Chapter 2

A/N: I forgot to say stuff. I'm sorry to all those that are named John, Anna, Maria, and Beth (Oh God, I'm so sorry). And I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Yes, I know. I should cry. orz. Oh, and the title fails.

Warnings: Made-in-five-minutes-Ocs, and crapiness, definitely crapiness.

Vongola Nono was either getting forgetful or was getting secretive, Vongola Head Secretary Jose Vasquez mused to himself as Nono frets about the papers he swore he left on his own desk.

"It's fine boss, don't worry about it."

"If you're sure, then I guess there is no reason to worry myself," Nono hastily wiped his wrinkled forehead.

"So, about the meeting later with the Assassin Squad of the new British Mafia group, I suggest you—"

"That was today?" Nono exclaims, eyes wide. "I can't. I've forgotten about it," He said in grief, as more wrinkles striped his aging skin.

"Is that so? It's really alright boss. I'll just brief you."

"But I can't go, Jose!"

"Why not Boss?"

"I made another meeting. I have other plans. I might've planned a dinner with my son!"

"... I see. Alright then. I'll reschedule it to tomorrow. Please get some rest after your dinner, you sound fidgety."

"Yes, yes, thank you."

Jose Vasquez was an honourable man, known for never forgetting. He had a sharp memory, and he was immensely intelligent.

So, as he closed the double cherry wood doors of the Vongola ninth's office, he told his prodigy, "Lad, I think our boss is up to something."

"Sir?" Young Larry Smith cocked his head to the side, clip board on his left hand.

"Have you noticed how... different the boss has been?"

"Not at all sir."

"Then I'd have to demote you anytime now." Jose said pointedly, tsking at his young prodigy. "He's been anxious all over for the last two months."

"I'm sure it's just because he's tired sir, you tend you exaggerate sometimes."

Jose frowned, beginning to establish his stride in the marble halls of the Vongola mansion. "Now isn't the time to criticize my being obsessive. He spills his coffee, he forgets meetings, he misplaces important papers, and now he talks about dinner with Lord Xanxus! Something isn't right."

"I see, sir," Larry blurted as he rushed to follow his teacher. "I think."

"Get the Coup D'état group ready lad, and the head strategist, without the knowledge of the guardians."

To this, Larry's darks eyes went wide, thin eyebrows shooting to the fringe of his bangs. He stopped on his tracks. "Sir, are we going to overthrow the—" Jose quickly clamped his hand on Larry's mouth.

"My life is on the boss, as is yours. I'm sure that he isn't doing anything disrespectful to the Vongola Family. But," Jose whispered, his own brown eyes unwavering of his newfound mission, "what if he is? We aren't going to overthrow him, of course not. We're going to investigate him, out of respect for the rest of us."

"But you're doubting him!"

Jose twitched.

"Of course I'm doubting him boy!" The head secretary shouted. "As far as I know, he might have Alzheimer's without us knowing! As the Head Secretary of Vongola, I need to find out what's wrong with him! He's always gone at six to seven at night!" The head secretary practically boomed now, his tanned face turning red and somewhat blue at the lack of oxygen. "What if-if,"

"Well, maybe there isn't anything wrong with him! Maybe he's trying to change his relationship with Lord Xanxus, but he's so nervous he gets fidgety." Larry reasoned, patting his jean's pockets for the pills his teacher now needs.

Jose's eyes grew dark. He was an honourable man, and he, along with the rest of Vongola can say that without him, this family wouldn't be as operative and organized. In order to be kept being called that certain honourable man; he has to make things operative and organized, by being obsessive.

And obsessive he was.

"Any plan, whether it is a swimming pool party, play date or dinner date, goes through me. I need to know the details a day before it happens. The boss knows that." He said, sounding hurt and mental at the same time. "He's hiding something, lad."

Larry thought that if the Boss forgot about that too, then maybe there is something wrong with him or maybe he is hiding something, to which the young prodigy is actually curious about.

Larry also thinks that his teacher needs his pills, and loyally hands the correct number to the palm of Jose's hands.

"Alright, alright," he gave in, "but we aren't getting any kind of group, you just want to order people around, sir."

Jose stared at him weirdly for a second, before gulping down his pills, and returning to the man that shows no characteristically deep emotions like he was a ten minutes ago with Vongola Nono.

Ah, pills.

Jose Vasquez checked his watch. It was exactly six pm, and the fidgety Nono stood up from his velvet seat, an expression on his face that Jose couldn't quite comprehend. His boss's eyebrows were knitted together, his frown was deep, and his eyes showed that he was wary, very wary. And he moved with the precision of his body as if he was 50 years younger.

Larry thanked God that his teacher allowed them to investigate the boss in the camera room. "The boss is acting really weird, sir," Larry said through his cup of milk tea.

Jose nodded, and continued to monitor Nono like a hawk; his hands were clenched tight into balls of fists as he observed, looking for anything even more abnormal. The old man had been normal the first few thirty minutes, but now, Nono himself looked like the predator with wings. He had swiftly grabbed his papers, shoved them out of his drawers, and what's weirder, he crawled beneath the desk, until the soles of his leather shoes were the only things that Jose and Larry could see, unfortunately.

A minute later, after Jose prompted to call the Medical team and got stopped by Larry, Nono crawled back out, now holding a little black remote and a set of keys, then he deftly pressed a button on his desk and the monitors in the camera room went blank.

"Sir, he's going to see us!"

"You should've worried about that when you stopped me from getting the Investigation Team," Jose dismissed, as he and his young prodigy continued to crawl on all fours inside the vents that snaked the roof of the ninth's office. "Then maybe, they would've been the one expertly crawling and not making noise because their knees are so knobby."

"Sorry!" Larry apologized, looking through the airway that gave him little space to observe the office. "Oh look, sir! He's throwing out his books!"

Jose pushed Larry away, and began to observe the scene himself. It wasn't far off to say that he was awestruck.

The boss moved with the agility of the cat and the strength of a tiger, and if Jose wasn't as obsessive as he was, he wouldn't have seen Nono open the bookcase with the set of keys, revealing an entranceway, to which he walked inside to the awaiting darkness.

Then, he walked back out.

Frown.

"Jose, Larry, get out." He ordered, and in the following milliseconds, Jose was standing in front of him, patting down his coat and pants from the fall he took from the ceiling to the ground.

Larry was still hurting in his back 'cause he fell on the chair.

"What is this?" Nono inquired, looking very strategic and professional, and perfectly scary.

"Sorry boss, we were worried."

"Why?"

"Boss..." Jose sighed, "Lord Xanxus doesn't... like you."

Nono twitched, and Larry swore (through the back pain he felt) that the ninth even blushed a bit in embarrassment. "I know," he said indisputably. "So, what are you doing?"

"Boss?"

Nono merely stared, and Larry began to fret over his bruising back.

"I'm sorry, boss. I thought you were doing something to betray the Vongola—"

"Unheard of. You wouldn't think of such a thing."

"I wouldn't?"

"I don't think you can either, sir."

"Larry!"

"But really sir, you're too loyal to the ninth."

"So tell me, Jose, what do you think I was doing?"

It was at that moment that the remnants of the pills wore off, and Jose began to feel anxiety and humiliation, quite similar to when he was in gym once in elementary, and his coach lectured him with no end just cause he tripped and got hit with a dozen of balls. From dodge-ball session.

"W-Well, you were acting really suspicious, and weird, and really, really weird, so maybe I thought you were hiding something which would be," Jose trailed off. His chiselled features softened, and his cheeks turned an embarrassing shade of vermillion.

"I don't even know anymore! Maybe you were watching porn, live porn! I don't know!"

Larry fell on the flat of his face in shock, then he immediately tried to straighten up because a splinter got into his eye. Nono blinked.

"Well it's true that I can't even bring it to heart that you're betraying us! So maybe that is what—"

The ninth shook his head and swung an arm around his Head Secretary, leading him to the secret cavern through the bookcase. "Dear boy, what I watch is better than that," he announced, and the bookcase closed behind them.

Larry was still in pain on top of the chair; his legs were sprawled in a very difficult manner. "Sir?" he called when he can't hear anyone talking about mature stuff anymore.

"Boss? Sir? Heellloooo? I don't think my leg is supposed to bend like this."

The darkness the cavern showed was short, but realistic, and frightening. Jose couldn't hear his footsteps, nor could he hear Nono's, but he heard himself gasp when a blinding light flashed, momentarily clearing his eyesight. Nono remained silent.

There was a sofa there, bathing itself in the light that made Jose gape. The Head Secretary couldn't think very clearly, but he sat on the sofa, and stared at the light as if it was holy.

Its remarkableness made it holy, and that was his belief, and so he stayed, and continued to stay along with Nono.

'Who do you think you're kidding?!'

'I'm sorry, but this is reality.'

'No! No! Anna, do something!'

'I'm sorry Beth, but Maria has amnesia, and she has bone cancer. She's going to die, without even remembering you, which is good, since apparently you can't commit to your relationships!'

'But Anna!'

The ninth watched his subordinate clamp two hands on his mouth, watching at the big screen monitor intently. Much like a father, he sat beside Jose and offered him tissues when Beth began to bawl about the sudden future of her secret lesbian partner, Maria, to Doctor Anna.

"Boss—"Jose hiccuped, forcing his manly voice to speak though the tears God gave him.

"Yes?"

"D-Do you have season one?"

Nono nodded, pointing at the stack of DVDs and tapes beside the big screen monitor that showed the two men utter heaven.

"Boss?"

"Yes?"

"Beth is such a bitch."

"I know," Nono gently patted him on the back as they continued to watch and Jose continued to sob as manly as he could, "I know."

One warm summer's day, the big clock in front of the Vongola Mansion struck twelve, and a group of young Mafiosi gathered outside at the lush rose garden. They brought sandwiches, and drinks, and more sandwiches. It was lunch time, the time for a break from all that mafia crap like polishing bullets. The young group had been around for about three months, and it had been evident that they were all friends. And though they were all men, the other more experienced senior Mafiosi thought of them as gossiping bastards.

"Don't you think the boss and the head secretary are acting weird for the past couple of weeks?" Young guy number one started as he began to unwrap his rye sandwich.

"You think so too? I think they're hiding something. "

"Sir Larry won't tell us anything, and he always says something like they found heaven together, what's up with that?"

"Maybe they're watching porn."

"Oh."

"They watch it together?"

"SIR, JUST TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED, SIR!" Larry screamed at the background as he chased a very red Head Secretary. "SIR PLEASE, WHO IS THE BABY'S FATHER?!"

"Baby?"

"...Well, I don't think they watch, if you know what I mean."

"Oh."

Young guy number eight blinked rapidly, as he assessed what the others had just said.

"The ninth is gay?"

Young guy number seven wagged a finger, "and apparently a dad of a biological son again, can't forget that."

Chapter 2 END