Twelve Pains of Christmas

Summary: Some people have their gifts, some people have their pains. It's an unfair world and more unfair still, for some members of the Mafia.

Chapter Summary: Tsuna is heroic, Christmas lights hate Gokudera and Squalo is a martyr.

1. Christmas Tree

Tsuna loved Christmas, just like any sane, normal person did.

He loves the idea of buying gifts for friends, preparing dishes for reunions and meeting up with people to socialize. He isn't Santa but he isn't a Grinch, too.

In fact, he'll do anything to preserve the Christmas cheer. Especially if it's within his power to do so.

And when Reborn asked him specifically for something that would do wonders for the family's Christmas spirit, he said yes immediately. Whether out of sincerity or fear, it was hard to decipher.

After all, no one says no to Reborn. Maybe unless the person is Yuni or Aria or Luce. But since he wasn't any of the three, he had to say yes.

So that's what brought him in this fancy situation…

Right smack in the middle of the forest filled with snowflakes falling from the heavens and large mistletoes towering over him.

He would have ran away but he couldn't – not only would Reborn kill him but he'll disappoint his family's Christmas, which is just as terrifying.

He entered into a few more reflection and a little bit of some curse about fate and the universe playing with him but he finally sighed.

His phone rang and he answered it, "Hello?"

"Tenth!" The voice was excitable and Tsuna immediately determined the owner of the voice – Gokudera. There were some squabbles on the other line, - probably Yamamoto and Gokudera, or maybe even Ryohei – and the silver-haired boy exclaimed, "I heard from Reborn-san that you were looking for our real, live Christmas tree!"

Rumors spread fast, doesn't it? Tsuna nodded despite himself and he answered, "Yeah."

He heard a shuffle and then Yamamoto's voice asked, "Where are you tree-hunting, Tsuna?"

"Somewhere along the Alps?" Tsuna asked as he observed his surroundings. After all, Reborn just dropped him off from the helicopter without informing him about anything at all. He looked at the pine trees and mistletoes. He felt the cold wind blew by him and he confirmed, "Definitely in the Alps."

"Is it fun there?" Yamamoto's voice was naively curious. There was a few seconds of silence and then he offered, "Can I join you in the tree-hunting?"

Tsuna wanted to say yes, he really did. But he also knew that if he did, a certain little hitman will shot him.

He gritted his teeth and tried to sound cheerful as he replied, "No, I want to do it by myself."

"That's so heroic of you, Tenth!" Gokudera commented as soon as he got hold of the phone and he can hear Yamamoto laugh in the background. He heard something spark in the other line and suddenly, Gokudera's voice were nervous, "Ah, goodbye Tenth, see you later!"

Before Tsuna can ask about it, the line got cut off.

He sighed and proceeded to pocket his phone. He walked a few miles and slightly shivered in the cold weather that surrounded him.

A few meters away from his original position, a smile formed in his face as he decided to open his Vongola box and he whispered, "Natsu."

A proud, little cub jumped out of the box and promptly cuddled him. He played with the little one for a few minutes before he blew his cheeks, "Time to work."

He closed his eyes and opened it to reveal orange, flickering ones. He lit a flame in one hand and was relieved to see that the temperature increased a little bit.

He let the cub rest in his shoulders and he proceeded to look for the perfect, live Christmas tree.

Heroic, indeed.

2. Lights

Gokudera doesn't have any particular care about the occasion called Christmas. He didn't love it but he didn't loathe it, either. He just didn't understand why people celebrate such an event when they can celebrate the coming of aliens or extraterrestrial creatures.

But then he heard that his beloved Tenth loved Christmas, so by default, he's starting to try to love the occasion, too.

Yamamoto, on the other hand, was excited for Christmas. It was one of the few times in the year that he got presents, after all. Okay, so maybe he does get presents from fangirls – and a few fanboys – every now and then but there's just something special about Christmas. Or so he likes to think.

It also helped that his bestfriend, Tsuna loved Christmas, too. After all, great minds think alike, don't they?

A few days before Christmas, they were called up by Reborn. What was it for?

To light up the hall of the Vongola Mansion.

Nono had offered them a celebration since it was going to be their first Christmas celebration in Italy as a family. Nothing can get grander than that.

Maybe some things like 'doesn't the Vongola have enough people to light up the hall themselves' and 'do we really need to do this' passed by their train of thoughts but this was an order of Reborn's. The little baby told them they can say no, of course, but they knew better.

So that was why the two of them were currently looking at a stream of unlit, unprepared Christmas lights packed neatly in open boxes.

"You take that side, I take this." Gokudera immediately said when he saw the amount of work to be done. He'd wanted to taunt the taller boy but if he did, he might end up doing the entire chore by himself. That would be a nightmare.

"Sure." Yamamoto simply agreed and took a box of Christmas lights with him.

All was fine and well until Yamamoto dropped a box of Christmas lights on his third round. And what was worse was, more than half of the Christmas lights shattered.

Yamamoto gave a nervous laugh as he scratched his head sheepishly, "Oops?"

"You idiot!" Gokudera shouted at him. He looked at the box to Yamamoto then repeated it again. He shook his head, "Reborn-san told us to take care of this lights!"

An image of an enraged hitman brat made Yamamoto shiver but then he tried his best to be optimistic, "He'll probably forgive us, we're helping him, after all."

"Us?" Gokudera crossed his arms. A sly smirk went up his lips as he pointed out, "You were the one who dropped the box, weren't you?"

Yamamoto gaped at that and was about to say something when…

Boom!

A stream of Christmas lights from Gokudera's side simultaneously combusted.

Yamamoto tilted his head to the side as he asked, "Did your lights just exploded?"

"B-bu—" Gokudera froze in thought as soon as he saw the remnants of his hard work. His mind seemed to stop and he muttered nervously, "I followed the instructions correctly."

"Hahaha," Yamamoto couldn't help but give a carefree laugh at the panic on Gokudera's face.

"What are you laughing at?" Gokudera went back to his usual temper and glared at Yamamoto. He added, "Your lights got broken first, baseball-idiot!"

"Eh." Yamamoto couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. He pointed to the stream of destroyed fragments and told the shorter boy, "You destroyed more lights than me."

When Gokudera turned to him with a face ready to kill, Yamamoto simply slung his arm on Gokudera's shoulder. He gave a good-natured laugh, "Well, at least we both get to ask forgiveness together, don't we?"

A few minutes later, though, a dark aura encompassed the place. A small kid in black clothes asked the two friends with unmasked irritation, "What happened here?"

3. Hangovers

Xanxus liked Christmas. No, he loved it. Seriously.

Not because he was some kind of Santa Clause figure but because there was a lot to drink. It's also not that they don't have any wine to drink at Varia – Giotto knows just how much wine there is, and it's a lot – but it's because there's a lot more wine for himself.

Sponsored by threatened bosses and scared subordinates, of course.

Much to Xanxus' great delight, it wasn't Christmas yet but he had already received half a hundred barrels of wine.

What's a man with plenty of drink and company to do?

Drink himself to oblivion, of course.

Contrary to popular opinion, hangovers aren't a pain for Xanxus. But for everyone else in the vicinity, it is. After all, the Varia boss shares his wine with his beloved box animal, too.

Later that day, the whole Varia mansion was on panic. Squalo, who had just came from a mission, passed a retreating, amused Fran and he inquired, "WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?"

"Geez, my eardrums are bleeding." Fran nonchalantly taunted. When the older shark simply glared at him, Fran tried his best to sigh dramatically – though he epically failed – and narrated, "Boss got a hangover. Again."

At that, Squalo visibly paled. He asked the younger boy, "Are there any casualties?"

"If you can consider having a wing or two destroyed is casualty." Fran replied with a bored yawn. He tilted his head to the side as he added, "But there aren't any deaths. Yet. I set up an illusionary exit for the people but then I ran away."

"Coward!"

"Whatever," Fran waved his hand. He gave an amused smirk, "I was all for helping since it is Christmas but then the Liger went on a rampage."

His tone was dripping with sarcasm as he added, "Even I, in my kindness and benevolence hat rivals those of the brunet boss, can't possibly do anything against the drunk liger."

"Fuck." That was the only thing that Squalo muttered before he decided to run to the mansion that was starting to be overwhelmed by flames.

Fran whistled as he looked blankly at the fading form of his commander, "The shark is a martyr, eh."

A/N: Hahaha, I didn't know if this was funny or what. I tried. Merry Christmas, anyhow! I'll be posting three pains per day until the 25th. Hope that you guys would support me!

A/N: So… I don't know if any of you read the author's note but if you do…. I have to say something. I'm Alice39. Yup. It's been almost a year since I've last updated on her and while I am still delightfully grateful for all my followers, my fire in the stories in that account had… dwindled. I don't know where I was going with those stories and really, it's a shame.

But, I will finish those stories. Not now, but eventually. But for the meantime, I'll be writing in this account. The name had changed, too. And I guess because this is another part of me that I'm sharing with you.

That being said, good day to you all and I do hope that you'll forgive me and continue to support me.