disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is the property of Amano Akira. I do not own it or any of her ideas.

warnings: OC's and swearing (courtesy of Varia)

note: Remember! 4 years after Rings Scramble. Xanxus is 28, Squalo is 26, etc. Luna is 27. Sorry if you got more than one notification for this chapter. I edited it a few times and replaced the chapter.

Twelve Months With You

April

.

.

.

Luna in herself was an average. She was not remarkable, nor did she have a tragic past. She was five foot three, had black hair, and blue eyes. She was pretty, in the in-between—not wholly beautiful nor cute nor ugly. Just pretty, in the plain sort of way.

Perhaps she would have been beautiful if her hair had a fantastical silky quality to it, or if her eyes were impossibly bright and jewel-like. But her hair held only the average luster and her eyes were a very normal kind of blue.

It was a fact she had accepted long ago as a not-so-vain teenager.

So, it should have been impossible for her to look pretty at all, in her opinion. Clearly Lussuria was magical. But Luna felt distinctly uncomfortably.

It was she, after all, who should be helping her masters get ready.

"Um. Sir."

"Hmmm?"

"Shouldn't I help you and everyone else get ready?" Luna asked tentatively.

"Nope! We're already ready!" Lussuria said cheerfully. "And I told you not to call me sir! It's so stilted. Mayber, 'Master' or 'Lussu' or 'Mama Luss'!"

"Um. Right."

Lussuria handed Luna the dress they had bought her the month before. "Now put this on! We're going to be leaving soon!"

"Yes, sir."

"…"

"Yes, Mama Luss."

Lussuria laughed happily and seemed to bounce out of the servants' quarters.

As Luna pulled on the long dress, she thought of the upcoming event. Firstly, she was only slightly confused as to why she was invited. She was a servant, but the Varia were, despite their denials, a close-knit group of people. Luna was their sole servant, and she realized that she had grown fond of them over the past few months. And it seemed that many of the others felt the same about her.

Mostly Fran and Lussuria, and maybe Bel who liked to pester her. Squalo was just Squalo. He really had no opinion on her. Levi was still set on hating her, and Luna never understood Xanxus who had made it an unofficial sport to throw glass cups at Squalo and call people scum.

Apparently he was always kind of an ass, but he had gotten worse after some secret event that she was not to know of.

Xanxus didn't seem to completely mind her. She made pretty awesome steak.

Additionally, it was a Vongola-only event. Something about a spring gathering. So it didn't matter if the Varia brought one maid as if she were some kind of escorting butler. But then again, it was Varia and they probably wouldn't have cared at all.

And, it was very likely that she would be sent running all over the place to get food and drinks for them, in her opinion.

Luna was trying to zip up her dress in the back when she heard a yell.

"—GET OUT."

Something sounded like it had just shattered.

There was a distinct screech from Squalo as he spoke yelled back angrily. "VOIII! SHITTY BOSS!"

Luna sighed and grabbed a broom, ignoring her zipper. It was actually kind of scary how well she could hear them from the servants' quarters. Or how she could vividly and accurately imagine what was going on.

Her dress dragged on the floor, so she picked up the hem with one hand. Walking as fast as she could, Luna reached Xanxus's bedroom. Xanxus had not left his bed, apparently.

Squalo turned furiously onto Luna. "Get him to go! He won't go because Tsunayoshi Sawada is going this year!"

"But how can I—"

Squalo stomped out, muttering furiously about having to wash his hair. It had taken a really long time to get it his silky for the event, dammit! And now there were pieces of glass.

"—get him to go if you can't…?" She finished.

Luna looked at Squalo and then Xanxus who seemed to be emitting a dark and horrible aura. It wasn't exactly safe to go near him, but…

She swept up the glass and tossed it out. Luna looked up at Xanxus who was glaring horribly. Okay, so now was not the time to talk to him, she decided.

Instead, she walked into Xanxus's closet and pulled out a suitable suit for the event. Letting Xanxus stew, Luna quietly started ironing the clothes. She wasn't really sure what to say, anyways.

Who the hell was 'Sawada'? And what kind of name was that?

But this Tsunayoshi Sawada was clearly her boss's enemy. What could she say to make him feel better? She knew next to nothing.

Luna ignored the tension and watched contentedly as the wrinkles disappeared.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Xanxus snarled.

"Um. Ironing." She responded. "So that you can change your clothes… Sir."

"I'm not going, trash." Xanxus glowered at her.

"But, this is important! Sir. You know it as well. The Nono Boss—"

A cup of glass shattered on the wall beside her head and Luna jolted.

"I'm not going, stupid woman. I refuse." He paused and snorted. "Since when has importance had any meaning for us?"

Luna scowled. The Varia was a rowdy group but they had never threatened or harmed her before. Belphegor didn't count.

Luna stood up. "I don't know what happened between you and this strange Sawada man, but, sir, I honestly think that you can just ignore him—"

"NO. I don't want to even see the little piece of shit."

"But, the Nono—don't you go every year?—um, um…"

At one point, Xanxus had stood up. He was glowering at her now and was much closer.

Luna just realized how tall Xanxus was. And he wasn't wearing a shirt. And he was fantastically fit, but now was a completely inappropriate time to be ogling her employer.

Or not, but goodness. Mafiosos.

Scars slowly appeared on his skin.

It was terrifying in a strange way. The scars gave off warning bells.

They stared at each other and Luna wasn't sure why it was so much harder to look him in the eye now than it was when they first met.

When they first met.

And then January.

Something clicked.

Luna's brain was starting to work all of a sudden. Vaguely, she remembered January, her first month here.

Squalo had said something about Sawada owing her boss a fight. And that had persuaded Xanxus to go shopping with them.

Aha! Studying in high school and college finally paid off! Her brain was making nice connections.

Xanxus was really much too close now. Luna thought her heart was in her throat. From fear or from whatever, she didn't know...

"U-um! Didn't. Didn't Sawada owe you a fight!" Luna blurted out.

Silence.

Xanxus looked taken back for a moment.

"I'm sure it'll be fantastic, sir. And you can take down this Sawada once and for all." Luna coaxed.

Xanxus seemed to fancy the idea. There was no longer a murderous intent, at least. Luna smiled. What Xanxus liked most was a good fight with people he hated or found annoying. That was clear, at least, even if she didn't know a bit about his history or past.

Xanxus was a very simple man.

But devious.

Unfortunately, the simple and devious man did not seem to take the bait completely. A slippery fish, this one.

"You," Luna paused, wondering if she was overstepping it a bit. "well, you can't let him think that you're a coward! Not going is like… This is like running away!"

Luna watched Xanxus still and close his eyes. He seemed to be struggling with something in his head.

A few moments passed like this. Luna watched her boss's face expression with bated breath.

He opened one eye, stared at her, and snorted. Walking slowly, he towered over Luna to grab the shirt that Luna had been ironing. "Che. You're burning a hole through my shirt, trash. I need something to wear to the damn event."

Something was smoking and a screech of horror could be heard throughout the Varia mansion.

The scream was rather alarming. Varia raced to see what the commotion was about.

All arrived at Xanxus's room together.

Squalo gulped. The door was so ominous. Had Xanxus killed the maid in fury? Jeebus, maybe he shouldn't have left her to persuade him, Squalo thought.

"Sharky. Open it." Fran said blandly.

"Shishishi… Do you think there'll be blood?"

"VOIII! SHUT THE HELP UP!" Squalo raged. He slammed open the door. "OI, YOU BETTER NOT HAVE KILLED THE MAID, YOU SHITTY BOS—"

This was what the Varia walked into:

Xanxus half-naked with his shirt in hand, as if he had just ripped it off, towering over one dolled up maid whose dress zipper was completely undone.

Never before in the history of Varia had this ever happened. The Varia did not talk about girls. God forbid they liked anything that wasn't bloody…

There was an awkward silence as the men with the maturity level of a middle school student tried to figure out what on earth to say. Bel grinned nervously and tried to think of something witty. Levi collapsed in horror. His boss, his precious boss was—!

Squalo just gaped and a weak 'voi' came out of his mouth unconsciously.

Lussuria giggled and blushed. "Oh my… Do you suppose we interrupted something…?"

Fran smirked. "Boss has hormones, too, I guess." There was a pause as Fran examined the scene and its implications. "Dude, that is so not cool."

Luna spluttered while Xanxus slowly took out his gun.

"Die, scum."

Hello all!

OMFG AGH THIS IS SUPER LATE ISN'T IT I'M SORRY UGH UGH UGH. If you're reading this, you are a complete and utter angel.

Also, I feel like this one wasn't that funny? Maybe it's just me. Excuse me while I drown in a river of sorrows. Sorry about that. Um. I just didn't think crack would happen when Luna and Xanxus were chilling/arguing with each other.

This one was really mostly about Xanxus and Luna talking. I mean. They're going to have to become friendlier at one point. I guess this is just a really tentative start. Really tentative.

Shall I make another part to April that shows the Vongola traditional spring gathering (that the Varia were getting ready to go to)? Let me know in the reviews!

Please review! I'd like to avoid groundless flames, though.

-Teddy