Title: this road to hell

Rating: T

Summary: In which Vongola is, indeed, the villain of the tale. [OC, Tsuna's older sister, AU]

Warnings: Language, violence, etc. Nothing else too outrageous here that I can think of off the top of my head to warn people about, so here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

AN at the bottom.

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this road to hell

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"Because you know what they say about people and paving roads with good intentions. So guess where we're headed on this lovely little journey?"

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The day that Sawada Iemitsu finally marries his sweet, lovely Nana is not exactly the happiest day of his life, contrary to popular opinion. It honest-to-goodness isn't. For one, the beautiful woman is much too good for him. And secondly–

Actually, that's about it, really.

… That, and the fact that he'd probably end up killing his lovely wife one day.

Again.

Sometimes, Iemitsu looks back on the moment when he proposed to that wonderful, wonderful Japanese woman and wonders if he'd gone completely insane at the time. Because if he loved her, if he truly, truly loved her with all the fire that burned in the core of his being, then wouldn't he have had the good sense to stay away from her so she would be happy and safe?

(Because fire, fire burns what it touches. For all the warmth and light that it brings –lean in too close, and even if it's only by a single misstep, all that is left in its wake are blood and ashes.)

Iemitsu is a Mafioso. A criminal. He spends approximately ninety-five percent of his days alternating between slaving away at the endlessly self-generating stacks of paperwork in his office and dodging bullets by the skin of his teeth in the field. It's not exactly a good life, not by any stretch of the word, but… but it's not a bad one, either, not when one takes into consideration the lengths 'bad' can go to when one happens to be a Mafioso under the ironclad employment of the largest underground famiglia in Italy.

"You're crazy," is what Lal Mirch had told him when she'd heard of his marriage proposal to Nana, grumbling underneath her breath and crossing her arms over her chest. "Seriously? A civvie? Are you trying to prove something to us here, Iemitsu?"

"You're sure about this, Boss?" is how Oregano had responded, voice tinged with worry and concern lurking clear as day in her suspiciously-too-bright eyes. "I-I mean, we know you're really honest about it this time and she truly seems to be good for you, but… but… I mean, I guess… as long as you know what you're doing, Boss."

"You're a lucky man, Iemitsu, finding the love of your life at long last," is what old Nono had chuckled over the phone on the day of his wedding. Vongola Nono, the Ninth Head of the underworld empire known as the Vongola Famiglia and Iemitsu's employer from the very beginning of his criminal career. "Take a break for awhile. You more than deserve it, my good man. Congratulations, Iemitsu."

Iemitsu loves Nana. Maybe it's not the type of love that is quite powerful enough to convince him to let go and stay away from her for her own good, but it is a fierce, possessive type of love that makes him want to sweep her off her feet and embrace her, to make her stay at his side just as he will remain by hers. Love at first sight doesn't always bloom into the storybook sort of pure, innocent love that is all sweet rose petals and pastel ribbons, but if it's Nana –Iemitsu thinks he can do his damndest to show her only the fiery passion of the scarlet rose he offers, rather than the blood and thorns.

It's lucky for him that the woman is as besotted with him as he is with her. He's the luckiest man in the world, that she is willing to look straight over all his baggage and love him with all her heart.

(Not that she was aware of what his 'baggage' entailed, but, well. Semantics.)

He loves her, loves this woman with all his heart, and it is precisely for this very reason that he will always be guilty towards her. Because even though he loves her and would like nothing better than to shower her with all the love and affection that he can possibly muster, in the end he can never be the perfect husband for her that she deserves. Iemitsu knows, had known from the moment his own parents were assassinated one night and he himself swept away under the employment of Vongola Nono, that he would always be immersed in a life of bullets, lies, and blood.

And so Iemitsu is and would always be guilty towards Nana, just as he is and would always be guilty towards Mafalda Vanetti for just about the exact opposite reason.

Mafalda Vanetti.

A stunning young lady with warm brown eyes and a silvery bell-like laughter, the niece of Old Man Vanetti's by virtue of being his eldest brother's daughter.

Sawada Iemitsu's deceased wife.

… Ex-wife, currently.

It's hard to say what he feels towards Mafalda, aside from guilt. The blonde woman had a wicked sense of humor and sharp tongue to match her razor wits, a flair for the dramatic and a coy smile. She was likable, and in all honesty, if Iemitsu had not met Nana when he did, he thinks that maybe he could've grown to love this woman, someday. For all that their marriage was an arranged one, born of inter-famiglia politics and power plays, and for such a sort of marriage, Iemitsu knows that he's lucky to have been given the hand of the Vanetti princess in marriage for reasons aside from prestige.

But.

But Iemitsu had met Nana in the early months following his marriage with Mafalda, had fallen hopelessly head-over-heels in love with her, and…

… And even if he had met Nana well before the marriage-alliance offer came along, what could a guileless, innocent civilian ever hope to offer to the famiglia against the young Vanetti princess, the niece of Old Vanetti?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

…

In the end, though, all the plotting and planning of Nono and Old Vanetti came to naught; things fell through from an incident no one saw coming and the lovely Mafalda Vanetti died six years later in a well-coordinated assassination attempt on the CEDEF Head that had somehow breached Vongola's defenses.

Iemitsu had been in Japan at the time with Nana.

… Even though he'd rushed back as soon as he could upon hearing of the attack, had raced for the airport the instant he received the emergency report from his subordinates–

Well.

It's not exactly news that Sawada Iemitsu is a man wracked by sin.

His feelings towards Mafalda are… complicated. It is for this very reason that whenever he looks towards his little daughter and sees the same pale blonde-white hair and sharp brown eyes of the late Mafalda Vanetti reflected in the visage of young Sawada Chiyohime –it makes something twinge and swell up so uncomfortably and painfully in his chest that on some days it feels hard to even breathe.

Guilt.

Sometimes, Iemitsu wonders why he hasn't already been crushed to death under the weight of his guilt, under the burden of all the failures that he carries.

Now don't get him wrong, he loves his daughter. Really, he does. Regardless of the whole tangle of complications with Mafalda, Iemitsu does love his daughter. How could he not? She is a child of his own flesh and blood. He had been there in the hospital when she'd been born, had been there to hold her in his arms and hear her cries, and Iemitsu still remembers the instant he'd first lain eyes on her, and a corner of his heart just… just melted, for lack of a better descriptor.

He loves her.

Iemitsu knows, beyond any trace of doubt, that he loves his daughter.

It's just…

Just…

…

It's a cruel thing to be judged for one's appearance, Iemitsu knows. But he can't help it. Chiyo looks so much like her mother that it sometimes physically pains Iemitsu to look at her, goddamnit all. It hadn't been so bad back when she was just an infant, just a toddler, but…

But even six-years old and only a young child, her jarring resemblance to Mafalda is absolutely irrefutable to anyone who had known the charming Vanetti princess. And her eyes, the sharp awareness and keen intelligence in them that should look so very wrong on such a small child, on any other face aside from hers–

It's hard.

Iemitsu loves her, loves his little Chiyohime, but it's hard for him to love her as freely as he does his darling Tuna-fish. That Chiyo seemed to be acutely aware of his discomfort and apprehension around her only further expounded this inner turmoil.

It nearly broke his heart, the one time that he saw her quickly scurry out of the room with a sad look on her face when she saw him walking in. It had only been a fierce verbal tongue-lashing from Lal Mirch back at the office that managed to kick his head back in gear and make him able to properly focus on his work again, but he hadn't ever quite been able to get that image out of his mind.

His dear, precious little princess running away from him.

Given the nature of his work, it would be impossible for him to raise a child on his own –much less one who uncannily resembled Mafalda so much. It was what pushed Iemitsu into making the final decision to send Chiyo to Japan so Nana could take care of her. It had been difficult to arrange this; ordinarily, children born of political arrangements wouldn't be able to retreat easily from the limelight of attention, but–

But after the death of Old Man Vanetti and the ensuing bloody dispute that had broken out between the Vanetti and the Cavallone famiglias, Iemitsu had been able to cite sending Chiyo to a secure location in Japan for her own safety as the reason for ensuring that his daughter wouldn't grow up motherless. That even with Mafalda gone, she would still be able to experience a mother's love –Nana knew that he had previously been married, but Iemitsu had been too much of a coward to tell her that he'd already had a child. As far as Nana was aware of, Chiyo was only the daughter of a dear friend who died in a 'car accident,' and subsequently was now alone and parentless. He couldn't very well just stand by and leave her be, could he? Adoption was the least he could do.

(He staunchly ignored how Basil had been taken in by CEDEF, and how he had already begun making plans to teach the little orphan to aim a gun and kill.)

"I've never known you to be a man who runs away from his troubles, Iemitsu, but when it comes to your family life…"

"My private life is none of your business, Lal."

The not-infant rolls her eyes skyward and snorts. "It is when it starts interfering with your work one."

"I'm your boss."

"Yeah? Tough luck, you're not my anything if you act like a dithering sissy," Lal Mirch responds tartly. "Look, either you ship your girl off to Japan on a smuggling flight with the impression that she's your dirty little secret and you don't want her or something, or you actually talk to her and let her know why you're doing this. Better yet, you should ask her own opinion on whether she wants to leave Italy or not. Have you even mentioned this to her?"

Iemitsu thinks of his own daughter scuttling out of the room because the little girl knows her own father's discomfort around her, and shoots his second-in-command a withering look. "Yes, and I've told her that this is for her own safety. She's only six, Lal. I can't be everywhere at once, and if anything happens to her like Mafalda, I… I don't think I'd be able to take it."

"I know you love your daughter, Iemitsu," Lal sighs. "But does she know? From what I've heard, she's a pretty sharp kid. I don't want you to make a mistake by leaving things unclear with her. You'll probably regret in the future if you do."

… He probably will. But at the moment, he really, really doesn't think he can stomach a conversation telling his own daughter that he's sending her off to a foreign country to live with her stepmother who thinks she's adopted for her own good.

Iemitsu is a man who has made many mistakes throughout the course of his life, has made many mistakes and has many regrets. Mafalda Vanetti is one of them.

(Sawada Chiyohime is another.)

"It's alright," he says. "Everything will be fine."

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Young little Sawada Chiyohime is brought to the Sawada household on a fine November day in a sleek black car by two men in suits. Iemitsu-dear's business associates, no doubt! Nana thanks the men politely with a bright smile on her face, and gently reaches out to cradle the tiny girl against her side, stoutly determined to be the best mother she can be for the poor thing. Orphaned, and at such a young age! How terrible. Iemitsu was thoughtful enough to bring the girl to her, and Nana will not let her husband down. She loves her Tsu-chan, but she'd always thought a daughter would be nice, too!

Maybe she can think of Chiyo-chan as extra practice for taking care of Tsu-chan when he grows older?

(Preoccupied with her thoughts as she is, Nana does not notice how the blonde girl flinches at her touch, nor how she stiffens when the woman pulls her to embrace her against her side.)

"Hello, Chiyo-chan!" Nana beams. "Iemitsu-darling's already told me about you, and I'll do my best to take care of you. You can call me Mama!"

Oh, she's such a shy little thing, looking down at her feet all the while, unresponsive to her cheery words. But Nana has nothing if not patience, and she will not be deterred! Poor little Chiyo has just lost her parents, after all, so it's perfectly understandable if the girl is a bit depressed and withdrawn. No worries, though! She'll get a smile back on that face in no time!

"C'mon, let's get you inside, shall we?" Nana ushers in the little child through the doorway. "So, what would you like for dinner tonight? I was originally planning on making curry, but if you'd like some Italian dishes, I can make that, too. What do you think?"

Again, the silence stretches on after her words. Nana's smile falters a little, but… but she will not give up! Her darling Iemitsu is counting on her to help his dear friend's daughter recover from the tragedy, after all, and she would never let him down.

"… Chiyo-chan?"

It takes another moment, but the little girl ducks her head even further, if possible, and murmurs–

–murmurs something in Italian?

Oh.

Oh dear.

Something akin to relief cascades over Nana the moment she realizes that it's not that she's being stubbornly ignored –the little girl can't even understand what she's saying; no wonder she doesn't respond! … Granted, Iemitsu-dear had never mentioned before if his friend was also Japanese. She'd only assumed the child would be Japanese because of the name 'Chiyo.' Silly, silly! Her darling husband's work takes him all over the globe, so it only makes sense that his friend might not be Japanese. Hmm, this would make communication between them a problem. Nana herself had only picked up a few commonly-used Italian phrases from Iemitsu and was not a fluent speaker of the language by any means.

Okay! This means that Chiyo-chan could join her and Tsu-chan for storybook-reading time! It would be good quality family bonding!

"Here, how about you go play with Tsu-chan for a bit while I make some spaghetti?" Nana cheerfully guides little Chiyo-chan to the living room, where her darling Tsu-chan is lying on the ground, small stuffed toys and wooden blocks scattered loosely around him. He was just beginning to learn how to crawl, lately! Clever little Tsu-chan. "Let's get you settled in with us, Chiyo-chan. Don't be a stranger now!"

Chiyo-chan, as Nana soon comes to discover, is a rather quiet, sullen sort of child. Things start to get better on that front when Chiyo-chan finally begins learning how to speak properly, but she stoutly remains a child of few words –the blonde girl doesn't seem to like playing outside all that much, if the way she goes to school and then comes home and locks herself in her room until dinnertime is any indication of things.

Why, if Nana hadn't been sharp enough to spot the grass stains and scuff marks on her clothes, she would've mistakenly thought that Chiyo-chan didn't like playing with other children at all!

For a while, though, the stains and scuffs get progressively larger and larger until one night Nana finally sits down with the little girl with a first aid kit, because wow that looks like one nasty purple bruise on her arm. She gently chides Chiyo-chan for her roughhousing –Nana isn't so narrow-minded as to think that all little girls must be dainty and ladylike; she will support Chiyo-chan no matter what Chiyo-chan likes! But it would be nice if Chiyo-chan tried to rein herself in a little and not come home all roughed up every day. Grass stains are hard to wash out, and at this rate she might have to find herself a sewing machine just to keep up with repairing Chiyo-chan's clothes.

"Not that I mind doing all of this for you of course, Chiyo-chan," Nana hurriedly rushes to reassure the girl. "But do try to be a little more careful, okay? I mean, look at your arm! What if you get really hurt one day, playing like this?"

There's an odd sort of look in Chiyo's eyes when she tilts her head to look at her.

"… D-do you e-e'wen… ca-re?" It's a little hard for her to make out Chiyo-chan's stuttering, stumbling words. Then the girl's eyes promptly cut towards the ground, pale hands clenching into tight fists at her side. "Chiaramente, sono stato deliberatamente ferito–"

Nana finishes bandaging the little girl's arm and leans forward to give her a playful tap on the nose.

"Japanese, please!" she chirps brightly. The girl is living in Japan now, not Italy; it wouldn't do to have her reflexively slip back to her native tongue while she was still learning to speak the language.

Chiyo-chan falls silent for a moment.

"… Yes, ma'am."

Nana smiles, pleased at the understanding.

(The oblivious woman does not notice how, for awhile, things get even worse –sure, she notices that Chiyo-chan starts getting home later and later, sometimes bandages from the first aid kit and pieces of her sewing supplies go missing, but Chiyo-chan is finally starting to take care of herself! She's becoming a big girl now! Is she already at that age where she starts trying to be more independent? Mou, children grow up so quickly!

She does not notice how other children begin flinching away from Chiyo whenever she takes the little girl grocery shopping on the weekends, nor how Chiyo's once-stiff, awkward posture that has her hunching in on herself melts away into something coiled and tense, ready to fight or run on a moment's notice.)

Chiyo-chan is a strange little child. Prone to overreacting, too. She'd had a little spat with her friends once, and then came back and asked seriously if she could drop out of school altogether and be homeschooled instead! Of course, Nana had responded by telling the girl that education was important, but so was socializing and interacting with other children her age. Tsu-chan would be starting school soon, too –didn't she want to set a good example as the big sister for little Tsu-chan?

Chiyo had nodded blankly in response, and subsequently the topic of dropping school had never come up again.

Incidentally, Iemitsu had seemed concerned when she brought it up in conversation over the phone once, but she managed to clarify things with him!

"Is Chiyo-chan doing alright?"

"Of course she is, dear!" Nana responded brightly. "Poor little thing was so quiet and withdrawn when she just got here, but it's a good thing that she has friends at school! She's a little dramatic, asking to drop out of school like that, but I talked things through with her and everything is fine now. Chiyo-chan is very sensible and reasonable."

"… Ah, I see. That's good to hear." The static noise over the phone line crackled. "It's been hard on you, Nana. I'm sorry."

"No, no, not at all!" Nana immediately denied. It had been tough, taking care of Tsu-chan by herself –with Chiyo-chan in the house, too, it feels like her days of household chores are never-ending. But even so, Chiyo is a sweet little girl and Nana would never regret agreeing to take her in when Iemitsu had tentatively broached the subject of adoption. "It's no trouble at all, dear."

"I wish I was there with you, my darling," Iemitsu sighed dramatically into the speaker, and Nana giggled, already seeing the swooning motion her husband would make to accompany those words. "Fear not! I will be back for our wedding anniversary this year. Is there anything you'd like me to bring back for you as a gift, my lovely angel?"

"No," Nana said softly, smiling. "Having you back in the house is better than any gift, Iemitsu."

And when Iemitsu, her heart and pillar, finally steps through the doorway of the house on the long-awaited day –it was as if the entire world instantly became brighter.

Tsu-chan shrieks in delighted, boyish laughter when Iemitsu lifts him up and tosses him into the air, catching him just as easily as he was thrown. Chiyo is a little more reserved, too old and too serious for such childish antics, but the startled look on her face and the subsequent tentative, happy smile that spreads over her lips when Iemitsu swoops down and gives her a bear hug of her own –in that moment, Nana thinks rather fondly that no one would be surprised if Chiyo was really his daughter and not his friend's.

That's her Iemitsu! Kind, loving, compassionate.

When he leaves, it feels almost as if he takes a bit of the sun with him when he goes. It would be a lie to say that Nana is pleased that her husband's aged employer comes in person to cut their time together short, but she understands. Iemitsu is an important, busy man, and her job is only to make sure he always has a warm, happy home to come back to. It's probably just as well that they left when they did; it would've been difficult to take care of the extra people and watch over Tsuna who had, unfortunately, suddenly fallen sick around the same time right before his father left.

(She does notice that Tsu-chan suddenly becomes a lot clumsier than before after his fever goes down, stumbling this way and that and tripping everywhere, coming back from school with scraped elbows and bruised knees and watery eyes. It is because of her preoccupation with taking care of Tsuna that she does not notice how Chiyo is extremely pale and even jumpier than usual after the men leave, that she does not notice that some nights there is a strange purple light seeping out from under the doorframe of Chiyo's room.

She does not notice.)

As time progresses, Chiyo becomes more and more fluent in Japanese. Nowadays, she even sounds like a native speaker! Nana is very proud of her little girl. It would be nice if she'd bring friends over to the house, but Nana had been trying for years to no avail on that end. She never would've thought it when the girl first turned up on her doorstep, but it seemed like Chiyo-chan was actually a very outdoorsy sort of girl!

Mou, if only Tsu-kun was outdoorsy, too. There's nothing wrong with playing games and reading manga and building robots, but socializing is very important for a growing child! She tries telling him this, but for some reason that baffles her, Tsu-kun is reluctant to listen. He curls in on himself, saying something about no one wanting to be friends with Dame-Tsuna, and… and…

… And so what if her Tsu-kun is a little clumsy?! All children are clumsy! This is exactly why he needs to go out and run around in the sun some more, isn't it?

But Nana doesn't want to force Tsu-kun into doing something he doesn't want. She… she doesn't really even know what to do. Chiyo-chan had never needed encouragement in getting out of the house; these days, she was even starting to stay over at a friend's place! Maybe she should ask Chiyo-chan for some advice on how to encourage Tsu-kun to get out of the house more when she comes back again?

"Chiyo-chan, how do you think I could convince Tsu-kun to go outside to play more? He's always cooped up in his room these days!" Nana wrings her hands. Her daughter looks at her oddly, as the funny little girl always tends to do.

"… Have you tried talking to him about it?"

"Yes!" The woman nods fiercely at the middle-schooler. "I'm worried that Tsu-kun doesn't have any friends! He's only in elementary school; he should be out running on the grass and playing with his friends every day!"

Chiyo mutters something incomprehensible to herself under her breath before raising her voice and speaking up again. "If he doesn't want to, then he doesn't want to. He'll snap out of it in his own time."

"But…" Nana bites her lip. "Oh, if only he were a little more like you, Chiyo-chan. Then I wouldn't have to worry so much about Tsu-kun! But… But if he's having trouble at school or something, you'll, you'll help him, right?"

The blonde girl smiles wryly at that, a strange little twist to her lips. "… I should hope he's not more like me, ma'am. But yeah. 'Course I'll help him. He's my little brother, isn't he?"

Nana smiles, relieved at hearing these words from her lovely young daughter. Chiyo-chan hadn't been happy to have Tsu-kun trailing after her everywhere like a puppy in the early days, back when she'd just started school and couldn't even properly speak the language in a foreign country, but if there was one thing Nana would never doubt, it would be Chiyo-chan's love for her little brother. She'd even spotted Chiyo-chan putting bandages on Tsu-kun's boo-boos several times around the house –her children were adorable!

Now if only she could change Chiyo-chan's bad habit of calling her "ma'am" to "Mama" one of these days…

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Old habits die hard.

For someone like Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, whose habits from his previous possession literally determined the difference between life and death between one heartbeat and the next –some habits never really die at all. He would not have been a very successful assassin if he could not pay attention to his surroundings; awareness was both the key to success, and the path to survival… aside from skill.

The very same skill that now ensured his current livelihood as a sushi-chef. Heh.

… Regardless, as an assassin, even a retired one, Tsuyoshi makes it a point to always know what's going on around him. One can never be too careful, after all. And this was, technically, pseudo-Vongola territory in a sense, for all that it was supposedly Hibari grounds and a well-established neutral zone in the middle of Nowhere, Japan. One would only have to take a look at the Sawada residence on Sixth Street to confirm that. Sawada Nana was a charming woman, if a bit oblivious and airheaded, and he can certainly see how Vongola's Young Lion would've fallen for that innocent, natural charm.

"Innocent" was probably the last descriptor he'd use in conjunction with the girl in that household, though.

Sawada Chiyohime.

Oh, maybe the girl was innocent once. But Tsuyoshi could tell with a single look at those eyes that the girl was someone who had witnessed death, who had grown up with the intimate presence of death haunting her footsteps –a little digging around and pulling a few strings that led him to realize she was the lovely Vanetti princess' daughter wasn't quite so much of a surprise. It was well-known that Iemitsu and Mafalda had been married, that they'd had a single daughter, and while there were some stray rumors floating around that the girl had been killed in her crib next to her mother, those who were in the know knew better. Although, no one really quite knew where Iemitsu had been keeping his daughter hidden…

… Tsuyoshi might be aware of the location now, but there was no way he'd be spilling this particular secret, for fear of Vongola coming down on his head. And from the looks of it, the girl probably had a fair few secrets of her own that she was hiding from her family, too.

He certainly can't imagine Vongola letting a young Cloud run around unchecked on Hibari territory, and if the little blonde Italian wasn't a Cloud he'd eat his hat.

Trouble at school with her classmates, getting into fights? Most might just pin it down as schoolyard bullying, a gaijin being picked on for her foreign looks and bumbling tongue. It hadn't been so obvious at the time, no, but in hindsight Tsuyoshi could pick out the clear warning signs of a Cloud's fraying temper before they snapped and responded in a most spectacularly violently manner.

… In all honesty, it's pretty much a miracle that the girl had still retained enough control not to kill any of her assaulters once she began giving back as good as she got in the fights. From her movements it was clear that she'd received some sort of training, but it was nothing more than the bare basics –only enough to ensure she wasn't beaten senseless once more and more kids started ganging up on the 'uppity gaijin.'

Wandering around town, never staying home all too often? The average observer would put it down as a child exploring their new home, or perhaps a young child simply being uncomfortable in a new house with a new mother and new sibling. Maybe there was a bit of that involved, but the excessive wandering he saw from little Chiyo? Definitely the subconscious actions of a little Cloud scouting out a new territory, even if she might've rationalized it to herself as simply 'familiarizing herself with foreign, possibly-dangerous surroundings.'

It was on one of these wanderings that the little girl had been ambushed by one of the smaller teen gangs wandering around –apparently one of the kids she beat up at school was the little brother of one of their members– and Tsuyoshi had nearly stepped in that time, if only to ensure that Vongola's Young Lion wouldn't burn down the entire town because his daughter was put into the hospital by worthless rabble.

… He needn't have worried. That particular scuffle might've been the most vicious and brutal fights she'd had up until that point, but she'd been nasty in the tricks she used, and the older teens hadn't exactly come out on top the way they'd wanted. Chiyo proved precisely why most people did their utmost to avoid pissing off Clouds in spades.

Incidentally, this particular fight was what led the schoolyard bullying to finally tone down, once word of Chiyo's scariness finally spread around.

Antisocial tendencies, even after the bullying situation at school stopped? Anyone else might stop to scratch their heads and wonder why; humans were social creatures, little children needed friends, and surely every child would want someone else to talk and laugh with and hang out with at school. But Clouds would not associate and nor involve themselves with those they deemed unworthy of their time, and little Chiyo was no different in this respect.

… It wasn't as if Tsuyoshi went out of his way to make himself actively aware of each and every tiny aspect of Chiyo's life. But he's not blind, and for all that Namimori isn't exactly a peaceful town, there hadn't been too much going on aside from the usual gang dispute here and there, yakuza presence over on the other street, and then Hibari Takuma the most un-Hibari Hibari of the Hibari family bouncing over to smash them all down, effectively restoring the façade of peace for a good month or so before the cycle starts all over again.

As for Tsuyoshi, well. Tsuyoshi just keeps an eye out and an ear open and makes his sushi.

After all, what does he know? He's just an old man who wants to raise his son quietly and without fanfare. Takeshi has the talent and the instincts to excel at his old job, but Tsuyoshi doesn't want his son to ever have to step over to the other side of the world, because once you step into the dark underbelly of the underworld, there's no turning back. It's a one-way street, and Tsuyoshi doesn't want to trap his son like that. It's one thing if it's the path Takeshi chooses for himself, but–

But it's not something that he's going to have to worry himself over, not at this rate. Takeshi seems happy enough going to school and playing baseball with his friends and helping out in the kitchen with the sushi when he has spare time.

Perhaps the closest thing Chiyo has to a friend here in Namimori is one Kita Miharu, the young shateigashira of the Hanajima-kai, currently in charge of the local Momokyo-kai division based in Namimori. He's not too sure on how the exact details of that particular meeting came about, but he bets that it had probably involved something spectacularly violent again. Maybe a splattering of blood, too? He's heard that she'd been pulled aside by the resident Hibari, Takuma-kun, several times on that particular matter when her fights had gotten a little out of hand. It's a good thing that Takuma is as laidback as he is, because Tsuyoshi certainly can't imagine any traditional Hibari letting the situation with an errant Cloud like Chiyo slide, Vongola blood or not.

But the most Chiyo had done in regards to Namimori as a territory was simply the customary scouting of any young Cloud suddenly transplanted into a new, foreign environment. She certainly hadn't gone to any lengths to mark out her own territory or establish her own power base –one could even say that her method of trying to avoid conflict with her bullies in the beginning was distinctly un-Cloudlike behavior; maybe she was a Hybrid instead of Pure?– and the lack of assertion of her own power and dominance in Namimori's power structure was probably the only reason why Takuma had been so indulgent with her.

He could definitely imagine Takuma's little kid brother having an aneurysm over this, though. Poor kid probably already did, haha. Hibari Kyouya was much more of a traditional Hibari than his brother the eccentric Takuma, and he could only imagine the tighter leash that would be snapped onto Namimori when Takuma began passing the reins of authority over to young Kyouya.

Apparently, Takuma wanted to be a white-collar worker. Investment banking, or something to that extent. Which is a fine job and all, really, but so very un-Hibari-like that it had coaxed a startled bark of laughter out of him when he'd first heard about it from the young man's own lips. Because the Hibari family, extended relatives and all, had always been involved in policing, in the military, in assassination; all jobs that held an edge of danger and risk to it–

And Takuma, genius kid and the most skilled, well-rounded fighter that Tsuyoshi had ever seen to date, only said that the "constant violence" and "mindless dogma" most members of the family instilled just didn't appeal to him?

Hibari, indeed.

Chiyo was practically half-Hibari, if the way Takuma tolerated her and had partially taken her under his wing was any indicator of things, a sort of unofficial intermediary if one wanted to find Takuma for something but had no idea how to do so. Clouds tended to be strange like that; mostly, either they decided to tolerate each other and get along swimmingly or they hated each other on sight and would actively try to kill each other.

It's the main reason why he's fairly sure Vongola has no idea of Chiyo's Cloudy nature, because he can't imagine any situation in which they would've continued to let her stay in Namimori, the longtime territory of the Hibari family that had laid claim to the land. Not if it meant risking the anger of the local Hibari, which in most cases would anger the entire branch of Hibari in question, and that was just a massive headache for anyone involved… and that was discounting that Chiyo would have been killed for her transgression of trespassing and daring to lay hand on claimed territory.

It's good that someone like Takuma is in charge of Namimori, that things didn't have to come to that. Tsuyoshi is pretty sure the little Hibari won't change his brother's current policy on their resident errant Cloud –even though the scowling little kid frowns and disapproves of his brother's cheery, flippant attitude, Takuma is nothing if not insanely skilled and intently focused when things get down and serious. Little Kyouya knows that and respects that the way all Hibaris respect and acknowledge strength where it's due.

Chiyo may not be a natural-born genius like Hibari Takuma or even his own son Takeshi, but she's clever and quick-witted enough, light on her feet in a way even most female assassins never manage to be, and fast enough that whenever she can't gain the upper hand in a straight fight, swinging up the street pole and vaulting over the roof to make a quick getaway is simple enough for her.

Until Kita Miharu, that is.

The fairly new branch head to the local Momokyo-kai yakuza group, for a shateigashira he was relatively young in terms of age as far as age goes. He's been told that it had been one epic fight and one epic chase on the streets before the young Kita had managed to catch little Chiyo. Of course, no one really catches a Cloud, and he's not really all that clear on the precise details of what happened afterwards in that particular encounter, but the results were… surprising. Rather than angrily butting heads with the Momokyo-kai from here on out, Chiyo was certainly surprisingly tolerant of the young man who'd bested her.

He doesn't suppose that Sawada Nana knows anything much of what her stepdaughter gets up to around town. Tsuyoshi can't imagine the cheerful, bubbly woman being alright with Chiyo getting into fights with street gangs day in and day out. Was she even aware of her stepdaughter's lackluster reputation at school? Even Takeshi was aware of the antisocial gaijin girl being in with the "bad" crowd, someone to be avoided whenever possible.

The clumsy little Sawada boy had been having constant troubles with some schoolyard bullies of his own for a bit –he was a bit shy, harmless-looking, and prone to tripping over his own two feet while walking down the street. It was mean the way children could be cruel, but it wasn't anything like the hostility his gaijin half-sister had been treated with in her early days in Namimori when she couldn't even understand the language spoken around her. Still, the girl had gone and done something, because all of a sudden the bullies had up and disappeared one day –mostly.

Instead, the majority of schoolchildren now gave Tsuna a wide berth whenever they encountered the boy the same way they did his sister, and Tsuyoshi can't really say if this change was for the better. If anything, the boy seemed to be even more withdrawn than before. His sister had always been reacting to her attackers, much too preoccupied with street fighting and vaulting over buildings to give a damn about being alienated by her classmates. Tsuna hadn't had too many friends to call his own in the first place, and added on top of first the bullying, then the sudden cold shoulder…

Poor kid. Tsuyoshi pities him a little, but… but it's none of his business; he's not going to involve himself in Vongola business and end up endangering Takeshi because of it.

So he watches. He only ever watches.

Tsuyoshi watches as the scared, sullen scrap of a gaijin girl learns to fight back against her schoolyard tormentors, starts fighting twice as hard when things escalate into street brawls. Dresses and hair ribbons are replaced by long-sleeved shirts and pants; easy to move around in and easy to hide injuries under. For awhile, her blonde hair had even been kept as short as a boy's, before she finally decides to grow it out again sometime in middle school.

Tsuyoshi is vaguely aware of when Hibari Takuma half-sweeps the Italian girl under his wing, vaguely aware of the kid becoming friends with the young shateigashira of the Momokyo-kai. He is vaguely aware of the stiff, awkward child growing up into a willowy young girl with catlike grace, a fledgling Cloud without any true territory to call her own.

Tsuna never becomes quite so intimately acquainted with Namimori's street gangs as his older sister, but he's seen the kid walking around town with a taser in his pocket once or twice. The kid still doesn't seem to have very many friends, if Takeshi's comments of the Sawada boy in his class always sitting alone by himself is any indicator of things, but Tsuyoshi has seen how that hunched back posture and curled spine has straightened out into something more level and straight over the years, if not quite confident.

Hibari Takuma finds his dream job in Kyoto and hands off the reins of the family task to his little brother. Sawada Chiyo isn't quite so close with Kyouya as she is his older brother, and the friction between the two had resulted in a fair few messes sprouting up in Namimori before Chiyo removed herself from the equation entirely and began spending more time with the Momokyo-kai. The change of hands from older, laidback Hibari to younger, stricter Hibari means that order is a lot more tightly enforced on Namimori's streets, and Tsuyoshi really can't say he's too surprised when he hears word of a new Disciplinary Committee.

"Aww, amassing his own little underlings and forming a group already? My baby Kyou-chan's all grown up now!"

Tsuyoshi huffs in amusement over the phone. "Takuma-kun, you've left Namimori in the hands of a little terror here. If he pushes any further, I'm pretty sure most of the minor gangs around here are going to start rioting."

"Eh, doesn't matter. Kyou-chan can take care of the small fries, no problem! The older ones he's not quite ready to take on just yet, but they're all smart enough to recognize the Hibari claim on Namimori and know better than to do anything too drastic," the older Hibari responds candidly. "Plus, if everything really starts going to hell, Kyou-chan won't be the only one to make a move. The Hibari family isn't the only one who has a vested interest in keeping the peace in Namimori."

"Ah, I'll give you that," the sushi chef concedes, tacitly recognizing the subtle warning for what it is. "No comment about your little protégé in this?"

"Chiyo-chan? Chiyo-chan's a little traitor! I knew she'd run off to Miharu-kun and his Momokyo-kai goons the instant I left! Sneaky sneaky Miharu-kun, pushing his ugly mug in here and stealing Chiyo away when I put all that work into her–"

"I'm pretty sure she'd stay and help your little brother no matter how much they get on each other's nerves if you asked her to, Takuma-kun."

"True, true, but what's the point in that?" There's a rustling sound that comes over the other end of the line, the shuffling of paperwork. "Chiyo-chan… she's a lot like us, Kyou-chan and I. You can't just go and tie us down to you, Tsuyoshi-san, that's not how it works. Oh, we'll stay out of duty, out of respect, out of obligation –but if our heart's really not in it, then you can bet your fancy sushi chef hat that we'll skedaddle out the moment we can."

For a moment, Tsuyoshi wonders if the young man is talking about himself, about staying to watch over Namimori and raise his little brother in their parents' absence, and skipping off to Kyoto the moment he's deemed Hibari Kyouya capable of taking over the role of the protector of Namimori.

"Keep me posted, okay?"

And he does. Tsuyoshi lets Takuma know when his little brother clears out the stray rabble on the streets, mentions it to Takuma when Chiyo helps the Momokyo-kai settle a dispute with a neighboring faction. Takuma gives him updates on the scene in Kyoto, which Tsuyoshi keeps filtered away in a corner of his mind even though he doubts that he'll ever visit Kyoto again in this lifetime. A shopkeeper was killed, the police suspect foul play, someone tried breaking into the bank today, etc., etc.

Chiyo gave Kyouya a pair of high-quality tonfas for his birthday.

The Hanajima-kai headquarters are actually based in Kyoto, who knew?

Kyouya got some more recruits for his Disciplinary Committee. Chiyo is graduating high school soon.

Psst, I'm starting to suspect that law enforcement in Kyoto is incompetent.

…

…

… For a place as connected to the underworld as it is, the peace maintained in Namimori is rare, and it's a credit to the Hibari family that Namimori remains as neutral on the surface as it is. Tsuyoshi had hoped that these days would continue, would never end, but–

But the arrival of the Sun Arcobaleno on behalf of Vongola changes everything.

.

.

In many ways, Namimori is both exactly what he had expected and not precisely what he had thought it would be.

… It's not his first time being called in as a 'tutor.' After all, Reborn had defied all expectations by transforming the hopeless klutz of a young kid into the 'Prancing Horse' Dino Cavallone, so it's not that much of a surprise that Vongola would try to get a second re-enactment of that minor miracle. His teaching methods are rather unconventional, but given that the kid in question this time was, for all intents and purposes, a white-paper civilian, Reborn thinks he can certainly see why Vongola might go for 'unconventional' in trying to shape such a child into a proper mafia Don.

Sawada Tsunayoshi. The son of Sawada Iemitsu, Vongola's Yong Lion and External Advisor, Head of CEDEF. Eligible for inheritance due to sharing Primo's bloodline from his father's side of the family. Iemitsu had been careful enough to have the child born and raised in Namimori, effectively sheltering his son's existence from his enemy's eyes. Securing something like that for someone of his position from the Hibari family… well.

There was a very good reason why Sawada Iemitsu held the role and job he did in the famiglia. Reborn could only hope that his son would share some of his father's characteristics, hopefully with none of the over-exuberant, irritating cheer.

… Gods, he hoped that attitude was not genetic.

He hadn't exactly been surprised to learn that Iemitsu had a son –everything had been suspiciously quiet on that front regarding Iemitsu's personal family– but learning that his mistress was a civilian had been rather surprising. Most men of the mafia all had a few lady loves and hidden children squirreled away here and there, so even though Iemitsu hadn't struck him as the sort to engage in such activities, Reborn couldn't exactly say it came as a shock to be informed that Iemitsu had a son, would he please head over to Namimori to whip the boy into shape because old Nono has no more heirs left and the kid is their last hope for inheriting the famiglia.

It was rather well-known that Iemitsu had a daughter, by way of the late Mafalda Vanetti. Charming young woman, quick-witted and clever, sharp as a knife. It wasn't impossible for women to inherit as Don –or rather, Donna, as the case may be– and it had actually happened before, back in the eight generation with Vongola Ottavia. But he supposed that she would kept as the very last resort if it turned out that Tsunayoshi was discovered to be ineligible or found to be inadequate. Male heirs being given precedence over females, and all that.

Reborn himself didn't look down on women quite so much as some of the die-hard traditionalists tended to do, not that that had any bearing on the current situation.

He'd seen Sawada Chiyohime as a child once, back when the girl still lived in Italy with Iemitsu. Children struck by tragedy so early on in the mafia typically didn't turn out to be the most well-adjusted or happy of individuals; Chiyo had certainly seemed like a pretty miserable five year-old child that one time he'd seen her at a Vongola gathering. If the way she'd beat a hasty retreat the moment she spotted her father had been any indication of things at the time, Iemitsu hadn't been a particularly good father to her, either.

Brilliant commander and skilled fighter he might be, but Iemitsu was not the sort of man meant to be sitting down and raising a child. Not on his own, at least… which helped explain why he'd eventually shipped his daughter off to Namimori.

Reborn didn't have much of an impression of the girl, quiet and withdrawn as she had been. Only that she had been an unhappy child, and bore an uncanny resemblance to the appearance of her mother Mafalda Vanetti. Which might've been another reason why Iemitsu couldn't stand to be around her for any extended length of time, come to think of it.

Still, he was here in Namimori to evaluate Tsuna and train him to be a suitable Don for the Vongola Famiglia, not muse around on Iemitsu's disastrous parenting skills. Sealing away a young child's flames 'for his own good' had probably been more of an excuse on Nono's part to cut off the possibility of having a rival heir who might one day threaten the candidacy of his own sons, rather than anything really for Tsuna's own sake. His External Advisor had no real way of stopping the Don, nothing short of implying that he intended to have his own blood make a bid for the Vongola throne. Nono had been crafty and thorough in what he'd done. More fool him, then, now that the wily old Don had no more heirs remaining and Sawada Tsunayoshi was suddenly the only male Sky candidate left for the position of heir who still bore the Vongola bloodline. Primo's bloodline, even.

Karma at its finest, Reborn supposed.

The first order of business would be unsealing Tsuna's flames. After having been suppressed for all these years –the seal needed to be broken in a careful, controlled fashion, and here the Dying Will bullets would come into play. From what Reborn had seen so far, the kid wasn't doing too well in school, a loner in addition to being clumsy, but that wasn't something some old-fashioned training couldn't fix. And once he started getting to work on that seal, the natural charisma of a Sky should start coming into play to solve the rest of that problem.

"Ciao, Tsuna. I'm your home tutor. My job is to turn you into an excellent mafia boss."

"… Mama, why's there a baby with a suit inside our house?"

Things go well, in the beginning. The unsealing of young Tsuna's flames progresses along rather flawlessly, and he can already see the beginnings of a nicely-budding Harmony between his charge and his prospective Storm and Rain. Calling Gokudera Hayato over from Italy was a gamble that had paid off well, and snagging the son of the renowned assassin Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was a most excellent move. Reborn wholeheartedly approves. He also arranges for the introduction of a Bovino Lightning to Tsuna's circle, and takes a moment to step back to admire his handiwork and nod in satisfaction.

His first machination of nudging his student into curb-stomping the Mochida kid had also paid off well. It had allowed a tentative friendship to be struck up between Tsuna and his longtime crush, Sasagawa Kyoko, and the two were now officially dating. Both the girl and her brother were quite powerful Suns, so it would be good for the famiglia no matter which one he ended up harmonizing with.

All that was left now would be the addition of a Mist, and a Cloud. Reborn had his eye out on a few candidates for that, but so far none had caught his eye, save for the resident Hibari currently in charge of Namimori. It wasn't unheard of to entice a Hibari Cloud away from their task, but it would take some careful maneuvering. Hibari Kyouya was young enough that having a change in goals wouldn't come as too much of a surprise at this point; perfectly plausible and entirely reasonable.

As for a Mist candidate… maybe one of the Nakamura children? One of the boys was in Tsuna's class; it wouldn't be too hard to engineer a "chance encounter" for friendship. His little sister, from what Reborn had seen so far, seemed to be a Pure Mist, which was another point in their favor.

Well, one at a time. He'd get to work on collecting the Hibari first, before taking care of the Mist.

As busy with grooming the Vongola Decimo to-be as he is, Chiyohime's absence in the household is something he only takes note of peripherally. Sawada Nana isn't even worried in the least, brightly stating that she knows how her Chiyo-chan likes to run off with her friends around town and so she makes sure to give the independent girl plenty of space. Reborn isn't quite so sold on this point, but given that no one of the Sawada household seems to find it strange, well, who's he to say anything about it?

Apparently, the girl had come back a few times before, when he'd been out and busy at work in Namimori. The first time Reborn catches site of Iemitsu's eldest child is actually outside of the house, when he'd arranged Tsuna's 'kidnapping' to test his Guardians' reactions.

By the time the kids finally reach the large warehouse at the end of a deserted street, the group of wannabe street punks have already been beaten unconscious. Stepping inside reveals the strange sight of Tsuna talking with an older, unfamiliar girl –and it takes only a single moment for Reborn to match the jarringly out of place, distinctly non-Japanese features with Mafalda Vanetti.

So this is Sawada Chiyohime.

Tall, slender, willowy figure. White-blonde hair the same shade as her late mother's, with eyes that are just as brown. The black long-sleeved turtleneck she wears covers her body well, as does the pair of loose cargo pants over her legs. But her boneless posture, one that speaks of being able to switch between fight-or-flight at a moment's notice is something that does not escape his attention. Nor does he miss the way her gaze lingers on him a moment longer than the others, narrowing slightly and marking him out as the most dangerous threat in the group.

Good instincts.

"Your friends are here, so I'll make myself scarce now," the young Italian girl says in flawless Japanese, rising up in a single fluid motion from her seat on the ground and pulling up her little half-brother as she does so. "See you around, Tsuna."

"'Kay," his charge responds, smiling tentatively. "Come back sometime soon from Miharu-nii's place, alright? Mama's been asking after you again."

"… I'll see what I can do."

It takes a little more digging around and a few pointed inquiries to a disgruntled Yamamoto Tsuyoshi after that, but Reborn finally manages to piece together the strange puzzle that is Chiyohime. Sawada Chiyohime, a student of Namimori High and the second-in-command to a young man by the name of Kita Miharu, leader of one of the larger local yakuza groups, the Momokyo-kai.

… He can certainly see how this might happen.

It's not too hard to picture the situation in his mind's eye: A young little six year-old girl, smuggled aboard a cargo plane from Italy and brought halfway around the world into an entirely foreign country. Taken away from her only parent and torn away from everything she knew. Could she even speak Japanese when she was sent to this island country? Furthermore, considering the common attitude towards gaijin in Japan, he could certainly see how a hesitant, withdrawn Italian girl might become an easy target for other children. It wouldn't have been easy, then, for Chiyo to adjust to something like this, though to go as far as joining the local yakuza…

Not that he approves of the girl all but abandoning her family to mess around in a gang with loose rabble, but Reborn can see why something like this might come about. And it's just as well; if Tsuna was going to become a mafia boss, then it would be good for his sister to at least be somewhat acquainted with the shady nature of their world.

Tsuna himself had gotten his first taste of it during the run-in with Rokudo Mukuro.

It's good for all parties involved that Iemitsu's eldest is capable of taking care of herself. Reborn's job doesn't entail watching over the CEDEF Boss' daughter in addition to his son, but Reborn keeps a spare eye on the girl out of habit nonetheless. The girl is fairly low-key and discreet about her Cloudy nature, which is just as well. He's fairly surprised that she hasn't been "bitten to death" yet, but Tsuyoshi had mentioned something about the girl being some sort of pseudo-honorary Hibari by way of the previous Hibari in charge of Namimori.

Iemitsu would've mentioned something important as important as this if he'd known of it, so Reborn makes an extra note on Chiyo's Cloud nature in one of his reports on Tsuna's progress. It would be helpful in ironing out a few more details in the whole succession issue; the Vongola heir needed to be a Sky. It's tradition; it's only to be expected.

Reborn did not expect the emergency missive he received one night from CEDEF's ciphers.

Xanxus has broken free of imprisonment. Vongola's upper echelons are currently in uproar over the succession crisis again. Standby and keep an eye out for Varia activity.

… Ever since Nono had denied his youngest the chance to succeed his position as Vongola Decimo, ever since the ensuing incident that had resulted in the fiery-tempered Varia Boss being sealed in a block of flame-ice –"To cool down his head," was all old Nono had said on that particular topic– Vongola had been split into two factions: the progressives and the traditionalists.

The progressives mostly consisted of the younger generation, hot-blooded and very much supporters of Xanxus' raw strength, with a few hard-lined old hawks who believed in leading with an iron fist and not being afraid to spill blood. Several more of the latter who had been sitting on the fence quickly crossed over to the progressives' side when Timoteo announced his intent to name Sawada Tsunayoshi as heir.

A civilian kid who had no prior contact whatsoever with the mafia, who had absolutely no experience at all with anything related to the dark belly of the underworld, take over the largest criminal empire in Italy?

Like. Hell.

Timoteo had managed to appease some of Vongola's upper echelons by soliciting Reborn's services, by finding the Sun Arcobaleno, the Greatest, to take over young Sawada Tsunayoshi's training as preparation for the position of Vongola Decimo, but apparently it hadn't been enough. Timoteo was mostly supported by the traditionalists, whose ranks mainly comprised of members of his inner circle who firmly believed in the old Don's decisions, or those who endorsed Iemitsu and wanted closer relations between CEDEF and the main famiglia. There were also a number of staunch old-school believers who supported the idea of bringing back Primo's bloodline into the famiglia, who'd thrown in their lot with Timoteo as well.

… Although, it seemed like the traditionalists were far outnumbered and outmaneuvered by the progressives, if the fact that Xanxus had been released from his imprisonment was anything to judge by. Reborn had no doubt that it had been the handiwork of the influx of new progressives, grimly determined to preserve the famiglia by ensuring that the next Don would not be a clueless newcomer who didn't understand the Vongola empire as they did, who hadn't even been aware that Vongola even existed. That Xanxus was a skilled combatant and seasoned assassin, a powerful force to be reckoned with in his own right and a damn strong Sky with a nearly complete set of Guardians, was only another point in the favor of Nono's youngest.

It's not like Reborn doesn't understand things from their point of view, though he does feel mildly insulted that they'd think he wouldn't do a good enough job of training Tsuna into a proper mafia boss.

Entirely understandable and perfectly reasonable, but insulting nonetheless.

Not that he can actually blame them for it.

"The situation in Italy is getting worse. I can't even contact Nono anymore –the main headquarters is under complete lockdown; we're working on cracking it, but there's no time, Reborn. It's going to be all out civil war over here if we can't get things to calm down soon, and the last thing Vongola needs is an inner conflict on this scale."

Iemitsu's voice is haggard, stressed. Reborn wouldn't have expected anything otherwise, not considering the man's position in the famiglia and his precarious situation, not with the volatile situation with his son.

"Hmph," a different voice sounds up over the phone. Deeper, older, with more of a bass rumble. "It is good to see you understand the situation at hand, Young Lion. Now would you see why my suggestion would be the best solution to our troubles?"

Something shatters in the background. Glass, maybe? It certainly sounds sharp enough for something like that.

"Orco, I am NOT going to whore out my daughter to that ill-tempered little fucker of a crazy shit!"

Reborn blinks, processing the angry words and letting the pieces click together in his head. Sawada Chiyohime, given as a bride to Xanxus? … Well, it's possible that a marriage between Iemitsu's line and that of Timoteo's just might be enough restore some semblance of peace to the delicate situation before things took a turn for the worse and erupted into open violence irrevocably.

By giving Xanxus the hand of Iemitsu's daughter in marriage, it would be a tacit acknowledgment of Xanxus' strength that also opened the possibility of the traditionalists accepting Xanxus' leadership of Vongola. Intermixing the two bloodline would definitely appease the blood purists, and pacify the progressives who feared that the traditionalists would never accept Xanxus as an official power within Vongola again. Furthermore, there was nothing in this arrangement that would negate Tsuna's own candidacy; by extending an olive branch to avert the crisis, Tsuna would be portrayed as a considerate young man, willing to negotiate and make concessions in order to preserve Vongola's strength. A thoughtful leader who disliked internal violence and only had Vongola's best interests in mind.

It would also reflect badly on Xanxus' reputation if he were to order an assassination of his own brother-in-law, so that would be an extra layer of protection for Tsuna from the Varia, Vongola's private assassination squad composed entirely of highly-skilled elite killers.

This wouldn't be a full resolution to the whole succession crisis, not by any means, but… but it would be enough to stabilize the current situation and delay the issue; it would give Tsuna more chances to prove himself to the famiglia in the future and win their loyalty, and Reborn had no doubt that he could coax out the young Sky's full potential, given enough time. Reborn did not tolerate failure, least of all from himself, and the challenge of his job was to make Tsuna into the next Vongola Don.

Sawada Tsunayoshi would become Vongola Decimo.

"She's a Cloud," Reborn says into the speaker of the phone, interrupting the two men bickering fiercely on the other end of the line all the way over in Italy. "They'd appreciate that; Xanxus is still missing a Cloud Guardian, I believe? She's already eighteen, old enough of age to be legally married, too."

"REBORN!" Iemitsu's voice sounds a cross between utterly horrified and thoroughly incensed at what he's suggesting. "Chiyo is my daughter! I won't use her as a bargaining chip like this!"

"Tch, at least one of you sees sense."

Reborn inclines his head, though neither of them can see it. "Have you forgotten how you married the Vanetti princess, Iemitsu?"

"… Don't bring Mafalda into this." Something crackles suspiciously into the speaker. "And Mafalda's dead, Reborn. If you're suggesting that Chiyo–"

"You know full well that's not what I mean, Iemitsu," Reborn cuts off the man mid-sentence, voice sharp. "Political marriage. It's not like it's never been done before."

"But it's Xanxus! I can't, in good conscience, just ship my daughter off to that– that–"

"Peace, Iemitsu," the other man says. "You're being far too biased. Xanxus isn't as bad as you seem to think he is."

"Screw you too, Orco! It's not your daughter in question here."

"… I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Iemitsu, the entire famiglia is in danger. You confessed to that yourself, didn't you? Helen of Troy was the woman whose face launched a thousand ships, but your daughter can prevent violence from breaking out in the first place within the famiglia if you give her to Xanxus."

"That– I–"

The hitman-turned-tutor interrupts once more at this point. "Think of what would happen if you don't do anything, Iemitsu. It won't be long before the Varia comes after the Vongola Rings, and if Xanxus gets his hands on those, then everything is as good as over. You'd have to deliver them into Tsuna's hands, but then Xanxus would be fully within his rights to challenge the recognized heir to inheritance combat and initiate the Vongola Ring Battles… if not outright steal the rings directly. I've been doing my best to get his training up to par, and none of his Guardians are slouches when it comes to talent, but they'll be up against Varia quality. If it comes to that… I'll still do my best, but I make no promises. The Varia isn't exactly known for mercy. It's your choice, Iemitsu."

Dead silence on the other end of the phone.

And then, a broken-sounding laugh.

"… That's low, Reborn. You're asking me to choose between Chiyo and Tsuna?"

There. There. Iemitsu is wavering.

Reborn goes in for the kill.

"Why are you acting like this is a death sentence? It's not like Chiyo is entirely helpless or anything, Iemitsu," he informs the other man. "You've seen my reports. She's actually quite the accomplished fighter. Your 'little Chiyo-chan' can go toe-to-toe with Hibari, and come out of it without so much as a scratch on her. She's got plenty of experience with the yakuza, too."

"But–"

"Your daughter is a lot stronger than you think, Iemitsu; don't demean her by thinking of her as a weak little princess who can only sit around and look pretty."

"The Sun Arcobaleno speaks the truth, Iemitsu."

…

…

"… alright. I… alright." The defeated words that come out from Iemitsu's mouth after a long, lengthy pause sound so tired, as if the man had aged ten years in the single instant it took for him to make his decision. "Alright. Chiyo. I'll… I'll arrange for Chiyo to be married to… Xanxus."

…

And that is that.

… Part of Reborn feels slightly guilty about it, that he's played a role in sending off a young girl into an arranged marriage without her consent. It's not the worst thing he's done in his long career as a Mafioso, though. And unlike Iemitsu, when it comes down to choosing between Chiyo and Tsuna, there is no hesitation at all on his part to stand on Tsuna's side, hands down.

Besides, he knows that Chiyo loves her little brother, that there is a lot that she's willing to do for his sake, even if he is not her Sky. She's also an independent young woman who can take care of herself, if the way she's come to thrive in Namimori is any sign of things, and for her the Varia will only be another challenge. Chiyo herself was born the result of a political marriage; she wouldn't find the concept of an arranged marriage quite so unfathomable and abhorrent. What with having spend her early years in close proximity with the mafia and all, it shouldn't be unimaginable for her, this concept of making sacrifices for the famiglia.

Everything was for the Family.

Always.

.

.

As far as Tsuna was aware, his sister had always been there.

… Kind of.

He hadn't actually realized until he'd started school with the other kids his age that siblings were supposed to look alike. But even though Chiyo-nee was adopted, that didn't mean she was any less of an older sister to him. She might not be around the house all that much as he got older, but when he'd been starting to have trouble with bullies and it was just so hard to go to school each day where he'd always have to face his tormentors–

"'Course I'll help him. He's my little brother, isn't he?"

Everyone starts giving him a wide berth after that, and though it still hurts, sometimes feels as if it hurts almost worse than the bullying he'd originally been dealing with, it's… nice, knowing that he's got an older sister who watches out for him and steps in when he needs help.

Even if he still has no idea to this day of what she'd actually done to make the bullying stop.

… Actually, that's a lie, sort of. Tsuna thinks he has a pretty good idea of how she'd been able to accomplish that, and though he's never been quite comfortable with Namimori's street gangs and occasional thugs, Miharu-nii is pretty cool and never tries to pressure him into doing anything or does funny things to him.

He'd asked his sister, once, about how she'd met Miharu-nii. She'd responded by telling him about a vicious fight and ensuing chase over the rooftops and alleyways of Namimori, and then he'd asked in confusion why she still hung out with him.

"Because he caught me," is his sister's simple reply.

Tsuna doesn't really understand. If Miharu-nii had tried to beat his sister up the first time they met, why in the world would she keep on going back to him? Chiyo-nii thinks about it for a moment, deliberating on her answer, before responding again.

"Because he caught me, and let me go."

… Tsuna isn't quite sure if he understands that, either, but it seems to make a little more sense now. Sort of? And if anything, Chiyo-nee always seems a bit happier when she's with Miharu-nii, anyways, so Tsuna shelves his questions to the back of his mind and doesn't ask her about it again. He does inform Miharu-nii, with all the seriousness of a six-year old kid, that he'd better not do anything bad to make Chiyo-nii unhappy or else Tsuna would… Tsuna would…

Or else Tsuna would bite him!

There had been such a startled look on Miharu-nii's face at that fierce declaration that Tsuna had been confused when the young man had just started laughing. And then he'd reached over and ruffled Tsuna's hair.

"You're okay, kiddo," Miharu-nii had winked at him like they were sharing a secret. It was also the day he finally told Tsuna to drop the 'Kita-san' and call him 'Miharu-nii.'

Tsuna might not be close with his sister the way Kyoko-chan is with her brother, but there's never been any doubt in his mind that his sister cared for him, even by way of a rather distant sort of affection. And even though they looked so different from each other, even though they weren't related by blood, they were family in all the ways that mattered.

Not like his absentee father, who only ever showed up in the house once in a blue moon and did nothing but laze around in shorts with empty bottles of booze and nothing else. It really said something that Chiyo-nee held more amicable feelings towards their father than Tsuna, but maybe it was because she'd spent more time with him in Italy before coming to Namimori to live with Tsuna and his mother.

Or at least, that's how Chiyo-nee had explained it to him, with a slightly conflicted, funny sort of expression on her face when she'd spoken of their father.

Construction worker his ass.

Tsuna didn't want to be a mafia boss. But did he ever get asked his opinion on the subject? No! Reborn had just showed up on the doorstep one day out of the blue and promptly declared that he would shape Tsuna into a proper heir for the position of Vongola Decimo, or else. Subsequently, the baby hitman had gone and pretty much turned his entire life upside down.

… It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, this whole getting his life turned upside down. Because it was precisely through this that he met Gokudera, that he became friends with Yamamoto, that Lambo had come bouncing into the house and Kyoko had agreed to go out with him and even Hibari wasn't quite so cold and standoffish anymore. For all the chaos and mayhem that his life had been thrown into, for the first time Tsuna truly had friends, and it would be a cold day in hell before he gave up on anyone in his family.

The incident involving Rokudo Mukuro had been… jarring, and eye-opening to what being part of the mafia truly meant. There hadn't been too much time to think on that, though, because suddenly he was hearing things like internal conflict and succession crisis, and even Reborn seemed grim, if the way he'd stopped waking Tsuna up by way of electric shocks in the morning was any indication of things.

"They're saying that Xanxus is free," Gokudera had later confirmed in a hushed whisper, mouth twisted into a determined line. "He's the boss of Varia, Vongola's elite assassination division. Nono's son, but he got declared ineligible to inherit the famiglia for some reason a few years back, and a good number of people were unhappy about that. Don Vongola managed to head off the conflict by putting his son under confinement, but it seems that his supporters finally broke him out."

Well, he could take the position of heir if he wanted it. Tsuna didn't have a single ambitious bone in his body, no real desire aside from that of keeping his family happy and safe, but Gokudera had explained that, given this 'Xanxus' was ineligible, the only way he could rightfully succeed the Vongola throne would be by removing Tsuna, the last remaining heir, eliminating the gravest threat that stood between him and his goal.

"Father will take care of it," was all Chiyo-nee had said on the topic when he'd brought it up to her, stressed and uneasy over the new threat in his life. "It's part of his job, anyways."

Tsuna pauses.

"Come to think of it, what is his job?"

This time it is the older blonde's turn to pause. She replies in a moment, though. "… CEDEF. Our father leads the Consulenza Esterna Della Famiglia, the External Advisors to Vongola. It's a pseudo-separate branch off the main family, mostly responsible for anything involving classified, high-risk covert intel and special ops."

And apparently, because he led CEDEF this meant he was unable to take up the position of Don for the famiglia. Which would've solved all their issues, but unfortunately…

Unfortunately, the way Iemitsu goes about solving the succession crisis results in an even bigger issue.

He hears about it at dinner; the irresponsible drunkard of a father had showed up earlier in the day without so much as a prior warning beforehand and plopped himself down at the dinner table like he'd always belonged there. The only reason why Tsuna bites his tongue instead of tearing his father a new one right on the spot is because of the sheer haggardness in the man's frame, the way he sags even despite the bright smile he desperately fixes to his face, and Tsuna knows how serious the succession crisis is –maybe he doesn't comprehend the full magnitude of it, but Reborn had made sure that he understood the gravity of it all.

That, and his sister had also quietly remarked at the end of their last conversation that their father didn't have it easy, not with a job like CEDEF and now with this succession crisis threatening to tear the entire famiglia apart.

Dinner starts out a little stiff and awkward, but it's amiable enough. His father asks after Tsuna's daily activities, inquires how his training is progressing, and teases him about his sunny new girlfriend. He asks after Chiyo, too, asking why she isn't at the dinner table and how she has been doing lately.

And then he drops the bombshell.

"Chiyo-chan will be coming back to Italy with me this time! Our little baby is finally going to get married!"

Gokudera's eyes bulge. Yamamoto's jaw drops. Lambo, not understanding the implications of those words in the least, continues obliviously mashing his peas together, but Kyoko slowly raises a hand to cover her mouth, shocked into speechlessness.

Tsuna, on the other hand, does a perfect spit-take, spewing out an entire mouthful of water all over the table.

In sharp contrast to their variety of collectively stunned reactions, Mama only brightens, her entire face lighting up.

"Oh, already?" the homely woman clasps her hands together excitedly. "I knew it! Miharu-kun told me he wanted to wait until Chiyo-chan finished college before proposing to her, but I knew he was far too head over heels for our little Chiyo! A wedding in Italy is so romantic, Iemitsu!"

The already-strained smile on the blond man's face freezes at her words.

"… Miharu-kun?"

"Dad, we need to talk," Tsuna hisses abruptly, hurriedly shooting up from his seat and sending the kitchen chair skittering away a good distance behind him. "We really, really need to talk."

Something is horribly, horribly wrong, and Tsuna doesn't need the famed Vongola Hyper Intuition in the moment to realize that.

… He's right.

Much to his despair, he finds out that he's completely right.

The man had just gone and–

"Are you kidding me? An arranged marriage?" Tsuna's voice is colored a mix of incredulity and disbelief as he gapes at the negligent man who somehow still has the gall to call himself a father. "Are you mad? An arranged marriage, in this day and age? How– I don't even– How in the world did you even get Chiyo-nee to agree to this? What about Miharu-nii?"

Tsuna's not blind; Chiyo-nee might not always be around the house, but she's been more of a presence in his life than his dad has ever been, always stepping in at crucial moments and never straying too far. And he's seen how his sister follows after Miharu-nii, how she quietly hands him a pen or a cup of water or whatever else he needs at the time without ever having to be asked. He's seen how Miharu-nii looks at his sister, too, in the few moments when the man thinks no one's watching. Tsuna's seen the way Miharu-nii takes off his own jacket and stands in the middle of Namimori winter in nothing but an undershirt to drape the extra clothing around his sister so she won't get cold.

Reborn might not have been around long enough to get a good grasp of Chiyo-nee's personality beyond the fact that she was prone to drifting away and distancing herself around strangers, that she was involved with the yakuza, but Iemitsu…

Iemitsu might not have been around all that much, either, but Iemitsu was their father, and he had just gone and betrayed Chiyo-nee on perhaps the most fundamental level. His daughter who still loved her father, despite all his faults.

The blond man in question mutters something to himself under his breath, before turning a half-guilty, half-reproachful look to Tsuna. "You could stand to be a little more grateful, y'know? Your sister is going to be doing this for your sake. And… I really, truly didn't know about 'Miharu-nii.' How long has she been dating this kid?"

Dating, he says. As if it's only the average teenager's passing fancy.

Tsuna mouths the words to himself, shaking his head in amazement. The sort of sheer amazement that comes when you're so furious that you don't even feel upset anymore, just… oddly blank and empty. "You didn't even ask Chiyo-nee about anything at all, did you?"

Iemitsu flinches.

"You didn't even ask her," Tsuna repeats, before a bubble of hysteric laughter makes its way out of his throat. "Congratulations. I think you might've finally succeeded in getting Chiyo-nee to hate you. She's always been on your side, y'know, even though you've practically abandoned us to our own devices here in Namimori."

"… You think I want to do this?" The sheer hurt that flashes though the blond man's eyes isn't fake. The pain is raw and real. But… but if that's the case, then why would he go and do something like this? "I love Chiyo-chan. I love you too, Tsuna-kun. If there had been any other way to ensure that both of you would be safe, trust me, I would've taken it."

"Everything you do is for our safety," Tsuna says bitterly in response. "Of course it is. Why would I ever suspect anything different?"

Iemitsu's fist comes crashing down on the coffee table in front of them. The table breaks, snapping into two jagged halves and collapsing into splinters flying to the ground. To his right, Gokudera tenses, while on the other side Yamamoto goes impossibly still.

"You don't understand! Against the Varia… they're the best of the best that Vongola has to offer. Assassins who are called in when no one else can get the job done. You would have me let you go up against that?" The fire in his father's eyes blaze. "I won't let you march to your own death, Tsuna. It would be suicide!"

"That doesn't mean you can just go and sell off my sister!" Tsuna finally explodes, roaring right back at him. "And in case you never got the note, I never asked to be heir! Hell, this 'Xanxus' can just go and take the position for all I care!"

And then he feels it, the invisible, crushing pressure of sheer power that crashes down on them, that makes the entire room a roaring inferno and he can't breathe–

And then it's gone.

Just as suddenly as it came, it's gone.

Tsuna coughs, nearly choking as he hurriedly sucks in a lungful of sweet, sweet air. Gokudera and Yamamoto aren't much better off beside him.

"… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," his father apologizes in a low voice in front of him, as if he hadn't nearly just killed them with his brief loss of control. "But don't say that again, Tsuna. Ever. Xanxus is… dangerous. If he were to succeed his father as Vongola Decimo, it would be a bloodbath in the entire country. It would be for the best, if Chiyo married him. The union of our bloodlines will be enough to pacify the agitators and buy us enough time to consolidate your position as heir. As my daughter, the blood of Primo that runs in her veins should ensure her safety."

Wincing, Tsuna raises his head and gives the man a funny look.

"Isn't Chiyo-nee adopted?"

… Iemitsu hesitates a moment too long in responding. Tsuna's jaw drops open.

"Oh my god," the boy says numbly, leaning back, mind reeling. Fuck. Fuck. It's not adoption, it was never adoption. Chiyo-nee is actually his honest-to-goodness real blood-related sister. Did Chiyo-nee already know? "Oh my god. I… why… why in the world would you ever even–"

"It's a long story," his father –no, not his father, Tsuna wouldn't admit to someone like him as his father what the fuck– says. "Chiyo is your sister, Tsuna; you should be grateful for her sacrifice for your sake."

"I don't want Chiyo-nee to sacrifice herself for me!"

How many times does he have to say it? He doesn't want to be Vongola Decimo –Tsuna could care less about anyone else as long as it meant that his family was safe. What reason did he have to care for the criminal empire that his errant father belonged to?

Tsuna turns and marches out of the room. Or at least, he would've, if not for the firm hand on his shoulder.

"Where are you going, Tsuna?"

"Finding my sister," his reply is short. The hand on his shoulder tightens.

"… I can't let you do that."

The angry fight that ensues in the middle of the living room is short and brutal. Tsuna might be a Sky, the strongest Sky Vongola has witnessed in several generations, but he is only a middle school boy who has only just begun his training. Sawada Iemitsu is the Young Lion, a man who's carved out a name for himself in blood, with over two decades of strength and experience over him. Size and range.

There is no contest at all.

"It's alright if you hate me," Tsuna remembers hearing his father say, right before there is a stinging pain in the back of his head and his entire world goes dark. "You and your sister, it's alright if the both of you hate me. I don't mind. At least you'll both be alive to do it."

(A decade or so into the future, the disagreement between father and son, the CEDEF head and Vongola Decimo, is legendary. And this is how it starts.)

When Tsuna wakes up again, headache pounding at his temples and lying down in a hospital bed, the blurry image of his tutor perched at his bedside is the first thing he sees. Reborn goes on to bluntly inform him that, the night his father had been having dinner at home, Vongola had already sent men to pick up his sister to bring her back to Italy. The girl had been suspicious at first, and rightly so, but she hadn't suspected her father, of all people.

Which was why she'd been drugged and incapacitated without much trouble by the agents sent to retrieve her, who had taken extra precautions due to reports of the girl being a fairly strong Cloud.

But somehow, somehow news had reached Miharu-nii. The man had caught up to the extraction team with the rest of his men, and the fight that broke out –broken bones and gunfire; messy and painful for both parties involved– had destroyed an entire block of the city.

Miharu-nii was dead, his body found stuffed into the dumpster of a back-end alleyway, riddled with bullets. Chiyo-nee had been lost in the fire that started up and burned down an entire street before it had been stopped. The Momoyko-kai base of Namimori had been completely destroyed.

All within the short span of a single night.

Tsuna listened to all of this numbly, dazedly, barely aware when Reborn went on to describe that it turned out Miharu-nii wasn't just a simple shateigashira in charge of the Momokyo-kai branch of the Hanajima-kai. No, Miharu-nii was actually the heir to the Hanajima-kai, who'd been sent to Namimori to take over the Momokyo-kai as a final test of his leadership skills before he underwent the proper rites and become recognized as the official leader of the Hanajima-kai. This was a fact that was all very hush-hush and well hidden even within the yakuza community, so it was no wonder the Italy-based Vongola failed to dig up the information until after all was said and done.

Reborn himself had only been peripherally aware that Kitabatake Miharu was someone of relative importance within the inner circle of the Hanajima-kai, but hadn't concerned himself too much with the smaller details, given that the man hadn't tried to induct Tsuna into the Momokyo-kai and had also turned a blind eye to the Arcobaleno's doings in Namimori.

"The Hanajima-kai will most likely try to strike back against Vongola for this –but given the losses that Vongola suffered in this venture to secure peace within the famiglia, it is most likely that the traditionalists and progressives will put aside their differences to strike down the external threat before going at each other's throats again," Reborn tells him. "It's certainly a lot less stable than the breathing room a marriage would bring, but at least it's a time extension."

Tsuna's hands curl into fists on his lap.

"… Chiyo-nee."

"She's dead, Tsuna," Reborn says curtly, and it hurts. Tsuna raises his head to glare at his blank-faced tutor, but– "No. You'll have time to grieve, Tsuna, but not now. Do you know what the Hanajima-kai's declaration of vengeance means? They'll be mounting an assault on Vongola, and as far as they're concerned, you're the Vongola representative in Japan, that means you and your family are first in the direct line of fire. Do not focus on what you have lost; lest you lose more of what you still have. Cherish your loved ones, but do not let their deaths be in vain."

Tsuna is only a middle school student when his sister dies, and he and his friends are forced to go to war.

Rokudo Mukuro joins them halfway through, a few months later down the road. He asks Tsuna what he thinks of Vongola now, and Tsuna doesn't really remember what he'd said at the time, exactly –something along the lines of "rot in hell," probably. Mukuro had only laughed delightedly in response, then sworn himself into Tsuna's service as his Mist Guardian.

"I look forward to seeing you claim the title of Don, Vongola Decimo," the Mist had said, red-blue eyes gleaming.

And Tsuna does. Eventually become Vongola Decimo, that is.

Not… not because he wants to. If Tsuna had his way with things, he would put himself as far away from the criminal empire as possible. But…

But if he does that, nothing would change. Vongola would still be out there, still ruining people's lives, a parasitic existence and a blight upon the world. And who's to say that he and his family wouldn't be hunted down to the ends of the earth, if the ruthless Varia head was the one who succeeded the Vongola throne?

No.

No, he's not going to let that happen. Not on his watch.

Tsuna becomes Vongola Decimo not because he desires the position in any way, but precisely because he hates the famiglia and all that it stands for. He is seventeen when he challenges his rival heir a decade his senior and wins, eighteen and the youngest Don in the famiglia's history when he succeeds the position as Vongola Decimo.

And then he realizes, he can't destroy Vongola.

He literally can't.

The empire is far too large, too complex, too vast. It has long seeped into every corner of the country, burrowed itself into government administration and business economy, and is even a force to be reckoned with on the international stage. To destroy Vongola would mean throwing so many more lives into chaos, to so much more destruction, and–

And Tsuna is well and truly sick and tired of this all, but goddamnit if he can't destroy the famiglia, at least he can change it, as its Don.

He owes his sister that much, at least.

.

.

(The half-dead girl who comes to him that fateful day is angry, hurting.

… It's nothing new; most people who knowingly come to him of his own volition are all like that, angry and hurting from the tragic hand they've been dealt by the world. But in addition to the heavy injuries marring her body, there are signs of a fierce Discord singing in her veins, the sort that comes from betrayal to the very core by the people she cherished most, and Byakuran finds himself leaning forward in suddenly piqued interest, idly wondering how this girl is still alive.

"They told me you're a madman who wants to take over the world," she says to him shortly. "They say that you commit terrible sins. They agree that you're a horrifying man. But I don't care about any of that. I just want to know one thing: Will you destroy Vongola?"

Byakuran laughs. He laughs at her crude bluntness, and it is for this very reason that his own answer is equally matter-of-fact and to-the-point.

"'Destroy Vongola?' How very short-sighted of you." He crosses a leg over his knee and languidly folds his fingers under his chin. "No, not just Vongola. I will destroy everything –I will destroy this entire world."

The broken Cloud standing before him pauses at his reply, mulling over the words for a single heartbeat. A single heartbeat, before she nods decisively and drops to her knees.

"Then, please allow me to serve you and fight for your cause, Byakuran-sama," she presses her head to the ground at his feet with no trace of hesitation. "This life of mine is yours to use as you see fit."

... Well, well, well.

Byakuran smiles.

Today is a good day.)

.

EDIT: Adding an extra note here based on some feedback I got from a reviewer:

1) Forgot to mention this in the original posting, my apologies. The plot bunny for this fic was originally a reaction to Starchains' Summer Princess, wherein the fem!OC is also Tsuna's older sister who ends up being forced into an arranged marriage with Xanxus through questionable means.

2) I also want to make it clear that questionable issues might be involved in this fic, but by no means does this mean that I condone any of them.

3) The idea of "evil not being properly punished" some readers might feel from this fic I can't do anything about; it's up to readers themselves to decide how they want to read this fic, but I just want to say that it should not be confused for "evil is perfectly acceptable."

.

…

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Author's Notes:

New fic! Because my resistance to wild plot bunnies is pathetic, really. And thus, we have this road to hell.

…

… Actually, this is an old plot bunny from awhile back that I wrote the first ~3k words or so for and never really finished. I recently found it again while clearing out my writing files again, and the muse struck me while I was re-reading what I had already wrote, sooo…

Mostly, this is it's just a short (not really) exploration of what it would be like to paint Vongola as the villain of a story, since Tsuna & co. are the clear-cut protagonists of the KHR-verse, rather than the usual 'so here is the life of an OC and this is how she feels when shit goes down/this is what she does in this world.' Character bashing is something I try to avoid since it irks me a little when I catch it, so if I unintentionally slipped into it here please let me know! I tried to keep it out as best as I could.

The main challenge of this fic was to illustrate the OC's story completely from the perspectives of other characters without once portraying things directly from the main OC's point of view. I am very happy to say that I succeeded in this! Definitely an interesting experience, though I'm not sure if I'll ever do this again. xD Had to delete a good 3k chunk or so while writing when I accidentally slipped into the OC-perspective… which was kinda painful haha. It's my first time trying to write a full story this way, even though it's all just a lengthy one-shot, so some feedback on how well you think this style works overall would be very much appreciated. :'D

On a side note, I have a poll for summer updates on my profile, so please head over and vote if there's any of my other works that catch your fancy!

[More updates]: wild current (OC, Naruto spirit!AU), nine point eight (Uchiha!OC, SI-Uchiha Izumi) have both been updated. No other KHR updates for now, sorry. But please take a look anyways if you're interested~

QUESTION(1): How do you feel about the POVs of other characters in this story? Are there any choppy, blocky switches between perspectives? How does the characterization feel?

QUESTION(2): What sort of AU might you be interested in at all, if any? Just kinda curious, because I think there's a lot of different ways things could've gone here. ;3

(Like, what if Miharu didn't succeed in rescuing Chiyo from Vongola, and she ends up married to Xanxus? Or maybe if Tsuna had somehow managed to convince Reborn that he's strong enough to openly take the Varia head on, and got his tutor's support to solve the succession crisis via Ring Battles?)

Hope you enjoyed the story!

Cheers,

XxZuiliu