes clouded with worry.
Tsuyoshi noticed and he sighed internally, wondering why such a young woman like her had such worry and fear painted on her face. Life was unfair, but even so, it should have left such an innocent girl in the clutches of lighter things. He took a step forward and ruffled her gently, a habit he'd acquired with all his years raising Asari and doing the exact same whenever he was down, his other hand lifting her chin up gently.
"Don't worry," he whispered, eyes kind as she looked at him. "He'll be fine. They both will."
Closing her eyes and leaning into his warm touch, she nodded.
"I know, I just- I wish I knew. I never know anything, always guessing, always unsure, and it kills me to not know. I know it's his passion, his job, and I could never take it away from him but all the same, I wish I was there with him."
He hummed in agreement, wrapping his arms around her and stroking her hair as she mumbled against his chest, amber eyes shining with empathy.
"Does it ever get better?" she asked, lifting her head slightly. He chuckled and shook his head.
"Never. At least, not for people like us. You just learn to live with it and make the best of what you can."
She gave a small nod before letting out a shuddering breath and he squeezed his arms around her reassuringly. She took a step back and wiped the moisture from her eyes before giving him a wobbly smile.
"Thank you. I'm sorry about that."
"Don't be," he answered before his eyes flew to the side and he beamed.
"Well, well, look who decided to get up! Did you have a good night's sleep, Kyouya-kun?"
She turned around immediately, taking in the adorable sight of her son in rumpled clothing and his hair like a bird's nest, giggling at his scowl.
"Yes," he mumbled, sliding up to his mother's side and grabbing hold of her shirt. Looking up at Tsuyoshi, he added, "Don't call me that."
He guffawed at the boldness of the toddler and laughed before messing with his already wild bed hair and winking at him when he scowled again and tried to fix it.
"Stop that," he demanded, his nose scrunching up as he tried to take a swipe at him, Mikoto giggling as she spun to help him. Tsuyoshi gasped and donned a face of betrayal as she helped him.
"How could you?" he asked, hand on his chest as he swooned dramatically. "I thought we were friends!"
She laughed and Kyouya growled before smacking his shoulder as hard as he could, something that was actually somewhat painful as he pretended to spasm in pain.
"Oh," he cried out as he slumped to the floor, "I've been hit! I don't think I can make it! Mikoto, help me!"
Mikoto grinned at the glint of amusement in her son's eyes and held back her laughter as he spoke, his words uncharacteristically large for a child only three years old.
"You deserve it! No one can talk to me so informally!"
"Now, now," she admonished, enjoying herself immensely as she tapped his nose with her finger. "We should be nice to him, remember? He helped us! And you like his son, don't you?"
"That's right," Tsuyoshi called out from below, both of them turning their attention to him as he waved his fist in the air, feigning fury.
"Fine," he capitulated, huffing as he crossed his arms and looked the other way. "But if he calls me that again, I'm not going to stop and be nice to him," he warned angrily, his eyes the exact same way Alaude's used to be when he got angry as a child before he learn self-control.
She nodded and he seemed to be pacified with that, but he continued to throw a glare or two at Tsuyoshi. The sword master grinned and hopped to his feet, ruffling his hair again.
"Thanks, Kyouya-kun!"
The pain that accompanied the kick to his groin was well worth it, he decided as he grimaced and tried to blink the pain away and not fall to the floor.
Iemitsu blinked as the second-hand man of the greatest mafia famiglia in Italy swore angrily, turning to the blonde next to him questioningly. Said blonde laughed and he looked to Nana next only to see her hide a giggle behind her hand before straightening and winking at him. Confused, he turned back to Giotto and wondered if their conversation about the recent gala an ally famiglia had thrown had somehow insulted the red head. Wracking his head, he frowned as nothing about it had seemed to be offensive in any way and turned back to the furious Storm Guardian.
"What. Is. This?" G hissed, tendons throbbing as he glared at his best friend menacingly.
"A conversation about décor?" Giotto asked, eyes twinkling as he raised an eyebrow at G.
"You know exactly what he means, Vongola," Lampo intoned from next to him, eyebrows furrowed as his eyes flew between Iemitsu and Giotto. "What's the second-in-command of CEDEF doing here?"
"AND WHY DID YOU EXTREMELY CALL HIM NANA'S FIANCEE? SHE SAID SHE'D NEVER MARRY ONE OF US," Knuckles shouted, bafflement all over his face.
Iemitsu was about to speak when a voice came from across the table, the owner surprising the entire party as Nana answered them.
"Giotto called him my fiancée because that's exactly what he is. I know I said I would never be in a relationship with anyone in La Cosa Nostra because of what happened before with Giotto, but I love Iemitsu," she stated, her shoulders squared and back straight as all the men stared at her. "Besides," she winked, "he's a wonderful romantic and never fails to make me happy in any department, including the most important ones. A little worry and a while of not seeing him seems okay as he long as he takes care of me."
Giotto gagged as Iemitsu laughed and the other Guardians simply continued to stare at her in shock, G and Lampo turning the slightest shade of green at the innuendo.
"Madonna," Giotto said, shaking his head rapidly as he tried to shake disturbing images out of his mind and glared at Nana half-heartedly. "My eyes, Nana, my eyes! They burn!"
G and Lampo seemed to agree with him, the green tinge gone as they both turned pale before red and spluttered, Lampo accidentally falling off of his chair as his brain turned to mush at what was implied.
"THAT'S EXTREMELY GOOD FOR YOU," Knuckles yelled, nodding approvingly at Nana before turning to Iemitsu. "YOU ARE EXTREMELY LUCKY!"
He grinned and nodded, his eyes alight with happiness. "I know I am."
G grimaced before making a funny noise at the back of his throat and slowly turning to Iemitsu. He paused and then cleared his throat uncomfortably, seating himself back into his chair.
"It seems that you two are good for each other and Giotto approves, so I guess I won't have to kill you just yet, though I ask you to please never ever mention anything like that ever again or I might not be able to control myself."
Nana laughed and Giotto snickered, Iemitsu looking directly into carmine eyes and nodding seriously even as his eyes gleamed with glee at his obvious discomfort. "Yes, sir."
"Now then," Giotto said, clapping his hands together loudly and startling the others, Lampo jumping off his chair from fright after just having gotten back on. "Let's eat, hmm? I'd hate for all the hard work Marco and the girls put into the food to waste."
They nodded and he grinned before reaching for the silver bell on the wall behind him, a line of maids entering not a moment later with platters of food.
"Now then, where were we?" he asked Iemitsu as they dug into their food, reaching for his glass of wine. "The ridiculous theme and request to dress like insects?"
He nodded and in front of them, G's eyes narrowed.
"Are you talking about the Insetto's party last week? God, what is with their obsession with bugs?!"
"I know, right?" Giotto said, throwing his hands in the air as Lampo shivered.
"God, it should be against the law to have so many bugs in one place like that."
"You've been to their headquarters?" asked Iemitsu curiously, turning towards the green-haired Guardian as he grimaced.
"Unfortunately," he scowled, his countenance pale. "It's filled with those damn things. They're everywhere. When they offered refreshments, there was a roach crawling across the plate."
There were noises of disgust from all around the table. They continued to talk, the clinking of dishes and sounds of laughter filling the room as they ate. Giotto caught Nana's eye and they both grinned, happy with the results of tonight's dinner.
"Oi, Giotto, are you listening to me?"
"Hmmm?"
And so, their conversations and arguments lasted late into the night, and by the end, they could successfully say Iemitsu was not only a Vongola member, he was famiglia. All in all, things seemed to have gone smoother than they'd thought and the little doubt Nana had vanished as she threw her head back and laughed at something Knuckles had shouted.
Yeah, life was good.
Asari turned around a bend and felt his heart jump as he saw a little mark etched into the wall, the little blue raindrop filling him with elation. He turned to look at Alaude and beamed.
"We're only one hundred feet away now," he whispered excitedly, amber eyes filled with joy as his skipped for a moment at the thought of his brother and father.
Alaude stilled for a moment before his step quickened and he nearly left Asari behind, rushing ahead.
"Hey, wait for me," he called out, jogging to catch up to him. "You don't even know how to get in," he said teasingly, laughing as he was elbowed and nudging him with his shoulder.
"Excited to see your wife?" he asked, already knowing the answer. All the same, he grinned as Alaude raised an eyebrow at him as if to say 'what do you think?' and rolled his eyes. His eyes lit up as he recognized the familiar door with the same raindrop that had been on the wall earlier, running towards it energetically. When he was sure Alaude was next to him, he pressed his hand onto it and it glowed before a green line scanned his hand and a small box appeared inside the drop while a voice rang out to read what it said.
"Handprint accepted; Welcome, Asari-sama."
The metal doors hissed and smoke filled the passageway as they stepped through and light blinded everything else.
Hugo Di Chimici was a very patient man, but after an entire 24 hours had passed and there were no more signs of either targets, he snapped.
"What is taking so long?!"
"We're v-very sorry, S-Signore," one of his men stuttered, fear filling his body as his boss towered over him threateningly.
"Sorry doesn't bring me those damn people," he hissed, black eyes ferocious. "Why haven't you found them?! It's one thing for you to not be able to find them in a country, another in one damn town!"
"T-They s-seemed to have s-slipped off a-all charts, Signore," another one of them stuttered, gulping when those cold eyes turned to focus on him.
"Oh, really?" he asked, voice velvety and smooth. "Is that so?"
He flinched and nodded, stomach churning. The Chimici's weren't the kindest of people to work for, especially when it was one of them pitted against another.
"Well then," he continued, taking a step towards the trembling man as his eyes glinted dangerously, "you should probably find some other way to find them, shouldn't you? After all, I should hate to have to kill you if my brother finds them first."
The two of them gave a squeak and nodded hurriedly, rushing out the door and nearly tripping as they did so, Hugo's once passive features distorting horridly as he cursed and threw a glass against the wall.
"I must find them," he whispered, eyes burning in the dark.
Before his traitorous goody-two shoes brother helped them and told them the truth.
I'm still super sorry about the late update, but I will also be updating Playing With Fire soon, withing two days if everything goes the way I planned. If you noticed, I named this chapter Beware the Sandstorm because of the last chapter's title: The Dust settles. Hugo Di Chimici will be the first arc, if you'd like to see it that way, and I want you all to know that this is somewhat around the end of April. Kyouya is three, like stated earlier (turning four in a week), and Takeshi has just turned two. I haven't really had him speak yet, but he will. Gokudera is the same age and the pineapple siblings are the same age as Kyouya. They'll share Mukuro's birthday in June instead of Chrome's because June is closer to May then December is.
You may also have noticed that Kyouya isn't exactly Kyouya yet, and that's because I think he sort of wars between being a somewhat spoiled child and his father's son, so when he grows older, he'll obviously choose the latter and the former will fade but for now, he is still a child. He has yet to have a proper male influence in his life, and that can change a lot in a child. So techinically I'm going to develop him into canon. Hmmm. That sounds kind of weird.
Anyways, I hope you all liked the new chapter, and read and review please! They're like my own little rainbows whenever I see them. :)
~ForeverBlackSun