Christmas was a somber affair, and for once the Vongola didn't throw any extravagant parties for it.
Not just because of Daniela's condition or the fact Xanxus was back and still very pissed off at Timoteo, but also because of the mockery Hotaru had made of the Vongola security.
Hotaru found it very telling that Timoteo carefully avoided looking at her and Xanxus. The Wrath was currently making the most of the time he had left with his beloved grandmother, outside of recovery from being freed and catching up on what he missed.
Since she knew damn well the Ninth wouldn't give her a pot to piss in once his mother died, even if she had been acting as Daniela's Cloud, they worked out last minute contingencies so that she had something to work with until she took over.
The Vongola had a number of buildings and businesses under their control, so Hotaru picked something within the "Varia" territory. Considering the rift between Xanxus and the current don, it was unlikely he'd listen to any demands to kick her out or inconvenience her.
Xanxus was already planning to use a little known and almost forgotten clause in the Varia's by-laws that would allow him to partially remove himself from Vongola control until a new Don could be appointed.
It hadn't been used...yet...but the fact it existed said far too much. The fact it freed him up to back his own candidate for Decimo was just a very nice bonus.
In order to test how good Daemon's illusions were, even using a possessed body, Hotaru was wearing the original Vongola Sky Ring on top of the Cloud one she already had on.
Not only did he show no sign of noticing she had it on under her shirt on a necklace, he didn't even register the few minor illusions Daemon cast to prove a point.
Daniela felt some peace knowing Hotaru cared enough about her grandson to be there when she died... Xanxus needed someone who wouldn't give a shit about Vongola politics that had some idea how to handle an emotionally distraught Sky without attempting to use it against him.
As much as she adored the sheer headaches her grandson's Elements gave Timoteo, none of them were very well equipped to deal with emotional issues well. Not to the point Xanxus felt he could truly let his guard down around them.
(Xanxus had been genuinely shocked, then pleased when he found out that Hotaru had a similar penchant for using her gun to channel her flames on top of the surprising knack for hand to hand that she had. She still preferred Hades to getting up close and personal though. The first time she used what she called a railgun Xanxus had a boner from the amount of damage it caused...before promptly trying to recreate it.)
Though Hotaru took advantage of the limited time she had remaining as Daniela's Cloud to give Dino one last surprise before they would have to break it off. The last thing she wanted was to make Dino's life a great deal harder because of her dispute with Timoteo.
Dino had been both very surprised and somewhat relieved. At least they had a few nights together before they were forced to break it off under amicable terms.
Hotaru didn't even try to hold back her tears as she and Xanxus stayed by Daniela's side the night she slipped into her final slumber. Hotaru went to Xanxus' side and held him tightly as he just cried.
No one else was there save for Daniela's Storm and Rain, and they weren't going to say a thing about his breakdown. They waited an hour, once Shamal confirmed she had passed and there was nothing to be done to revive her, even if they wanted to.
By midnight news had spread that the Eighth Vongola boss had died, and funeral preparations were put into motion as per her last orders, as they had merely waited for her passing. It was all very neat and tidy, and gave everyone plenty of time to make it to the ceremony.
Hotaru felt nothing but disgust at the fact Iemitsu never even bothered to show up, or that Timoteo developed a bit of an attitude against her.
"I hope you are aware that you will have to relinquish the ring my mother gave you as her Cloud," he informed her curtly.
Hotaru glared at him.
"I've already handed it over, the same as her Storm and Rain the night she passed. Get over your own damn ego for once and show some respect for your mother," she growled. "And if you don't get your Guardians to reign in their attitude, I'll make them. It's bad enough Daniela had to make it a last wish just so Xanxus could attend the funeral, since you wouldn't even let him attend Massimo's."
The fact she hadn't bothered to lower her volume meant that quite a few people heard everything.
Timoteo wasn't a fool and he could see that while the other dons might follow him out of fear or respect, in reality they completely agreed with the stray cat his mother picked up.
Hotaru brushed past the Ninth rather rudely heading straight for Xanxus. The second she felt Coyote's Flames and Xanxus' growing ire, she reacted accordingly.
She threw Coyote into the ground with a single attack, pinning his arm behind his back.
"This is a funeral. Keep your wretched grandstanding outside and show some damn respect. I don't know what your issue is with Xanxus but you should know better than to flare your Flames," she snarled.
Everyone might chalk it up to the fact that Hotaru was stil reeling from the loss of her Sky, and her Cloud instincts were going on overdrive (which was partially true), but the real reason she did that was something else.
She could tell Timoteo did nothing to reign in his Guardians and gave them far too much leeway when it came to personal power. That Coyote felt he could flare so aggressively towards Xanxus said far too much of the dynamic the Ninth generation had towards the Varia boss.
Xanxus was both shocked and secretly relieved someone was calling those bastards out on their behavior. Especially considering why they were in the church to begin with.
All around them, Hotaru could see the open approval of her reaction to Coyote's flaring towards Xanxus. She stuck close to the Varia boss and growled every time one of the Ninth's Guardians or even Timoteo himself tried to discreetly start something with him.
Xanxus merely waited for the first chance he had before he decided to use the pubic setting to use the by-law Hotaru had found for him.
He glared at Timoteo and made no bones of his anger towards the man and his Guardians as he calmly produced the paperwork that would temporarily remove the Varia from the Vongola's indirect control until they got a new boss.
"What is this?" asked Timoteo evenly.
"A formal announcement that the Varia will only answer to Vongola Decimo, not the Ninth generation."
Timoteo froze, as did everyone within earshot.
"What are you playing at boy?" demanded Coyote.
"Varia by-laws as set by the Secundo," purred Xanxus darkly, enjoying this far too much. "When a Don or Donna dies or a new one is elected, the Varia boss can chose to serve the one that comes after them if there is a legitimate grievance. The Seventh almost had it happen to him."
Timoteo stared at him in disbelief.
"You intend to remove the Varia from Vongola control?"
"No, I'm declaring that I, as the current head of the Varia don't respect you and have deemed it necessary to treat you the same as any other don requesting our services. Means we'll follow whomever becomes Decimo after you, since Nonna explained that it would be impossible for me to inherit," said Xanxus flatly, making it clear he knew about the rings. "Also means I have the right to refuse you or your Guardians entrance into the Varia's main headquarters if I damn well please. Consider this my notice of a restraining order."
Dead silence. No one could believe that Xanxus had found a way to tell his 'father' to get lost and legally to boot. The fact that the Varia would only follow Vongola Decimo and pretty much ignore any "special" requests from the Ninth generation was big.
"You do realize what you're doing, correct?" said Timoteo trying to salvage the mess growing before him.
"Means we'll get as much, or more likely less support than CEDEF from the main family until a new Don is picked," deadpanned Xanxus. "As a bonus it also means we can back our own candidate for Decimo without having to follow with whatever poor bastard you chose to take over."
"Thanks for that, little brother," said Federico.
"Face it Rico, you're not exactly Decimo material and this will force the old bastard to actually throw a broader net for someone who actually has Guardians that are competent."
Hotaru was coming back from grocery shopping when she spotted him. For a second she had to do a double take because his image overlapped with someone else entirely.
It was a teen about her age, with chin-length silver hair, fair skin and green eyes. He was smoking, not giving a damn about the annoyed looks people shot him. He looked like a delinquent to be honest, not that he seemed to care.
However the longer she stared at him, she didn't see the delinquent.
She saw Sven, her long time Sweeper partner and best friend. There was something about him that made her immediately think of the 'gentleman'.
Hearing the light growl coming from his stomach, she knew he likely hadn't eaten anything in a while. It was a familiar sight that made her resist the urge to grin.
Sven never did have much luck when it came to money.
She walked up to the teen, saw what he was attempting to buy (he was short at least a Euro or two), and calmly said "Can you add a hot coffee to that, as well as a sandwich?"
The teen turned to look at her with a combination of confusion and wariness.
"I don't accept charity," he growled out.
Considering he had all the hallmarks of someone who used home made bombs regularly (she recognized the calluses on his hand as well as the scent...Sven preferred to hand make his own weapons as well) she smirked at him.
"Consider it an excuse to have a civil conversation with someone who could be useful long term. If nothing else you can say you owe me later," she replied.
Something in the way she said that calmed his temper down slightly, at least enough to hear her out.
He ate his food slowly, to let his stomach adjust to being full. However the wariness didn't go away.
"How good at you at plumbing and wiring?"
"Excuse me?"
"I can tell you hand make your own bombs, so I'm curious at how good you would be as at regular plumbing or rewiring," she clarified.
Clearly he realized she was part of the underworld as well, so he relaxed a tiny bit.
"I can muddle through normal plumbing, since I've had to take more than one sink apart to get materials for my bombs when money was tight. As for wiring I'm decent enough though I prefer to avoid the electrical bombs," he replied after a moment. "Why?"
"I've come into possession of an apartment complex in Varia territory, and the assassins I rent out to are more inclined to break things than fix them. Having someone reliable that knows at least something of what they're doing without having to contract to outsiders would be a big help, and you could openly claim to be maintenance to get free rent and utilities. Of course we'd have to do a trial run first to see if you actually can handle it, but that's a minor factor."
"Why me?" he asked, honestly curious. The offer was highly tempting.
"You remind me of someone I knew, someone that I could trust to have my back when I was on a job," she replied honestly.
Because really, she kept seeing a resemblance to Sven to the point it couldn't be a coincidence. If she had been reincarnated, then it stood to reason he could have as well.
Though it that was the case it begged the question of who else had been reborn to new bodies.
The teen finished his food, thought the offer over, before looking her in the eye and holding out his hand.
"Hayato Gokudera."
"Call me Black Cat. If we can work together long term I'll give you my actual name," she replied.
Hayato's eyes bulged.
"Black Cat, as in the one with the highest potential to become the World's Greatest Hit Man? Someone who always tells their targets that they've come to deliver bad luck, and acted as the Eighth Vongola donna's Cloud Guardian shortly before she died?" he said in shock.
Hotaru grinned at him.
"Oh good, you've heard of me," she said amused.
Hayato had to shake his head clear of his shock. Who would have expected he would run into the Black Cat (and why did her name and appearance feel so familiar) while out getting something to eat, much less that she offer him a job?
Either way, he would be a fool to pass this up.
A few days later...
Hayato proved to be both competent and useful. As Hotaru had commented, the Varia assassins that rented out the top floor (giving them access to the roof garden she had installed to cut back on food costs for the entire complex) were more inclined to break things than know how to fix them. And using Mist illusions was only good for 'temporary' measures.
Even if he was a bit of a tsundere (which made her laugh when she found that out), he was a good person. He was just hot headed, brash and more inclined to blow things up rather than think things through rationally.
Honestly, she was still a bit confused why Hayato reminded her so much of Sven. Their personality was almost like night and day, especially regarding girls.
Sven was a gentleman and went to great lengths to maintain that image. Hayato was a "bad boy delinquent" who didn't give a damn about how he looked.
His big dream was to be the right hand of a famiglia, mostly to prove himself since he was actually a bastard.
Hotaru felt absolutely no regret or remorse tossing him to Xanxus during one of the times that the Wrath came to crash on her couch just to be able to let his defenses down. Being able to talk to someone as powerful as the Varia boss did wonders for his attitude.
Even if Xanxus did tend to use him as target practice whenever his behavior got too annoying.