Painted Blind - Chapter 15

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Summary: Timoteo dies young and Iemitsu becomes Vongola Nono.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

FF.net | AO3 |  Tumblr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Follow my writing progress here.

You can find my fic master list here.

Chapter 15

‘’HOLD IT, VONGOLA!’’

The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, Xanxus just made his escape from the household, and now this. They’re not even at the end of the street yet, and the first obstacle to his mission appears. Squalo’s pretty sure that if Xanxus didn’t want to know his heritage so badly, he’d have turned back to the house and his chicken legs a long time ago.

Sighing, Xanxus turns around to face- at his side, Dino squeaks. ‘’Bianchi!’’

Stalking towards them like an apex predator is a small ten-year-old girl with pink hair. His fellow runaways crowd around Xanxus as if to protect him. Or, in Dino’s case, to try and escape Bianchi’s gaze by hiding behind him. You would think she had laser vision, with how eager Dino was to get away. Squalo thought he’d raised him better, but then again. Dino’s kind of the family disappointment and he and Squalo aren’t even related by blood.

…Disappointment is maybe a bit harsh. Let’s call him the puppy (Squalo refuses to call Dino a foal on principle).

Standing in front of Xanxus, Squalo brandishes a stick as if it’s a sword. If swords were used in wild west duels, that is, and it was one group of cowboys versus a single girl. ‘’You were in the kitchen!’’

‘’I snuck out!’’

‘’But, Marcello-‘’

Bianchi cuts him off. ‘’Was perfectly distracted by the other kids!’’ She turns to Xanxus, ‘’Face it, poophead, there’s no way you’re taking pipsqueak Dino on an adventure when you’re leaving me behind! Besides, I heard you mention Ottavo!’’

‘’Leave my mom out of this! She lied to me about my heritage! You of all people should know how important blood is in the mafia!’’

…Ouch. Squalo winces. Mentioning the bastard? Low blow.

Bianchi’s eyes narrow. ‘’Watch what you eat from now on, Vongola. Besides, Ottavo would never do something like that!’’

Xanxus balls his fist, leaning in until they’re nose to nose. ‘’Well, she did!’’

‘’Prove it!’’

‘’That’s what we’re here for!’’ Squalo snarls, throwing his hands up in the air.

Bianchi crosses her arms. ‘’Then I better come along, isn’t it?’’

Xanxus wrinkles his nose, tosses his feathers over his shoulders and turns around. Bianchi sticks out her tongue at his back and sneers at Dino as he quickly hurries after Xanxus. Squalo doesn’t even try to protest anymore. He just grits his teeth and walks after them.

Lussuria shrugs. ‘’I guess that’s a welcome to the club, darling!’’

‘’It better be!’’ Bianchi huffs, totally ignoring Levi’s attempts to glare her away, walking straight past him.

Levi’s not happy with that. ‘’You’re a girl, you carry Bel!’’

Lussuria gasps. ‘’But I wanted to carry Bel!’’

‘’Just keep the cockroach away from me!’’ Bianchi yells over her shoulder, ‘’I’m poking Dino already!’’

It’s been awfully quiet in the courtyard for the last twenty minutes. Marcello frowns, and peers through the window.

The children are nowhere to be seen, the gate is open, and Marcello is certain nobody went into the house- the door creaks too loudly, it wouldn’t go unheard.

Besides, the gate is never open. Especially not during Vongola Alliance meetings.

With his heart pounding in his ears, Marcello grabs the phone on the counter. ‘’Daniela, the children are gone!’’

Painted Blind - Chapter 14

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Summary: Timoteo dies young and Iemitsu becomes Vongola Nono.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

FF.net | AO3 |  Tumblr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Follow my writing progress here.

You can find my fic master list here.

Chapter 14

Vongola Alliance meetings had two very important functions: First, to deal with any and all things concerning the alliance itself. Second, to let the next generation familiarize themselves with each other. There was a reason the alliance had lasted two hundred years already, and it certainly wasn’t because the families all liked each other so much.

It was teaching them young to keep it together.

Which was, incidentally, Marcello’s first an foremost job. Next to cooking, that was. Unlike Donna, who ran everything organizational, or Tullio, who guarded Daniela so well there had been rumors of them being lovers despite his flaming homosexuality, Marcello’s domain was the kitchen.

Filling it with children once a month? Certainly no hardship. He couldn’t help but smile at the table, where the children were playing games of all kinds.

Except for Bianchi, who is marching towards him with a deep frown. ‘’Marcello, where’s my victim?’’

Marcello peers at her over his reading glasses. ‘’I thought we agreed Dino was your playmate, Principessa?’’

‘’Fine! Natural selection will do its job anyway! Time will tell if he survives!’’

‘’Ah, yes, Squalo told me your class has been having lessons on the animal kingdom lately… He was excited about the sharks.’’

Bianchi wrinkles her nose. ‘’Not nearly as awesome as snakes, but I’ll accept it. Anything but horses.’’

Marcello sighs. ‘’I see I’ll be making no headway with you today. The troublemakers are in the courtyard- keeping them cooped up when they don’t want to lead to… less than diplomatic solutions. I think you’ll like Bel.’’

Bianchi grins and runs off into the long hallways of the mansion. ‘’I’ll see that for myself, thanks!’’

‘’Is he distracted?’’ Xanxus mutters, bouncing the ball up and down on the round stones that tiled the ground of the patio. The sound irritates Squalo’s ears, but he’s too distracted with balancing Dino on top of his shoulders to say anything about it. Preventing his Sasuke Uchiha hairdo from flattening in the process was quite the ordeal.

Finally getting him to stand straight, Dino squeaks as he is lifted up properly in front of the kitchen window. ‘’Can you see anything up there?’’

‘’Marcello’s talking to Bianchi- I think she’s going outside too!’’ Dino’s voice quivers, ‘’Bianchi always tattles when it benefits her.’’

Dino is Squalo’s friend, but god if he isn’t a baby from time to time. Bianchi is a challenge. Just not a very fun one, and Squalo’s not just saying that because he never wins. She’s just flat out mean.

‘’Fuck!’’ Xanxus rakes a hand through his hair. ‘’We need to get a move on!’’

Lussuria waves at him, stuffing more maps into his bag. ‘’I’ve got sleeping bags, maps, crayons, bricks, the lipstick Oregano keeps claiming she doesn’t own and Iemitsu’s My Little Pony lighter. The only thing we’re missing is Bel.’’

Levi baulks. ''We're can't take Bel! He's a baby!''

''A stabby baby,'' mutters Squalo under his breath.

Xanxus huffs. ‘’You trash just don’t know how to run away, isn’t it?!’’

Dino looks down at his hands guiltily. Which is dumb, because Squalo has run away with Dino before. Dino is definitely not a first timer, even if he keeps getting caught. Which was totally not because Squalo called his mom when he realized he’d forgotten his hairbrush (and even if it had been, Squalo had priorities, and his hair certainly came before Dino. Squalo was ten. He was allowed to call his mom if he needed something, Dino).  

‘’We don’t have fucking time for this!’’ Throwing his hands up in the air, Xanxus grabs Dino’s wrist and drags him towards the gate. ‘’They’ll be onto us before long, we need to be gone already!’’

‘’Wait for us!’’ Dumping the huge bag onto Levi, Lussuria grabs Bel of the bench- which is suspiciously covered in crude carving- and runs after them.

Are they leaving him behind with Levi? Squalo screeches in outrage. ‘’I’ll get you, Xanxus!’’ and races after them.

Somewhere behind, Levi calls out. ‘’Why are there bricks in here anyway?!’’

From the shadows, two pairs of eyes watched them slip away.

Painted Blind - Chapter 11

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Summary: Timoteo dies young and Iemitsu becomes Vongola Nono.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

FF.net | AO3 |  Tumblr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Follow my writing progress here.

You can find my fic master list here.

Chapter 11

Daniela di Vongola is nothing like what Nana expected, and exactly what she imagined simultaneously.

‘’I don’t know if anyone told you, but my sons are all adopted. That was not always the case. I was pregnant, just like you. Most people believe I took a page out of the Giglio Nero’s book.’’ She faces straight ahead. ‘’I didn’t do that. ‘’

It hangs in the air between them.

Who are the Giglio Nero? It doesn’t matter. Not right this moment, not while the air is charged with silent lightning, thunder absent and the smell of rain in the air. The sky is clearing its heart, so Nana may see the sun.

There is something about this woman, who simply barged into her apartment, but politely put her shoes aside and waited for an invitation to sit, despite Nana being absent during her entrance. She broke in but did not invade, expected Nana to know her, yet introduced herself as if she was a perfect stranger.

…One should associate dignified words with a grande dame like Daniela di Vongola, but plainly said, she was a piece of work.

A piece of work with similar experiences. Nana was all ears.

‘’I found out the son of a bitch I’d slept with came from a family that experimented on children. It was the only murder I ever committed out of personal reasons.’’

Nana startles, eyes wide, lips trembling. She should’ve known. She can feel Daniela’s eyes on her face, studying her, cataloguing her every reaction. The mafia kills. There’s no way around it. The mafia kills, the woman before her has killed, Iemitsu probably has too, and Nana knows Lal’s hands aren’t clean. She knows killers. She has kissed a killer, even if she didn’t know his hands were painted red.

It doesn’t make her love Iemitsu less. It doesn’t devalue Lal’s friendship. It does not change the fact that the woman in front of her is telling her about how her dead child came to be.

They have killed.

Nana can deal with that.

Her eyes darken as she steels herself, determination burning through as if she’s painted it on and she breathes: ‘’Teach me,’’ as if she’s heard the voice of the Lord Almighty himself.

Daniela nods, and the deal is sealed.

From mother to mother, from blood to blood, it echoes as she puts her hand on her stomach. This child will be Vongola Decimo, and he will be safe in his mother’s arms. Always.

Nana goes to Italy with them.

‘’Now, Lal told me you’re interested in mathematics. I think you’ll get on quite well with Renato, but do tell me some more!’’

The flight to Italy certainly isn’t boring. And if Iemitsu was halfway from the airport to Namimori when Nana boarded the plane…

‘’Oops,’’ didn’t quite cut it.

(It wasn’t like she minded. She was going to be carrying this child for nine months, Iemitsu could take two flights without whining).

‘’Iemitsu got his girlfriend pregnant?! I’ve got to buy baby clothes!’’

Aria groans. ‘’Just what we needed.’’

‘’I know, right! It’s totally not the season for little sweaters and I want to give the cutest baby sweater around!’’ Lussuria cried out.

‘’VOI! Shut it before Xanxus hears! This is complicated enough already- can you even imagine what Iemitsu having an heir means for us?!’’

Aria shrugs. ‘’I was thinking it would calm the situation, actually. It’s just that babies cry a lot.’’

Bel humps. ‘’It’s not like you would know! You’ve never been a baby! The Prince knows much better! We Royal Babies do not wail!’’

‘’Yes, yes, that’s because you’re Royal. Now, please put the knife away.’’

‘’But Royals make other people cry in order to make up for not crying as a baby!’’

‘’Please stop stabbing Levi, Bel. No chewing either, darling.’’

‘’Peasants don’t know how to have fun!’’

Levi whimpered.

“Marry me, or the moustache stays!”

-TYL!Levi, probably.