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Tsuna took a deep breath to steady his nerves, staring at the doors to the hotel in which Hayato had said the Varia were staying. His friend, his Storm, had been reluctant at first, but when Tsuna had quietly explained why he wanted to know where Xanxus was, Hayato had folded like a house of cards.
"You can still change your mind, Tsuna," Takeshi, quieter and more serious than he would usually ever show, said from where he stood at Tsuna's left shoulder, and Tsuna shook his head.
"No, this needs to be done," he said just as quietly, but firmly, and then took another deep, steadying breath. Unbeknownst to him, his brown eyes gleamed orange for a moment as his resolve firmed. "You both don't have to come with me, you know," he added, glancing at Takeshi and Hayato. Both his friends immediately shook their heads, Hayato grasping hold of his hand and Takeshi draping an arm over his shoulders.
"We're with you, no matter what," Hayato said firmly, and Takeshi made an agreeing noise from Tsuna's other side. "And we're not about to let you go face the boss of an assassination squad alone!" Tsuna smiled helplessly, squeezing Hayato's hand tight and leaning into Takeshi's side.
"Alright, I just had to check," he soothed, and then straightened up once more. "Come on, we should go before we're missed." Dino was distracting Reborn and Iemitsu for the moment, but Tsuna knew it wouldn't last much longer – it was honestly a miracle they'd managed to get this far without Reborn catching up to them.
"We're with you," Hayato said again, softer now, and the three teens headed into the building.
He'd not been too sure about his Sky's plan, but Hayato trusted Tsuna with every cell in his body. It might look like blind faith, from the outside at least, but Tsuna had proven himself to Hayato over and over again, proven that Hayato was right to place his trust in the fluffy little Sky. So, despite his reservations, he'd done as Tsuna asked and found the information about the Varia's accommodations.
And now he was following his Sky right into the jaws of their probable death, as he had sworn to do the day they'd met, with only one other person to back them up. Hayato didn't hate Takeshi, though his insistence on pretending the mafia was nothing but a game drove Hayato insane sometimes, and was even glad to have the tall teen helping guard their mutual Sky. But that didn't change the fact that it was just the three of them against, presumably, the entire upper command of the Varia and however many minions they'd brought with them.
They made it up to the floor the Varia had claimed for their stay without opposition, but that was where their luck ended.
As soon as the elevator doors closed behind them, Hayato felt the Mist Flames curl around them, reaching into their minds, and flared his Storm sharply to break the illusion. It worked, just, if only because Tsuna seemed to realise what he was trying to do and hastily fed Flames into their bond to boost Hayato's Storm.
"VOIIIII!" came the distinctive bellow of Squalo Superbi, and Hayato put himself between his Sky and the approaching, angry Rain without a second thought. "What the fuck do you brats want?!"
"I'm here to speak to Xanxus," Tsuna said firmly, his voice like steel in a way Hayato had never before heard. "I refuse to bow to the wishes of abusive old men and I doubt your boss wants to do so either."
A shocked look flashed across Squalo's face as he paused, and then he frowned at the three of them.
"The fuck?" he demanded. "What the fuck do you mean, abusive old men?"
"Could I speak to Xanxus?" Tsuna repeated, his voice just barely lilting up enough to make it a question. Hayato was so proud of his Sky. "I'm not here to fight, just to speak." He paused, and Hayato could see Squalo's indecision. "Please."
Apparently manners worked on assassins, Tsuna thought a tad hysterically as Squalo led them into the biggest of the suites on the current floor of the hotel. His nerves were starting to rise again, but he shoved them back down best he could as he took careful note of who was present. Xanxus was there, thankfully, and so was the tiny cloaked figure that Hayato had explained was another Arcobaleno, going by the name Mammon. And there was the big Lightning, Levi, and the flamboyant Sun Lussuria, and the rather frightening Storm, Belphegor. But, apart from them, there was no one else in the suite. Not that Tsuna could see or sense, though he would easily admit his senses weren't the most reliable.
But his intuition was purring, content with his current course of action, and so he would continue on.
"Why the fuck would you bring them in here, shark-trash?!" Xanxus demanded, throwing the glass he'd been holding at Squalo, who ducked and let it fly over his head to smash against the wall behind him.
"VOIII, BOSS—"
"I asked nicely," Tsuna said flatly, dryly, before Squalo could start hollering. His interjection seemed to shock the rest of the room to silence, as well, at least until Takeshi laughed aloud. Xanxus opened his mouth to say something, reaching for the gun Tsuna could see resting at his hip, but Tsuna spoke again before he could really respond. "Look, it won't be long before someone realises I'm not just hiding in my room, so could we please save the trying to kill me thing for later? I need to speak with you. It's important."
Xanxus stared at him for a moment, and then gave a harsh laugh and slouched back in his chair.
"You got guts, trash, if nothing else. Go on, then. Talk."
Xanxus had to admit, he hadn't expected the CEDeF-trash's spawn to have the balls to approach him. The fluffy little weakling had squeaked and screeched and run away from all conflict that Xanxus had observed so far, surviving by sheer luck rather than any true show of skill, so Xanxus would never have thought the brat would show up – and only accompanied by two of his Guardians, at that, rather than with the whole collection plus the Sun Arcobaleno and possibly his fucking traitor father – at his fucking hotel room. Let alone have the balls to snark at him.
That kind of wild discrepancy in behaviours was interesting enough for him to be curious. And what was that about him being noticed missing? Had the brat come here without telling anyone other than the two brats he'd brought with him? Had he snuck out?
"I don't know what you've been told about me, or what's been observed by your people," the brat began, a kind of hesitation in his voice that made Xanxus wonder if the brat had actually expected to be able to say his piece or if he was just winging it. Fluffy brat apparently had a spine of fuckin' steel under that weak exterior. "I can only really tell you my truth and hope you can tell I'm not lying."
"I'm not interested in hearing your fuckin' life story, trash," Xanxus snarled, and was surprised – though he did his best to hide it – when the brat's brown eyes suddenly locked on his and gained a momentary amber sheen.
"Then it's a good thing I'm not trying to tell you," he snapped back, and Xanxus laughed and waved down his Guardians when they bristled at the brat's tone. The brat took a breath and then continued before anyone could speak, and Xanxus rested his head on his fist as he listened. Might as well hear what the ballsy little shit had to say, considering he'd gone through the trouble of sneaking out to meet with him. "Basics, though, are that I only learned about the mafia a few months ago, I was only told of Flames before Reborn decided I needed to know a month ago because Hayato refused to let me remain ignorant after we Harmonised, and this entire inheritance battle thing was a set up by my sperm donor that I refuse to have any part in."
Was that... a hint of violet in his eyes? Was this little fucker a Cloudy Sky?
"Months?" Xanxus repeated incredulously. "The fuck?"
"Months," the brat confirmed. "Until he showed up yesterday I hadn't seen my pathetic excuse for a father since I was five, and I honestly thought he was dead until recently. He told me nothing about the mafia, or Vongola, or Flames or anything like that, and Reborn hasn't been actually explaining anything to me."
"You're telling me that the CEDeF-trash expects you to fight and beat me with less than a year's training?" Xanxus asked incredulously.
"Apparently," the fluffy-trash said with a grimace. "I'm not cut out for being a Boss, no matter what my father and yours, or Reborn, say or think. I've only been able to access my Flames for a couple of weeks, and I'm not a trained fighter. Half the people my sperm donor chose to hold the Rings aren't mine, not like Hayato and Takeshi are, and they've got no ties to the mafia other than that. And Lambo is five, I'd not be comfortable sending him up against a grown and trained assassin even if he was mine," he added, waving a hand towards Levi A Than.
Xanxus took a moment to process that.
"Weeks," Mammon said flatly, and the fluffy-trash nodded. "Reborn has been here for eight months."
"My dad thinks Tsuna's Flames were Sealed," the Rain that had accompanied the fluffy-trash said quietly. Xanxus' eyes snapped over to him instead of staring in disbelief at the fluff-trash. The boy looked grim, not a trace of his fake smiles – as observed by Mammon's spies – to be seen. He put a hand on the fluffy-trash's shoulder, and Xanxus' sharp eyes caught how the fluffy brat leaned into the touch like he was being grounded by it – or perhaps was grounding his Rain through the contact. "We think I've been Tsuna's Rain since we were toddlers, because when Tsuna finally got access to his Flames a couple of weeks ago, we were already Harmonised."
"That..." Xanxus trailed off, frowning. "That shouldn't be possible."
"Apparently it is," the fluffy brat said dryly, and then sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "I didn't actually come here to talk about that, though I guess it's relevant. I came to get your help to avoid following what Iemitsu and Reborn have set up."
"You said 'abusive old men'," Squalo said, still loud but not yelling like he so often did. Apparently his Rain had decided that these brats didn't need to see his loud mask. Or, Xanxus thought, perhaps he'd noticed the violet sheen in the fluffy-brat's eyes like Xanxus had seen.
"Considering that in the past day, I've had to dodge a pickaxe thrown at my head while I was asleep, under the guise of 'training', and I've had to stop my sperm donor feeding sake to five year olds, 'abusive' seems accurate," the fluffy brat said flatly. "And the majority of my injuries these past eight months have come from Reborn 'training' me without giving any instruction on how to actually improve." He paused. "Reborn also seems determined to drag anyone even vaguely friendly towards me into everything. The only ones mafia-adjacent, from Namimori at least, were Takeshi and Hibari-senpai."
Xanxus frowned.
"You're telling me your shitty father and the shitty hitman chose civilians to fight for you," he said flatly.
"Exactly," fluffy-trash said. Xanxus slumped further down in his chair.
"Well, fuck."
Tsuna almost laughed at Xanxus' words, but his intuition was starting to itch at him. They were running out of time.
"We don't have long," he said, hands clenching and relaxing at his sides as he tried to ignore the steadily-growing itch at the base of his skull. It wasn't physical, scratching would do no good, but it definitely felt like an itch more than anything else. "I think someone's noticed we're missing." There was a quiet 'ding', and Hayato pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen with a frown.
"Romario just messaged me," Hayato said quietly. "Cavallone is still keeping Iemitsu distracted but Reborn slipped away a few minutes ago."
"Fuck," Tsuna hissed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "We need more time."
"Mou, I will handle Reborn," said Mammon, and then vanished in a swirl of Mist Flames. Tsuna blinked a few times, then shrugged and focused back on Xanxus. They didn't have time for him to freak out about the things he still didn't know about Flames.
"So, Ring Battles. I've got two Guardians, one potential, and the rest aren't mine," Tsuna outlined bluntly. "If I have any choice at all, I won't have Lightning, Sun, or Mist. Cloud is up in the air. I don't want to lead the Vongola, but I'm being pushed to it. If it will solve things, I'll hand you my half of the Sky Ring right now." He held out his hand, half-ring in question on his palm.
Xanxus stared at him for a moment, those red eyes entirely unreadable, and then he tossed his head back and laughed uproarously.
"Fuck, trash, they've got no fuckin' clue about you, do they?" his fellow Sky asked when his laughter subsided, and Tsuna shrugged. Still he held out the half-ring, fully aware of the three that rested in his pocket and the two around Takeshi and Hayato's necks. He'd not been able to locate the Mist half-ring, but he was sure Xanxus' Mist would be able to find it.
"I'm what they forced me to become," he replied. "It's not my fault they only see what they want to see."
Xanxus, scarred face still showing amusement, stood and prowled – there was no other way to describe the way he walked – over to Tsuna, long slim fingers deftly plucking the Sky half-ring from his palm. Tsuna barely came up to Xanxus' shoulder, and he'd never been more aware of how small he was. Thankfully, Xanxus didn't do anything other than take the ring, and Tsuna watched – intuition still itching at the back of his skull – as the older Sky pulled out his own half-ring, slotted the two together, and then slid it onto his finger.
For a moment, nothing happened, and then Xanxus' Flames flared, and so did the strange presences in the Ring, and Tsuna's eyes widened as his intuition screamed a warning.
He reached out, Flames already flaring high, and closed his hand over the Sky Ring – and therefore Xanxus' fingers – just as one of the presences in the ring started to lash out towards the older Sky.
And everything went white as the world seemed to shatter.
"He is not our blood," Timoteo's voice was arguing when Xanxus' hearing came back to him, and he blinked rapidly as his vision cleared to show a strange, empty blue-black space, filled with glowing figures that looked eerily like the previous bosses of the Vongola.
"That is a lie," came a sharp female voice, and Xanxus saw the faded-looking figure of his 'father' flinch back from the only female Vongola Boss. "He is as much Vongola as you or I, Timoteo!"
"Easy, Daniela," said an unfamiliar male voice, and a gentle hand tugged Ottava away from Nono. If Xanxus remembered correctly, that was Vongola Quinto, Valentino. Daniela shrugged off Valentino's hand and immediately got back up in Timoteo's face, shoving a finger against his chest and opening her mouth to berate him. Quinto sighed and put a hand over his face, and Sesto, Simora, patted him on the back with an amused expression.
"Let them argue," said a quiet voice just beside Xanxus, and he whipped his head around to see that, somehow, his fluffy competition had joined him in this weird space, and was being spoken to by Secondo and Settimo a few feet away while Primo, Giotto, was right there, smiling kindly at Xanxus of all people. "Welcome, Xanxus. Timoteo attempted to reject you, but the presence of my descendant's Flames helped push him back."
Xanxus shoved down the ache that throbbed in his chest at the blunt statement of his father's rejection. No, not his father. Not anymore, and not ever.
"Timoteo may not be your father, but you are Vongola by blood as well as choice and Flame," said another voice, and Terzo – Gianluca, Xanxus recalled – appeared beside Primo. "We may not know exactly how you are one of ours, but your resemblance to Riccardo is no coincidence."
"What is this all about?" Xanxus asked gruffly instead of addressing that. He would need to find out how the hell he could be related to Vongola if he wasn't Timoteo's bastard.
"You put on the Sky Ring, and so we awoke to see who our successor might be," Primo said with a sad smile. "I had hopes for Enrico, and for Federico, before their deaths. You were thriving in the Varia, so we never did expect you might be the one to wear it next."
"What the cryptic fucker means is that we all need to approve of the next head, or the Ring will reject them," Secondo stated as he dragged fluffy-trash closer and shoved him towards Xanxus. Fluffy-trash stumbled, but caught himself before he could crash into Xanxus and turned a glare – which really looked more like a pout – on Riccardo. "Luckily your little cousin here realised something was happening and pushed his Flames into the ring before Timoteo's will could win out."
"So what the fuck happens from here?" Xanxus demanded. "If the shitty old man rejects me, then—"
"That is why we pulled you both in," Settimo interrupted. "Timoteo wants Tsunayoshi, but the rest of us are content with either of you, though Tsunayoshi would need at least a few years of training before we would accept him as Boss."
"I don't want it, though, so I have no intention of training to take the headship," fluffy-trash said firmly. Here, in this space, his eyes were vibrant orange with just a hint of Cloud-purple.
"We simply need to overrule Timoteo, which is taking a little longer than I would prefer," Primo said with a sigh. Then his eyes, as orange as the fluffy brat's, locked on Xanxus. "There is trouble stirring, Xanxus di Vongola, and you will need Tsunayoshi's strength at your back. Bring down the Vindice upon Timoteo and Iemitsu, take control of Vongola, and strengthen the Famiglia to withstand the coming danger. Keep Tsunayoshi close, protect him until he can stand alone, and he will be your greatest ally."
Xanxus hesitated, glanced down at the fluffy little Sky he'd intended to kill, and met violet-tinted Sky-orange eyes that gleamed with resolve.
"I will stand with you, cousin," the little fluffball said with a kind of certainty that sent shivers down Xanxus' spine. "Me and mine will protect ours."
"Fuck," Xanxus muttered, and held out a hand to the little brat. Tsunayoshi took it, and their Flames swirled together, mixing and melding, until suddenly—
Harmony.
Tsuna's Cloudy-Sky resonated with Xanxus' Stormy-Sky, compatible in a way that Xanxus had never thought possible between two Skies, as they settled into a strange dual-Harmony despite Tsuna already having a Storm.
"No!" shouted Timoteo, but Xanxus didn't care. His Sky was whole, now, with Tsuna sliding easily into the place that had been reserved for a Cloud, and Xanxus could do nothing but laugh in exhilarated shock.
"Well, that wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I think it is for the best," said Primo lightly, and Xanxus glanced around to realise that the rest of the Vongola bosses had vanished, leaving only him and Tsuna and Primo in this strange in-between space. Primo smiled at them both, orange Flames dancing in his eyes. "Call upon us when you need us, Vongola Decimo Xanxus di Varia. Your hours have been engraved upon the ring," he intoned with a kind of heavy ceremony, and then – again – the world went white and something seemed to shatter.
Hayato interposed himself between his Sky and the Varia when they shouted in outrage at Tsuna's actions – grabbing Xanxus after handing over the Sky Ring – his multi-faceted Flames flaring into the visible spectrum as he snarled a challenge. Lightning and Storm and Sun and Cloud and Rain danced across his skin, a true Hurricane such as he'd been Named, making the present Varia at least hesitate before continuing their approach. Takeshi had positioned himself on the other side of the two Skies, his own Rain-Mist-Lightning dancing along the sword he'd managed to sneak in.
Neither Xanxus nor Tsuna were moving, though their Flames were still flaring high and starting to come into the visible spectrum themselves.
"Tsuna isn't attacking your boss," Hayato growled, glaring between Levi A Than and Belphegor and tossing a glare over towards Squalo and Lussuria as well. "Just wait."
"It sure as fuck looks like an attack to me," Squalo snarled back, and Hayato's Cloud and Lightning Flames surged stronger, Cloud propagating Lightning until he could form a crackling shield of Flames between the two Skies and the rest of the room.
"Maa, Tsuna wouldn't," Takeshi said calmly, though his voice was serious instead of carefree. "He doesn't like sneakiness, or fighting."
Before any of them could say anything more, the two Skies' Flames soared higher, and then...
And then started to meld.
To Harmonise.
Hayato's focus faltered in shock as he felt another Storm settle into Tsuna's Sky, somehow complementing Hayato's instead of conflicting with it, and the two Skies then suddenly seemed to come back to awareness in the next breath.
"Well, that's going to make things interesting," Tsuna said, sounding slightly stressed and very surprised, and Xanxus laughed and dropped a hand onto Tsuna's head, ruffling his hair roughly.
"I can't wait to make the old men keel over," the Varia Sky – and, apparently, Tsuna's Storm – said with a gleeful baring of teeth.
"Tsuna? Everything good?" Takeshi asked. Hayato wanted to know the answer to that too.
"Everything's fine, Takeshi," Tsuna said, taking a step back from Xanxus and reaching out to brush his fingertips against Takeshi's arm and Hayato's back. "It's going to work out." He dug in his pocket and drew out three rings, passing them over to Xanxus.
Hayato took the Storm half-ring from his own neck and easily did the same, Takeshi echoing him just a few moments later. Xanxus produced what was probably the Cloud half-ring and slid its other half into place, then passed the whole thing back to Tsuna, tossing the rest of the half-rings to his present Guardians, and then the Varia boss raised an eyebrow at Tsuna. Tsuna shrugged.
"I don't know who my sperm donor gave the Mist ring to. I figure Mammon will be able to find it."
"They will," Xanxus agreed with a smirk. "You're going to need a hell of a lot of training, Cloud-Trash."
"I know," Tsuna said, shoulders slumping with a sigh. It was partially resigned, partially relieved, as far as Hayato could tell. "But thank fuck I don't need to be the boss."
Xanxus laughed, and gave Tsuna a little shove that pushed him towards Hayato and Takeshi.
"Get going before you get tracked here. We'll play along with the shitty old men until the first Ring battle, then rip it all away."
"Sounds good to me," Tsuna said with a feral little smile of his own, and then he grabbed Hayato and Takeshi by the hands and towed them out the door. "See you later!" he called back over his shoulder, and Hayato grinned at how much more relaxed his Sky seemed now.
They made it to Takesushi before Iemitsu managed to realise they were gone, and were sitting in a booth with half-empty cups of tea and a few empty and half-empty plates – thanks to a bit of subterfuge from Tsuyoshi, who had winked as he placed the cups and plates in front of them a minute after they sat down, making it look like they'd been there the whole time – when Iemitsu stumbled through the doors just three minutes after their arrival.
"Tuna-fishy~!" Iemitsu carolled, throwing himself towards the booth and not seeming to notice the immediate death glares sent his way by both Tsuyoshi and Hayato.
"Otousan," Tsuna said flatly. The Cloud Ring had vanished into his pocket at some point between the hotel and Takesushi, but Iemitsu didn't seem to notice the absence of the Sky half-ring.
"Call me Papa, little Tuna-fishy!" Iemitsu scolded, and Tsuna very carefully didn't flinch when his sperm donor's horridly slimy-feeling Sky Flames flared and pressed down on him. He hid a disgusted shiver at the sick feeling of Iemitsu's Flames and just sighed in a long-suffering manner. Iemitsu's demeanour changed rapidly, a serious look settling over his face. "You need to be training, not slacking off," he said. "You're a man now, you need to step up."
Tsuna was hard-pressed not to gape incredulously at his idiot father.
"Maa, bodies need fuel to exercise, ahaha!" Takeshi laughed, his 'idiot' mask firmly in place. Tsuna sent his Rain a grateful glance when that drew Iemitsu's focus away from him, even if only for a moment. "Can't train on an empty stomach!"
"Very true," Tsuyoshi said, approaching with another few plates of sushi that he placed in front of Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi. "Eat up, boys."
"Thank you, Yamamoto-san," Tsuna said with a polite half-bow. The former hitman nodded back, patted Takeshi on the shoulder, and then strode back towards his kitchen without even giving Iemitsu a second glance. "We're heading back to training once we've refuelled, otousan," he told Iemitsu with his best 'innocent' expression. "We just wanted sushi."
He tensed slightly at the emotions that flashed across Iemitsu's face, but thankfully his sperm donor didn't seem to see anything amiss with what he was saying, for he soon put back on his jovial mask and rambled nonsensically at them for a bit before sauntering away.Tsuna waited until he could no longer sense Iemitsu's rotten Flames, and then let his head drop down onto the table. Hayato patted his back consolingly as Tsuna heaved a huge, disgusted sigh.
"Just a few more days of this," Hayato said soothingly, and Tsuna groaned.
"I can't wait to end this stupid..." he trailed off into incoherent grumbling, and then sighed and pushed up so that he wasn't slumped over but instead sitting upright. "Come on, let's go tell Kyoko-chan to control her brother. He's the one most likely to show up when we don't want him to."
"Right behind you, Tsuna," Takeshi said with a soft smile and a brush of soothing Rain Flames. Tension leeched out of him almost immediately, and Tsuna smiled gratefully at his friend.
"Thanks, Takeshi."
And so they headed out.
-X-
Days later, Tsuna hid his smug satisfaction behind a confused head tilt when his father demanded to know where his Sun Guardian was.
"I don't have one yet, otousan," he said, and then pretended to come to a realisation. "Oh, did you mean Sasagawa-senpai? He's not mine, otousan, he's got a Sky already."
Iemitsu spluttered wordlessly.
"And," Tsuna added mercilessly, "I think Lussuria-san has the whole Sun Ring already."
"Indeed I do, sweet thing," Lussuria cooed, presenting the combined ring for the Cervello's inspection when one of the creepy pink-haired Mists stepped close to examine it.
"Lussuria of the Varia holds the Sun Ring," the Cervello intoned. "We will move on to the Lightning battle."
"Unnecessary," Xanxus said dismissively before Iemitsu could get too hopeful. "Levi."
Obediently, Levi A Than stepped forward and showed the completed Lightning Ring to the Cervello.
"Levi A Than of the Varia holds the Lightning Ring," the pink-haired Mist said in that same flat tone. "We move on to the Storm battle."
"I don't have the half-ring," Hayato said bluntly as Iemitsu immediately turned towards him. He smirked at Iemitsu when rage flashed across the man's face. "There was nothing preventing us from coming to an agreement prior to these battles," he added.
The Cervello interrupted the tantrum that Tsuna could see brewing in his 'father' before Iemitsu could erupt.
"Who holds the half-rings?" they asked in eerie synchronicity. The Varia, and Tsuna, held up their hands. Relief flashed across Iemitsu's face, and then smug satisfaction.
"Then the Sky Battle should proceed," he exclaimed, only to falter when both Xanxus and Tsuna shook their heads. "...what do you mean, no?" he asked with an almost scary coldness, and Xanxus laughed right in his face as Tsuna and his present Guardians slipped away from the irate blond Sky. Tsuna came to stand beside Xanxus, and then channelled his secondary Cloud Flames as Xanxus flared his Sky.
"I stepped down," Tsuna said simply as Iemitsu gaped at them. "I have no desire to be Don Vongola, as I said from the moment you sent Reborn after me. Xanxus has been accepted by the previous bosses, and will be Vongola Decimo."
"Our presence here is unnecessary," the Cervello announced, and faded away like the mists their Flames were named after. Tsuna ignored that, instead perching on the arm of Xanxus' throne-like chair.
"You tried to control me," Tsuna said softly. "And didn't realise how much I despise you. You run your mouth and manipulate and force others to bend to your will, but my Will is strong."
"The previous bosses have already accepted me as Decimo," Xanxus drawled, his Stormy-Sky surging high and wrapping protectively around all his Guardians, Tsuna included. Takeshi and Hayato were tucked comfortably beneath Tsuna's Cloudy Sky, and so Xanxus' Flames accepted them just as they did Tsuna.
Iemitsu, on the other hand, went first pale with fear and then red with rage, hefting his pickaxe as he flared his own tainted Sky in an attempt to force Xanxus to back down. His Sky was vast, despite its corruption, and if he was facing off against Iemitsu alone, then Xanxus would have been forced to submit eventually.
But Xanxus wasn't alone. He had his entire Guardian set, and Tsuna was part of that set. Cloudy-Sky Tsuna, Xanxus' newly-bonded Cloud, who fed Cloud and Sky alike into Xanxus' Wrath Sky and sent his power rocketing higher.
Iemitsu could not stand against two Skies together, not when those Skies were in perfect Harmony and boosted by Cloud.
"I'm going to enjoy this," Xanxus said with a bloodthirsty grin, standing from his throne and drawing his guns, and Tsuna smiled in fierce satisfaction. "I'm gonna make this hurt."
He lunged for Iemitsu as the older Sky roared in wordless rage and swung his pickaxe, Xanxus' Flames burning with fierce protectiveness that would scorch away the taint that was Iemitsu.
Dino watched, pleased and more than a little turned on, as Xanxus wiped the floor with Iemitsu. It had been years since he'd been able to see Xanxus fight, and to see him going up against Iemitsu, who was known to have powerful Flames, and very visibly already winning, was hot as fuck.
"Someone needs to stop them," Timoteo di Vongola croaked from the hospital bed he was propped up in, his old eyes fixed upon the battle displayed upon the screen. Dino scoffed, but he wasn't the only one. Reborn, thoroughly chastised by first Mammon and then Aria di Giglio Nero a few days ago, gave Timoteo a pitying look. Aria, who had also scoffed, was shaking her head, arms folded above her visibly pregnant belly, and Reborn was seated right beside her. Mammon had apparently done some kind of Mist-chain to keep Reborn leashed to his Sky, which Dino privately thought was fucking hilarious.
(No, he wasn't bitter about having Reborn set on him, of course not.)
"You're lucky Xanxus didn't come after you first," the Sun Arcobaleno told the old Don. There was a chilling laugh, a rattle of chains and Dino stiffened as a pair of Vindice made themselves known.
"Lucky is a matter of perspective," the taller of the two, the one with long dark hair visible beneath his top hat and over his bandages, rasped. "Timoteo di Vongola, for the Sealing of an Active Sky, you have been surrendered to Vindice custody by your successor. For the abuse of a Cloud and Sky, Iemitsu Sawada will soon be enjoying our hospitality. If he survives the Cloud's Sky, of course." There was a kind of dark satisfaction in the Vindice's voice that sent a chill up Dino's spine.
"No, I—"
"Do not resist, Timoteo di Vongola. Your Guardians will be permitted visitation, and if proven to be accomplice to your crimes, will join you in due time," the Vindice said, and then he and his silent companion began to wheel Timoteo's hospital bed through the portal that remained open during the brief discussion - if it could be called that.
The portal closed behind the Vindice and their new prisoner, and Dino turned his full attention to the battle – now nearly over – being displayed.
On the screen, Xanxus hit Iemitsu head-on with a dual blast from his X-guns, Storm-edged Sky making the CEDeF boss scream as they ate through his Flames and started to do the same to his body.
A very different shiver ran through Dino at the fierce glee on Xanxus' face, and he pointedly pretended not to see Donna Aria's amused, knowing glance.
"It's almost over," Romario murmured from where he stood, ever loyal, at Dino's shoulder, and Dino nodded.
"It does look like it," he agreed. He stood, and offered an arm to Donna Aria even though her Lightning glared at him. "Would you like to meet my little brother, Donna?" Aria laughed, and used his arm for support as she levered herself to her feet.
"I would, Don Cavallone. Lead the way."
Xanxus smirked as he came to land lightly beside Iemitsu's battered form, the man's pickaxe having been rendered useless by the intensity of Xanxus' Flames, and he levelled one of his guns at the bastard's head. The rotten Sky glared at him with a hatred that Xanxus had long grown used to seeing from him, panting and still flaring his Flames in an attempt to make Xanxus falter.
But he wouldn't, not when his people required this scum to be eriadicated.
"We will take him, Don Vongola," a raspy voice said, and Xanxus glanced up briefly to see that two Vindice had managed to creep up on him. He hesitated, but chains shot out and wrapped around Iemitsu before he could speak.
"Fine," he growled, reluctantly holstering his weapons and taking a step back. "If I ever see his face again, I'll kill him."
"Noted, Don Vongola," the same Vindice member said with what seemed to be a kind of dry amusement, despite his tone not changing at all. "Farewell." Xanxus watched, feeling slightly cheated that he wouldn't be able to kill Iemitsu, as the Vindice dragged the chained, injured Sky through their portal, ignoring Iemitsu's shrieks of protest.
"Well, that was a little anticlimactic," Tsuna's Rain commented, and Xanxus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Someone hit him for me," he barked, and a second later there was the sound of someone being cuffed over the head and a laughing 'hey!' from the brat. He felt rather than saw his newly-Harmonised Cloud come to stand beside him, and glanced down to see Tsuna smiling ever so slightly as he touched Xanxus' elbow.
"Thank you," the little fluffball murmured, and Xanxus scoffed and scruffed at his hair roughly. "Hey!"
"Don't need to thank me for that, brat," Xanxus grumbled, smirking as his Cloud-and-Sky pouted up at him. Their Flames swirled together like they belonged, and Xanxus felt a little more of the ache from his time in ice be soothed away by his Sky. "You're one of mine, and no fucker like that asshole is gonna get away with the type of bullshit he was trying to pull."
"Your language is always so colourful, Xan," a familiar voice called cheerfully, and Xanxus groaned and rolled his eyes as he turned towards the source. Dino Cavallone, with Aria di Giglio Nero on his arm, was approaching. As soon as their eyes met, though, Dino transferred the Donna's hold to her Lightning and bounded forward, sweeping Xanxus up into a tight hug and spinning them both around.
"Get off me!" Xanxus hissed, digging an elbow into the idiot horse's side best he could with his arms trapped by the blond's. But Dino didn't even flinch, the bastard, though he did put Xanxus down and let him go. "What the fuck have they been feeding you?" Xanxus blurted without even really thinking about it when he realised he had to look up now to meet the other man's eyes. Dino just grinned.
"Good to see you, Xan," he said instead of answering, and there was... something... in his eyes that Xanxus absolutely refused to acknowledge. Dino then pounced on Tsuna, rubbing his cheek against the top of the littlest Sky's head. "Look at you, little brother, all grown up and making alliances!"
"Get off me, Dino-nii," the Cloudy-Sky grumbled, but there was zero conviction in his words and he was smiling and leaning into Dino's embrace.
Touch starved, probably, Xanxus thought. Would make sense if the kid had been sealed for two-thirds of his life. He'd have to do something about that, since the kid was his now.
"Congratulations, Vongola Decimo," Donna Aria said, having approached while Dino was assaulting him, and Xanxus called upon his years-old diplomacy lessons to give the Sky Arcobaleno a deep, respectful nod.
"Thank you, Donna Giglio Nero," he said formally. "You will back my claim?"
"I will make it known," Donna Aria promised, her tone almost a threat, and then she smiled softly, kindly, much like Tsuna tended to do when not enraged. Xanxus was suddenly very, very sure he should keep his Cloud-Sky from spending too much time with the Donna. "You may call me Aria. We younger bosses need to stick together," she added with an impish little wink. Xanxus snorted.
"Xanxus, then," he allowed. "Thanks," he said again, a bit more gruffly this time, and Aria patted his arm lightly before drifting towards where Hayato and Takeshi had just hauled Dino off their Sky. And as Aria introduced herself to Tsuna with a sweet smile and gentle brush of Sunny-Sky, Xanxus tilted his head back to look up at the night sky above and breathed out a long, slow breath of relief.
It was done. He was Decimo, he had a full array of Guardians, and he had a Sky for his own Storm. His 'father' had been dealt with, and so had the bastard responsible for the deaths of his brothers, and he was free.
And, he thought to himself as he caught glimpse out the corner of his eye of Dino watching him with a soft smile and a look in his eyes that Xanxus couldn't quite identify but made his stomach flutter, perhaps there was something different to explore in his future.
-X-
Three years later...
Bang!
A shot echoed, silencing the squabbling of the Dons gathered in the enormous meeting room, and all eyes turned as one to look at the source. Xanxus di Vongola, Don Vongola, was staring at them all with disapproval. One of his infamous X-guns was raised, smoking faintly from the barrel, and – almost completely in synchronisation – the gathered Dons all settled.
"If you're all quite fuckin' finished being children," Vongola Decimo drawled, "let's get to the fuckin' point."
One of the Dons, an older man but newer to the Alliance, bristled and opened his mouth to say something, only to freeze when dark red eyes locked upon his. He closed his mouth and swallowed, shrinking back down in his seat and averting his eyes.
Before the meeting could actually continue, though, the doors to the meeting room swung open, admitting a young man who looked startlingly like all the portraits of Vongola Primo. The youth, barely more than a boy, swept amber eyes across the gathered mafioso before his gaze settled upon Vongola Decimo, who – strangely – did nothing more than raise an eyebrow at him.
"My apologies for the interruption, Xanxus," the Primo-lookalike said with a polite incline of his head, remaining near the doors. "You did tell me to let you know when I arrived."
"Get your ass over here, brat," Don Vongola replied, and many of the gathered mafioso – Don and underling alike – exchanged startled looks at the hint of fondness in the prickly Wrath Sky's voice. Primo-lookalike smiled faintly, but obeyed, settling into the empty chair that had remained to Don Vongola's left in every other meeting the gathered mafioso had ever attended. Vongola Decimo's striking red eyes swept across each of those gathered once again, and many of them shivered at the strange feeling that their souls were being looked at and judged. "This is Tsunayoshi Asari, new head of the CEDeF. Treat him with fuckin' respect or you won't live long enough to regret it."
"Yes, Decimo," the gathering chorused, a mix of fear and respect lacing their voices. The meeting continued without anywhere near as much upheaval as it had previously contained, as many were distracted by the Primo-lookalike seated beside Vongola Decimo, who was looking more and more like Secondo with every passing year.
And, a select few thought as they trickled out of the meeting, wasn't Asari the surname of one of Primo's Guardians...?
Tsuna smirked as the last few terrified mafioso trickled out of the meeting room, and then turned towards his Sky and smiled more genuinely.
"It's been a while, Xanxus," he murmured, already reaching out to his 'cousin' with his Flames, and he sighed in relief as Xanxus' possessive Wrath Sky wrapped around his Cloudy-Sky. He twined his own Flames with Xanxus' and felt the echo of relief from his 'cousin' and boss when they slipped into the strange, lovely Resonance that had become so familiar over the past three years.
"You finished your business in Japan?" Xanxus asked, dragging Tsuna off his chair and into his lap, and Tsuna snorted at the way his 'cousin' manhandled him like an oversized plushie.
"All sorted," he promised, and petted his Storm-Sky's hair as their Flames entwined. "Hayato and I are now officially on the Asari koseki, and Mama has joined the Hibari one now that she's married Kyoya's mother. Sawada is no more."
"Good," Xanxus growled, almost purred, and Tsuna grinned. He poked at Xanxus' shoulder and neck, unable to get to his cheeks with how the bigger Sky was wrapped around him. "What?"
"How goes courting Dino-nii?" Tsuna asked innocently, and then laughed gleefully as Xanxus threw him from his lap with an embarrassed snarl. He ran for it, Xanxus hot on his heels, and let his joy ring through his Sky and his bonds with his Guardians.
Amusement resonated back at him from Takeshi and Hayato, along with exasperation from Tetsuya and Shoichi and a kind of feral glee from Kyoya, and Tsuna couldn't help but laugh even as he dodged a blast of Flames from Xanxus.
He was so, so glad he'd gone to Xanxus that day.
Giotto smiled as he watched Xanxus chase after Tsuna, even as the potential for strife drew closer and closer with every passing day.
"They will be fine, Gio," Daniela murmured, and Giotto sighed.
"I know, but I still worry. They're the best of everything we've done, despite the wrongs done to them. I just... worry," he admitted quietly.
"Our boys are strong, and they have powerful allies," Ricardo said firmly, bumping his shoulder against Giotto's. "Stop stressing, you old mother hen. They, and the famiglia, will be fine."
"Alright, alright," Giotto laughed, holding up his hand to ward off his two favourite successors other than Xanxus. "I'll stop hovering."
"Good," Daniela huffed, and then she smirked. "Bets on when little Xan finally gives in and lets the Bronco woo him?"
"I give it three more months, tops," Ricardo said with a smirk, and Giotto laughed again.
"You'd know how persistent a Cavallone can be, right?" he teased, enjoying how Ricardo spluttered. "But Xanxus is even more stubborn than you are, cousin, so I think it will be six months," he added. Daniela smirked up at them as they rejoined the rest.
"I give it two more weeks now that Tsunayoshi has decided to help," she said, and immediately Valentino protested.
"A month, at least, even with Tsunayoshi's help!" he argued.
Giotto smiled as he let the sounds of good-natured arguing wash over him, and closed his eyes as he felt out the Flames of his Cloudy little descendant and the Stormy-Sky that had taken the Vongola headship so decisively.
They would be fine. And Giotto would be there to welcome them both when their lives reached their end – though hopefully that day was far, far in the future.
'You will be great, my children,' he thought fondly. 'And I cannot wait to see what you do from here.'