Edited on February 9th.

ARC I WHEN DOUBTS ARE PUSHED AWAY, BEAUTY COMES OUT

Chapter 8


1

"Find him, fuckers! Our boss will kill us for failing to catch him!"

Hidden behind a pile of trash, there was a short light brown-haired child holding his breath as he listened to the feet approaching quickly. He firmly held a large book that was recognized by anyone knowing his title. Blood stained his clothes, horror still lurked inside his mind, as he tried to calm himself. His father had sent a message to a friend and had been hoping for her arrival before he had died, killed by greedy people. He waited for a few minutes, making sure to not make any sound before moving out of his hidden place. He ran through the alley in the shadows, in the opposite direction of the voices of the men searching for him.

Fuuta della Stella, the last alive Ranking Prince.

The Ranking Book was the most unknown power, it was first born into the Stella Family, but it sometimes appeared in random children at birth. Those holders were almost always adopted into the Stella Family, a neutral clan that lived on a secluded island. Fuuta didn't know much about them as he didn't meet them at all and didn't want to meet them at all. His mother, while still alive, had never talked about them.

Sometimes, he thought that they were only a myth.

Because they never helped him with his pursuers. He was always sought for his rankings, for his power that seemed to be greater than the past Ranking Princes. He struggled to understand his power and how it functioned.

Fuuta stumbled across his former home, came through an ocean of corpses, as he tried to not glance at the dead. He swallowed a sob as the child ran through the compound. Screams of people made him jump, and he quickly realized that his chasers had noticed him, therefore he tried running faster. He fell several times in his panic, tiring easily because of the weight of the book. He arrived outside of the compound and turned left into a small alley. Tears started falling on his face as he went inside a small building and hid in a cupboard. He held his book against his chest, cursing his whole existence.

If only, he weren't born as one of the Ranking Prince.

A thought occurred to him. Perhaps, he could use his power for himself. If he could rank people by their abilities, then he could see who would protect people no matter the reason. He sat comfortably on the ground, adjusted his back to the wall, and then Fuuta opened the book. The small and yet powerful protection left by his late mother formed a bubble around him as gravity around him became distorted, making objects float. Images of stars and galaxies appeared in his sight as information started flowing to him.

'Who's the person or the people susceptible to protect me?' The question floated in his mind as the child classified information he received from the Earth.

Seconds turned into minutes, and themselves turned into hours. But in the end, it was worth it. Fuuta truly had the answer, he knew where to go. However, he didn't know how he was supposed to go to Japan without any form of legal documents or money. Everything had been destroyed during the massacre of his family.

Driven by hope, he erased the barrier and left the cupboard, making sure to make no sound. He stepped out into the alley and started walking. He went downtown, knowing that no one would notice him in the dense crowd of a Saturday night. Fuuta knew there was a festival going on, drinks and music were heard in the entire town. As he strode in the streets, bending in the crowd, he suddenly felt a hand on his right shoulder. The child shivered, fear crippling his stomach as he dared to look behind him.

However, it was a woman. She smiled at him, offering him a card on which was drawn a crossed skull. He immediately recognized her.

She was his father's friend, a well-known information broker that occasionally worked for Varia.

"Let's get you to safety, kid," she whispered in his left ear as she led him towards her car parked a few streets away, "I have the feeling that you know where to go."

Fuuta nodded. They moved quickly through the streets while making sure to not look suspicious to the civilians. The woman kept a hand on her right side, it was where she hid a gun, ready to shoot if necessary.

"Sit in the back. There are black windows, so nobody will be able to see you. But we need to get out of the town. Quick!"

The woman, who still didn't give her name, opened the back door and motioned him to sit inside the car. He obeyed without a word. The door abruptly closed. She sat on the driver seat and immediately started the vehicle. Fortunately for them, the driving went smooth thanks to the deserted streets — his savior made sure to avoid all busy streets — and soon enough, he could relax in the back of the car.


If you listened closely, you could hear the world whispering about the incoming threats. It spoke of changes, good and bad, making their way, breaking established rules. Souls were dancing under the bright light of the moon, enjoying the caress of the wind, drinking the water of the carefree sky.

Namimori stood in the darkness. Deserted streets meant a curfew ordered by the Hibari Clan that would punish anyone that would disobey. Its aura shone, showing promises of great changes while a car entered the known Territory of terrific people. Protected town, home to many mafioso and assassins, to people that wandered away from their origins. Chaotic town that seemed to mock any foreigner.

Fuuta shivered as Andore wrapped him in her arms, refusing to let him go. He could feel the dangerous flames forming a protective bubble around the town. However, he couldn't determine all the flames. Thundering clouds raving over the darkening skies accompanied by raging storms, mortal rain, and bright illusions.

"Let's find a place to sleep for the rest of the night," Andore whispered to him as always, never raising her voice to normal speaking level, "we need to rest."

Wolves howled in the dead of night. He shivered once more as he walked beside Andore. He wished he knew Japanese — Italian and English were not really useful in a country such as Japan — nevertheless, he was thankful for Andore's knowledge of the language.

Fuuta felt safe with Andore. And yet, he had the feeling that his problems were still following and were closer than he thought.

A few days later, Andore was killed under his eyes by one of his chasers. With his mother's protection, he ran away, tightly holding his book against his chest while sobbing for the death of another loved one.


Fuuta clutched his book, his body shaking as the men slowly approached. His back facing the tall wall he could never reach due to his tiredness of running all the time. He missed the mafia family that was protecting him while letting him be a kid within their ranks. At nights, he saw their bloody faces telling him to run. His stomach growled. Fuuta grimaced; he didn't have eaten in days.

"Be a good boy and go with us, kid." The man said as he pulled out of his packet a cigarette and lit it up.

"As long as you are a good kid, we won't hurt ya." Another man informed him with the most twisted smile.

"Boss said to not hurt him. Knock him out." The smoking man ordered, not moving from his position.

"Not even an inch?"

"He won't be of any use if injured badly or dead. Restrain yourself."

Fuuta sobbed quietly, knowing he would never go past those terrible men. The same men that killed the family that raised him. He wished he knew how to fight. He stepped back until his back touched the wall. The men blocked any way out, smirking at the child that they had been chasing for a while.

"Time to go home with us, kid."

A blond-haired man wearing a dirty suit grabbed him by the throat and threw him on his shoulder, the group started walking towards the cars parked a few streets away. As Fuuta continued to cry softly, he began to lose hope.

"Ha, I can't believe you're doing that to a kid."

Fuuta opened his eyes. He saw a man standing a few meters away, pulling out a weapon out of nowhere. He narrowed his eyes and noticed that the stranger seemed younger than he first thought.

"Firebird star." The young boy strained his ears to hear the spoken words of the young man as a bird made of flames was shot.

Fuuta was dropped on the floor. Using this opportunity, he scrambled away from the men, but none of them paid attention to him. The stranger suddenly moved, disappearing in the mist, and appearing behind them.

"Chop chop mist." The boy hid behind a car, still watching the deadly scene as mist filled up the entire combat zone.

Fuuta wondered what was happening. He was grateful for the person saving him from a horrible situation. Screams sounded through the street, piercing through the mist, and then silence was made. As the mist slowly disappeared, he caught the glimpse of dissipating bodies with chopped heads.

"May Davy Jones devour your souls, fools." The unknown person said as he stepped out of the mist, walking towards his hiding place. "Fuuta della Stella, Vongola is offering to protect you from now on."

Vongola. The whole reason he had been traveling to Japan was Vongola. He knew from his readings that the Vongola Heir would protect him no matter why. For some reason, he later found out that he couldn't read this stranger. With a smile, Fuuta reached and grabbed his hand.

"Let's go home, Fuuta. No one will hurt ya anymore."

He took Fuuta in his arms and started running out of the street, leaving the mess to the members of the Hibari clan. Usopp smirked, holding firmly the child, as he joined his student and his group of friends standing a few meters away from the Namimori shrine. Together, they came back home.

Fuuta was overjoyed to be easily accepted by the mother of the Vongola heir. Stars in his eyes, he could remember the readings he had done on the heir before coming to Japan. Nana introduced herself to the child while leading him to his bedroom. Vongola was ensuring the protection of Fuuta della Stella but it was the heir and his mother that would protect and raise him from now on.


2

Stoneface strode through the level four of the facility, watching if anything was out of ordinary as a feeling of dread was crushing her stomach. Thick black cloth covered her whole figure as she almost floated, looking at each prisoner with no expression of compassion or pity on her face — anybody finishing in Vindicare would end up dead after years of isolation.

Stoneface worked as a guard of Vindicare by choice. Born into a large neutral mafia family from the unexpected union of a low member and a high member of the clan, she had grown in the shadow of her own family, slowly distancing herself with her clan. At the age of eighteen, Stoneface had vanished with the hope of never returning home, her rain flames burning inside her as a boiling fire. Being as a guard in Vindicare had been unexpected however, it was the best decision she ever made.

The guard was appreciated by her coworkers even though they didn't really exchange words when working in the prison. In five years, she had been able to reach level four, the most dangerous of the prison.

"Be aware, Stoneface," her partner whispered in the back of her mind as she walked towards the end of the hallway, "something is aloof."

"I know, that's why I'm checking."

All prisoners stayed silent. Stoneface arrived at the end and entered a large room in which most deranged people were plunged into cold water. She immediately noticed that one of the tubes was broken in pieces. Tensing, the guard checked the entire room, searching for the missing prisoner.

"Mukuro Rokudo is missing," she announced, "but there's something here."

Stoneface didn't hear a reply from her partner. She suddenly stepped back in the shadows as she noticed a creature lurking between the tubes. It was something she had never seen before, something that made her skin crawl. The creature walked in the light; it was tall with appendages floating in its back, bored green eyes stared into her soul, sharp teeth dripping blood and sweat. Stoneface attacked it, her rain flames wrapping themselves around her body as an invisible barrier — Lucifer knows what this creature is capable of — and dodged the first blow of her adversary.

"Stoneface to Vindicare," she spoke in her walkie-talkie, shutting down all her emotions, "Unknown enemy in level four, missing prisoner named Mukuro Rokudo."

"Roger," a male voice, she recognized as her leader, said, "be on your guard."

Suddenly, the door closed and locked itself. Her eyes immediately fell on the creature — its three eyes glowing of anger and incomprehension — as she prepared herself to another attack of the unknown enemy. She avoided its blows and responded with sharp knives wrapped in a mortal poison, they hit their target and cut off one of its arms. The creature hissed in pain, eyes widening in surprise. Stoneface didn't miss her opportunity and struck down. Her right foot landed on its chest, making him flow in the back of the room.

Then, the world was disturbed by the appearance of her coworkers.

Black chains wrapped themselves around the creature binding it, making sure it couldn't get up, squeezing its throat to make it understand that it had lost.

"Well done, Stoneface," her leader commented, "close your eyes, we'll take care of everything."

With that, her world faded. Her body fell, but was caught by Blackeyes.


Ken refused to talk about what he saw on their way out of Vindicare.

Which was strange, Mukuro thought as he observed the other teenager. He decided on keeping an eye on Ken — he often screamed bloody murder in his sleep, making the others sleep a tad away from him — as he worried about him.

Their small group — of former prisoners of Vindicare — moved quickly. No one wanted to be caught in a mafia group, known or not.

"Where to go?" MM asked, fidgeting as she stared at the cloudless sky.

"Japan," was Ken's proposition.

Mukuro hummed, not bothering to reply. Japan seemed to be the most logical proposition as it was away from the European countries, it was different from anything they had known.

"Let's go to Japan," Mukuro said between a few chuckles, "I heard some juicy rumors these past days."

Chikusa nodded, silent as ever. Ken, unusually quiet, grinned while MM huffed, but accepted it anyway. Mukuro wrapped his group in his mist flames as they walked away, disappearing in the dead of night.


"Kyoya is missing," was Kensuke's words, the moment he walked inside the home of the Yamadas.

Kensuke had sent his son to investigate the attacks. He hadn't heard of him for the past few hours, making him worry. He decided on involving his friends, especially Skodde who was the only assassin in their midst at the moment.

"Great," Tsunayoshi said, anger filling his voice, "Kyoya is missing like Fuuta!"

The Ranking Prince was missing. Kensuke tried to reign over his emotions, he wanted to tear in pieces whoever had him.

"What do you know, Kensuke?" the pirate gave a dangerous look at him.

"Attacks have been happening throughout the whole town for a few weeks, usually touching my clan and some yakuzas at times. I sent Kyoya to investigate the whole thing. But I haven't heard of him for a while. I fear he might have been captured."

"Anything else?" Nana prompted him to speak further of details he knew of.

"The attackers are, according to my clan, flames active. They only attack the active flames people."

"So, it's concerning us too," Reborn said, crossing his arms, as he pondered the situation in his head.

"Do you have a location?" Skodde asked, leaning against the wall.

Kensuke shook his head.

"I have my clan looking all over the town for them. The last thing Kyoya told me was that he was going to look into Kokuyo."

"Chrome and I will go to the former high school with Takeshi."

Takeshi, the son of an assassin that had retired to Namimori as a sushi chef. From what Kensuke heard from his son, the teenager had broken his arm during training and had been sent home for a few days. However, when returning to the school, Takeshi was described by his peers as sullen and depressive. It seemed that he had been pushing himself to respond to his team's expectations.

And somehow, Tsunayoshi, Kyoya, and Chrome got involved in Takeshi's case and they all became friends — albeit reluctantly in Tsuna's and Kyoya's case for obvious reasons.

"Why Yamamoto?" Skodde asked, curiously.

Which was understandable as the teenager was still injured.

"Well… He might not have a broken arm anymore," Tsuna muttered, avoiding meeting anyone's eyes.

Silence fell over the group. Kensuke narrowed his eyes, watching the teenager that refused to say anything else.

"Alright," the pirate said, not wanting to beat around the bush any longer, "hope the sun didn't mess up."

Tsunayoshi hesitated, he opened his mouth but quickly closed it. After a few seconds of intern debates, the teenager admitted that Takeshi himself had shown up the previous day with a non-longer broken arm, which had sparked discussion around it.

"He's a secondary sun?" Nana asked, speaking for the time since the conversation started.

"It seems so," Akiko replied, a pensive frown on her face.

"I will let you do it," Skodde announced, surprising everybody.

"Why?" Kensuke couldn't help, but ask.

"I've been sent on a mission in Canada. I'll be gone for a few days."

Oh.

It was hard to associate Skodde and Usopp as the same person even though he had never known 'Usopp' before. He was a pirate that was stuck in Kensuke's world, an assassin with a conflicted past.

Sometimes, he forgot that Skodde was a Varia assassin.

"Alright, take care Usopp!" Nana cheerfully said, waving at the assassin as he stepped out of the room.

Kensuke straightened his back as they returned to their previous conversation. In the end, they decided to let the teenagers investigate the potential threat, if it became too serious they'd intervene, in the meantime the adults would reinforce protections around the town.


Usopp stared at the mirror in front of him, standing still in his bedroom. His clone stared back, reflecting a man in his early twenties with a short and clean black beard, well cut by a stylist. The pirate grabbed his black coat and put it on.

"If Luffy could see me now, I'm becoming less a pirate and more an assassin nowadays, and I'm getting old," he chuckled, thinking of the old days on the Thousand Sunny and even further on the Merry with his crew, going through shitty situations.

In reality, he wasn't going on any missions. It was just a way to flee Namimori in peace, he was meeting with someone in Canada.

And this was a way for Tsunayoshi to test his abilities in a fight. His senses were becoming sharp with the training he received from himself and Reborn.

The meeting in Canada was important. And no one must know about it, especially not his superior, Mammon.

There was, perhaps, something that could help him with his current situation.

"Let's go," he muttered to himself while thinking about his crew, "wish me luck."

In the dead of night, he disappeared from the town.


3

Brook always had the strangest relationship with death.

He was born a long time ago — before even the Pirate King known as Gol D Roger — from a woman he never got to know as he was born from her corpse. His father was condemned to death. And no one ever told him how his mother had died or what his father had done. However, Brook never sought the answers, choosing to learn music and live for it.

Until he met his first crew.

With the support of his former crew, Brook had pierced the secret surrounding his parents' death. His mother had been acting against the established government on his birth island while his father had been a pirate.

Summoning his parents with powers he didn't know he had, was for the least surprising.

And useful. Almost useless at times.

He could tell if someone was dying or if someone was dead.

None of the Straw-Hats was dead. A relief for the whole crew since Usopp had vanished from the entire world — no one had heard of him for the past weeks since the fiasco of Sabaody. Sometimes, Brook found himself dreaming about the younger pirate. He wandered in a world so different that he doubted a few times. He didn't understand anything.

Words kept being repeated again and again.

'The winds of the West raise, the voices of the East sing, the instruments of the South play, and the hums of the North resonate…'

What did it mean? He had written down the words, but had no success in understanding them. Perhaps, he should call Robin to help him. The woman was currently busy training under Sabo in the Revolutionary Army. However, it was worth it.

Brook was dreaming, again. He stood on a beach, it was rather peaceful as he watched the waves crashing down the sand. At some point, he noticed a figure standing a few meters away from him. Curiously, he approached the mysterious person and slowly recognized the features.

"Usopp?" he wondered aloud, surprised.

"Luffy! Zoro! Nami! Sanji! Brook! Chopper! Robin! Franky! I hope the wind carries my message to you, I'll do my best to get back to you all, to our world!"

But before he could make a sound, the dream completely changed. He soon found himself on his old ship, standing in the mist. Brook tensed up as he felt someone behind him, he turned to face whoever was threatening him, but found nothing. He grabbed his cane, ready to pull out his sword, as he waited for the potential danger to make its move.

"You are no match for me, son," a male voice chuckled, making him shiver.

"Show yourself!"

"I don't like this tone. You should be grateful for my help because otherwise without me, you cannot reach your friend through dreams." the voice replied, a hint of anger telling Brook that he should be careful.

"I don't know who you are," the skeleton said.

"But I know you," the stranger paused for a few seconds, "our time comes to an end, son. We'll meet again. Don't search for the impossible."

Abruptly, the dream ended with him waking up from his slumber.


"We found absolutely nothing, mama. It's like nothing happened!"

Linlin closed her eyes, hearing the frustration and worry in Galette's voice as she reported back her's and Mont d'or's findings.

"The ship?" Daifuku asked.

"It's still there. But no sign of Raisin or Myukuru." Mont d'or tiredly replied to his brother.

"There's no civilization on this island, nothing out of the ordinary. Just ruins and a temple. We made two tours of the island, but nothing. Tomorrow, we'll search at the temple."

It all began with the disappearance of one of her daughters, Lù. Lù never joined her crew to the surprise of everybody in the family, wanting to live on her own, to have her own crew. Linlin always watched the young pirate captain from a distance, making sure that her rivals knew to not touch her as she and her crew were under her protection. That was the only thing she could do. And then, she heard rumors and read in the newspaper about the massacre of Lù's crew.

Her newest wanting poster proved that she had survived.

But no one could find her. Therefore, worrying about Lù, Linlin had sent Raisin and Myukuru to find her.

And now, three of her children were missing. Something went wrong or perhaps someone did something to her children.

Needless to say, Linlin was pissed off.

"Katakuri, Snack, Cracker, Smoothie," Big Mom called for her commanders, eyeing her carefree youngest children playing, "prepare an assault."

They all turned towards her in shock. It seemed that she still managed to surprise them.

"We're going to attack Marineford."

"Yes, mama," her commanders spoke at once, already leaving the throne room.


He hadn't visited his sister's grave in years.

Nor had seen his nephew in years.

Vista stood frozen in the small cemetery, recalling his childhood memories with his little sister and the few memories he had with Usopp, smiling softly. If Whitebeard was his pops, his crewmates his siblings, he could never forget Bankina and Usopp. When he had gotten wind of Bankina's death, he had been totally devastated. In his grief, he had distanced himself from everybody. He had gone to Syrup without saying a word. Vista had spent weeks with his nephew, cursing Yasopp's stupidity as the man hadn't bothered visiting.

"Fuck," he mumbled.

"Vista?"

Speak of the devil, it should appear. The Chaser was standing behind him, a dumbfounded look on his face as he stared at the Whitebeard Commander. Vista turned towards the curly dark-haired man and kicked him in the stomach.

"You're showing up now?!"

"Vista—"

"Fuck you, Yasopp. You fucked up badly!"

"I know," was the quiet response from Shanks' crewmate, "I'm sorry."

"For not showing up at my sister's funeral or for giving up on her? For abandoning my nephew, leaving him completely alone?"

Yasopp opened his mouth and then shut it. Vista gave a blow in the face, and the sniper didn't bother to defend himself from the pirate.

"Fuck off," Vista said, turning his back on him and walking away.

Yasopp didn't move at all as he watched his brother-in-law walking away. Shanks moved to stand beside his crewmate.

"Well, that went well," he commented.


4

"Looks like a fucking Disney castle, but only in its horror version," his newest guardian commented as they arrived in front of the Varia Headquarters.

Xanxus snorted at her words while he led her to the front doors. Varia owned several buildings across Italia, mostly used for training grounds and outposts. The castle was reserved for the core members; himself, his guardians, the high-ranked members, and the servants. The gates slowly closed behind them as he prepared himself to face his guardians.

"Mate, it's like facing a Sea King, but…" the woman trailed off, eyeing the front doors as they walked in an alley of trees.

Did she just feel the rest of his guardians? Xanxus was curious about his cloud's skills and hoped to see them in action.

"Seems that your crew is here, captain," the cloud muttered mostly to herself.

"Crew? The fuck, cloud trash?"

The woman snarled at him, "Fuck off, sky trash. That's what you are, a fucking crew."

"The hell we aren't!" Xanxus snarled back, missing the appearance of his five other guardians.

"You are."

"Fuck off."

"Voiiii, who is she, boss?" The swordsman stepped between the two people before they could even launch themselves at each other.

"Your worst nightmare, asshole."

"My cloud."

Squalo Superbi was the Rain Officer, he had been holding Varia together for the past eight years, hoping that someday his sky would be free. He exchanged a look with his fellow guardians then turned to look properly at their newest addition — it would be a lie if he hadn't felt the new guardian bond. The woman standing beside their boss was a wild cloud. Squalo grinned, he couldn't wait to see her worth. Would she fit their group?

"Fuck off, poor excuse of a captain! I have a name!"

"Stop calling me that, trash! And you didn't introduce yourself!"

"You didn't ask!"

Squalo tuned their conservation as his thoughts turned back on the last eight years. Holding Varia together had not been an easy task. After the failure of the Coup d'Etat, the Varia Officers had been all punished. For months, there was no mission given. If it were not for Mammon's plan B, it would have been harder to swallow. Dealing with frozen bonds for years had taken a roll on every officer, needless to say they were all content to have their sky back.

Lussuria had never really revealed what his punishment was. From what he had heard back then, it had not been pleasant. Belphegor had been banished from missions for a year and a half, originally the punishment had been three years, but Squalo had worked his way to arrange the situation. Levi had refused to say anything while Vongola had not been able to punish Mammon due to his Arcobaleno status.

"Shishishi, what's your name then?" Belphegor's question pulled Squalo out of his thoughts.

"Lù."

That was the shortest name he ever heard in his entire life.

"Shishi, weird name."

"Yeah. I prefer it that way, believe no one wants to hear me saying my entire name," the woman paused, a smile creeping on her face, "do you want to hear it?"

"Yes." was Belphegor's quick answer.

"It's Lù."

Belphegor threw her a knife. She dodged it with a smile.

Squalo didn't fool himself into trusting her. He knew that nobody, even his boss, was trusting her at the moment. The cloud was not comfortable with them either, she never let her guard down and appeared to be ready to fight if necessary. It only meant she had good instincts.

"Don't leave the castle, shitty cloud," his boss grumbled as he strode towards his bedroom, intending on sleeping in his bed.

"Don't order me around, shitty captain," was Lù's response as she started wandering off in the castle.

"Keep an eye on her, Mammon," Squalo said to the floating baby, eyeing the wild cloud distancing herself from them.


Without surprise, Xanxus couldn't sleep at all.

He sat on his bed thinking of what he learned in the past couple of hours. Squalo had given a short report — that lasted three hours — on what happened to Varia in his absence. Needless to say the swordsman had done a good job. But there were multiple issues to be addressed; his guardians' issues and the problems that Varia was currently facing with the lack of a Cloud Officer.

However, with Lù there, even though they had recently harmonized, those problems should be erased in the next months. He, nevertheless, didn't fool himself into believing that the cloud would follow his command.

She wasn't interested in staying with him or the others. That led to the priority of getting to know her, of trying to convince her to stay with them, instead of wandering. There was something off about her, but not in a bad way, which was a good thing.

His head was spinning. He grabbed the blanket covering his legs as he hissed in pain. Ever since he had eaten for the first time in eight years, he hadn't been feeling well. He suddenly rushed to his bedroom; he wanted to throw up. Xanxus did, throwing up in the toilet for several minutes. The man gritted his teeth, disgusted by his own vomit, and then he flushed the toilet. He sent a message to his Sun Officer, knowing instantly that something was definitely wrong with him.

He then threw up again.

And that was how Lussuria and Squalo, alerted by the other Officer, found him.

Suddenly, in his head, it made sense that his body would react this way. He spent eight years wandering as a ghost in the Headquarters of Vongola, he hadn't drank or eaten and hadn't evacuated anything during those years.

"Fucking old man," he swore under his breath as he cleaned up his face.

He spent the next two hours in the bathroom evacuating all shit from his body while feeling dizzy. And then, completely exhausted, the Varia boss succumbed to sleep. Lussuria and Squalo worked together to shower the former frozen man and to put him in his bed.

"He'll have to rest for a few days," the Sun Officer said to the second in command," I'll take care of him."