"So, this is where they're staying," Hibari said, his voice a velvet murmur hiding the steel beneath.
"Hai, Kyou-san," Kusakabe confirmed. "I've already booked the use of a smaller conference room, and asked the concierge to deliver the invitation to their suite on your behalf."
"Thank you, Kusakabe-sempai," Tsuna said with a bright, grateful smile, "for all your hard work."
"Of course, Sawada-hime," the tall young man answered with a fond smile of his own. "Please, let me show you to the room I booked for your use."
"Sumimasen," said one of the hotel staff when they reached the room. "We forgot to ask what sort of refreshments Oujou-sama would like for herself and her guests."
"I don't know what they would like," Tsuna admitted. "So we'll have a small variety... Hm. Hana-chan?"
"Green tea, not the Western kind, as well as coffee, which will need to be high-standard, since our guests are Italian," Hana spoke up firmly, "and water. This is a business meeting, not a time for drinking juice like children, or sake in the middle of the day. No food."
The man bowed, turned, and hurried off to fetch the requested drink service.
In the room, there was a large coffee table, two large, plush chairs, and four much more restrained ones. Very much the meeting place for two 'bosses' who had each brought along two subordinates – most likely used by CEOs who travelled with an accountant and a lawyer in tow, so they could write up business contracts. Close enough, for the meeting that was to come.
Tsuna, Hana, and Hibari made themselves comfortable. Tsuna took one of the large, comfortable chairs, and her two friends took two of the slightly lesser chairs.
"I'm surprised, Hibari-sempai," Hana quipped, "that you haven't taken the other big chair."
"For this meeting, I am subordinate, not equal or superior," Hibari answered neutrally.
The door slammed open before Tsuna could say anything to the older boy.
"To Heir Apparent of the Vongola, Xanxus, boss of the Varia, a request for parley for the sake of the continued appearance of strength and unity within the Vongola, from Heir Apparent of the Vongola, Sawada Tsunahime," read off a very irritated young man from the missive that Tsuna had written, and that Kusakabe had made sure was delivered. "To be held in a booked meeting room of the hotel where you are staying, and to be witnessed by the right and left hands of both parties, should you choose to bring them. The fuck, Trash?" he demanded as he threw the letter down on the table, then lowered himself into the large chair opposite Tsunahime.
"You are Xanxus-san?" Tsunahime asked.
"Yeah," he agreed. "And you're Sawada's brat."
"... Hai. This is my right hand, Kurokawa Hana, and my left hand, Hibari Kyouya," she presented.
"Tch," Xanxus grumbled, and waved at the still-open door. "Superbi and Lussuria," he named absently as two men, older than himself, walked into the room and took their places in the two chairs on either side of him, just as Hana and Hibari bracketed Tsuna.
"Voi! Who's the kid at the door?" the silver-haired Superbi demanded. "He's got the other half of my ring!"
"That is Kusakabe Tetsuya," Tsuna answered, even as said teen opened the door for the hotel staff to bring in the drinks and serve everybody. "He is standing guard to make sure that we will not be disturbed by dwarves or dead men," she continued, once the door was closed again.
Superbi choked on his drink.
"Eh?" Lussuria yelped.
"The fuck, Trash?"
"Reborn-san, and Sawada Iemitsu, respectively," Hana clarified, and sipped at her tea.
"Ha! I get the dwarf reference, but why dead man?" Xanxus asked, amused despite himself, as he picked up his coffee.
"Because the last time he left, he told Sawada Nana to pass on to the Small Animal that he had 'disappeared to become a star'," Hibari answered.
"As such, he is a dead monkey -"
"Herbivore."
"- walking, so far as those of us who are close to Tsuna-chan are concerned," Hana added, skilfully ignoring Hibari's interjection. "Tsuna-chan calls him her mother's husband, not 'father', and much more often dead-man-walking."
Lussuria brought one gloved hand to his mouth, while the other quickly set his coffee on the table so that he wouldn't spill it. He was clearly trying to stifle laughter. On the other side of Xanxus, Superbi released a single, loud "Ha!" and toasted with his coffee cup. Xanxus himself grinned in a darkly amused manner.
"You didn't ask me here to complain about the External Advisor trash," Xanxus said.
"No," Tsuna agreed. "I would just like to clarify that Iemitsu is a dead man, and the Ninth is showing signs of senility," Tsuna said.
"Eh?" Lussuria voiced. "How do you come to that conclusion, Sawada-chan? You haven't ever met him, have you?"
"Not to my knowledge," Tsuna denied with a shake of her head, even as she set down her water and pulled out the letter that she had initially received regarding Rokudo. "But this seems proof enough to me," she said, and lay it on the table.
Superbi reached out to pick it up, checked it for tampering, and then passed it to his boss.
"At the time, it was stated that I was the only living heir to the Vongola," Tsuna said as she picked up her glass once more, and Xanxus read the letter. "I was being sent after a person who had killed whole Families, effectively a suicide mission, and was threatened with death if I failed to comply. Vongola would have been without any heirs at all, at that time, had I failed or fled. Is this the action of a sane man, who is hoping to retire and pass on the mantle to another?"
"No," Xanxus agreed, tone solemn and expression dark.
"And these rings," Tsuna said, and held up her hand to show the Half Ring that she held. "They were supposed to be in storage for another three years, weren't they?"
"... They were," Xanxus confirmed.
"It stinks of a set-up to me," Tsuna stated bluntly. "I don't know which of us is being set up, maybe it's both of us, but I have no intention of letting myself be strung along."
"What do you want, Trash?" Xanxus demanded lowly.
Tsuna sat back in her chair and took a deep, bracing breath.
"Marry me," she offered.
On either side of her, Hana and Hibari were both as still as statues. It was not the stillness of surprise carefully hidden, but rather the stillness of those who knew what was coming but did not like it. Had very likely voiced their objections already in private.
Across the table, Superbi had lunged out of his chair and to his feet in a fury, and Lussuria had practically fallen out of his in shock. Xanxus didn't seem to be breathing for a moment, and then he barked out a derisive, scoffing laugh. Superbi and Lussuria retook their seats.
"You don't want to marry me, Trash," he said plainly.
"You're right," Tsuna confirmed calmly, plainly. "I actually want to marry Hibari-sempai. This is not about what I want, however unfortunate that may be when discussing my potential marriage prospects. This is about Vongola, a Mafia family for which I honestly don't give even the slightest damn, but which I am being dragged into despite my wishes. If I marry you, then both sides of the Vongola will have to unite, because they will both have what they want."
"Oh?" Xanxus queried, though now his red eyes were lingering on Hibari as much as they were on Tsuna.
"For the people who want me to rule Vongola, I will be 'queen of the castle', as it were. For those who want you in charge, you will have that authority. It won't matter which of us is technically in charge of the Vongola, if we are married and rule it as at least theoretical equals," Tsuna explained.
"And what about your left hand over there?" Xanxus asked, and jerked his chin in Hibari's direction.
"Sawada Tsunahime is my Small Animal," Hibari said, and let one of his hands twist and twine with the nearer to him of Tsuna's hands. "Mine. I do not share."
"You have no idea how weird it has been for me, watching those two," Hana informed the three Varia over the table, as she jerked her thumb at the other two beside her. "They make no sense to me. None at all. Tsuna-chan has explained it, but I still don't get it."
Xanxus chuckled.
"I don't see this working out so well, if you actually want to marry him, and he's so possessive of you," he pointed out to Tsuna with an amused smile.
"That depends on how well you can keep a secret, and how willing you are to share," Tsuna countered boldly.
"Voi! Boss is just as possessive as your little boyfriend," Superbi declared.
"I have agreed to this," Hibari countered. Though he was clearly dissatisfied with the (supposed) need to, and wished the whole situation didn't exist. "Or we would not be making this offer. I would rather just bite you all to death, but even if I did that, my Small Animal cannot simply stay in Namimori with me."
"Oh?" Lussuria asked. "You wouldn't follow her to Italy?"
"The Hibari family is to Namimori what the Vongola is to the Mafia," Tsuna, Hibari and Hana all stated plainly.
"I will visit my Small Animal in Italy, she will return to visit me, but she will need a capable Carnivore at her side there also," Hibari stated.
"I will be Tsunahime Vongola, wife of Xanxus Vongola, co-Boss of the Vongola Family, while I'm in Italy. I will be Hibari Tsunahime, wife of Hibari Kyouya, moderator of the peace of Namimori, while I'm in Japan. If and when he visits Italy, Hibari-sempai will be my Cloud Guardian, nothing more. If you visit Japan, our relationship would be equally strictly professional," Tsuna explained with careful, deliberate neutrality.
"What you guys decide to come up with while you're in any other country, that's much more flexible," Hana added.
"Any heirs will be born in the country of and live with their father. I will never appear pregnant, and I will stay with my child constantly until they are weaned. I will also spend a minimum of six months every year with each of the families that we will build. We can figure out a schedule," Tsuna continued. "I will not live in a marriage like my mother's."
"Ah," Xanxus said, and a smile of understanding spread across his features. It didn't look friendly, but then, none of Hibari's smiles did either. That didn't mean that it was any less kindly meant. "I think we have an accord," he agreed. "But there is still the matter of who will wear the rings. Me and my guardians, or you and yours?"
"Perhaps we could let fate decide?" Tsuna suggested with a small smile. "Hibari-sempai can have his fun, and the training the others have done these past ten days since we received one set of the Half Rings won't go completely to waste, maybe. Nothing fatal though. I would not like having to make the back-ups step up."
"Those monkeys are too annoying for words," Hana agreed.
"Voi!" Squalo yelled, a savagely eager-looking grin on his face.
"Ooh, goody!" Lussuria cooed happily, and wiggled in his seat.
"My Disciplinary Committee will set up a neutral arena for the fights," Hibari declared. "Outside of Namimori, so that the peace of the town is not disturbed, and none of the buildings are damaged."
"You can make a neutral arena?" Xanxus asked.
"Please don't doubt his scruples," Hana requested with a sigh. "The monkeys that answer to him will see that the arenas are totally neutral. Probably actually just a flat space with some kind of barrier between the fighters and the observers. That's about as neutral as you can get really, ne?"
"You can call in someone you trust as well, to help create the arenas," Tsuna offered, "but the Disciplinary Committee know how things work around Namimori."
Xanxus nodded.
"Shark, get the old man to call in the Cervello to work with this... committee."
~oOo~
The first match was between the holders of the Sun Rings. The battles began at high noon, and the 'arena' (which would serve everyone) was a large cage, which was essentially just as Hana had predicted, more or less. Kyoko would face Lussuria in what was essentially a cage fight. Ryohei wasn't exactly happy about that. Mostly because he wanted to be the one fighting.
"But Onii-chan promised not to fight any more," Kyoko reminded him.
"Yes, I did. I also promised that if I ever did have to fight, then I wouldn't lose," Ryohei countered earnestly. "Kyoko -!"
"I never promised not to fight, Onii-chan," she cut him off. "I made Onii-chan promise because he liked fighting too much, and lots of people got hurt, and then Onii-chan got sent to hospital. Tsuna-chan said, ano, how did it go? I am a girl, therefore I am more dangerous than a boy. I am fighting to protect those I care about, and I do not care what I must do, so long I can keep as my precious people are safe and healthy."
"But, this isn't that kind of fight," Ryohei pointed out, trying to weasel his way into the ring, and pry his little sister out of it. "It's a spar, a bout to get a prize."
"Hai," Kyoko agreed with a nod of her head. "Lussuria-san has already agreed to a shopping trip with Haru-chan and me after all the fights are done."
"Mou, if he really wants to, I'll fight your onii-chan as well, Kyoko-chan," Lussuria offered with a smile. "I see his knuckles are bandaged. A boxer?"
"Captain of the Boxing Club," both of the Sasagawa siblings answered at the same time.
"Aw, how cute! We'll definitely have to spar later," Lussuria promised Ryohei, and tapped his nose like he was a little child rather than a teen in his last year of middle school.
Tsuna brought her riding crop down on Ryohei's shoulders.
"Just cheer from the sidelines for once, Sasagawa-sempai," she scolded him, "and begin to understand how Kyoko-chan felt every time you picked a fight."
"Oi, why does she have a gun for a cage fight?" demanded a large man with lightning-bolt styled side-burns when the two fighters finally stepped into the ring.
"Kyoko-chan is more of a healer than a fighter, but she's a really crack shot," Yamamoto explained happily. "For this fight though, Kyoko-chan is mostly using her rifle as a pole-arm, since this is close combat with an ally."
"Mostly?" asked a blonde teen who was wearing a tiara with his Varia uniform.
"She's got squib cartridges," Miura replied. "Paint-filled rounds. They'll sting, but they won't do any real damage. Just show where damage would have been inflicted."
"Ah."
"And my metal knee has also been swapped out for a padded one that will leave a paint-mark behind, a different colour to Kyoko-chan's squib bullets," Lussuria added with a slight grimace and a wiggle that wasn't nearly as happy as his usual ones. "Ah, but this isn't a fight to the death, so..." he said with a shrug.
"Battle for the Vongola Sun Ring, begin!"
Bang! Bang! Click-clack, bang!
Kyoko still used a twin-barrel shot gun, which had to be manually reloaded after every two shots, not that she let that slow her down. Her opponent was very fast as well though, and she had to dodge a kick to her side. Kyoko replied to the kick by swinging the butt of the gun around to try and catch Lussuria's sunglasses.
The large, muscled man laughed as he leapt out of the way. He really was having fun. He charged again.
Kyoko jumped straight up to avoid him. Somehow, she jumped high enough to be able to grab hold of the top of the cage. Still hanging, Kyoko turned and swung (like a monkey, to Hana's horror) and landed feet-first on Lussuria's back, forcing the man to the ground under the momentum of both his own charge and her suddenly added weight.
Normally he wouldn't even stumble under the weight of such a slip of a girl, but inertia had been behind him, and gravity against him.
"Bang," Kyoko declared with a giggle, as she held her rifle to the back of Lussuria's skull. "Hehe, I guess that 'beginner's luck' isn't entirely a myth after all."
"Ara ara, and you're such a pretty, fragile-looking little thing that everybody will underestimate you as well, Kyoko-chan," Lussuria agreed with a sigh.
"Well done, kora."
