Title: Fiamma: The Assassin

Summary: Every assassin have their own rules, yet all follows one golden rule: Never get emotionally involved with your target. Fiamma knows this. Yet, meeting that person, he can't help but break the most important rule of all…

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Akira Amano

Pairing: Eventual G27

Warnings: AU; Language

Fiamma: The Assassin

Chapter 2

Giotto sighed.

Though he had finally finished yesterday's paperwork, today his ever faithful Right-Hand man, not to mention his childhood friend and best friend, had all too kindly set the new stacks of paperwork on his desk, before he had even stepped into the office in the morning.

"G… Sometimes… I really hate you." Giotto grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. Not my fault you're the boss."

It took Giotto everything not to jump at the familiar grumpy voice behind him. "…G… For the last time, don't scare me like that." Giotto said in a firm voice.

The redhead smirked. "Geez, what happened to your all-too-famous Hyper Intuition?"

"…Doesn't really work well, considering that I'm still in the half-asleep state…" Giotto muttered.

"…Remind me to pour ice on you in the morning then." G replied. Giotto glared, to which G merely shrugged off. "Anyway… Time for breakfast." G said. "At least you won't complain that much when you're fed…" G muttered to himself.

"I heard that!" Giotto yelled from the door.

G chuckled softly to himself as he followed the other out.

Tsunayoshi watched the Vongola estate from a distance.

'Well, I'm here… But how do I get in…? The Vongola Mansion itself has a tight security, but the security in the surrounding area is a little… lacking. I doubt I can just walk in, claiming to have a meeting with Vongola.' Tsunayoshi mused. 'This is the first time I've been asked to do a reconnaissance, on top of an assassination. Usually, I'm only supposed to carry out the assassination part.' Tsunayoshi frowned. '…Just what is that man planning…?'

The brunette sighed softly. He closed in on the mansion, circling an area where he would not be caught, pondering along the way for a plan.

'Reconnaissance is really not my thing…' Tsunayoshi sighed.

While it is true that he had all the information he needed, Tsunayoshi could hardly think of a plan to infiltrate the tight security. If Tsunayoshi were to be honest, he would say that Vongola's security is the tightest that he had encountered thus far.

Tsunayoshi stopped in his pacing. He narrowed his eyes as he aligned his back to the trunk of the nearest tree instinctively. Tsunayoshi held four small knives in his right hand in front of him protectively as he glanced around the area. He let a smirk slip onto his face as shadows neared him.

"…There you are… Signore Fiamma…" A man smirked.

"…Who are you and what do you want?" Tsunayoshi hissed.

"Oh, nobody… Just a group of people who want your life, that's all." Another man said.

Tsunayoshi smirked predatorily. "…Bring it on."

Tsunayoshi immediately threw the knives to his right, instantly killing one of the assailants as one of the knives struck his heart. He pulled out another eight, flipping backwards to dodge a bullet shot at him.

'They're using guns. How annoying. I'm wasting too much time… and knives.' Tsunayoshi thought, narrowing his eyes. 'But seriously… if they think that outnumbering me with over twenty of them is going to work… think again.'

Tsunayoshi tossed the knives, aiming at the assailants' hearts. He smirked as all the knives hit home. Tsunayoshi winced as two bullets hit him in the chest and leg respectively. He landed on the ground and tossed out another round of knives. Tsunayoshi ignored the pain in his thigh as he forced his weight onto his leg to dodge another round of bullets. He finally finished off the assailants and sat down against a tree.

Tsunayoshi looked down at his wounds and sighed.

'I got careless… Damn. This is why I hate fighting against guns. Love using them though.' Tsunayoshi thought, letting out a deep sigh. 'I have to… pull out these bullets… and let my body… heal… Dammit… I lost too much blood already… Getting… light-headed…' Tsunayoshi slowly closed his eyes and his breathing slowed.

Giotto grumbled and put down his pen. He finally cleared two stacks of his paperwork but there were two stacks left. He decided to take a break and quickly sneaked out before anyone –especially G– could notice. The Vongola boss hummed a happy tune to himself as he headed out the front gate and walked around. Not watching where he was going, Giotto frowned when he stumbled over something. He turned around and gasped.

"W-What the hell?!"

Dead bodies lay around the area. Knives were sticking out of their body, but what shocked Giotto more was that most, if not all of them had a knife lodged in their hearts. Giotto counted about twenty-seven bodies –dead, that is. He gasped when he saw someone slumped against a tree, bullet wounds in his chest and thigh. Giotto walked over quickly and shook the man lightly.

'He's breathing… Thank goodness. But the blood… it looks a little dried. He has been here for a while. I need to get him to the medic quarters.' Giotto thought.

As gently as possible, Giotto carried the man, bridal-style, and ran back to the Vongola Mansion. He headed straight for the medic quarters. He laid the man gently on the bed while barking out orders for the unconscious one to be attended to immediately. Reluctantly, Giotto returned to his office and did his work, his mind on the man he brought back the entire time. G frowned when he entered the room with another man following him. The man wore Japanese clothing and held a flute in his hand.

"What's wrong with you? You look… jittery." G commented.

Giotto sighed and put down his pen. "I found someone injured outside just now."

"Injured? How injured?" The man asked.

"Quite, I would say, Asari. He had two bullet wounds. One in the chest, the other in the thigh." Giotto said.

"…I get this feeling that's only one of the things bothering you." G said.

"You know me too well, G." Giotto chuckled. "…Around that man were a lot of bodies. I counted a total of twenty-seven dead bodies."

"T-Twenty-seven…?" Asari gasped.

"More importantly, pretty much all of them were killed by a single knife to the heart." Giotto added.

"Sounds like it's done by a professional." G commented. "It's not too hard to imagine our injured man being attacked… and probably someone saved him."

"But why bother saving someone from attacks but not taking him to be treated?" Asari inquired.

"Good point." Giotto mused.

"…Unless… Our injured man is the professional." G said.

"…I don't think so." Giotto muttered. "He… doesn't look like one."

"Giotto. Anyone could be after you. We don't know what kind of assassins there are out there." G frowned.

"G!" Giotto glared.

"It's part of my job to tell you the truth whether you like it or not." G glared.

Giotto bit back a protest. He knew, of course, that what G said was right. Asari looked between the two and gave a soft sigh. He started playing a soft and soothing tune on his flute. Giotto smiled and sat back in his chair. G sighed and crossed his arms, a small smile on his face.

Suddenly, the door burst opened and a man ran in.

"Boss! The man is out of operation! And… And… He's awake, sir!"

"He's awake?! Isn't he shot twice?" G frowned.

"Let's just visit him first, shall we?" Asari suggested.

Giotto nodded and got up immediately and, after sharing a look with G and Asari, the trio walked off. They walked swiftly to the medic quarters in silence.

"Oh. You're here, Giotto. That's fast."

"Knuckle. Where is he?" Giotto asked.

"There." The man grinned and pointed to one of the wards.

The man wore a priest's clothing and a long red scarf while holding a book in his hand. He had black hair, and a bandage was on the bridge of his nose. Giotto thanked him and headed in quickly. The brunette sat upright on the bed, glancing around inquisitively. He wore cream-colored shirt and pants.

"Hello." Giotto spoke up.

The brunette turned over and nodded in acknowledgement.

And for the first time, Giotto felt awkward. G stealthily laughed into his fists at his friend's situation while Asari tried his best to keep the smile from his face. Giotto glared at them both as he coughed once before continuing.

"So… What happened to you?" Giotto asked.

The brunette gave him a pointed look as chocolate brown eyes trailed to where his wounds were.

"Right. Sorry. That was… not a very good question." Giotto swallowed.

"So who the hell are you?" G asked, red eyes staring firmly at the other.

"G! Can you not be so straight-forth?" Giotto hissed.

"If we wait for you to beat about the bush, we'll be here all day." G replied.

"Please, calm down. It's not good to show such… situations to our guest." Asari said.

"Right." The two muttered at the same time.

The brunette had a raised eyebrow and a small, amused smirk on his face as he continued to observe the room.

"Sorry about that… I'm Giotto. This is G, and that's Asari." Giotto introduced.

The brunette kept silent.

"And your name is…?" Giotto prompted.

"…Re… Renato." The brunette muttered softly.

Giotto nearly gasped as the brunette finally spoke. "Renato, was it? It's a pleasure to meet you."

"…The pleasure is all mine." Renato replied.

"Are you alright, Renato-san?" Asari asked in concern.

"Yes… I'm fine, t-thank you." Renato nodded.

"What happened to you?" G asked.

"I… was attacked. I don't know why… Suddenly a group of men surrounded me and attacked. I ran… but still got shot. I… don't know what happened after." Renato said, swallowing.

Giotto muttered a curse under his breath.

"I'm sorry… Perhaps I… should leave?" Renato asked.

"No!" Giotto spoke immediately.

Renato winced as his volume.

"I'm sorry. But… it's probably safer here." Giotto said.

"…Here…? Just… where am I?" Renato asked.

Giotto nearly paled. What was he going to say? That the brunette was in the headquarters of a Mafia Family? Giotto let out a breath. His mind kept thinking, knowing that the longer he took to respond, the more suspicious his guest would be.

Thankfully for him, his Right-Hand Man didn't earn that title for nothing, and responded quickly. "This is Giotto's house. It's big, so he lets people stay here." G replied. "It's fine. Just stay here. There are more people here so you'll be protected."

"Is it… really alright?" Renato asked.

"Absolutely." Giotto replied. "In any case, you should probably rest more. We shall take our leave."

The brunette gave a nod and looked out of the window as the trio walked out.

"I find him suspicious." G stated as they walked out into the hallway.

"That kid?" Knuckle asked, walking with the group.

"Why?" Asari raised an eyebrow.

"…Instincts." G replied.

"That doesn't justify much." Knuckle said.

"Giotto. Tell me honestly if you find something wrong." G asked.

"…I suppose." Giotto admitted.

"See?"

"Well, if Giotto says so, then we'll definitely believe him. I mean, everyone knows about his Hyper Intuition." Knuckle replied in defeat.

"Let's just send out a notice to all the Guardians." G said.

"Is that a good idea? I mean, with the two of them…" Asari said.

"…Still… The Guardians are pretty much the head of the Family, below our boss, that is." G said. "Well, Giotto? You're the boss."

"…Send the message to the Guardians. And no matter what you guys suspect, no one is to act until I say so." Giotto finally replied.

"Alright. I pass the message to those three later." G nodded. "And now that you know how the brat is…"

Giotto raised his arms in defeat. "Fine! I'll get to the damn paperwork already!" Giotto grumbled, earning a round of laughter from the others, throwing his arms into the air in exasperation.

Tsunayoshi sighed and leaned back on the bed.

'Well, that solves the problem of how I'm going to enter the Vongola Mansion… And I've just met my target. Thankfully, I managed to finish using all the knives that I had on me.' Tsunayoshi thought. 'But really, Tsuna. Renato? 'Reborn'? He'll be going after your head for copyright infringements.'

Tsunayoshi stretched and shifted in the bed.

'Well… In any case, let the mission begin. This will be an interesting game… Giotto di Vongola.'

Note: As mentioned in the fic, 'Renato' means 'Reborn' in Italian. As far as I checked, 'Renato' is a valid name in Italy. The popularity of the name is another matter altogether that I've ignored.

A/N: Exams are finally over! Now for four agonizing months before the results are out... Well, this chapter is to celebrate the end of my exams. Now to work on that one-shot I'm almost done with... Thanks for reading, peeps~ Ciao Ciao~