Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.
Chapter 2: Xannichan
Sawada Tsuna, the-oh so clever five year old girl, was not happy.
She had woken up to a frenzy of wild bullets, screams, whimpers and all the other things that she did not enjoy being woken up by.
Being a lazy (when she could) girl, her amount of sleep was unsatisfactory, and she sported a migraine. Walking out the door after her daily hygiene ritual was completed and a cold towel splashed onto her face, she treaded onto the hallways, migraine still there.
Of course, many people had peered over at her. There were generally no children in the mansion, and a tiny young girl was calmly walking through the corridors as if she owned the place. Maids, servants, subordinates, almost all workers watched her as she glanced through the windows, stared at paintings and just kept walking.
Still, they made no move to stop her. The staff was informed of the girl's visit, and they were prepared for the girl's tantrums and wails that were befitting a young girl in unfamiliar territory. But Tsuna was unnaturally docile and quiet;
However, soon a tapping could be heard through the marble floors. A very familiar stomping that made them immediately freeze and bow. Tsuna, still oblivious to the danger as she was absorbed in the valuables that were placed in the marble hallway crashed into a hard surface. It had a distinctly male musky smell to it.
Looking up, she came face to face with a teen with fierce garnet eyes, black hair and what felt to be a permanent scowl etched onto his face.
Startled at the man's frightening animosity towards her when she didn't even know him- though he seemed to be the type to be a jerk to anyone- she decided to play it safe and bowed politely to the still glaring man.
'Is this man Xanxus? He does seem to be unapproachable…' Tsuna thought, her head down.
"Move trash." The man grated out with his foot threatening to kick her and his scowl growing more intense by the second. The other occupants in the area were aware of the incoming disaster and had left early on.
'Would he kick me if I asked who he was?' Taking a risk, she lifted up her head to face the molting glare and quietly whispered, "Are you Xanxus? The candidate for the position of boss?"
It was most likely correct as the man had lowered his foot and his eyes widened a tiny margin in shock.
When his surprise wore off, which wasn't more than a few seconds, his eyes narrowed and he demanded, "Who are you, trash?"
Before she could answer, an all too familiar yell resounded through the halls as she heard her father screaming, "Tsuna! Tsuna! Where are you?" Once Iemitsu had sighted her, he cried in joy and ran up to her, squeezing the life out of the now irritated girl.
"I'm fine fa- Papa. Anyway, who's he?" she asked, pointing to the man whose glare had not simmered down at all.
"Oh him? He's Xanxus, one of the candidates to succeed Boss's position as the Tenth boss." He rushed quickly before giving a nervous smile. "Now, why don't you go play in the garden with the maids? Papa and Grandpa have very important work to do after all…" He advised, sounding more like a command.
Not rushed, Tsuna nodded and turned to the other man. Bowing once more, she smiled at him and stated, "I' was nice t' meet you Xanxus-oniisan. I'm sure that you'll succeed Grandpa. In fact, I'll be' you'll be the best!" With another polite bow, she turned and slowly walked to the other side of the hallway.
Iemitsu could still send her back, and she didn't need that. Therefore, she would be forced to talk like some baby until she left. It would not be fun or stress-free at all.
She left behind a stunned and confused Xanxus, a father screaming out how wonderful his child was, and the migraine that had plagued her since morning. Who would have thought she'd find the scary man so amusing to watch?
Her seven year old mind was in sadistic mode as she imagined all the fun things they could do together. They did seem to both be on the more devious side after all. Yes, she would meet the man again, they would be friends, and finally she would learn all about what her father had hid from her mother all those years.
It would be a very hectic week at the mansion.
Walking along the sides of the hallways, Tsuna let out an unusual smirk as she headed towards what the maids and servants had called, "Xanxus-sama's Room" Of course, the woman had strongly advised her not to go, and only caved when she put the puppy eyes on, but all's fair in war right?
After what felt like an endless amount of minutes, she had finally arrived at the large doors that were the entrance to her vic- target's room.
It; however, frustrated her on how she was too short to pull the handle. She was the shortest one in her class too for pete's sake! It aggravated her to no end…
Shaking the useless thoughts out of her mind, she prepared herself and knocked on the door, making sure she was loud enough, but not too loud that it would be rude. Her response (at least there was one) was a rough grunt and then silence. Frowning, she once again, knocked on the door only louder.
That apparently pissed off the occupant of the room as the doors were swiftly opened by a none too happy Xanxus.
"WHAT?" he growled as he twisted his head to find the cause of his irritation. Finding none, he growled, only to peer down and stare perplexed at the little girl that stood in front of his room smiling and giving a small bow.
"Hello Xanxus-oniisan. It's nice to meet you again. May I come in?" she asked cutely looking up at her specimen.
Frowning in displeasure he sneered, "Leave, trash, before I make you. And what did you call me?" His feet were in ready position to kick at the small thing that was interrupting his time.
Not intimidated the slightest she gave out her puppy dog eyes and pouted. "But I thought you were like my brother. Aren't you?"
Xanxus's eyes twitched as large brown orbs that should not be affecting him did so. The invisible argument that was flashing in between the two was heated. It was funny, really seeing a lanky teen fighting with a child less than half his height.
In a less than a minute, the victor was announced as the black haired male growled and opened the door wider to let the small girl in. He made sure to slam the door after she entered, showing his annoyance at her entry.
Ignoring the stares and glares, she jumped carefully into the soft bed and sat upon it, legs swinging off the bed's end. Tilting her head, she started at the older man who was standing there uncomfortably, though he would never admit it. Ever. Xanxus was not uncomfortable around anyone, and definitely not a mere girl, damn it!
"What do you want, trash?" he bit out.
Again, unfazed with the man's blatant disregard for manners she asked, "Do you want sit down?" It was a random question that had popped up in her head as the man looked pretty uncomfortable. 'And I did take his bed after all.'
And so, she asks the random question while patting the spot on the large bed next to her. Sneering at her he replied, "And why should I you little piece of-". His outflow of words was stopped as she performed her famous puppy eye pout.
Growling, he quickly strode towards the spot beside her and thumps himself down.
"What do you want, trash?" he sighed trying to put up the effort in glaring. Sadly, it was failing ridiculously. Who would have thought such a man would be so weak to those special eyes of hers?
Smiling cutely she stated, "Why are you a candidate for boss?" Xanxus hot red at hearing this was going to start yelling when she continued. "I know Xanxus-oniisan is smart, strong, handsome and stuff, but do you have any relation to Grandpa?"
Xanxus couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth tilt in a small smirk, before it disappeared in an instant, replaced by the usual gnarl.
With an indignant snort he stated, "I'm the man's son."
Blinking in surprise, she put a finger up to her chin in thought. It didn't occur to her that her actions were just too cute.
"I see… Does that mean you'll be the future boss? If not, it's okay. I'm sure you'll get another great position." She wondered aloud.
Not pleased at all by this, Xanxus was going to kick the trashy girl when again; his actions were interrupted as she continued on with her monologue.
"Wait, does this mean you're my uncle? If you're Grandpa's son, you would be like Iemitsu's brother and my uncle so should I call you Xanxus-ojisan?"
Her face was scrunched up in thought as she tried to decide what to call him. Xanxus-niisan sounded much better than ojisan, but the teen looked like the type that demanded respect for even a bit of relationship to begin, and she did oh so want a relationship with him.
She snapped out of her pondering moment when Xanxus grunted out, "Call me what you called me before. That's good enough, scum."
With a bright and cute smile she chirped, "Okay, Xan-niichan."
The man was irked at her obvious change in his nickname, when he specifically… "Che. Whatever, trash." He was most definitely not giving because he knew he would lose. No, he was merely letting a whiney girl have her way before she started to cling to him. (And the girl's father would never allow him to damage the thing.) The poor delusional fool.
He also didn't realize that she would start clinging to him either way, and he would get used to it, maybe even finding solace in the annoying girl.
...
The rest of the day was spent playing around in his room while the teen was working. (Translation: She was staring at him while he sat on the bed reading, glaring at her, and yelling out orders.)
Sooner or later, she grew bored and lazily asked, "Hey Xan-niichan, why are you so busy? Is there a lot of work to be the boss of a traffic company?" There was nothing wrong with saying that right? Iemitsu told her he was a traffic worker, and technically, she would think this, so technically it wouldn't be her fault it he broke a chair or two. It was cute when he did it before.
Sputtering in rage he yelled, "WHAT? Trash, this isn't a company for damn TRAFFIC. This is the famous Vongola Mafia."
Eyebrows raised in faux confusion, she repeated, "Mafia? Iemitsu said he was a traffic worker at construction sites…"
"He was lying" Xanxus said calmly, holding a gun out. It was sleek and shiny; a nice black shade that stimulated her eyes. "See this? It's real. I'm a candidate for the tenth Vongola Mafia boss." The gun he held shot out bullets in succession and shot into the wall, creating a rough outline of the Varia Symbol.
The normally apathetic girl's eyes shimmered in excitement and admiration, gleaming like a cat at the weapon he held in his hands. "….So cool!" The man puffed up in pride and she begged, pulling on the sleeves of his jacket, "Can you teach me?"
Now normally he would tell the person to fuck off and kick them, but it was her, the girl he wasn't allowed to kill or order; the one that didn't seem to cower at his feet, so the only thing he could say was… "No."
"…"
Tsuna was devastated. "Why?" she moaned, glaring at the male. Xanxus merely snorted and sneered, "You think I'm going to waste my time on you, trash? You're nothing. Nothing but scum."
Tsuna wasn't a regular girl, but there was a limit to what she could take. If this was a man she wouldn't bother about, she'd ignore him. But Xanxus wasn't that. He was different. His past words to her had been harsh, yet these seemed to pierce her tiny heart. He was saying she was useless, of no importance, just one weak link he was forced to bear to the remainder of her stay. She was NOT useless…
Ejecting these negative thoughts about herself, Tsuna couldn't bear it anymore. She did what any 5 year old would have done: she cried. Large tear droplets formed on her eyes, blurring her vision as they continued to silently roll off her cheeks. This was the first she had cried since she was a babe.
Yes, it was stupid. Yes, she was acting like a selfish child. Yes, it's not like Xanxus was the type to make others feel better. But it still hurt a bit. She might've just been too tired, and it affected her emotionally, making her more susceptible to the dangers of tears and bawling.
She made no sound— no, it was a silent sort of crying. Her expression had not changed, only fixed into one of apathy. Not a sound; a whine; a sniff had come from her mouth. Yet her eyes had shown with… something that drew the frowning man to her. It spoke words, feelings that he had never realized a child could create. Guilt panged his already cracked soul.
Finally, with a sigh he gave in. "… It won't be easy. You better be ready to go to hell, trash."
Tsuna immediately looked up into his eyes, searching for the truth in his words. After finding what she looked for, her lips lifted into a smile and she laughed, her giggles sounding like the rings of wind chimes.
"Ok." She nodded her head in agreement and grinned cutely. Unknowingly, Xanxus's face grew soft before he growled and turned his head away.
And so, she prepared herself for what would be the most gruesome of training sessions in her life, not that she ever had any.
But this was what a man should be. He was an ideal for her: cold, strong, smart, rugged looking, commanding, and a gunner. Xanxus was interesting, unlike her own smothering father. If there were more people like him, her like would never fall into boredom again. Maybe others would gravitate to him and she would be able to join the fray of chaos that was sure to follow the teen.
That night, she fell asleep in her new adoptive brother's room with the hesitant Xanxus sleeping right beside her. This was attributed to the fact that she had said she couldn't sleep by herself. (Which was partially true considering she enjoyed sleeping beside her mother when a guest came and her room was taken.) "Good night Xan-niichan." She murmured. He replied with an uncomfortable huff.
She had also totally forgotten about her father, who was frantically yelling orders to find his daughter, who could not be found anywhere.
It was a peaceful night for the duo in bed.
Sadly for Iemitsu, he didn't get much sleep. He had only found the location of his missing daughter when some maid had told him that she went to Xanxus's room. Terror filled him at what the teen could do to his poor daughter. It was like handing a bunny to a ravenous wolf!
With all his remaining energy, he ran to the teen's room and opened the doors to see… his daughter and the vile man sleeping together! He did what a rational (or irrational) man would do. He blew.
"TSUNA! TSUNA MY DAUGHTER! THE VILE BOY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING BAD TO YOU DID HE?" he shouted at the top of his lungs, startling the two awake and irritated.
That seemed to something they had in common, as they both did not like their beauty rest interrupted by some worried male.
Tsuna groggily shook her head with a splitting headache. The man beside her glared at the unneeded alarm clock. "WHAT THE HELL, TRASH!" Said 'trash' ignored the angry man and turned to his daughter who was still trying to fully wake up. "Tsuna, I was so worried about you! Tell Papa whenever you need to go somewhere okay?"
When she finally cleared up enough to comprehend his words, she sighed and agreed. "Okay… Papa. Then today can I spen' some time wit' Xan-niichan?" She let her eyes widen and glow.
Iemitsu seemed adamant at refusing, but a few seconds of puppy eyes and he relented, leaving the two in the room with a dark glare at the man that stole her attention from him.
Since they couldn't exactly fall asleep even at that ungodly hour when the sun wasn't up yet, the two got up and brushed their teeth along with their other daily rituals with minimum talking.
As soon as she regained all of her consciousness Tsuna remembered yesterday's words and grinned.
"You're going to teach me about guns right?"
"…" He didn't answer, so she assumed it a 'sure'.
The walk down to the underground training grounds was supposed to be quiet. Then again, the gods were never that merciful.
"VOOOOOI! Boss, is that you? Who's the brat next to you?"
"..."
"BOSS! I couldn't wait to see you!"
"Ushishishi. The Prince has come for a visit."
"Bossu~ I see you're just as handsome and before~"
A crowd of men came up to the 'boss' with their own… unique sense. The ages in the group were also different. There was a blonde child with hair that covered his eyes—the one with the really high pitched giggle, an infant wearing some purple hat that covered his eyes, a tall teen dressed strangely with sunglasses and a strange white haired sharky teen that kept on yelling, "VOI"… It was indeed a strange group.
Wanting to know who the people were, Tsuna pulled Xanxus's jacket, bringing his attention to the waiting girl, which in turn brought everyone's attention to the strange girl that was with their boss. Even the money-obsessed infant.
"Xan-niichan, who are these people?" Tsuna asked. Those words excited a gasp from all. 'Xan-niichan?' was the collective thought. No one ever called him anything other than Xanxus, Xanxus-sama or Boss. Just who was this girl?
A grunt and Xanxus muttered, "The white guy's Squalo, tall guy's Lussuria "Call me Luss-neechan~" the squinty spiky haired guy is Leviathan, the infant's Mammon and the blonde's Belphegor.
It took a few seconds for Tsuna to process the information. Finally, she gave a smile, bowed and greeted the group. "Hi Squal-niichan, Luss-neechan, Levi-niichan, Mamm-kun, Bel-kun. It's nice to meet you all. My name is Sawada Tsuna but please call me Tsuna." Her introduction finished, she turned to Xanxus and pulled him forward, wanting to go. These people, while interesting as they were, weren't really worth her time considering she could be playing with guns now.
The group all had different reaction towards the polite child. Squalo considered her a brat at left it at that, though it was amazing how Xanxus wasn't killing her yet. Lussuria was pleased. Levi didn't exactly like her so close to his boss.
"…"
The teen glared suspiciously at her, attempting to get her away from his boss. Tsuna found it funny how such a scary person seemed to talk only to protect his position with his 'boss'. Levi's view of her changed after she commented, "Levi-niichan seems like a really good person for Xan-niichan! Like his right hand man or something!" Levi's view of her changed into one of a precious little girl as he basked in joy at the compliment, not that he showed it.
Mammon was neutral. The blonde just grinned maniacally. "Ushishishishi. Call me Prince, peasant."
Tsuna hmmed. "But Bel-kun, you look so kawaii! Too cute for a prince is what I think…" She pondered these thoughts while staring at Belphegor. The seven year old boy held a dark blush while he turned his head and held a soft grin. "Ushishishi."
They had held her attention long enough, but Tsuna was getting bored. "Xan-niichan. Are we going to train now?" Xanxus grunted and the two continued down the hallways.
Her question lid a bomb that exploded in about a second as there was an outburst. "WHAT?" Squalo questioned with wide eyes, "VOOOOI! Boss, is it really true? Are you really going to train the brat?"
Xanxus's answer was a grunt as he shot his bullets at Squalo. Doing so caused Tsuna to stare with glimmering eyes. "So cool!"
Silence slammed down the area. The Varia members gave in to indifference, but all were somewhat amused by the girl's obsession. Belphegor's laugh startled the silence into another moment of noise. "Ushishishi. The prince wishes to see the princess train." His demand was followed with a "Luss-neechan too!" "I will follow Boss too!" "VOI! I'll watch."
What was a small pair changed into a group of six. All the newest visitors went along. Even Mammon, who thought of it as a great way to get some information.
Once the group reached the underground training grounds, Xanxus turned to Tsuna and asked, "Trash, do you know how to use a gun. Hell, do you even have a gun?" Squalo huffed, "Fucking Boss, do you think this brat has a fucking gun?"
His comments angered the already a bit irritated man and so Squalo had to then avoid a couple of bullets that would have killed him. Tsuna yawned at them, though her eyes were sparkling again…
"I have a water gun…" she added.
A few seconds of silence penetrated the usually dystopian group and soon they were laughing their heads off. Tsuna pouted. "Not funny! What would happen if someone set your socks of fire? A bullet doesn't take out fires you know."
"You'll kill the trash before they do anything to you, trash." Xanxus snorted. Pouting even more, Tsuna just harrumphed and stuck her tongue out childishly. "Whatever, Xan-niichan."
Another snort followed her, and sooner (or later), Xanxus and another mafia person Xanxus said was from their Varia group taught her all the mechanics of a gun, loading, shooting, cleaning, aiming, and more. The rest stood and watched for a while before leaving one by one.
This went on for the whole week. Miraculously, Iemitsu (who was still whining) was too busy to actually be in contact with his daughter. The remaining days were of her getting up, training, eating, training, conversing with the other member of what they called the 'Varia', training, and sleeping. It was like a vacation/boot camp. Every day she went to sleep with bruises, scratches, and all the other lovely injuries she sustained. Her injuries were thankfully well hidden through her clothes. No black eyes or anything of that sort.
Training was harsh and heavy. Mornings were jogging (running away from bullets that were aimes precociously close to her back), learning how to use guns, and eating. Afternoons were history of the Vongola and Varia, knowledge of different guns, learning Italian (she could now speak very choppy, simple Italian and has multiple thick books of the Italian language), and Dying Will Power.
They considered it a major part of the Vongola group, and the girl might be able to use it, even if it was merely just a small flicker that would light out immediately, it would grow as she grew older. Evenings were (again) training, jogging, etc. Nights were meant for resting.
Tsuna enjoyed the whole thing. Really. Just maybe she didn't really like the lack of sleep, pain, lack of sleep, lack of sleep and other things that came with it. She did, (at least she should) improve her use of guns, aim, strength, stamina and all the basic things critical to a mafia. In fact, she grew used to the foreign idea that her father was the advice-man for Granpa, and that Xanxus was a contestant for the role of future leader. Of course, there were the sad parts where Xanxus would leave the Varia and Squal-niichan would be the new leader, but that was fine.
Vacation (if it can be called that) was finally over as the week passed. Tsuna was at the airport with her bags saying goodbye to her brothers. "Sayonara Xan-niichan, Squal-niichan, Lussuria-neechan, Bel-kun, Levi-niichan, Mamm-kun. Will I ever see you again?" she asked, looking at them sadly.
She didn't want to do was cry at their last meeting together. One thing she learned training with the group was that they didn't like tears. 'Xan-niichan would act really weird and nice to me, Levi-niichan would pamper me, Squal-niichan would curse and turn away, Mamm-kun would give me candy, Bel-kun would say, "Ushishishi. The princes demands you to stop.", Luss-neechan would hug me. I wonder why all assassins seem to be weak to tears... Embarrassing I think.'
So with hands rubbing her tear stricken eyes she sniffled and looked up at the people she called her brothers.
"This won't be our last meeting, houhei." Xanxus said his face turned away from the confused girl. "Huh?" was Tsuna's confused response.
A huff and he answered, "If we ever fly near Japan, we'll visit."
Those words, along with the fact that she had just received her first sort-of compliment from her brother made her feel much better. Sniffing one last time she whispered. "Really?" Puffy red eyes peered up at her brother. A small blush could be identified.
He grunted.
Joyously she ran up to the red faced man and literally threw herself on him, hugging his leg. Surprised, he turned his head away. Xanxus hugged no one.
That rule now had an exception. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around the tiny sister he had. The two were emotionally connected by a small hug. All feelings of joy, acceptance, even love was expressed through that contact.
The special moment was broken by a loud squeal, murmurings and a cry of outrage.
"Aww~ Boss and Tsu-chan look so cute together~"
"VOOOI! Never knew the fucking boss was so touchy."
"Ushishishi. The prince finds this amusing."(Yet there was a tick mark on his head.)
"NOOOOOO~ TSUNA, MY BELOVED DAUGHTER! HOW CAN YOU HUG SUCH A MAN! STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU VILE BEAST!" Iemitsu yelled, pulling Tsuna away from the man he named the worker of Satan that wanted to corrupt his innocent daughter.
He suffocated his daughter possessively and Tsuna didn't like it one bit. Her face was turning purple and she squirmed in his grasp. "I-Iemitsu let go!" "WHAT? CALL ME PAPA!" the father whined, reluctantly letting his daughter go. Breathing in the air hungrily she glared at Iemitsu and sighed.
"Goodbye everybody. Goodbye Iemitsu." "CALL ME PAPA~~~" the man (once again) whined. Tsuna let herself forget the presence of the man and smiled at her brothers. With one last glance she boarded the plane headed for Japan, the bodyguard next to her. Iemitsu settled for crying about his daughter's departure and glaring at Xanxus. All the others just looked strangely at the head of the CEDEF.
It was nighttime when Tsuna returned home, only to be grasped into the bear hug of her mother. "Tsu-chan…. I missed you a lot. Are you okay? Did you like your stay there? Mama missed you a lot… sniff." Bombarded with the millions of questions by her mother, Tsuna just slowly patted her mother's back.
Feeling a whole lot guiltier about leaving her mother alone, she spent the rest of the night acting like a normal clingy 5-year old daughter would. Call it a present or reward, for her mother lasting so long by herself.
Her room was still familiar, not that it wouldn't be with only a week away from home, but it was comforting and different than the beds (she shared with her different brothers) in Italy.
Her lone body slipped into the small bed next to the window and she stared outside at the dark sky filled with what looked like burnings diamonds which penetrated the blackness. She would admit it: she had grown accustomed to sleeping with another, and the lack of a source of heat left her empty. The warmth received when crushed against another body was addicting, comforting, almost like a father that was never there.
Closing her eyes, she snuggled in the blankets and thought, 'I'm glad to be back home.'
Her tired body finally collapsed and she drifted to peace.
A/N: I hope you liked it. Please review, either giving tips or compliments. This is an (second) edit, so hopefuly the characters are less OOC than before. Hopefully... Edits still can be edited after all.
Houhei means gunner