Natsume's seventeenth wasn't as big a celebration as it could have been.

Namely because she was still hosting the Varia boss and his bonded Elements under the old sanctuary laws that even the Vongola had to honor. Sure, the original laws applied to the Church, but Giotto had used them when he wanted to provide shelter from corrupted priests until they could be replaced so there was a precident.

One that Natsume had rather gleefully reminded the alliance that it wasn't unheard of a famiglia offering sanctuary to those that need it, if the Vongola's precious Primo had done it before. After all, the Giglio Nero was firmly a neutral faction that had never been part of the Alliance, which meant that the Ninth couldn't force them to hand over his 'errant son'.

To say Xanxus was finding almost as much vindictive amusement at the way Natsume was using little known stories and traditions made by the Primo against the Ninth was an understatement. The expression on the old man's face alone made it entirely worth it, and the only thing Xanxus kept thinking of was that his Nonna, the previous Donna Ottava, would have loved Natsume to bits.

As it was, Xanxus had effectively declared the vindictive young woman as his little sister. She was too entertianing not to love, in his opinion, and she already had a suitable boyfriend (not that he saw her in that way) so that was the next best thing.

Even so, Xanxus felt rather gratified that when Natsume used cold, hard logic that anyone with half a brain could believe if someone bothered to point it out that he couldn't have possibly been behind the attack on his brother...that he had more to lose with Federico out of the running and very little to actually gain if he had...that several of the Alliance dons were taking a second look at the 'known facts' of the incident.

Only to realize that the Giglio Nero heiress had merely been the first to figure out the entire situation reeked of a poorly executed set up.

Xanxus was more than just a 'mere assassin'. He was Varia Quality...if he had wanted to get rid of his brother he would never have been so blatantly Stupid as to leave witnesses that could easily and positively identify him after the fact, let alone point fingers in his direction.

If he were, then it meant that one of his underlings was free to challenge him for the position of Varia Boss because he had clearly lost his damn mind and was therefor weak enough to take out.

Ironically that had been the one comment to sway most of the dons into actually using their heads into looking into what the Vongola had allowed to be known about the incident, only to find that a lot of the 'facts' simply didn't add up.

Either way the party was relatively small for an heiress who came from such an influential family.

No one wanted to piss off the Vongola, but they also wanted to try and earn into her good graces, as she was already proving strong enough to hold multiple Guardian bonds, some of which belonged to the strongest of the now-former Arcobaleno like Reborn! Not even Luce had managed that.

Xanxus thought it said a lot that Dino Cavallone had shown up to speak with him regarding Federico's condition and had been the first to state he didn't believe for a minute that Xanxus was behind the attack.

For one thing, it was far too sloppy and the "fake" didn't even bother to try and replicate Xanxus' flames in order to render Federico into smoking cinders. Something Xanxus would have known how to pull off considering his specific sub-type of Sky had Storm flames evenly mixed within it, and the fact he was the Varia Boss. That sort of thing would have been child's play for him.

Which meant someone wanted Federico out of the way and had simply used Xanxus, who wasn't particularly well liked by the Ninth or Sawada for ridiculous reasons, as a particularly convenient scapegoat.

Xanxus waited until near the end of the party before he asked Natsume if she had any leads as to who had actually attacked his brother.

"There are only two people off the top of my head who would implicate you as the culprit. The trick is to find a way to mess with the Vongola's succession to the point it draws them out, if only because of sheer frustration."

Xanxus blinked. He mostly suspected Sawada, but he couldn't understand why the braying jackass would bother. It wasn't like his kid would inherit anytime soon, after all.

"Who's the first?"

"Daemon Spade. And before you tell me he's dead, I would like to remind you of the fact that Mukuro has already proven capable of possessing people for long periods of time and he's the direct descendant of the Primo and Secundo's Mist guardian. If someone who has limited experience with using Mist flames is able to pull that off with limited training, what do you think a Mist with actual training and a known ruthless streak could pull off?" said Natsume flatly. "Hell, the Vindice are proof that it's not impossible for someone's will to survive centuries, provided they have incentive enough to pull it off."

"I'll bite... how are the Vindice proof?" he asked, openly interested.

"Ever wonder what happened to the previous generations of the Arcobaleno? They didn't suddenly vanish without a trace when the curse ran it's course," she said dryly. "Never mind the oddity of their flames."

Xanxus went dead silent, before he Stared at her in absolute shock.

"No."

"Bermuda is quite a good conversationalist, once you let him rant for an hour or two about the sheer idiocy of the mafia in general and Jaeger has a thing for good tea," said Natsume with a straight face. The fact she then proceeded to pull out a picture of the two and cheerfully pointed out which was which made it even worse.

Natsume hoped someone caught the expression on Xanxus' face, because it was absolutely HILARIOUS.

Once the blue screen of death passed and he was thinking straight, Xanxus decided to go back to the original topic of discussion.

"What makes you think Spade is behind this?"

"Who do you think got the Secundo started on the bloodiest and strongest mafia famiglia in history bit?" said Natsume dryly. "That annoying ghost has one hell of a hard-on for insuring the Vongola continue it's bloody reign throughout history and he's manipulative as hell. Odds are he thought Federico was too weak or is trying to put you on the throne, once your name is cleared. Or he wants to manipulate my little brother into causing even more damage without giving a damn about the mafia as a whole. I know for a fact he's manipulated Iemitsu before, either directly or by using his image to almost eliminate one of the Vongola's oldest and closest allies."

She had gone through the reports and was dismayed to find Enma's family was still almost wiped out. Fortunately this time his sister survived, but his parents were still dead.

They had been very surprised when she reached out to them and offered to help track Iemitsu down for them personally if they really did want revenge on him. Though she neglected to tell them there was a chance Iemitsu was possessed during the incident.

(On the plus side she had secured Enma's friendship all over again.)

"The sad thing is I can't pinpoint if it is him because of the sheer mess that hasn't stopped festering while that old fool is head of the Vongola," said Natsume tiredly. "Until that gets cleared out, there's no telling what sort of rot is going to remain buried. His apathy and complacency have caused enough damage already."

Xanxus might have disagreed with her, but he didn't. That was the very reason he had been pushing for Federico to become Decimo already so they could clean out the Vongola properly before it all imploded around them and started a bloodbath.

"What do you suggest we do then?"

"Considering Federico is still in a coma, which I find highly suspicious as he should have been healed up enough to clarify what happened by now, we may need to kidnap him from the Vongola and get some answers. Though we would also have to keep him away from you so no one could claim he was coerced into lying," said Natsume. "We also need to secure my brother from Iemitsu... with Federico out of the running there is no way they won't think to install him as a puppet so they could control things from the shadows and he is far too young for that sort of responsibility to be placed on his shoulders. If Reborn wasn't already harmonized I know for a fact Nono would have called him in for training."

Xanxus nodded in agreement at that.

"There is one small issue with my plan though."

"What?"

"If we pull this off, then there is a strong possibility that the Vongola's claim as the 'strongest' will go to the Giglio Nero by the time I'm done," she admitted. "At the very least we would end up leading the Alliance."

Xanxus thought that one over. While the idea of the Vongola no longer being the strongest in the Cosa Nostra was shocking, the sad fact was that it had been on a decline for years. The only difference is that at least this way it would have a chance to reclaim it's position at a later date, rather than be destroyed completely.

"Fuck it. I can live with the Giglio Nero taking over for a hundred years or two so long as the Vongola survives and remains in the top ten," said Xanxus after a moment.

"You want to know what the irony is?" asked Natsume.

"What?"

"I'm descended from the Primo through Iemitsu," she said.

Xanxus stared at her. Any doubts he might have had died hearing that, though he had to pity the Primo for having an incompetent jackass like Iemitsu in his bloodline.

Either way the Vongola would remain the strongest...the only difference was that this time they would be operating under a different name. He could live with that.

Three days later...

Aria had what could only be called a "shit-eating grin" on her face when Natsume walked into breakfast a little later than normal shortly after her seventeenth birthday.

She wasn't the only one...it had taken Reborn a second or two to realize what happened before he just looked plain smug, as did Mukuro.

"It's about time!" said the Mist. "You two have been dancing around each other for far too long, though at least he had the decency to wait."

Natori blinked and realized they had figured it out, before he just looked a little smug.

"I feel like I should be telling you off for taking her virtue away, but instead I'll settle for 'if you hurt her I am going to be among the first to track you down and end you'," said Aria seriously.

Natori eyed Xanxus, Reborn and Mukuro when she said that, as all three were demonstrating an appropriate level of bloodthirsty eagerness to join in if that scenario happened.

He felt like he should be terrified at the thought of having so many overprotective men around his girlfriend, but instead settled on relief. Natsume got into trouble almost by breathing, so it was nice to know he wasn't the only one looking out for her.

"Just so we're clear, if any...accidents...happen I will take full responsibility," Natori said finally, cutting off that particular threat before it bothered to manifest.

Seeing them all settle in for breakfast, he started eating. He had a flight back to Japan in a few hours, though at least he wouldn't have to suffer through commercial flight. Since he was dating Natsume he got to experience the fun of a private plane with all the amenities.

A black portal opened up where Federico Vongola was being kept alive in his hospital bed.

Jaeger looked at the prone form of the former Vongola heir and silently collected him before disappearing promptly. It took less than half an hour before the Vongola noticed he was missing in the first place.

The second they brought the unconscious form of Federico into Vindicare, the Mist trap that Natsume insisted he be placed in lit up as Jaeger passed through it.

As a former Sky, Federico wouldn't have been hindered by such a thing and Jaeger's flames had shifted long before.

However the ghost attached to the man started swearing quite profusely as it couldn't leave the trap, with a suddenly wide-awake Federico staring at it in shock.

"What..."

Jaeger glared at the incorporeal form of Daemon Spade, who was furious and already starting to attempting to slip out of the trap. It wouldn't hold the ghost for long, but it definitely did what Natsume hoped it would, which was remove him from the man he had been possessing in the first place.

Bermuda stared at the ghost, glared, then turned to Federico.

"It would seem we owe the Giglio Nero another debt."

If Natsume hadn't brought it up, they never would have known of Xanxus' innocence and would have had to deal with the Wrath getting on their last nerve and creating even more paperwork for the already overworked Bermuda.

When Bermuda brought Natsume to see the still angry ghost, she had taken one look at him and glared.

"Elena would have been ashamed of the stunt you just pulled. Have you really fallen so low that you would strip what little dignity you had left as a Guardian of the Vongola? She never would have wanted any of this to happen! She helped to create the Vongola to remove tyrants, not create them!"

Bermuda was privately amazed at the way the girl tore the ghost a new one, and over the course of a very cringe-worthy chastising managed to somehow convince the pest to leave the Vongola alone from now on.

The fact she might have mentioned taking it over helped a little too...she just neglected to say what her actual plans were.

He did find it a little odd that she made Daemon Spade write his full name on a slip of paper using a brush though.

At least, until she demonstrated what it was for.

He was not happy being turned into a shiki, especially since she now had FULL control over him.

He didn't have a living Will to fight against her control anymore... he had already demonstrated enough aptitude towards the Flames of Night to make the Vindice worried. They could live with him being held thrall under the young woman who had already demonstrated far more sense than most mafia-raised idiots.