A/N: I altered Lambo's age. He's 7, not 5. Translation: fratellone is an affectionate way of saying 'big brother' in italian
10th Generation Time
Lambo bowed. "Nice to meet you." He said to the millionth woman, who smiled, called him cute, and continued off on her merry way, cheerily greeting another once in a while as she wiped caringly at the fingerprints on a small black pistol.
The eight year old heir to the Bovino famaglia carefully readjusted the tie on his neck, reminding himself that if he took off the offensive tuxedo his mother would be very angry, and shuffled through the crowd.
For a second he closed his eyes as he remembered that the man he was looking for was no longer there. Stupidera had left him all alone once again, and it was all that stupid Vongola heir's fault that Stupidera had left Lambo.
"Hold… it… in…" He mumbled to himself. The mafia were like sharks, waiting patiently for a weak point in him so that they could pounce like hungry predators.
Lambo felt a pang in his chest when the people walked around him, not bothering to look down at the child that struggled to make his way through.
Today was a ball to signify the marriage of Lambo's father to… what number spouse was it this time? Lambo couldn't be bothered to remember. By the end of the week, the horrid woman who ignored him dutifully would be gone, and hopefully his father would find interest in someone who would smile and tolerate Lambo.
He didn't care if they were faking, or actually liked him anymore. Their faces would all blur together sooner or later, until he couldn't even remember the color of their hair, much less the way or truthfulness of their smiles.
He frowned in an attempt to remember even the last one. Hadn't she been blond? Yes… fake, shiny blond hair that came off when Lambo tugged at it.
If he recalled correctly, she had been one of those who hated him. She stared at him in cold disdain, up high in her bright pink high heels.
Yes, she had disgusted Lambo with her cool, plastic exterior, screaming at servants to do her bidding only to be turned out in a day. Yes, she had screamed and wept for mercy as she was put in front of a metal wall and shot.
Had he enjoyed it?
He couldn't have. Lambo hated killing. He remembered the wide, insane eyes as the woman wept and pleaded for any show of mercy.
That's useless. Lambo thought to himself as he shook the memory of the bright red blood splattering on the walls from his mind. The memory disgusted him… how many woman had his father courted and allowed to live?
He couldn't remember.
All he remembered was their cold, icy stares as they gave him fake, plastic smiles…
Except for Mama. But Mama was dead, shut up by father's men when she had discovered secrets and foolishly attempted to blackmail them in order to ensure Lambo's safety.
Mama was an idiot. Going against father is the stupidest thing ever… she must have known she would die.
Lambo-sama would be dead too, the child reflected, if not for the fact that his father was in desperate need of an heir and Lambo had promised to be obedient.
Had his mother known that she would die? Had the woman who lovingly sang songs and told him tales of princes died so that her son would be safe? The thought terrified him.
He shook himself out of such thoughts as he politely greeted another terrifying man, inching slowly away with a stiff smile as he took note of the scars running on either side of his lips to his ears, creating the image of a too-wide smile.
"What a cute little kid." The man purred, a dangerous look in his eyes. "Once you join the mafia you'll love it!" He laughed boisterously, the dark look still in his eyes.
Lambo shivered. "Lambo-sama is already a part of the mafia." He responded to the man's back, careful to make sure his voice didn't tremble.
"No, I don't think so." A soft, quiet voice responded.
"I am." Lambo declared angrily as he turned around. "I am Lambo Sciopero Bovino, the heir to the Bovino famaglia! Of course I'm a part of the mafia!"
Then he froze when he saw the face of the man who had spoken. Though the hair had been gelled to hang in his eyes, practically dripping with oil and the eyes were light blue instead of the amber color that he had remembered, the small frame with the slightly too-small tuxedo were still the same.
"You." Lambo hissed immediately, stepping back carefully. "Stay away from me, Vongola Decimo."
"Lambo, calm down." He instantly recognized that voice as well. His hair had been combed back into a low ponytail and he wore thick, round glasses that made his eyes look brown instead of green but it was still him.
"Stupidera." Lambo snarled, unable to hold in the anger that managed to leek into his voice.
The teen's face drooped a little. "I guess you're pretty mad at me, eh, Lambo?"
"Stay away from me!" Lambo yelled, though Decimo had already covered Lambo's mouth so it came out muffled and slurred. He shoved the hand away and backed off. "Help!" He screamed.
Stupidera's eyes widened. "Lambo.. no… please don't…"
"Stupidera! VONGOLA DECIMO IS HERE!" He screamed, pointing at the two boys who's eyes were wide in shock. "HE'S SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI!"
There were shouts of shock and the startled guests were quick to draw their guns, eyes narrowed as they pointed the weapons at the boys.
"Now look what you've done, Lambo." Stupidera grumbled with his ever present scowl.
"You deserve it." Lambo declared. "You're Lambo-sama's subordinate, but you betrayed Lambo-sama. The conse- conse—conshuhquence for betrayal is death."
Decimo looked shocked at Lambo's words. "Hayato—Hayato-kun is nobody's subordinate!" He exclaimed. "He's not my subordinate, Bovino! He's my friend!"
Lambo faltered for a moment, remembering Stupidera's words when they have first met. Nice to meet you. Want to be my friend? He remembered laughing, ecstatic that somebody had wanted to befriend him… the stupid, obnoxious, spoiled heir of Bovino, the son of a traitor.
Lambo-sama likes you! You can be my subordinate!
A hint of a smile. One of many, thousands of smiles that'd be full.
Hell, brat, if you weren't an heir I'd kick your ass! He'd done it anyways, but Lambo had continued to laugh and pretend to be stupid because the smarter you acted the smarter you had to be. Then people expected more of you, and when they were disappointed they discarded you like rotten fruit.
"It doesn't matter!" Lambo yelled angrily. "Stupidera left me! And it was all your fault!"
"Lambo!" The silver haired teen looked shocked. "I… I…"
"Give him back to me!" Lambo demanded. "Give back my fratellone!" Those words were stupid. Stupidera wouldn't accept them… he'd yell at Lambo that he wasn't his niisan and to stop being an idiot and not call him that. But all that came were wide, regret filled eyes.
"Lambo…"
The brown haired teen held up his hands in surrender, his head bowed. "I'm sorry, Lambo." He said softly. "We'll share him, okay? If you join us, you can share him with us. But if you don't, Gokudera will be ours. Mine and Takeshi's. If you join us, you don't just get Gokudera. You can get two new fratellone… if you'll accept us."
Lambo wanted to cry. "Keep… it… in…" He whispered.
"Hey, Lambo, you promised that you wouldn't keep anything from me." Stupidera teased, his voice soft and contemplative. "Not even your tears."
He felt something wet on his cheeks.
Decimo tilted his head to the side. "Lambo, can you fight? Three of us can only take out about half of them… if you can fight it'll be much easier for the four of us to escape."
Lambo tugged at his horns and grinned as he sent lightening flames through them. "Idiot." He smiled. "I'm the heir to my famaglia. Of course I can fight."
There was a loud laugh. "Welcome to the team, Lambo!" A voice shouted, and there was a flash of metal before two men fell to the ground, not expecting the attack. A black haired, Japanese boy grinned at him.
"Let's reintroduce ourselves." The brown haired boy suggested as he pulled out green tinted contact lenses, rubbed some oil out of his hair and a bright, pure orange flame sparkled to life on his hair.
So sparkly! It's so beautiful! Lambo thought. Is it only orange flames that can be so pretty? I want flames that are pretty like that…
"My name is Tsunayoshi Sawada. Call me Tsuna. Anything's fine. Just don't call me boss like Hayato does, okay?" And he rocketed off, knocking people out and stealing their guns to rapidly fire warning shots at the others.
Stupidera crouched down as he tugged the rubber band away from his hair and pulled the glasses off. "I'm Hayato Gokudera… but I guess to you I'll always be Stupidera, eh, Lambo?"
"Stupidera." Lambo whispered, his voice sounding strangely far away, as though he wanted to say more but his voice couldn't do it.
"I'm Takeshi Yamamoto!" The black hair boy yelled, flashing over to Lambo. He grinned, waved, and flashed away again, only a silver streak left where his sword had been moments before.
Lambo swallowed. "I'm the great Lambo Sciopero Bovino!" He declared, putting on a stupid façade. "But.. you can call me Lambo. Long names are too stupid anyways."
Stupidera gave him a soft smile. "Stick by my side, okay, Lambo?" He asked just as bullets shot in their direction. "Gaaaah! Erm… just watch out for bullets."
Lambo giggled. "Idiot. I'm not stupid, you know." This felt… nice. He wondered why.
0o0o0o0o0o0
1st Generation Vongola
Ding, dong!
Lampo groaned and turned in bed, smothering his face in his pillow. It was too early for anything, let alone visitors!
"What's father thinking, inviting guests so early in the morning?" He grumbled in wonder to himself as he shoved the blankets of and yelled at his maid to fix up the bed. "I don't remember any appointments…"
Oh. It must have been him again.
Lampo sighed, running a hand through his hair as he bit back a wide yawn. "Ore-sama doesn't like being woken up in the morning by a full of himself by an annoying poor blond person." He complained loudly as he changed into formal attire, scowling slightly when a maid adjusted his tie with a small bow.
The woman quickly scampered off with a murmur of "here you go, young Master".
Lampo narrowed his eyes at that. He hated it when people reacted that way… it just didn't feel right. It felt as though something were expected of him… though, he thought bitterly, he had been long since deemed a lost cause by his father and mother.
"LAMPO!" A loud yell came through the mansion. "GET DOWN HERE!"
"Hai, hai." He grumbled as he slid down the banister (careful not to let anybody see him) and strutted into the living room. "It's the annoying blond again." He noted as he tilted his head, scowling as the blond and his two companions marched in, the newest recruit muttering a small apology under his breath.
Bah. The man shouldn't have bothered. They were trespassing anyways.
Lampo's father turned to him, slightly red faced. "Lampo, is it true that you've been visiting the citizens in town and conversing with them lately?" He asked.
Lampo's mind raced in an attempt to find out how to not get into too much trouble. "Mm." He finally said, settling for a non-comittical answer.
His father's eyes narrowed. "Lampo?" He hissed angrily.
Lampo's eyes flickered to the floor guiltily. "Nope." He replied with a shrug and met his father's eyes, schooling his features into complete confusion. "Why would you ask that?"
His father's expression lit into one of triumph as Giotto and his companion's shot him an uneasy, then slightly angry look from the stupid redhead. "I could very well arrest you three for making false accusations." He said as he turned to the others with a cocky grin.
Lampo knew that face very well. He saw it in the mirror every day. Once his mask, now who he truly had become. One of the noble monsters.
"Ore-sama's going for a walk." He called out to his father, who just waved him off impatiently. And I'll visit some friends too.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Haha, how'd you get away from the old geezer this time?" Marco asked as the street boys gathered around Lampo.
"Just told him I'm going out for a walk." Lampo snorted. "He's too stupid to ever suspect anything. Didn't so much as ask a single question, just waved me off. Oh yeah, that irritating blond was there too, so he was pretty distracted."
"Giotto's not annoying!" 'Dirty' Rich exclaimed. "He's an awesome hero who's defending our rights! He's super cool!"
"Sure he is." Lampo replied absentmindedly as he bought a bag of apples and tossed it to the kids. "He disturbs my sleep though, and he spilled to the old man about me visiting you guys. Stupid blond can't keep out of other people's business." He grumbled under his breath.
"You don't seem to like Giotto-san very much." Smooth Talker (they had long forgotten his real name) observed wryly, a light smirk on his lips.
"No way I ever would either." Lampo replied icily. "That stupid guy keeps getting me in trouble with my old man. Then I get locked up and yelled at. Hmph."
He paused to buy some candy, one which he popped into his mouth and the rest he flicked towards the foreheads of the street boys, who despite loud protesting, quickly scrambled to grab the rare treat.
"Thanks." Marco said, cheeks stuffed with candy which he had won by punching the lights out of four other kids.
"You should share." Lampo scolded mildly, but it was a hollow threat and absent mindedly said.
Rich snorted. "Share. Hah, you're funny, Lampo. If we shared we'd all be dead."
"Ore-sama shares, doesn't he?" Lampo replied, raising an eyebrow as he cracked open both eyes to give Rich a patronizing look. "And look where that gets you. More food."
"You're different." Rich replied stubbornly, eyes dark in annoyance. "You're rich. You can just do as you fancy and if you forget about us street kids then who will care? You get to live your high and mighty life… you don't have to fight for a lick of food and you get everything handed to you on a silver platter."
Lampo nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right." He agreed amicably.
"Then why don't you leave us alone?" Smooth Talker asked curiously as he sidled up to Lampo, shooting the green haired teenager a curious look. "Why do you go out of your way to talk to us street scum?"
Lampo paused mid stride, and grinned at the gang. "Because one day I may end up like you brats and when I do get tossed into the street I don't want you guys to be pissed at me and beat me up."
"Trouble with your dad?" Marco asked with a snort. "Your troubles are hardly troubles at all."
"Mm." Lampo's eyes dulled slightly. "I've got no troubles at all."
The kids tossed him a curious look, but he just grinned and waved. "I've got to go now or he'll get mad at me." Lampo said. "See ya!"
He had barely run ten paces when he bumped into Giotto and his crew, however, due to some stroke of luck, it wasn't literal.
Giotto blinked at him for a moment, then smiled as though he were truly happy to see him. The teenager mentally snorted. Hah. As if. "Lampo! It's nice to see you!" He paused and tilted his head to the side. "How come you told your dad that you didn't talk to the citizens? Everyone considers you a…"
"I don't care what they consider me." Lampo interrupted with a glare. "Thanks to you, dad's going to be watching my every move now. Thanks a lot for nothing."
Giotto blinked at him for a moment, then his eyes morphed into a form of hurt confusion that made Lampo feel slightly guilty. Why the heck would a grown twenty year old have puppy dog eyes? That were effective!?
"Don't talk that way to Giotto, bastard!" G yelled, leaping in front of the blond with an arrow in hand.
"I can talk to him any way I want." Lampo retorted, eyes dark. "Get out of my way, commoner."
The third, the dark haired foreigner who still spoke fluent Italian held up his hands in a pacifying gesture. "We're sorry, Lampo." He apologized quietly, an uneasy smile flickering on his face. "We'll leave you alone now, okay?"
"Yes, that would be a welcome change." Lampo replied angrily, and stormed off even as Giotto called out his name pleadingly behind him. He paused, turned and allowed his bright green flames to envelop him, feeling slight satisfaction when the crew's eyes widened in surprise.
"Leave. Me. Alone." He growled before his flames dispersed and he stormed off, this time, silence from the vigilante group.
He should've been happy about that, but if he really wanted them to leave him alone then why did he suddenly feel so bad?
Lampo had never wanted to be left alone. He had always wanted people who wouldn't look at him with those cold, manipulative smiles that always seemed to come onto the faces of his father's contacts.
So why was he asking these people to leave him alone when he didn't want it?
He blew out air between his lips and kicked a rock in frustration. I've become one now, haven't I? He thought bitterly. He had tried so hard not to become one, but he had ended up as one anyways.
Lampo had become his father's puppet, his actions controlled by invisible strings.
I'm such an idiot.
Reply to FluffyCanaries(Guest): Don't apologize for long reviews, I love them, and I really loved yours. There's no such thing as a review that's too long or short for me. Yes, you're not mistaken, you probably did read this before. I deleted it though, which I promise to never do again. In reply to your question, the Vongola really is dark and evil and such in this world, but Tsuna's misunderstanding is that the Vongola can't be saved. As for whether or not he'll realize that the Vongola can be saved... well, you'll have to read to find out, I suppose. Sorry for the long reply, but I loved your review a lot.
