This was it. He was going to open three doors if it killed him.

The training had been somewhat harsh for a civilian, but it suited him perfectly. After all, he didn't come here to have everything handed to him on a platter. He had to deal with the servant's condescending attitude for years in the Vongola main house, and had scared the Varia staff into obedience by the end of the first week. He had seen where complacency and having everything handed to you lead.

If he was going to claim a bloodline like the Zoldyck, then he damn well wanted to earn it and be considered a proper member of the family.

He began to push, pouring every ounce of his strength into his body and getting into a decent position to fully use his strength.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then the doors began to move. The first one caught, then the second began to move. This was the telling moment, and he pushed harder. The third began to move inward...and was promptly followed by the fourth door. He couldn't move any more than that, and considering the first door alone weighed four tons, he could be reasonably proud of himself.

He could see why the Zoldyck were considered the best of the best, if even their children had to move the first door just to get in and out of the estate.

Zebro tipped his hat out of respect for the sheer amount of pressure the younger man had put himself through. Xanxus knew to get to the next gate, he had to follow straight from the door until he found another Butler. Mike, the beast that lived just within the borders, would ignore him since he was using the proper door. He was trained to ignore anyone who came through the actual door rather than take the easy way out.

Xanxus walked confidently down the path. It took him an hour to reach the next gate and that was because he took his time to observe his surroundings. When he arrived at the gate, he did not make the mistake of assuming the child to be harmless. Belphegor was younger than this kid and he was already a bloodthirsty brat.

"I cannot allow you to pass," they said calmly.

"And what happens if I wait here for whoever is supposed to come get me?"

"So long as you do not attempt to pass me without escort, I have no reason to fight you."

Xanxus found a suitable rock and sat down. Fifteen minutes passed in perfect silence, before an old man appeared.

"So...you are Martina's son. You've got some fire that needs tempering."

Xanxus stared him down, which caused the old man to smirk with approval.

"Let's see if you can handle turning that tiny bonfire of yours into an inferno."

"Bring it on, trash. I didn't come here to have anything handed to me," said Xanxus sneering.

He followed the old man past the gate, to the confusion and disbelief of the person guarding it.

Back in Italy...

Squalo was pissed, but at least they had the last laugh. In order to maintain the ruse Xanxus was around, they had proceeded with the original plan Xanxus had tossed about in order to perform a long overdue cleaning of rats in the main house.

Xanxus had confided in his more trustworthy guardians...namely Squalo and Mammon...that he was not the son of the Ninth. Timoteo had apparently taken one look at his Wrath flames and had decided to create the lie in order to control him better and to keep anyone else from trying to claim him.

Needless to say with how volatile Xanxus was, that would never end well.

Learning that Xanxus had been put on 'house arrest' and then being dragged down to the basement where a giant ass block of something that looked like ice containing the illusion Mammon had created of the boss had been a nightmare. And a major test of Squalo's patience in trying not to ruin things too early.

If it wasn't for the fact Squalo knew damn well Xanxus wasn't even in the country when the so called "Cradle Affair" went down, he might have been worried.

Instead, those who knew the truth were mocking the Ninth.

Squalo was sorely tempted to try and contact his boss to tell him what happened...if only so they knew what to do. Until he came back, they would have to pretend Xanxus was stuck in that ice block.

Didn't stop them from being pissed at the way the main house and Iemitsu were treating them.

Xanxus was in agony. He fully understood why the Zoldyck clan were considered the top dogs in the assassin trade, if this was what they put their own blood family through.

He felt like complete crap, but damn if he wasn't being pushed to his absolute limits!

As he slowly sat up, once his body stopped screaming, he saw something nearby.

"Trash, come out before I start shooting," said Xanxus irritably.

It was a kid. He couldn't have been much older than Belphegor, and just as bratty. He had familiar light colored hair and blue eyes, and had the same aura Belphegor did when he got to slaughter someone.

"So what did you do to convince grandpa to take you on as apprentice?"

Xanxus snorted.

"I'm not an apprentice, brat."

The kid's eyes narrowed.

"I'm not a brat, and considering I'm the heir I deserve to know what's going on."

"Brat."

"You looking to die, old man?"

"You looking to get the first decent ass whipping you've had since you were in your diapers last year?" he snarked back.

Even feeling like crap, he dodged the sudden attack. He sensed the old man watching with dark amusement, but said nothing. He had a brat to school.

Two hours later...

Killua, affectionately known as "brat" by Xanxus , was making an unholy racket as the older teen grabbed him by the scruff of his neck before he could run and promptly put him over his knee and tanned his ass raw. To add further humiliation, Zeno was recording EVERYTHING for his son and daughter-in-law to laugh over later. The sheer indignity of being treated like an actual kid by someone he mistook as a 'mere apprentice' made the humiliation worse.

When he let Killua back up, the kid gave him a massive stink eye.

"Stupid old geezer! Just because you got this far doesn't mean you're going to survive! I'm surprised grandpa took someone as decrepit as you as an apprentice!"

Xanxus sneered at him.

"Use your fucking head, trash. Do you really think the Zoldyck would take on an apprentice when all of their heirs are male and only two are of age to actually procreate?" he shot back.

Killua opened his mouth, but it was clear that had confused him before he confronted Xanxus. He couldn't understand why his grandfather and father had taken an interest in someone he thought was just an outsider. The only outsider allowed in the main house was his mother, and to his knowledge Illumi liked guys and Milluki wasn't interested in humans period.

Zeno walked out at that moment, causing Killua to tense for a split second.

He cackled at Xanxus.

"If you managed to survive with enough energy to give the heir a hiding, then clearly your combat skills are up to par," he said amused and quite pleased. Sure, his shots were sloppy but Killua had always been fast so it was acceptable.

Killua's confusion only deepened.

"Since that fool Silva never bothered to inform you of why we let him in, allow me to introduce you to your cousin."

"Cousin?!" said Killua, his interest suddenly peaked.

Which made sense...the only family he had known was his immediate family like his parents and siblings. The idea of a cousin was something he never considered.

"I'm sure Silva will elaborate on the full relation. Needless to say he's of Zoldyck blood and we felt it necessary to test his capabilities."

Xanxus might be a foul-mouthed brat, but he had all the right qualifications to be called a Zoldyck. It was simply a matter of increasing his physical condition to the bare minimum they demanded of their children.

After that rather delightful confrontation, Zeno declared him "acceptable enough" to stay in the main mansion rather than the small cabin that he had been staying in.

The staff was still under orders to test him daily, and to slip actual poisons into his food to increase his resistance, but that was to be expected. The simple fact he had made it into the mansion after ten months was enough for now.

It meant they considered him "potentially family" as opposed to "outsider who shares our blood".

Best of all they had a proper forge and outside of training he was allowed to play with it as much as he wanted. They even had flame reactive metal that normally took far too much time and effort to acquire in decent amounts and other items that would have been a complete pain in the ass to get his hands on...all while Mammon bitched about the expenses.

Words could not describe how pleased he was to be allowed a chance to make real Quality weapons the way HE wanted, without having to worry about a budget or dealing with paperwork. All members of the family were heavily encouraged to find their niche and become damn good at it. Xanxus had his, but he wasn't about to say no to extra training.

All the while, his 'intuition' as his fake father had insisted he hone was telling him something had happened back in Italy. Likely all the reason he would need to turn his back on the main house until they got their heads out of their asses.

The Zoldyck were more than happy to 'lessen' the training so he could complete his weapons. If there was one thing they understood, it was having a damn good weapon you knew for a fact you could rely on.

That he made his own was odd, but perfectly acceptable since he didn't mind letting the family borrow the rejects. Quality weapons were hard to come by.

What he came out with had him beyond eager to test them out.

Fortunately, the Zoldyck clan understood the desire to play with their shiny new toys on people who either deserved it or they were paid enough to care about their existence.

Right up until they ended it of course.

Silva sent Xanxus out with Illumi, his eldest son. He wanted an honest assessment of the teen's skills and whether he was worthy of being called a Zoldyck.

Xanxus had been drilled by Zeno in what was considered 'acceptable' during a kill and what wasn't. It was a slightly altered version of what the Varia had, though some idiots always tried to break them.

It felt good, to go out on a hit with his cousin.

Even if he was doing most of the work and Illumi was insuring standards were kept, the fact he was doing one at all with family was something he couldn't really describe.

The target was scum anyway.

Squalo picked up the phone. It was a private number only for the boss or his fellow Guardians, and if they needed something they would have come to him directly rather than call.

"Shark trash."

Squalo felt relief. Xanxus was alive and if he was calling now then he must have passed whatever requirements the family had to be called one of them.

Considering the crap Nono pulled, he was better off with his mother's family.

"Boss, we need to talk," said Squalo.

"What happened?"

"Nono has a technique that can invert flame. We continued on with the plan to rid the main house of all the rats it accumulated, and Mammon's double of you confronted the old man. From what the miser saw, the old man used some sort of shitty technique by the Primo to turn you into an ice cube while doing his usual bullshit. The signal cut off after it was completed."

Dead silence. Squalo could feel the fury on Xanxus' end and through their bond.

"He would have done WHAT?!"

"There's more. Massimo is dead. Idiot was thrown into off a pier with concrete shoes."

Xanxus' rage was even worse now.

"We suspect Ottabio's been selling out to Iemitsu, but we can't do anything until you get back. And Nono has us under heavy restricted measures right now. They're calling it the Cradle Affair."

"I'm going to fucking kill him when I get back."

"What do you want us to do?"

"For now, keep up the ruse I'm in the ice. Tell the miser brat I want them to work on separating us from the Vongola. Apparently running a 'lesser' assassin organization is considered an acceptable hobby for the family, since it means they can outsource the jobs they don't feel like taking," said Xanxus flatly.

If this was how the Ninth was going to treat him, then fuck the Vongola. He felt more at home with the Zoldyck clan than he ever had with the Vongola.

He still respected the hell out of Daniela, and considered a grandmother figure. Since he still had no idea who the hell his father was, he'd tolerate their limited claim on him. But he wasn't going to be a Vongola anymore.

He had enough of the manipulation and lies. Sure, the Zoldyck were like that too, but they at least respected family. Even the Butlers were treated with more respect than Xanxus had ever gotten from the main house.

The children were put through hell, but they were still treated allowed to be children at the end of the day.

"Oh and tell Belphegor that when I get back I'm introducing his spoiled ass to a playmate."

Squalo...decided he didn't want to know.

(He also wouldn't know who Xanxus was trying to piss off more. His baby cousin Killua, or the damn prince brat. Either way they were amusing frenemies.)