CHAPTER 6: Impression

Opening the door to his best friend's office, G scowled in annoyance at the sight beholding him.

"Giotto," G started "calm the fuck down and start working right now. Knuckles is with him, what could go wrong?"

Giotto, who had weld a path into the extremely expensive rug with all of his fidgeting and walking back and forth, flopped himself on his chair and buried his face into his hands. With a frustrated groan, he messed up his already very messy blond mane and this rare show of helpless and frustration troubled G greatly. Giotto wasn't invulnerable, G knew that, even the Greatest Sky sometimes had his low moments. And this was one of those occasions that G himself felt that he needed to step in and get to the bottom of it.

"Giotto, why are you like this? I thought you've already said he wasn't your son."

"He really isn't! But- Ugh! You wouldn't understand, G!"

Their conversation was then interrupted by light knockings on the door.

"Giotto?"

"Yes, come in please!"

The door opened revealing a man in a priest's robe with dark hair and equally dark eyes. Giotto's eyes lit up immediately as he recognized who had just entered.

"You are truly a sight for sore eyes, Knuckles! So, how is he?"

Knuckles sighed at his boss' antics and said. "Extremely hello to you too, Giotto. He's EXTREMELY fine. Broke two ribs, twisted ankle, dislocated shoulder, a lot of bruises and cuts but nothing major, all of them I have dealt with. He would need some therapy for that shoulder, though. Deep cut on right hand, I EXTREMELY bandaged that too, though it will leave a scar. He was malnourished and dehydrated, but nothing a lot of rest and some good meals could not fix. Well, all in all, he lucked out. As long as he stays in bed and takes it easy for the next few weeks, he will be as good as new in no time."

G and Giotto shared a look and both of them released a relieved sigh. The brunet did really luck out as Giotto had intervened just in time so that he got away with minor injuries and not end up with a stab wound or further traumas (like getting raped or getting sold into a brothel).

"Is he awake?"

"Yes, he EXTREMELY woke up a while ago. Well the thing is, I asked him a few questions but he said he remembered nothing but his name. I will let you be the judge of that. He is asking for you too. Do you want to see him? He seemed confused and really nervous. I figure a … familiar face will help calm him down!"

"Or extremely weirded out…" G snickered from the side.

"Shshshh! Well, I'm going to see him now-"

"About that… Giotto, are you sure he is EXTREMELY not related to you? I mean, he looks like you is one thing. But he even has those glowing eyes and all. Did you know that he almost EXTREMELY gored my eyes out from being woken up too suddenly?"

"…"

"Giotto?"

"I will worry about that later." Giotto gently shouldered past his priest friend and exited the office, heading to the direction that he assumed the familiar stranger was in, only to be stopped by Knuckles.

"Hm?"

"He is in the spare room near yours."

"But we put him in the infirmary, didn't we?"

"Well I EXTREMELY moved him. I figure you would prefer him somewhere more private considering… well!"

"That's… very well thought. Thank you, Knuckles. Lead the way, please!"

When they arrived, the room seemed silent but Giotto was able to sense the brunet's presence very well. The other young man was indeed up and about, and true to Knuckles' words, he felt nervous if the sounds of someone kept walking back and forth was anything to tell. Giotto chuckled to himself realizing that was exactly what he did earlier, a habit he got when he got too nervous and needed to vent, in private, of course. He was experienced enough to know not to show his true emotions in front of an audience.

Lightly knocking on the door, Giotto cleared his throat lightly and called. "May I come in,-"

"Tsunayoshi!" Knuckles lightly reminded him, and Giotto arched his eyebrow at how the foreign syllables clumsily fell off Knuckles' tongue. And his extensive knowledge of several languages allowed Giotto to immediately recognize which language the name belonged to. So he is Japanese.

"-Tsunayoshi?"

From inside the room, they heard someone stumbling and fell over, but he seemed fine and stood up immediately. A second later, the door cracked open by a tiny bit. As he saw who it was at the door, his brown eyes widened and he opened the door fully to let the two older men in.

"H-hi? Come in, please!"

Giotto leveled a reassuring smile at the nervous man, and with a long breath, the man had successfully calmed himself down. The brunet came to sit on his borrowed bed and gestured for them to take the seats on the two small chairs of the spare room. Giotto claimed one, but Knuckles saw himself out after checking on the brunet's wounds.

The brunet had indeed calmed down significantly under Giotto's watchful eyes, all signs of previous restlessness and uneasiness he felt beforehand had been carefully masked. His eyes flashed orange and flitted over Giotto's face and form discreetly as though to look for the signs of weapons hidden on his person. And with a barely noticeable tilt of his head, he was now skimming the room he was in, probably for possible escape should the needs arise.

All of these assessments happened in a few fleeting moments and it left such a deep impression on Giotto, though it saddened him to think about the life this very fragile looking man had led to have possessed this kind of skills.

"Hello, I guess some introductions are in order, isn't it? Well, I'm Giotto."

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi." The young man introduced himself calmly. What didn't escape Giotto's eyes was the brunet's posture, ramrod straight and exuded nothing but grace and confidence, yet the slight flickering of his eyes told Giotto yet of the inner turmoil inside his head, hidden underneath the mask of polite indifference. Needless to say, this man had the aura and the charisma of an experienced boss through and through. Despite being placed under such a circumstance, the man knew to keep calm and assess the situation first before making any move instead of rushing headfirst into dangerous territory. Any lesser man would be pretty shaken after such an ordeal.

"By the sound of your name, I take it you are a foreigner."

"If this place isn't Japan, then yes, I'm a foreigner."

"True to your words, this is Sicily, Italy. I guess you can deduce by yourself since everybody is speaking Italian. I could say for a foreigner, your Italian is nothing short of flawless."

"Uhm… Thank you." The man had the grace to blush a little from the compliment.

"Nice to meet you, Tsunayoshi. I wish we had met under better circumstances. But well, here we are. I'm truly glad you are okay though."

"Thank you for helping me, Mr. Giotto. And even bring me here to heal me. Thanks to Mr. Knuckles I barely even remembered I got injured in the first place. Still don't figure out how he did that yet." The young man said, the gratefulness in his voice was genuine, Giotto didn't even need his Intuition to be able to tell.

"Please don't call me Mr. Giotto, Tsunayoshi! It makes me sound really old. I'm only 31 years old for god's sake! Hey wait, now I actually sound old saying it out loud."

The brunet chuckled lightly, loosened his posture the slightest bit but did not relax at all, and Giotto had to give an applause to the younger man's show of vigilance: Never let his guard down in unknown territory. Whoever had taught him had done a very good job.

Giotto couldn't help it, felt the need to test him a little bit more. Increasing what his friend liked to call his 'boss aura', the man fixed his posture and schooled his expresion, at the same time releasing a bit of his Flame into the air, and let his own presence pressing down more on the brunet's in front of him, just to see how he fared under the pressure of his Will. He saw the other man involuntarily tensed up with the sudden change of atmosphere.

"Earlier, I saw how you fought those goons."

"You watched me?" The other man asked, his brown eyes flashed orange for a second.

"Well, I intended to intervene, but seeing that you seemed to be able to take care of the situation by yourself, I took the privilege to observe you instead. The last one who tried to stab you though, that I had to step in. But I got a feeling that if you were in your top shape, taking down the last goon would not be a big problem."

"..."

"You fought very well, Tsunayoshi. Who taught you, may I ask? You don't seem the type who grew up on the street, your movements were way too clean and well executed to be one." Giotto finished, his pressing gaze all but dared the brunet to lie to his face.

The man stayed silent for a beat, his expression turned pained and his voice came out a little shaky.

"I… don't remember."

Truth. His intuition quietly supplied.

"How come?"

The other man sighed and covered his face with his uninjured hand.

"The thing is, I woke up, in a coffi- in the middle of nowhere without any recollection of my past a few days ago. The only thing I remember well is my full name. Everything else gives me headaches just thinking about it."

"I then tried to reach the nearest civilization I could find, which was this town. I was pretty beat up at that point so I hoped to be able to find somewhere to stay for the night. But strangely, as long as they took one look at my face, they turned me down even when I said I would work any kind of job in exchange for a place to stay and a meal."

Giotto was barely able to hide a wince as he knew exactly why the townspeople reacted the way they did.

"One man, a baker, took pity on me and let me stay in his shed, but asked me to leave immediately before the first light of day. I had been wandering around the town for quite a while after that before I decided to leave the town to look for somewhere else where people would be more… accepting of me."

"That was when I ran into those brutes. They… tried to drag me away to god knows where in broad daylight." 'Yet none of the townspeople even lifted a finger to help' was what he didn't say. "They were really persistent too, practically chasing after me through the whole town. I wasn't able to evade them since I was too drained and famished. Eventually they were able to corner me in that alley. And well, you saw the rest."

"That's why… I'm truly sorry that I could not provide you with the answers you need."

He is telling the truth. Giotto mused at the fact his intuition helpfully told him. Pleased with the answers, he finally let up the pressure that he put the younger man under. The man did relax a bit but still eying him warily. Giotto winced in his head. He had observed enough of the brunet, and now he really needed the other to drop his guard so the next conversation could go on smoothly.

"… I see… What are you planning to do afterward, Tsunayoshi?" Giotto asked, almost tentatively.

"Truthfully, I have no idea. This town is not very welcoming to me so far, so I'll probably skip town after I feel better, find some jobs to get by while searching for clues for my appearance here. I mean, there must be a reason that I went to Italy, weren't there?"

"… It will come back eventually, don't worry."

"I certainly hope so. I hate being so confused and clueless about everything."

The miserable and vulnerable expression on the brunet's face really made Giotto want to give him a hug or something.

"How about this, you stay with us for the time being while waiting for your memories to come back, then you can decide your next course of action. If you still want to be around, you can. And if you want to find a way to come back to where you are from, I'll find ways to help you."

"But- why? I mean, the townspeople, there must be a reason they treated me like that! I-I really don't want to trouble you when you've already done so much for me. If me staying in your house brings you trouble with the townspeople…"

"Nonsense! First, I'll never abandon someone in need. Second, well, you don't need to worry about someone antagonizing me over you. I can take care of myself."

"Plus, me and my Family run a pretty big… business around here so any extra pair of hands is always welcomed. You can help around the house in exchange for food and lodging if you think you are taking advantage of my kindness."

"I don't get it. Why would you go through such lengths for me, Giotto?"

"Honestly, I had a hard youth myself so I deeply sympathize with you and your struggles. I'm truly lucky to be where I am now thanks to a lot of help so I feel the need to extend a hand to anyone who sorely missed it." What Giotto told the younger man was a half-truth and he hoped the brunet would not question more on it. While it was true that Giotto would not turn a blind eye to anyone who needed his help, the reasons for him wanting the brunet to stay were much more complicated and Giotto hoped he wouldn't need to explain it.

"I- well then, thank you, Giotto for your kindness." The man answered carefully after several intense minutes of pondering. He really could not blame the man for being careful, Giotto was just glad it wasn't a hard no. "I still don't want to trouble you too much, though. So I guess after I recover, I will rent a room in the town and come here to… work?"

"Eh… Actually, it was best that you just stay here. We have plenty of spare rooms, so you don't need to worry about that."

Catching the older man's slight panic about him leaving, the younger man's expression quickly drained of any warmth and gratefulness he showed earlier. Now in his eyes there was only cold suspicion.

"Why the insistence, Giotto? What are you not telling me?" Tsuna frowned and eyed him warily. "You have to understand that while I don't think you are a bad man who's out to hurt me, I'm at the moment clearly at a disadvantage not being able to remember anything about my past or having any information about how things go around here. Therefore I cannot blindly trust you especially when you are blatantly lying to my face. So please excuse me if I cannot accept your offer to stay if you cannot provide a viable reason as to why I need to trust you!"

The blond sighed, he knew better than to hope that the brunet would accept his offer readily without question. And he had little hope that he would be able to fool this man anyway, if what he knew of him was accurate, then the brunet would most likely possess the same gift as him- the Hyper Intuition.

"Listen, Tsunayoshi. I do have some ulterior motives, but I promise they are completely harmless. I do not intend to hide anything from you but-" Dragging a hand down his face, Giotto looked away from the younger man's doubtful gaze and said, "Scratch that, you will know sooner or later. I'd rather you hear it from me than someone else."

"You are making me incredibly anxious, Mr. Giotto."

"Then promise me that you will keep calm and listen to what I'm about to say to the end, okay?"

"..."

"Firstly, I suppose I should tell you a little bit about my origin…"

Much later that night, Giotto was having dinner with his friends in one of the very grand and luxurious dining rooms of the Mansion, by his side sat one very nervous and jittery brunet, who looked like a carbon copy of the blond himself.

"...So, in short, this is Sawada Tsunayoshi, my… half-brother." The man finished his explanation and introduction with a very dramatic flourish, heedless of his friends' jaw drops and comically hilarious expressions on their faces.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK-?" The pin- readhead he had seen earlier- G, if he recalled correctly exclaimed with both his hands thrown into the air. And by the expression on his face, Tsuna could tell the man was anything but pleased about this news.

"You are not shitting us, right?" A teenager with messy green hair asked, this one Tsuna remembered was introduced to be Lampo "I mean, he looked too much like you and all but to drop a bomb like this on us is a bit-"

"-EXTREMELY UNBELIEVABLE!" The dark haired priest that treated Tsuna earlier finished his word extremely loudly.

The other half of his Guardians remained stoically silent- in Alaude's case, or seething in rage- in Daemon Spade'a case. Asari just dropped his wooden chopstick in surprise.

"Well, you all have heard my explanation. Whether you believe me or not, I guess it's all up to you." Giotto put a hand on the younger brunet's shoulder and pulled him to a loose side hug. He felt the younger man flinch in surprise but did not pull away from his touch, so Giotto took it as a win. "Even myself and Tsunayoshi felt skeptical about how lucky it was, for me to run into him completely by chance, in Sicily of all places, shouldn't you all be more happy for me?"

"But why, Giotto? I am your best friend and you never even told me about you being half-Japanese and all, and even have a fucking brother? I mean, if this is a ploy to deceive us about you secretly knocking someone up, by accident or not, I swear on my mother's name that I will never forgive you!"

"For god's sake- For the last time, Tsunayoshi is not my son! I'm only 31 years old, and Tsunayoshi is- Ugh, how old are you again, Tsunayoshi?"

"… about 21, give or take."

"See, I can't have him at 10!" Giotto exclaimed, then he turned to the brunet with an afterthought. "You are actually older than I thought."

"… I somehow got the feeling that I got that comment a lot. But yeah, I'm 21 years old."

He believed himself to have died at the age of 21.

Giotto involuntarily shuddered at the memory that somehow found its way inside his head at that very moment, triggered by the brunet's seemingly innocent answer. 21- The simple, two-digit number somehow felt so wrong and depressing to the blond's ears.

He isn't 21 anymore, he just unconsciously considers himself to never pass that age. Time had stopped, to him specifically, on the day he turned 21.

Shaking off the thought, Giotto tried his best to focus on his audiences, who were all staring at him over the table with varied states of emotions. Some of them even looked like they were about to tear his head off with bare hands and feed them to a lion.

Yet one of them, the only person of the group who used a pair of chopsticks for his meal, looked strangely thoughtful.

"What's on your mind, Ugetsu?"

"Say, Giotto, is your last name also Sawada like young Tsunayoshi here?"

"Yes, Sawada is also my family name."

"Then are you perhaps related at all to Sawada Hideyoshi, the late Advisor and Teacher of His Majesty The Emperor?"

Giotto sighed, and covered his face with his hands, he spoke with his expression safely hidden behind the palms of his hands, though they could not hide the emotional hiccup in his voice. "Yes, I am. In fact, Sawada Hideyoshi is none other than mine and Tsunayoshi's… father."

He heard a gasp coming from Asari, but none other reacted- they didn't know who the man was and what it meant being related to him. He stole a glance at the brunet beside him, seeing him frown but chose not to say anything.

"Then it's true, your family was…"

"Yeah. My father was sentenced to death by the Emperor for committing treason. His family got killed along too, but Tsunayoshi has somehow managed to get away."

The occupants of the room were drowned in deadly silence at the morbid revelation. Seven pairs of eyes all stared at him in tandem.

"My… deepest condolences, Giotto and Tsunayoshi."

"It's fine, Asari-san. I don't remember any of those so I don't really feel sad or anything. It's the thought that counts." The brunet answered, carefully gawking at Giotto and the others' reactions. Giotto glanced back at him and offered a grim smile. He continued his explanation shortly after.

"Well, my father's family, they drove me and my mother out when I was really young for being foreigners, so I do not grieve much for them. Tsunayoshi was born much later, and from a different mother than I did." Giotto mustered the most somber face he could while rejoicing mentally. Oh, my dearest Asari Ugetsu, thank you for conspicuously backing up my story. "It's ironic actually, my mother and I escaped death due to being my father's 'dirty little secret'."

A gentle hand, smaller and softer than any of his friends, laid on his shoulder, and when he looked to the side, he was given a look by the brunet he had decided to take under his wings.

And suddenly, the sadness on his face wasn't him putting up a miserable face fishing for his friends' pity anymore. And his illusion about being completely at peace with his own past had finally shattered.

Despite Giotto feigning nonchalance on the inside, the brunet had seen through double-layered masks he had worn to protect himself from his own pain. He knew with just one look, that he had been in denial for practically the length of his life about how painful it was for Giotto to look back on the harshest, darkest period of his life, where he and his mother faced betrayals after betrayals.

When he was born, as the eldest son of the most trusted Advisor of His Majesty the Emperor, he was supposedly promised a bright future. Ieyasu- 'a healthy home', his father named him in lieu of the hope for his son to always have a happy family. Yet aside from his parents who deeply loved him, every other member in the Sawada Clan looked down on him because he was born from a foreign mother. The 'blue-eyed wench' they called her behind her husband's back, and she wasn't able to retaliate at all since she knew too little Japanese. One day when he turned 7, his father went on a hunting trip with the Emperor, and his grandmother took that chance to kick them out of the house. They had the audacity to tell Giotto and his mother that they were acting on Hideyoshi's order, and to their father that both of them were dead when going out for an excursion.

Penniless and homeless, they returned to Italy in utter shame and humiliation, hoping his mother's family would take them in out of pity. Only to be told that, no, an abandoned woman could not return to her old family. Once married, to death she still belonged to the family of her husband.

She then begged for Giotto to be taken in, yet her own father told them coldly, what use could I have for a half-bred mutt?

What choice did they have, being shunned by family from both sides? His mother who was born into a rich family, never before had to wash a dish, now worked three jobs with two hours of sleep per day, just to get by and bring up a growing boy. Yet she never lost her dignity, her pride and her kindness. She never complained, never even let the hardship of life change her visions or beliefs. She kept on insisting that her ex husband loved them, that he was brought into life beloved by both of his parents.

Had he been brought up by a bitter mother, who blamed him for everything and saw him as nothing but a burden, he would have been a much different person.

Eventually, she had to leave him too, taking with her the last bit of warmth the life had graciously granted his childhood. She died from overworking and malnourishment, her cold body thrown out to the road by her landlord as though it was a plague. She never had a funeral, as Giotto as a child just could not afford one. In the end, he had to bury his mother's corpse with his own bare hands. He was 10 at that time.

The next period of his life was spent on trying to survive on the streets, where he learnt most of his tricks and wits. His life finally turned for the better once he met G- his best friend and now right hand man.

Giotto blinked, and he wasn't 10 and grieving anymore, but 31 and the boss of one blossoming Famiglia, young but rich in both power and wealth.

"That time when we met in Japan, it wasn't too long after the execution of the Sawada… You were actually…"

"... I heard the news from over here in Japan and just could not believe my own ears. So I decided to come see for myself." Giotto took in a deep breath and continued his story, "It was a public execution. I was there, when he was- they were-"

"Enough, Giotto!"

The young man found himself pulled into a pair of slender but surprisingly strong arms. The owner of those warm arms was trembling, and the face was buried into his shoulder. Giotto felt more than seeing the growing wet patch on his shoulder and realized that the younger man was crying quietly.

Were those tears… for me, Tsunayoshi?

The man slowly returned the embrace and let his own tears fall. He didn't even care that he was letting his vulnerability show in front of his closest friends. He just didn't have the strength to care anymore. This weight, he had been carrying for too long, he just wanted to get it off his chest once and for all.

He was 19, and once again had to dig the graves for one of his deceased parents and the man's clan members with his bare hands because apparently traitors didn't deserve a grave, their corpses had to be left out in the open and have their flesh torn off by hungry animals. Despite telling his friends otherwise, in truth he had grieved for them, mourned them, even though they had treated him like dirt. He was born Sawada Ieyasu into this family, loved and rejoiced in both his parents' loving embrace, so he had risked his own life to make sure his father and the man's family had a proper burial.

On that day, he also buried with them the truth about his origins, Sawada Ieyasu- 'the happy Sawada family'- laid with the Sawadas six feet under, and Giotto began.

When he returned to Sicily, Italy, he did not return alone but with one enthusiastic Asari Ugetsu in tow, completely ignorant of the fact that the man he chose to follow was the son of a known traitor to the royal family.

He then proceeded to create for himself a new Family with a big capitalized F, surrounded himself with people, yet deep inside, Giotto felt as though he was still the 10-year-old boy digging a grave for his dead mother with his raw and broken fingers under the pouring rain.

The raw wound that never really healed, now tore open with his own hands, once again dripping blood and radiating pain with every breath.

He had always been afraid of being alone.

"But you are not, anymore. It's all in the past now, Giotto. You are not alone anymore. You have your friends, and you have… me. We will not abandon you." The younger man murmured quietly by his ear, still holding him tight, his voice broken and hoarse.

Giotto realized with a start it was exactly what he had hoped someone would come and tell him all along, and change him from the abandoned orphan he was to… something else. Hating being alone had been his essence of being, so he chose to make a family of choice, consisting of those noisiest and rowdiest possible: They chose him and he chose them, that was all that mattered. But sometimes, he was still scared that one day they would get sick of them and just leave, then he would be back in his personal hell of loneliness.

The brunet's words happened to appease his desolation. Slowly but surely, his tears ceased and the heartache diminished with only an echo of the grief was left. Giotto was finally able to find his voice again after a long time.

"T-thank you, Tsunayoshi! I'm fine now." The blond lightly pushed the brunet away, but still left a hand on his back. The younger man peered at him curiously from under his bang, the tear tracks on his cheeks completely forgotten in lieu of his concern over the older blond. It was ironic actually, Giotto should be the one who comforted the younger, who was amnesiac, lost and confused, not the other way around.

Giotto gave him a reassuring nod. The brunet smiled lightly in satisfaction seeing that Giotto was indeed fine now, and turned to his forgotten dinner. The food had gone cold but the brunet practically inhaled them in one breath as though he had been starved for a week. Which, he probably was…

He watched the brunet devour his portion of food and once again, seeing the younger man in a new light. He wasn't just a guarded, cold and experienced bossman in his point of view anymore, it was just a side of him. The other side showed his kindness, his empathy, and also that he did care, even for a complete stranger who had lied to him before.

The younger man's new visor brought a chuckle to Giotto's lips: it seemed like he had sacrificed his most well kept secret for the right person. With a admittedly lighter and better mood, Giotto resumed his eating as though none of the previous heavy, emotional moments had happened, prompted his Guardians to follow his lead, all of them silently agreed to drop the one subject that had their fearless leader in tears, in favor of their slightly cold but still very tasty meal.

The only one who wasn't satisfied with how the conversation turned out was his Mist Guardian- Daemon Spade, if the way he glared at him heatedly for the remainder of the meal was anything to tell. He angrily wiped his mouth with the napkin after finishing and just threw it on the table, then left.

"That bastard! What the hell got into him, anyway?" G grumbled under the breath, and turned to the youngest man with a surprisingly softer version of his normal scowl. "Oi, if you are still hungry, call the maid to give you seconds. God knows that you need to put more meat on those bones."

"Ah.. ah, no need! I don't want to trouble anyone!" The burnet blushed and waved his hands frantically in front of himself.

"Don't be an idiot, Tsunayoshi!" Lampo claimed from where he was lazily lounging on the table surface like the spoiled brat he was. "They are paid to do their jobs right, so that no one shall go hungry in this Mansion. No one would bat an eyelash if you go for seconds."

"You can EXTREMELY have mine if you want? I had a full lunch earlier and I'm not particularly hungry now!"

"Uhm-"

"Just call the maid and get this over with! What's so difficult, anyway?"

"G! You don't need to yell at him, you know? You're already scary enough with that hideous pink hair and horrendous tattoos! Look at him, now he's terrified!"

"No I'm no-"

"SHUT UP, FLUTE FREAK! NO ONE ASKS FOR YOUR OPINION!" G pulled out his crossbow out of nowhere and started aiming at the man in the Japanese robe. Asari dodged the incoming arrow with a laugh, dived down under the table. The arrow hit the half-finished dish of soup in front of Lampo and consequently splashed the liquid all over the green hair teenager.

The teenager jumped a foot in the air and cried out dramatically as though the lukewarm soup burned him.

"Apologies, Lampo!" Asari yelled between laughter.

"What are you screeching like a monkey for? It didn't even graze you!"

"But this is my favorite shirt!"

"Grow the hell up you spoiled little brat or your favorite shirt gets another hole!"

"Giotto, G's at it again!" Lampo wailed loudly, flailing his hands everywhere. Unlucky for him, he sat right next to Alaude, who had grown incredibly impatient with the ruckus around him. Inevitably, one of his flailing arms whacked over Alaude's head and the room turned deadly silent at this point. Lampo, realizing who he just happened to hit, grew pale and visibly shaken.

"I'm s-sorry, Alaude-"

Pulling out something from his pocket, the French didn't even dain to warn his fellow Guardians before lunging at them brandishing his trusted weapon- a pair of…handcuffs?. And needless to say, chaos ensued.

"Wait wait wait, I'm sorry Alaude! MISTER ALAUDE PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"

"Hahaha Alaude finally joined in the fun!"

"Fun? What part of this looks fun to you?"

"Hey, let me EXTREMELY join!"

"Not you too, Knuckles!"

"Shut up, idiot! This is all your fault!"

"My fault? Asari was the first one who called your hair pink!"

"DON'T EVER CALL MY HAIR PINK AGAIN!"

"AGHHHHHHHHH!"

Amidst the chaos of yellings, gunshots and explosions, Giotto and Tsunayoshi sat side by side, silently observing the rumbumptious bunch that was Giotto's most trusted men. Giotto facepalmed at his Guardians' antics and sighed, while the brunet looked a little perplexed, but otherwise not overly uncomfortable or scared.

"Sorry for them, anyway. I swear they are not always acting like this. Only… most of the time."

"It's fine." The brunet chuckled, "I'm actually kind of glad that they feel relaxed enough to act like how they normally are even with me around. It probably means they've already started to accept me as your- ugh- brother. You have really good friends, Giotto." 'Sans Daemon' was what both of them agreed on without voicing it.

Giotto was actually taken aback by the younger's conclusion. He was right in his assumption that his friend's acting carefreely like a bunch of grown up brat in front of a outsider was their subtle way of telling Giotto that, yes, they heard his story, yes, they had doubts, but they temporarily accepted his excuse and effort in taking Tsunayoshi in. Even though in the long run the brunet still had to prove himself to them, they would acknowledge him for the time being.

What surprised him was the fact that the brunet could easily read the underlying meaning behind his friends' actions. He had known them for years, and it had taken several mishaps for them to understand each other at the level they were now. Yet this unassuming brunet only needed one look to see through them.

What a terrifying individual! Giotto thought to himself.

"Then what about you, Tsunayoshi?" Giotto asked. Are you willing to accept us?

The younger one remained silent. But in the end it was neither a denial nor confirmation.

After a long time, the man said, "Only time can tell, I suppose."

~End of chapter~


Some of you might notice that I did not let Tsuna be shrunken into a teenager anymore like in the old version. Well I do have a reason for that, I used to like writing Tsuna as someone small, frail and vulnerable but now I prefer him a capable and experienced adult and still has flaws and vulnerability.
What do you think of this version of Tsuna? Please tell me in the comment section below.