A Note to the Readers: I was scrolling through this website, trying to look for an original character that's not too much of a stereotypical self-insert. I got tired, I got disappointed and then I drank four cups of coffee for courage and nabbed my sister's phone to make an account and produced this!

Warnings: This is mostly OC centric. It's a romance (Update! It is still a romance but somebody pointed out it is quite slow). On the bright side if you are interested in a plot that verges into AUs this story is for you! Original canon will be trampled upon -but preserved still- and the representation of the mafia will be, well, the Mafia.

Pairing will be with Hibari Kyoya.

The prologue will be filled with OCs but the rest of the chapters won't be. I hope you have fun!

Another Note to The Readers: After April 12, 2019, this fanfiction, until the latest update already underwent edits, changing several aspects of the story. If you've read this beforehand, I apologize for my fickle and finicky nature. You don't need to reread everything if you've read until Chapter Eleven. The greatest change might be Kyoya, who now has a democratic approach to violence –he will beat women, children and the elderly if provoked… and conversations are altered to flow a bit better. (Clunkiness of convos are my fault since I have below average communicative skills in English) Rosetta is a touch calmer too… that's basically it!

If you're new here, I hope you enjoy the ride!

Prologue

The girl tears her hand out of her retainer's grip as they enter the threshold of the Hibari's safe house. This won't do. She cannot be a child anymore.

Rosetta is small for her age, dwarfed by her oversized nightdress, nearly shivering from the cold. Now limping behind her is her father's remaining retainer. There is a gun in his hand and blood on his clothes.

"Signora," the retainer says, pleading. There is a cut above his eyebrow, leaking blood down his collar. "This is not a good idea. Your father–"

"He's dead. His thoughts have no sway over this." She says resolutely, her eyes stinging. The household servants lead them through an empty hallway to a fully furnished living room. She tries not to look at anyone. There is no sympathy for her.

Her companion asks her to sit, but she declines.

"Signora, please, I implore you to reconsider."

When she does not reply, he tries again.

"If you have nothing important to say then please, get out," she says. She wishes can sound like an adult.

Cosimo holsters his gun. He wipes his hands on his suit and presses his fingers against his eyelids. "Signora. This is not the way." He speaks solemnly. "You are now the boss of famiglia Santoro, you cannot throw your life so easily. It was a mistake coming here. He cannot help you."

"And you can?" Rosetta asks her retainer, not unkindly, her lip trembling from the effort not to cry. "They killed everyone, even my father's guardians and slaughtered my family in their beds. It's a miracle we got away."

"Your family can help." Cosimo presses on. "Your uncles will help you."

"Loyalty to kin is superficial at best, famiglia Santoro is known for its infighting. Cosimo, I am twelve years old! I can't be the head! Who is dumb enough to listen?"

"Apparently, I am, since you came here of all places."

A tall Japanese man, built with the grace of a mountain lion steps into view. Hibari Ryuusei places his right hand on his chest and bows, observing in the pair dispassionately. "My condolences, your father and I were good friends," he says without sincerity. He is the master of the safe house.

Rosetta nods once. If she climbs the safe house and peers through its glass windows, she can still see the plumes of black smoke spewing out from her childhood home.

"You went to the estate this morning with your son," she says tilting her chin, unwilling to beat around the bush.

"A failed endeavor," Ryuusei says, sounding downcast as he leans heavily on his sleek black cane.

"You wanted me to marry him for an ample hold in Naples and my father rejected your proposal." Rosetta forces a smile. "My family is dead. I am now by blood the heir of famiglia Santoro. I wish to marry your son."

Ryuusei's lip curls in a parody of a smile. "Slow down signora. He tried to drown you in the fountain this morning, did you find him charming?"

"I insulted him. He pushed me and I couldn't swim," she corrects after sucking her teeth and continues. "If I marry him tonight, I will name you the don of my family until I come to age–"

He hides his surprise pretty well.

"I might have been your father's friend, but I am not interested in fighting your uncles for your inheritance."

"No. You won't have to fight," she clarifies. "It will force my family to accept your claim. Marriage and religion tie our clans together. They cannot deny you."

"Signora, this is madness," Cosimo says from the behind her. They ignore him.

"Why me?" Ryuusei smiles, leaning against one of the larger couches.

"I might live a little longer if I'm under your protection, Hibari-san." She says, her tongue tripping over the proper pronunciation of his last name. "At this day and age, only you are strong enough to represent the Yakuza. You pay your debts flawlessly. The Italians will not cross you to kill someone like me." She tries for her father's smooth flattery but ends up sounding desperate.

"Don't lie," Ryuusei smiles indulgently. "I hate lying more than anything. You're begging for my help, it should never have crossed your mind."

"I'm sorry," Rosetta says too quickly. She isn't lying to him, not entirely. But perhaps he wants a different response. She straightens her spine and clenches her fists, trying to look older than she really is. "I hate them all. I don't know who killed my papa. But they spoke– they're Italian. They're my blood. They… they could be anyone but you."

"I could have hired your countrymen," Ryuusei shakes his head. He lifts his cane and Rosetta sees the hollow end. She always thought of the cane as a concealed sword. Hibari Ryuusei is a traditionalist after all.

She flinches as Ryuusei fires. The bullet embeds in Cosimo's cheek. His own gun clatters on the ground in a dull thud. A second ago it was inches behind her skull.

"Then again," Ryuusei says, more to himself. "I'm not known to hire outside my clan."

Rosetta shuts her eyes. "I've known Cosimo since I was a child, he would never betray me." She feels his warm blood seep under her left heel.

"Does he have a family?" Ryuusei asks, his voice going soft. He approaches her slowly and makes an odd sound as if trying to soothe her.

"A wife and a son, Henrico." Realization dawns to her. Rosetta looks at the corpse, at the bullet hole on his cheek and sees darkness staring back. She kneels beside him despite the trembling in her stomach and pushes his eyelids shut, he deserved better.

"Many would do anything to save their kin. He is a traitor. You should be happy to see him dead." Ryuusei has the fingers of a pianist and it seems like he has no compunctions about getting vomit all over them. He unfurls a handkerchief from his pocket, wipes her cheeks and her hands clean and leads her away from the corpse. Beyond the walls, she hears the familiar sound of fighting.

"Were you followed?" he asks.

Rosetta shakes her head.

"I don't think so."

"He must have informed his companions. Move away from the windows, my dear." They move further inside the safe house. Ryuusei barks short orders to his men, never raising his voice once. He calls specifically for someone. A tall, lean man with cropped hair and circular spectacles crosses through the throng of suits to meet them. Ryuusei speaks in rapid Mandarin and hands her to him.

Rosetta resists the urge to reach out for Ryuusei when she's harried elsewhere. The spectacled man doesn't speak Italian and her understanding of Mandarin is rudimentary at best.

"I am Hibari-san's right hand. My name is Kusakabe Takenaka." He says in her language as they descend below the ground floor. Furnishings are sparse here, the walls mainly reinforced metal. Takenaka notices the state of her feet and hauls her up without warning. Rosetta holds back a scream.

"You'll stay here," he says, opening a door with the swipe of a card. "I will call your living family to witness the marriage and I will find a priest."

"You can't leave me," Rosetta hates how desperate she sounds. She shouldn't have opened her mouth.

Takenaka smiles, keeping pity out of his eyes. "My son, Tetsuya, will be with you. No time for a pretty dress. But I will find something if I can."

She doesn't reply but squirms enough for the man to put her down, face carefully impassive as she puts weight on her battered feet. There are other occupants in the room. Hibari Kyoya, a few years older than she is, sits up from his bed. He's dressed in black, his curiosity dampened with the irritation of being disturbed. There's another boy, taller than the both of them. He stands with the air of someone used to accepting orders, he must be Tetsuya.

"Congratulations," Rosetta says to Kyoya after a wave of stifling silence. "You're getting married tonight."

"Ho, to you?" Kyoya replies in his own tongue, refusing to budge. He pushed her to the fountain this morning when she cursed him in Italian out of boredom. She tried to see how far he understood the language since he didn't seem to speak at all.

"Who else? Your father will not find a better deal. You should be celebrating." She tries a smile.

"I don't celebrate the demise of fools," he says back.

Hibari Kyoya, the youngest son of Hibari Ryuusei, is reported to be a vicious, cruel child, with enough intelligence to make him dangerous, which makes him worse. And she is going to marry him because she's too afraid of dying.

"Where's the bathroom?" She asks.

"Right here," Tetsuya leads her to an inconspicuous door. She's trailing blood on their pristine carpets, yet she doesn't care. She enters and shuts the door, knees weakening. Not yet, she thinks. She needs to last the entire night. She can cry in the morning.

The marriage is a simple garden affair. White chairs line the artificial grass, occupied on the left by the bride's side of the family –whoever could attend in such short notice– and on the right by the groom's men. They kidnapped a priest from the nearest monastery, dressed to hold the ceremony with a gun trained at his temple.

One of the maids picked a bundle of chamomile from the garden for her. Rosetta holds the bunch to her chest, in the same air an unarmed knight will hold a shield against enemy onslaught. She is wearing a pale dress a size larger than she is, cut around her knees and her husband to be is wrapped in a suit he wore that morning.

There are agents securing the perimeter. Snipers are nearly invisible from the safe house's roof, maintaining a Killzone. Beyond the imposing walls of the garden, she sees a peek of sun darting from the horizon. The irony is not lost to her. A new life in a gilded cage. But she's alive.

Still alive.

"You may kiss the bride," the priest says.

Kyoya shakes his head and moves away, but Rosetta is faster. She grabs his arm and digs her nails into his wrist. "You have to." She whispers with a small patient smile. "We must give them a show."

"We have said our vows," he replies in the same language to her relief, but he's frowning. "We are married."

"So it doesn't matter if you do. It's tradition."

"I don't want to," he says unflinching, but he scans the crowd and meets a few expectant faces, some looks with relief that he doesn't cooperate. He memorizes their features.

"Fine." She leans forward, meeting his eyes. "Your father's reputation is riding on this. Make it harder for him to win a portion of Italy. The maids say you're impatient to leave this country. You want to stay here for another year?"

That works.

He kisses her without grace, pressing his lips against hers and bites the corner of her mouth. It's unpleasant and stifling, not at all what she expected a kiss to be, but even at the podium, she senses the relief in the crowd. When they break apart, she can taste blood.

Maria Rosetta Santoro-Hibari wipes her lip and takes a step to the audience, the bundle of chamomile abandoned to the grass. She doubts anyone would try catching it if she threw it.

Rosetta nods at Ryuusei who quirks his lip at her.

She looks straight at her family.

"As the doña of famiglia Santoro, I give my seat to Hibari Ryuusei." She ignores the indignant noises coming from her aunties and raises her voice. "Until I am of age, I will remain as his external advisor, that no decision of his regarding the famiglia will be approved without my consent." If Ryuusei is displeased with her unexpected announcement, he does not show it. He does, however, raise a lenient eyebrow.

"If upon my death that I still do not have an heir of proper age to take over, then you all," she nods at her family. "Can do whatever you wish."

Her family has partially quieted down. Some are staring unobtrusively at Ryuusei. She has thought of this repeatedly. If somebody assassinates her, they'll risk Ryuusei's wrath. He's generous when one owes him blood, especially when one owes him a solid foothold in Italy. Ryuusei can't kill her either. He'll be wasting the opportunity.

"But of course, if I find as much as a glimpse of opposition. I will not stop the don from doing what he wishes to you. No hard feelings." She nods to her family and allows Ryuusei to take her place, making his own announcement.

Rosetta stands beside her husband, who is not even trying to listen to his father.

"An external advisor? You do realize my father can lock you up and hurt you until you agree with everything he wants," Kyoya sneers, not one to waste words. "You're not that smart, are you?"

"I have to take those risks. And besides, that's not your father's style. If it is, suicide is easy. He'll lose everything if I die."

"You think people haven't tried to kill themselves under torture? We're good at what we do. We know how to keep you alive, stuff food down your throat, force water into your veins."

Rosetta is silent for a moment, holding her tongue. "You say that, but you seem to be worried about me." There's nothing left for her. This marriage is her final gamble. She would have been dead if she hesitated.

"I do not wish to be married to a fool."

She wrinkles her nose, looking straight ahead. He's literally and figuratively looking down on her. "You'll have to take that back if I survive this, you hear me?"

Ryuusei is nearly done with his speech. He has enraged about half of her family by now. Some already left, passing through an arched doorway where Kusakabe Takenaka is inconspicuously taking notes. Rosetta remains still. Her family is not known to be an intelligent bunch.

Ryuusei beckons to her when he's done, leading her away from her husband who doesn't even acknowledge her departure. If she had known this would be the last time she'd see him in two years, she would have said something nice to him or perhaps given him an embrace, despite his prickly disposition.

"I'm sorry. I know you hate surprises," she says to Ryuusei once they've entered the safe house again. The living room is pristine as when she entered it the first time. They've promptly disposed of Cosimo's body.

"I expected something like that. You're Victor's daughter after all." He motions for her to sit. On the table, there's a tea set with the ugliest set of cups she's seen. He pours her one, although she doesn't touch it. "Don't do it again."

"I won't," she promises, trying to sound as sincere as she can. But she can see that he doesn't buy into it. "We're partners now," she adds and then inexperience catches up. She flashes him a worried grin, much to the man's delight. "Are we?"

"Yes. And now we have to work. I've sent men to gather your belongings at the estate. What do you want to do with the bodies?"

"A small ceremony should suffice. My father and his sons can be buried in the family mausoleum. His guardians, the men, and the consigliere can be cremated and disposed of."

"I'll send a team to investigate the murders." There is a pregnant pause as the man leans back to his seat. "Do you want revenge?"

"If it doesn't cost me too much," she says, pressing her lips together.

Ryuusei puts a hand on her shoulder. He sounds considering. "Do you want time to grieve?"

Rosetta stays quiet, but it doesn't last for long. Her lip trembles as she presses her palms to her face, feeling suddenly like a child. She doesn't want to cry. She cannot cry.

"Give me an hour please," she asks.

"Alright," Ryuusei finishes his own cup and stands, dusting his suit. "It was wise of you to come to me." He is sincere this time. He has suspicions of the killers' identities, but he is unwilling to entertain revenge if Rosetta wants to. He has better plans to pool his resources into. In time, perhaps, once she has earned her keep.

He twirls his cane once, about to leave when he hears a murmur.

Curious enough, he leans back. "What did you say?"

Rosetta lifts her face from her hands. Her cheeks and her eyes are damp and red and the corner of her lip is starting to bruise. "I said that remains to be seen."

Ryuusei's somber countenance cracks into mild amusement. He twirls his cane again as if in thought and grins wholeheartedly. Rosetta is struck with the legitimacy of it. "Welcome to the fold, my dear signora."

A Note to the Readers (updated!): Somebody pointed out why I say Famiglia before the family name, ex: Famiglia Vongola, Famiglia Santoro. I'd change it if I haven't written a bunch already. You see in Italian, the word Famiglia goes first. I just began writing it as such and totally forgot that Akira wrote it the opposite way. (」ﾟДﾟ」(」ﾟДﾟ」(」ﾟДﾟ」